Category: Universities

MIL-Evening Report: Visual feature: Scanning Australia’s bones

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vera Weisbecker, Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University

➡️ View the full interactive version of this article here.

Vera Weisbecker receives funding from the Australian Research council. She is member of the Australian Greens Party and the Australian Mammal Society.

Erin Mein is a member of the Australian Archaeological Association and Australian Mammal Society.

Pietro Viacava performed this work as a research associate at Flinders University, before becoming affiliated with CSIRO.

Jacob van Zoelen and Thomas Peachey do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Visual feature: Scanning Australia’s bones – https://theconversation.com/visual-feature-scanning-australias-bones-257119

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: Resisting Dependency: U.S. Hegemony, China’s Rise, and the Geopolitical Stakes in the Caribbean

Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs –

By Tamanisha J. John

Toronto, Canada

Introduction

The Caribbean region is an important geostrategic location for the United States, not only due to regional proximity, but also due to the continued importance of securing sea routes for trade and military purposes. It is the geostrategic location of the Caribbean that has historically made the region a target for domineering empires and states. As both geopolitical site and geostrategic location, U.S. foreign policy articulations of Caribbean people and the region have been effectively contradictory, but the contradiction has allowed the U.S. to maintain its hegemonic position: Caribbean peoples in U.S. foreign policy are rendered backwards, unstable, and dangerous or targets of xenophobic harassment; while the physical region is rendered as a place where U.S. foreign policy must maintain one-sided power relations, lest these sites come under the influence of other states that the U.S. views as impinging upon its sphere of influence. One can most readily look to Haiti to see these contradictory dynamics at play. Haiti has not had democratic elections for two decades and instead has been under United Nations (UN) sanctioned “tutelage” or occupation via the CORE group, of which the U.S. is a part.^[i] Over the past two decades, Haiti has been subject to a massive influx of U.S. manufactured weapons that fuel gun violence and murder in the country.^[ii] Meanwhile those Haitians fleeing this violence to the U.S. have been met with whips at the U.S.-Mexico border, deportation flights from the U.S., and dehumanizing mythological hysteria accusing Hatians of “eating pets.”^[iii]

Given the domineering impact of the U.S. and its allies in Canada and Europe in the Caribbean region, states in the region remain deeply dependent on foreign investment and tourism from these powers. ‘Foreignization’ of Caribbean economies makes it hard for the peoples of the region to make a living. Many Caribbean governments, neoliberal in orientation, willingly support this dependent development scheme by promoting migration for remittances, service industries for tourism, and temporary foreign worker schemes abroad due to lack of worthwhile opportunities at home. A large part of what maintains this dependent relationship—that many would find to be demeaning in most circumstances—is the securitization of the Caribbean region by the U.S. and its allies, as well as the invocation of “shared cultures,” rooted in colonial histories which continue to impose multiple hierarchies of domination on Caribbean peoples.

Washington’s aim of permanent hegemony in the region is being challenged by an increasingly multipolar world, and this accounts for the US attempt to limit China’s influence in the Caribbean. For example, U.S. tariff assaults on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) stems from U.S. insecurities about China’s economic growth alongside its manufacturing and technological developments.^[iv] China’s extension of infrastructural, technological, and other tangible material developments to states lower down on the global value chain, and at smaller costs to them is referred to by the U.S. and other western policy makers as “China’s growing influence.” This includes states in the Caribbean, which have not only become consumers of products from China but have also increased their exports to China since the 2010s. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. fears that China is gaining too much influence in the Caribbean given its developmental hand there. Although the U.S. is not directly competing with China on development initiatives, Washington’s reluctance to support meaningful progress in the Caribbean—where U.S. corporations continue to profit from structural underdevelopment—has led it to pursue strong-arm diplomacy as a symbolic stand against China instead.

China’s alternative to dependent development challenges Western Hegemony in the Caribbean

Western capitalist modernity, as an ideological, political, and socioeconomic project, is threatened by improvements to the global value chain. The issue at hand is that the U.S. and the Western-led capitalist system have long relegated states of the ‘Global South’ to lower positions on the global value chain. This has rendered development elusive for many states, to the sole benefit of Western corporations and their allies. Lack of development in places like the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Latin America actually benefits capitalist enterprises headquartered in the ‘Global North’ which extract surplus value by exploiting cheap natural resources, labor, and land in these regions. China’s accelerated advancement within the global value chain—alongside the rise of other partner states positioned lower on that chain—has not depended on economic or political subordination to the west. This trajectory is actively interpreted as eroding Western hegemonic dominance—even as the improved developments of states like China within the global value chain, have expanded global capitalism. Since 2018, the U.S. tariff assault on China, which has intensified under the second Trump administration, is a direct response to China’s economic growth propelled by China’s added value to the global value chain. In essence, the fear is China’s rise, while not reliant on the west, has made the West more reliant on importing cheap products and manufactured goods from China.

After the global 2007/8 financial crisis, China’s expressed strategy was to diversify its exports and import markets through helping other states improve their own conditions in the global trade value system. This of course, was due to the negative impacts felt by China in its export markets from the 2008 global financial crisis. Since then, China has increased the internal demand within China for Chinese goods, which also saw the purchasing power of Chinese citizens rise. This helped the growth of a middle class in China, and also allowed the Communist Party of China (CPC) to think more broadly about its continued growth strategy. By the early 2010s China sought to develop a wider external market that was not dependent on the U.S. and the other Western states. As China began formulating a broader development strategy, the growing purchasing power of Chinese citizens made the U.S. and other Western countries increase demands on China to have unfettered access to China’s internal market. The 2010s thus became rife with false accusations by Western commentators of China manipulating its currency to amass reserve wealth, and maintain competitive exports^[v] – which helped to spark Trump’s trade assault on China in 2018, and again during the second Trump administration in 2025.

While conversations in the West hinged on conspiracy, the CPC acknowledged that neither internal consumption nor reliance on the U.S. and Western markets would promote long-term sustainable development and growth of China’s economy. Greater emphasis was placed on increasing and improving relations with other developing states. In essence, helping the development of states lower down on the global value chain would be necessary—in order to make them consumers (thus importers)—of products from China. This became part of China’s long-term strategy to diversify its import and export markets. Thus, after the 2008 global financial crisis and especially after 2010, China’s investment in places like the Caribbean had a marked and noticeable increase. A decade later, this strategy has proven beneficial to China’s growth and development – as well as to growth and development of other developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean with more states engaging in, and pursuing trade and other relations with, China.

The impact of U.S. tariffs and fees on the Caribbean

Despite growing U.S. security concerns over China’s engagement in the Caribbean, the region remains largely dependent on the United States, and Caribbean states consistently run trade deficits in favor of the U.S. These trade deficits usually come at the expense of local Caribbean growers, producers, and artisans. According to Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States: “In 2024, the United States ran a $5.8 billion trade surplus with CARICOM as a whole. For a tangible illustration, Antigua and Barbuda’s imports from the U.S. exceeded $570 million, while its exports in return were a mere fraction of that total.”^[vi] Given Caribbean regional economic dependence on the U.S., Canada and Europe, many Caribbean people seeking employment and/or asylum opportunities typically see the U.S. as a destination of choice, contributing to the large Caribbean diasporic communities in North America and Europe. These Caribbean diasporic communities not only send remittances and goods back to their home countries to support family, friends, and communities – but also facilitate Caribbean state’s exports into the U.S. It is important to underscore these dynamics, as the longstanding U.S.-Caribbean relationship—rooted in dependency—remains firmly entrenched, despite growing investments in the region from China.

The U.S. tariff assault on China extended into a wider tariff assault by the U.S. against multiple countries, including states in the Caribbean. By April 3, 2025 the U.S. had imposed tariffs on 24 Caribbean countries: a 10% tariff on 23 of them,^[vii] and a 38% tariff on Guyana^[viii]—a Caribbean nation with extensive relations with China^[ix]—excluding its exports of oil (dominated by U.S. and other foreign corporations), gold, and bauxite. The U.S. tariffs on Caribbean states—levied amid fragile post-pandemic recovery and lingering hurricane damage—underscores a troubling, though not surprising indifference to the region’s economic vulnerability and ongoing efforts toward stabilization and renewal.^[x] During this time, the U.S. introduced a series of tariff increases on China, peaking at a 145% tariff after April 10, 2025, before settling on a 10% rate through an agreement reached on May 13, 2025.^[xi] In addition to the tariffs that Washington placed on China, the U.S. also announced that it would issue port fees on Chinese built ships entering U.S. ports. In all, these tariffs and fees being imposed by the U.S. meant that there would likely be negative impacts borne by Caribbean states that import U.S. goods, and Caribbean states that export goods to China. The overall impact of the tariffs and fees would be two-fold: First, U.S. consumers of goods imported from the Caribbean would have to pay more to access those goods. Second, increased costs accrued to Caribbean state’s importing U.S. goods due to port fees, would make it more cost effective for those Caribbean states to import more goods directly from China. However, in the immediate term, Sino-Caribbean trade, lacking established relationships on a wide range of import products, has the potential to lead to import shortages – particularly of food and other essential imports from the U.S.—in the Caribbean. Given global backlash from the shipping industry, the U.S. revised and changed its decision regarding port fees a week later,^[xii] and three weeks later, on April 28, it reduced the tariff on Guyana to 10%.

Political commentators recognize, contrary to the denials by the Guyanese government, that the initially high tariffs placed on Guyana were motivated by U.S. tensions with China. According to former Guyanese diplomat, Dr. Shamir Ally,^[xiii] and Guyanese political commentator, Francis Bailey, Guyana “is caught in a geopolitical battle between the US and China. Or more specifically – Washington objects to Beijing’s “very strong foothold” in Guyana.”^[xiv] This was made clear, when prior to the Trump administration’s announcement of the tariff’s on Guyana, Guyanese President, Irfaan Ali, pledged that the U.S. would “have some different and preferential treatment” from Guyana^[xv]— given a shared stance between the two countries in relation to Venezuela.^[xvi] This pledge by Guyana’s president took place within the context of the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the Caribbean, during which Rubio chastised the construction of infrastructure in Guyana that he deemed subpar, and alleged must have been built by China, even though it was not.^[xvii] These kinds of geopolitical posturing by Washington stoke antagonisms, ignoring the negative impacts of Caribbean dependency, including that of Guyana. Caribbean economic dependency on the U.S. (Europe and Canada) will not be completely ameliorated by China, and neither will China be able to fill the role of the West for Caribbean exporters who, given histories of enslavement, indentureship, and colonialism, rely on diasporic taste and preferences for ‘niche’ exports (e.g., artisan goods, arts, entertainment). Given the high degree of U.S., Canadian, and European ownership in the Caribbean’s industrial and manufacturing sectors, the region’s capacity to produce “finished products” on an exportable scale remains limited. Despite the continued dependency relation of Caribbean states on U.S. markets, however, China can positively impact Caribbean economies by helping to diversify their trading partners, and by increasing local opportunities for people within Caribbean states, based on the kinds of new (or improved) infrastructure typically developed in partnerships with China.

Though on the rise, the trade relationship between China and states in the Caribbean is still quite limited. Caribbean states that are a part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) saw a notable increase in their exports to China, from less than 1% of their total exports in the 1990s and 2000s, to between 1% and 6 % of exports going to China after the 2010s.^[xviii] The majority of exports from the Caribbean to China from the 2010s forward have been agricultural and mineral in nature. Alongside the growing export potential of CARICOM states to China since the 2010s, there has also been an increase in Caribbean states importing Chinese goods. States such as Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname import about 10% of their goods from China. On the other hand, states like the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago import less than 10% of their goods from China. The overall trend, then, is that CARICOM states have added some diversification to their trading partners since the 2010s but continue to remain firmly within the Western trading bloc. Given the structured dependency of Caribbean economies, they tend to import more from their trading partners than they export to them. However, as political analyst Daniel Morales Ruvalcaba points out, as a trading partner, China’s commitment to South-South partnerships has meant that trading disparities between itself and CARICOM states are “offset by investments flowing from China to the Caribbean […] broadly categorized into three key sectors: port infrastructure development, resource extraction, and the tourism industry.”^[xix] This way of tending to the trade disparity has had beneficial impacts—that can also be seen very visibly by those who live and visit states in the Caribbean. Additionally, China’s investments have not been limited to CARICOM states, or to states that recognize China and not Taiwan. For instance, China invests in Belize, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines—these are Caribbean states that recognize Taiwan.^[xx]

While China does not play a dominant import-export role in the Caribbean, given the system of dependency into which the Caribbean is already integrated, it also does not pose a security threat to the Caribbean region, despite Washington’s portrayal of China as a “bad actor.” The PRCs commitment to non-interference makes it extremely unlikely that China would use the Caribbean as a springboard for a security confrontation with Washington and its NATO allies. China does, however, have a strategic partnership with Venezuela, largely limited to a defensive posture given its relations with other states in the region, including the Caribbean. Further, with the large security presence of the U.S. and its allies in the Caribbean, China would have nothing to gain from an offensive military posture in the region. Though self-evident, this explains why the U.S has chosen to frame China’s presence in the Caribbean not in economic terms, but as a technological and geopolitical “threat”—going so far, on multiple occasions, as to allege that China is constructing covert surveillance facilities in Cuba to conduct espionage on the U.S.^[xxi]

The China-Caribbean “threat” from the U.S. Perspective

In 2018, Washington signaled its intent to limit Chinese investments in infrastructure, energy, and technology abroad; by 2023, U.S. Southern Command identified the Caribbean as a key region where China’s growing economic footprint should be restrained. In its effort to push China out of the Caribbean tech sector, the U.S. has allowed U.S. and other Western companies to develop 5G networks in Jamaica at virtually no cost in the short term—effectively subsidizing the infrastructure to block Chinese involvement and investments in the sector. This campaign has gone so far as to include veiled threats of sanctions toward Jamaica and other regional nations should they pursue connectivity projects with China.^[xxii] Since the 1940s, the U.S. has viewed government-controlled economies as threats to the Western capitalist order—a label that readily applies to China. In 2025, the trade offensive against China is markedly more severe, driven by Washington’s explicit goal of curbing the spread and stalling the advancement of China’s high-tech industries—an effort aimed at preserving U.S. dominance in the sector, which is increasingly seen as under threat. The trade war, which began openly during Trump’s first term, has only intensified in his second—driven in part by the growing influence of high-tech capitalists closely aligned with his administration. China’s advances in artificial intelligence, seen with the public release of DeepSeek AI, has only accelerated the U.S. assault.

According to U.S. and other pro-Western security analysts who view China as a “threat” in the Caribbean, this threat manifests in three primary ways. First, they point to China’s development of internet-based infrastructure in Caribbean nations which they claim enables Chinese espionage operations that target the U.S. from within the region. Second, they highlight the fact that most Caribbean states recognize the People’s Republic of China, rather than Taiwan, under the One-China policy—a position they attribute to questionable dealings with Beijing, rather than to the exercise of Caribbean political agency in matters of state recognition. And lastly, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is portrayed as a nefarious development scheme that allows China to assert its influence globally. Notably, these accusations that form the “threat” narrative amongst U.S. and other pro-Western security advocates don’t hold up against the slightest scrutiny.

First, there is no evidence that there are “Chinese spy bases” in Cuba or in any other country in the Caribbean—despite these accusations being levied by both Trump White Houses, and various U.S. Republican politicians in Florida.^[xxiii] Second, the PRC does invest in, and maintain diplomatic relations with, Caribbean states that recognize Taiwan.^[xxiv] This suggests that the PRC does not force a One-China policy on states in the Caribbean with which it has cooperative relations. Commenting on Sino-Caribbean relations, Caribbean leaders themselves often note that the recognition of China and not Taiwan is due to support for China safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, of which they include national reunification.^[xxv] Ultimately, the alleged “nefarious” nature of the Belt and Road Initiative stems from its core premise: that developing countries receive meaningful support from China to pursue their own development goals. Such efforts inevitably draw scrutiny from the U.S. and the Westbroadly, as genuine development in the ‘Global South’ is often perceived as a challenge to Western capital and hegemony. The BRI also encourages signatory states to build greater regional relationships with their Caribbean neighbors. It reflects a highly agentic approach, in stark contrast to the traditional way U.S. and other Western initiatives are typically implemented.

Ultimately, the BRI is seen as a threat by Western policymakers because they would prefer China not pursue its own global initiatives. Given that the BRI also supports states in developing technological infrastructure and other advancements—with backing from China—these efforts are viewed by the U.S. as a strategic threat, ensuring the initiative will remain a target of sustained opposition. In the Caribbean, the U.S. push to end their tech relations with China comes off as brash, given that U.S. technology investments in the region have declined since the mid-1990s, while China technology investments have increased.^[xxvi] In fact, the U.S. (and its Western allies) seem to only understand China’s investments, including the BRI, as lost market share. In essence, Washington and its Western allies seek to control economic development in the region. Two years ago for COHA, John (2023) argued that the U.S. and its allies were increasing their “diplomatic” presence in the Caribbean to maintain geostrategic influence, given China’s growing economic investments there.^[xxvii] John maintained that the dismal track record of capitalism—led first by the Western European powers and later by the United States—has entrenched Caribbean states in a position of structural dependency within the global capitalist system. Key features of this dependency include persistently high levels of unemployment, underemployment, poverty, and a heavy reliance on labor exportation. This dependence made the region very receptive to Chinese investment.

John (2023) concluded that influence is gained only where it aligns with local interests—and that investments from the PRC stood in stark contrast to Western strategies, which for decades have indebted Caribbean states, privatized their economies in ways that deepened foreign control, and consistently disregarded regional calls for reparations. This track record, it was argued, would only lead to increased militarization in the Caribbean by the U.S. and its Western allies, who have no tangible goal of helping Caribbean states to develop—but want confrontation with China. Two years later and the concluding remarks still stand.

Concluding Remarks: Dependent Development is the price of Western Capitalism in the Caribbean

In the Caribbean, the U.S. and its Western allies have long profited from—and perpetuated—the notion that foreignization is the norm. This extends beyond economic structures to encompass both domestic and foreign policies that effectively surrender the state, and its people, to massive exploitation by foreigners. Some governments and local elites have been brought on as “shareholders” to maintain this backwards dependent status. That is because imperialism, especially in the Caribbean, has always been intent on establishing what Cheddi Jagan called “a reactionary axis in the Caribbean.”^[xxviii] U.S. ‘influence in the Caribbean region has historically centered around controlling the “backwardness” and “unstableness” of its people, in order to keep U.S. geostrategic and geopolitical interests intact. This is done in conjunction with Caribbean political elites, who subject their own Caribbean populations in perpetual servitude to Western capital. Caribbean neoliberal states have a disregard for the rights of their citizens (and diaspora), favoring almost exclusively (and predominantly) Western foreign corporations and wealthy individuals. Cuba, however, stands out as an exception to this trend, and this is why it has been under relentless attack by Washington for more than 62 years. It is important to point this out, given that some in the Caribbean political elite classes also share the same regressive rhetoric from the Westabout the “threat of China” to produce reactionary mindsets and views amongst large swaths of Caribbean people— so that their hand in maintaining Caribbean dependency is not critiqued.

Caribbean people struggling to improve their societies for the better are continuously warned by the U.S. and its Western and Caribbean allies that they must maintain themselves in a dependent position. The truth is: So long as the majority of individual Caribbean states are importing finished products and agricultural goods from the U.S., Canada, and Europe—and to a smaller extent now China—the Caribbean will never have trade surpluses with these states. Lack of local businesses and the foreignization of Caribbean economies compound this contradiction that is perpetuated by the entrenched Western-led economic system. Political elites in the Caribbean frequently disregard local protests and locally developed alternatives that could threaten Western foreign corporations and investment. There is a real need for enhanced regional integration for Caribbean people, not only states, to improve their lot within the prevailing system. People will continuously be let down by formations like CARICOM, so long as these associations are dominated by Western development frameworks and have individual member states who care more about aligning their security interests with the West instead of their own region. While neoliberalism in the Caribbean is often attributed to structural constraints and the limited capacity of states to regulate foreign capital, such explanations fail to account for the extent to which Caribbean governments have themselves normalized and actively advanced neoliberal policy frameworks. The promotion of neoliberal policies both prolongs, and makes systemic, foreign dependence and domination.

U.S. fear mongering about China in the Caribbean is propaganda. It only serves to prevent people from questioning why Caribbean states are dependent and why there is rampant foreignization of Caribbean economies. Who owns these corporate entities that make life hard in the Caribbean? The “threats” from the U.S. perspective boil down to the fact that China, in the Caribbean, is taking advantage of Western policies that make the Caribbean exploitable. It is often noted—and indeed observable—that China imports its own labor for development projects in the Caribbean. However, this practice is neither new nor unique; countries such as the United States, Canada, and various European powers have long employed similar strategies. Understandably, this reliance on imported labor has generated frustration among Caribbean populations, particularly given the region’s high levels of unemployment and underemployment. Many local workers are both willing and able to acquire the necessary skills and trades to work on infrastructure and development projects that come to the region. Local Caribbean firms and entrepreneurs would also seize the opportunity to participate in these projects—including local sourcing of materials. But this beneficial type of development is not presently feasible given how Western capitalists have integrated Caribbean states into the global capitalist system.

The efforts of the Trump administration to cast China as a security threat in the Caribbean and to portray doing business with China as a security risk, have largely been unsuccessful. In the Caribbean, China simply takes advantage of Western policies that have made the region highly favorable and open to foreign investment, foreign entrepreneurs, and government dealings—in the form of Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) and Letters of Agreement (LOA)—with other states and corporations. The acceptance of these MOUs and LOAs receive minimal, to no input from Caribbean citizens. Debt traps have been normalized in the Caribbean by the Western capitalist system, making the Caribbean one of the most highly indebted regions in the world. Today, propagandists tend to invoke the myth of the “Chinese debt-trap” to attribute to China this false label of being engaged in “debt trap diplomacy”—a term popularized in 2018 during the first trade assault against China.^[xxix] In response to this myth, progressive commentators tend to highlight that China forgives a lot of debt, and has even helped Caribbean states to restructure debts owed to various financial institutions.^[xxx] However, the biggest elephant in the room is that even if China ceased to exist in the Caribbean region, the region would still be one of the most indebted within the Western capitalist system. The debt-trap narrative not only deflects attention from the significant role Western powers have played in producing Caribbean indebtedness, but also unjustly shifts the burden onto China to forgive obligations for which Western capital is responsible.^[xxxi] Lack of transparency in investment agreements and investor tax benefits, including profit repatriation, in the Caribbean has been normalized by laws first written by various European empires and later by Western capitalists that crafted structural adjustment policies. Yet, such arrangements, historically established by U.S. and Canadian capital interests, are often rebranded as evidence of corruption within the China–Caribbean relationship. Those concerned with the persistence of Caribbean dependency should critically engage with its structural causes and actively challenge Western propaganda regardless of the source from which it emanates.

Endnotes

[i] Pierre, Jemima. 2020. “Haiti: An Archive of Occupation, 2004-.” Transforming Anthropology 28(1): 3–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/traa.12174.

[ii] Kestler-D’Amours, Jillian. “‘A Criminal Economy’: How US Arms Fuel Deadly Gang Violence in Haiti.” Al Jazeera, March 25, 2024. web: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/3/25/a-criminal-economy-how-us-arms-fuel-deadly-gang-violence-in-haiti.

[iii] Mack, Willie. Haitians at the Border: The Nativist State and Anti-Blackness. Carr-Ryan Commentary. Harvard Kennedy School, 2025. web: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr-ryan/our-work/carr-ryan-commentary/haitians-border-nativist-state-and-anti-blackness.

[iv] Ziye, Chen, and Bin Li. “Escaping Dependency and Trade War: China and the US.” China Economist 18, no. 1 (2023): 36–44.

[v] Wiseman, Paul. “Fact Check: Does China Manipulate Its Currency?” PBS News, December 29, 2016. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/fact-check-china-manipulate-currency.

[vi] Loop News. “More Caribbean Countries Respond to New US Tariffs,” April 4, 2025, sec. World News. https://www.loopnews.com/content/more-caribbean-countries-respond-to-new-us-tariffs/.

[vii] TEMPO Networks. “Here Are All The Caribbean Countries Hit By Trump’s New Tariffs.” Tempo Networks, April 3, 2025, sec. News. https://www.temponetworks.com/2025/04/03/here-are-all-the-caribbean-countries-hit-by-trumps-new-tariffs/.

[viii] Grannum, Milton. “Oil, Bauxite, Gold Exempt from US Tariff.” Stabroek News, April 4, 2025, sec. Guyana News. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2025/04/04/news/guyana/oil-bauxite-gold-exempt-from-us-tariff/.

[ix] Handy, Gemma. “Was China the Reason Guyana Faced Higher Trump Tariff?” BBC, April 28, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjeww5zq88no.

[x] John, Tamanisha J. 2024. “Hurricane Unpreparedness in the Caribbean, Disaster by Imperial Design.” Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). The Caribbean. https://coha.org/hurricane-unpreparedness-in-the-caribbean-disaster-by-imperial-design/.

[xi] Grantham-Philips, Wyatte. “A Timeline of Trump’s Tariff Actions so Far.” PBS News, April 10, 2025, sec. Economy. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/a-timeline-of-trumps-tariff-actions-so-far.

[xii] Saul, Jonathan, Lisa Baertlein, David Lawder, and Andrea Shalal. “United States Eases Port Fees on China-Built Ships after Industry Backlash.” Reuters, April 17, 2025, sec. Markets. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-shippers-await-word-us-plan-hit-china-linked-vessels-with-port-fees-2025-04-17/.

[xiii] Credible Sources interview on February 26, 2025. Guyana in U.S.-China Crossfire? Ex-Diplomat Weighs In, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtCNBiKdj-0

[xiv] Handy, Gemma. “Was China the reason Guyana faced higher Trump tariff?” BBC, April 28, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjeww5zq88no.

[xv] Chabrol, Denis. “Guyana Pledges ‘Preferential’ Treatment to US.” Demerara Waves, March 27, 2025, sec. Business, Defence, Diplomacy. https://demerarawaves.com/2025/03/27/guyana-pledges-preferential-treatment-to-us/.

[xvi] John, Tamanisha J. “Guyana, Beware the Western Proxy-State Trap.” Stabroek News, December 25, 2023, sec. In The Diaspora. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/12/25/features/in-the-diaspora/guyana-beware-the-Western -proxy-state-trap/.

[xvii] Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun’s Regular Press Conference on April 3, 2025. Beijing Says That Road in Guyana Criticised by Rubio Is Not Built by China, 2025. https://youtu.be/6gljwDyW1qk?si=2QXhDUythljBsIcJ.

[xviii] Morales Ruvalcaba, Daniel. 2025. “National Power in Sino-Caribbean Relations: CARICOM in the Geopolitics of the Belt and Road Initiative.” Chinese Political Science Review 10: 28–48. doi: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41111-024-00252-4.

[xix] Ibid.

[xx] Ibid.

[xxi] Qi, Wang. “Hyping Chinese ‘spy Bases’ in Cuba Slander; Shows US’ Hysteria: Expert.” Global Times, July 3, 2024. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202407/1315376.shtml.

[xxii] Pate, Durrant. “US Warns Jamaica against Chinese 5g.” Jamaica Observer, October 25, 2020. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2020/10/25/us-warns-jamaica-against-chinese-5g/.

[xxiii] Belly of the Beast. Investigative Report. May 30, 2025. Big Headlines, No Proof: Inside the Hype Over “Chinese Spy Bases” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF87JJp8WIo

[xxiv] Bayona Velásquez, Etna. “Chinese Economic Presence in the Greater Caribbean, 2000-2020.” In Chinese Presence in the Greater Caribbean: Yesterday and Today, 599–661. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Centro de Estudios Caribeños (PUCMM), 2022.

[xxv] Loop news. “T&T, Caribbean countries pledge support for One China policy.” May 6, 2022. https://www.loopnews.com/content/tt-caribbean-countries-pledge-support-for-one-china-policy/

[xxvi] Ricart Jorge, Raquel. “China’s Digital Silk Road in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Real Instituto Elcano, April 21, 2021, sec. Latin America. https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/commentaries/chinas-digital-silk-road-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/.

[xxvii] John, Tamanisha J. 2023. “US Moves to Curtail China’s Economic Investment in the Caribbean.” Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). https://coha.org/us-moves-to-curtail-chinas-economic-investment-in-the-caribbean/.

[xxviii] Jagan, Cheddi. “Alternative Models of Caribbean Economic Development and Industrialisation.” In Caribbean Economic Development and Industrialisation, 3 (1):1–23. Hungary: Development and Peace, 1980. https://jagan.org/CJ%20Articles/In%20Opposition/Images/3014.pdf.

[xxix] Chandran, Rama. “The Chinese “Debt Trap” Is a Myth.” China Focus, August 26, 2022, http://www.cnfocus.com/the-chinese-debt-trap-is-a-myth/

[xxx] Hancock, Tom. “China renegotiated $50bn in loans to developing countries: Study challenges ‘debt-trap’ narrative surrounding Beijin’s lending.” Financial Times, April 29, 2019, https://www.ft.com/content/0b207552-6977-11e9-80c7-60ee53e6681d

[xxxi] Kaiwei, Zhang and Xian Jiangnan. “So-called “debt trap” a Western rhetorical trap.” China International Communications Group (CN) , September 14, 2024, https://en.people.cn/n3/2024/0914/c90000-20219659.html

Featured image: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (centre) poses for a group photograph with representatives from the Caribbean countries that share diplomatic relations with China, May 12, 2025, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing
(Source: Chinese State Media)

Tamanisha J. John is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at York University and a member of the US/NATO out of Our Americas Network zoneofpeace.org/

MIL OSI NGO –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: VIDEO: Capito Opening Statement at Hearing to Review NIH Budget Request

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
[embedded content]
Click here or on the image above to watch Chairman Capito’s opening remarks from the hearing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), chaired a hearing with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to review the president’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.
Below is the opening statement of Chairman Capito as prepared for delivery:
“Good morning. Dr. Bhattacharya, congratulations on your new role as Director of the NIH. Thank you for appearing before the subcommittee today to discuss how the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal will continue efforts from NIH to reduce illness, enhance health and lengthen the lives of all Americans.
“My home state of West Virginia is faced with many complex health challenges. I know that if we work together, make wise investments and focus on what really matters, we can create positive momentum towards eliminating those challenges.
“Fostering NIH collaboration with smaller and rural states is critical, and one of the strengths of the NIH IDeA Program. This program provides funding to 23 states—including West Virginia—that historically have received little to no federal research funding.
“The IDeA program and other NIH funding streams have been instrumental for Marshall University, West Virginia University, and other institutions in my state in developing world-class research in neuroscience, cancer, stroke, vision, and addiction science.
“Researchers throughout West Virginia are making significant contributions to biomedical research in areas ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease to substance use disorders.
“I look forward to hosting you in West Virginia soon to see first-hand all of the amazing research being done across the state.
“This will be a challenging year for appropriations, yet supporting biomedical research is a priority for me and has long been a bicameral, bipartisan priority for Congress.
“The United States leads the world in biomedical innovation and I, along with many of my colleagues on this committee, think it is important America remains the leader in biomedical innovation and research. Investing in biomedical research has proven to save lives while exponentially strengthening the U.S. economy. I look forward to hearing from you how this budget request would continue to advance this critical research and innovation.
“The NIH is a driver of economic growth, funding more than $94.58 billion in national economic activity last year.
“In West Virginia, NIH supported over 700 jobs and $147 million in economic activity in 2024 alone.
“For almost a decade, this committee has supported research toward the goal of finding treatments and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. This goal is very personal to me since both of my parents lived with and eventually succumbed to the disease.
“These investments have allowed NIH to fund research into a wide variety of potential causes of the disease, and build evidence for prevention based on a healthy lifestyle. NIH-funded research on the amyloid protein led to the development of FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drugs in 2023 and 2024 to slow progression of the disease.
“All of this research is important, and I look forward to working with you to continue robust and diversified Alzheimer’s disease research.
“NIH-funded research is also behind many of the more than 600 new cancer treatments that the FDA has approved over the last 20 years.
“As a lead sponsor of the Childhood Cancer STAR Act, I look forward to hearing about your priorities and advancements to combat cancer and grow our clinical trial networks – especially among children.
“Although we are making positive strides, substance abuse remains an issue in my state. I look forward to hearing more from you about how combining the National Institute on Drug Abuse into a new National Institute on Behavioral Health will enable that important work to continue.
“I have heard from many University leaders – from schools ranging in size, location, and subject – about the impact of changes being implemented at NIH. These institutions are the reason America has kept the edge in biomedical innovation.
“As with any change in leadership, there seems to be a heightened sense of concern and confusion that diverting resources from research will result in a less healthy America. And I hope today we can work to come to a better understanding.
“We have a difficult task ahead of us this year, but it is my hope that we will come together, just as we have done in prior fiscal years, to use our limited resources in the most efficient and effective way to support the health and well-being of all Americans.
“Dr. Bhattacharya, I look forward to your testimony.”

MIL OSI USA News –

June 11, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: With so many parties ‘ruling out’ working with other parties, is MMP losing its way?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

There has been a lot of “ruling out” going on in New Zealand politics lately. In the most recent outbreak, both the incoming and outgoing deputy prime ministers, ACT’s David Seymour and NZ First’s Winston Peters, ruled out ever working with the Labour Party.

Seymour has also advised Labour to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori. Labour leader Chris Hipkins has engaged in some ruling out of his own, indicating he won’t work with Winston Peters again. Before the last election, National’s Christopher Luxon ruled out working with Te Pāti Māori.

And while the Greens haven’t yet formally ruled anyone out, co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has said they could only work with National if it was prepared to “completely U-turn on their callous, cruel cuts to climate, to science, to people’s wellbeing”.

Much more of this and at next year’s general election New Zealanders will effectively face the same scenario they confronted routinely under electoral rules the country rejected over 30 years ago.

Under the old “first past the post” system, there was only ever one choice: voters could turn either left or right. Many hoped Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP), used for the first time in 1996, would end this ideological forced choice.

Assuming enough voters supported parties other than National and Labour, the two traditional behemoths would have to negotiate rather than impose a governing agenda. Compromise between and within parties would be necessary.

Government by decree

By the 1990s, many had tired of doctrinaire governments happy to swing the policy pendulum from right to left and back again. In theory, MMP prised open a space for a centrist party which might be able to govern with either major player.

In a constitutional context where the political executive has been described as an “elected dictatorship”, part of the appeal of MMP was that it might constrain some of its worst excesses. Right now, that is starting to look a little naive.

For one thing, the current National-led coalition is behaving with the government-by-decree style associated with the radical, reforming Labour and National administrations of the 1980s and 1990s.

Most notably, the coalition has made greater use of parliamentary urgency than any other government in recent history, wielding its majority to avoid parliamentary and public scrutiny of contentious policies such as the Pay Equity Amendment Bill.

Second, in an ironic vindication of the anti-MMP campaign’s fears before the electoral system was changed – that small parties would exert outsized influence on government policy – the two smaller coalition partners appear to be doing just that.

It is neither possible nor desirable to quantify the degree of sway a smaller partner in a coalition should have. That is a political question, not a technical one.

But some of the administration’s most unpopular or contentious policies have emerged from ACT (the Treaty Principles Bill and the Regulatory Standards legislation) and NZ First (tax breaks for heated tobacco products).

Rightly or wrongly, this has created a perception of weakness on the part of the National Party and the prime minister. Of greater concern, perhaps, is the risk the controversial changes ACT and NZ First have managed to secure will erode – at least in some quarters – faith in the legitimacy of our electoral arrangements.

The centre cannot hold

Lastly, the party system seems to be settling into a two-bloc configuration: National/ACT/NZ First on the right, and Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori on the left.

In both blocs, the two major parties sit closer to the centre than the smaller parties. True, NZ First has tried to brand itself as a moderate “common sense” party, and has worked with both National and Labour, but that is not its position now.

In both blocs, too, the combined strength of the smaller parties is roughly half that of the major player. The Greens, Te Pāti Māori, NZ First and ACT may be small, but they are not minor.

In effect, the absence of a genuinely moderate centre party has meant a return to the zero-sum politics of the pre-MMP era. It has also handed considerable leverage to smaller parties on both the left and right of the political spectrum.

Furthermore, if the combined two-party share of the vote captured by National and Labour continues to fall (as the latest polls show), and those parties have nowhere else to turn, small party influence will increase.

For some, of course, this may be a good thing. But to those with memories of the executive-centric, winner-takes-all politics of the 1980s and 1990s, it is starting to look all too familiar.

The re-emergence of a binary ideological choice might even suggest New Zealand – lacking the constitutional guardrails common in other democracies – needs to look beyond MMP for other ways to limit the power of its governments.

Richard Shaw 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. With so many parties ‘ruling out’ working with other parties, is MMP losing its way? – https://theconversation.com/with-so-many-parties-ruling-out-working-with-other-parties-is-mmp-losing-its-way-257974

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: World’s most powerful ex-New Yorker gets a DC military parade, not a ticker-tape celebration in Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Lincoln Mitchell, Lecturer, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Heavy equipment and military vehicles arrive in Jessup, Md., for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade on June 14, 2025, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump’s plan for a military parade on June 14, 2025, officially to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army as well as coinciding with the president’s 79th birthday, is yet another indication of his affinity for authoritarian leaders and regimes.

Although the parade, which will include 6,000 soldiers, 150 military vehicles and 50 helicopters − and will temporarily close Reagan National Airport and cost more than US$45 million − is ostensibly to celebrate the military, the idea is pure Trump.

When pressed about his desire for the parade, the president has explained his reasoning for having the parade.

“We had more to do with winning World War II than any other nation. Why don’t we have a Victory Day? So we’re going to have a Victory Day for World War I and for World War II.”

While big military parades in Washington, D.C., other than immediately following a major military victory, are largely without precedent, there is another American city that has a much richer tradition of parades. That city is New York.

Melania Trump and President Donald Trump joined French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, to watch the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris on July 14, 2017, an event that inspired Trump to seek a parade in Washington, D.C.
Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Trump vs. NYC

New York is a parade town. It’s also a city with which Trump has a long, complex relationship.

Trump was born in New York and began his business career there. Before Trump was a politician, or even a reality TV star, he was a fixture in the New York tabloids. His marriages, divorces, dating life and business successes and failures were splashed across more headlines than can be easily counted beginning in the early 1980s, but Trump was always presented as a clownish figure, albeit a very rich one.

In those years, continuing into the first decade of this century, the local media always presented him as gaudy, loud and not quite as business savvy as he claimed – hence the coverage of his bankruptcies.

While much of the rest of the country bought the Trump narrative that he was a brilliant businessman surrounded by beautiful women, doting staff and fawning celebrities, many New Yorkers never did.

New Yorkers, including me, remembered an earlier Trump who almost ran the family business into the ground over many years. Nonetheless, New York has always been important to Trump. Although he still is a well-done steak with ketchup kind of guy, while New York is a soup dumplings, or bagels and lox, or arroz con pollo, or even caviar kind of town, Trump still has a connection to this city and wants to be celebrated here.

Politicians, heroes and ticker tape

And the city celebrates with big parades honoring everything from sports championships, which used to be much more common for New York teams, to the U.S. winning wars, most recently following the first Gulf War in 1991. Additionally, New York has parades for many of the hundreds of ethnic groups that make up the city.

For decades on Thanksgiving Day, as they roast their turkey, prepare the stuffing and finalize preparations for the traditional feast, millions of Americans have watched the Thanksgiving parade, which is always held in Manhattan, frequently referred to as the Macy’s Day parade because Macy’s has long sponsored the event.

In many of New York City’s legendary parades, including those celebrating LGBTQ+ pride, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, St. Patrick’s Day, West Indian American Day and others, politicians march, often in the lead, alongside their constituents.

Some, like the Thanksgiving parade, have their own rituals, such as watching the balloons being inflated behind the American Museum of Natural History on the evening before Thanksgiving.

However, the most famous of all parade types in New York is the ticker-tape parade. Dating from the days when paper, not computers, dominated trading floors and offices, people would throw ticker tape and other papers out their windows as the parade passed through the Financial District area that became known as the Canyon of Heroes.

Not all New York parades are the same. Some, like the Thanksgiving parade, are simply fun and celebratory. Ticker-tape parades honor individuals or groups that have accomplished something significant, like landing on the Moon or winning the Super Bowl. They can recognize important foreign guests and dignitaries, while other parades celebrate the contributions of various peoples or groups of New Yorkers.

But New Yorkers never throw parades for their politicians and tend to favor drums and floats rather than tanks and soldiers at these events.

An avalanche of confetti rains down on Aug. 13, 1969, honoring the three astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission, who became the first people to walk on the Moon.
Bettman/Getty Images

No ticker tape for Trump

While there are parades for all kinds of people and events in New York, there has never been a parade there for Donald Trump. There was a pretty massive street party in the city when it was announced that Trump had lost the 2020 election.

Although Trump changed his primary residence to Florida in 2019, Trump was a New Yorker for many years and like many longtime residents had the chance to see many heroes – Mickey Mantle, John Glenn, Tom Seaver, Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Nelson Mandela, American war veterans, numerous foreign leaders and many others – feted with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes. Jeter was celebrated five times, John Glenn and Mickey Mantle twice.

It is impossible to know Trump’s motivations for pushing the parade in the nation’s capital. But we also know that he is a man who holds himself in high regard and craves attention. Trump will likely never get a parade in his erstwhile hometown, so Washington must be the next best thing.

Trump’s newfound parade fetish underscores his love-hate relationship with New York.

New York is the city that made him famous and made his family, primarily because of his father’s work, very rich. It is also the city that has repeatedly rejected Trump. It is the home of some of his worst real estate deals, the place where the business community lost patience with his antics and unwillingness to pay contractors, and where three times the voters turned out in huge numbers against him.

A Washington, D.C., parade celebrating an unappreciated New Yorker who years ago decamped to Florida and Washington is a pale imitation of the Canyon of Heroes, where New Yorkers honor beloved leaders, war heroes, explorers and their favorite sports stars. But it is all Trump has.

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

– ref. World’s most powerful ex-New Yorker gets a DC military parade, not a ticker-tape celebration in Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes – https://theconversation.com/worlds-most-powerful-ex-new-yorker-gets-a-dc-military-parade-not-a-ticker-tape-celebration-in-manhattans-canyon-of-heroes-258110

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: FBI Dallas and North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force announce results of Operation Soteria Shield in the Eastern District of Texas

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

DALLAS, Texas – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas joined the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI Dallas’s North Texas Child Exploitation Task Force to announce the conclusion of Operation Soteria Shield, a month-long collaborative enforcement effort conducted in April 2025 aimed at rescuing children from online sexual exploitation and bringing perpetrators to justice. This operation was run in conjunction with the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and was jointly managed by the FBI Dallas Division, Dallas Police Department, Plano Police Department, Wylie Police Department, and Garland Police Department.

More than 70 Texas law enforcement agencies joined forces throughout the month of April to combat the exploitation of children in the digital space. These agencies leveraged the expertise of highly skilled computer crimes investigators that worked around the clock to identify victims and apprehend offenders engaged in the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Operation Soteria Shield resulted in the rescue of 109 children and the arrest of 244 offenders. In addition to these enforcement actions, investigators seized extensive volumes of digital evidence, including terabytes of illicit data stored on electronic devices that were used in the commission of these crimes. These devices are undergoing forensic analysis and may lead to further arrests and the identification of additional victims.

“The numbers of offenders arrested, and children rescued in this operation are stunning. The numbers leave us breathless because, at some level, we understand that behind every statistic, every number, there is a child with dreams, aspirations, and the right to live a life free from sexual exploitation,” said Eastern District of Texas Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Combs. “We are committed to teaming with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute these cases with urgency and ferocity in order to protect our children.”

In the Eastern District of Texas, this Operation has led to the grand jury indictment of individuals for not only distributing child pornography, but also sexually exploiting children to produce child sexual abuse material.

Operation Soteria Shield stands as a powerful example of what can be accomplished with coordinated, interagency cooperation. It reflects the shared commitment of law enforcement professionals across Texas to relentlessly pursue those who prey on children and to ensure that survivors are no longer silenced or hiding in the shadows.

The participating agencies also extend their gratitude to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) for their unwavering support. NCMEC analysts provided vital intelligence and case coordination that proved instrumental to the success of this operation.

List of Participating Agencies:

Abilene Police Department, Allen Police Department, Alvarado Police Department, Amarillo Police Department, Arlington Police Department, Army Criminal Investigative Division, Aubrey Police Department, Azle Police Department, Bartonville Police Department, Breckenridge Police Department, Cedar Hill Police Department, Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County, Cleburne Police Department, Colleyville Police Department, Collin County District Attorney’s Office, Collin County Sheriff’s Office, Cooke County Sheriff’s Office, Crowley Police Department, Dalhart Police Department, Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, Dallas Police Department, Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, Denton County Sheriff’s Office, DeSoto Police Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, Elm Ridge Police Department, Ennis Police Department, Euless Police Department, Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Fate Police Department, FBI Dallas Field Office, FBI El Paso Field Office, FBI San Antonio Field Office, Fort Worth Police Department, Frisco Police Department, Garland Police Department, Grand Prairie Police Department, Grand Saline Police Department, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Gregg County Sheriff’s Office, Haltom City Police Department, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Honey Grove Police Department, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Department, Hurst Police Department, Irving Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Joshua Police Department, Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, Kaufman Police Department, Lamesa Police Department, Lone Star Police Department, Lubbock Police Department, McKinney Police Department, Midlothian Police Department, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, North Richland Hills Police Department, Office of Inspector General, Plano Police Department, Prosper Police Department, Richardson Police Department, Richardson Police Department SWAT, Rockwall County District Attorney’s Office, Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office, Rockwall Police Department, Rowlett Police Department, Royse City Police Department, Sachse Police Department, San Antonio Police Department, Snyder Police Department, Tarrant County Human Trafficking Task Force, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, Terrell Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, University of Texas System Police, White Settlement Police Department, Wilmer Police Department, and Wylie Police Department.

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MIL Security OSI –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kehoe Orders Flags to Fly at Half-Staff in Honor of Bernie Police Lieutenant Eddie Mays

Source: US State of Missouri

JUNE 10, 2025

Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe ordered the U.S. and Missouri flags to be flown at half-staff at government buildings in Stoddard County, all police stations, sheriffs’ offices, and Missouri State Highway Patrol general and troop headquarters across Missouri on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, from sunrise to sunset, to honor Bernie Police Department Lieutenant Eddie Mays.

“Lieutenant Eddie Mays devoted his life to serving others, first in the U.S. Air Force and then as a deputy sheriff and police officer,” Governor Kehoe said. “We owe a tremendous debt to the dedicated heroes like Eddie, who take the oath of office and carry out its ideals each day they put on their uniform and badge to answer the call no matter the danger or risk to themselves. Lieutenant Mays fulfilled his oath to serve and protect, and Missouri will be forever grateful.”

On June 5, Lieutenant Mays, 58, was on duty with the Bernie Police Department when he responded to a domestic violence call and, after handcuffing a resisting suspect, suffered a medical emergency and could not be resuscitated.

Mays served in the Air Force from 1988 to 1993. He attended Southeast Missouri State University Law Enforcement Training Academy, was issued a Missouri Peace Officer License on November 22, 1998, and immediately began serving the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy sheriff, where he served until January 1, 2005. He also served with the Bloomfield Police Department. He joined the Bernie Police Department in January 2013 and was promoted to sergeant in July 2013 and to lieutenant in December 2023.

The flags will be held at half-staff on the day of Lieutenant Mays’ memorial service. To view the Governor’s proclamation, click here.

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MIL OSI USA News –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Represents U.S. at U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium

Source: US State of Connecticut

More than 100 scientists, engineers, and medical professionals from 16 African countries and the United States discussed advances across a broad range of multi-disciplinary topics, including Biotechnology, New Solutions for Decarbonization, Advances in Space Research, Smart and Connected Cities, and Precision Agriculture. UConn’s Dr. Cato T. Laurencin has served as a distinguished member of the Oversight Committee for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine since its inception.

Sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the U.S.-Africa program brings together outstanding young scientists, engineers, and medical professionals from the U.S. and the member countries of the African Union to discuss exciting advances and opportunities in their fields. The goal of the meetings is to enhance the scientific exchange and dialogue among young researchers in African countries and the U.S., including the African science diaspora, and through this interaction, facilitate research collaboration within and beyond the region.

Laurencin, an internationally recognized scientist, engineer, and surgeon, is actively involved in Africa through his work with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and other African scientific organizations. He has been a fellow of the AAS since 2012. Laurencin also participated in the first U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine symposium, contributing to discussions on research collaboration and scientific exchange between African countries. He also spoke at the 2024 Galien Forum in Dakar, Senegal, on the role of women in STEM in addressing environmental crises in Africa.

Laurencin is a fellow of the Senegalese Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the Benin National Academy of Science and Arts. He received the 2019 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences at the African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Laurencin received the 2019 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, becoming the first American to earn this prestigious award. The ceremony took place during the Africa Union Heads of States Summit located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At UConn Laurencin is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine, professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is the chief executive officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, a cross-university institute created and named for him at the University of Connecticut. A shoulder and knee surgeon, he is a pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering. In receiving the Spingarn Medal, the NAACP named him the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. He is the first surgeon elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Inventors.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: From Student to Pro: A Knight’s Move

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

© Maxim Kovalevich

The HSE hosted the student festival “Career Gambit”, organized byHse Chess Club, which became an unconventional platform for dialogue between students and employers. The opponents not only excitedly built game strategies, but also talked about careers and real employment opportunities. It turned out that playing chess is not just an intellectual competition, but also an opportunity to get to know each other better, discuss professional interests and look at future cooperation from a new angle.

The festival brought together more than 100 people, most of whom took part in the tournament, where 16 teams from employer companies and the same number of student teams competed.

Over the course of seven rounds, there were intense battles for the main trophy, which went to the Wildberries team.

The festival gave an opportunity not only for experienced chess players to compete, but also for those who had never sat down at the board to join the world of chess. For them, Pavel Zaitsev, senior coach of the HSE Chess Club, former member of the HSE and RSUH teams, postgraduate student of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, held a master class and told many interesting facts about the game and the basic rules.

Those who did not participate in the tournament but wanted to try their hand at chess had the opportunity to compete in a simultaneous game with Nikita Buts, FIDE chess master, executive director at Sber, Founder

All festival participants noted that it was an interesting experience that brought together like-minded people from different fields for a common interesting activity and provided students with another opportunity to plan their career trajectory.

“As an amateur, I am pleased that chess is gaining a presence in the HSE intellectual landscape,” said Vice-Rector Salambek Dombaev, a member of the HSE team. “This time, the guys managed to assemble a very interesting lineup of students, HSE employees, and colleagues from the industry. The tournament was a success. Personally, I lost all the games, but I received a boost and motivation to continue improving my skills in the game. I am sure that I am not alone in my desire. I would like to express my gratitude to our student chess association for the excellent organization of the event and the atmosphere. At the Career Gambit festival, I talked to HSE students and was impressed by their level. It was not just a tournament, but a mix of games and career talks. The students caught insights from professionals and learned about internships and opportunities in companies.”

“We are always looking for new formats of interaction between employers and students to ensure effective communication,” shared Olga Gaevskaya, Head of Career Development and Alumni Relations Office. — It is not always possible to find out the answers to the questions that concern students at official meetings. Therefore, when the HSE Chess Club suggested holding a chess tournament between companies and HSE students, we thought — this is what we need!”

The tournament involved 16 HSE partners. These are top-level specialists in their subject areas, and despite the heated competition at the chessboard, the students were able to meet their future potential employers and also play games as if they were solving work problems with their colleagues.

Pavel Salman, Team Lead Computer Vision in the Wildberries PVZ quality control team, captain of the winning team, said that it was valuable for him to sit down at the board after a long break and meet interesting people. “The organization of the event is perfect, it was a pleasure to play,” he says. “I didn’t expect to see so many teams, it turned out to be really large-scale. I wish you to continue growing further, to develop the chess community (it’s really cool!) We will be happy to take part in future tournaments. For our Wildberries team, this is only the second inter-corporate chess competition, and we are glad that we managed to achieve such success in the conditions of competition with such strong teams! From the first rounds, we managed to pull ahead a little in points, but then it became difficult to hold on. Before the last round, about seven pursuers almost caught up with us. I think this is an obvious indicator that many worthy and equal teams gathered, and, perhaps, we were just a little lucky in the end.”

Alexey Demyanenko, Director of Products and Tariffs at PJSC Rostelecom, talked to HSE students at the festival and was impressed by their level. “It wasn’t just a tournament, but a mix of games and career talks. Students caught insights from professionals and learned about internships and opportunities in companies. At Rostelecom, we have a large internship program, but unfortunately, many students don’t know about it yet, which means we need to better inform them about our opportunities. The Rostelecom team took second place, and for us it was a great experience and a chance to practice gaming skills and at the same time share information about a career at Rostelecom. Chess is not only about strategy, but also about pumping up the future! And we pumped up a lot at the chess festival at HSE,” he said.

Alexey Novikov, a representative of T2, was glad to learn that HSE has such a large-scale chess club. “I would like to note the high level of play, and after the tournament there was an opportunity to talk to students about the possibilities of working in the company,” he noted. “It would be great if this format becomes traditional. I wish further development to the chess movement at HSE.”

Aleksandr Chelekhovsky, a teacher and member of the HSE team, enjoys participating in atmospheric tournaments in the atrium. “I don’t really like online games, but I always try to get to our tournaments,” he says. “I met a lot of student and colleague friends who often go to such tournaments. It’s great that many teams from different companies gathered. It seems to me that HSE is making big steps towards expanding and popularizing chess. I am ready to support these steps and continue to participate in the activities of the chess club.”

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

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: NHS red tape blitz delivers game-changing new cancer treatment
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

NHS red tape blitz delivers game-changing new cancer treatment

Patients to benefit from new era in cancer treatment, as Government slashes red tape to unleash life-saving innovation
NHS patients will be the first in Europe to benefit from a ground-breaking, non-invasive liver cancer treatment, as the Government’s Plan for Change slashes burdensome red tape and drives innovation, establishing Britain’s role as a medical technology powerhouse.

Using ultrasound technology, the device – developed by US-based company HistoSonics – destroys tumours without surgery, scalpels, radiation, with minimal damage to surrounding organs.

Patients stand to benefit from faster recovery times, potentially greater survival rates, fewer potentially dangerous complications, and less hospital stays – helping to cut waits for others – all marking a new era in cancer treatment.

Ongoing research is exploring its potential to transform treatment for other hard-to-reach tumours – including kidney and pancreatic cancers – bringing hope to even more NHS patients in the future.

Treatment is delivered via a single short session – potentially taking no longer than 30 minutes – with limited or no pain, a quick recovery, and can be performed as a day case.

As the Government busts the bureaucracy holding back public services and stifling innovation, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting granted authorisation for controlled early access to the device via an unmet clinical need authorisation. Available through the UK’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway programme, a government-funded scheme to get cutting-edge health innovations to the market much quicker, NHS patients can benefit from technology years earlier than planned.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

Bureaucracy has become a handbrake on ambition, stopping innovation in its tracks and holding our health service back.

But through our Plan for Change, we are slashing red tape, so game-changing new treatments reach the NHS front line quicker – transforming healthcare.

Regulation is vital to protect patients. However, as the pace of innovation ramps up, our processes must be more agile to help speed the shift from analogue to digital.

Our common sense approach to regulation will streamline approval processes so countless more patients are liberated from life-limiting conditions.

The technology, called histotripsy, is being debuted at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, part of Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) with the first NHS patients being treated using the game-changing device this summer. The technology was procured and installed thanks to a generous donation to the University of Cambridge from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, which has been a longstanding supporter of cancer research at the University.

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said:

Through his longstanding support of cancer research at Cambridge, Sir Ka-shing Li continues to make a significant impact on outcomes for cancer patients.

Cutting-edge technology such as this histotripsy machine allows Cambridge to remain at the forefront of understanding and treating cancer, a position we aim to strengthen further with Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.

The Government’s Plan for Change is focused on securing the UK’s position as a global tech powerhouse – including in healthcare – which fosters innovation to transform the lives of working people and deliver a decade of national renewal.

The move delivers on the Government’s commitment to tackle bureaucracy blocking investment and regulatory complexity that has previously stifled growth.

Roland Sinker, Chief Executive of Cambridge University Hospitals said:

Histotripsy is an exciting new technology that will make a huge difference to patients.

By offering this non-invasive, more targeted treatment we can care for more people as outpatients and free up time for surgeons to treat more complex cases.

The faster recovery times mean patients will be able to return to their normal lives more quickly, which will also reduce pressure on hospital beds, helping us ensure that patients are able to receive the right treatment at the right time.

We are delighted to be receiving this new state of the art machine.

Fiona Carey, Co-chair of the Patient Advisory Group for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and kidney cancer patient with advanced disease, said:

This is seriously good news. A new, non-invasive option to treat these cancers is very welcome indeed.

For patients for whom ordinary surgery is no longer an option, this could make all the difference.

James Pound, Interim Executive Director, Innovation and Compliance at MHRA, said:

This is a strong example of smart, agile regulation in action. Working closely with partners through the Innovative Devices Access Pathway, we’ve shown we can get promising technologies to patients faster – without compromising safety.

It’s a major step forward for patients with liver cancer and shows how the UK can be a frontrunner in supporting responsible innovation that meets real clinical need.

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Published 10 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Art Gallery unveils nation’s favourite railway artwork
Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

Train Landscape by artist Eric Ravilious has been named as the world’s best-loved railway artwork in the UK, following a global poll organised by Railway 200 and Art UK to mark the 200^th anniversary of the modern railway. The watercolour is in the collection of Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums and has gone on display in Gallery 7 at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Painted in 1940, it shows the chalk white horse of Westbury, Wiltshire, viewed through the window of a third-class train carriage. Tirzah Garwood, the wife of Eric Ravilious, made the collage using elements from different watercolours Ravilious painted whilst travelling on trains.

Ella Ravilious, granddaughter of Eric Ravilious, said: “I’m thrilled that Train Landscape has been voted best-loved railway artwork, as it captures travel through the British landscape in a third-class carriage in the late 1930s. This painting by my grandfather, Eric Ravilious, was created with the assistance of my grandmother, Tirzah Garwood. Eric rode back and forth on the train, making several watercolours, none of which he was totally happy with. Tirzah collaged the best bits of each painting together to create a successful picture. Train lovers might notice that the chalk figure visible from the train window should be the Long Man of Wilmington rather than the Westbury Horse because it was painted on the Brighton to Eastbourne line.”

Railway 200 explores how a British invention changed the world forever and how the railway continues to shape our lives and livelihoods, presenting a constant source of inspiration to artists. The bicentenary commemorates the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825 when George Stephenson drove Locomotion No.1 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton. Alan Hyde from Railway 200 said: “Like the amazing artworks, this competition has captured the imagination of people around the world, highlighting an enduring connection between art and the railway. We hope that art lovers, rail enthusiasts and others will enjoy the Railway 200 exhibition on the Art UK website, and travel by train to enjoy these wonderful railway-inspired paintings at first hand during rail’s bicentenary.”

Andrew Ellis, Chief Executive of Art UK, said: “Art UK is delighted to have partnered with Railway 200 to connect the public to a truly wonderful selection of railway-inspired artworks held in collections across the UK. This masterful evocation of a sighting of the Westbury White Horse from a railway carriage by Eric Ravilious is an extremely worthy winner that also throws a spotlight on the rich art collection of Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums. We are thrilled that the work will now be on display and we encourage everyone to make the train journey to Scotland and see it.”

Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council’s culture spokesman, said: “It’s a tremendous source of pride for all of us here in Aberdeen that the public vote has recognised Train Landscape in this way – to steam into first place ahead of a painting JMW Turner is really quite something. On a personal level, this painting has been a favourite of mine since childhood. It’s just one of the many outstanding treasures visitors to Aberdeen Art Gallery can enjoy free of charge, seven days a week. Art UK does a wonderful job of sharing the country’s public collections online, and we hope that this news will encourage people to travel to Aberdeen to experience Train Landscape in real life, along with all the other outstanding works on display at Aberdeen Art Gallery – just a short walk from the train station!”

Art lovers and rail enthusiasts can now enjoy a curated exhibition of the 20 most popular paintings on the Art UK website at artuk.org until 31 December 2025.

The final order of the top 20 best-loved UK railway artworks:
1. Train Landscape, 1940, by Eric Ravilious (1903–1942), Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
2. Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway, 1844, by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), The National Gallery, London
3. Service by Night, 1955, by David Shepherd (1931–2017), National Railway Museum
4. The Travelling Companions, 1862, by Augustus Leopold Egg (1816–1863), Birmingham Museums Trust
5. Clapham Junction, 1961, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
6. By Rail to Wales, by Frank Wootton (1911–1998), National Railway Museum
7. The ‘Coronation Scot’ Ascending Shap Fell, Cumbria, 1937, by Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971), National Railway Museum
8. Talyllyn Railway on the Dolgoch Viaduct, 1967, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
9. View from a Railway Carriage; Beginning of the Carriage, by Anna Todd (b.1964), Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
10. Blue Train at Bowling Harbour, 1965, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Glasgow Life Museums
11. Waterloo Station, 1967, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), Science Museum
12. Mallard, 1980s, by Ann Emily Carr (b.1929), Hopetown Darlington
13. A Diesel Train on the Shore of Bassenthwaite Lake, near Keswick, Cumberland, by Barber (active c.1950–1961), National Railway Museum
14. The Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 1825, 1949, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
15. The Erecting Shop of the North British Locomotive Company’s Hyde Park Works, Glasgow, 1924, by Ralph Gordon Tetley (1910–1985), National Railway Museum
16. Train Crossing Monsal Dale Viaduct, by Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971), National Railway Museum
17. The Day Begins, 1946, by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996), National Railway Museum
18. The Railway Station, 1862, William Powell Frith (1819–1909), Royal Holloway, University of London
19. Euston Station: Loading the Travelling Post Office, 1948, by Grace Lydia Golden (1904–1993), The Postal Museum
20. ‘Crimson Rambler’, 1992, by Philip D. Hawkins (b.1947), The Postal Museum
Image credit: Michal Wachucik / Abermedia LTD / Art UK
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ARU expert shapes proposals for economic growth

Source: Anglia Ruskin University

Professor Aled Jones, Director of ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute

Professor Aled Jones of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has played a key role in a publication that sets out bold recommendations to help boost the UK economy.

The British Academy’s Economic Strategy Programme aims to unlock long-term economic growth and prosperity in the UK and the newly-published policy insights released by the Programme are the result of collaboration between British Academy Fellows, leading academics and economic policymakers.

The project, which began in 2023, has focused on four critical policy areas: International Trade and Geopolitics; Research & Development (R&D) and Innovation; Skills; and Sustainability and Social Value.

Professor Jones, Director of ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute, was invited to join the Sustainability and Social Value Working Group, which has concentrated on improving social outcomes through investment in the UK economy.

An overarching theme across the four policy areas is that a sustainable economic strategy should be underpinned by investment in the institutional, human and physical capital that in turn makes a place ‘investible’ for the private sector.

Among the recommendations of the Sustainability and Social Value Working Group are the need to consider aspects of people’s lives beyond paid work – as these are fundamental to citizens’ wellbeing and a prosperous, well-functioning society – and the importance of incorporating social investment into a whole-systems approach to the economy, highlighting the interconnected nature of the challenges faced.

The policy insight sets out how investment in health, education, wellbeing and social cohesion can provide a foundation to improve economic performance, while also strengthening societal resilience and capacity for change. The experts believe these investments can deliver economic gains through improved productivity in the long run.

“It is great to see the final report being published, highlighting the importance of social investment in health, education, social security and social cohesion to underpin economic resilience.

“Without recognising that good work and social infrastructure is interwoven with solutions to climate change and environmental degradation, the government will not be able to unlock a transformation of the UK economy that delivers prosperity for all.

“A true systems approach, that measures and values what people care about, and care for, can deliver tangible outcomes for communities right across the UK.”

Professor Aled Jones, Director of ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute

The importance of social investment for UK economic strategy is available at https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/5761/The_importance_of_social_investment_for_UK_economic_strategy.pdf

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The risks to consider before going under the knife

Source: Anglia Ruskin University

By James D. Frame, Anglia Ruskin University

A series of ads for Brazilian butt lifts (BBL) on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook were recently banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). These ads were found to be misleading and irresponsible, often downplaying serious health risks and pressuring consumers with time-limited offers.

This move highlights growing concerns over how cosmetic surgery is marketed online and the safety of BBL procedures. But BBLs are not the only cosmetic surgeries under scrutiny.

Liposuction has a high rate of post-operative complications, and even non-surgical procedures like lip fillers and liquid BBLs have raised health concerns among experts.

According to recent data from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), there were 27,462 cosmetic procedures performed in 2024 – a 5% rise from 2023. More than nine out of ten (93.5%) of these procedures were performed on women.

Body contouring – including liposuction, abdominoplasty and thigh lifts – are the most popular surgeries, while facial rejuvenation procedures, particularly face and neck lifts, brow lifts and eyelid surgery have all increased in popularity since 2023.

Risk factors

Many of these popular procedures are also among the riskiest. Body contouring surgeries like liposuction, tummy tucks and fat grafting, for example, are major operations that typically take hours and involve general anesthesia.

And the aesthetic outcomes are not always as expected either. Fat removal can sometimes lead to uneven body contours, lumps, or skin irregularities, which may worsen as the body continues to age.

All surgeries carry risks, but complications from cosmetic procedures are often downplayed or misunderstood. These risks can manifest immediately after surgery or even weeks later, ranging from minor issues like infection and scarring to life-threatening conditions such as blood clots or organ failure.

One of the most dangerous risks is pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot travels to the lungs. In the US, around 18,000 cases of venous thromboembolism (VTE) occur annually among plastic surgery patients, with about 10% resulting in death within just one hour of symptoms appearing.

This already serious threat has become even more pressing in the post-COVID era, as VTE cases are rising. COVID is known to increase the body’s tendency to form blood clots – even in those with mild or no symptoms.

These lingering effects can persist for weeks or months and, when combined with the usual surgical risks like immobility, tissue trauma and inflammation, they significantly increase the likelihood of a life-threatening event like a pulmonary embolism. As a result, people undergoing plastic surgery today may face a higher baseline risk than before the pandemic.

Fat embolism is another potentially deadly complication, often associated with procedures like liposuction or BBLs. This occurs when fat particles enter the bloodstream and travel to vital organs, leading to serious medical emergencies.

After surgery, some patients may wake up disoriented, confused, or with lingering neurological symptoms – signs of a serious medical emergency. Fat embolism can have immediate, life-threatening effects and, in severe cases, can cause permanent brain damage, organ failure, or sudden death.

Procedures like rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) or breast augmentation can come with relatively high rates of dissatisfaction. Implants, in particular, can cause issues like rupture, deflation, capsular contracture (hardening around the implant), or asymmetry. There is also some concern about a rare form of cancer – breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) – linked to certain types of implants.

Even if surgery doesn’t result in major complications, many patients still walk away unhappy. A common issue is that procedures don’t account for how the body continues to age. A facelift or tummy tuck might look great initially, but the natural ageing process can quickly undo or distort those results.

The problem is that many cosmetic procedures fail to account for the inevitable changes our bodies undergo with age. Our bodies change over time – skin loses elasticity, fat distribution shifts and trends evolve. What feels like a good decision in your 20s might look very different in your 40s.

Non-surgical treatments

One of the most troubling issues in the cosmetic industry is the lack of consistent regulation. This is particularly true for non-surgical treatments, where injectable products can be administered by anyone, from trained doctors to self-taught beauty influencers. Cosmetic tourism adds another layer of complexity. Many people travel abroad for cheaper procedures, only to face complications once they return home – with limited recourse or support.

Non-surgical treatments like dermal fillers and Botox have become increasingly popular due to their quick results and minimal downtime. However, they are not without risk.

Modern fillers like hyaluronic acid are generally safer than older materials such as silicone. They’re less likely to cause issues like granulomas – as long as they don’t become infected – and they can even be reversed if needed. However, when injected incorrectly, especially into a blood vessel, fillers can cause serious complications like tissue death, permanent scarring, or even blindness.

Botox injections also carry risks, including muscle paralysis, nerve damage, and uneven facial results – particularly when performed by unqualified practitioners.

Before undergoing any cosmetic procedure – whether surgical or non-surgical – it’s essential to research a qualified practitioner, understand the risks and set realistic expectations.

Cosmetic surgery can be empowering for many people, helping them feel more confident in their own skin. But the decision to alter your appearance permanently should never be taken lightly. Behind the glamour and glossy Instagram stories lies a more serious picture – one where the risks are real and the consequences, sometimes irreversible.

James D. Frame, Professor of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Anglia Ruskin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The opinions expressed in VIEWPOINT articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARU.

If you wish to republish this article, please follow these guidelines: https://theconversation.com/uk/republishing-guidelines

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How far-right ideas in Canada are working their way into mainstream politics

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Lisa Gasson-Gardner, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Mount Royal University

The fortunes of the Conservative Party and its leader Pierre Poilievre in Canada’s April 2025 election seemed to have shifted dramatically after United States President Donald Trump called for Canada to become the 51st state.

Political pundits regarded Mark Carney and the Liberal Party’s victory — along with the failure of Poilievre to retain his own seat — as a “Trump slump” and a repudiation of both Trump’s and Poilievre’s style of politics.

But is that an accurate assessment? The Conservative Party received its largest vote share since Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Exit polling data suggested stronger support for the Conservative Party among people aged 18-34 than among people aged 55 and older.

Although Trump has said Poilievre is “not a MAGA guy,” some political analysts have likened the rhetoric of Poilievre and other Canadian Conservatives to American Republicans who lean towards far-right Christian nationalist politics..

As an inter-religious humanities scholar of the U.S. far right, I have observed alarming parallels between the rise of the far right in mainstream politics in the U.S. and the scene in Canada.

Read more:
A ‘Trump slump’ has lifted the left in Canada and now Australia – what are the lessons for NZ?

Christian nationalism’s role in politics

In the U.S., both scholars and news media have been highlighting the connections between far-right Christian ideology and politics.

Trump’s first presidential term ended with the Jan. 6, 2021 violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Scholars like Matthew Taylor, author of The Violent Take it by Force, have pointed to Christian nationalism and other far-right ideologies as factors that motivated the rioters.

In February 2025, Trump appointed televangelist Paula White-Cain to head the newly created White House Faith Office. White-Cain’s appointment followed an executive order establishing a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias.

Thea appointment adds to the the narrative that U.S. Christians are facing persecution, a refrain since at least the 1970s and heightened during Barack Obama’s presidency. Scholars have linked the assertion that “Christianity is under attack” to the rise of Christian nationalism in mainstream politics.

Read more:
Trump may have emboldened hate in Canada, but it was already here

What is Christian nationalism?

American sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry define Christian nationalism as “a cultural framework that blurs distinctions between Christian identity and American identity, viewing the two as closely related and seeking to enhance and preserve their union.”

It’s tempting to read “Christian idenity” and “American identity” and assume it does not affect Canada.

But Christian nationalist ideologies were present during the so-called Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in 2022. According to Canadian scholars, national identity is blurred in online spaces, allowing U.S. nationalist ideals to take hold in Canada.]

Christian nationalism is not synonymous with Christianity or any specific branch of Christianity, like evangelical Christianity.

According to U.S. sociologist Daniel Miller, Christian nationalism is not a set list of ideological or religious beliefs. Instead, Miller says, Christian nationalism emerges when people identify with “a very narrow, idealized prototype of the ‘real or ‘authentic’ American.”

He says two mechanisms connect people to Christian nationalism. The first is perceived loss of power by the people who historically held power. This is known as a “power devaluation crisis.” The second is a narrative of decline — known as a a “declensionist narrative” — which asserts that American society has declined since the 1960s and needs repair and reclamation.

Poilievre’s signals to Christian nationalists

Poilievre is not open about his religion and does not call for Canada to be a Christian nation. But whether Poilievre intends to stir up Christian nationalists, some of his rhetoric has indicated support for the classic definitions of Christian nationalism.

According to Miller, support for Christian nationalism is not always direct. It can be activated by stoking a crisis of lost power, like the decline of the “traditional” family or by asserting a narrative of decline, like “Canada is broken.”

For example, Poilievre’s 2025 campaign mobilized both of the narrative mechanisms that attract Christian nationalist mentioned by sociologists: a power devaluation crisis and the narrative of decline.

In the lead-up to his 2025 campaign, Poilievre repeatedly called Canada “broken.”. He cited increased crime, addiction, high grocery prices and more as evidence of Canada’s brokenness, accusing the Liberal government of erasing Canada’s past.

When Poilievre calls Canada “broken,” it affirms the world view of Christian nationalists.

Poilievre courts conservative Christians

Another strategy Poilievre reportedly adopted from Trump was his work to court conservative Christians.

In an 2024 interview with The Tyee, religious right scholar Carmen Celestini of Waterloo University said Poilievre had “ramped up” his presence at churches. Additionally, The Globe and Mail reported there were fewer photos ops of Poilievre visiting mosques in 2024.

Of course, visits to churches are not enough to signal alignment with Christian nationalists. And Poilievre has not espoused any Christian evangelical ideals in any public speech.

But it’s still important for Canadians to remain alert about Christian nationalists and their ambitions to become part of mainstream politics.

Canadian Christian nationalism

A study from the U.S. has linked the rise in Christian nationalist ideologies to attacks on religious minorities. The 2024 qualitative data from the study indicates that when politicians rhetorically supported Christian nationalist values, there was a increased violence against minority groups.

According to Statistics Canada, the violent crime rate in Canada rose 13 per cent from 2021-2022.. Police-reported hate crimes increased 32 per cent from 2022 to 2023. Crimes targeting religion rose 67 per cent in 2023, primarily targeting Jewish and Muslim communities.

While I know of no studies showing the rise of the far right is directly leading to violence in Canada, Canadians should be aware of the pattern in the U.S. Research shows that growing Christian nationalists and far-right world views south of the border are, in fact, connected to a rise in violence.

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

– ref. How far-right ideas in Canada are working their way into mainstream politics – https://theconversation.com/how-far-right-ideas-in-canada-are-working-their-way-into-mainstream-politics-238965

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Why more youth are landing in the ER with vomiting from cannabis use
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jamie Seabrook, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Professor, Department of Paediatrics; Professor, Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Western University

As cannabis use among youth rises in Canada — and THC potency reaches record highs — emergency departments are seeing a surge in cases of a once-rare condition: cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).

Characterized by relentless vomiting, abdominal pain and temporary relief through compulsive hot showers or baths, CHS is increasingly affecting adolescents and young adults. Yet few people — including many clinicians — know it exists.

As public health and substance use researchers, and authors of a recent review on CHS in youth, we are struck by how misunderstood and misdiagnosed this condition remains.

A silent side-effect of heavy cannabis use

Canada ranks among the highest globally for youth cannabis use, with 43 per cent of 16-19-year-olds reporting use in the past year. Usage peaks among those 20–24 years, with nearly half (48 per cent) reporting past-year use.

This rise in regular, heavy use coincides with a 400 per cent increase in THC potency since the 1980s. Strains with THC levels above 25 per cent are now common. As cannabis becomes more potent and accessible, clinicians are seeing more cases of CHS, a condition virtually unheard of before 2004.

What is CHS?

CHS unfolds in three phases:
1. Prodromal phase: Nausea and early morning discomfort begin. Users increase cannabis consumption, thinking it will relieve symptoms.
2. Hyperemetic phase: Intense vomiting, dehydration and abdominal pain follow. Hot showers or baths provide temporary relief — a hallmark of CHS.
3. Recovery phase: Symptoms resolve after stopping cannabis entirely.
Diagnosis is often delayed. One reason is because CHS mimics conditions like gastroenteritis or eating disorders, leading to costly CT scans, MRIs and gastric emptying tests. One telltale sign — compulsive hot bathing — is frequently overlooked, despite its strong diagnostic value.

Nausea and early morning discomfort begin in the early stages of CHS.
(Shutterstock)

Why CHS is dangerous for youth

Youth face unique risks. The brain continues to develop until about age 25, and THC exposure during this critical window can impair cognitive functions like memory, learning and emotional regulation. Heavy cannabis use is associated with heightened risks of anxiety, depression, psychosis and self-harm.

Some youth use cannabis to self-medicate for mental health concerns and increase their use when symptoms of CHS appear, mistakenly believing cannabis will help. Others are reluctant to disclose their use due to stigma, fear of judgment or legal consequences.

In our recent review, we found that CHS is frequently misdiagnosed as bulimia nervosa because of the vomiting and unintended weight loss. But unlike bulimia, CHS-related vomiting is involuntary and not motivated by body image concerns. A clue is that those with CHS often return to normal eating and bathing patterns during symptom-free periods, which is not typical for an eating disorder.

Compulsive hot bathing is a telltale sign of CHS.
(Shutterstock)

A burden on the health system and individual

CHS doesn’t just take a toll on youth — it strains the health-care system. Emergency department visits for CHS have spiked in recent years, with a study in Ontario showing a significant rise after cannabis commercialization following legalization in 2018. Repeated ER visits, missed school or work and emotional distress compound the burden. In rare cases, CHS can lead to kidney failure due to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

Unfortunately, anti-nausea medications like ondansetron often fail. Studies have shown temporary relief from topical capsaicin or low-dose haloperidol, but no acute treatment consistently works unless cannabis use stops.

What can be done?

The most effective long-term solution to treating CHS is cannabis cessation. For youth who use cannabis to cope with anxiety, quitting can lead to withdrawal symptoms and distress. This makes harm reduction strategies critical: gradual reduction plans, mental health supports and non-judgmental conversations between providers and patients.

Clinicians should systematically screen youth presenting with cyclic vomiting for cannabis use and hot bathing behaviour. Youth are more likely to disclose cannabis use when asked in an empathetic, stigma-free way.

Public health campaigns can play a major role. We need honest, accessible education — in schools, clinics and online — that explains what CHS is, how to recognize it and how to seek help. In our view, the addition of CHS content to youth health curriculums, pediatric training programs and cannabis use screening tools is overdue.

A preventable crisis

CHS is a preventable but growing consequence of chronic cannabis use in young people. As legalization continues to reshape social norms and access, it is essential to ensure that youth — and those who care for them — are informed about the full spectrum of cannabis-related health risks.

This story was co-authored by Morgan Seabrook, an undergraduate research assistant at the Human Environments Analysis Laboratory at Western University.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Why more youth are landing in the ER with vomiting from cannabis use – https://theconversation.com/why-more-youth-are-landing-in-the-er-with-vomiting-from-cannabis-use-258375
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Chatbots can help clinicians become better communicators, and this could boost vaccine uptake

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jaigris Hodson, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University

Strengthening doctors’ communications skills is a public health benefit. (Shutterstock)

Measles is back. In recent months, outbreaks have re-emerged across North America including 2,968 cases in Canada as of May 31, 2025. At the heart of many of these surges lies missed childhood vaccinations — not just because of access barriers, but also due to conversations that didn’t happen.

Many clinicians want to support their patients in making protective health decisions, but these are not simple conversations. Trust is essential, and clinicians need to accept that these may be complex discussions and learn how to build trust when medical misinformation and misunderstandings are in play.

These conversations are important, but clinicians’ and patients’ time together is often limited, and it’s hard to demonstrate trustworthiness and build trust. That’s where we believe — and evidence suggests — artificial intelligence (AI) can help.

A surprising use for AI

AI is already being used to support diagnostic decisions and streamline administrative tasks in health care. But it also offers promise as a training tool for the human side of care.

We’re part of a team researching how chatbots can be developed to help clinicians practise difficult conversations about vaccines. These tools have the potential to provide low-cost, emotionally engaging and psychologically safe simulations for health professionals like doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists.

These kinds of tools are especially valuable in rural and remote areas, where access to in-person workshops or continuing education may be limited. Even for busy clinicians in well-resourced areas, chatbots can offer a flexible way to hone communication skills and to learn about circulating concerns.

Improving communication

Research consistently shows that clinicians can increase vaccine uptake by using better communication strategies. Even brief interventions — such as training in motivational interviewing — have measurable impacts on patient trust and behaviour.

Chatbots provide an opportunity to deliver this kind of training at scale. In recent work, computational social scientist David Rand and colleagues have demonstrated how AI-based agents can be trained to engage in social conversations and generate responses that effectively persuade.

These principles can be applied to the clinician–patient setting, allowing professionals to test and refine different ways of engaging with vaccine hesitancy before stepping into real-world conversations.

In research conducted in Hungary, clinicians reported feeling more confident and prepared after interacting with simulated patients. The opportunity to rehearse responses, receive feedback and explore multiple conversational pathways helped clinicians understand what to say — and how and when to say it.

Simulating conversations between clinicians and patients can help clinicians prepare for actual encounters.
(Shutterstock)

Practising communication

We believe chatbots can be used to train clinicians in a type of presumptive language known as the AIMS method (announce, inquire, mirror and secure trust). Similar approaches, drawing on motivational interviewing, have been tested in Québec, where it has demonstrated success in helping clinicians increase vaccine confidence and uptake among new parents.

This kind of intervention will simulate conversations with patients with vaccine questions, allowing physicians to practice AIMS techniques in a low-stakes environment. For example, the chatbot could play the role of a parent, and the physician would begin by announcing that it is time for the parents to vaccinate their children.

Then, if the “parent” (the chatbot) expresses vaccine hesitancy, the physician would inquire about what is driving the hesitancy. Importantly, when the “parent” responds to the questions, the AIMS approach teaches the physician not to respond directly to the concerns, but instead first mirror the response to show the parent that they are being heard and understood.

Finally, and sometimes after multiple rounds of inquiry and mirroring, the physician can move on to securing the parent’s trust.

Becoming adept at methods of conversational approaches like AIMS takes practice. That’s what a chatbot can offer: repeated, flexible, low-risk rehearsal. Think of it like a flight simulator for conversations.

Staying ahead of misinformation

The landscape of misinformation is constantly shifting. New conspiracy theories, viral videos and misleading anecdotes can gain traction in days. Clinicians shouldn’t have to confront these narratives for the first time during a brief patient visit.

By having the AI model underlying the chatbot constantly trawling the web for the latest misleading claims and updating chatbot scenarios regularly, we can help clinicians recognize and respond to the kinds of misinformation circulating now. This is especially important when trust in institutions is wavering and personalized, empathetic responses are most needed.

Conversations build trust

While we propose chatbots can be used to teach doctors how to address vaccine skepticism, motivational interviewing has already been employed via AI-based chatbots to address smoking cessation, with some promising results.

A similar approach has also been used to encourage the uptake of stress-reduction behaviours. Though the use of chatbots in education is a growing area of inquiry, the specific use of chatbots to train physicians in motivational interviewing approaches is a new field of study.

Using this approach as part of (continuing) clinical education could help better prepare the frontlines to serve as a successful bulwark against vaccine concerns not rooted in science.

In the face of falling vaccination rates and rising distrust, clinicians are on the front lines of public health. We owe them better tools to prepare and build trust.

Trust isn’t built in a moment. It’s built in conversation. And those can be practised.

Jaigris Hodson is on the advisory board of the Clarity Foundation. She receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Heather Lanthorn is a senior advisor to the Clairity Foundation.

David Rand has received funding from Google, Meta, and the Gates Foundation.

Heather Lanthorn is the Senior Advisor to the Clarity Foundation.

– ref. Chatbots can help clinicians become better communicators, and this could boost vaccine uptake – https://theconversation.com/chatbots-can-help-clinicians-become-better-communicators-and-this-could-boost-vaccine-uptake-255045

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: FBI Dallas and the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Announce the Results of Operation Soteria Shield

Source: US FBI

The North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and FBI Dallas’s North Texas Child Exploitation Task Force announce the conclusion of Operation Soteria Shield, a month-long collaborative enforcement effort conducted in April 2025 aimed at rescuing children from online sexual exploitation and bringing perpetrators to justice. This operation was run in conjunction with the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and was jointly managed by the FBI Dallas Division, Dallas Police Department, Plano Police Department, Wylie Police Department, and Garland Police Department.

More than 70 Texas law enforcement agencies joined forces throughout the month of April to combat the exploitation of children in the digital space. These agencies leveraged the expertise of highly skilled computer crimes investigators that worked around the clock to identify victims and apprehend offenders engaged in the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Operation Soteria Shield resulted in the rescue of 109 children and the arrest of 244 offenders. In addition to these enforcement actions, investigators seized extensive volumes of digital evidence, including terabytes of illicit data stored on electronic devices that were used in the commission of these crimes. These devices are undergoing forensic analysis and may lead to further arrests and the identification of additional victims.

“Operation Soteria Shield brought together over 70 agencies from across the state of Texas, including police departments, federal agencies, state and federal prosecutors, children’s advocacy centers, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. We had a common goal, which was to rescue children from abuse and exploitation,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock. “This was not an easy operation, but a necessary one. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to protect the children in our communities, and we will hold child predators accountable for their crimes.”

“Operation Soteria Shield was a massive team effort and a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we unite around one clear mission: protecting our kids and holding offenders accountable. I am proud that the Dallas Police Department is the lead agency for the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and am grateful for the many, many agencies who contributed to this successful operation,” said Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux.

“Online exploitation of children is one of the most insidious crimes we face as a society. It reaches into every community, crosses every boundary, and leaves lasting harm on its youngest victims. Operation Soteria Shield brought together an unprecedented level of collaboration and resolve to confront this crisis head-on. Through this operation, we not only rescued children from unimaginable abuse, but we also sent a clear message: those who seek to harm our children online will be found and brought to justice. Our work is far from over, but this effort has made our communities safer and brought hope to those who need it most.” Said Plano Police Chief Ed Drain.

“The coordinated efforts of all agencies involved in Operation Soteria Shield serve as a powerful demonstration of unwavering dedication in the battle against online child exploitation. By exposing the darkest corners of the Internet, this operation has targeted predators who seek to harm vulnerable children,” said Wylie Police Chief Anthony Henderson. “The trauma inflicted by these crimes runs deep, affecting not only the victims, but also their families and entire communities. With every arrest made and every child protected, the operation moves us closer to a safer community. Every step forward in this operation reflects a shared commitment to protecting the most vulnerable and ensuring those who seek to exploit children are brought to justice.”

“The Garland Police Department is proud to stand alongside our local, state, and federal partners in the fight against those who exploit our most vulnerable, our children. Operation Soteria Shield was more than an enforcement effort; it was a mission to rescue, protect, and restore hope,” said Garland Police Chief Jeff Bryan. “The scale of this operation sends a strong message: predators will be pursued, and survivors will never stand alone. We are grateful to the FBI, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and all the agencies involved for their tireless work. This operation demonstrates our shared commitment to the safety of every child in every community.”

Operation Soteria Shield stands as a powerful example of what can be accomplished with coordinated, interagency cooperation. It reflects the shared commitment of law enforcement professionals across Texas to relentlessly pursue those who prey on children and to ensure that survivors are no longer silenced or hiding in the shadows.

The participating agencies also extend their gratitude to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) for their unwavering support. NCMEC analysts provided vital intelligence and case coordination that proved instrumental to the success of this operation.

List of Participating Agencies:

Abilene Police Department, Allen Police Department, Alvarado Police Department, Amarillo Police Department, Arlington Police Department, Army Criminal Investigative Division, Aubrey Police Department, Azle Police Department, Bartonville Police Department, Breckenridge Police Department, Cedar Hill Police Department, Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County, Cleburne Police Department, Colleyville Police Department, Collin County District Attorney’s Office, Collin County Sheriff’s Office, Cooke County Sheriff’s Office, Crowley Police Department, Dalhart Police Department, Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, Dallas Police Department, Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, Denton County Sheriff’s Office, DeSoto Police Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, Elm Ridge Police Department, Ennis Police Department, Euless Police Department, Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, Fate Police Department, FBI Dallas Field Office, FBI El Paso Field Office, FBI San Antonio Field Office, Fort Worth Police Department, Frisco Police Department, Garland Police Department, Grand Prairie Police Department, Grand Saline Police Department, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Gregg County Sheriff’s Office, Haltom City Police Department, Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Honey Grove Police Department, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Department, Hurst Police Department, Irving Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Joshua Police Department, Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, Kaufman Police Department, Lamesa Police Department, Lone Star Police Department, Lubbock Police Department, McKinney Police Department, Midlothian Police Department, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, North Richland Hills Police Department, Office of Inspector General, Plano Police Department, Prosper Police Department, Richardson Police Department, Richardson Police Department SWAT, Rockwall County District Attorney’s Office, Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office, Rockwall Police Department, Rowlett Police Department, Royse City Police Department, Sachse Police Department, San Antonio Police Department, Snyder Police Department, Tarrant County Human Trafficking Task Force, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, Terrell Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, University of Texas System Police, White Settlement Police Department, Wilmer Police Department, and Wylie Police Department

MIL Security OSI –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Sly Stone: influential funk pioneer who embodied the contradictions at the heart of American life

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle University

There’s immense variety in popular music careers, even beyond the extremes of one-hit wonders and the long-haulers touring stadiums into their dotage. There are those who embody a specific era, burning briefly and brightly, and those whose legacy spans decades.

Straddling both of those, and occupying a distinctive space in popular music history, is Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone, who died at the age of 82 on Monday June 9.

A pioneer of funk whose sound spread far beyond the genre, his band Sly and the Family Stone synthesised disparate strands of American popular music into a unique melange, tracking the musical and social shifts as the 1960s wore into the 1970s.

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A musical prodigy and multi-instrumentalist from a young age, Stone was born in Texas in 1943 and raised in California, in a religious Pentecostal family. He had put out his first single aged 13 – a locally released gospel song with three of his siblings, who would later join him in Sly and the Family Stone.

A record producer and DJ by his early twenties, he imbibed the music of British acts like The Beatles and Rolling Stones, and applied his eclectic tastes and musical versatility to producing local psychedelic and garage rock acts in the emergent San Francisco scene.

By the time commercial popular culture had flowered into a more exploratory “counterculture” in 1967’s Summer of Love, the ebb and flow of personnel across local bands had coalesced into a line-up including the Stone siblings – Sly, Freddie, and their sister Vaetta, with their other sister Rose joining in 1968. Pioneering socially, as well as aesthetically, Sly and the Family Stone had diversity at its core – a mixed sex, multi-racial and musically varied band.

This was notable for a mainstream act in an America still emerging from the depths of segregation, and riven with strife over the struggle for civil rights. While their first album in 1967 A Whole New Thing enjoyed comparatively little traction, 1968‘s Dance to the Music presaged a run of hits.

Their sonic collision of sounds from across the commercial and social divide – psychedelic rock, soul, gospel and pop – struck a chord with audiences simultaneously looking forward with hope to changing times, and mindful of the injustice that was still prevalent.

Singles like Everyday People, Stand, and I Want to Take You Higher, melded a party atmosphere with social statements. They were calls for action, but also for unity: celebratory, but pushing the musical envelope.

While the band wore its innovations lightly at first, their reach was long. Bassist Larry Graham was a pioneer of the percussive slap bass that became a staple of funk and fusion. And their overall sound brought a looser, pop feel to the funk groove, in comparison to the almost militaristic tightness of that other funk pioneer, James Brown.

Where Brown’s leadership of his group was overt, exemplified by his staccato musical directions in the songs, and the call and response structure, Stone’s band had more of an ensemble feel. Musical lines and solos were overlaid upon one another, often interweaving – more textured rather than in lock-step. It was a sound that would reach an almost chaotic apogée with George Clinton’s Funkadelic later in the 1970s.

The party couldn’t last. As the optimism of the 1960s gave way to division in the 1970s, Stone’s music took a darker turn, even if the funk remained central. The album There’s A Riot Going On (1971), and its lead single It’s Family Affair contained lyrics depicting social ills more explicitly. The music – mostly recorded by Sly himself – was sparser, the vocals more melancholic.

The unity of the band itself was also fracturing, under pressure from Stone’s growing cocaine dependency. The album Fresh (1973) featured classics like In Time and If You Want Me To Stay, but they were running out of commercial road by 1974’s Small Talk, and broke up soon after.

Periodic comebacks were punctuated by a troubled personal life, including, at its nadir, reports of Stone living out of a van in Los Angeles, and arrests for drug possession. By the time he achieved a degree of stability, his star may have faded, but his legacy was secure.

Stone embodied the contradictions of American popular music – arguably even America itself: brash and light-hearted on the one hand, with a streak of darkness and self-destructiveness on the other.

The handclaps and joyous shouts harked back to his gospel roots, but his embrace of electric instruments aligned soul with rock and pop. He was a funk artist who played at the archetypal hippie festival, Woodstock, and a social commentator whose party sounds were shot through with urgency.

He paved the way for the likes of Prince and Outkast, but also informed jazz and fusion. Jazz pioneer Miles Davis acknowledged Stone’s influence on his own turn towards electric and funk sounds in the late 1960s and early 1970s on landmark albums like Bitches Brew.

Sly Stone’s joyful provocations may not have lasted at the commercial centre, but his mark was indelible. His struggles were both personal and social, but his sense of groove, and of a collective voice, demonstrated the value of aligning traditions with new ideas – a musical America that was fractious, but still a family affair.

Adam Behr has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council

– ref. Sly Stone: influential funk pioneer who embodied the contradictions at the heart of American life – https://theconversation.com/sly-stone-influential-funk-pioneer-who-embodied-the-contradictions-at-the-heart-of-american-life-258616

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The political opportunism behind Reform UK’s support for abolition of the two-child limit on benefits

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Chris Grover, Professor in Social Policy, Lancaster University

The leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, recently announced that if in government, his party would abolish the two-child limit on benefits. This social security policy restricts the payment of means-tested benefits to the first two children of a family.

Farage explained the announcement as being pro-natalist – intended to encourage a higher birth rate – as well as being “pro-worker”. Farage said that the abolition of the two-child limit “makes having children just a little bit easier” for “lower paid workers”.

He noted that Reform wanted “to encourage people to have children”. Such arguments are familiar in the European political right, although the UK’s Conservative opposition criticised Reform’s proposal.

To be in government, Reform has two possible routes: to build a coalition of voters for it, or to split left-leaning voters. Its proposal to abolish the two-child limit may be aimed at both.

On the one hand, it might be supported by left-leaning voters who are able to accept Reform’s broader policy agenda. On the other hand, it might be aimed at encouraging left-leaning voters who find Reform’s agenda problematic to move to parties (such as the Greens and Liberal Democrats) who are less equivocal in their commitment to abolishing the two-child limit than the Labour government.

Social security policies winning votes

Social security policies have long been used as part of political strategising. The situation with the two-child limit is complicated, though, because both anti- and pro-natalist views of social security (and it predecessors) have been popular at particular moments.

Political and popular arguments have long been made that supporting the poorest families leads to them having too many children. This, so the argument goes, reproduces, rather than addresses, the poverty they face. Examples can be found, for instance, in the 1834 poor law commission report in relation to “bastardy” and large families, Sir Keith Joseph’s 1970s focus upon the “cycle of deprivation”, as well as “underclass” arguments in the 1980s and 1990s.

The two-child limit was announced in the 2015 budget and introduced in 2017 with the reasoning that “those in receipt of tax credits should face the same financial choices about having children as those supporting themselves solely through work.”

The two-child limit on benefits restricts welfare payments for children to the first two children in a family.
Len44ik/Shutterstock

In contrast, the architect of the British welfare state, William Beveridge, noted in 1942 that children’s allowances (now child benefit) would help “housewives as mothers” in their “vital work in ensuring the adequate continuance of the British race and of British ideals in the world.” The 1945 Labour election victory in support of the welfare state suggests pro-natalist policies can contribute to electoral success.

The expansion of tax credits in the 1990s and 2000s were partly explained in pro-natalist terms. Tony Blair, for instance, noted: “The working tax credit enables half a million mothers to choose to stay at home.” That, in other words, tax credits enabled women to choose having and raising children over paid work.

Recent polling, however, suggests that the anti-natalist two-child limit polls well among voters, especially Reform voters. In 2024, for example, YouGov found 60% of Britons thought the two-child limit should be kept. The figure was 84% for Reform voters.

Targeting voters

The abolition of the two-child limit may have been adopted to increase Reform’s appeal to left-leaning voters. Providing additional support for families through social security may be attractive to voters concerned with social injustice. The two-child limit increases child poverty. Affected families are unable to provide even the most basic needs, such as food, clothing and heating.

Nevertheless, Reform’s proposal is also embedded in caveats and would be paid for through means appealing to its existing voters. So, for example, Farage emphasised that the abolition of the two-child limit would be restricted to only British families. It would not be extended to families “who come into the country and suddenly decide to have a lot of children”.

By keeping the two-child limit for migrant families, Reform’s proposals are consistent with existing immigration and asylum policies. It has been observed in an inquiry by All Party Parliamentary Groups on poverty and on migration that policies like this are, at least in part, “designed to push people into poverty in the hope that it will deter others from moving to the UK.” And, therefore, the abolition of the two-child limit can be seen as part of Reform’s pledge to severely curtail immigration.

Farage also argued that the abolition of the two-child limit would be paid for by other policies that are central to Reform’s electoral agenda. These include stopping asylum seekers being housed in hotels and the abolition of net zero policies. It is also consistent with Reform’s view that jobs in Britain should be filled by British people. This, it believes, will help reduce reliance on migrant labour from overseas.

There is little evidence that the introduction of the two-child limit had the desired impact on lowering poorer households’ birth rates. And it is unclear whether the proposed abolition of the two-child limit rooted in a British-only, pro-natalist agenda is enough to attract left-leaning voters.

These voters might, for example, be more concerned with Reform’s position on immigration and asylum seeking, as well as the social injustice of the undoubted poverty in which families subjected to the two child limit on benefits live.

Reform’s strategy then may be to further encourage those voters to turn from its closest rival – the Labour party – to other political parties. Whichever is the case, the situation will undoubtedly shift if the Labour government does take the step of abolishing the two-child limit.

Chris Grover 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. The political opportunism behind Reform UK’s support for abolition of the two-child limit on benefits – https://theconversation.com/the-political-opportunism-behind-reform-uks-support-for-abolition-of-the-two-child-limit-on-benefits-258042

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Spending review: Rachel Reeves is about to make a £600 billion gamble on growth

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George’s, University of London

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves faces her biggest test with the government’s departmental spending plans for the three years from next April until the general election. With nearly £600 billion a year to spend, her decisions will impact on every aspect of public life and shape the political weather for years to come.

She believes the key to reviving Labour’s fortunes as its poll ratings tumble lies in boosting economic growth.

So the government has promised that its policies will increase the UK’s anaemic growth rate and enhance productivity. Reeves is looking to capital spending on big projects that will boost the economy, such as the £14.2 billion government investment in a new nuclear power plant at Sizewell in Suffolk.

Last year she revised the government’s fiscal rules to give herself the space to borrow an extra £113 billion over three years to transform Britain’s ageing infrastructure. She has already made it clear that she wants to boost transport investment outside of London, as well as invest in research and development, including green energy.

But there are challenges ahead. In the first place, the effect of infrastructure investment takes a long time to feed through. This is partly because of the lag between planning the projects and when they come on-stream.

It will take time before the full effect will be felt on productivity, which has been growing more slowly than expected. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggested in March that the latest government plans for planning reform might increase productivity by just 0.2% in the longer term.

There are also some real trade-offs as to where the increased capital investment will go – and which sectors will benefit most. The chancellor has emphasised her commitment to putting more money into projects outside London and south-east England that have had less public investment in the past.

But London and the south-east is where productivity is highest and where further investment might have a bigger effect on economic growth.

It appears that there may be less funding for social housing, which may threaten the government’s ambitious target of building 1.5 million homes over the parliament. There may also be less available to repair schools and hospitals.

And the plans to boost defence spending on expensive military equipment – such as frigates and fighter planes – will also count as capital spending. As such, it could further reduce the amount available for infrastructure investment.

The departmental trade-offs

Despite the relative abundance of cash for infrastructure, the tighter fiscal rules on day-to-day spending mean that many departments are facing a squeeze on their budgets. The government plans to allow total day-to-day departmental spending on average to rise by just 1.2% per year in real terms during the next three years. This probably spells a real-terms cut for some “unprotected” departments.

This is because the money will not be distributed equally. The Department of Health and Social Care gets 40% of all departmental spending and is likely to be the big winner.

It has already received a big increase in the last spending round, with an 11% increase in capital spending is likely to get even more to realise an ambitious ten-year plan for improving services in the NHS in England.

If health spending were to go up by 2.5% (well under its historic average), this could mean very little increase for many other government departments. And if it is increased by 3.5% this will imply real-terms cuts for other areas.

The situation is made more difficult by the government’s decision to prioritise two other areas: defence and schools. For defence, it is committed to raising spending to 2.5% by 2027 and to 3% in the next parliament.

And for education, Reeves has pledged an extra £4.5 billion per year for more teachers, childcare places and free school meals. The decisions have a strong political dimension, as health and education tend to be the most popular spending priorities among the public.

Boosting the education spend tends to play well with the UK public.
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

The spending review, however, only covers half of total government spending. The more unpredictable part is annually managed expenditure, mainly on benefits and interest payments on government debt.

The Treasury sets an overall target (known as the spending envelope) on how much will be spent in these areas. But it now faces a crunch point over the unpopular decisions to cut disability benefits and keep the two-child benefit cap.

Reeves’ partial U-turn on the winter fuel payment, which will now be paid to 9 million pensioners, will cost an additional £1.25 billion a year but may have been a political necessity.

But a full U-turn on the two other issues will be much more expensive. Taken together, such a change might breach the fiscal rules, which give only £10 billion of “headroom” in a total government budget of more than £1.2 trillion. So while there will be some rowing back, the finances suggest any more major U-turns are unlikely.

To make matters worse, these spending plans are based on an economic forecast made by the OBR in March. This did not include the effect of US president Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Since then, both the IMF and the OECD downgraded their UK growth forecasts for both 2025 and 2026, and despite a recent small upgrade by the IMF, growth is still significantly lower than previously expected.

Even though Britain seems to have secured a deal with the US, the effect of tariffs on global growth will still damage the UK’s prospects as a trading nation.

This will make it harder for the government to meet its fiscal targets in the autumn budget while sticking to the departmental spending plans. The chancellor will then have three options. She can look for more cuts in benefits spending.

She could try to find other sources of tax revenue, for example by tweaking the rules on taxing pensions or extending the freeze on upgrading tax bands. Or, more radically, she could modify the fiscal rules to give herself more flexibility – for example by having only one economic forecast a year, as the IMF has suggested.

Ultimately Labour’s electoral prospects will depend on whether it has succeeded in boosting living standards. While the productivity drive could work, the UK economy remains at the mercy of wider global economic forces.

Steve Schifferes 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. Spending review: Rachel Reeves is about to make a £600 billion gamble on growth – https://theconversation.com/spending-review-rachel-reeves-is-about-to-make-a-600-billion-gamble-on-growth-258526

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Why ultra wealthy donors like Elon Musk and Zia Yusuf may just be fundamentally incompatible with the politics of the radical right

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sam Power, Lecturer in Politics, University of Bristol

Former chairman Zia Yusuf has rejoined Reform after quitting days previously. Yusuf had said he no longer wanted to work to get the party into government when new MP Sarah Pochin called for a ban on burqas in the UK. However, he seems to have had a change of heart and will return, ostensibly to lead the party’s “department of government efficiency”.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s bromance, however, is on much rockier ground. There’s no sign of the world’s richest man reconciling with the US president, his former employer.

These spats, at first glance, might seem like little more than, put politely, teething problems in (relatively) new political operations. Or, a little less politely, the unedifying spectacle of people in or seeking power being completely unable to act like adults.

However, it also points to something more akin to a canary in the coalmine for radical right parties around the world. Their increasing reliance on an ultra-wealthy donor class presents an ideological puzzle that may not be solvable.

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Reform currently operates on what has been described as vibes alone. That is to say, there’s very little meaningful common ground between the people who vote for Reform and the party elite. The only continuity is their sense of anger at the current political system.

This, as we are seeing in election after election, is an incredibly powerful (and compelling) force. The problem is, of course, that you can’t oppose forever. You often end up having to actually do something. All boxers, Mike Tyson will be glad to tell you, have a plan – until they get punched in the face.

And what makes them such a powerful force at the moment, is precisely that which may cause challenges further down the line. At least for me, given it’s my bread and butter research-wise, I see this when I follow the money.

And I’m increasingly asked a lot of questions about the kind of people who are either giving money to Reform – or who Reform are courting (and at the moment it is decidedly the latter which is the case).

My position is that they very broadly fit into three categories. First are disaffected traditional Conservatives who are increasingly seeing a party – in the words of Farage – “worth investing in”. In the donations figures released on June 10, these are represented by bussinessmen Bassim Haidar and Mohammed Amersi.

Then you have a Silicon Valley-reared tech-bro libertarian. This group already runs on a “move fast and break things” philosophy so the idea of an insurgent party which proclaims, on entering parliament, that “the fox is in the henhouse” naturally appeals.

The final pot of money is filled via small donations, ballooning membership and a whole chunk of votes from a disaffected white working-class population to whom the language of economic and cultural grievances resonates.

There are some places where the interests of these groups align – most notably a distaste for government interference and red tape (though not necessarily a smaller state in terms spending on public services). They also share a sense that progressive politics, broadly defined, ought to be pegged back a bit (but with an emphasis on a bit).

They differ on a great deal else, to the extent that you can only really please two out of the three, but never everybody. And, unfortunately, without all three the project starts collapsing. This is what we have been seeing in the fractious relationships between Trump and Musk and Farage and Yusuf.

Two out of three ain’t bad – but it’s not enough

Yusuf (and Musk) are very much representative of the new tech-bro class. And, when Yusuf called questions about banning the burqa “dumb” he was speaking at both an ideological and organisational level.

At the ideological level it is, frankly, a bit rich for his blood, because “philosophically I am always a bit uneasy about banning things which, for example, would be unconstitutional in the United States”.

Organisationally, it pushes Reform much closer to what journalist Fraser Nelson calls “a tactic more akin to the old BNP”. Indeed, Reform started “just asking questions” about burqas at the same time as it started twisting footage to claim that Anas Sarwar, leader of Scottish Labour, wants to prioritise the needs of Pakistanis.

This kind of dog-whistle politics appeals to some, but puts off a lot more, including, I think, some of the (saner) tech-bro right.

Indeed, Ian Ward at Politico perceptively notes that if we want to explain the current Musk-Trump meltdown we should look back to Christmas 2024, when cracks first started appearing over immigration policy.

The tech-bro right are, generally speaking, much less hardline on the flow of people than the Maga-populist right (think Steve Bannon and Tommy Robinson). In fact, they are pro-high skilled immigration as it tends to benefit them and their business interests.

Tech-bros also like the idea of moving fast and breaking things in theory. But when things start moving fast and actually breaking in practice (or Tesla stocks start to plummet), they tend to get a bit freaked out.

In other words, it’s not just that they don’t like government, they don’t like governing and the inevitable compromise that comes with it. When they say move fast and break things, I get the sense what they really mean is “leave me alone so I can make billions in peace”.

This, of course, is quite appealing to traditional hedge-fund conservatives, but is also the politics that literally built the economic grievances that much of the white-working class support for the populist radical right is, in turn, built on.

Two out of three ain’t bad, but you do need all three. So, don’t be surprised if despite Farage’s seemingly genuine affection for Yusuf, it all falls apart again before long.

Ultimately, Reform will need to decide how they are going to spin these plates. The good news is that it might well be that they can, indeed, get by on vibes alone until the next general election. The bad news, unfortunately, is that winning an election is the easy bit. Just ask Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer. After all, everyone has a plan.

Sam Power receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

– ref. Why ultra wealthy donors like Elon Musk and Zia Yusuf may just be fundamentally incompatible with the politics of the radical right – https://theconversation.com/why-ultra-wealthy-donors-like-elon-musk-and-zia-yusuf-may-just-be-fundamentally-incompatible-with-the-politics-of-the-radical-right-258512

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: What the new British zoo standards mean for animal welfare

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Samantha Ward, Associate Professor of Zoo Animal Welfare, Nottingham Trent University

Mila Supinskaya Glashchenko/Shutterstock

If you visit a zoo, you might be captivated by the animals you see — majestic lions, curious meerkats, soaring birds of prey. But this is not always the case. Some zoos don’t always give us that impression of “happy animals” where they can behave naturally and be left alone by visitors if they wish.

The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments recently released new zoo standards for Great Britain. So what does this mean for the future of zoos?

I have been working in and with zoos for over 20 years. I am a bit of a zoo-nerd but that doesn’t mean that I like them all. I am an advocate for good animal welfare in zoos and so I can recognise the ones that are good and not so good.

Britain is one of a few countries such as Belgium, South Korea and New Zealand that have specific zoo legislation. The new British standards will be enforced in 2027, giving below-par zoos two years to up their game.

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I speak here in my role as associate professor of zoo animal welfare at Nottingham Trent University, but I also sit on the UK Zoos Expert Committee and helped to write the new standards. One of the biggest changes is the replacement of the word “should” with “must”. The standards now say: “Zoos must provide appropriate accomodation”. This makes all elements of the guidance much more enforceable.

One of the most common complaints I hear when I say I work with zoos is that the animals don’t have as much space as they do in the wild. That is correct: zoos cannot provide the same amount of space for a lot of species. But good quality space can allow these animals to behave like they would in wild habitats.

One of the most controversial animals when talking about space is elephants. In 2017 the UK government issued updated requirements for them which brought in enclosure-size requirements, something that had never happened for any species in British zoos before.

Under the new standards, zoos will have until 2040 to increase their elephant provisions. Indoor space allocation for a herd of up to four females has been doubled to 600m². This then increases by 100m² for each additional elephant (compared to 80m² in the 2017 requirements).

Bull facilities – zoos that house individual male elephants – need to provide 320m² of indoor space per bull. Outdoor areas for bull and cow elephants must provide a minimum shared space of 20,000m² (or 2.8 UK sized football pitches) for up to five group-living adults. This must be increased by at least 2,500m² for each additional animal over two years old. This is over 30 times larger than the current standards.

The new standards stipulate that zoos must provide more natural habitats that better replicate how elephants live in the wild. There are also requirements for more detailed behavioural monitoring and things that help keep elephants active and engaged in their environment.

Howver, animal welfare charity the RSPCA still feels that these updates are not good enough. It believes that elephants (and some other species) are not suitable for captivity as they have complex cognitive needs and space requirements.

From my perspective, Britain has the most specific (and now) welfare-driven standards for elephants in the world. If Britain were to ban the housing of elephants, we would be shipping them to lower quality habitats, care and monitoring. Is this really what we want for the elephants in British zoos?

What else is changing

Another area where there has been much criticism in the past relates to providing animals from specific climates or environments with the correct conditions, such as reptiles, amphibians, tropical birds and primates. While a high number of animals seem to cope well in the UK’s colder climate, there is research to show that some animals need specialised environments, without which they can suffer from severe health problems, low welfare and even death.

The new standards require zoos to develop detailed environmental management plans for species that rely on artificial life-support systems such as aquariums, vivariums, tropical houses or desert habitats. Animals also cannot be removed from their enclosures for interactions or talks with the public.

These environmental management plans outline the environmental parameters required for that animal to thrive and behave naturally, and they need to be monitored to ensure that provisions do not slip.

Birds of prey have new welfare protections in British zoos.
chrisdorney/Shutterstock

There are also extra requirements for birds of prey. Although controversial, tethering is currently a recognised management practice for birds of prey, including owls, hawks and falcons. You don’t need to be a welfare scientist to understand how a bird might feel about being tethered to a post for long periods of time.

The 2012 standards stipulated that tethered birds should be flown at least four times per week, though there were no time restrictions on how long they could be tethered. The new standards emphasise that birds can only be tethered for a maximum of four hours in a 24 hour period and only as a management tool that benefits the bird (such as training for flight displays, transportation or veterinary treatment).

There is new emphasis on what is known as behavioural enrichment. Whether it’s puzzle feeders for primates, scent trails for big cats or novel objects for parrots, enrichment helps prevent boredom, reduce stress and promote natural behaviour.

Enrichment can be resource intensive and therefore difficult to implement, but the new standards make it a core requirement. Enrichment activities must aim to replicate natural behaviour such as foraging, climbing or problem solving. Zoos are required to document and evaluate these activities, track how animals respond and adjust strategies accordingly.

These updates reflect a deeper understanding of what animals need to thrive, not just survive. As a zoo welfare scientist, I feel there is always more that can be done to improve the welfare of animals in zoos (such as banning touch pools and tethering altogether).

But it is important that zoos and aquariums evaluate the costs (to the animals) and benefits (to the visitors) to make ethical and welfare-based decisions themselves.

These new standards will improve the conditions for animals in zoos, as well as help zoos to make the right decisions about the animals they house and care for.

Samantha Ward is the welfare specialist on the Zoo Experts Committee, part of DEFRA, who helped write the new zoo standards.

– ref. What the new British zoo standards mean for animal welfare – https://theconversation.com/what-the-new-british-zoo-standards-mean-for-animal-welfare-258001

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Why the salmon on your plate contains less omega-3 than it used to – and how the industry can address that

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Newton, Lecturer in Aquaculture, University of Stirling

Maria_Usp/Shutterstock

Farmed Atlantic salmon has become one of the most highly traded food commodities in the world, enjoyed for its versatility as much as for its health benefits. It has long been known that eating oily fish such as salmon is the best way to consume long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential for brain development, mental health and cognition.

In salmon, omega-3 fatty acids must come from the fish’s diet. For farmed fish, this means fishmeal and fish oil – so–called “marine ingredients” made from ground-up wild fish such as anchovy and fish by-products.

But the global supply of omega-3s is severely limited, whether from farmed or wild seafood. Many of the key fisheries supplying marine ingredients reached full exploitation in the mid-1990s. Since the growth of salmon aquaculture, increasing volumes of the limited marine ingredients supply have been taken up by fish farming.

This has raised concerns over sustainability and inflated the cost of these ingredients. The result has been a steady decline in the proportion of fish oil in farmed salmon diets, which has been replaced by plant oils. But these oils do not contain long-chain omega-3s.

In turn, the amount of omega-3s in a portion of salmon halved between 2006 and 2015. However, the salmon industry increasingly uses omega-3 as a key selling point for its product – two portions of farmed Scottish salmon per week would meet the recommended intake for an adult at current levels.

If the salmon industry is to continue to grow and maintain the omega-3 targets, it must be more efficient. And the seafood industry as a whole must do more to prevent omega-3 losses through its value chains. Part of the efficiency journey has been to produce more fish oil.

This can be done by harnessing the value of fishery and aquaculture byproducts such as trimmings, skins and heads, so that more omega-3s are kept in the food (and feed) system.

There is a growing incentive to use the whole fish – consequently there has been good progress in improving the use of byproducts. It is now estimated that around half of global fish oil supply is sourced from fishery, and particularly aquaculture, processing sources. However, there is still a lot of waste and logistical difficulties in storing and transporting seafood byproducts.

Much of the industry incentive to use byproducts has been economic, as the global shortage of fish oil pushed prices above US$8,000 (£5,900) per tonne in 2024. Evidence from the past 20 years suggests that overall use of wild fish in the European salmon industry has dropped (replaced by plant ingredients), while production has grown several-fold.

Despite improvements and reductions in the use of marine ingredients, the industry still comes under huge pressure from NGOs and conservation groups. They are concerned about the use of fish as feed, which may damage public perceptions of the aquaculture industry.

To assess the use of fish as feed in aquaculture, the “fish in fish out” (Fifo) ratio was conceived, which measures the ratio of fish biomass included in fish feeds to the biomass of fish ultimately produced for consumption. The goal is for more fish to be produced for human consumption than is used as feed, and this would result in a Fifo of less than 1.

New measure for nutrients

Certification bodies such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Best Aquaculture Practices have adopted different forms of the Fifo metric. However, until now, Fifo has not addressed one of the fundamental reasons for including marine ingredients in aquafeeds – providing omega-3s to consumers. It has neither considered the omega-3 content within feed fish, nor in the final product.

Similarly, studies examining nutrient retention in salmon have only looked at that from feed to the farmed fish. The omega-3 lost in the process of turning the fish raw material in feed is not currently measured. By introducing our new measure, the nutrient Fifo (nFifo), nutrients can be followed from wild fish capture, its separation into meal and oil, and through to the final product sold to consumers.

Certification bodies like the Aquaculture Stewardship Council could adopt the new metric for nutrition.
T. Schneider/Shutterstock

The method used in nFifo favours the use of byproduct resources over virgin raw materials, so that diets containing byproducts receive a lower nFifo. In theory, this should promote circular economy initiatives.

This is crucial in the marine ingredients industry. Seafood is highly perishable and the byproducts especially so. But they are also some of the richest sources of omega-3s, such as from herring or mackerel.

However, the cost of retaining, stabilising, storing and transporting byproducts is often prohibitive. This is especially true on board fishing boats, where space is at a premium and byproducts are often dumped at sea.

Introducing metrics that prevent bioresources being wasted is essential for sustainable food production. Current salmon feed contains around 20% to 25% marine ingredients, but only around 5% is from byproducts. This results in a nFIFO of 2.17.

Incorporating only marine ingredients sourced from byproducts reduces that nFifo to below 0.5. Crucially, this still provides the same level of omega-3s to the consumer.

If the seafood industry is serious about sustainable production, it needs to become much more efficient with resources. The nFifo metric links the use of wild fish to omega-3s consumed in farmed salmon for the first time – but it could also be applied to other species and nutrients.

The methodology is similar to that used for environmental impact indicators for climate change, land or water use. It makes it possible to assess the trade-offs of including and substituting marine ingredients in fish diets at different points of production.

For example, while marine ingredients may raise concerns around their impact on fisheries, they have comparatively low carbon footprints and almost no land or water footprints compared to plant ingredients. This could potentially lead to more balanced and sustainable approaches to seafood production.

It is hoped that the nFifo metric and an accessible tool for calculating it (there is one provided on the Blue Food Performance website) will be adopted by certifiers. It could also lead to more complex sustainability indicators becoming mainstream, letting consumers make informed choices about the nutritional and environmental credentials of the products they buy.

Richard Newton is the Chair of the Climate Action Committe for Best Aquaculture Practice and the Stakeholder Advisory Group for Seafood Watch. He has previously received funding in 2019 and 2013 from the International Fishmeal Fishoil Organisation to map supplies of underutilised by-product resources.

Dave Little has received funding from various organisations supporting sustainable aquaculture development and has been affiliated to various organisations working to to improve farmed seafood assurance

– ref. Why the salmon on your plate contains less omega-3 than it used to – and how the industry can address that – https://theconversation.com/why-the-salmon-on-your-plate-contains-less-omega-3-than-it-used-to-and-how-the-industry-can-address-that-258228

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Beards and microbes: what the evidence shows

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Primrose Freestone, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology, University of Leicester

Bernardo Emanuelle/Shutterstock.com

Beards have long attracted suspicion, sometimes seen as stylish, sometimes as unsanitary. But how dirty are they, really?

Human skin is home to billions of microorganisms – mainly bacteria, but also fungi and viruses – and facial hair provides a unique environment for them to thrive. Research shows that beards, in particular, support a dense and diverse microbial population, which has fuelled a persistent belief that they are inherently unhygienic. The Washington Post recently reported that some toilets contain fewer germs than the average beard.

But are beards truly a hygiene risk? A closer look at the evidence reveals a nuanced picture.

The microbial population on skin varies by location and is influenced by factors such as temperature, pH, humidity and nutrient availability. Beards create a warm, often moist environment where food debris and oils can accumulate – ideal conditions for microbial growth.

These microbes thrive not just because of the warm, moist conditions beards provide, but also because of constant exposure to new contaminants and microbes, especially from hands that frequently touch surfaces and the face.

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Concerns among scientists about beard hygiene date back over 50 years. Early studies showed that facial hair could retain bacteria and bacterial toxins even after washing. This led to the enduring idea that beards act as bacterial reservoirs and could pose an infection risk to others.

For healthcare workers, this has made beards a point of controversy, especially in hospitals where pathogen transmission is a concern. However, hospital-based research has shown mixed results. One study found that bearded healthcare workers had higher bacterial loads on their faces than clean-shaven colleagues.

Another investigation, looking at whether it would be hygienic to evaluate dogs and humans in the same MRI scanner, found that most men’s beards contained significantly more microbes than dog fur, including a greater presence of harmful bacteria. The researchers concluded: “Dogs are no risk to humans if they use the same MRI.”

Dogs and humans can share the same MRI scanner.
Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock.com

However, other studies have challenged the idea that beards increase infection risk. For example, one investigation found no significant difference in bacterial colonisation between bearded and clean-shaven healthcare workers.

The same study also reported that bearded doctors were less likely to carry Staphylococcus aureus, a major cause of hospital infections, and that there was no increase in infection rates among patients treated by bearded surgeons wearing surgical masks.

Beards can sometimes spread skin infections, such as impetigo — a contagious rash often caused by S aureus, which is commonly found in facial hair.

In rare cases, parasites like pubic lice – which usually live in the groin area – can also show up in beards, eyebrows or eyelashes, particularly in cases of poor hygiene or close contact with an infected person.

The case for good beard hygiene

Neglected beards can foster irritation, inflammation and infection. The skin beneath a beard – rich in blood vessels, nerve endings and immune cells – is highly sensitive to microbial and environmental stressors. When sebum, dead skin, food debris and pollutants accumulate, they can irritate the skin and provide fuel for fungal and bacterial growth.

Experts strongly recommend washing your beard and face every day. Doing so removes dirt, oils, allergens and dead skin, helping prevent microbial buildup.

Dermatologists also advise moisturising to prevent dryness, using a beard comb to clear debris, and trimming to control loose hairs and reduce shedding. These steps help maintain not only hygiene but also beard health and appearance.

So, are beards dirty? Like most things, it depends on how well you care for them. With daily hygiene and proper grooming, beards pose little risk and may even be healthier than we once thought.

Primrose Freestone 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. Beards and microbes: what the evidence shows – https://theconversation.com/beards-and-microbes-what-the-evidence-shows-256917

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The National Gallery at 200: is this rehang a bold relaunch or rinse and repeat?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Conlin, Professor of Modern History, University of Southampton

The National Gallery has recently rehung its entire collection. Taking hundreds of paintings off the wall and replacing them in a new arrangement requires considerable mental and physical labour on the part of curators, conservators and technicians.

A rehang tends to elicit strong reactions from anyone with a stake in the collection – and in the case of a public gallery, “anyone” means “everyone”.
Unsurprisingly then, it has only been done twice at the National Gallery since the second world war.

Last month, I attended a launch party for the gallery’s new Sainsbury Wing entrance. It marked the end of NG200, a year-long programme of events celebrating the gallery’s 200th birthday. As the author of the gallery’s authorised bicentenary history, I had written about the refurbishment, albeit with only computer-generated impressions of what it would look like. Now I could see for myself.

Inside the launch party for the gallery’s new Sainsbury Wing entrance.
Jonathan Conlin, CC BY-SA

Back in 1946, the director of the National Gallery was eager to offer both reassurance about his rehang and the promise of striking new juxtapositions. “The traditional grouping by schools has been largely maintained,” Sir Philip Hendy noted, “but a good many exceptions have been made, partly for the sake of a more harmonious and stimulating ensemble and partly for the sake of historical truth.”

The rehang, Hendy argued, would show how “the spirit of the time is usually more important than national boundaries, and that ideas can transcend both”. A striking example was Hendy hanging Bronzino’s An Allegory With Venus and Cupid (1545) next to Holbein’s The Ambassadors, painted just 12 years earlier.

“I enjoyed the intellectual shocks provided, lavishly, in the juxtaposition of unexpected artists,” wrote one regular visitor from Godalming in Surrey. But she soon found herself wondering if there was “some subtle plan” behind “having the Botticellis all in different rooms, the Venetians just anywhere, and the Rembrandts torn asunder?”

Evacuation of paintings from the National Gallery during the second world war, shortly before the last rehang.
Imperial War Museum

The Bronzino and the Holbein were split up fairly quickly, perhaps in response to criticism from other confused visitors. While they have not been reunited on the same wall, as I stood back from The Ambassadors in room four, I could turn my head to the left and see Venus and Cupid neatly framed by the door to neighbouring room two.

At least, I could have seen it, had Neil MacGregor not been standing in front of it. The National Gallery’s director from 1987 to 2002, MacGregor oversaw the last complete rehang as well as the construction of the Sainsbury Wing, which opened in 1991.

This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry – and celebrate the wins, too.

At that time, the gallery’s then-head of exhibitions, Michael Wilson, replaced the traditional grouping by schools with the wing system, which organised the hang around three broad pan-European epochs. It was a profound shift, perhaps linked to broader pan-European political visions that would lead to the introduction of a common European currency in 1999.

Former National Gallery trustee Robert Benson (as drawn by John Singer Sargent) believed art should be hung chronologically.
Wiki Commons

This was a world away from the previous arrangement. “Pictures must be hung in historical sequence,” trustee Robert Benson noted in 1914. “A salon carré, or a Tribuna, of masterpieces of all schools is an objective far ahead.”

For Benson, it was clear that the collection could only be understood “school by school”. Each painter “must be appreciated and judged in relation to the chef d’école of whose artistic lineage, or entourage, he forms part”. Collecting works from the “period of eclecticism and decadence” that followed each chef d’école (the initiator or leader of a school of painting) was of secondary importance.

But as a result, in the National Gallery that Benson (a wannabe gallery director) helped create and that MacGregor inherited, there were shocks aplenty as the visitor jumped from one school to another.

Having followed the French school through from Corneille de Lyon’s Man in a Black Biretta (c. 1538-61) through Jacques-Louis David’s Jacobus Blauw (1795) to Cézanne’s Hillside in Provence (c. 1890-1912), you then jumped four or more centuries back to start over again with the Dutch or the Italians.

The redesigned wing

These shocks were compounded by gestures towards period interiors: terrazzo tile for the Italians, dark wood panelling for the Dutch. Opened in 1975, the northern extension’s carpet, suspended ceilings and floating walls were hailed as “a model of discretion and reticence in comparison to the grandeur of the Victorian interiors”.

Under MacGregor’s wing system, “the spirit of the time” came first – nowhere more so than in the Sainsbury Wing, designed to set up a conversation between the artists of the Northern Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance. The system recognised that the Alps had not been a barrier to the exchange of artistic ideas, and had been criss-crossed by many Renaissance artists, including Albrecht Dürer.

The postmodern American architects chosen to design the Sainsbury Wing, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, larded their design with a series of knowing, sometimes mannered quotations from much older buildings.

The redesign of this Grade I-listed building by the American architect Annabelle Selldorf has now opened up Venturi and Scott Brown’s dark, crypt-like ground floor foyer. Squat columns originally intended to create a sense of anticipation have been thinned and in some cases removed. As the Twentieth Century Society noted in its planning objection, “the key sense of compression” (released upon climbing the stair) has been lost.

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria has not been hung in a specific women artists room.
National Gallery

A ‘tamer’ rehang

Upstairs in the galleries, theme rooms have been introduced, scattered among the otherwise chronological hang. The choice of themes is tamer than the 2023 rehang of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where some of the themes feel forced – such as “Tiepolo and multiracial Europe”.

The National Gallery has resisted the temptation to devote a gallery to women artists: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1615-17) hangs between Caravaggios in room three, not next to Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun’s Self Portrait in a Straw Hat (1782) in room 15.

Those who admired the way in which MacGregor invited non-believers to engage with Christian art on an emotional level may nonetheless feel that an opportunity has been lost. This is a rehang that could have shocked more than it did.

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Jonathan Conlin is the author of the National Gallery’s authorised bicentenary history, The National Gallery: A History.

– ref. The National Gallery at 200: is this rehang a bold relaunch or rinse and repeat? – https://theconversation.com/the-national-gallery-at-200-is-this-rehang-a-bold-relaunch-or-rinse-and-repeat-258334

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The world needs bold, equitable climate action at the 2025 G7 summit
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Sharon E. Straus, Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto

As climate change and disrupted weather patterns impact countries around the world, leaders must act to mitigate the negative effects on public health.

Leaders from six western countries and Japan will soon gather in Kananaskis, Alta., for the Group of Seven (G7) meeting from June 15 to 17, 2025. In the lead-up to this meeting, the Royal Society of Canada hosted the Science 7 (S7). This is an engagement meeting of the leading academies of the G7 member countries.

Following discussion and deliberation, three statements aimed at advancing science for society were published, entitled Advanced Technologies and Data Security, Sustainable Migration and Climate Action and Health Resilience.

One of us (Sharon Straus) oversaw the S7 statement on Climate Action and Health Resilience. This statement draws attention to the health impacts of climate change and recommends several mitigation strategies.

Wide-ranging health impacts

Experts on health and climate change have outlined the growing impact of delayed climate action. The data are clear. Extreme weather events such as heat, floods, droughts and wildfires are having wide-ranging health impacts.

In the 10 years between 2014-2023, there was a 167 per cent increase in heat-related deaths in those aged 65 years and older compared with the 10 years between 1990-99. Extreme weather events also directly impact food and water security, as well as infectious diseases and chronic diseases.

The health consequences of climate change are not only the result of environmental factors. Of equal importance are recent decisions eliminating funding for programs that mitigate the risks of climate change.

Consider for example, the multiple threats to recent progress in eliminating malaria. The World Malaria Report published in December 2024 by the World Health Organization estimated that 2.2 billion malaria cases and 12.7 million malaria deaths were averted between 2000 and 2023.

Now, many countries anticipate a malaria resurgence. Antimalarial drug resistance, mosquito resistance to insecticides, changes in temperature and humidity affecting mosquito survival and the emergence of new mosquito species linked to climate change — combined with the recent abrupt funding freeze from the United States — are leading to a perfect storm.

Economic impact of climate change

The economic burden of climate change, which includes more health-care use, lost productivity, adaptation and mitigation expenses — to say nothing of the costs of rebuilding — is massive.

Much of that burden is borne by those who live in low- and middle-income countries (80 per cent of the world’s population) and who are the lowest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions.

To put this in perspective, in 2021, the United Nations Environment Program estimated the costs of annual adaptation for vulnerable countries at US$70 billion and predicted this would increase to US$140-300 billion by 2030.

In addition to the costs of adaptation aimed at reducing vulnerability to climate change, there are the costs associated with losses resulting from climate change. The 2024 Lancet Countdown estimated that the average annual economic losses due to extreme weather-related events reached US$227 billion between 2019-2023. This value exceeds the gross domestic product of approximately 60 per cent of the world’s economies.

What about Canada?

In Canada, warming is happening at twice the global rate with resulting heat, wildfires and floods. There is also evidence of significant impacts on mental health and chronic diseases, leading to an increased need for health care.

Indigenous communities, older adults and those who have experienced homelessness are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Indigenous Peoples, especially those living in remote and northern areas, are particularly vulnerable.

Currently there are 37 long-term and 40 short-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities across Canada. The lack of safe, clean drinking water can exacerbate climate-related food and water insecurity and lead to infectious disease transmission.

The number of people experiencing homelessness is growing and many of these individuals are over 50 years old. These older adults are physiologically 15-20 years older than their housed counterparts and are at higher risk of chronic diseases, including those exacerbated by climate change.

Similarly, frail older adults are at higher risk of health effects of climate change. It is worth remembering the impact of poor air quality and lack of air conditioning during the COVID-19 pandemic on those living in long-term care homes.

Climate change costs health-care systems more each year. The Canadian Institute for Climate Choices recently estimated that health-related hospitalizations will increase by 21 per cent by mid-century. Our health systems are not prepared for this.

In addition, the costs of death and reduced quality of life from heat-related climate change is estimated to rise between $3 billion and $3.9 billion by the middle of this century. Factoring in other impacts such as those from air pollution, flooding and wildfires, the total estimated costs are in the tens to hundreds of billions.

S7’s recommendations

The S7 statement on Climate Action and Health Resilience includes seven recommendations. Addressing the disproportionate impact of climate change on populations who are particularly vulnerable and investing in innovative solutions are among them. Particularly critical are societal and political innovations that involve affected communities, including Indigenous communities.

The S7’s climate and health resilience recommendations include:
- Developing and optimizing climate change mitigation strategies to transform health and social services (such as early warning infectious disease systems and biomonitoring).
- Developing new regulations nationally and internationally to transform health, public health and social services, increasing their readiness and safeguarding health from climate change impact.
- Providing economic and regulatory incentives to foster adaptation and resiliency of health systems.
- Investing in innovative solutions (including vaccine development for emerging diseases, wastewater surveillance) to mitigate climate change and its health risks.
The G7 summit is an opportunity to centre climate change discussions and act on the S7 recommendations. Bold investment in innovations that address the health challenges resulting from climate change will benefit us all and drive new economic activity and resilience.

Climate change is a health issue, a social justice issue and an economic issue, and the time to act is now. Scientists, policymakers, clinicians and the public must work together.

Sharon E. Straus receives research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Public Health Agency of Canada. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Françoise Baylis is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

– ref. The world needs bold, equitable climate action at the 2025 G7 summit – https://theconversation.com/the-world-needs-bold-equitable-climate-action-at-the-2025-g7-summit-256876
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Teens say they can access firearms at home, even when parents lock them up, new research shows

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Katherine G. Hastings, PhD Candidate in Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia

Most households that own firearms have more than one − and owners often don’t secure all of them. StockPlanets/E+ via Getty Images

More than half of U.S. teens living in households with firearms believe they can access and load a firearm at home. Even when their parents report storing all firearms locked and unloaded, more than one-third of teens still believe they could access and load one. These are the main findings of our new study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

We are behavioral scientists investigating youth injury prevention and youth safety. In this study, we analyzed national survey data from nearly 500 parents who owned firearms and their teens. One survey asked the parents to report how many firearms they had in the home and how they stored each one. Another asked their teens to estimate how quickly they could access and load a firearm at home.

While the presence of unlocked and loaded firearms in the home was weakly linked to perceived access among teens, we found that parents’ storage practices alone were a poor predictor of whether teens believed they could access a firearm. What’s more, in households with more than one firearm, locking up more firearms was not at all linked to perceived access among teens if at least one remained unsecured.

In short, just one unlocked firearm can undo the protective benefit of securing all other firearms in the home, our results showed.

Why it matters

In the U.S., firearms are now the leading cause of death among children and teens. In most of these cases, the firearm used belonged to a parent, relative or friend.

Our study focused on teens’ beliefs about firearm access, not their actual access. However, these perceptions may provide important clues around firearm access and use. Prior research shows that teens who believe they can access a firearm are more likely to access and carry one. This is particularly concerning for teens who already have a higher risk for dying by suicide.

One of the most widely supported ways to reduce teen injuries and deaths by firearms is to encourage owners to keep firearms locked and unloaded. However, most firearm-owning households in the U.S. have multiple firearms, and owners often store some firearms securely but not all.

Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens.
Kypros/Stock Photos Gun Safe via Getty Images

Despite evidence that securely storing firearms saves lives, efforts to promote that messaging may be less effective when it is not universally applied to all firearms in the home or when teens still know how to access them.

Our study also points to the need for messaging and safety strategies that consider teen behavior amid household firearm dynamics. For example, teens may observe where firearms are stored or know where keys or combinations are kept and unlock firearms in moments of impulsivity or emotional distress. Beyond securely storing firearms, encouraging parents to treat every firearm in the household as a potential source of risk and talking with teens about how to address conflicts and promote mental and emotional well-being may also be protective.

Additionally, our study adds support for universal laws that require securely storing all firearms in homes in which children live and mandating routine assessments of teen firearm access by pediatricians.

What still isn’t known

It is still unclear how teens’ beliefs about their access to firearms affects whether they actually seek them out – or how the variability of parents’ practices on storing firearms affects teen access.

Another important question is how teens’ perceptions of their access to firearms at home may vary depending on cultural backgrounds, geography and different households’ attitudes and beliefs around firearm use.

Additionally, our study looked only at teens ages 14 to 18. Further research is needed to explore these associations among younger children in firearm-owning households.

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

Rebeccah Sokol receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

– ref. Teens say they can access firearms at home, even when parents lock them up, new research shows – https://theconversation.com/teens-say-they-can-access-firearms-at-home-even-when-parents-lock-them-up-new-research-shows-256550

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Governor Ivey Announces Department of Early Childhood Education Acting Secretary Jan Hume to Take Teaching Role with Auburn University, Will Appoint Ami Brooks to Lead Agency

Source: US State of Alabama

MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced she will appoint Ami Brooks to serve as secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Jan Hume, after leading the agency for two years and working at the Department for nearly 14 years, will head to her and the governor’s alma mater, Auburn University, to serve as a Professor of Practice in Public Administration.

“People like Jan and Ami are why Alabama has led the nation in early childhood education for 19 consecutive years. Throughout her tenure as acting secretary and at the Department, Jan has fully embraced our goal to give every Alabama child a strong start through efforts like improving the quality of Pre-K to implementing new initiatives like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. I am grateful to Jan for her service to Alabama and know Auburn will benefit from her expertise in the years to come,” said Governor Ivey. “I am excited to promote Ami to lead the Department of Early Childhood Education to build on our success. Ami’s several years with the Department and her background as a Pre-K and kindergarten teacher make her exceptionally qualified to lead the agency. Truly, serving our state’s youngest citizens is her passion.”

Brooks currently serves as director for the P-3 Partnership at the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, where she administers all aspects of the P-3 program, the foundation of Governor Ivey’s Strong Start, Strong Finish education initiative. She also has background as a coach facilitator with the Department and was one of the state’s first coach facilitators. Both Hume and the governor credit Brooks with being a key leader in the Department’s success over the years. Having managed the implementation of the statewide assessment tool, as well as leading the revision of the Kindergarten Entry Assessment, she has been a major driver in the growth and improvements made to benefit Alabama’s earliest learners.

Like the governor, Brooks began her career in the classroom. For nearly two decades, Brooks taught Alabama students ranging from the youngest in Pre-K to the fourth graders studying state history. In 2017, Brooks was selected as a finalist for Alabama Teacher of the Year.

“It’s an incredible honor to be appointed by Governor Ivey to serve as Secretary for the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education,” said Brooks. “Young children have always been my joy, and I’m thrilled to continue collaborating with dedicated individuals who share a commitment to giving every child a strong start. It is a privilege to contribute to this important work and help further its positive impact. I am grateful to Governor Ivey for this opportunity.

Hume will remain at the Department through the summer to aid in the transition period. Brooks will officially take the helm beginning June 16, 2025.

An official headshot of Ami Brooks is attached.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: 5 benefits Africa’s new space agency can deliver
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Scott Firsing, Senior Research Associate, University of South Africa

The African Space Agency was officially inaugurated in Cairo’s Space City in April 2025. The event marked a milestone in a process that had been in the works since the early 2000s. Drawing inspiration from the European Space Agency, it unites African Union (AU) member states to harness space technology for development. This is in line with the AU’s Agenda 2063, aimed at advancing Africa into a prosperous future.

Read more: Africa has ambitious goals for 2063: plans for outer space hold the key to success

The agency’s goal is to:
- coordinate and implement Africa’s space ambitions by promoting collaboration among the AU’s 55 member states
- harness space technologies for sustainable development, climate resilience and socio-economic growth
- oversee the African Space Policy and Strategy to enhance access to space-derived data
- foster partnerships with international space agencies like the European Space Agency and others.
Over 20 African countries operate space programmes and more than 65 African satellites have been launched. It is my view as a global space diplomacy expert that the agency can help ensure that Africa isn’t a bystander in the space economy. This sector is projected to be worth US$1.8 trillion by 2035.

The space agency positions Africa to address pressing challenges and take advantage of opportunities in the global space economy. These include using satellite data, boosting connectivity, driving economic growth, fostering global partnerships and training future leaders.

Five benefits

Valuable eyes in the sky

Space assets, particularly Earth observation satellites, offer a number of advantages. The continent faces significant climate risks like droughts, fires and floods. This is particularly problematic as the agricultural sector is approximately 35% of Africa’s GDP and employs about half of its people across over 1 billion hectares of arable land.

Satellite data optimises crop yields, supports climate-resilient farming, and enhances sustainable fisheries and port modernisation. Nigeria’s National Space Research and Deveopment Agency, for example, has used satellites like the NigSat-2 to monitor crop health and predict yields.

Beyond agriculture, satellites assist in project planning in cities across Africa. Kenya uses a satellite to track urban development trends and enhance municipal urban planning capacities.

Satellites also keep an eye on Africa’s resource-abundant territories while tackling problems like armed conflict, deforestation, and illegal migration and mining.

The African Space Agency will help provide access to AI-enhanced satellite data. This will enable even nations with constrained resources to tackle local needs. For instance, Côte d’Ivoire’s first locally made satellite, launched in 2024, shows how African nations are building their own capabilities.

Read more: Côte d’Ivoire is launching its first satellite for Earth observation – and it’s locally made

By making it easier to share data, the African Space Agency also positions the continent to generate revenue in the global space data market. That fuels innovation.

Enhancing connectivity and enabling cutting-edge technology

Africa’s digital divide is stark. Only 38% of its population was online in 2024, compared to the global average of 68%. The African Space Agency aims to bridge this gap through satellite-based communications. This technology can deliver broadband to remote regions where cell towers and undersea cables are impractical.

Connectivity enables education, e-commerce and telemedicine.

Satellite services, like those provided by SpaceX’s Starlink in 21 African countries, will drive digital inclusion. In turn this promises to reduce unemployment and help entrepreneurs.

The African Space Agency is also positioning Africa to embrace new space technologies. Examples include Japan’s 2025 demonstration of beaming solar power from space, following a US achievement in 2023.

This could revolutionise energy access. Space-based solar power captures solar energy in orbit via satellite and transmits it as microwaves to Earth. This offers a solution to Africa’s energy poverty. It could provide reliable power to remote areas without extensive grid infrastructure.

The African Space Agency’s role in coordinating satellite launches and data sharing will make these technologies more accessible and cost-effective.

Driving economic growth and innovation

Africa’s space sector, now worth over US$20 billion, is growing rapidly. The industry has seen an increase of private companies and investor support, moving beyond sole dependence on government funding. Investment is being fuelled by 327 NewSpace firms, a term used for the new emerging commercial space industry in nations such as Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. These firms often excel in satellite communication, Earth observation and component manufacturing.

But many African nations lack resources. The agency will lower barriers by fostering collaboration, coordinating national space programmes, and reducing duplication.For example, the African Space Agency’s efforts to streamline satellite development and launches will spur local manufacturing and tech hubs.

This means that smaller economies will be able to participate.

Strengthening regional and global connections

Africa’s space sector relies on partnerships with space agencies and commercial space companies based in the “space powers”. These include the US, Russia, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. These institutions provide launch services, satellite development and ground stations.

An example is Senegal’s GaindeSAT-1A, a CubeSat launched in 2024 via America’s SpaceX with French collaboration.

Meanwhile, countries like South Africa are exploring local rocket programmes to enhance the agency’s self-reliance. Africa’s space ground stations are already located across the continent, supporting the European Space Agency and commercial missions. They will soon host a deep space ground station for America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Funding remains a challenge. African nations allocated just US$426 million to space programmes in 2025. That’s less than 1% of global spending. The European Space Agency has an US$8 billion budget.

However, initiatives like the €100 million Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme (2025–2028) aim to boost Africa’s space sovereignty and innovation.

The agency’s vision extends beyond Earth, with an eye on the Moon. Some members, notably Angola, Nigeria and Rwanda, have already signed the US-led Artemis Accords for lunar exploration. For their part Egypt and South Africa are collaborating with China and Russia on the International Lunar Research Station.

Read more: Outer space: Rwanda and Nigeria sign an accord for more responsible exploration – why this matters

Training the next generation

A skilled workforce is critical to Africa’s space industry. The Africa Space Agency Space City plans to host a training academy. It will build on Egypt’s programmes in space project management, satellite design, and orbital simulation.

Partnerships like the Africa-EU programme offer scholarships, while private initiatives, such as the Pathways to Space programme by Boeing and the Future African Space Explorers STEM Academy, engage students in 63 schools in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

– 5 benefits Africa’s new space agency can deliver
– https://theconversation.com/5-benefits-africas-new-space-agency-can-deliver-258098

MIL OSI Africa –
June 11, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: 5 benefits Africa’s new space agency can deliver
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Scott Firsing, Senior Research Associate, University of South Africa

The African Space Agency was officially inaugurated in Cairo’s Space City in April 2025. The event marked a milestone in a process that had been in the works since the early 2000s. Drawing inspiration from the European Space Agency, it unites African Union (AU) member states to harness space technology for development. This is in line with the AU’s Agenda 2063, aimed at advancing Africa into a prosperous future.

Read more:
Africa has ambitious goals for 2063: plans for outer space hold the key to success

The agency’s goal is to:
- coordinate and implement Africa’s space ambitions by promoting collaboration among the AU’s 55 member states
- harness space technologies for sustainable development, climate resilience and socio-economic growth
- oversee the African Space Policy and Strategy to enhance access to space-derived data
- foster partnerships with international space agencies like the European Space Agency and others.
Over 20 African countries operate space programmes and more than 65 African satellites have been launched. It is my view as a global space diplomacy expert that the agency can help ensure that Africa isn’t a bystander in the space economy. This sector is projected to be worth US$1.8 trillion by 2035.

The space agency positions Africa to address pressing challenges and take advantage of opportunities in the global space economy. These include using satellite data, boosting connectivity, driving economic growth, fostering global partnerships and training future leaders.

Five benefits

Valuable eyes in the sky

Space assets, particularly Earth observation satellites, offer a number of advantages. The continent faces significant climate risks like droughts, fires and floods. This is particularly problematic as the agricultural sector is approximately 35% of Africa’s GDP and employs about half of its people across over 1 billion hectares of arable land.

Satellite data optimises crop yields, supports climate-resilient farming, and enhances sustainable fisheries and port modernisation. Nigeria’s National Space Research and Deveopment Agency, for example, has used satellites like the NigSat-2 to monitor crop health and predict yields.

Beyond agriculture, satellites assist in project planning in cities across Africa. Kenya uses a satellite to track urban development trends and enhance municipal urban planning capacities.

Satellites also keep an eye on Africa’s resource-abundant territories while tackling problems like armed conflict, deforestation, and illegal migration and mining.

The African Space Agency will help provide access to AI-enhanced satellite data. This will enable even nations with constrained resources to tackle local needs. For instance, Côte d’Ivoire’s first locally made satellite, launched in 2024, shows how African nations are building their own capabilities.

Read more:
Côte d’Ivoire is launching its first satellite for Earth observation – and it’s locally made

By making it easier to share data, the African Space Agency also positions the continent to generate revenue in the global space data market. That fuels innovation.

Enhancing connectivity and enabling cutting-edge technology

Africa’s digital divide is stark. Only 38% of its population was online in 2024, compared to the global average of 68%. The African Space Agency aims to bridge this gap through satellite-based communications. This technology can deliver broadband to remote regions where cell towers and undersea cables are impractical.

Connectivity enables education, e-commerce and telemedicine.

Satellite services, like those provided by SpaceX’s Starlink in 21 African countries, will drive digital inclusion. In turn this promises to reduce unemployment and help entrepreneurs.

The African Space Agency is also positioning Africa to embrace new space technologies. Examples include Japan’s 2025 demonstration of beaming solar power from space, following a US achievement in 2023.

This could revolutionise energy access. Space-based solar power captures solar energy in orbit via satellite and transmits it as microwaves to Earth. This offers a solution to Africa’s energy poverty. It could provide reliable power to remote areas without extensive grid infrastructure.

The African Space Agency’s role in coordinating satellite launches and data sharing will make these technologies more accessible and cost-effective.

Driving economic growth and innovation

Africa’s space sector, now worth over US$20 billion, is growing rapidly. The industry has seen an increase of private companies and investor support, moving beyond sole dependence on government funding. Investment is being fuelled by 327 NewSpace firms, a term used for the new emerging commercial space industry in nations such as Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. These firms often excel in satellite communication, Earth observation and component manufacturing.

But many African nations lack resources. The agency will lower barriers by fostering collaboration, coordinating national space programmes, and reducing duplication.For example, the African Space Agency’s efforts to streamline satellite development and launches will spur local manufacturing and tech hubs.

This means that smaller economies will be able to participate.

Strengthening regional and global connections

Africa’s space sector relies on partnerships with space agencies and commercial space companies based in the “space powers”. These include the US, Russia, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. These institutions provide launch services, satellite development and ground stations.

An example is Senegal’s GaindeSAT-1A, a CubeSat launched in 2024 via America’s SpaceX with French collaboration.

Meanwhile, countries like South Africa are exploring local rocket programmes to enhance the agency’s self-reliance. Africa’s space ground stations are already located across the continent, supporting the European Space Agency and commercial missions. They will soon host a deep space ground station for America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Funding remains a challenge. African nations allocated just US$426 million to space programmes in 2025. That’s less than 1% of global spending. The European Space Agency has an US$8 billion budget.

However, initiatives like the €100 million Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme (2025–2028) aim to boost Africa’s space sovereignty and innovation.

The agency’s vision extends beyond Earth, with an eye on the Moon. Some members, notably Angola, Nigeria and Rwanda, have already signed the US-led Artemis Accords for lunar exploration. For their part Egypt and South Africa are collaborating with China and Russia on the International Lunar Research Station.

Read more:
Outer space: Rwanda and Nigeria sign an accord for more responsible exploration – why this matters

Training the next generation

A skilled workforce is critical to Africa’s space industry. The Africa Space Agency Space City plans to host a training academy. It will build on Egypt’s programmes in space project management, satellite design, and orbital simulation.

Partnerships like the Africa-EU programme offer scholarships, while private initiatives, such as the Pathways to Space programme by Boeing and the Future African Space Explorers STEM Academy, engage students in 63 schools in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Scott Firsing 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. 5 benefits Africa’s new space agency can deliver – https://theconversation.com/5-benefits-africas-new-space-agency-can-deliver-258098
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
June 11, 2025