NewzIntel.com

Category: Transport

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mastercard plans to get rid of credit card numbers. We could be heading towards the end of cards

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology

    Antonina St/Shutterstock

    Mastercard has announced plans to remove the 16-digit number from their credit and debit cards by 2030 in a move designed to stamp out identity theft and fraudulent use of cards.

    The numbers currently used to identify cards will be replaced with tokenisation and biometric authentication

    In 2022, Mastercard added biometric options enabling payments to be made with a smile or wave of the hand.

    Tokenisation converts the 16-digit card number into a different number – or token – stored on your device, so card information is never shared when you tap your card or phone or make payments online.

    The first rollout of these numberless cards will be through a partnership with AMP Bank, but it is expected other banks will follow in the coming 12 months.

    Why card security is important

    There is nothing quite like the sinking feeling after receiving a call or text from your bank asking about the legitimacy of a card transaction.

    In 2023-2024 the total value of card fraud in Australia was A$868 million, up from $677.5 million the previous financial year.

    Credit card numbers and payment details are often exposed in major data breaches affecting large and small businesses.

    The cost of credit card fraud in Australia rose by almost $200 million last financial year.
    CC7/Shutterstock

    Late last year, the US Federal Trade Commission took action against the Marriott and Starwood Hotels for lax data security. More than 300 million customers worldwide were affected.

    Event ticketing company Ticketmaster was also hacked last year. The details of several hundred million customers, including names, addresses, credit card numbers, phone numbers and payment details were illegally accessed.

    So-called “card-not-present fraud”, where an offender processes an unauthorised transaction without having the card in their physical possession, accounts for 92% of all card fraud in Australia. This rose 29% in the last financial year.

    The Card Verification Value (CVV) (or three-digit number on the back of a credit card) aimed to ensure the person making the transaction had the physical card in their hands. But it is clearly ineffective.

    Benefits of removing credit card numbers

    Removing the credit card number is the latest attempt to curb fraud. Removing numbers stops fraudsters processing unauthorised card-not-present transactions.

    It also reduces the potential for financial damage of victims exposed in data breaches, if organisations are no longer able to store these payment details.

    Companies will no longer be able to store card data, reducing the risk of data breaches.
    ESBProfessional/Shutterstock

    The storage of personal information is a contested issue. For example, the 2022 Optus data breach exposed information from customers who had previously held accounts with the telco back in 2018.

    Removing the ability of organisations to store payment details in the first place, removes the risk of this information being exposed in any future attack.

    While any efforts to reduce fraud are welcome, this new approach raises some new issues to consider.

    Potential problems with the new system

    Mastercard has said customers will use tokens generated by the customer’s banking app or biometric authentication instead of card numbers.

    This is likely to be an easy transition for customers who use mobile banking.

    However, the use of digital banking is not universal. Many senior consumers and those with a disability don’t use digital banking services. They would be excluded from the new protections.

    While strengthening the security attached to credit cards, removing numbers shifts the vulnerability to mobile phones and telecommunication providers.

    Offenders already access victims’ phones through mobile porting and impersonation scams. These attacks are likely to escalate as new ways to exploit potential vulnerabilities are found.

    There are also concerns about biometrics. Unlike credit card details, which can be replaced when exposed in a data breach, biometrics are fixed. Shifting a focus to biometrics will increase the attractiveness of this data, and potentially opens victims up to ongoing, irreversible damage.

    While not as common, breaches of biometric data do occur.

    For example, web-based security platform BioStar 2 in the UK exposed the fingerprints and facial recognition details of over one million people. Closer to home, IT provider to entertainment companies Outabox is alleged to have exposed facial recognition data of more than one million Australians.

    Will we really need cards in the future?

    While removing the numbers may reduce credit card fraud, emerging smart retail technologies may remove the need for cards all together.

    Smartphone payments are already becoming the norm, removing the need for physical cards. GlobalData revealed a 58% growth in mobile wallet payments in Australia in 2023, to $146.9 billion. In October 2024, 44% of payments were “device-present” transactions.

    Amazon’s innovative “Just-Walk-Out” technology has also removed the need for consumers to bring a physical credit or debit card all together.

    Amazon Go and the world’s most advanced shopping technology.

    This technology is available at more than 70 Amazon-owned stores, and at more than 85 third-party locations across the US, UK, and Australia. These include sports stadiums, airports, grocery stores, convenience stores and college campuses.

    The technology uses cameras, weight sensors and a combination of advanced AI technologies to enable shoppers in physical stores make purchases without having to swipe or tap their cards at the checkout line.

    Such technology is now being offered by a variety of other vendors including Trigo, Cognizant and Grabango. It is also being trialled across other international retailers, including supermarket chains Tesco and ALDI.

    While Just-Walk-Out removes the need to carry a physical card, at some point consumers still need to enter their cards details into an app. So, to avoid cards and numbers completely, smart retail tech providers are moving to biometric alternatives, like facial recognition payments.



    Read more:
    Paying with your face: what will convince consumers to use facial recognition payment technology?

    Considering the speed at which smart retail and payment technology is entering the marketplace, it is likely physical credit cards, numberless or not, will soon become redundant, replaced by biometric payment options.

    Gary Mortimer receives funding from the Building Employer Confidence and Inclusion in Disability Grant, AusIndustry Entrepreneurs’ Program, National Clothing Textiles Stewardship Scheme, National Retail Association, Australian Retailers Association. .

    Cassandra Cross has previously received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre.

    – ref. Mastercard plans to get rid of credit card numbers. We could be heading towards the end of cards – https://theconversation.com/mastercard-plans-to-get-rid-of-credit-card-numbers-we-could-be-heading-towards-the-end-of-cards-248545

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A deadly bird flu strain is headed for Australia – and First Nations people have the know-how to tackle it

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nell Reidy, Research Fellow, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University

    ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock

    A virulent strain of bird flu continues to spread across the world. Australia, New Zealand and Pacific nations are the only countries free from the infection, but this will no doubt change.

    Known as “Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza” or H5N1, the bird flu strain had killed more than 300 million birds worldwide as of December last year, including both poultry and wild bird populations.

    Birds have always been part of the cultures and livelihoods of Australia Indigenous people. They feature in songs and dance, and are used for food and customary practices such as ceremonies and craft. Many of these practices continue today.

    To date however, Indigenous peoples have not been adequately included in federal government planning for the arrival of H5N1.

    So what is the likely result? Agencies and organisations will be ill-prepared to support Indigenous people experiencing intense social and cultural shock. And the opportunity to draw from the strengths of Indigenous organisations to tackle this impending disaster will have been squandered.

    What is H5N1?

    First identified in Hong Kong in 1997, H5N1 has since spread globally.

    H5N1 is a viral infection primarily affecting birds – both poultry and wildlife. As overseas experience has shown, it can lead to population declines in wild birds and disrupt local ecosystems. Infected birds may exhibit symptoms such as lethargy, respiratory distress and neurological signs such as paralysis, seizures and tremors, and sudden death.

    The virus also affects mammals including humans.
    Since November 2003, more than 900 human cases have been reported across 24 countries. About half these people died.

    While Australia has suffered several severe avian influenza epidemics since the 1970s, the H5N1 strain has not yet affected birds in Australia. But when it does, the damage may be profound.

    Birds are vital to Indigenous culture

    Australia’s diverse, unique bird population comprises about 850 species, 45% of which exist only in Australia.

    Birds are highly significant to many Indigenous groups.

    The adult magpie goose and its eggs, for example, are an important food source for groups in the Kakadu region.

    In Tasmania, Indigenous groups are revitalising customary practices by harvesting mutton birds. And bird feathers are used by Indigenous artisans in fashion and jewellery-making.

    If H5N1 makes birds sick and diminishes their populations, Indigenous people’s livelihoods and wellbeing – social, emotional, and spiritual – will be severely affected.

    Many birds are already struggling

    Of greatest concern are the fate of threatened and endangered bird species. Indeed, Australia’s Threatened Species Commissioner, Dr Fiona Fraser, has warned the forthcoming H5N1 event may be more ecologically devastating than the 2019–20 bushfires.

    Migratory birds, such as waders that travel from Siberia to lake systems throughout Australia, may take years or decades to return – if they return at all.

    Even relatively healthy bird populations, such as emus, may be at risk in areas where local populations are dwindling.

    The challenge has become more pronounced following the 2019–20 bushfires that affected vast areas of Australia’s southeast. Biodiversity in these burnt forests was later found to have declined, especially in bird populations.

    These challenges mean Australia’s native bird populations may struggle to remain healthy and sustainable, and their availability to Indigenous groups is likely to diminish.

    Mobilising Indigenous know-how

    Indigenous people are deeply engaged in caring for Country and caring for their communities. This makes them a strategic asset when planning for the arrival of H5N1.

    For example, Indigenous rangers are deeply engaged in land and water management including habitat restoration and biodiversity surveys. So, they are well placed to protect and monitor native species.

    Traditional Owners and Indigenous rangers manage 87 dedicated “Indigenous Protected Areas” covering 90 million hectares of land and six million hectares of sea.

    Indigenous health organisations will also be crucial to identifying human illness, should rare animal-to-human transmissions occur.

    Shire councils and land councils are also well-placed to identify and monitor the impacts of bird flu.

    It’s time for Indigenous inclusion

    Indigenous inclusion in the federal government’s response to the threat H5N1 has been late and inadequate

    This means Australia is already behind in supporting Indigenous groups to understand the threat and how to respond if they observe it – including how to deal with sick or dead birds.

    To fill these gaps in public information, National Indigenous Disaster Resilience at Monash University has produced a bird flu fact sheet.

    Indigenous community organisations demonstrated an extraordinary capacity for leadership during COVID-19. The muscle memory to mobilise in response to another outbreak remains strong.

    Indigenous groups must be centred in preparing and responding to H5N1. What’s more, Indigenous culture needs to be foregrounded when considering how the virus might affect the social, psychological, spiritual, and economic wellbeing of communities.

    In response to concerns raised in this article, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the federal government was “working to engage with First Nations communities to ensure we meet community needs” before and during an outbreak of H5N1.

    The department’s Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy was surveilling for avian influenza in northern Australia, including working with Indigenous Rangers. Indigenous engagement has also included presentations delivered virtually and on-country.

    “By fostering close partnerships with First Nations communities and Indigenous rangers, and leveraging access to a broad collaborative network, NAQS is able to facilitate trusted avenues for First Nations communities and Indigenous rangers to report concerns about wild bird health across northern Australia,” the spokesperson said.

    States and territories were planning local responses, and nationally coordinated, culturally appropriate communication activities were being developed. The spokesperson said Parks Australia was also working with Traditional Owners at jointly managed national parks, and with the Indigenous Protected Areas network, in developing plans to prepare and respond to any H5N1 detection.

    Bhiamie Williamson is a director of Country Needs People, and the Australian Indigenous Governance Institute

    Vinod Balasubramaniam receives funding from Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia.

    Nell Reidy 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. A deadly bird flu strain is headed for Australia – and First Nations people have the know-how to tackle it – https://theconversation.com/a-deadly-bird-flu-strain-is-headed-for-australia-and-first-nations-people-have-the-know-how-to-tackle-it-245758

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: New Yorkers Will Feel The Freeze: Gillibrand, AG James Sound The Alarm On Disastrous Ramifications Of What A Trump Administration Federal Funding Freeze Could Mean For New Yorkers’ Safety And Economic Well-Being

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York State Attorney General Tish James sounded the alarm on the disastrous ramifications of President Trump’s ongoing attempts to freeze grants and loans disbursed by the federal government. A federal funding freeze would severely harm New Yorkers, from aid to seniors to funds to address food insecurity and homelessness to critical money for law enforcement.

    “The chaos, uncertainty, and disorder fueled by the Trump administration is wreaking economic havoc on families and communities across New York,” said Senator Gillibrand. “A government funding freeze would put both the public safety and well-being of New Yorkers at risk. The Trump administration seems intent on harming New York families. While so much remains in question from this past week, it is imperative that everyone know what is at stake for our city, state, and nation.”

    “The public servants who go to work every day to care for New Yorkers and keep them safe rely on federal funds to do their jobs,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “This administration is putting New Yorkers in danger by pushing massive cuts to resources that support our most vulnerable communities and public safety efforts statewide. I am leading a coalition of attorneys general to end this destructive policy, and I thank Senator Gillibrand for her partnership as we fight to protect these funds that keep our communities safe.”

    “From our non-profits to our public schools, Trump’s reckless funding freeze would have devastating consequences for New Yorkers, particularly with regard to low-income students and the innumerable programs and services they rely upon,” said New York State Senator John Liu. “It’s politics at its worst that puts partisanship before the wellbeing of the most vulnerable among us who depend on federal aid to access essential support services.”

    “The ill-conceived White House budget freeze continues to cause great fear, uncertainly, and worry for tens of thousands of community-based nonprofit organizations nationwide — as well as for the tens of millions of the most vulnerable Americans whom we collectively serve,” said Joel Berg, CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit organization Hunger Free America. “Any threats to nutrition assistance programs are especially counterproductive, undermining the Administration’s claim that it wants to improve public health.” 

    “The chaos and confusion caused by the Trump Administration’s freeze on contacts is having an immediate and harmful effect on older New Yorkers and family caregivers” said Allison Nickerson Executive Director of LiveOn NY. “Federal programs, like Meals on Wheels and housing assistance, provide life-sustaining support and relief to older adults who are already struggling to make ends meet. Older New Yorkers and citizens across the country expect their government to support them, not pull the rug out from under them. LiveOn NY is grateful Senator Gillibrand continues to fight for the fundamental services that New York’s older adults rely on every day.

    While some federal programs are still accessible for the moment, others have been suspended, such as select United States Department of Justice grants. A federal funding freeze has the potential to block billions of dollars in federal grants for New York State. For example: 

    Federal Counter-Terrorism Funding

    1. $290M was allotted to New York for State Fiscal Year 2025.

    Senior Nutrition/Meals on Wheels

    1. $66M was awarded to New York State-based entities in FY2024 for senior nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels.
    2. These grants include HHS’ Older Americans Act Title III Part C Nutrition Services and HHS’ Nutrition Services Incentives Program.

    Homeless Shelters

    1. $368M was awarded to New York State-based entities in FY2024 to fund homeless shelters, including $227 million for entities in New York City. 
    2. These grants include programs HUD’s Continuum of Care Program and HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant Program.

    Food Banks

    1. $15M was awarded to New York State-based entities in FY2024 for programs that distribute food to people in need, such as food banks. 
    2. The funding was awarded through USDA’s The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

    Disability Programs

    1. $60B in Medicaid grant funding was awarded to New York State in FY2024.
    2. On top of Medicaid, New York State-based entities were awarded $70 million in federal grants for programs, research, and services benefiting people with disabilities in FY2024.
    3. This includes at least $9 million for entities in New York City.

    FEMA Assistance to Firefighters

    1. $13.6M in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants was awarded to New York municipalities and fire departments in FY2024 to help recruit and train firefighters.
    2. $17.8M in Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) was awarded to New York municipalities and fire departments in FY2024 to help purchase firefighting vehicles and equipment. 
    3. Since FY2023, the FDNY has been awarded over $2M in AFG funding.

    FEMA Port Security Grant Program

    1. $14.1M was awarded to New York State in FY2024. 
    2. This included $3.8M for the FDNY,$6.6M for the NYPD, and $880K for the Port Authority.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Community libraries and advice services proposed to be integrated into new service following consultation.

    Source: City of Birmingham

    Published: Monday, 3rd February 2025

    Following the end of consultation and pending cabinet approval, Birmingham City Council’s Community Libraries and Information services will be integrated to create a new Connected Communities service.

    The integrated approach means community libraries will serve as both universal safe spaces promoting access to information, community wellbeing, digital inclusion, education and culture, and as community hubs supporting residents with localised activities and support on their doorstep.

    The service will continue to include a 24-hour online service, a citywide book reservation service, self-service, Library Services at Home, and as well as a digital library offering.

    As part of the service, individual community libraries will be open for a set number of days.

    10 libraries will be open for a minimum of four days with 17 part time libraries open for a minimum of three days, of which four are planned co-located libraries. There are also plans for seven partner-led libraries. Alongside the library services, two mobile library vehicles will serve up to 50 citywide stops a week.

    Advice services will work across libraries in the city, offering residents access to high quality information advice and guidance and connections to wider support services in their local community.

    Councillor Saima Suleman, Cabinet Member for Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said: “I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to all stages of our community libraries consultation and this valuable feedback is helping us shape the future of the service.

    “The proposed Connected Communities service will maintain library and advice services in safe spaces open to all.”

    The full report can be found here:https://birmingham.cmis.uk.com/birmingham/Meetings/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/14215/Committee/2/Default.aspx 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Eastern DR Congo crisis increasing risk of mpox transmission, WHO chief warns

    Source: United Nations 4

    By Vibhu Mishra

    Peace and Security

    The worsening security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has forced many mpox patients to flee treatment centres, increasing the risk of transmission, the UN health agency (WHO) warned on Monday.

    Fighting escalated sharply in late January, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized control of parts of North Kivu, including areas near the regional capital Goma, and advanced towards South Kivu.

    Before the latest violence, mpox cases had been stabilizing, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a speech to the agency’s executive board.

    Health system overwhelmed

    Healthcare facilities are struggling to cope with a surge in casualties, alongside patients suffering from multiple endemic diseases, including mpox, cholera, malaria and measles.

    WHO reported that shells hit a hospital in Goma, resulting in civilian casualties, including infants and pregnant women. Stocks of essential medicines in Minova (South Kivu) are rapidly depleting, as M23 rebels advance towards the city.

    The agency said health partners are doing “everything possible” to provide lifesaving services “despite the risks posed by heavy artillery and the proximity of frontline fighting.”

    Concerns over attacks on civilians, sexual violence, and other human rights violations have also reached alarming levels.

    IDPs at risk, again

    Ongoing clashes also threatens hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in Goma, along with the aid workers supporting them.

    “Thousands of displaced people sheltering close to Goma have had to flee for safety as heavy bombing and shelling struck close to the camps due to the proximity of military installations,” the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported.

    Many displaced families are now staying with host communities, while others are setting up temporary shelters in schools and public buildings. Host communities themselves could face “significant humanitarian needs”.

    WFP

    An IDP camp in eastern DRC hosting tens of thousands of vulnerable families.

    Infrastructure hit

    The violence has severely damaged essential infrastructure, including water, electricity, and communication networks.

    In Goma, water and electricity remain cut off and people are forced to rely on unsafe water, increasing risk of disease outbreaks. Telecommunications (phones) and Internet access is also disrupted.

    Public and private property – including WFP and non-governmental organization-run warehouses – have been looted.

    “Coupled with severed access to the city, food and other essential supplies are almost depleted,” WFP said, adding that scarcity has driven prices up, making it even harder for vulnerable communities to afford basic necessities.

    Hard-won development gains at risk

    In addition to threatening the safety and wellbeing of millions, the fighting has put years of hard-won development gains at risk.

    Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) underscored that it is not just a humanitarian emergency but a development crisis jeopardizing progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    “Every day the conflict continues, access to education and healthcare is disrupted, businesses collapse, and vital infrastructure is damaged – deepening hardship for communities and eroding the foundation for long-term recovery, resilience and sustainable development,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

    “I call on all actors to prioritize dialogue, uphold international humanitarian law, and pursue a peaceful resolution to this crisis,” he added.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: SH3 blocked south of Inglewood

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    State Highway 3/Mountain Road, Inglewood is blocked near the intersection with Dudley Road Lower following a crash.

    The crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian was reported just after 8am.

    Initial indications are that there are serious injuries.

    Motorists are advised to avoid the area and expect delays.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Canadian National Charged With Stealing Approximately $65 Million in Cryptocurrency From Two DeFi Protocols

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Defendant Exploited Vulnerabilities in the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance Decentralized Finance Protocols to Steal from Investors

    An indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Andean Medjedovic with wire fraud, computer hacking and attempted extortion for stealing approximately $65 million in cryptocurrency from the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, which are sophisticated financial platforms residing on cryptocurrency blockchains.  Medjedovic is also charged with laundering the proceeds of the theft.  He is currently at large.

    John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Antoinette Bacon, Supervisory Official of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI); James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and William S. Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations New York (HSI) announced the indictment.

    “As alleged, the defendant executed a highly sophisticated scheme to exploit two decentralized finance protocols and steal tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from investors,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “My Office remains at the forefront in prosecuting cutting-edge cases involving new and emerging technologies, demonstrating our commitment to protecting all financial markets, including the digital assets markets.  Criminals like the defendant who take advantage of new technologies to harm investors will be held accountable no matter where in the world they carry out their schemes.”   

    Mr. Durham expressed his appreciation to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit for their valuable assistance during the investigation. 

    “This was a sophisticated fraud that exploited vulnerabilities in ‘smart contracts’, resulting in the theft of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency,” stated IRS-CI New York Special Agent in Charge Chavis.  “It’s alleged that Medjedovic executed a hack that stole nearly $65 million in crypto between two schemes, leaving liquidity pool investors in the red.  In investigating this case, IRS-CI New York’s Cyber group worked closely with its federal partners while leveraging resources from IRS-CI’s Cyber Attaché at Europol and the J5 Cyber Group. Even with the complexities of DeFi, we tracked down who is responsible for this large-scale theft, and he is now a wanted man.”

    “Hackers can at times be painted in a flattering light by pop culture, some admiring their skills and acumen. They’re stealing money that isn’t theirs, and they’re breaking the laws of this country. We allege Andean Medjedovic violated several of those laws, and he, along with all the other cyber criminals who believe they’re untouchable, will face justice,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.

    “These charges are a result of HSI New York’s determination to disrupt Andean Medjedovic’s alleged sophisticated far-reaching transnational cybercrime and seek justice for the millions of dollars syphoned from financial platforms,” stated HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Walker.  “Our global reach, experience and extensive knowledge of the cyber domain allow us to rapidly develop investigations into bad actors who seek to exploit the cryptocurrency market. Our federal partnerships across the globe made this investigation a success to include support from the HSI attaché offices in the Netherlands.”

    KyberSwap and Indexed Finance were developers of automated market-making services called “liquidity pools” that allowed users to swap cryptocurrency tokens with each other.  The liquidity pools were managed by computer code called “smart contracts” and relied on investor contributions of cryptocurrency.  As alleged, Medjedovic used manipulative trading to exploit vulnerabilities in the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance smart contracts. These manipulative trades enabled Medjedovic to drain approximately $65 million in cryptocurrency that belonged to investors from the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance liquidity pools.

    The KyberSwap Exploit

    As alleged in the indictment, in 2023, Medjedovic planned and executed a scheme to exploit vulnerabilities in the KyberSwap protocol.  KyberSwap was a DeFi protocol and developer of liquidity pools on several public blockchains, including the Ethereum and Arbitrum networks. Liquidity pools use user-contributed cryptocurrency to facilitate trading and market-making in cryptocurrencies. The KyberSwap liquidity pools were managed by computer code or “smart contracts” called automated market makers or “AMMs,” which set prices in the KyberSwap liquidity pools.

    In November 2023, Medjedovic exploited vulnerabilities in the KyberSwap computer code to drain the KyberSwap liquidity pools.  Medjedovic used hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowed cryptocurrency to create artificial prices in the KyberSwap liquidity pools.  Medjedovic then calculated precise combinations of trades that would cause the KyberSwap AMM to “glitch,” in his words, allowing him to steal tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from the liquidity pools. In total, Medjedovic stole approximately $48.8 million in investors’ cryptocurrency from 77 KyberSwap liquidity pools on six public blockchains.

    Following the exploit, Medjedovic attempted to extort the developers of the KyberSwap protocol, as well as KyberSwap’s investors and the members of the de-centralized autonomous organization or “DAO” that governed the KyberSwap protocol.  Medjedovic demanded control of the KyberSwap protocol and the KyberSwap DAO in exchange for which he would return approximately 50% of the cryptocurrency that he had stolen.

    Medjedovic also attempted to launder the proceeds of his theft, including through “bridge” protocols used to transfer cryptocurrency from one blockchain to another, and through a cryptocurrency “mixer” used to conceal the source of digital assets. After one bridge protocol froze several of his transactions, Medjedovic agreed to pay an undercover law enforcement agent posing as a software developer approximately $80,000 to circumvent the bridge protocol’s restrictions and release approximately $500,000 in stolen cryptocurrency.

    The Indexed Finance Exploit

    As alleged in the indictment, Medjedovic committed a similar exploit of the Indexed Finance DeFi protocol.  Indexed Finance liquidity pools are referred to as “index pools,” and function similarly to a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund in traditional finance.  Instead of holding a basket of traditional equities, the index pools held an index of digital tokens contributed by users.

    In October 2021, Medjedovic used manipulative trading to exploit two Indexed Finance liquidity pools on the Ethereum network.  Medjedovic used hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowed cryptocurrencies to distort a process called “re-indexing,” which was used by the Indexed Finance smart contracts to add a new token to the liquidity pools.  Medjedovic used the borrowed cryptocurrency to engage in manipulative trading to cause the Indexed Finance smart contracts to set artificial prices during the re-indexing process.  He then stole approximately $16.5 million in investor cryptocurrency from the liquidity pools.

    Beginning after the Indexed Finance exploit, in or around 2022, Medjedovic conspired with another person to launder the proceeds of his illegal conduct through cryptocurrency exchange accounts that were opened using false information, and by using a cryptocurrency mixer.  Among other things, Medjedovic maintained a step-by-step playbook for moving large amounts of cryptocurrency through the mixer, which he titled a “moneyMovementSystem.” In other documents, Medjedovic discussed circumventing “know your customer” or “KYC” procedures and using cryptocurrency exchange accounts opened with false KYC information for “hacks and cashing out.”

    The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.                    

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud and National Security and Cybercrime Sections, with the Justice Department Criminal Division’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick M. Axelrod and Andrew D. Reich of the Eastern District of New York and NCET Trial Attorney Tian Huang of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Liam McNett and Madison Bates.  SEC Enforcement Attorney Daphna A. Waxman, formerly a member of the NCET, provided significant assistance.

    Valuable assistance was provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.  The Office thanks the Netherlands’ Public Prosecution Service and the Dutch National Police’s Cybercrime Unit in The Hague and United States Customs and Border Protection, New York Field Office.

    The Defendant:

    ANDEAN MEDJEDOVIC
    Age: 22
    Canada

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-529 (NGG)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New York Man Arrested in Dallas Airport on Healthcare Fraud Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that ROBERT LAKE (“LAKE”), age 62, a resident of East Rockaway, New York, was arrested in the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, after disembarking from an international flight, after being previously indicted for federal healthcare fraud.

    LAKE had been indicted on October 18, 2025 for one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1347 and 1349, and three counts of healthcare fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347.  According to the indictment, LAKE was a licensed prosthetist and orthotist who operated his own durable medical equipment (“DME”) supply companies, TRISETO and ORTHO WORKS.  From 2017 to around July 2019, LAKE purchased doctors’ orders for medically unnecessary orthotic braces and submitted claims to Medicare.  After Medicare revoked TRISETO’s enrollment in the program in July 2019, LAKE shifted to selling doctors’ orders through his marketing company, CRANIAL SCIENTIFIC, in exchange for kickbacks.  The doctors’ orders were medically unnecessary and, at times, manipulated at LAKE’s direction.

    LAKE is charged with conspiring with others, including Houma resident, Patrick Haydel.  Haydel had previously pled guilty to his role in this same fraudulent scheme.  Haydel and LAKE later learned that several physicians complained that they never signed the orders sold by LAKE, and further that Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers, complained they neither requested nor needed the DME they received.  After the government executed a search warrant on Haydel’s business, LAKE transferred over $2 million to a Philippine account.  In total, LAKE and Haydel submitted more than $17 million in fraudulent DME claims to Medicare, for which Medicare reimbursed them more than $8 million.

    As to each count, LAKE faces up to ten years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release after release from prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain to LAKE or the gross loss to any victims, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.

    U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

    U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  Trial Attorney Kelly Walters of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Moses, Healthcare Fraud Coordinator for the Eastern District of Louisiana, are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted of a Drive-By Shooting and Fentanyl Trafficking, Member of ‘21st and Vietnam’ Crew Sentenced to 161 Months

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

                WASHINGTON –Briyon Shuford, 30, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 161 months in prison for his participation in a daylight drive-by shooting – while he served as a DC Violence Interrupter — that seriously injured four people. Shuford also was sentenced for his participation in a violent, armed group of drug dealers known as the “21st and Vietnam” crew. The crew distributed significant quantities of crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and n-n-dimethylpentylone (“boot”) in the area of 21st Street and Maryland Ave. NE. 

               The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Washington Division, Special Agent in Charge Troy Springer of the National Capital Region of the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

                Shuford, aka “Breezy,” pleaded guilty on October 31, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and aggravated assault while armed. In addition to the 161-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Shuford to serve five years of supervised release.

                According to court documents, the 21st and Vietnam crew used an apartment building on the 1900 block of I Street, NE, as a base of operations. The crew ran an open-air drug market around the building and sold narcotics outside on apartment grounds as well as on the first-floor hallway of the building. The sales of crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and n-n-dimethylpentylone (“boot”) occurred on a near daily basis between at least June 2023 through May 2024 when the crew members were arrested.

                On the morning of April 19, 2024, Shuford arrived at the apartment building to meet co-defendant Trevon Palmer. The pair departed in Shuford’s own vehicle and then exchanged it for a stolen Infiniti sedan. Shuford drove the stolen Infiniti to the 1200 block of Mt. Olivet Road NE, Washington, D.C. The men – both armed with firearms –hunted for members of a rival crew. After finding what they believed to be appropriate targets, both Shuford and Palmer opened fire from the vehicle, shooting indiscriminately into the parking lot of the Circle 7 Food and Grocery Mart without regard for innocent bystanders or passing cars. Shuford almost lost control of the vehicle as he opened fire. Shuford and Palmer’s shots injured four individuals.

                Shuford was an equal participant in the 21st and Vietnam crew’s drug activities. He drove co-defendant Damien Jenkins to make a sizable drug sale during which Jenkins sold more than 80 grams of fentanyl. During that sale, Shuford remained nearby in his car, conducting another narcotics sale.

                On May 15, 2024, law enforcement arrested Shuford and searched his residence. Law enforcement officers recovered distribution quantities of suspected marijuana, packaging supplies, a Glock 30 firearm, and $12,637 in cash.

                This case was investigated by the DEA Washington Division Office, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the MPD. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Duvall and Solomon Eppel.

    Briyon Shuford uploaded photos to the internet in 2023 of himself carrying firearms.

    24cr226

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Naples Man Sentenced To 9 Years In Federal Prison For Trafficking Fentanyl And Methamphetamine

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Fort Myers, Florida – United States District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Jadyn Howard Loman (22, Naples) to 9 years in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Loman entered a guilty plea on October 30, 2024.

    According to court documents, deputies from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Loman after he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of 20th Place Southwest and 41st Street Southwest in Naples. A subsequent chase ensued with Loman driving in excess of 100 miles per hour – eventually crashing his vehicle. Loman then fled the crash scene on foot before being apprehended. Inside his vehicle, deputies located 2 handguns, ammunition, and various baggies containing fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

    This case was investigated by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick L. Darcey.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Brand Engagement Network to Present at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference on February 6th

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    JACKSON, Wyo., Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brand Engagement Network Inc. (“BEN” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: BNAI), a global leader in secure and reliable conversational AI solutions, today announced that Paul Chang, CEO, will present live at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on February 6th, 2025.

    DATE: February 6th
    TIME: 2:00 PM ET
    LINK: https://bit.ly/42JmFaP
    Available for 1×1 meetings: February 6th and 7th

    This will be a live, interactive online event inviting investors to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees cannot join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates. Learn more about the event at www.virtualinvestorconferences.com.

    Why BEN?

    • High-Growth Market Leader: BEN is positioned to capture opportunities in the $30B conversational AI industry with tailored, impactful solutions. Unlike generalist AI models that rely on expensive GPUs, BEN AI’s small language models run efficiently on CPUs, offering unmatched scalability and cost-effectiveness for businesses.
    • Proven Innovation and Technology: With 21 granted and 27 pending patents, BEN leads in personalization, adaptive AI, and secure integration. Cataneo’s MYDAS platform optimizes advertising for major broadcasters like Disney and BBC, unlocking new revenue streams.
    • Industry Versatility: BEN’s scalable AI-powered solutions transform customer engagement across industries, including automotive, healthcare, and media, creating measurable impact and value.
    • Commitment to Trust and Security: BEN AI ensures transparency, reliability, and U.S.-based data security with HIPAA and SOC2 compliance. Its Virginia-hosted servers and offline capabilities make it ideal for regulated industries like healthcare.
    • Visionary Leadership: BEN’s leadership team has the expertise to drive industry transformation and maintain its position at the forefront of customer engagement.

    Recent Company Highlights:

    • Transformational Acquisition: BEN recently announced the acquisition of Cataneo GmbH, a media technology leader managing over €5 billion in annual media spend. This $19.5 million deal combines BEN’s Generative AI with Cataneo’s Mydas platform, setting a new benchmark in global media engagement and interactive advertising.
    • Strategic Partnerships: The Company has partnered with Kangaroo Health, IntelliTek, and INTERVENT to advance AI-driven solutions in healthcare, enhancing patient engagement, chronic care management, and operational efficiency.
    • Expanding Market Reach: BEN continues to explore new verticals and applications for its AI solutions, positioning the company to capture untapped opportunities and deliver sustained growth.

    About BEN
    Brand Engagement Network Inc. is a global leader in providing secure and reliable conversational AI solutions for businesses and consumers. With offices in Jackson, Wyoming, and Seoul, South Korea, BEN offers a powerful and flexible platform that enhances customer experiences, boosts productivity, and delivers business value. At the heart of BEN’s offerings are AI-powered digital assistants and lifelike avatars, providing more personal and engaging experiences through browsers, mobile applications, and even life-size kiosks. These safe, intelligent, and inherently scalable AI solutions empower businesses to efficiently serve customers using validated data delivered through SaaS, Private Cloud, and On-Premises technology. BEN’s commitment to data sovereignty ensures that consumer and business data remain private, protected, and wholly owned by the respective parties. BEN’s mission is to make AI friendly and helpful for all, ensuring more people benefit from the AI-enhanced world. For more information about BEN’s safe, intelligent, scalable AI, please visit www.beninc.ai.

    About Virtual Investor Conferences®
    Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.

    Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.

    BEN Contacts:
    Investor Relations
    Susan Xu
    E: sxu@allianceadvisors.com
    P: 778-323-0959

    Media Contact
    Amy Rouyer
    E: amy@beninc.ai
    P: 503-367-7596

    Virtual Investor Conferences
    John M. Viglotti
    SVP Corporate Services, Investor Access
    OTC Markets Group
    (212) 220-2221
    johnv@otcmarkets.com

    Forward-Looking Statements 
    This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results of BEN to differ materially from those expected and projected. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “anticipates,” “believes,” “continue,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “should,” “will,” or “would,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. 

    These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Most of these factors are outside BEN’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the risk factors that are described under the section titled “Risk Factors” in BEN’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

    BEN cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. BEN cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. BEN does not undertake nor does it accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, and it does not intend to do so unless required by applicable law. Further information about factors that could materially affect BEN, including its results of operations and financial condition, is set forth under “Risk Factors” in BEN’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why should humanities education persist in an AI age? Self-development, to start

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Johannes Steizinger, Associate Professor of Philosophy, McMaster University

    Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots has become rampant among students in higher education.

    While some might be ambivalent about the impact of generative AI on higher education, many instructors in the humanities scramble to adapt their classes to the new reality and have declared a crisis of their teaching model.

    Professors and students alike argue that unrestricted use of generative AI threatens the purpose of an education in disciplines like philosophy, history or literature. They say that, as a society, we should care about this loss of intellectual competencies.

    But why is it important that traditional learning not become obsolete — as some predict?

    Today, when corrupt leaders promote AI development, AI reflects repressive political biases. There are serious concerns about AI disinformation, so it’s critical to consider the original purpose of modern universities.

    I consider this question as a historian of philosophy who has examined how modern ideas have intersected with democratic and fascist societies.

    Ideas informing the modern university

    The idea of the modern university emerged amid the European Enlightenment. Inspired by a new ideal of humanity focused on an individual’s independence from authorities and traditions, philosophers such as Wilhelm von Humboldt, Friedrich Schleiermacher and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel introduced education as the proper path to self-development.

    The German term Bildung captures this broad understanding of the educational process, denoting the activity of shaping yourself according to your inner purpose.

    For the philosophers of Bildung, self-development couldn’t take place in isolation but required a community of equals where mutual recognition and critical engagement with each other unlocked everyone’s potential.

    They envisioned the university as a community of learners where teachers facilitate the self-development of students by supporting their critical faculties instead of adapting them to fulfil predetermined roles for society. They believed education should prepare for lifelong learning about the self and world.



    Read more:
    Does a university undergraduate degree lead to a ‘good job?’ It depends what you mean

    Concern about concentration of power

    It was Humboldt who turned these lofty ideals into concrete reforms, laying the groundwork for the modern university and its research-led teaching model. For Humboldt, the realm of Bildung had political significance.

    Living under Prussian absolutism, he feared the paternalism of the state that turned its citizens into loyal subjects under the pretence of furthering their spiritual and material welfare.

    He was critical of the attempt of Frederick the Great, the Prussian king, to regulate economic life and to control private consumption. Humboldt saw such a concentration of power as a despotic tendency that all forms of government could succumb to, including oligarchy and democracy. He therefore insisted on spaces for individual expression and free association. Literary salons were the initial community space for Bildung, and were a model for the modern idea of universities.

    A drawing by Georg Melchior Kraus depicts the salon of Duchess Anna Amalia, showing, among others, writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in discussion. The image suggests the important role of women and community in the Bildungs context.
    (Wikimedia)

    Women, Black philosophers shape ideals

    Yet, as critical thinkers such as Germaine de Staël have noted from early on, the Enlightenment betrayed the universal aspiration of its ideals by restricting their application mostly to a certain class of white and male Europeans.

    The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 1789 restricted active citizenship to male property owners and did not abolish slavery. Advocacy for applying equal rights to all was soon taken up by members of oppressed groups to justify their emancipatory pursuits.

    Early feminists in late 19th-century Germany, such as the philosopher and writer Hedwig Dohm, demanded access to educational institutions so that women could also “become who they are.”

    We find a similar battle cry in the United States, where writer and educator Anna Julia Cooper regarded the higher education of Black women as a key step to social change.

    Both point to thinkers outside the European canon of male authors that helped shape the idea of Bildung. Its emancipatory appeal should not surprise us, since a plausible definition of the main harm of oppression is that it deprives individuals of the capacity to self-develop and to express shared experiences collectively. The opportunity to develop one’s capacities in accordance with one’s true values is a key characteristic of a just society.



    Read more:
    How whiteness was invented and fashioned in Britain’s colonial age of expansion

    Understanding as a collaborative process

    I believe that the idea of Bildung still captures the value of humanities education. In-depth engagement with the complex manifestation of human cultures seen in philosophical ideas, forms of knowledge or literary texts fosters important skills necessary for self-development.

    Students learn critical thinking, enabling them to question authorities and discern their own convictions from received values. They experience thinking as a process which takes time and demands the exploration of different points of view — similar to democratic decision-making.

    Methods to understand others are therefore an important subject of the humanities. The humanities nurture the ability to connect and to develop solidarity with each other.

    The classroom itself is a space where students experience understanding as a collaborative process by discussing with their peers and the instructor.

    Instructors must actualize high-level pedagogical goals by creating concrete exercises through which intellectual skills can be learned and practised.

    Assessing claims, justifying evaluations

    Writing an essay has been the pinnacle of traditional humanities education, since it demands employing the full set of interpretative tools such as identifying sources, analyzing arguments, assessing claims and justifying evaluations independently. It also demands expressing oneself intellectually.

    Basic analytic skills such as formulating an argument or giving an objection can be taught in class. But in-class assignments cannot replace pondering an issue over some time and expressing one’s interpretation of it.

    The important exercise of individual study is deprived of its value when students use technological shortcuts to complete writing tasks. AI-driven chatbots undermine a key part of the learning process through which students improve their critical thinking. This happens through sustained engagement with complex issues, through which students grow by overcoming challenges and practising habits of thinking.

    Relying on AI can undermine processes through which students improve their critical thinking.
    (Pexels/Cottonbro)

    Dangers of ‘cognitive offloading’

    Empirical studies show the negative impact of delegating cognitive tasks to external aids, also called cognitive offloading, on critical thinking skills. Cognitive offloading can have dire political consequences. While we do not live under absolutism anymore, the ugly head of despotism raises its head again.

    In the U.S., as seen recently in Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, the economic elite dominates the political system. Tech oligarchs have found a president who is using his vast powers to further their interests and is prepared to do so without checks and balances.

    More than ever, we need citizens who have learned to think for themselves and developed capacities for paying attention to and caring about complex challenges in our ever-changing world.

    At their best, the humanities are a laboratory to cultivate essential skills for critically assessing the status quo and imagining better alternatives in both political and economic life.

    Johannes Steizinger 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. Why should humanities education persist in an AI age? Self-development, to start – https://theconversation.com/why-should-humanities-education-persist-in-an-ai-age-self-development-to-start-246099

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: $15.8M to Help Dairy Farmers Protect Water Quality

    Source: US State of New York

    Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that 22 farms have been awarded over $15.8 million in funding through the first round of the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Enhanced Nutrient and Methane Management Program (CAFO ENMP). Funding from the program will go toward projects that help farmers protect water quality and mitigate the impacts of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Funding for this program was announced as part of the Governor’s 2024 State of the State and builds on the commitment that Governor Hochul has made to support dairy farm modernization and sustainability.

    “The dairy industry is a cornerstone of New York’s economy, thanks to the dedication of dairy farmers and manufacturers across the state whose work has made this commodity New York’s largest agricultural sector,” Governor Hochul said. “I am proud to help our farmers reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to put world-class products on the tables of New Yorkers for generations to come.”

    Through the first round of funding, the program will help CAFO-permitted farmers implement projects that enhance manure management systems that sequester carbon and conserve manure nutrients applied to fields and soil to protect water quality. The program also supports advancements in precision feed management to balance nutrients and reduce methane emissions. The estimated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction for all projects is 122,833 MTCO2e a year, the equivalent of taking 28,651 gas powered vehicles off the road for one year.

    A total of 22 projects have been awarded through the State’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts via two funding tracks. Seventeen projects were awarded in Track A, which will go toward Nutrient and GHG Management Best Management Practices Systems. Five projects were awarded in Track B, which will go toward Manure Storage Cover and Flare Projects and associated practices. The awards are as follows:

    Capital Region

    • $11,414.38 awarded to the Saratoga County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Hudson-Hoosic Watershed.

    Central New York

    • $1,025,759.00 awarded to the Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with two farms in the Chenango Watershed.
    • $293,850.00 awarded to the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Oneida Lake Watershed.

    Finger Lakes

    • $3,192,578.00 awarded to the Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with three farms in the Seneca Watershed.
    • $2,167,334.00 awarded to the Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Chemung Watershed.
    • $1,248,588.05 awarded to the Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with three farms in the Upper Genesee Watershed.
    • $608,987.20 awarded to the Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Lower Genesee Watershed.
    • $246,900.00 awarded to the Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Oak Orchard – Twelve Mile Creek Watershed.

    Mohawk Valley

    • $942,162.50 awarded to the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Mohawk Watershed.
    • $741,861.35 awarded to Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Mohawk Watershed.
    • $98,483.68 awarded to the Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Mohawk Watershed.
    • $54,611.89 awarded to Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Oneida Lake Watershed.

    North Country

    • $810,571.00 awarded to the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Lake Champlain Watershed.
    • $526,926.21 awarded to the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the St. Lawrence Watershed.
    • $457,056.00 awarded to the St. Lawrence County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the St. Lawrence Watershed.

    Western New York

    • $1,909,650.00 awarded to the Cattaraugus County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Cattaraugus Watershed.
    • $1,470,815.00 awarded to the Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District to work with one farm in the Chautauqua-Conneaut Watershed.

    Full project descriptions are available here.

    New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball said, “New York State is home to some of the most passionate dairy farmers who are not only producing and processing some of the very best dairy products in the world, but also working hard to leave the industry better for future generations. This funding is a true testament to the value of helping our farmers transition to climate-safe practices that preserve our natural resources while continuing to protect their businesses and nourish our communities. I want to thank our Soil and Water Districts and our farmers for the work they’re doing, and I look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”

    New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said, “DEC applauds Governor Hochul’s continued investments to bolster the sustainability of New York’s agricultural industry and provide resources to farmers who serve as crucial partners in the conservation of land and other natural resources. DEC’s requirements play an important role in protecting water quality and this funding will help ensure best management practices are in place and nutrient management plans implemented on livestock farms.”

    New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee Chair Matt Brower said, “The requirements for the CAFO General Permit can result in significant financial and management challenges for farm operations in New York. Having these funds available to farmers is important to help them meet those challenges, while also improving water quality and addressing climate change concerns. We are fortunate to have such a great partnership between the farmers and the local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, which makes the planning and implementation of the projects possible. The State Soil and Water Conservation Committee greatly appreciates the efforts of the Districts.”

    Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “New York dairy is a pillar of our state’s economy, as our largest agricultural sector and a critical job creator in rural communities and beyond. Clean air, water, and healthy soil are fundamental to thriving farm businesses and, therefore, a reliable food supply. Our state has a major stake in providing direct financial support to dairy farmers who are pioneering climate-forward practices that protect our environment and reduce emissions. The CAFO Enhanced Nutrient and Methane Management Program we established last year is helping make that happen and we congratulate the farmers across New York State whose projects have received funding in this first round.”

    Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, “As a major producer of safe and nutritious food, the dairy industry is a critical part of New York’s agricultural economy. I’m glad to see 22 farms benefit from funding that will help them reduce their carbon footprint and assist with milk storage technologies. For both our climate and our food supply, it’s important that we continue to support our dairy producers through initiatives like these.”

    New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher said, “As the fifth-largest dairy producer in the United States, New York is a powerhouse in the industry, ranking number one in cottage cheese, sour cream and yogurt production. And, as stewards of the land, dairy farmers have a vested interest in protecting soil and water quality, reducing their carbon footprint and implementing modern technology to preserve farming for future generations. By awarding CAFO ENMP funding to soil and water conservation districts across the state, Gov. Hochul is sending a strong message that dairy farmers are trusted partners in sustainability and environmental health.”

    Under the Governor’s leadership, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget included additional funding to help boost the dairy industry, including $34 million in capital funding over two years to expand on-farm milk storage capacity, improve efficiencies, invest in milk transfer systems, cooling technologies, and other projects to further opportunities for dairy farmers to transport or store their products.

    The FY 2025 Budget also included a nearly $82 investment in agricultural stewardship programs and initiatives, such as the Climate Resilient Farming grant program, that are helping farms to implement environmentally sustainable practices and combat climate change. In her 2025 State of the State Address, Governor Hochul proposed additional funding to research and implement climate-resilient practices on dairy farms.

    About the Dairy Industry in New York State

    New York State is home to nearly 3,000 dairy producers that produce 16.1 billion pounds of milk annually, making New York the nation’s fifth largest dairy state. With dairy farming accounting for half of the state’s agricultural economy, New York’s unique and talented dairy producers and processors provide significant contributions to New York’s agriculture industry, the economy, and to the health of our communities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Dartmouth — Nova Scotia RCMP release provincial stunting statistics for October to December 2024

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    As Nova Scotia’s Provincial Police, road safety is a top priority. In an effort to keep citizens informed about enforcement on our roadways, the RCMP is releasing statistics on stunting charges for the months of October to December 2024.

    During this three-month period, Nova Scotia RCMP charged 55 drivers with stunting on a number of highways across the province. This includes 25 in October, 12 in November, and 18 in December. The following are examples of these offences:

    • 182 Km/h in a 100 Km/h zone on Hwy. 105 in South Haven
    • 197 Km/h while driving in Yarmouth (the newly licensed driver was drinking alcohol behind the wheel)
    • 166 Km/h in a 100 Km/h zone on Hwy. 125 in Point Edward (newly licensed driver)

    Anyone driving a motor vehicle 50 Km/hr or more over the speed limit may be charged with stunting.

    The fine for stunting in Nova Scotia is $2,422.50 for a first offence, six points on your licence and an immediate seven-day roadside licence suspension.

    Speed is one of the major causes of serious injury and fatal collisions on our roads. Road safety is a priority for the RCMP and drivers are reminded to make it their priority as well. If you see someone driving unsafely on our roads, please report it by calling the RCMP at 1-800-803-RCMP (7267). If you believe it’s an emergency, call 911.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Should Australia mandate cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Visontay, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Alcohol and Long-term Health, University of Sydney

    Hryshchyshen Serhii/Shutterstock

    Alcohol causes huge harm in Australia, responsible for 5,800 new cancer cases per year. Yet many of us remain in the dark about its health risks.

    In January, the United States’ Office of the Surgeon General, the country’s leading public health spokesperson, recommended warnings about alcohol’s cancer risks should be displayed on drink packaging.

    These messages have already been made obligatory in Ireland and South Korea.

    So, do they work? And should we mandate them here?

    Isn’t a glass of wine or two good for me?

    Most of us know heavy drinking is unhealthy.

    Yet the belief a few glasses of wine helps protect against heart disease and other conditions has persisted. That is despite evidence in recent years showing the benefits have been overestimated and the harms underplayed.

    In fact, any level of alcohol use increases the risk for several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer (affecting the large intestine and rectum) and breast cancer.

    In recent years, the evidence has strengthened showing alcohol plays a clear, causal role increasing cancer risk and other serious health problems, as well as all-cause mortality.

    One study estimated how many new cancer cases will develop across the lifetimes of the 18.8 million Australian adults who were alive in 2016. It predicted a quarter of a million (249,700) new cancers – mostly colorectal – will arise due to alcohol.

    We know what causes this harm. For example, acetaldehyde – a chemical produced by the body when it processes alcohol – is carcinogenic.

    Alcohol also increases cancer risk through “oxidative stress”, an imbalance in the body’s antioxidants and free radicals which causes damage to DNA and inflammation.

    It can also affect hormone levels, which raises the risk for breast cancer in particular.

    Australians unaware of the risk

    While the harms are well-known to researchers, many Australians remain unaware.

    Figures vary, but at best only 59% of us know about the direct link between alcohol and cancer (and at worst, just one in five are aware).

    Perhaps the best evidence this message has failed to sink in is our continued love affair with alcohol.

    In 2022–23 69% of us drank alcohol, with one in three doing so at levels deemed risky by the National Health and Medical Research Council. For both men and women, that means having more than ten standard drinks per week or more than four in one day.



    Read more:
    Mother’s little helper: interviews with Australian women show a complex relationship with alcohol

    What are other countries doing?

    Like Australia, the US already has warnings on alcohol about its impacts on unborn children and a person’s ability to operate cars and machinery.

    The US Surgeon General wants additional explicit warnings about cancer risk to be compulsory.

    Alcohol packaging in Australia warns about pregnancy risk.
    Adam Calaitzis/Shutterstock

    This follows Ireland, the first country to mandate cancer labels for alcohol. From 2026, alcohol packaging will include the warning: “there is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers”.

    Other countries, including Norway and Thailand, are also reportedly investigating cancer warning labels.

    Since 2017, alcohol producers in South Korea have had to choose between three compulsory warning labels – two of which warn of cancer risks. However they can instead opt for a label which warns about alcohol’s risks for dementia, stroke and memory loss.

    Will Australia follow suit?

    Australian health bodies have been advocating for cancer warnings on drink packaging for over a decade.

    Currently, whether to include warnings about alcohol’s general health risks is at the discretion of the manufacturer.

    Many use vague “drink responsibly” messages or templates provided by DrinkWise, an organisation funded by the alcohol industry.

    Pregnancy warning labels (“Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby”) only became obligatory in 2023. Although this covers just one of alcohol’s established health effects, it has set an important precedent.

    We now have a template for how introducing cancer and other health warnings might work.

    With pregnancy labels, the government consulted public health and industry bodies and gave a three-year transition period for manufacturers to adjust. We even have examples of colour and formatting of required labels that could be adapted.

    Perhaps most promisingly, four in five surveyed Australians support adding these cancer-specific warnings.

    Cancer warnings already feature on some tobacco products in Australia.
    Galexia/Shutterstock

    Would it work?

    We know the existing “drink responsibly”-style warnings are not enough. Research shows consumers find these messages ambiguous.

    But would warnings about cancer be an improvement? Ireland’s rules are yet to come into effect, and it’s too early to tell how well South Korea’s policy has worked (there are also limitations give manufacturers can choose a warning not related to cancer).

    But a trial of cancer warnings in one Canadian liquor store found they increased knowledge of the alcohol–cancer link by 10% among store customers.

    Cancer messages would likely increase awareness about risks. But more than that – a 2016 study that tested cancer warnings on a group of 1,680 adults across Australia found they were also effective at reducing people’s intentions to drink.

    The evidence suggests a similar policy could replicate the success of cancer warnings on cigarette packaging – first introduced in the 1970s – at increasing knowledge about risks and reducing consumption. Smoking rates in Australian adults have declined steadily since these warnings were first introduced.

    It may take years before Australia changes its rules on alcohol labelling.

    In the meantime, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the current national low-risk drinking guidelines, which aim to minimise harm from alcohol across a range of health conditions.

    Rachel Visontay receives funding from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales.

    Louise Mewton receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dementa Australia, Australian Rotary Health, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC).

    – ref. Should Australia mandate cancer warnings for alcoholic drinks? – https://theconversation.com/should-australia-mandate-cancer-warnings-for-alcoholic-drinks-246890

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. John’s — RCMP-RNC IICE charges St. John’s man with online child exploitation offences

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Following a lengthy investigation conducted by the RCMP-RNC Integrated Internet Child Exploitation (IICE) Unit, 48-year-old Dennis Oliver was arrested on January 31, 2025, and is charged with online child exploitation offences.

    In November of 2024, IICE executed a search warrant at a St. John’s home in relation to a report of online child exploitation activity. Electronics were seized and subsequently analyzed.

    The results of the forensic analysis, as well as other evidence collected, led to Oliver’s arrest on Friday. He is charged with the following criminal offences:

    • Transmitting child pornography – one count
    • Possession of child pornography – one count
    • Accessing child pornography – one count

    In accordance with arrest and release procedures, Oliver was released on conditions designed to protect the general public. He is scheduled to appear in Provincial Court in St. John’s on March 20, 2025.

    Child pornography cases require complex forensic examination of seized electronics followed, by additional investigation actions. Consequently, criminal charges in these cases are often laid up to 9-12 months after the execution of a search warrant.

    The RCMP-RNC IICE team encourages caregivers and youth to learn about current online threats and safety practices at cybertip.ca, protectchildren.ca, kidsintheknow.ca and dontgetsextorted.ca.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Russellton Resident Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Minor

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Russellton, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of violating federal law regarding the sexual exploitation of minors, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

    The two-count Indictment named Michael Rearick, 43, as the sole defendant.

    According to the Indictment, from April 21, 2023, until April 23, 2023, Rearick traveled and transported a minor from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Canada, with the intent that the minor engage in criminal activity and illicit sexual activity.

    The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

    Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

    Homeland Security Investigations-Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, and the West Deer Township Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Spencer, Iowa Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Federal Prison for Meth and Gun Convictions

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Oscar Navarro-Zepeda, 43, from Spencer, Iowa, was sentenced on January 31, 2025, to 204 months’ imprisonment.  Navarro-Zepeda was convicted by a jury on August 22, 2024, after a 3 ½ day trial in federal court in Sioux City.  Navarro-Zepeda was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of firearm by prohibited person; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

    Evidence at the trial showed that between April 2021 and April 2023, in the Northern District of Iowa and elsewhere Navarro-Zepeda was involved in a conspiracy that distributed more than 31 kilograms of methamphetamine.  Evidence also showed that on April 18, 2023, during a search warrant at Navarro-Zepeda’s residence in Spencer, Iowa, law enforcement seized approximately 33 pounds of methamphetamine in separate one-pound packages, which he intended to distribute to others in the Spencer, Iowa, area.  Officers also seized $17,932; an AR-15 style .223 caliber rifle, two loaded magazines, other .223 ammunition, as well as various items of drug distribution and use paraphernalia.  Navarro-Zepeda was prohibited from possessing firearms and possessed a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking, to protect himself, his drugs and drug proceeds from others.  

    Sentencing was held before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Navarro-Zepeda was sentenced to 204 months’ imprisonment and must serve a term of five years of supervised release following imprisonment.­ There is no parole in the federal system.  Navarro-Zepeda remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.

    The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.  

    Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

    The case file number is 23-4029.  Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Second Defendant to Federal Prison for Webster County Firearm Thefts

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    A woman who stole firearms during two burglaries she committed with a wanted fugitive was sentenced on January 31, 2025, to more than four years in federal prison.

    Madison Diane Kidd, age 26, from Stratford, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 16, 2024 guilty plea to possession of firearms and ammunition by a prohibited person.

    Information from a plea agreement showed that in late 2022 and early 2023, Kidd harbored Michael Ackerson, a federal fugitive who had a warrant for his arrest, at her residence in Stratford.  On January 11, and January 13, 2023, Kidd and Ackerson burglarized two homes on Brushy Creek Road in Webster County, Iowa.  During these burglaries, they stole five firearms, a safe containing coins and jewelry, and a compound bow, among other items.  Kidd hid four of the stolen firearms and the stolen bow in a crawl space in her residence in Stratford.  On January 25, 2023, law enforcement officers searched Kidd’s home.  During the search, they located and arrested Ackerson.  They also found the firearms, the bow, other property stolen during the burglaries, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. 

    In January 2023, Kidd was a methamphetamine user who had at least three prior felony convictions.  After Ackerson’s arrest, Kidd and Ackerson discussed who would take responsibility for the firearms on recorded jail calls.  Ackerson gave Kidd login information for a Google account, and Kidd logged into the account, changed the password, and deleted information from the account to conceal evidence of their crimes.  On December 6, 2023, Ackerson was sentenced to 100 months’ imprisonment after he pled guilty to escape from custody and possession of firearms by a felon. 

    Kidd was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Kidd was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.  She was ordered to make $865.34 in restitution to the victims.  She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

    Kidd is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

    The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the United States Marshals Service, the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.  

    Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

    The case file number is 24-CR-3021.

    Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Trump’s Project 2025 agenda caps decades-long resistance to 20th century progressive reform

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Colin Gordon, Professor of History, University of Iowa

    There has long been a tug-of-war over White House plans to make government more liberal or more conservative. Douglas Rissing/iStock / Getty Images Plus

    For much of the 20th century, efforts to remake government were driven by a progressive desire to make the government work for regular Americans, including the New Deal and the Great Society reforms.

    But they also met a conservative backlash seeking to rein back government as a source of security for working Americans and realign it with the interests of private business. That backlash is the central thread of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint for a second Trump Administration.

    Alternatively disavowed and embraced by President Donald Trump during his 2024 campaign, Project 2025 is a collection of conservative policy proposals – many written by veterans of his first administration. It echoes similar projects, both liberal and conservative, setting out a bold agenda for a new administration.

    But Project 2025 does so with particular detail and urgency, hoping to galvanize dramatic change before the midterm elections in 2026. As its foreword warns: “Conservatives have just two years and one shot to get this right.”

    The standard for a transformational “100 days” – a much-used reference point for evaluating an administration – belongs to the first administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill in Washington on Aug. 14, 1935.
    AP Photo, file

    Social reforms and FDR

    In 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt faced a nation in which business activity had stalled, nearly a third of the workforce was unemployed, and economic misery and unrest were widespread.

    But Roosevelt’s so-called “New Deal” unfolded less as a grand plan to combat the Depression than as a scramble of policy experimentation.

    Roosevelt did not campaign on what would become the New Deal’s singular achievements, which included expansive relief programs, subsidies for farmers, financial reforms, the Social Security system, the minimum wage and federal protection of workers’ rights.

    Those achievements came haltingly after two years of frustrated or ineffective policymaking. And those achievements rested less on Roosevelt’s political vision than on the political mobilization and demands made by American workers.

    A generation later, another wave of social reforms unfolded in similar fashion. This time it was not general economic misery that spurred actions, but the persistence of inequality – especially racial inequality – in an otherwise prosperous time.

    LBJ’s Great Society

    President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs declared a war on poverty and, toward that end, introduced a raft of new federal initiatives in urban, education and civil rights.

    These included the provision of medical care for the poor and older people via Medicaid and Medicare, a dramatic expansion of federal aid for K-12 education, and landmark voting rights and civil rights legislation.

    As with the New Deal, the substance of these policies rested less with national policy designs than with the aspirations and mobilization of the era’s social movements.

    Resistance to policy change

    Since the 1930s, conservative policy agendas have largely taken the form of reactions to the New Deal and the Great Society.

    The central message has routinely been that “big government” has overstepped its bounds and trampled individual rights, and that the architects of those reforms are not just misguided but treasonous. Project 2025, in this respect, promises not just a political right turn but to “defeat the anti-American left.”

    After the 1946 midterm elections, congressional Republicans struck back at the New Deal. Drawing on business opposition to the New Deal, popular discontent with postwar inflation, and common cause with Southern Democrats, they stemmed efforts to expand the New Deal, gutting a full employment proposal and defeating national health insurance.

    They struck back at organized labor with the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which undercut federal law by allowing states to pass anti-union “right to work” laws. And they launched an infamous anti-communist purge of the civil service, which forced nearly 15,000 people out of government jobs.

    In 1971, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce commissioned Lewis Powell – who would be appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon to the Supreme Court the next year – to assess the political landscape. Powell’s memorandum characterized the political climate at the dawn of the 1970s – including both Great Society programs and the anti-war and Civil Rights movements of the 1960s – as nothing less than an “attack on the free enterprise system.”

    In a preview of current U.S. politics, Powell’s memorandum devoted special attention to a disquieting “chorus of criticism” coming from “the perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.”

    Powell characterized the social policies of the New Deal and Great Society as “socialism or some sort of statism” and advocated the elevation of business interests and business priorities to the center of American political life.

    A copy of Project 2025 is held during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
    AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

    Building a conservative infrastructure

    Powell captured the conservative zeitgeist at the onset of what would become a long and decisive right turn in American politics. More importantly, it helped galvanize the creation of a conservative infrastructure – in the courts, in the policy world, in universities and in the media – to push back against that “chorus of criticism.”

    This political shift would yield an array of organizations and initiatives, including the political mobilization of business, best represented by the emergence of the Koch brothers and the powerful libertarian conservative political advocacy group they founded, known as Americans for Prosperity. It also yielded a new wave of conservative voices on radio and television and a raft of right-wing policy shops and think tanks – including the Heritage Foundation, creator of Project 2025.

    In national politics, the conservative resurgence achieved full expression in President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign. The “Reagan Revolution” united economic and social conservatives around the central goal of dismantling what was left of the New Deal and Great Society.

    Powell’s triumph was evident across the policy landscape. Reagan gutted social programs, declared war on organized labor, pared back economic and social regulations – or declined to enforce them – and slashed taxes on business and the wealthy.

    Publicly, the Reagan administration argued that tax cuts would pay for themselves, with the lower rates offset by economic growth. Privately, it didn’t matter: Either growth would sustain revenues, or the resulting budgetary hole could be used to “starve the beast” and justify further program cuts.

    Reagan’s vision, and its shaky fiscal logic, were reasserted in the “Contract with America” proposed by congressional Republicans after their gains in the 1994 midterm elections.

    This declaration of principles proposed deep cuts to social programs alongside tax breaks for business. It was perhaps most notable for encouraging the Clinton administration to pass the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, “ending welfare as we know it,” as Clinton promised.

    Aiming at the ‘deep state’

    Project 2025, the latest in this series of blueprints for dramatic change, draws most deeply on two of those plans.

    As in the congressional purges of 1940s, it takes aim not just at policy but at the civil servants – Trump’s “deep state” – who administer it.

    In the wake of World War II, the charge was that feckless bureaucrats served Soviet masters. Today, Project 2025 aims to “bring the Administrative State to heel, and in the process defang and defund the woke culture warriors who have infiltrated every last institution in America.”

    As in the 1971 Powell memorandum, Project 2025 promises to mobilize business power; to “champion the dynamic genius of free enterprise against the grim miseries of elite-directed socialism.”

    Whatever their source – party platforms, congressional bomb-throwers, think tanks, private interests – the success or failure of these blueprints rested not on their vision or popular appeal but on the political power that accompanied them. The New Deal and Great Society gained momentum and meaning from the social movements that shaped their agendas and held them to account.

    The lineage of conservative responses has been largely an assertion of business power. Whatever populist trappings the second Trump administration may possess, the bottom line of the conservative cultural and political agenda in 2025 is to dismantle what is left of the New Deal or the Great Society, and to defend unfettered “free enterprise” against critics and alternatives.

    Colin Gordon receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

    – ref. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda caps decades-long resistance to 20th century progressive reform – https://theconversation.com/trumps-project-2025-agenda-caps-decades-long-resistance-to-20th-century-progressive-reform-247176

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth, Durbin Join Van Hollen, Colleagues in Reintroducing Legislation to Help Support Public Education for Low-Income Children and Those With Learning Disabilities

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    January 31, 2025

    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and 14 other U.S. Senators in reintroducing the Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act to help put Congress on a fiscally responsible path to fully fund Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) on a mandatory basis. These programs, which respectively support public education for children in low-income areas and education for individuals with learning disabilities, have been chronically underfunded since their inception, leaving our public schools, students and teachers at a disadvantage.

    “When we invest in education and prioritize students across our nation—regardless of zip code—we’re really investing in their future as much as our country’s future,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’m proud to help reintroduce the Keep Our PACT Act to help provide countless teachers, school districts and young people a fairer, more equitable shot at reaching their full potential. Every child deserves the chance to succeed.”

    “Our nation’s children are the future. Every student, including students with disabilities, should have equal access to a quality education, regardless of their family’s income or where they live,” said Senator Durbin. “I’m joining my colleagues in reintroducing the Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act to ensure the federal government upholds its promise to fund schools, as well as Title I and IDEA programs, that serve our nation’s most vulnerable students.”

    “Every child – no matter their zip code – deserves access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to succeed,” said Senator Van Hollen. “But too many children still don’t have that opportunity because the federal government has never lived up to its commitment to fully fund Title I and IDEA – the federal programs designed to keep our promise to all students, including those facing the greatest challenges. The Keep Our PACT Act will ensure the federal government finally makes good on its obligation to invest in a first-rate education for all our students.”

    Duckworth and Durbin have worked hard to help ensure that every child in our country has access to a quality public education. In December, Duckworth and Durbin announced over $4 million in funding to help educators across Illinois increase the math proficiency of their students, and they also announced over $7 million in funding to help prepare young Illinoisans to succeed in high-demand careers.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth Joins Fischer in Reintroducing Bipartisan Legislation to Help Address Freight Fraud

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    January 31, 2025

    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST)—helped reintroduce bipartisan legislation alongside U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) aimed at addressing freight fraud. The Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act would help provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with the tools needed to protect consumers from fraud by scammers in the interstate transportation of household goods.

    “Bad actors are constantly developing new ways to defraud hardworking Americans, so it’s critical we keep our legislation up to speed so we can protect our constituents from the latest scamming techniques,” said Senator Duckworth. “Moving is stressful enough without worrying about whether your movers are actually scammers trying to steal your money and belongings. I’m proud to help introduce this bipartisan legislation alongside Senator Fischer to help ensure FMCSA has the tools it needs to shield American consumers from these thieves.”

    “We cannot allow bad actors in the shipping and moving industry to violate consumer trust and harm our nation’s supply chain,” said Senator Fischer. “Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation will give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration the tools they need to hold these thieves accountable. I look forward to working with my colleagues in both the House and the Senate to get our bill signed into law.”

    Freight fraud, particularly in the household goods sector, is a growing problem that continues to undermine the integrity of the shipping and logistics industry. The bipartisan Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act seeks to help address the issue of household goods fraud by empowering FMCSA with the tools it needs to combat fraudulent actors in the shipping industry. Duckworth is an advocate for stronger consumer protections—in 2023, she and several Senate colleagues called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to improve their oversight over financial firms offering “buy now, pay later” products to ensure they comply with consumer protection laws.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: New elementary school open for Surrey students

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    The new Ta’talu Elementary has created more than 500 student seats in Surrey.

    “Ta’talu Elementary is part of our government’s commitment to meeting the needs of growing communities like Surrey,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Education and Child Care. “Providing hundreds of new seats, Ta’talu Elementary ensures more students and families in Surrey have modern spaces to learn, grow and play.”

    Ta’talu Elementary is the seventh new school to open in Surrey since 2017. The three-storey school has space for 655 students, in addition to child care space. Building the new Ta’talu Elementary school was funded with more than $39 million provided by the Province and $5 million from the Surrey School District.

    “More families are settling down in Surrey and we need to make sure there are safe and comfortable schools to support their kids as they grow and learn,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Infrastructure. “That’s why we’re making record investments in schools, housing and health-care facilities so that families can get the services they need in their communities.”

    This school is part of the government’s ongoing work over the past seven years to deliver new and expanded schools in Surrey. In the past few months, an 800-seat addition was announced for Fleetwood Park Secondary, as well as prefabricated additions for Old Yale Road Elementary, Latimer Road Elementary, William Watson Elementary and Martha Currie Elementary.

    Construction is also underway for the new Snokomish Elementary, and additions at Semiahmoo Trail Elementary and South Meridian Elementary. These projects will create 3,500 new student seats in Surrey.

    “Ta’talu is the perfect example of the kind of learning environment every single Surrey student deserves – a beautiful building with a gym, library, music room and dedicated space for students with diverse learning needs,” said Gary Tymoschuk, chair of the Surrey Board of Education. “This is exactly the type of investment our growing communities need so that students in Surrey can thrive and succeed.”

    The school’s name was gifted to Surrey school district by Chief Harley Chappell of the Semiahmoo First Nation. Derived from the SENĆOŦEN language, it translates to “little arms.” It pays homage to the school’s location near Campbell River and its tributaries, often referred to as the little arms of the river.

    Ta’talu Elementary is part of an investment of nearly $1 billion in schools in the area. To further support the growing population in Surrey, the Province is also building a new hospital and cancer centre, and expanding Surrey Memorial Hospital to include a new renal hemodialysis facility and new interventional cardiology and radiology suites. In addition, the Simon Fraser University Surrey campus is set to open Western Canada’s first medical school in 55 years in 2026.

    Quotes:

    Garry Begg, MLA for Surrey-Guilford –

    “Surrey is a wonderful place to call home. This new school will be an excellent addition to the community and provide Surrey children and families with the infrastructure they need to thrive for generations to come.”

    Jessie Sunner, MLA for Surrey-Newton –  

    “I’m thrilled to see the completion of Ta’talu Elementary. This school will be a modern, vibrant space for Surrey’s students, ensuring they have the safe, innovative and spacious learning environments they need to succeed.”

    Jagrup Brar, MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood –

    “Surrey is growing quickly, and the completion of another new school is great news for students and families in our community. This school will provide lasting benefits to the community for years to come.”

    Amna Shah, MLA for Surrey City Centre –

    “The opening of Ta’talu Elementary is part of the Province’s continued commitment to meet the needs of growing communities like Surrey. With hundreds of new seats, we are ensuring Surrey students have the spaces they need to learn and play.”

    Learn More:

    For more information about Surrey School District, visit: https://www.surreyschools.ca/

    For more information about K-12 school capital projects in B.C., visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/capital

    For more information about health capital projects in B.C., visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/accessing-health-care/capital-projects

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Government casts global net for new ships and invites alternative proposals

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Rail Minister Winston Peters says the Government has started the world-wide market engagement to buy two new medium-sized ferries to replace the Interislander fleet.

    “The Government will immediately engage shipyards internationally, identifying those with the capability, capacity and interest to deliver new ferries by 2029,” says Mr Peters.

    “This will narrow the list of potential ship builders to those able to strike a deal, ensuring no time is wasted when we issue the ship specifications later this year.”

    At the same time, the Government is opening the process for eligible parties to put forward ideas for alternative procurement options to deliver ferry services. 

    “We announced in December that any better ideas than direct procurement of new ferries and port agreements for the enabling infrastructure will be heard. Interested parties should put their best foot forward now,” says Mr Peters.

    Mr Peters says ideas for alternative procurement options will need to demonstrate:

    • the ability to deliver ferries in 2029 with appropriate freight and passenger capacity and that meet certain specified standards
    • the ability to provide confidence that any landside development necessary will support new ferries operating in 2029
    • capability and experience in the operation, financing and/or investment in maritime transport infrastructure
    • the ability to manage risks associated with the transition from current ferry operations to new arrangements
    • value for money on a whole of life basis, delivering an annual economic return, at less cost than a Government-led procurement

    Details on how maritime transport operators or infrastructure investors can register interest in providing ideas and receive further information are available on the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website (www.gets.govt.nz).

    The deadline for the written submission of ideas via GETS is 28 February 2025

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Spray General Store can now put in a heater and other improvements for the good of the community – thanks to an Office of Resilience and Emergency Management grant

    Source: US State of Oregon

    hen Joni Kabana first saw the Spray General Store in Spray, Oregon, the roof was in disrepair, a tree was threatening the building from the back and it was filled with stuff the owner was storing. The whole building was in rough shape.

    But Kabana felt a calling to do something with the old beloved store.

    “My intuition just said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Sometimes I just go with my gut with what I’m supposed to do,” she said.

    That was 12 years ago. Three years ago, she bought the building. She removed the threatening tree and put on a new roof. At first, she thought the building would be a good place for her photography and writing studio. But it soon morphed into a community center. The Spray General Store now offers the community of Spray – and its 159 residents – and others, a place to visit, a place to create art, play music, take classes and hold meetings – a place to gather and get to know each other. Kabana acts as the event and building manager.

    Throughout the years when the building needed something she applied for grants and asked for donations. As you can imagine, an old building has its needs. One of the store’s needs was for a heater that would heat the kitchen and bathroom.

    Recently Kabana applied for a Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant from the Oregon Department of Human Services Office of Resilience and Emergency Management (OREM). The funding came from Oregon Legislature through House Bill 3409 passed in 2023. The grant allocated $10 million to develop Resilience Hubs throughout Oregon.

    The Spray General Store was one of the grant’s recipients, receiving $26,300. There were more than 700 applicants for this grant money. More than 87 different groups from throughout the state were awarded a grant. $2 million was set aside to provide to each of the Nine Tribes of Oregon $222,222.

    “What impressed me was I had chance to visit Spray. I talked to neighbors, and they all worked together. There had been a big forest fire in Spray. When I went to visit, I opened the doors and there were air filters, water for people. It was a perfect example of what a resilience hub is,” Ed Flick, OREM Director, said.

    “When they told me I got our grant, and they told me we could have heat I got really choked up. I got really emotional. Rarely do we get funding for building issues. That bathroom and kitchen are really freezing. We would hear people scream when they went into the bathroom. Getting heat in the kitchen and bathroom is going to be a game changer for us,” Kabana said.

    Being able to use the kitchen and bathroom in the winter months means the store can hold more community events through off seasons when area businesses are struggling. Being used in the winter can bring more people to town who will use places like the motel, the grocery store and the gas station.

    Some of the grant money will also be used to install electricity in the storage building in the back. That’s where they store blacksmithing and ceramic material used in their classes and also wood and tools.

    “Now if you need a tool or something you go in there and there is no light. You better go in during the day,” Kabana said.

    “This is a wonderful opportunity to upgrade the heating and provide operational costs to keep the General Store functioning year-round. If the need arises, this will be a place the people of Spray can go to seek shelter, water and other resources.” Jenn Bosch, OREM Grants Program Administrator, said.

    Here is what the grant will fund: heat repaired/installed in the kitchen and bathroom; operational costs such as internet, electric, water; outreach; window purchase and installation; and partial costs of an electrical panel in the barn.

    Kabana also wants to bring in a mobile BBQ food cart. There is no restaurant in Spray. And the other two restaurants about an hour’s drive away just closed. She wants to let people have a really good restaurant experience. She hopes to partner the food cart with an event like a float on the nearby John Day River, or an open mic night for musicians.

    Learn more about the Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant: https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/emergency-management/Pages/resilience-grants.aspx

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Announces Nearly $60 Million Settlement Against Pfizer-Owned Pharmaceutical Holding Company, Biohaven

    Source: US State of California

    Monday, February 3, 2025

    Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

    OAKLAND —Attorney General Bonta today annnounced a nationwide settlement against Pfizer-owned Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company for submitting false claims to the Medicaid program and other government healthcare programs. The settlement addresses claims that Biohaven participated in a kickback scheme from 2020 to 2022, where they provided cash and extravagant gifts to healthcare providers in return for prescribing their medication, Nurtec. As part of today’s settlement, Pfizer has agreed to pay, on behalf of Biohaven, a total of nearly $60 million to resolve federal and state violations, most of which resulted in losses to the federal Medicare program. The State of California will receive $413,776 for its share of losses to California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.

    “The best interests of patients must always come first,” said Attorney General Bonta. “It is up to us, along with our state and federal partners, to keep violations like those alleged against Biohaven in check. Today’s settlement returns critical funding to our communities and programs like Medicaid that keep them healthy.”

    Pfizer has agreed to pay $59,746,277, plus interest, on behalf of Biohaven to resolve allegations that Biohaven engaged in unlawful kickback practices to encourage providers to prescribe Nurtec, a prescription medication designed for the treatment of migraine headaches, to patients who use Medicaid for insurance. That payment will be shared by the federal government and several states, including California. The claims assert that kickbacks were provided to healthcare professionals in the form of cash payments, lavish meals, and honoraria, thereby breaching the Anti-Kickback Statute. 

    The California Department of Justice’s DMFEA protects Californians by investigating and prosecuting those who defraud the Medi-Cal program as well as those who commit elder abuse. These settlements are made possible only through the coordination and collaboration of governmental agencies, as well as the critical help from whistleblowers who report incidences of abuse or Medi-Cal fraud at oag.ca.gov/dmfea/reporting. 

    The Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $69,244,976 for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2025. The remaining 25 percent is funded by the State of California. FY 2025 is from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025. 

    A copy of the settlement can be found here.

     
     
     

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: World Cancer Day: Bringing Life-saving Care to Those Who Need it Most

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    Through our fast-growing programmes and the Rays of Hope initiative, the IAEA is expanding access to nuclear medicine and cancer treatment in low- and middle-income countries, supporting care to patients around the world with little or no access to treatment. Learn more about the IAEA’s work to close the global cancer care gap: #CancerCare4All

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Euronext upgraded from ‘BBB+, Positive Outlook‘ to ‘A-, Stable Outlook‘ by S&P

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Euronext upgraded from ‘BBB+, Positive Outlook‘ to ‘A-, Stable Outlook‘ by S&P

    Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Milan, Oslo and Paris – 3 February 2025 – Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, today announces the decision of S&P to upgrade Euronext from ‘BBB+, Positive Outlook’ to ‘A-, Stable Outlook’.

    S&P’s decision reflects the completion of the integration of the Borsa Italiana Group, the successful expansion of Euronext Clearing and the continued deleveraging thanks to the Group’s strong cash flow generation.

    Stéphane Boujnah, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext, said:
    “We are pleased today to see Euronext’s rating upgraded by S&P to A-. This upgrade is a strong recognition of the success of the transformation journey we engaged in since the closing of the acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Group. We have pursued our deleveraging path, from 3.2x net debt to EBITDA at the closing of the transaction, to 1.5x at the end of Q3 2024. In the meantime, we continued to return capital to our shareholders, including through our ongoing €300 million share repurchase programme, which was launched in November 2024.
    Euronext is today stronger than ever, with a diversified business profile. Combined with our recognised solid financial position and cash generation, we are in the ideal position to achieve our ambitious targets set out in our new strategic plan ‘Innovate for Growth 2027’.”
    Download S&P report

    CONTACTS  

    ANALYSTS & INVESTORS – ir@euronext.com

    Investor Relations        Aurélie Cohen                 

            Judith Stein        +33 6 15 23 91 97          

    MEDIA – mediateam@euronext.com 

    Europe        Aurélie Cohen         +33 1 70 48 24 45   

            Andrea Monzani         +39 02 72 42 62 13 

    Belgium        Marianne Aalders         +32 26 20 15 01                 

    France, Corporate        Flavio Bornancin-Tomasella        +33 1 70 48 24 45                 

    Ireland        Andrea Monzani         +39 02 72 42 62 13                 

    Italy         Ester Russom         +39 02 72 42 67 56                 

    The Netherlands        Marianne Aalders         +31 20 721 41 33                 

    Norway         Cathrine Lorvik Segerlund        +47 41 69 59 10                 

    Portugal         Sandra Machado        +351 91 777 68 97                

    Corporate Services        Coralie Patri         +33 7 88 34 27 44                  

    About Euronext  

    Euronext is the leading European capital market infrastructure, covering the entire capital markets value chain, from listing, trading, clearing, settlement and custody, to solutions for issuers and investors. Euronext runs MTS, one of Europe’s leading electronic fixed income trading markets, and Nord Pool, the European power market. Euronext also provides clearing and settlement services through Euronext Clearing and its Euronext Securities CSDs in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Portugal.

    As of December 2024, Euronext’s regulated exchanges in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal host over 1,800 listed issuers with around €6 trillion in market capitalisation, a strong blue-chip franchise and the largest global centre for debt and fund listings. With a diverse domestic and international client base, Euronext handles 25% of European lit equity trading. Its products include equities, FX, ETFs, bonds, derivatives, commodities and indices.

    For the latest news, go to euronext.com or follow us on X and LinkedIn.

    Disclaimer

    This press release is for information purposes only: it is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and is provided “as is”, without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext’s subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext. This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is available at www.euronext.com/terms-use.

    © 2025, Euronext N.V. – All rights reserved. 

    The Euronext Group processes your personal data in order to provide you with information about Euronext (the “Purpose”). With regard to the processing of this personal data, Euronext will comply with its obligations under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and Council of 27 April 2016 (General Data Protection Regulation, “GDPR”), and any applicable national laws, rules and regulations implementing the GDPR, as provided in its privacy statement available at: www.euronext.com/privacy-policy. In accordance with the applicable legislation you have rights with regard to the processing of your personal data: for more information on your rights, please refer to: www.euronext.com/data_subjects_rights_request_information. To make a request regarding the processing of your data or to unsubscribe from this press release service, please use our data subject request form at connect2.euronext.com/form/data-subjects-rights-request or email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@euronext.com.

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Correction: 2024 financial statements: significant reduction in net loss

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PRESS RELEASE

    2024 financial statements: significant reduction in net loss

    Evry, 03 February 2025 – 5:45pm: Global Bioenergies’ Board of Directors today approved the 2024 annual financial statements, which have been audited by the Statutory Auditor and show a significantly reduced loss of €-5.9M.

    Samuel Dubruque, Chief Financial Officer of Global Bioenergies, comments: “In two years, we have managed to halve our net loss (€-12.0M in 2022, €-8.7M in 2023 and €-5.9M in 2024). The Company has reorganized itself to match its new partnership development model, which enables us to reduce expenses by optimizing allocated resources. We anticipate that 2025 will result in a further reduced net loss.

    We are also holding discussions with our banking partners to negotiate the payment schedule of our debts, aiming at postponing any repayments beyond 2025, which would extend our financial visibility with our current cash position until September 2025. If we were unable to reach an agreement with our banking partners in the coming months, new financing would be required to meet our debt repayments”.

    Marc Delcourt, co-founder and CEO of Global Bioenergies, adds: “Our new technical approach, which will combine our technology with the one of a major international industrialist, will enable us to drastically reduce the CAPEX1and OPEX2of isobutene production and its conversion into SAF. We can now set our sights very high in this field: to take over from HEFA, the only commercially exploited technology to date, but which will soon plateau because it relies on limited resources (used cooking oil and tallow oil). We are more convinced than ever of the need to provide decarbonizing solutions in a world that sometimes seems resigned to global warming and its many consequences”.

    • Group Profit & Loss Account
    € thousands from 01/01/24
    to 30/12/2024
    12 months    		 from 01/01/23
    to 31/12/2023
    12 months    		 from 01/01/22
    to 31/12/2022
    12 months
           
    Operating income 4,692 8,910 1,715
    Operating expenses -11,436 -18,621 -14,907
    Operating profit (loss) -6,744 -9,711 -13,192
           
    EBITDA -4,428 -6,878 -11,383
           
    Financial profit 59 107 -95
    Non-recurring items -428 -239 -147
    Income tax (CIR) -1,251 -1,187 -1,447
           
    Net income (loss) -5,861 -8,656 -11,986
    • Details of operating income
    Details of operating income (€ thousands) 2024 2023 2022
    Sales 361 3,249 698
    Operating subsidies 4,188 2,698 895
    Change in inventories -312 1,530 -118
    Other 455 1,432 240
    TOTAL 4,692 8,910 1,715

    Operating income consists mainly of operating subsidies recognized under the Isoprod and Prénidem projects from ADEME.

    • Details of operating expenses
    Details of operating expenses (€ thousands) 2024 2023 2022
    Staff 4,174 4,553 4,287
    Laboratory 390 346 343
    Industrialization/Commercialization 1,506 8,778 6,713
    Rentals and maintenance 1,060 1,034 850
    Intellectual property 320 390 323
    Amortization 2,386 1,590 703
    Other 1,600 1,931 1,688
    TOTAL 11,436 18,621 14,907

    Operating expenses have decreased mainly on industrialization and production items, as the work carried out during the first half of the year on the demo plant at Pomacle Bazancourt was brought to completion. No such expenditure was necessary in the second half of the year.

    • Group Balance Sheet
    Assets (€ thousands) 31/12/24 31/12/23 31/12/22   Liabilities (€ thousands) 31/12/24 31/12/23 31/12/22
                     
    Intangible assets 69 327 539   Capital 908 906 749
    Tangible assets 486 2,471 3,612   Share premium – 10,538 16,029
    Assets under construction – 77 401   Balance carried forward -918 -2,769 -2,708
    Financial assets 349 341 1,546   Profit (loss) -5,861 -8,656 -11,986
              Equipment subsidies 129 2,758 463
                     
    NON-CURRENT ASSETS 904 3,217 6,097   EQUITY -5,742 2,778 2,547
                     
    Inventories 402 219 2,592   PROVISIONS 198 53 110
    Receivables 3,144 2,247 3,647   Conditional advances and loans 13,088 12,451 11,486
    Cash 4,692 11,673 8,768   Trade payables 1,475 2,411 5,580
    Marketable securities 171 171 173   Tax and social security liabilities 625 559 502
    Prepaid expenses 338 378 300   Other debts and deferred income 7 3 1,352
                     
    CURRENT ASSETS 8,746 15,038 15,480   PAYABLES and DEFERRED INCOME 15,195 15,423 18,921
                     
    TOTAL ASSETS 9,651 18,254 21,577   TOTAL LIABILITIES 9,651 18,254 21,577

    The Group’s balance sheet shows a gross cash position of €4.7M at 31 December 2024. The Company is currently holding discussions with its banking partners to negotiate the payment schedule of debts. Excluding bank repayments, monthly cash consumption is around €0.6M.

    • 2024 highlights and recent events

    2024 was marked by the efforts made and then the decision to stop the search for financing the project to build a 2,500-ton plant dedicated to cosmetics, in a general context that was highly unfavorable to financing first industrial projects. The Company then decided to redirect its efforts in SAF by forging partnerships with major manufacturers to strengthen the competitiveness of its process by 2030. In the meantime, the Company is maintaining its ambitions in the cosmetics sector, which serves as a steppingstone for the SAF market (same molecules, same process).

    As a reminder, the Company’s process is one of only a dozen solutions to be ASTM certified. The Company has developed a process for producing SAF from plant-based resources, and has also demonstrated through a proof-of-concept that its process could be used to produce e-SAF, i.e. from a resource derived from the combination of CO2 and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, in this case e-acetic acid, which could be produced by industrial players in the future. Europe favors the use of e-SAFs going forward, as they have the advantage over bio-SAFs of not requiring plant products or agricultural or forestry land.

    As part of its strategic repositioning, the Company announced today3 that it has signed a Term Sheet with a major international industrialist to co-develop a SAF production process combining its technology with the partner’s proprietary technology. This combination will significantly reduce capital expenditure and production costs, making it the most promising technology to take over after the HEFA4 process.

    About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES

    As a committed player in the fight against global warming, Global Bioenergies has developed a unique process to produce SAF and e-SAF from renewable resources, thereby meeting the challenges of decarbonising air transport. Its technology is one of the very few solutions already certified by ASTM. Its products also meet the high standards of the cosmetics industry, and L’Oréal is its largest shareholder with a 13.5% stake. Global Bioenergies is listed on Euronext Growth in Paris (FR0011052257 – ALGBE).

    Contacts

    1 CAPEX: Capital Expenditures
    2 OPEX: Operational Expenses
    3 Press Release: Signature of a term sheet to combine two technologies and bring SAF production to the next level, 03 February 2025
    4 HEFA: Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Immigration rules keep changing, and the confusion can cause real problems for migrants

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ben Brindle, Researcher, Migration Observatory, University of Oxford

    1000 Words/Shutterstock

    A nationwide plan to digitise immigration documents recently came into force. Since January 1, millions of foreign nationals who live in the UK must now use digital-only status documents, as all biometric residence permits expired at the end of 2024.

    The Home Office says an online system will mean faster processing times and lower risk of fraud. However, the rollout has created significant problems for some migrants, with reports of non-citizens being denied entry to the UK after border agents did not accept their proof of status.

    My recent work with colleagues at the Oxford Migration Observatory suggests this was predictable. When migration rules and processes change, non-citizens are less likely to understand the rules. This can have serious consequences, as their access to housing, employment and healthcare hinges on their ability to show they have a valid immigration status.

    Even when migrants do understand the rules, they may still experience problems proving their status if the people they interact with – such as employers and landlords – do not, or if the processes are unclear. This has been the case for some Ukrainians in the UK, who have been unable to renew their tenancies and face losing their jobs because of uncertainty surrounding visa extensions.

    Want more politics coverage from academic experts? Every week, we bring you informed analysis of developments in government and fact check the claims being made.

    Sign up for our weekly politics newsletter, delivered every Friday.

    The results of an online survey by the Migration Observatory reveal non-UK citizens’ knowledge of the rights and conditions attached to their immigration status. The survey asked respondents which immigration status they held, a question not usually included in British surveys or the census.

    Using this data, we compared the experiences and understanding of people who received their status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EU citizens and their family members who came to the UK under EU free movement rules) and those with “non-EUSS” statuses (typically non-EU citizens arriving on family, work or study visas).

    We found that migrants were less likely to understand their rights and responsibilities when immigration rules related to their situation had recently changed.

    There was, for example, no consensus among EUSS pre-settled status holders (people who arrived in the UK under EU free movement but have lived in the UK for fewer than five years) as to whether their status had an expiry date. While 72% said their status would not expire, 17% said they would need to reapply, and 11% did not know. For comparison, 99% of respondents with temporary immigration statuses – such as a work or family visa – knew their status had an expiry date.

    Rules around settled status have changed several times.
    Cmspic/Shutterstock

    One likely reason for the confusion is that the situation is genuinely a bit complicated and keeps changing. When the EU settlement scheme was introduced, pre-settled status lasted for only five years. People who did not upgrade to the more secure “settled status” would see their leave expire.

    However, since December 2022, people with pre-settled status can stay in the UK indefinitely if they still meet the original eligibility criteria. Rules on permitted absences (the amount of time somebody can spend outside the UK without it affecting their immigration status) have also changed several times.

    Similarly, almost a third of in-work pre-settled status holders did not know they were eligible for most benefits, such as universal credit. This is another area where the rules have evolved following several court cases. A surprisingly high share also did not know they were entitled to free NHS hospital treatment.

    By contrast, pre-settled status holders were more likely to know they could work for any employer, an area where the conditions for access have been consistent. This suggests that some people who are not aware of what they are entitled to access may refrain from seeking support they require.

    Changing immigration processes

    To access the labour and housing markets, receive secondary healthcare, or get married, migrants must show they hold valid leave (permission to live in the UK). At the time of the survey, most non-EUSS status holders could show a physical document, such as a biometric residence permit.

    Most EUSS status holders, however, had a digital eVisa. This is a relatively new addition to the immigration system. People with an eVisa prove their status by presenting a “share code” linked to gov.uk.

    Most respondents from both groups – 92% – had not experienced issues proving their right to live and work in the UK. However, problems were more common among people with a digital-only status than with physical documentation.



    Read more:
    Clearing the UK’s asylum backlog has led to rising refugee homelessness

    In addition, this group faced different challenges — 48% of digital-only respondents who encountered an issue said it was because the person checking their status would not accept the proof provided, compared to 29% of people with physical documentation.

    While most people with a digital-only status were confident they could generate a share code to demonstrate their status to an employer or landlord, a substantial minority of older respondents lacked this confidence. People who had experienced a problem proving their status in the past also lacked confidence, and they considered having a physical card to prove their status to be more important to them.

    The challenges migrants face in navigating the UK immigration system are unlikely to disappear — rules and processes will continue to evolve in the years ahead in response to changes in UK migration patterns more broadly. However, policymakers cannot assume that everyone understands the rules, particularly when they keep changing.

    Ben Brindle 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. Immigration rules keep changing, and the confusion can cause real problems for migrants – https://theconversation.com/immigration-rules-keep-changing-and-the-confusion-can-cause-real-problems-for-migrants-247026

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –