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Category: Transport

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Virtual High-Level Segment of the 16th Petersberg Climate Dialogue [as delivered]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Thank you for this opportunity — and for your focus today on collective climate action and acceleration of implementation. 

    This could not be more timely. 

    There is much uncertainty and instability in our world.

    But today we meet in the wake of some good news.

    Just this morning, the International Renewable Energy Agency officially confirmed that 2024 was a record year for renewables additions to global power capacity. 

    Renewables represented more than 92 per cent of all new electricity generation capacity installed last year.
     
    The amount of renewables added represents more than the total electricity capacity of Brazil and Japan combined.

    Europe’s capacity grew by 9 per cent – with Germany contributing more than one-quarter of that growth. Africa’s capacity grew by almost 7 per cent.

    All of this is another reminder of a 21st century truth:

    Renewables are renewing economies. 

    They are powering growth, creating jobs, lowering energy bills, and cleaning our air. 
     
    And every day, they become an even smarter investment. 

    Since 2010, the average cost of wind power has plunged 60%.  Solar is 90% cheaper. 

    In 2023, clean energy sectors accounted for five per cent of economic growth in India and six in the US. It accounted for a fifth of China’s GDP growth, and a third of the EU’s.

    The economic case for – and opportunities of – climate action have become ever clearer – particularly for those who choose to lead. 

    And leadership is what we need – as today’s IRENA report shows:

    To accelerate the shift to renewables…

    And to correct the imbalances in the transition, which is still starving developing countries – outside China – of the investment needed to fully embrace clean energy. 

    Excellencies, dear friends,

    As the title of this session puts it so well: we are indeed at a turning point to the future.

    In the ten years since Paris, we have seen other important progress.

    Ninety percent of global emissions are now covered by net-zero targets. 

    A decade ago, the planet was on course for a global temperature rise of over four degrees Celsius.

    Today, countries’ national climate plans – or NDCs – if fully delivered – will take us closer to a 2.6-degree rise.

    At the same time, climate challenges are piling up.  

    It seems records are shattered at every turn — the hottest day of the hottest month of the hottest year of the hottest decade ever. 

    All of this is hitting the vulnerable hardest, and everyday people in their pockets – with higher living costs, higher insurance premiums, and higher food prices.

    Just last week, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was another alarming year:

    Almost every climate indicator reached new and increasingly dangerous heights – inflaming displacement and food insecurity and inflicting huge economic losses.

    And, for the first time, the annual global temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial times.

    Scientists are clear – it is still possible to meet the long-term 1.5 degree limit.

    But it requires urgent action. And it requires leadership.

    Excellencies, dear friends,

    I see two critical fronts to drive action. 

    First, new national climate plans – or NDCs – due by September.

    Investors need certainty and predictability.

    These new plans are a unique opportunity to deliver – and lay out a coherent vision for a just green transition.

    They must align with the 1.5-degree limit, as agreed at COP28. And cover all emissions and the whole economy.

    Together, they must reduce global emissions 60% by 2035 – compared to 2019…

    And contribute to the COP28 global energy transition goals.

    All this must be achieved in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of national circumstances but everybody, everybody must do more.

    The G20 – the largest emitters and economies – must lead.

    Every country must step up and play their part.

    The United Nations is with you all.

    President Lula and I are working to secure the highest ambition from the largest economies.

    The United Nations Climate Promise is supporting a hundred countries to prepare their new climate plans.

    And we will convene a special event in September to take stock of the plans of all countries, push for action to keep 1.5 within reach, and deliver climate justice.

    Second, we must drive finance to developing countries.

    The COP29 finance agreement must be implemented in full.

    I count on the leadership of the COP29 and COP30 Presidencies to deliver a credible roadmap to mobilize $1.3 trillion a year by 2035.

    We need new and innovative sources of financing, and credible carbon pricing.

    Developed countries must honour their promise to double adaptation finance to at least $40 billion a year, by this year.

    And we need serious contributions to the fund for responding to Loss and Damage, and to get it up and running.
    Excellencies,

    We can only meet these goals with stronger collaboration – between governments, and across society and sectors.

    Those that will lag behind need to be not a reason for us to be discouraged but an increase in our commitment to move forward.

    The rewards are there for the taking, for all those ready and willing to lead the world through these troubled times.

    We are at a turning point.  I urge you to seize this moment; and seize the prize.

    Thank you.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. biodiesel use increases outside of the transportation sector

    Source: US Energy Information Administration

    In-brief analysis

    March 26, 2025

    A small but increasing amount of biodiesel in the United States is consumed in the residential, commercial, and electric power sectors, according to new estimates now published in our State Energy Data System. Previously, we allocated all U.S. biodiesel consumption to the transportation sector, where the vast majority of biodiesel is consumed.

    Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced using fats, oils, or greases usually blended with petroleum diesel and consumed by trucks. In 2023, the most recent year for which we have estimates, the transportation sector accounted for about 95% of the nearly 46 million barrels of biodiesel consumed in the United States.

    Biodiesel can also be blended with heating oil to heat homes and businesses. We estimate that the residential and commercial sectors combined accounted for nearly 5% of U.S. total biodiesel consumption in 2023, up from about 1% a decade earlier. The introduction of biofuel blending mandates for heating oil in some northeastern states is contributing to that growth. Although customers in other states likely blend biodiesel to heat homes and businesses, we only estimate consumption for New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

    Consumption of biodiesel in the residential and commercial sectors is higher in New York than in any other state, accounting for 57% of the U.S. total for those sectors in 2023. New York City passed the nation’s first law requiring biodiesel blending with heating oil, mandating a minimum 2% biodiesel blended with heating oil beginning in 2012. Later, New York enacted a 5% minimum state-wide blend law beginning in 2022, which increases to 10% in 2025 and 20% in 2030. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, nearly 16% of homes in New York used heating oil as their primary heat source in 2023, about four times more than the U.S. average of about 4%.

    Connecticut and Rhode Island also have similar state-wide minimum biofuel blend laws for heating oil. Connecticut’s 5% blend law began in 2022 and ramps up to 10% in 2025, 15% in 2030, 20% in 2034, and 50% in 2035. Rhode Island was the first state to enact a minimum biofuel heating oil blend law that began with a 5% blend in 2017 and increased to 10% in 2023. Rhode Island’s blend law increases more quickly than the other states—up to 20% in 2025 and 50% in 2030. More than 34% of homes in Connecticut and 26% of homes in Rhode Island reported heating oil as their primary heat source in 2023.

    Biodiesel can also be burned to generate electricity, and the electric power sector accounted for less than 1% of U.S. biodiesel use in 2023. In 2006, a test plant in Tennessee reported the first biodiesel use for electric power in the United States. Hawaii has accounted for nearly all U.S. biodiesel consumed for electric power since 2009. In 2023, petroleum fueled about 68% of Hawaii’s total electricity generation, the highest share of any state, and we estimate that biodiesel fueled about 1% of the state’s total generation.

    Principal contributor: Mickey Francis

    Tags: biofuels, distillate fuel, heating oil, transportation, residential, commercial, electric generation, states, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, electricity, generation

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Lucia

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Pioneer in regenerative engineering Professor Cato T. Laurencin, is now Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin.

    Dr. Cato T. Laurencin at the ceremony.

    Laurencin is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of regenerative engineering that he founded, along with groundbreaking work in orthopaedic surgery, polymer science chemistry and engineering, and musculoskeletal repair and regeneration.

    Laurencin is the first surgeon in the world elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors. He earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School, Magna Cum Laude, and his Ph.D. in Biochemical engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    “St. Lucia is an extraordinary country, with extraordinary people,” said Laurencin. “The country has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than anywhere in the world. In being Knighted through the auspices of King Charles III, I am proud to be included among fellow Knights such as the late Sir Derek Wolcott, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.”

    Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin receiving the medal of the Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia.

    Laurencin is the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-university Institute at UConn created in his honor. He is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine. In engineering, he is professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of Biomedical Engineering at UConn.

    Sir Laurencin’s Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia medals.

    His research has successfully translated to and influenced technologies affecting millions of patients. His contributions to science include over 500 scientific articles, numerous patents, and he has written or edited 17 books. He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’s highest honor for technological achievement, in ceremonies at the White House. In 2023 he was named Inventor of the Year by the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation.

    Laurencin received Knighthood on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Government of St. Lucia. “I’m proud that we have established an MOU between the University of Connecticut and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia and have a number of collaborations established. I’m especially proud that my donated autobiography ‘Success is What You Leave Behind’ sits in schools and libraries throughout the country.”

    Laurencin received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Grant Award, and the NSF Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Grant Award for his work in Regenerative Engineering. He has received the highest awards of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Materials Research Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, and the American Chemical Society, which awarded him the Priestley Medal. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers established the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award, honoring his pioneering efforts in the field.

    “My father, the late Cyril Laurencin, was born in St. Lucia and was a distinguished carpenter. He asked me to promise to make a difference in the world, and to pay special attention to making a difference in the lives of St. Lucians. Receiving Knight Commander of the Order of St. Lucia shows a promise kept.”

    Laurencin was born in America but also became a citizen of St. Lucia. Thus, his Knighthood is not an honorary one.

    The University of Connecticut congratulates Sir Cato Thomas Laurencin.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 4 College of Engineering Faculty Elected to CASE

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    For being “leading experts in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine,” the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) is welcoming four faculty from UConn’s College of Engineering (CoE) into its membership.

    They are among 12 inductees from UConn, and 36 statewide. The new members will be introduced at the Academy’s 50th Annual Dinner on May 28.

    Election to CASE is open to scientists and engineers who work or live in Connecticut based on scientific distinction achieved through significant original contributions in theory or applications, unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of applied science and technology, or both.

    The 2025 CASE inductees from the CoE include:
    • Omer Khan, professor of electrical and computer engineering

    • Ji-Cheng “JC” Zhao, dean of the College of Engineering; professor of materials science and engineering

    • Guoan Zheng, Collins Aerospace Professor of Engineering Innovation in the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and director of the UConn Center for Biomedical and Bioengineering Innovation

    • Xiao-Dong Zhou, Connecticut Clean Energy Fund Professor in Sustainable Energy; the Nicholas E. Madonna Chair in Sustainability; director of the Center for Clean Energy Engineering; and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, materials science and engineering, and mechanical engineering

    “CASE is honored to have these outstanding scientists and engineers join us as we seek to fulfill our mission to provide evidence-based advice to inform policy and promote innovation in Connecticut,” says CASE President Amy Howell.

    Brief bios of the 2025 CASE Fellows are below:

    Omer Khan

    Omer Khan leads the Computer Architecture Group (CAG) and serves as an associate director of the Connecticut Advanced Computing Center (CACC). His research interests include computer architectures and methods that exploit parallelism, locality, resiliency, and privacy suitable for high-performance applications, such as graph intelligence problems. He has contributed architectural advancements for futuristic massively parallel microprocessors that substantially enhance system level performance and efficiency.

    Most recently, Khan and his colleagues took a hardware-architecture-algorithm approach to develop a new system architecture that helps optimize multiple goals at once, like finding the best trade-off between speed and fuel efficiency for autonomous vehicles. They propose Ordered Parallel Multi-Objective Search, or OPMOS, that exploits massive parallelism to achieve huge improvements in performance.

    “OPMOS is a unique approach that brings together algorithmic optimizations and architectural insights to rapidly accelerate these computationally hard multi-objective graph intelligence problems,” Khan explains. “This means exact solutions that used to take hours to generate can be found in seconds. This allows decision-makers to have access to real-time information, leading to better decision-making in high-impact application scenarios.”

    As a complementary research effort, Khan is addressing the computational complexity problem in artificial intelligence applications, such as autonomous systems, social influence, and chip design that must handle increasingly large and sparse graph-based data.

    “Efficient processing of sparse graph problems is extremely challenging since the underlying computations require complex mathematical operations whose processing suffers from performance scaling challenges on existing hardware processing units,” Khan explains. Khan and his colleagues are developing parallel hardware architectures that exploit sparsity for performance to reduce computational complexity without compromising accuracy.

    Prior to joining UConn, Khan spent several years in the semiconductor industry as a high-performance processor architect.

    Khan has a BS in electrical and computer engineering from Michigan State University (2000) and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2009).

    Ji-Cheng “JC” Zhao

    Ji-Cheng “JC” Zhao is an expert on design of advanced alloys and coatings, additive manufacturing (3D printing) of alloys and composites, high-throughput materials science methodologies, and computational thermodynamics and kinetics. He previously served as a director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy), managing approximately $100 million in projects to develop energy-efficient and green technologies.

    Before working in academia and government, Zhao was a senior materials scientist and project leader at General Electric (GE) Research Center where he invented new materials and processes, mostly for gas turbines and jet engines, leading to 48 U.S. patents.

    As dean of engineering at UConn, Zhao is working to expand the College’s research footprint, launch impactful educational programs, and advance relationships with local, national, and international partners.

    Zhao is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, ASM International, the Materials Research Society, and the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society.
    Zhao has a BS in materials science and engineering from Central South University in Hunan, China (1985) and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Lehigh University (1995).

    Guoan Zheng

    Guoan Zheng is an expert on biomedical optics and instrumentation, computational imaging, microscopy, and chip-scale imaging. At UConn’s Smart Imaging Laboratory, he leads a team of researchers who are developing a new technique called Synthetic Aperture Ptycho-Endoscopy (SAPE), which achieves outstanding resolution and visibility in endoscopic images. Since its inception in 2013, the laboratory has been supported by NSF, NIH, DOE, Connecticut Innovations, and partnerships with multiple industry leaders.

    Zheng is also the inventor of Fourier ptychography, a transformative microscopy technique that has become a global standard, now widely adopted across numerous laboratories worldwide. The technique is featured as a chapter in the most widely read textbook on Fourier optics.

    He’s also a member of Optica and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

    Zheng holds a BS in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University (2007); and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (2013).

    Xiao-Dong Zhou

    Xiao-Dong Zhou is passionate about reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the development of advanced materials and innovative, efficient processes. He’s an expert on nonequilibrium thermodynamics, electrochemistry, thermodynamics and electrochemistry in fuel cells, electrolyzers, and batteries, and studies ways small molecules—such as oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and methane—can be used to create value-added commodities.

    At UConn, Zhou serves as a special advisor on sustainable energies to President Radenka Maric and Vice President for Research Pamir Alpay. In this role, he provides guidance and contributes to the development of sustainable energy strategies and initiatives across the university.

    Zhou currently serves as the technical editor of the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, and an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and the International Journal of Ceramic Engineering and Science. Since 2017, Zhou has secured more than $23 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy.

    Zhou received his BS in chemical engineering from East China University of Science and Technology and his Ph.D. in ceramic engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

    In 2012, CASE elected Pamir Alpay, vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship and professor of materials science and engineering to its membership. He’s among 20 engineering faculty from UConn—including the four new inductees—who are CASE members.

    “We’re thrilled to have Professors Zhao, Zheng, Khan, and Zhou join our membership at the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering,” Alpay says. “This achievement is a testament to their contributions to research and innovation, and their dedication to advancing knowledge in engineering fields. Their work continues to inspire excellence within our academic community at the CoE.”

    The CoE faculty are among 12 newly elected CASE members at UConn. One third of all new inductees statewide are UConn faculty. Others 2025 inductees include:

    • Gerald Berkowitz, professor of horticulture, University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources
    • Ming-Hui Chen, department head of statistics; Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Jie He, professor of chemistry, University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Guozhen Lu, professor of mathematics; director of Mathematical Sciences Research Collaboratory, University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    • Xiuling Lu, professor of pharmaceutical sciences; associate director of the Kildsig Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research, University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy
    • Vijay Rathinam, professor of immunology, University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine
    • Kumar Venkitanarayanan, professor of animal science; associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies, University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources
    • Jing Zhao, professor of chemistry, University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

    UConn Engineering continues to have a strong presence in CASE membership. Khan, Zhao, Zheng, and Zhou join 16 other faculty from the College of Engineering who are already members of CASE.

    CASE was chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1976 to provide expert guidance on science and technology to the people and to the state of Connecticut, and to promote the application of science and technology to human welfare and economic well-being.

    For more information about CASE, visit https://ctcase.org.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: SPS Commerce Releases 2024 ESG Report, Reinforcing Commitment to Sustainable and Responsible Growth

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MINNEAPOLIS, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SPS Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSC), a leader in retail supply chain cloud services, today announced the release of its 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, outlining the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, ethical business practices, and social responsibility. This inaugural report highlights the company’s key advancements in governance, employee experience, community engagement, and environmental stewardship.

    “At SPS Commerce, connectedness is at the core of everything we do, from enabling seamless supply chain collaboration to fostering an inclusive workplace and investing in the communities we serve,” said Chad Collins, CEO of SPS Commerce. “Our 2024 ESG Report reflects the meaningful progress we’ve made toward building a more sustainable and responsible future, while also underscoring our continued focus on the connections that link our environmental, social and governance principles to every facet of our business.”

    Key highlights from the 2024 ESG Report:

    • Governance & Ethics: Strengthened corporate policies to enhance ESG oversight and cybersecurity safeguards.
    • Employee Experience: Expanded Belonging@SPS, a global initiative focused on fostering connection and community across teams, alongside enhanced leadership development programs.
    • Community Impact: The SPS Foundation continued to drive social impact with a special focus on investing in education and workforce development, with over $2.5 million in donations.
    • Environmental Responsibility: Completed greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to better understand SPS Commerce’s carbon footprint.
    • Sustainable Operations: Continued prioritization of cloud-based infrastructure with 95% of SPS’s IT operations now in energy-efficient data centers powered by renewable energy.

    SPS Commerce remains committed to transparency and continuous improvement in its ESG efforts. The full 2024 ESG Report is available at https://www.spscommerce.com/corporate-responsibility/.

    About SPS Commerce

    SPS Commerce is the world’s leading retail network, connecting trading partners around the globe to optimize supply chain operations for all retail partners. We support data-driven partnerships with innovative cloud technology, customer-obsessed service, and accessible experts so our customers can focus on what they do best. Over 45,000 recurring revenue customers in retail, grocery, distribution, supply, manufacturing, and logistics are using SPS as their retail network. SPS has achieved 96 consecutive quarters of revenue growth and is headquartered in Minneapolis. For additional information, contact SPS at 866-245-8100 or visit www.spscommerce.com.

    SPS COMMERCE, SPS, SPS logo and INFINITE RETAIL POWER are marks of SPS Commerce, Inc. and registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with other SPS marks. Such marks may also be registered or otherwise protected in other countries.

    SPS-F

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management’s view of SPS Commerce’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including our views regarding future execution within our business, the opportunity we see in the retail supply chain world and our performance for the first quarter and full year of 2025, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of SPS Commerce to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. Certain of these risk factors and others are included in documents SPS Commerce files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, SPS Commerce’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on SPS Commerce’s future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. SPS Commerce cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, SPS Commerce expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

    Contact:
    Investor Relations
    The Blueshirt Group
    Irmina Blaszczyk & Lisa Laukkanen
    SPSC@blueshirtgroup.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Welcome Back to Honduran Chevening Scholars 2023-24

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    World news story

    Welcome Back to Honduran Chevening Scholars 2023-24

    Deputy Head of Mission, Paul Huggins, welcomed the Honduran Chevening Scholars who successfully completed their master’s programs at UK universities.

    Two Honduran scholars from the 2023-24 academic year pursued master’s degrees at various renowned British institutions. 

    The Embassy congratulated the scholars on the successful completion of their studies and for being outstanding representatives of Honduras during their time in the UK. 

    Chevening is the UK government’s global scholarship program, offered by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in partnership with various organizations. Since 1983, Chevening has helped build bridges with over 160 different countries and territories, supporting the education and development of future leaders, influencers, and decision-makers worldwide. 

    The returning scholars are:

    • Eva Carolina Salgado Aguilar – MSc in Data Analytics at Queen Mary University of London. 
    • Fanny Carolina Nuñez Soriano – MSc in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at University of Strathclyde. 

    Chevening has fostered economic development and better business environments worldwide by funding scholars who have created businesses, become directors, and hold high-level positions in global organizations. 

    The application window for the 2025-2026 scholarships will open in August 2025. We strongly encourage mid-career professionals to apply for the program and sign up for alerts by visiting the Chevening website.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Welcoming school with family feel rated Good by Ofsted

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    Inspectors visited St Paul’s C of E Primary recently and, in their report published today (Wednesday 26 March, 2025), found that the school has ‘high expectations of the achievement and behaviour of pupils’, and that they are ‘increasingly rising to meet these high expectations’.

    They describe ‘a lovely, calm and purposeful atmosphere’. Pupils have ‘positive attitudes’ to learning, behave well, are polite and show a ‘strong understanding of the importance of showing respect to everyone’, being courteous to both adults and their peers.

    Leaders are increasingly ensuring that the school delivers a high-quality education to all pupils. The ‘well sequenced’ curriculum has been carefully redesigned to support better learning outcomes and ensure pupils build on their prior knowledge effectively.

    Teachers regularly check that pupils are learning well and benefit from the professional development that they receive, which helps them to deliver engaging lessons.

    The school prioritises reading, and there is a ‘strong culture’ of reading for pleasure. As a result, pupils learn to read with fluency, accuracy and enthusiasm.

    Pupils at St Paul’s are happy and safe and well cared for by staff who help pupils to identify their emotions.

    The school promotes a ‘strong sense of responsibility’, with pupils taking on many leadership roles and participating in community projects, such as fundraising for charities.

    Class-led assemblies also support the school’s intention to develop pupils’ character and spirituality through exploring themes, such as love and national celebration events.

    Staff say they are ‘proud to work at St Paul’s’, and governors know the school well and fulfil their statutory responsibilities effectively, asking challenging questions and providing effective support.

    Inspectors concluded that the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision at St Paul’s C of E Primary are all Good.

    Headteacher Jennifer Ferretti said: “We are delighted that Ofsted has recognised the significant school improvement journey we have been on in the last few years, thanks to the dedication, commitment and vision of the staff team.

    “St Paul’s continues to go from strength to strength, and we are incredibly proud of this achievement. We look forward to continuing to serve the community of St Paul’s, with the best interests of the children at the heart of everything we do.”

    Councillor Jacqui Coogan, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, added: “This is a wonderful report celebrating a happy and successful school and I would like to congratulate Jennifer Ferretti, her leadership team, staff, governors, parents and pupils on the excellent progress they have made over the last few years.”
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Latest stage of Narborough Road highway improvements to begin

    Source: City of Leicester

    THE latest phase in a rolling programme of repairs and improvements to pavements and road surfaces along Narborough Road will get under way this weekend.

    Leicester City Council is carrying out the works to spruce up public areas for local businesses and residents. The latest works focusing on the footways on the outbound section of Narborough Road between Norman Street and Equity Road, and on the inbound section between Cambridge Street and Westcotes Drive.

    The scheme will involve replacing broken paving slabs with concrete blocks, improving drainage to prevent water from pooling on the pavements, and placing water-permeable resin-bound gravel around the street trees. New bollards will also be installed, as well as new cycle racks, which will help stop vehicles parking on the pavement.

    The works, costing £350,000 and funded by the council’s Highways Maintenance Capital Budget, are due to begin on Sunday 30 March and will take around six months to complete.

    Waiting restrictions will be in place where work is taking place and some parking bays in nearby Paton Street will be out of use while they are used for storing essential equipment and materials.

    Investment in the area in recent years has already improved footways on the outbound side of Narborough Road, between its junctions with Norman Street and Briton Street and Ruding Road and Roman Street, along with the area between Upperton Road and Braunstone Gate.

    Major resurfacing on part of the busy road – between Winchester Avenue and Dumbleton Avenue – was also carried out last summer.

    Cllr Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said: “This rolling programme of works has hugely improved Narborough Road for local businesses, residents and visitors by upgrading footpaths, installing new street furniture and fixing drainage problems.

    “This latest scheme will continue to upgrade the area, helping to further improve the look and feel of the neighbourhood.”

    Local residents and businesses have received a letter from the city council, informing them of the planned works.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: City Mayor approves new tools to tackle anti-social behaviour in Leicester

    Source: City of Leicester

    NEW powers to help the city council keep Leicester’s public spaces free from anti-social behaviour are to take effect from Wednesday (2 April).

    Following a consultation exercise earlier this year, which indicated widespread support for the proposals, City Mayor Peter Soulsby has authorised the introduction of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in the city centre that will empower the police and authorised council officers to take swift enforcement action against those causing a nuisance.

    The new PSPO will cover the city centre within the inner ring road, together with the area around Leicester railway station, the entirety of New Walk, and the area between London Road and Regent Road as far as Granville Road.

    Within the area covered by the PSPO, an individual will be in breach of the order – and committing a criminal offence – if they cause a nuisance by:

    • using an e-bike, bike, skateboard or scooter irresponsibly
    • consuming alcohol when asked to stop by an authorised officer
    • using amplification equipment without authorisation
    • begging
    • collecting for charity without the council’s permission
    • putting up a gazebo or other temporary structure without authorisation

    From Wednesday 2 April, anyone breaching the PSPO in Leicester could face a fixed penalty notice of £100, rising to £1,000 if prosecution leads to a conviction.

    City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “Like all big cities, Leicester has seen a rise in anti-social behaviour in recent years – and it’s clearly affecting people’s enjoyment of our streets and spaces. 

    “Whether it’s problems associated with street drinking or begging, the unauthorised use of amplification equipment, or the irresponsible use of e-bikes and scooters, these behaviours are a nuisance – and they need to stop.

    “I’m determined that we use all the tools at our disposal to tackle the behaviour of the individuals who are spoiling the city centre for the rest of us, and it’s clear from the consultation that the majority of the population want us to take action too.

    “I’m very pleased that this Public Spaces Protection Order will give us new powers to address these persistent nuisances. And if these measures lead to improvements in the city centre, we’ll look at introducing further PSPOs in other parts of the city too.”

    The full order and accompanying documents can be seen online at cabinet.leicester.gov.uk

    Public Spaces Protection Orders were introduced by the government as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014 and can be used by councils to target a range of issues in a defined public area.

    Once adopted, each PSPO is valid for three years.

    The online consultation in Leicester was launched on 20 January this year and ran for four weeks. A total of 1,139 responses were received, with the majority of respondents supporting the introduction of measures to tackle the issues outlined in the consultation.  

    ends

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chancellor delivers security and national renewal in a new era of global change

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    Press release

    Chancellor delivers security and national renewal in a new era of global change

    Chancellor vows to bring about “new era of security and national renewal” as she delivered a Spring Statement to kickstart economic growth, protect working people and keep Britain safe.

    • People to be on average £500 a year better off by the end of this parliament compared to under the previous government, putting more money in people’s pockets.

    • OBR forecast concludes government’s landmark planning reforms will result in a £6.8 billion boost to the economy and housebuilding at its highest level in over 40 years by 2029-30.

    • Growth at the heart of Plan for Change as £13 billion of additional capital spend allocated alongside £2.2 billion defence funding boost next year.

    People will be on average £500 a year better off from 2029, relative to OBR’s autumn forecast, helping to deliver the Plan for Change as the Chancellor today (Wednesday 26 March) announced a Spring Statement to grasp the opportunities in a changing world.

    The OBR has also today concluded that the government’s landmark planning reforms will result in UK housebuilding reaching its highest level in over 40 years, bringing the UK one step closer to its Plan for Change mission to build 1.5 million homes.

    The economy will be 0.2% larger in 2029-30 because of the reforms – worth around £6.8 billion in today’s money – growing to 0.4% over the next ten years. This represents the biggest positive growth effect it has ever forecasted for a policy that comes at zero-cost to taxpayers. The reforms will secure over 170,000 new homes for hard working families and leave borrowing £3.4 billion lower in 2029-30.

    The Chancellor also set out how the government is protecting national security and maximising the growth potential of the UK defence sector by confirming a £2.2 billion increase in the defence budget in 2025-26 while ensuring UK defence is on the cutting-edge of technology and innovation.

    But growth is still not where it should be, so at this Spring Statement, this government has gone further and faster to kickstart growth by training up to 60,000 young people to get Britain building again; increasing capital investment by £13 billion over this parliament; and fixing public services by tearing out waste from its roots.

    Growth

    Kickstarting economic growth is the number one mission of this government, putting more money in people’s pockets. The government has already made considerable progress; supporting a third runway at Heathrow; revitalising the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor, launching the National Wealth Fund and making the right choices on public investment to drive growth across the UK.

    The actions of this government across the Autumn Budget and Spring Statement, if sustained, lead to a 0.6% rise in the level of real GDP by 2034-35, signalling the government’s growth plan is working.

    The OBR concluded that the stability rule is met by £9.9 billion and the investment rule is met by £15.1 billion. Both rules are met two years early, meaning from 2027-28 the government is only borrowing for investment and net financial debt is falling.

    The government is not satisfied with short-term growth figures, and is going further and fast today to improve this.

    • To go further and faster to get Britain building, the Chancellor has today announced a further £13 billion of capital investment over the Parliament to go further on growth, on top of the £100 billion uplift announced at Autumn Budget. This will deliver the projects needed to catalyse private investment, boost growth and drive forward the UK’s modern industrial strategy – unlocking the potential of the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor which could add up to £78 billion to the UK economy by 2035.

    • Taken together, this greater capital investment more than offsets the modest savings on day to day spending and means the total departmental spending will increase over the next five years, when compared with plans in the Autumn.

    • Over this Parliament, the government is funding a £625 million package to boost skills in the construction sector, which is expected to provide up to 60,000 more skilled construction workers to support the government’s plans to deliver 1.5 million homes in England over the parliament and progress vital infrastructure projects,

    • As part of this, the government is providing further support to scale up existing construction skills pathway over this Parliament through £100 million for 35,000 additional training places in construction-focused Skills Bootcamps, supporting trainees, ‘returners’, and existing employees to succeed in the sector. Building on the £40 million investment in the new Growth and Skills Levy at Autumn Budget 2024, the government is also providing a further £40 million to support up to 10,000 more young people to access new construction Foundation Apprenticeships, which will provide a key entry route into a thriving industry.

    • The government is ensuring there are enough skilled construction workers in the system, with £100 million to deliver 10 Technical Excellence Colleges specialised in construction across every region in England, and £165 million to increase funding for training providers delivering construction courses for 16-19-year-olds and adults.

    • The government is committed to supporting employers to unlock further investment in training to deliver more skilled construction workers, and is providing £100 million, alongside a £32 million contribution from the Construction Industry Training Board to deliver up to 40,000 industry placements in construction each year.

    • Supported by the construction skills package, the government confirmed this week that there will be a £2 billion injection of new grant funding to deliver up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes. The new funding will only support developments on sites that will deliver in this Parliament, getting spades in the ground quickly to build homes in places such as Manchester and Liverpool.

    Defence

    The world is changing before our eyes, reshaped by global instability, including Russian aggression in Ukraine. Europe is facing a once-in-a-generation moment for its collective security, with conflicts overseas undermining security and prosperity at home. 

    A month ago, the PM announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War as a result of the changing global picture, now reaching 2.5% of GDP by April 2027, and with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament subject to economic and fiscal conditions.

    We are going further and faster to protect our national security and maximise the economic growth potential of the UK defence sector.

    • Increasing the defence budget by £2.2 billion in 2025-26, taking additional spending on defence to over £5 billion since the Autumn Budget.

    • This raises spending on defence to 2.36% next year and will be invested in fitting Royal Navy ships with Directed Energy Weapons five years earlier than planned, providing better homes for military families and modernising His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth.

    • Setting a minimum 10 percent ringfence for equipment spending on emerging technologies like drones and autonomous systems, dual-use technology, and AI-powered capabilities, so that British troops have the tools they need to fight and win in modern warfare.

    • Getting this new tech into the hands of our armed forces quicker by cutting away bureaucracy, with a new UK Defence Innovation unit within the Ministry of Defence spearheading efforts to identify promising technology and ensure these get to the frontline at speed, while also bolstering the UK tech sector and crowding in private investment.

    • Creating bespoke procurement processes for different types of military equipment, learning lessons from our rapid support for Ukraine to drive faster timescale targets for operationalising new tanks, aircraft and other essential tools for modern warfare.

    • This government is determined to transform the defence sector into an engine for growth by focusing this investment on where it boosts the productive capacity of the economy such as investment in innovation and novel technologies. As a result of the increase in defence spending to 2.5%, the government estimates this could lead to around 0.3% higher GDP in the long run, equivalent to around £11 billion of GDP in today’s money.

    • The government’s investment in defence will also support its number one mission to deliver economic growth. UK citizens will be protected from threats at home whilst creating a stable environment in which businesses can thrive, and supporting highly skilled jobs and apprenticeships across the whole of the UK.

    Reform

    The government is determined to make the public sector more productive and to improve services for working people. But the changing world means we need to go further and faster to ensure we can deliver the public services that working people care most about.

    The government has shown its commitment to taking the difficult decisions required to drive efficiencies and reform the state – including announcing that the world’s largest quango, NHS England, will be brought back into the Department for Health and Social Care, reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies and duplication; and driving out wasteful government spend through cancelling thousands of government credit cards.

    Getting more people into jobs is also central to the government’s growth mission. This broken welfare system that is letting people down by asking them to prove what they can’t do, rather than focusing on what they could do with the right support – trapping people due to fear of trying work, lack of support and poor financial incentives.

    The social security system will always protect those who can never work, that is why this government is proposing an additional premium that will safeguard their incomes. And will end reassessments for people with the most severe, life-long conditions to give them dignity and security.

    Helping more people into work is a central aim of these reforms and which is why the government is tackling incentives to be inactive by abolishing the WCA, rebalancing Universal Credit, and investing more into employment support.

    We will always support those with long term health conditions through the Personal Independence Payment, which will remain an important non-means tested benefit for disabled people and people with long term health conditions.  But these reforms will make the system more targeted and sustainable to ensure the safety net is there for those who need it most.

    The OBR have now set out their final assessment of costings and confirmed this welfare package will reduce welfare spending by £4.8 billion in 2029-30.

    The government will modernise the Civil Service into a more productive and agile organisation that can effectively deliver the Plan for Change, underpinned by a digital revolution, while cancelling thousands of government procurement cards. Today, the Chancellor has gone further.

    • The Chancellor has confirmed the creation of a £3.25 billion Transformation Fund to support the fundamental reform of public services, seize the opportunities of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and transform frontline delivery to release savings for taxpayers over the long-term.

    • The Fund will invest in vital public services and accelerate the modernisation of the state by taking the next step to reform the children’s social care system through an additional £25 million for the fostering system. This will include funding the recruitment of a further 400 new fostering households, providing children with stability and addressing cost pressures on local government.

    • The fund will also support the managing offenders in the community, by providing £8 million for new technology so probation officers can focus on reducing reoffending, rather than filling out forms.

    • In addition, it will provide £42 million for three pioneering DSIT-led Frontier AI Exemplars. These Exemplars will test and deploy AI applications to make government operations more efficient and effective and improve outcomes for citizens by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.

    • To create an agile and productive state we are also providing £150 million for government employee exit schemes. This will support a leaner and more efficient Civil Service, helping to reduce administration costs by 15% by the end of the decade.

    • The Chancellor also announced a package of measures to close the tax gap, raising £1 billion per year by 2029-30. The UK tax gap was estimated to be around £40 billion in 2022-23.

    • The Spring Statement earmarks around £80 million in new money for third party debt collectors to bring in £1.3 billion over the next five years – a return of around £16 for every pound spent for UK public services and investment projects. HMRC will also receive £4 million in new funding to pilot a new test and learn programme with the private sector to improve the tax collection agency’s approach to recouping older unpaid tax debt. Ministers will decide whether to proceed with a larger exercise later this year based on the results of this test.

    • An additional 600 staff will also be recruited into HMRC’s debt management teams. This means that for every £1 spent on these staff, over £13 of debt is expected to be recovered. The staff will work with the private sector to make collecting tax debt more efficient including through automating admin processes.

    • The Spring Statement also announces £100 million in new funding for HMRC to recruit a further 500 compliance officers from April 2025. This will raise £241 million in unpaid tax over the next five years.

    • Late payment penalties for VAT and Making Tax Digital for income tax Self Assessment will increase to incentivise taxpayers to pay on time. This will be from 2% to 3% at 15 days, 2% to 3% at 30 days, and 4% to 10% from day 31. This will take effect from April 2025.

    • As announced in the autumn, Making Tax Digital for income tax Self Assessment will be extended to sole traders and landlords with income over £20,000. The Spring Statement confirms that this additional group will join Making Tax Digital from April 2028. This will build on the existing plan which will see sole traders and landlords with income above £50,000 joining from April 2026, and those with income above £30,000 joining from April 2027.  Around 4 million businesses have an income below the £20,000 threshold.

    Looking Forward

    This Spring Statement builds on the Autumn Budget and the decisions taken since required to deliver stability to the British economy and kickstart economic growth.

    The government will set out its plans for spending and key public sector reforms at the Spending Review which will conclude on 11 June 2025.

    This will not be a business-as-usual Spending Review. The government has fundamentally reformed the process to make it zero-based, collaborative, and data-led, in order to ensure a laser-like focus on the biggest opportunities to rewire the state and deliver the Plan for Change.

    At the Spending Review, the Budget in the autumn and across the Parliament, the government will continue to prioritise growing the economy to deliver change.

    More information

    • The OBR concludes planning reforms will bring housebuilding to its highest level in 40 years.

    • Government calculations for the long-run impacts of higher defence spending are based on estimates from Antolin-Diaz and Surico (2025), forthcoming in the American Economic Review (AER), of the GDP impact of higher defence spending on GDP. Their estimates of the GDP multiplier stabilise after ten years at around 1.6, which is assumed to reflect an appropriate long-run multiplier for potential output, as any demand-side effects are likely to have dissipated at the ten-year horizon.

    • Defence spending as a share of GDP is set to rise from 2.3% to 2.5%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points. Applying an elasticity of 1.6 to this change implies a long-run increase in the level of potential output of approximately 0.3%. A long-run increase to the level of potential output of 0.3% is equivalent to around £11 billion of GDP in the long run, in today’s prices.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Marat Khusnullin: The first wagons with crushed stone from the DPR arrived in the Penza region

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    The first batch of crushed stone was delivered from the Donetsk People’s Republic to the Penza Region via restored railway lines. The products are intended for the implementation of road construction projects, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin reported.

    “To restore the capacities of enterprises in the reunited regions, we need both workshop repairs, the purchase of new equipment, as well as sales markets and accessible logistics. Since February, freight train traffic has been resumed on the Yasinovataya-Volnovakha section, which made it possible to organize the shipment of the first batch of crushed stone from the Karan quarry, located in the territory of the DPR, to the Penza region. The cars have already arrived and been unloaded. In total, according to the first application, they plan to ship about 30 thousand tons,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

     

    Karan quarry is a participant of the free economic zone (FEZ) in new regions. From 2008 to 2022, production was not carried out at the quarry. Now this deposit allows producing fractional crushed stone not only for roads and railways, but also for the restoration and construction of housing facilities.

     

    “Expanding the geography of sales of local producers’ products increases the investment attractiveness of the region, which generally contributes to the socio-economic development of the territory. The SEZ is one of the most powerful tools in this work, which allows for the revival of existing and the creation of new enterprises,” added Ilshat Shagiakhmetov, General Director of the Territory Development Fund, the SEZ management company.

    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: Interview with Ekaterina Abasheeva for RBC Investments

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    Rating agencies will assign stars to shares of Russian companies.

    RBC Investments discussed with Ekaterina Abasheeva, head of the Central Bank’s corporate relations department, topics that are of greatest interest to private investors: stock ratings and disclosure of information during an IPO.

    Over the past year, the Bank of Russia has launched several large-scale reforms aimed at increasing the transparency of the Russian market.

    Stock Ratings: Russian Analogue of Morningstar

    There are currently two major problems: a lack of quality analytics on companies, as well as the unavailability of information on a number of issuers. In these conditions, a discussion arose about creating stock ratings – a product that, on the one hand, would allow us to tell more about the issuer, and on the other, to identify a range of attractive stocks, noted Abasheeva.

    “In the summer of 2025, we plan to launch a pilot project of non-credit ratings of shares of Russian issuers, which is expected to reach full capacity in 2026. The idea is that rating agencies will act as a kind of provider of independent assessments of the fair value of the issuer. It will be determined on the basis of both financial and non-financial metrics. Ideally, over time, the market price should converge with the expert assessment. The rating of shares will be the Russian analogue of the Morningstar project, which has been offering a similar rating product in North America, Europe and Asia for over 30 years. Agencies will assign stars to shares and accompany the ratings with advanced analytics. Thus, investors will receive a transparent and professional guideline on the basis of which they will be able to make investment decisions,” the head of the department explains the idea.

    Who will be giving grades?

    At the stage of developing the idea of stock ratings, the Bank of Russia considered various options for who would evaluate issuers. “There was an idea to create a new participant in the market that would provide an analytical service. However, it seemed more expensive to us, since it requires the development of new regulations,” says Abasheeva.

    An alternative approach is to use the ready-made infrastructure of rating agencies, since they already have experience in the securities market and have proven themselves as independent experts who have earned the trust of issuers and investors. The head of the department notes that the Central Bank held a series of meetings with agencies, where they discussed all the pros and cons: why they can offer a new product.

    “We were worried about the discrepancy between the expert assessment and the actual value of the rated entity. And of course, disputes arose over what responsibility the agencies would bear,” she continues. “It seems that the combination of independence, competence and responsibility of the agencies is best suited for the assessment of equity instruments. Now that all the discussions are behind us, the rating agencies have begun to develop methodologies for a new category of ratings. We intend to pilot the project on their basis.”

    It is planned that one issuer will be able to receive several ratings from different rating agencies: “Stocks are a very volatile and poorly predictable instrument. Obviously, the dispersion of opinions here, it seems to me, is more important than in relation to bonds, where the ratings are more homogeneous. Therefore, of course, we ideally expected that there would be at least two opinions on stocks from different rating agencies.”

    If the agencies’ assessments differ dramatically and send conflicting signals to investors, this could prompt the Central Bank to consider minimum requirements for analysts – their methodologies and the information they use, she adds. However, this will become clear after preliminary testing of the ratings on the initial pool of issuers. Key parameters for assessing companies

    According to Ekaterina Abasheeva, at least two rating agencies have already developed and presented their methodologies to issuers and professional analysts. They are based on the model fair value of the issuer, she notes, but other factors that distinguish shares from debt instruments are also taken into account.

    This primarily concerns non-financial factors. This is the quality of corporate management, as well as the protection of investors’ interests. In addition, rating agencies will be required to pay attention to the issuer’s information sensitive to foreign sanctions, says the department director.

    The final set of parameters may include more factors, since the regulator does not plan to set strict requirements for methodologies at the pilot stage of the project, adds Abasheeva. “The criteria for the quality of corporate governance can take into account possible violations of the law by the issuer and complaints from shareholders,” she gives examples. Shares will have stars

    In the matter of how to display ratings, the Bank of Russia, together with rating agencies, did not reinvent the wheel and followed the path of the existing rating system. Star ratings are widely used to evaluate not only financial products, but also restaurants, hotels and films, notes Ekaterina Abasheeva. At the same time, the disclosure of the symbolic assessment will be accompanied by the publication of a full investment report, as well as a press release as its shortened version, she adds.

    “The combination of the rating and the report, on the one hand, will allow the investor to quickly navigate the information about the issuer. On the other hand, having analytical support, it is possible to better understand what caused the assignment of a particular rating,” explains the head of the department.

    The Central Bank plans to update the stock rating more frequently than bonds, since stocks are more volatile. However, the regulator believes that the main thing here is not to overdo it, and proposes to tie the publication of updated ratings to the release of IFRS reporting – this is approximately once every six months.

    When will the first stock ratings appear?

    Considering that the working version of the rating agencies’ methodologies has already been prepared, the launch of ratings in pilot mode with the participation of the first issuers is expected in the summer, Abasheeva shares her plans. “We expect the first test assessments based on the methodologies prepared by the agencies to appear in 2025, and in 2026 we plan to analyze the experience gained and understand how we can move forward with the development of the new product,” she predicts. Will ratings be mandatory for companies?

    Abasheeva says that issuers have responded positively to the idea of stock ratings, and some of them have expressed a desire to participate in the pilot project.

    The department director emphasized that the Central Bank assumes that in the near future the presence of a stock rating will become mandatory for a certain type of company. This primarily concerns issuers that do not disclose information due to sanctions risks. “We consider them as potential subjects of regulation. It is important that the rating indirectly tells about the company what it cannot tell about itself due to sanctions problems. But this will definitely not happen at the start, but when we understand that the product has become operational,” she explained.

    A small group of companies will participate in the pilot in 2025. By the end of the year, rating agencies have agreed to test stock ratings free of charge, says Abasheeva.

    According to the regulator, the issuers that demonstrate the best practices in information disclosure and corporate governance will be primarily interested in the stock ratings. For them, the Bank of Russia, together with the Moscow Exchange, has launched a program to increase shareholder value. “Participation in the program will allow investors and shareholders to form an idea of the issuer’s current business, expectations for the stock price and dividend payments. The rating will serve as expert confirmation of the investment attractiveness of the companies,” she explains.

    Transparency of issuers during IPOs

    The second important reform initiated by the Bank of Russia is aimed at increasing the transparency of the IPO procedure. At the end of January 2025, the regulator presented a report for public consultations “Information Transparency in the Securities Market: Issuers and Conditions for the Initial Public Offering of Their Shares”. The document included proposals to improve the information quality of placements, change the content of information disclosed by issuers and adapt it to the needs of retail investors.

    Over the course of a month, the regulator met with market participants to collect feedback and discuss proposals. According to Ekaterina Abasheeva, the most sensitive and controversial proposals were the proposals to include forecast indicators in the issue prospectus, the presence of two reports from independent analysts when a company goes public, and the definition of the role and responsibility of placement organizers. In the rest of the proposals in the advisory report, the Central Bank received support from investors, issuers, and placement organizers, she added.

    Forecast indicators

    The Bank of Russia believes that if a company publicly broadcasts forecasted performance indicators in its IPO marketing materials, they must correspond to what is disclosed in the securities prospectus, notes Abasheeva. According to her, companies can now describe the “best prospects” for their development in advertising materials. The investor has no choice but to focus on them, since there are simply no others. “We want to change the situation. It is important that the forecast indicators disclosed by issuers reflect reality – you can’t highlight only the good and hide under the carpet what is not in the issuer’s favor,” explained Ekaterina Abasheeva.

    The minimum set of forecast data in the prospectus may include revenue, net profit or loss, net profit per share, and return on equity. Issuers may provide all figures in the range mode, the width of which may be set by the regulator, Abasheva added.

    In addition to the range, the forecast horizon is important. The Central Bank knows of cases where the issuer in advertising brochures indicated potential growth of 40%, 100% – but it is unclear on what time horizon. Therefore, the Bank of Russia proposes to make the forecast horizon mandatory for at least one year, but issuers can choose a longer period.

    At the same time, responsibility for forecasts does not go away, Abasheeva emphasizes. “If you include deliberately false information in the prospectus, intentionally mislead investors, then you must be aware of your responsibility for this,” she explained. Analytical reports from professionals

    According to Ekaterina Abasheeva, this point caused some concerns among market participants. The main argument against independent assessment was that there are not enough analysts on the market now who can cover the IPO market, she says. However, from the regulator’s point of view, it is a question of chicken and egg: if there is demand for analytical reports, there will be analysts.

    Market participants also see a possible conflict of interest among analysts, when issuers will choose those who are guaranteed to “draw” them beautiful reports. To this, Abasheeva responded that the Bank of Russia has well-established mechanisms for working with the known problem: “A conflict of interest is a topic that is clear how to work with, because otherwise we would not have audit services or ratings for the same bonds. We do not see any problems here,” she notes.

    According to her, independence can be defined as the absence of other commercial interests of the person providing analytical services. Currently, the organizers of placements simultaneously evaluate the issuer and offer its shares to their clients when providing brokerage services, and acquire them for their portfolio.

    Allocation disclosure requirement may become mandatory

    In May 2024, the Central Bank tried to “spur” issuers and placement organizers to be open by sending an information letter. In the document, the regulator proposed that companies disclose their approaches to distributing shares among different categories of investors before the IPO, and then publish information on the actual distribution of shares among buyers.

    However, the information letter was advisory in nature and not all issuers heeded it. Currently, the Bank of Russia is considering the possibility of transferring the recommendations to the mandatory level, noted Abasheeva.

    “We are now proposing to make it mandatory to disclose information about both the proposed allocation and the actual distribution of shares,” said Abasheeva.

    It is planned that the Bank of Russia will present the results of the discussion of the report in the summer of this year and will determine the standards that will become mandatory for IPO candidates.

    Gleb Kukharchuk, Dmitry Polyansky, “RBC Investments”

    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 = 23488

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 26 March 2025 Departmental update United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) extended to 2030

    Source: World Health Organisation

    The resolution also calls on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to continue to lead and monitor the implementation of the Decade and to further strengthen efforts in advancing the global nutrition agenda.

    “The world is off track to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 and all countries need to scale up implementation of national commitments and increase investments for nutrition. Therefore, the decision by the General Assembly to extend the Decade for Action on Nutrition is an important step and would be well supported by the alignment of the 6 World Health Assembly global nutrition targets to 2030. WHO remains committed to fully deliver its mandate in this crucial endeavour,” said Werner Obermeyer, Director of the WHO Office at the United Nations.

    Ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition is among the most urgent and pervasive development challenges. Most countries face multiple burdens of malnutrition and diet-related NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and obesity. The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition is a commitment by United Nations’ Member States to undertake sustained and coherent implementation of policies, programmes and increased investments to eliminate malnutrition in all its forms and in all countries, leaving no one behind. 

    The Decade of Action on Nutrition supports coordinated country action across six areas:

    • sustainable, resilient food systems for healthy diets
    • aligned health systems providing universal coverage of essential nutrition actions
    • social protection and nutrition education
    • trade and investment for better nutrition
    • safe, supportive environments across all ages
    • strengthened governance and accountability for nutrition.

    Extending the Nutrition Decade will allow FAO and WHO to continue reporting on nutrition action and inform the General Assembly on progress through biennial reports for the next five years.

    The adoption of this resolution coincides with the Nutrition for Growth Summit, taking place 27–28 March 2025 in Paris where the global nutrition community will be discussing how to align policies and resources to close the funding gap for nutrition. 

    Read the full text of the resolution. 

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    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: OBR concludes planning reforms will bring housebuilding to its highest level in 40 years

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    OBR concludes planning reforms will bring housebuilding to its highest level in 40 years

    OBR forecast concludes housebuilding will be at its highest level in over 40 years a result of UK government’s planning reforms by 2029/30 – bringing UK closer to Plan for Growth 1.5 million homes target .

    • Economic watchdog also forecast 0.2% to be added to GDP by 2029/30 because of planning reforms – worth around £6.8bn in today’s prices 

    • For a zero-cost policy this is the biggest positive growth effect the OBR have ever taken on – while also protecting £3.4 billion for UK public services

    The government’s reforms to the UK’s planning system will result in housebuilding being at its highest level in over 40 years, the OBR has concluded in its forecast for today’s Spring Statement. 

    The government’s bold planning reforms back the builders not the blockers to deliver an extra 170,000 homes by 2029/30 – boosting homes built by 30% that year after a 13 year house building low in 2025-26.

    This brings the UK one step closer to the government’s Plan for Change mission to build 1.5 million new homes this parliament with the OBR confirming the government is on track to build an extra 1.3 million homes by the end of this parliament. Further reforms, such as the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the government’s long term housing strategy and the new Affordable Homes Programme – on which the government made a £2 billion down payment this week – are not reflected in the forecast and will all help to reach the 1.5 million target. 

    As a result of the planning reforms the UK’s economic watchdog also think the economy will be 0.2% larger by 2029/30, worth around £6.8 billion in today’s prices. 

    The OBR have also concluded in their forecasting that this could rise to over 0.4% in 2034/35 – meaning billions of pounds more for public services like the NHS and more construction jobs to get houses built for hardworking families.  

    For a zero-cost policy, this is the biggest positive growth effect the OBR have ever forecast. 

    The boost to GDP is driven by:

    • Higher productivity in the construction sector, from bringing land on the edges of our largest towns and cities into more productive use, lower planning costs and removing artificial constraints imposed by planning that prevent the construction sector from expanding.    

    • A greater flow of ‘housing services’ – there will be more houses for the same number of people, allowing new households to form (e.g. people moving out of their parents’ home into a home of their own). This increases GDP through more rent being paid (where new homes are let out), or ‘imputed rents’ (which reflects what owner occupiers would pay to rent their home on the open market).

    • Beyond the five-year forecast, greater housing availability increases labour mobility which contributes further to growth, by allowing people to move to high productivity places.

    Homes will be built on disused car parks and petrol stations, whilst national landscapes and sites of special scientific interest will continue be protected. Government guidance ensures that Green Belt will not be fundamentally undermined. 

    This features as part of the Plan for Change to get Britain building, which also includes the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently going through parliament, which the OBR will take a judgement on in due course.  

    The government will also consult on policies to support a more streamlined and consistent planning system. As part of delivering the Plan for Change milestone to deliver 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament, the government will publish a Long Term Housing Strategy and has committed to set out details of further new government investment in social and affordable housing to at the Spending Review this year, following on from the £2 billion down payment announced yesterday as well as confirming the government’s plans to provide certainty for the transformative programme of building the new generation of new towns.

    Background 

    • The planning reforms are the reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework. Planning changes act as a supply side reform, increasing potential output in the economy and sustainably increasing both the UK’s productivity and economic activity. 

    • The government has modernised Green Belt policy to ensure development is permitted on low quality grey belt land, including disused car parks and petrol stations, while ensuring land safeguarded for environmental reasons, including national landscapes and sites of special scientific interest, continue to be protected.   

    • Development on the grey belt is subject to Golden Rules to ensure that the benefits of new housing are felt by communities. Recent planning guidance and the NPPF ensures the overall purposes of the Green Belt are not fundamentally undermined. Affordable housing requirements (the “Golden Rules”) mean that NPPF reforms will not only deliver more homes, but also address the acute affordability pressures caused by low levels of housebuilding in recent parliaments.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The school Olympiad “All-Russian School TIM-Championship” of SPbGASU has started in the 2024/2025 academic year

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    The All-Russian school TIM-Championship of SPbGASU is held annually for students in grades eight through eleven and is addressed to those who plan to enroll in educational institutions in the following areas: Construction, Information Systems and Technologies, Applied Informatics, Thermal Power Engineering and Thermal Engineering, and Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures.

    This year, 85 schoolchildren from 17 regions took part in the qualifying round – correspondence course using distance learning technologies, 36 of them were admitted to the final stage, the opening of which took place today, March 26, at the Educational Center for Digital Competencies of SPbGASU.

    “The Olympiad is aimed at developing students’ creative abilities and interest in research, engineering, technical, and inventive activities, at the professional orientation of schoolchildren, and the promotion of scientific knowledge. The tasks go beyond the school curriculum, which allows us to assess the intellectual development of students, promote the development of gifted children, and increase their motivation for in-depth study of technical disciplines. In addition, in this way we popularize the educational programs of SPbGASU in order to accept motivated applicants, and form the composition of the university’s students from the most capable and prepared to master the main professional educational programs of higher education,” explained Inna Sukhanova, a member of the organizing committee and director of the Educational Center for Digital Competencies of SPbGASU.

    She specified that the industrial partner of TIM-Championship – the company OOO RL Proekt – provided a set of drawings of a ready-made solution of an individual two-story residential building without a basement, with a parking lot. Participants will have to correctly understand the drawings and, in accordance with the prescribed task, create a digital information model of this building strictly according to all the drawings.

    One day is allotted for completing the tasks. Tomorrow, a competent jury will begin its work, which includes employees of specialized departments of SPbGASU and leading experts in the relevant fields of knowledge and professional activity. The winners will be determined based on the results of the individual competition in each age category on March 28. Their award ceremony will take place on April 25 as part of the VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference “Information Modeling in Construction and Architecture Problems” (BIMAC-2025).

    Deputy Director for Experimental Work at Secondary School No. 255 in the Admiralty District of St. Petersburg Marita Yarmolinskaya noted that the TIM-Championship of SPbGASU is only one of the activities that are provided to the school as a participant in the TIM-Classes of SPbGASU project. She considers the project itself to be very important for schoolchildren, since it is an effective method of career guidance and familiarization with a new interesting industry that is actively developing today.

    “We are making a lot of efforts to involve children in this project. In fact, the percentage of schoolchildren who want to choose technical specialties for themselves in the future is much higher than the share of those who plan to do so in the eighth or ninth grades. Practice shows that at first, many dream of the so-called fashionable industries, for example, blogging. But in the final grade, they realize the need for a practical specialty and enter technical universities. We see our task in introducing children to engineering and technical specialties as early as possible, so that the choice of further education is conscious. The TIM-classes project is very helpful in this,” explained Marita Yarmolinska.

    She added that this year the most important thing for them is participation and acquisition of initial experience in solving tasks of such level and volume, since the students are first-year students. Last year, already experienced students received two diplomas: third degree and a diploma in the nomination “Architect-Innovator”.

    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 USA: An Interview with Foreign Law Intern at the Law Library of Congress, Yu-Chen Tsai

    Source: US Global Legal Monitor

    Today’s interview is with Yu-Chen Tsai, a foreign law intern working with Foreign Law Specialist Laney Zhang in the Global Legal Research Center of the Law Library of Congress.

    Describe your background.

    I was born and raised in Tainan, a city in southern Taiwan known for its rich history and delicious street food. With my father being from the Philippines, I grew up in a multicultural environment.

    What is your academic/ professional history?

    I started my legal career in a rather unconventional way. My first formal employment was as an Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) coordinator at a hospital, where I was responsible for formulating a new human subject protection plan for all research involving human participants conducted at the institution. After leaving my position as an IRB coordinator, I continued to serve as an IRB member.

    Seeking broader legal experience from different perspectives, I worked as an in-house counsel in two distinct industries—human resources and manufacturing. In these roles, I conducted contract analyses, assessed the pros and cons of various agreements, and provided senior management with legal advice to support their decision-making processes.

    I hold a bachelor’s degree in law from Soochow University. Following that, I pursued a master’s degree at the College of Law at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, where my dissertation focused on the importance of information disclosure regarding adverse drug events during litigation. I recently completed a Master of Laws (LL.M.) program at Columbia Law School in New York and passed the New York bar in 2024.

    How would you describe your job to other people?

    As a foreign law intern at the Global Legal Research Center of the Law Library of Congress, I conduct in-depth legal research and draft memoranda on the legal jurisdictions of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore in response to Congressional and public inquiries. Additionally, I assist in drafting articles on Taiwan’s legal developments for the Global Legal Monitor.

    Why did you want to work at the Law Library of Congress?

    About 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Law Library of Congress with my current supervisor, Laney Zhang, as my guide. I told myself then that I would return one day. And here I am. It is truly a blessing to have the opportunity to work and learn alongside so many talented legal experts from different countries and to contribute by sharing legal developments from Taiwan.

    What is the most interesting fact you have learned about the Law Library of Congress?

    I was amazed to learn that there are tunnels beneath the Library of Congress that connect its three buildings, as well as some congressional buildings. I always get lost in this underground maze.

    What’s something most of your co-workers do not know about you?

    I love birds and have nine parrots back home. I also have a passion for flower arrangements and previously ran a small online store in Taiwan.

    Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget Wallet Champion Program Enters Beta with 40% Trading Rebate

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget Wallet, a leading Web3 non-custodial wallet, has launched the beta phase of “Bitget Wallet Champion” program, the first ecosystem partner initiative among Web3 wallets to feature a 40% built-in rebate mechanism.

    The Champion program aims to reward early supporters who help drive growth across the Bitget Wallet ecosystem. The participation of the beta phase is currently limited to invited KOLs, community leaders, and media channels. Selected partners who successfully join the program will not only enjoy a 40% rebate on their referees’ trading fees, but also gain access to a range of exclusive perks including airdrops from key partner projects, custom merchandise, and official traffic support.

    This initiative reflects a growing trend among Web3 platforms to deepen collaboration with creators, educators, and community builders through performance-based rewards. As a leading Web3 wallet with integrated crypto trading and payment tools, Bitget Wallet continues to expand its role in supporting ecosystem growth through incentive-driven programs. This initiative also marks a key step in Bitget Wallet’s efforts to bridge online influence with real-world presence, working in tandem with the upcoming Bitget Wallet Connect meetup series, which aims to bring builders and users together through curated local gatherings across key regions.

    The full version of the Bitget Wallet Champion program will be revealed in the coming weeks, with a broader rollout planned. “We believe Web3 growth should be community-powered and value-driven. Champion is a step toward building sustainable partnerships with those who share our vision,” said Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet.

    Interested participants can now apply for the beta via Bitget Wallet’s official X account.

    About Bitget Wallet
    Bitget Wallet is the home of Web3, uniting endless possibilities in one non-custodial wallet. With over 60 million users, it offers comprehensive onchain services, including asset management, instant swaps, rewards, staking, trading tools, live market data, a DApp browser and crypto payment solutions. Supporting over 130 blockchains, 20,000+ DApps, and millions of tokens, Bitget Wallet enables seamless multi-chain trading across hundreds of DEXs and cross-chain bridges, along with a $300+ million protection fund to ensure safety of users’ assets. Experience Bitget Wallet Lite to start a Web3 journey.

    For more information, visit: X | Telegram | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | TikTok | Discord | Facebook

    For media inquiries, please contact: media.web3@bitget.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9fb3ae2-30d5-47b1-bce7-94f8725ae8d7

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Satellogic Finalizes Move to U.S. Jurisdiction to Strengthen Market Position and Investor Access

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On March 26, 2025, Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) (the “Company”), consummated its previously announced domestication, pursuant to which the Company changed its jurisdiction of incorporation, domesticating as a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware and discontinuing as a business company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. The Company’s business, assets and liabilities on a consolidated basis, as well as its Board of Directors, the Company’s executive officers, principal business locations (other than its principal executive office) and fiscal year, were the same immediately after the domestication as they were immediately prior to the domestication. Additionally, the Company’s Class A common stock will continue to trade under the ticker symbol “SATL” and its publicly-traded warrants will continue to trade under the ticker symbol “SATLW.”

    “We are incredibly excited about the strategic realignment of Satellogic as a U.S. company,” said Emiliano Kargieman, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this realignment provides better visibility to our investors and customers and better positions the Company to capture high value growth opportunities as it relates to competing for U.S. and allied government contracts.”

    About Satellogic

    Founded in 2010 by Emiliano Kargieman and Gerardo Richarte, Satellogic (NASDAQ: SATL) is the first vertically integrated geospatial company, driving real outcomes with planetary-scale insights. Satellogic is creating and continuously enhancing the first scalable, fully automated EO platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, providing accessible and affordable solutions for customers.

    Satellogic’s mission is to democratize access to geospatial data through its information platform of high-resolution images to help solve the world’s most pressing problems including climate change, energy supply, and food security. Using its patented Earth imaging technology, Satellogic unlocks the power of EO to deliver high-quality, planetary insights at the lowest cost in the industry.

    With more than a decade of experience in space, Satellogic has proven technology and a strong track record of delivering satellites to orbit and high-resolution data to customers at the right price point.

    To learn more, please visit: http://www.satellogic.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. The words “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intends”, “may”, “might”, “plan”, “possible”, “potential”, “predict”, “project”, “should”, “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward looking statements are based on Satellogic’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on Satellogic and include statements concerning Satellogic’s strategic realignment as a U.S. company, the visibility and high growth opportunities it will provide in connection therewith. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve, and must not be relied on by an investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Satellogic. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) our ability to generate revenue as expected, (ii) our ability to effectively market and sell our EO services and to convert contracted revenues and our pipeline of potential contracts into actual revenues, (iii) risks related to the secured convertible notes, (iv) the potential loss of one or more of our largest customers, (v) the considerable time and expense related to our sales efforts and the length and unpredictability of our sales cycle, (vi) risks and uncertainties associated with defense-related contracts, (vii) risk related to our pricing structure, (viii) our ability to scale production of our satellites as planned, (ix) unforeseen risks, challenges and uncertainties related to our expansion into new business lines, (x) our dependence on third parties to transport and launch our satellites into space, (xi) our reliance on third-party vendors and manufacturers to build and provide certain satellite components, products, or services, (xii) our dependence on ground station and cloud-based computing infrastructure operated by third parties for value-added services, and any errors, disruption, performance problems, or failure in their or our operational infrastructure, (xiii) risk related to certain minimum service requirements in our customer contracts, (xiv) market acceptance of our EO services and our dependence upon our ability to keep pace with the latest technological advances, (xv) competition for EO services, (xvi) challenges with international operations or unexpected changes to the regulatory environment in certain markets, (xvii) unknown defects or errors in our products, (xviii) risk related to the capital-intensive nature of our business and our ability to raise adequate capital to finance our business strategies, (xix) substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, (xx) uncertainties beyond our control related to the production, launch, commissioning, and/or operation of our satellites and related ground systems, software and analytic technologies, (xxi) the failure of the market for EO services to achieve the growth potential we expect, (xxii) risks related to our satellites and related equipment becoming impaired, (xxiii) risks related to the failure of our satellites to operate as intended, (xxiv) production and launch delays, launch failures, and damage or destruction to our satellites during launch, and (xxv) the impact of natural disasters, unusual or prolonged unfavorable weather conditions, epidemic outbreaks, terrorist acts, and geopolitical events (including the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, in the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea region) on our business and satellite launch schedules. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of Satellogic’s Annual Report on Form 20-F and other documents filed or to be filed by Satellogic from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Satellogic assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Satellogic can give no assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

    Media Contacts

    Satellogic, Inc.
    Ryan Driver, VP of Strategy & Corporate Development
    pr@satellogic.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Cequence Security Research Uncovers 66.5% of Malicious Traffic Targets Retailers as PCI DSS 4.0 Deadline Looms

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cequence Security, a leader in API security and bot management, today unveiled new insights from its CQ Prime threat research team that reveal a surge in cyber threats as businesses race to comply with the March 31 PCI DSS 4.0 deadline. The research underscores the escalating risks of API-driven fraud, credential stuffing, and payment system abuse, particularly in retail and financial services.

    Drawing on billions of real transactions and attack data from Cequence’s Unified API Protection (UAP) platform, the report highlights the growing attack surface cybercriminals exploit in payment infrastructure, loyalty programs, and product pricing systems.

    For a visual summary of the report’s findings, including how attackers are bypassing traditional security layers and strategies to defend against them, download the infographic here.

    Key Findings:

    • Scale of Credential Attacks: As the PCI DSS 4.0 deadline approaches, automated fraud is accelerating. More than 300 million account takeover (ATO) attempts were blocked in the past year, illustrating the growing scale of credential stuffing attacks.
    • Retail’s High-Stakes Battleground: Retailers faced 66.5% of all malicious traffic, highlighting their vulnerability due to high transaction volumes and fragmented security postures.
    • Product Search & Pricing Abuse: A staggering 822 million attempts were blocked as 89% of non-ATO bot-driven attacks focused on scraping product pricing. This enables competitive algorithm manipulation, scalping, and real-time price undercutting of legitimate retailers.
    • Loyalty Rewards Abuse: Over 22 million fraudulent attempts were blocked as attackers exploited loyalty programs, treating reward points like cash. These accounts are frequently drained due to easier liquidation than stolen credit cards, often going undetected until significant losses occur.
    • Shopping Cart & Inventory Abuse: Nearly 6 million attacks were prevented as fraudsters weaponized automation to hoard high-demand products.
    • Credit Verification Fraud: Over 69 million attempts were blocked as cybercriminals mass-tested stolen credit card details through low-risk transactions before making larger fraudulent purchases, fueling the circulation of compromised payment data.

    “PCI DSS 4.0 is pushing businesses to modernize security, but many are still scrambling to catch up—giving attackers the perfect opportunity to strike,” said Randolph Barr, CISO at Cequence. “Account takeovers remain the biggest threat, but we’re also seeing a wave of new, highly sophisticated attacks exploiting every stage of the digital payment process. The common thread? APIs. Attackers are sidestepping traditional security defenses and going straight for API endpoints that handle cardholder data—one of the most critical yet overlooked vulnerabilities. Businesses that focus only on compliance risk falling behind.”

    While PCI DSS 4.0 introduces critical security updates, many businesses still struggle with API protection—an area that attackers are actively exploiting. To ensure compliance while defending against real-world threats, Cequence recommends these key actions:

    • Ensure Secure Data Transmission: Encrypt all Primary Account Number (PAN) information when transmitted over open, public networks to prevent unauthorized access.
    • Secure API Endpoints: Identify all API endpoints that transmit PAN and ensure they only transmit encrypted PAN, reducing the risk of data exposure.
    • Proactively Identify Vulnerabilities: Inspect custom application code for security flaws before deployment using automated tools to identify risks in APIs, third-party integrations, and custom applications.
    • Continuously Test and Monitor: Regularly test APIs and applications for misconfigurations or vulnerabilities before production and monitor them for anomalous or malicious behavior in real time.
    • Deploy Automated Preventative Controls: Use security solutions that prevent both conventional attacks and business logic abuse while ensuring sensitive data is not exposed to unauthorized entities.
    • Implement Real-Time Threat Prevention: Identify and block malicious traffic before it reaches your applications using intelligent, automated security mechanisms.

    Additional Resources:

    About Cequence Security
    Cequence is a pioneer in API security and bot management, protecting the applications and APIs that organizations depend on from attacks, business logic abuse, and fraud. Our unique Unified API Protection platform unites discovery, compliance, and protection capabilities, providing unmatched real-time security in the face of sophisticated threats. Demonstrating value in minutes rather than days or weeks, Cequence offers a flexible deployment model that requires no app instrumentation or modification. Cequence solutions scale to meet the needs of the largest and most demanding private and public sector organizations, protecting more than 8 billion daily API interactions and 3 billion user accounts. To learn more, visit www.cequence.ai.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8ec5685c-c150-4e3f-808d-8f1994c098b6

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Broadcom Simplifies and Accelerates Private Cloud Lateral Security with VMware vDefend Innovations

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALO ALTO, Calif., March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) today introduced new updates to VMware vDefend that enable organizations to up-level security planning and assessment, simplify lifecycle management and operations, and seamlessly scale security across application environments. As organizations develop security plans for VMware Cloud Foundation(R) (VCF), these new technologies and guidance tools enable improved time-to-implementation and help efficiently maintain security operations for all critical and non-critical applications.

    “Organizations often navigate thousands of applications to power their business. This complexity makes it difficult to maintain visibility and lateral security across all applications,” said Umesh Mahajan, vice president and general manager, Application Networking and Security Division, Broadcom. “VMware vDefend simplifies how organizations achieve zero trust and private cloud security goals by cutting through complexity and providing a comprehensive lateral security implementation. The latest vDefend innovations further this efficiency by offering real-time security assessments, a next-generation security services platform to simplify operations, and micro-segmentation as code to further improve security operations.”

    VMware vDefend is available as an Advanced Service for VMware Cloud Foundation.

    Robust Private Cloud Security Planning and Assessment with Security Intelligence
    It is essential for security teams to quickly detect and investigate potential breaches in their environment. This requires a proactive approach to security planning and rapid time-to-implementation across all application workloads. To support this, VMware vDefend introduces a Security Segmentation Assessment and Report in its Security Intelligence tool for lateral security visibility and threat analytics. It provides a real-time assessment of an organization’s security segmentation posture for implementing a zero trust private cloud initiative. The assessment analyzes application traffic to deliver timely, data-driven insights related to application interactions, pinpointing potential security gaps due to insecure network protocols and inappropriate application communication, measuring progress with a security segmentation score, and offering actionable and easy-to-implement policy recommendations. This assessment, along with rule recommendations, help organizations rapidly roll out lateral security protection on VMware vDefend Distributed Firewall across all their applications and stay ahead of potential breaches. The Security Segmentation Assessment Report is available today.

    Simplified Security Operations
    To establish a sophisticated security plan, organizations need a consistent, reliable platform and an optimized approach to micro-segmentation that allows customers to apply security as part of the application deployment process. vDefend addresses these needs by introducing new updates, including:

    • Updates to Security Services Platform (SSP): SSP is a self-contained and scale-out platform that simplifies deployment of Security Intelligence as well as advanced threat prevention tools such as Network Detection and Response and Malware Prevention. The new SSP architecture greatly streamlines the user experience with a simplified network design, streamlined life cycle management, tailored user profile for security administrators, and easier workflows for configuration and deployment. The enhanced scale-out capability ensures that visibility and threat prevention automatically extend to large-scale VCF deployments.
    • Micro-segmentation as Code: vDefend Distributed Firewall offers an optimized and streamlined approach to micro-segmentation. It is built into the hypervisor and applies security to every workload with an API-driven model that plugs into automation frameworks. This allows customers to apply lateral security as part of the application deployment process and seamlessly scale micro-segmentation across application environments. It features a declarative context-based model to deploy the full intent of customers’ vDefend security policy in a single, simplified manner and includes built-in automation that eliminates the need for external scripting. This rich policy model applies to both virtual machines and container workloads to ensure consistent lateral security protection.
    • Network Detection and Response Enhancement for Air-Gapped Environments: The Network Detection and Response (NDR) capability of VMware vDefend now supports mechanisms for organizations to securely update threat intelligence in on-premises operations without external network access. This ensures that all detection, correlation, and response activities are executed with higher fidelity within the closed network leveraging both internally and externally sourced threat intelligence. NDR provides an additional layer of protection against targeted attack campaigns in sensitive, high-security or classified environments and supports industries with strict regulatory compliance.
    • VMware Validated Solutions design for secure VCF: This best practice design guide1 with prescriptive use case guidance enables security teams to rapidly roll-out zero trust lateral security for VCF’s management components and application workloads.

    These capabilities are available today.

    Third-Party Validation
    Third-party research reports outline the impact and value of vDefend. vDefend recently received an AAA rating for Advanced Threat Prevention in the SE Labs Advanced Security Test Report. The SE Labs methodology tests full chains of attack, including complex, multi-staged ransomware threats, and uses a variety of tools and techniques commonly employed by threat actors to analyze the performance of vDefend Advanced Threat Prevention. An AAA rating is the highest rating vendors can receive and indicates the use of best-of-breed threat detection algorithms.

    Additionally, a recently commissioned Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Broadcom, revealed that a composite organization representative of interviewed customers with experience using VMware vDefend:

    • Reduced their cyber breach risk by 40%
    • Cut security operations expenses by 25%
    • Avoided a 12% increase in cyber insurance premiums

    The study also showed that the composite organization realized a 116% return on investment using VMware vDefend. The full study can be accessed here.2

    Supporting Quotes

    “Deep application-level visibility and micro-segmentation for a zero trust private cloud is critical for us,” said Sarita Akula , senior manager, Infrastructure Platforms at University of Arts, London. “In a very short time, we enabled Security Intelligence’s application analytics with SSP, successfully segmented certain critical applications, and laid the groundwork for enabling advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities of vDefend.”

    “vDefend has been a critical technology in our journey to Zero Trust security for health care applications,” says Tyler Wertenbruch, IT technical manager at St. John’s Health. “With vDefend’s micro-segmentation-as-code capabilities, we were able to apply lateral security during the application on-boarding process, enabling us to ensure that security remains up to date and maintain a strong Zero Trust posture. We are looking forward to leveraging Security Intelligence’s enhancements for deeper visibility and assessment of our application environment.”

    “VMware vDefend’s Security Intelligence hosted on the enhanced Security Services Platform has become a critical tool for quickly securing our customers’ business applications”, said Michael Law, managing consultant engineer at CDW, “These vDefend enhancements for lateral security are unmatched in the industry.”

    Additional Resources

    About Broadcom
    Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies a broad range of semiconductor, enterprise software and security solutions. Broadcom’s category-leading product portfolio serves critical markets including cloud, data center, networking, broadband, wireless, storage, industrial, and enterprise software. Our solutions include service provider and enterprise networking and storage, mobile device and broadband connectivity, mainframe, cybersecurity, and private and hybrid cloud infrastructure. Broadcom is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

    (1)   1VMware Validated Solutions: Lateral Security for VMware Cloud Foundation with VMware vDefend, March, 2025
    (2)   2Forrester Consulting, The Total Economic ImpactTM Of Broadcom VMware vDefend, March, 2025

    Media Contact:

    Heather Haley
    Broadcom Global Communications
    heather.haley@broadcom.com
    925-856-8042

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Instant launches Financial Wellness program, offering hourly workers financial empowerment resources

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ATLANTA, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Instant Financial, a fintech company modernizing payments and earned wage access for hourly workers and their employers, today introduced its Financial Wellness program. With 65 percent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, Instant’s Financial Wellness program is designed to help frontline employees achieve financial independence through tools that promote saving, build credit, and enhance financial health and well-being. The service is available to workers whose employers already partner with Instant for earned wage access, digital tips, and instant payments via banks, mobile wallets, or paycards. Instant’s solutions enable these workers to receive their wages at the end of each shift, or whenever they need them, rather than waiting weeks for payday.

    “Instant Financial is proud to offer financial wellness tools to our employers and current and future workers who receive earned wage access through our app,” said CEO Tal Clark. “Our mission has always been to give frontline employees opportunities for financial freedom, and today’s launch is a huge step toward that goal.”

    Benefits in Instant’s Financial Wellness program include:

    • Health and Well-being Access – Powered by Welcome Tech and designed for banked and unbanked individuals, Instant’s users can access a healthcare package consisting of telemedicine, prescription discounts, mental health support, and discounts on dental and vision care at a monthly cost of $35 per household.
    • Credit Building – Powered by MoneyLion, users may improve their credit scores by making on-time loan or credit card payments, which are then reported by MoneyLion to one or more of the major credit bureaus.
    • Free Rent Reporting – Powered by Self, users may improve their credit scores by making on-time rent payments, which are then reported by Self to the three major credit bureaus. Payment history makes up 35 percent of credit scores, but most apartments in the U.S. do not report rent payments to credit bureaus. 
    • Financial Education – Powered by Visa’s Practical Money Skills program, users get access to a multitude of financial education resources and can learn about basics on budgeting, saving, banking, and other financial tools.
    • High-Yield Savings Accounts – Powered by MoneyLion, users can choose from the top high-yield savings accounts offered from leading institutions with no monthly fee.

    “We’ve partnered with Instant Financial since 2017, offering daily digital tip payouts to thousands of our workers, so it’s become an integral part of our employee benefits,” said Robert Linder, CFO at Lazy Dog. “We’re always looking for meaningful ways to reduce financial stress for our team members, and we are excited about the potential of Instant’s Financial Wellness program to provide important tools to save more, improve credit, and take care of mental and physical well-being.”

    This announcement follows the recent launch of Instant Direct, which allows employees to choose between transferring funds to their bank accounts or using the Instant Card, based on their individual needs and circumstances. Today, Instant is the only platform offering an all-in-one solution that includes earned wage access, digital tips, and payroll cards, and it has helped workers in restaurants, retail, hospitality, and beyond access $7.5 billion+ in earnings at no or low cost. Customers like Sun Holdings, Church’s Chicken, and Bloomin’ Brands rely on Instant for their modern payroll solutions, which helps them better recruit and retain their frontline workforce.

    “Financial security goes beyond just receiving a paycheck—it’s about having access to the tools and resources needed to build a better future,” said Amir Hemmat, co-founder and CEO of Welcome Tech. “Through our partnership with Instant, we’re helping workers take control of their financial and personal well-being.”

    For more information about the Instant Financial Wellness program or to explore modern payroll solutions for your business, visit instant.co.

    About Instant
    Instant Financial is a fintech company modernizing payments and earned wage access for hourly workers and their employees. We provide earned wage access, digital tips, and instant payments via banks, mobile wallets, or paycards, along with financial wellness services—giving frontline workers control over how and when they get paid. As the first company to offer earned wage access through a paycard, Instant has helped workers in restaurants, retail, hospitality, and beyond access over $7.5 billion in earnings at no or low cost. With 79% of employees wanting same-day pay, our award-winning solutions turn every workday into payday, helping employers improve recruitment and retention. Learn more at instant.co.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/96cc688b-3131-4f19-89d8-1652eca1dc26

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Meet your AI Beauty Counselor: K-beauty giant Amorepacific builds an AI app for personalized advice

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Meet your AI Beauty Counselor: K-beauty giant Amorepacific builds an AI app for personalized advice

    Traditionally, salespeople at department stores or door-to-door have fulfilled that role. But these experts are scarce online. While beauty influencers abound, they usually promote specific products rather than what consumers want or need. 

    “We want to provide the same level of service that [customers] get offline in the online environment,” Hong said.  

    Hyper-personalization 

    Amorepacific was started 80 years ago by Suh Sungwhan, whose mother, Yun Dokjeong, bottled camellia oil by hand. It was the first Korean company to set up a cosmetics lab in the 1950s and to open a beauty counseling center in the 1960s. Today it is helmed by Suh’s son, Kyungbae Suh, and its well-known brands include Etude, Innisfree and Hera at the entry level, Laneige a step up and Sulwhasoo at the luxury end. 

    Amorepacific products are sold in more than 15 markets, the biggest being Korea, China and the rest of Asia Pacific. It is also making inroads in North America and Europe.  

    The organization was already using AI technology on its online Amore Mall to drive product search, recommendations and skin diagnosis when generative AI burst onto the scene about three years ago.  

    “We saw how we could make it [the online experience] a conversational service,” said Chikook Noh, Amorepacific’s AI Solutions Team Leader.

    Chikook Noh, Amorepacific’s AI Solution Team Leader, sees the app advising first on skincare then on make-up in future. Photo by Seong Joon Cho for Microsoft.

    The AIBC uses OpenAI’s GPT 4o and 4o-mini large language models on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to answer customer queries in the app. The underlying data is handled with Data Factory on Microsoft Fabric and AI Search functions in Azure AI Foundry. 

    The AIBC would help overcome a gap with the company’s existing online skin diagnosis tool on Amore Mall, Noh said. Currently consumers answer a series of questions such as “Is your skin oily? (Rate on a scale of 1 to 5)” and take a picture of their faces. It produces an overall score and dispenses advice on skincare and products. 

    This skin diagnosis tool has been used 2.5 million times online and in stores by consumers over the last four years. The IT department noticed an interesting thing – when used online via Amore Mall, “the transition to purchase tends to be on the lower side,” Noh said. But when used in a physical store, “the offline rate is very high because there is a conversation with the sales assistant.” 

    Sion Kim tries out the AI Beauty Counsellor app, which is being launched soon. Photo by Seong Joon Cho for Microsoft.

    The AI app aims to provide the kind of advice that store sales assistants provide to drive sales. Inputs for the AIBC will include consumers’ purchase history, review history as well as online skin diagnosis. The AIBC will then converse with the consumer to determine their current skin status and what their concerns are. 

    The most important thing is the “hyper-personalization. I know you. I know what troubles you have. I know what makes you feel good,” Noh said. 

    Different beauty needs 

    The AIBC development team anticipates interest even from those who don’t use a ton of beauty products. 

    Hyejin Yoon, 35, is at the other end of the consumer spectrum from Kim, the Pilates instructor. A former Chinese teacher for middle and high-schoolers, she now stays home with her one-year-old baby on the outskirts of Seoul. 

    Before the baby, she used various Amorepacific brands like Hera, Primera and Hanyul. Now there’s only time for a face wash, a toner and moisturizing cream from Illiyoon, a fragrance-free brand aimed at people with sensitive skin. She shares the cream with her baby. 

    “I have no time to put on so many steps because of the baby,” she said. 

    Hyejin Yoon is a time-pressed new mother in Seoul who says she would use the AI Beauty Counsellor app to suggest products for her skin. Photo by Seong Joon Cho for Microsoft.

    She noticed how her skin changed when she became a mother. “I feel my skin is getting drier and drier,” she said. “I am tired of having to keep trying different products.” 

    She briefly tried a test version of the AIBC app and said she could see herself using it, especially if it includes facial analysis. 

    The AI Beauty Counselor is Amorepacific’s first public-facing use of generative AI. 

    It follows the organization’s roll out in 2023 of a generative AI chat tool for internal use, also on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. That has been used for everything from summarizing medical research articles to creating interior designs for pop-up stores to creating marketing content. 

    Since the AIBC involves interacting with the public, the IT team has also taken pains to anticipate potentially risky subjects such as politics and religion. If a consumer touches on these subjects, the AIBC will reply: “This is a question we cannot answer,” according to Hong. 

    In the future, the goal is for the AIBC to go beyond text to include voice and images and dispense advice not just on skincare but also make-up and health supplements.

    Top Image: Sion Kim, a 26-year-old Pilates instructor, said she would use the AI Beauty Counsellor app to keep up with seasonal trends and what suits her skin type. Photo by Seong Joon Cho for Microsoft. 

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Forget booing the anthem, Canada must employ strategic communications to fight Trump’s lies

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Matthew Hefler, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Statecraft and Strategic Communication, Stockholm School of Economics

    Since his return to office, United States President Donald Trump has launched a trade war on Canada. The White House has twice set deadlines for the imposition of sweeping 25 pre cent tariffs — and twice pulled back.

    Trump has also threatened to use “economic force” to compel Canada to become the 51st state, remarks that are a focal point of the ongoing federal election campaign.

    Canadians are offended. They’ve voiced this displeasure, with Canadian sports fans continuing to boo the American anthem at recent events.

    This might be counterproductive.

    Trump says Canada is ‘nasty’

    In this trade war, Canada faces more than tariffs: it’s confronting a communications effort by the president to paint Canadians as mean, disrespectful and “nasty.”

    Trump’s most consistent line is that Canadians are “not fair,” “very abusive” and taking advantage of the U.S. on trade.

    Regardless of the truth, the president repeats these allegations over and over and over again.

    The repetition is the point — it’s an important practice in strategic communications or what’s known as StratCom, the use of communication to achieve objectives.

    The repetition is key to Trump’s StratCom — it’s a way of making his message stick. Hard as it is for Canadians to believe this, there’s a danger of this “nasty Canadian” narrative taking hold south of the border.

    Take it from a communications expert who often works in the U.S. and Europe: not everyone is as well-versed on the dispute as Canadians are. Even actions like booing the American anthem risk reinforcing Trump’s slurs against Canada.

    Canada must devise its own strategy to counter Trump’s message and remind Americans — and the world — that Canada trades on fair terms. By dampening American support for the president’s trade war, this StratCom effort could actually help protect the Canada-U.S. relationship for the long term.

    Creating false counter-narratives

    Trump has long mastered the art of swapping one narrative with a preferred alternative. This tactic has arguably helped save his political career.

    For millions of Americans, the president turned Russian interference in the 2016 election into the “Russia Hoax” — something he raised as recently as the infamous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    Rather than concede the 2020 election, Trump and his allies adopted the mantra “Stop the Steal.” And in a most striking StratCom effort, Trump and supporters recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol into “a day of love.” Trump also issued a blanket pardon of all those convicted over the attack.

    These are astounding examples of strategic communications, whatever we might think of the president’s honesty or his objectives.

    Every time Trump repeats claims that Canada is taking advantage of the U.S., that narrative becomes further entrenched. So far, Ottawa has reminded Americans that Canada is a good partner and that tariffs would hurt both countries.

    But it’s not clear that appealing to the long Canadian-American history as allies is having much effect in the White House. In early February, Vice President JD Vance posted: “Spare me the sob story about how Canada is our ‘best friend’” and noted Canada’s low defence spending.

    A Canadian StratCom strategy

    The Canadian government therefore must invest in an ambitious campaign of strategic communications. It should drive home that Canadians trade on fair terms and that Canada buys more American goods than China, Japan, the United Kingdom and France combined.

    This StratCom effort must make clear that Canadians can and will be forced to buy elsewhere. It must note that Trump renegotiated a new Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal in 2018 and that the agreement was a win for the U.S.

    The campaign can employ humility and humour, but it must reinforce the mutual benefit of trade and make clear that Trump’s anti-Canada comments are not based in reality.

    Some specific claims must be targeted. Trump often notes that Canada has high tariffs on specific American products, like milk. But this can be misleading, as these are part of a negotiated supply control quota system.

    Rather than simply counter Trump’s narrative, the campaign should advance a Canadian one.

    Canadian leaders are starting to recognize this. Before leaving office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau compared Trump’s treatment of Canada over trade with his conciliatory stance toward Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

    Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland has underscored the importance of communicating directly to regular Americans. The federal government has paid for anti-tariff ads on digital billboards along key highways in red states, including Florida, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio.

    Canadians themselves are in on the act. Decades after Canadian actor and broadcaster Jeff Douglas appeared in the iconic “I am Canadian” commercial, he’s come out with a new rendition.

    “We are Canadian” rejects the president’s “51st State” threats. Its polite but firm tone is the sort of quintessentially Canadian response that should form the basis of a national StatCom effort.

    A new Jeff Douglas ‘We Are Canadian’ video.

    Controlling the narrative

    Given time and space, Trump can reshape the terms of the debate or even perceptions of reality. The Canadian government should therefore lead the way in defending the country’s trading practices and its value as a partner.

    This effort should reflect Canada’s traditional emphasis on respect and decency. Canadians are offended. But they should resist responses like booing another nation’s anthem — especially if it contributes to the president’s effort to paint Canadians as mean or disrespectful.

    The Canada-U.S. relationship will be changed by this experience. But whether the rift is lasting depends in part on whether Canadians believe regular Americans accept or reject the president’s narrative.

    A good communications effort could help Canada counter the president’s StratCom campaign and reduce the longer-term fallout from this unfair attack — no matter the repeated threats and slurs emanating from the Oval Office.

    Matthew Hefler 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. Forget booing the anthem, Canada must employ strategic communications to fight Trump’s lies – https://theconversation.com/forget-booing-the-anthem-canada-must-employ-strategic-communications-to-fight-trumps-lies-252704

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Standard Lithium Provides Corporate Update

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI), a leading near-commercial lithium company, is pleased to provide a general corporate update demonstrating continuous advancement and derisking of corporate objectives.

    Principal corporate updates and highlights include:

    • Commencement of a rigorous and disciplined project finance and off-take process for the first phase of the South West Arkansas (“SWA”) Project (first phase contemplates 22,500 tonnes per year of battery quality lithium carbonate production). A banking advisor with recent and relevant success has been selected to lead an intensive off-take selection and project finance (debt) process. This two-pronged engagement with potential off-take partners and debt providers started in January and is expected to be completed in Q3 and Q4 respectively. The Company looks forward to releasing additional information as the process advances;
    • The Smackover Lithium JV, in partnership with Equinor, continues the successful mineral leasing program in East Texas (“ETX”). SLI first started extensive mineral leasing in the most prospective areas of the Smackover Formation in East Texas in 2022. Since the formation of the JV in May 2024, it has continued to grow the acquired lease position, and is now actively leasing within a total area of 185,000 acres across several Counties in East Texas;
    • The first ETX project area of approximately 67,000 acres has been identified. This project area is centered on Franklin County, and the Company has previously drilled three exploratory boreholes in and adjacent to this project area and reported the highest known lithium in brine grades in North America (maximum lithium grade of 806 mg/L reported). Some of the existing wells will be resampled during Q2 and Q3 of this year, and it is expected that a maiden Inferred Resource Report for this highly prospective lithium resource will be published in Q3 of this year;
    • The Company, in partnership with Koch Technology Solutions, continues to use the Demonstration Plant in Union County as an essential test and technology development center to not only demonstrate the derisked and commercially ready DLE technology for the first commercial project at SWA, but also as a test-bed to continuously improve the entire flowsheet for future projects;
    • Commercial development at the Lanxess Projects is not ruled out, but the Company’s focus on building the next phase of lithium projects in North America is centered on the JV opportunities at the SWA Project and in East Texas. The Company is confident the brine resources that the JV is securing in East Texas will come to be seen as the premier lithium brine assets in North America.

    David Park, CEO of Standard Lithium said “The Standard Lithium team, in combination with our partners Equinor and Koch Technology Solutions, has been working diligently to keep on moving the projects forward, derisking key workstreams and hitting development milestones. As we’ve said before, it’s time for us to prioritize, focus, and execute. It is now clear that executing on our SWA Project with our partners is our top priority, and that we see incredible potential to build on that foundation and grow with them into East Texas.”

    Six-Month Fiscal Period Ended December 31, 2024 Call and Webcast

    The Company will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss its six-month fiscal period ended December 31, 2024 on Friday, March 28th at 3:30 p.m. ET. Access to the call is available via webcast or direct dial.

    Conference Call and Webcast Details
    Standard Lithium Six Month Fiscal Period Ended December 31, 2024 Results Call and Webcast
    March 28, 2025 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

    Participant Information:
    Conference ID: 6644028

    USA / International Toll +1 (646) 307-1963
    USA – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871
    Canada – Toronto (647) 932-3411
    Canada – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871

    Attendee Webcast Link:
    https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/457319305

    About Standard Lithium Ltd.

    Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated DLE and purification process. The Company’s flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focused in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.

    Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the symbol “SLI”. Please visit the Company’s website at www.standardlithium.com.

    Qualified Person

    Steve Ross, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and Vice President Resource Development for the Company, has reviewed and approved the relevant scientific and technical information in this news release.

    Investor and Media Inquiries

    Chris Lang
    Standard Lithium Ltd.
    +1 604 409 8154
    investors@standardlithium.com

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timelines, future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Invesco Ltd: Form 8.3 – NIOX Group PLC; Public dealing disclosure

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC 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: Invesco Ltd.  
    (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    		 NIOX 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    		 25.03.2025  
    (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”    		 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: 0.08p ordinary GB00BJVD3B28  
      Interests Short Positions  
      Number % Number %  
    (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 9,118,164 2.29      
    (2) Cash-settled derivatives:          
    (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:          
      Total 9,118,164 2.29      
       
       
    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  
    0.08p ordinary GB00BJVD3B28 Purchase 54,596 0.73 GBP  
       
    (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)  
             
       
    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  
       
       
    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO  
       
    Date of disclosure 26.03.2025
    Contact name Caroline Hellriegel
    Telephone number +17132141993
     

    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 United Kingdom: £370k Boost for Queen Mother Sports Centre including upgraded water slide | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    The Queen Mother Sports Centre in Victoria has received a major £370,000 uplift, and the star of the show is the revamped flume. The centre, already a go-to spot for fitness fanatics and swimmers, has made some serious upgrades to ensure it stays as fun and accessible as possible for everyone.

    One of the most exciting changes is the flume upgrade – essential for keeping those weekly children’s water slide sessions running smoothly and adding fun to every visit. The new investment ensures the flume system stays in top shape, bringing joy to kids (and adults who secretly enjoy it, too) for years to come.

    But it’s not just about the fun – the centre has made some big changes to improve accessibility as well. The poolside accessible changing area has had a makeover, complete with a hoist and improved toilet and changing facilities. This makes it much easier for disabled swimmers to enjoy the water. Plus, there’s a new Changing Places facility, funded by the Department for Levelling Up, making sure that everyone has a comfortable and dignified space to use the loo and get changed. This facility, which won “Loo of the Year” in 2024, is a game-changer for people with profound disabilities, providing extra space and a hoist for carers to assist.

    Other improvements include a new immersive workout studio to keep your fitness routine fresh and exciting, plus a full gym revamp. The men’s changing room basins have been given a makeover too, dealing with some much-needed repairs.

    Fire safety upgrades, roof repairs, and a new air handling unit for the spin studio were all part of the investment. All of this is in line with the council’s ongoing mission to provide top-tier, accessible facilities for all Westminster residents.

    Councillor Cara Sanquest, Cabinet Member for Communities, said:
    “We’re thrilled to keep investing in our local leisure centres, and Queen Mother Sports Centre is a perfect example of how we’re making sure facilities stay accessible and fun for everyone. With a flume that’s ready for action, award-winning swimming lessons, and a range of accessibility improvements, it’s great to see this centre continue to thrive as a community leisure centre.”

    “Whether you’re sliding down the flume, hitting the gym, or diving into a pool, the Queen Mother Sports Centre has everything you need to stay active and enjoy your time there.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: COVID-19 Spring Booster offer26 March 2025 Eligible Islanders are encouraged to stay protected this spring and take up the offer of a COVID-19 spring booster vaccination. The vaccines are free of charge and will be available at GP surgeries from… Read more

    Source: Channel Islands – Jersey

    26 March 2025

    Eligible Islanders are encouraged to stay protected this spring and take up the offer of a COVID-19 spring booster vaccination. The vaccines are free of charge and will be available at GP surgeries from Tuesday 1 April and will be offered until the end of June.

    Islanders who are eligible for the Spring Booster include: 

    • those aged 75 and over 
    • those aged 6 months and over who are Immunosuppressed 
    • residents in care homes for older people.

    Islanders will need to contact their GP surgeries to make an appointment. Delivery may vary practice to practice. Those who are residents in care homes will be vaccinated where they reside. Visit gov.je/SpringBooster ​for more information. 

    Primary Care Representative, Bryony Perchard, said: “While most people who get COVID will have a mild illness, those in older age groups and with certain health conditions are at a higher risk of developing serious illness and being hospitalised. Vaccination not only reduces the chances of the getting ill but also makes any infection less unpleasant. I urge all those who are eligible to not let their defences against COVID-19 fade by booking an appointment with their doctor.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: First images: Chorlton Library to reopen after year-long restoration

    Source: City of Manchester

    One of Manchester’s most historic libraries, Chorlton Library, is set to reopen its doors to the public and welcome visitors again following a year-long refurbishment.

    An iconic building in the heart of Chorlton, this Grade II listed library has gone through a complete transformation to enhance the existing structure and refurbish the building. This process has unveiled long-hidden architectural treasures at the same time as upgrading facilities, to ensure it stays relevant for the next 100 years.

    The library, opened in 1914, and was a gift from the famous Scottish- American benefactor Andrew Carnegie to the city of Manchester. It was designed by the City Architect, Henry Price – who also designed Didsbury Library.

    The centrepiece of this transformation has been the unveiling of the stunning dome in the library entrance along with the mezzanine gallery, which has been concealed for decades, and which allows natural light to flood the entrance space below.

    During the restoration work, original tiles and historic lettering which adorned key areas of the library were uncovered and carefully preserved and restored, giving a glimpse into the building’s rich past.

    Alongside the internal restoration work, the exterior stonework and windows have been repaired and electrical and mechanical systems renewed, to ensure the building contributes to lower carbon emissions to help the council meet its target of becoming zero carbon by 2038.

    With internal walls removed and the library areas reconfigured, visitors will also be able to appreciate the original octagonal interior of the atrium space, and the blend of both heritage and contemporary design within the main library.

    Once the main library reopens, work can begin on the next stage of the refurbishment to enhance the flexible community and new meeting spaces within the existing structure at the building’s rear. This will open later in the year.

    Chorlton Library opens to the public on Tuesday 1 April.
    An official launch event and fun day will take place on Saturday 5 August.

    A series of events will be taking place throughout the week.

    Chorlton Library closed for refurbishment on 24 March 2024.

    Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure said:

    “We are thrilled to welcome the community back to this much-loved library. It is the last of our libraries to undergo a full refurbishment as part of our Library renewal programme. Our refurbishment has not only respected the building’s history but brought it up to date, ensuring it can serve the local community in the future, while meeting our sustainability plans and carbon neutral targets.

    “Revealing the dome and other hidden gems make this reopening even more special, and we can’t wait to share it with the local community who we know love it as much as we do.”
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Consultation begins around the long-term regeneration of the Strangeways and Cambridge neighbourhoods

    Source: City of Manchester

    An eight-week consultation and engagement process is now open that will gather local feedback around the principles for investment and development of the city centre fringe areas over the next decade

    Manchester City Council (MCC) and Salford City Council (SCC) are working in collaboration on the ambitious proposals that could see 7,000 new homes built across seven distinct neighbourhood areas, which could support 4,500 jobs.  

    The Draft Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) for Strangeways and Cambridge has already been heard by both Council’s respective Executive and Cabinet committees, and  local people, businesses and other stakeholders are now invited to share their thoughts on the plans.  

    Consultation 

    People can provide feedback online and in-person events will also be held for respondents to ask questions and find out more about the long-term regeneration proposals, which will also include refreshments and activities for families.  

    • Saturday 29 March, 10am – 3pm 

    Salford – Broughton Community Centre, Great Clowes Street, Salford, M7 1ZQ 

    • Tuesday 1 April, 3 – 7pm 

    Salford – Broughton Community Centre, Great Clowes Street, Salford, M7 1ZQ 

    • Monday 7 April, 3 – 7pm 

    Manchester – The Yard, 11 Bent Street, Manchester, M8 8NF 

    • Thursday 24 April, 3 – 7pm 

    Salford – Broughton Community Centre, Great Clowes Street, Salford, M7 1ZQ 

    • Tuesday 29 April, 3 – 7pm 

    Salford – Broughton Community Centre, Great Clowes Street, Salford, M7 1ZQ 

    •  Thursday 1 May, 3 – 7pm 

    Manchester – The Yard, 11 Bent Street, Manchester, M8 8NF 

    • Tuesday 6 May, 3 – 7pm 

    Manchester – The Yard, 11 Bent Street, Manchester, M8 8NF 

    The consultation will close on Monday 26 May 2025 after which the results will be reported back to MCC Executive and SCC’s cabinet committees. 

    Leader of the Council Bev Craig said:   

    “This framework is our shared long-term vision, alongside our colleagues in Salford, to deliver a transformation in the Strangeways and Cambridge communities.   

    “We have an opportunity to create a platform for development and investment, enabled by the successful work carried out by the Operation Vulcan partnership, to support businesses to grow and prosper in these neighbourhoods – creating thousands of new jobs and support the ongoing growth of our city – alongside a major new public park and new homes, including Council, social and genuinely affordable housing.  

    “We know this area has challenges, including the prison that presents a key barrier to the regeneration of the area, but we also know that there is energy and a community brimming with potential.   

    “We will deliver huge change in Strangeways in the coming years, working alongside the people who live and work there, and as we move to consultation in the coming weeks, we want to speak to local people and businesses about how we can make this part of the city thrive.”  

    Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett added:   

    “We’ve been on a journey of growth and regeneration in recent years, and our work has  changed the landscape in different parts of Salford for the benefit of our residents. It’s now time to focus on the Cambridge area and working with colleagues in Manchester, this framework provides us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to do that.  

    “This framework proposes options for the Salford part of the SRF, taking into account the requirements of residents and local businesses, and the need for quality housing in the area. The key will be to balance these needs with what the long-term flood data is telling us and how we future-proof the area against climate change.  

    “The proposals in the framework seek to identify the best possible options for this area. These include the exciting opportunity to create a new city park for all, with an option for appropriate levels of mixed-use development, to continue to drive sustainable growth.  

    “I’d urge everyone with a vested interest in this area, whether you’re a resident or business to engage with the consultation process and work with us help shape the future of this part of the city.” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Social Workers Are a Vital Part of Care Teams

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Broadly defined, sometimes overlooked and often misunderstood, social work is a crucial component in health care.

    It can even be life-saving.

    “I had a patient who wrote a message in [UConn Health’s patient portal] MyChart to their physical therapist saying, ‘I’m not coming in today, because I think I’m going to end my life,’” says Rachel Boxwell, a licensed clinical social worker who supports many of UConn Health’s outpatient practices. “The physical therapist lets me know, and I’m able to call the patient. They’re sitting in their car, we have a conversation, try to figure out what’s going to be the next step to keep them safe.”

    It’s possible that intervention prevented a suicide, and is an example of how social workers can support patients even outside of scheduled face-to-face interactions.

    Eleanor Szmurlo ’17 MSW is a licensed clinical social worker who supports UConn Health’s outpatient practices. (Photo provided by Eleanor Szmurlo)

    UConn Health employs 35 social workers. Collectively they work with patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

    Boxwell works in tandem with Eleanor Szmurlo ’17 MSW to cover more than 50 of UConn Health’s outpatient practices as part of UConn Health’s population health team.

    “I previously worked as a substance abuse counselor and have seen first-hand how stigma can prevent people from getting appropriate care,” Szmurlo says. “In my role supporting the outpatient clinics, I have the opportunity to show compassion and care to our patients and to connect them with the supports they need to live happier, healthier lives.”

    Amanda Mundo works with hospitalized patients, primarily on the fourth floor of UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital, a medical-surgical floor.

    Amanda Mundo is a licensed clinical social worker in UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)

    “I go through the entire floor and look at every single patient and familiarize myself with those I’m not familiar with yet,” Mundo says. “In this setting, social work is a universal service available to all patients where we offer both ‘case finding,’ where we’ll review patients’ charts, see if there’s anything documented in an area that we feel we could help, and we also get consultations from the team. Once I go through the list in the morning of the whole floor, I triage to see who might need to be seen first, and build my day from there.”

    Five stories below her, in the Connecticut Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UConn Health, Brittney Niro works with every parent whose child is admitted to the NICU.

    Brittney Niro is a licensed clinical social worker in the Connecticut Children’s NICU at UConn Health. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)

    “I assist families with psychosocial needs and community resources,” Niro says. “Parents don’t anticipate a NICU stay, even if they are counseled on it or prepped. The reality hits once their baby is admitted to the NICU. I value being a part of a multidisciplinary team and providing emotional support and resources during their baby’s NICU stay.”

    Niro also facilitates a support group for NICU parents.

    Many of the inpatient social workers report to Lori Pawlow, UConn Health nursing director who oversees case management.

    “Social work services span from birth to end of life,” Pawlow says. “They are present to provide support during the most vulnerable times in patients’ and families’ life experiences. They help by supporting them and guide them in difficult life choices. One very important aspect of the work that social workers do is that they approach all situations in a holistic manner that supports individuals and the whole family. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated team of social workers here at UConn Health.”

    How patients find their way to a social worker will vary. In the outpatient setting, providers can refer patients to social workers. When that happens, Szmurlo or Boxwell will contact the patient and evaluate their psychosocial needs.

    Rachel Boxwell is a licensed clinical social worker who supports UConn Health’s outpatient practices. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)

    “If you’re having a housing challenge, that could really be exacerbated if you are wheelchair-bound or you need certain levels of accessibility,” Boxwell says. “Or you might need home care, and in theory that sounds simple, but if you can’t self-direct your care due to mental health or cognitive decline, those have additional barriers. So I really can assess all of those, help identify what resources are available to our patients, and really talk it through and help them make an informed decision. Sometimes a resource can sound great, but it’s not a great fit for our patients for reasons like medical complexity, their cognitive ability, maybe a familial relationship, where they live and who they live with.”

    Anne Horbatuck is chief operating officer of the UConn Medical Group and vice president for ambulatory operations.

    “Social workers play a vital role in our outpatient clinic settings,” Horbatuck says. “They address social, emotional, and environmental factors that impact patients’ health. They provide counseling, connect patient with community resources and support care coordination to improve treatment outcomes. Their involvement helps reduce barriers to care, enhance patient well-being and promote a more holistic approach to health care. Rachel and Eleanor cover our UMG clinics along with many others that are department-based. We thank them for all for all they do.”

    Why Social Work

    Boxwell, who arrived at UConn Health in 2022, has been a social worker since 2016. She found her way to the profession after a year of teaching high school English in Malden, Massachusetts.

    “A lot of my students were living in shelters, were teenage parents, were in foster homes, and getting them to the point where they’re even in a spot where they could actually be present in class was social work, was connecting them to resources, was meeting their psychosocial needs,” Boxwell says. “And I realized I had a passion for it, and there was such a need for that.”

    From left: Brittney Niro, a social worker in the Connecticut Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UConn Health, speaks with nurse colleagues Jacqueline Calderon and Tess Connor at their NICU nurse’s station. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)

    Niro has been a social worker since 2009 and joined UConn Health in 2018 as an inpatient social worker on the sixth floor of John Dempsey Hospital. She moved to the NICU in 2022.

    “What draws me to the profession is helping families navigate during a vulnerable time,” Niro says. “I knew I wanted to be in the helping profession; I was involved as a peer advocate during high school. The peer advocate program allowed me to be a peer support for younger peers, and I had a mentor who suggested, ‘You’d be a great social worker, you really should look into social work.’”

    Mundo joined UConn Health two years ago and has been a social worker since 2016.

    “I like relating with people and really being able to build relationships,” Mundo says. “Being able to be there for someone in a moment of need or vulnerability is an honor and not something that everyone has the opportunity to do. You can really make a big difference even with seemingly smaller gestures or tasks.”

    She says every day on the job is different.

    “It ranges from smaller tasks such as helping a patient to get clothing, helping to coordinate transportation home, to helping them make a phone call that they’ve been really struggling to make, to more serious matters such as substance use, safety issues, crisis intervention, and end-of-life hospice,” Mundo says.

    Szmurlo, who graduated with a Master of Social Work from the UConn School of Social Work in 2017, has spent her nearly three years at UConn Health in an outpatient role.

    “The social and medical systems we work with can be overwhelming and complicated to manage when things are going well — even more so when people are undergoing a health crisis,” Szmurlo says. “By helping patients navigate services, we can make this less overwhelming and reinforce to patients that UConn Health is here to treat the whole person.”

    Misperceptions

    Boxwell and Mundo both say it’s common for people to associate their profession with child protective services and people whose job is to separate children from their families.

    “Of course, part of our role is to assess for safety, but our job is so much more than that,” Mundo says. “It’s very multifaceted. It can range from smaller, simple tasks to really intense clinically, emotionally draining, and taxing interactions. A lot of people don’t know what we do day-to-day. A lot of it is behind the scenes, but it does make a really big difference, for the medical team and for the patients.”

    She says it’s about an even split between those who understand the social worker is there to help and those who would rather not have an interaction with a social worker, as they may not understand a social worker’s role in this setting.

    Niro points out that patients or families may not always realize that social workers are independently licensed clinicians.

    “We can diagnose and assess mental health needs,” Niro says. “A social worker can be an autonomous, independent mental health professional. Sometimes the term ‘social work’ is used to explain many different roles and responsibilities. Being a medical social worker is a rewarding career.”

    What I find most rewarding about being a social worker is being able to be there for people when they’re at their most vulnerable. &#8212 Amanda Mundo

    ‘An Honor’

    Niro says she appreciates the multidisciplinary team approach, working with nurses, physicians, advanced practice providers and others, and the comradery that naturally comes with it.

    “I find my job to be rewarding in the sense that families need someone to be in their corner,” Niro says. “I truly enjoy being a constant support and advocate to each family during a challenging time.”

    “What I find most rewarding about being a social worker is being able to be there for people when they’re at their most vulnerable,” Mundo says. “It’s really an honor to be there for someone when they need it the most and to be that support when oftentimes a lot of patients don’t have any support.”

    Similarly, Szmurlo says, “It’s an honor to be a social worker and to be able to support people through some of the most difficult times in their lives.”

    Boxwell says what may seem like a small thing can make big difference in the lives of patients and families who have been struggling.

    “It can be life-changing for them, and knowing the ripple effect that that then can have on their life — not just their quality of life, but their relationships with others, their ability to be financially solvent, to then be able to have a solvent retirement, to not be concerned about what’s going to happen with their disease process because they know they have a team to support them, being able to relieve folks of that — it’s a great feeling,” Boxwell says. “You have changed that person’s life for the better, and that will continue having a ripple effect.”

    March is National Social Work Month.

    MIL OSI USA News –