NewzIntel.com

Category: Universities

  • MIL-OSI Russia: GUU specialists at MAEF-2025 developed recommendations for balanced socio-economic development of Russia

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On June 5, 2025, the Moscow Academic Economic Forum (MAEF-2025) ended, part of the working program of which was held at the State University of Management.

    This year, the Moscow Academic Economic Forum was dedicated to the 260th anniversary of the founding of the Free Economic Society of Russia and was devoted to the topic “Russia – 2025: the trajectory of dynamic balanced socio-economic development”. MAEF brought together more than 17.5 thousand specialists from 32 countries, including China, India, Canada, Cuba, Germany, Greece, South Africa, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

    At the ceremonial final plenary session of the MAEF, Vladimir Stroyev, Rector of the State University of Management, spoke: “We are grateful to the Free Economic Society of Russia for the trust to hold part of the forum’s working program at our university. The conference was devoted to discussing issues related to the socio-economic development of Russia. All events of the Free Economic Society are of great interest to the teaching, scientific and student community at our university, so we are glad to be part of this forum today. I hope that we will continue our cooperation and do a lot of useful things for the benefit of Russia and its economy.”

    According to the President of the Free Economic Society of Russia Sergey Bodrunov, the strong regional component has become the hallmark of the MAEF. This year, in anticipation of the central events of the forum, work was carried out at 115 regional sites, which were formed on the basis of the leading universities and research centers of the country, divisions and institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and regional organizations of the VEO of Russia.

    The plenary session of the MAEF was held on June 4 at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and plenary conferences on June 5 were hosted by 13 sites of leading universities and research centers. The plenary conference on the topic of “Institutes for Balanced Socioeconomic Development of Russia” was held at the State University of Management.

    The conference participants discussed a wide range of issues aimed at achieving balanced socio-economic development: the formation of new development institutions, strategic planning, human capital, interdepartmental cooperation, digital technologies and scientific and educational clusters.

    The following key recommendations were developed as a result of the conference:

    Coordination of development institutions. It was proposed to work out the issue of creating a single coordination mechanism for coordinating the actions of development institutions, aimed at implementing technological and industrial sovereignty in the context of structural transformation of the economy. Solving the problem of personnel shortage. The conference participants noted the paramount importance of the problem of systemic personnel shortage as the main limitation for achieving the goals of economic policy. It was proposed to strengthen interdepartmental and interlevel formats of labor force planning over a 5-15 year horizon, including advanced training of specialists for priority projects. Moreover, the State University of Management is one of the ambassadors of project-based learning. Transition to systemic measures of economic policy. Recognize the need to transition from targeted to systemic measures of economic policy aimed at long-term sustainability and increasing domestic demand for scientific, engineering and production competencies. Formation of a national model of integrated strategic planning. Conference participants expressed support for the idea of creating a national model of integrated strategic planning, which will include monitoring of resource, institutional and demographic constraints, as well as mechanisms for compensating for them through appropriate institutional and financial instruments.

    Also, within the framework of MAEF, a youth conference was held, following which GUU student Ekaterina Glyzina (IOM, 2nd year) received a 1st degree diploma in the section “New solutions for the digital age: from theory to practice”.

    We congratulate Ekaterina on her diploma, and our entire university on the successful holding of this important event.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Hong Kong’s new vitality a rebuttal to naysayers

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

    Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index closed at 23,792.54 points on Friday. The index has risen 18.6 percent from the end of last year.

    The Hong Kong stock market — one of the best-performing markets this year — could offer an insight into the economic vitality of Hong Kong. The city’s initial public offering market had raised more than 76 billion HK dollars (about 9.7 billion U.S. dollars) by late May, a more than sevenfold increase over the same period in 2024.

    Hong Kong’s economy is gaining steam. In the first quarter of this year, its real GDP grew 3.1 percent year on year. Recent data indicates its economic momentum has continued into the second quarter.

    Hong Kong’s robust performance has even prompted Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University, to revise his declaration of the city’s demise in an article last year. In a recent Bloomberg report, the economist said that if he were writing a story again, it would be that Hong Kong is experiencing a revival because of its Chinese characteristics, not in spite of them.

    Recent credit ratings have demonstrated Hong Kong’s resilience in maintaining stability amid increasing global economic and financial uncertainties. S&P has maintained Hong Kong’s “AA+” credit rating with a “stable” outlook. Moody’s has affirmed the city’s “Aa3” credit rating and upgraded the outlook from “negative” to “stable.”

    The optimism of businesses is evident. The results of a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong earlier this year revealed that 79 percent of respondents had no plans to move their headquarters away from Hong Kong in the next three years. The Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report ranked Hong Kong as the world’s freest economy among 165 economies.

    The region’s vitality can also be seen in its thriving tourism sector and other fields. In the first quarter, Hong Kong received 12.2 million visitor arrivals, up 9 percent year on year. The establishment of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong will also bring new opportunities to the region.

    Amid ongoing fluctuations in the global economic landscape, Hong Kong — firmly backed by its motherland — has once again demonstrated its exceptional dynamism and appeal.

    This exemplifies the unique advantages of the “one country, two systems” policy. Hong Kong enjoys boundless opportunities by integrating actively into national development strategies, and by deepening international exchange and cooperation. Engaging in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development and the Belt and Road Initiative provides Hong Kong with crucial space for its growth.

    As an international financial, shipping, and trade hub, Hong Kong has full confidence in sustaining its development and will embrace brighter prospects. Naysayers will be proved wrong again, as they have in the past.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Retinal implant offers hope for blind, extends vision to infrared

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

    A team of Chinese scientists has unveiled a revolutionary retinal implant that may not only restore sight to the blind but also grant them the ability to see infrared light, a spectrum beyond normal human sight.

    The study, published on Friday in the journal Science, demonstrates how a mesh of ultra-thin tellurium nanowires can replace damaged photoreceptors in a blind mouse’s eye, and convert near-infrared light into electrical signals that the macaque brain, a non-human primate model, can interpret as vision.

    The new technology’s feasibility and strong safety profile mark a milestone in the development of artificial vision, which could prove invaluable to 200 million patients worldwide who are living with blindness or retinal disease.

    The team from Shanghai tested their device in blind mice, which subsequently regained reflexes in the pupil and evoked neuron firing in the visual cortex. They performed almost as well as normal mice in visual pattern recognition tests.

    More significantly, the device was successfully implanted in macaque monkeys, where it demonstrated both safety and the ability to detect near-infrared 1,550-nanometer light, according to the study.

    In patients with severe eye diseases, such as macular degeneration, infrared vision could, in principle, aid vision in low light and darkness. The device could potentially provide significant advantages in low-light conditions.

    The nanowire mesh is remarkably thin — about ten times thinner than previous artificial photoreceptors — making it easier to implant and more compatible with the delicate structures of the eye, said Zhang Jiayi from Fudan University, one of the lead researchers.

    The retinal implant might be a game-changer since a single minimally invasive, reversible procedure restores natural vision without bulky glasses or frequent charging, according to the study.

    The team designed a nanowire for the retina based on tellurium, a silver-white, light-sensitive element that’s used as a semiconductor, and interlaced them into an implantable lattice network.

    It showed good biocompatibility and did not require external power sources, said the journal’s editor Mattia Maroso.

    This successful animal study paves the way for future human trials, and offers a safer, more effective and wider-spectrum solution than existing technologies, said the researchers.

    It could “substantially improve the efficacy of retinal neuroprostheses in restoring vision in blind and visually impaired individuals,” said Maroso.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Honors Iowa’s Servicemembers, Witnesses Disaster Recovery, Touts Small Business Innovation, and More

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

    RED OAK, Iowa – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) recently traveled from Pottawattamie County to Scott County to meet with servicemembers, small business owners, farmers, and law enforcement officers on her River to River Tour – part of her ongoing commitment to hear from Iowans in every corner of the state.
    Click HERE to download photos from Ernst’s visits.
    As the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate who served in the Iowa National Guard, it was especially meaningful for Ernst to honor Iowa National Guard soldiers as they deploy to serve our country in the Middle East. She gave remarks at the send-off ceremonies for both the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment in her hometown of Red Oak and 224th Brigade Engineer Battalion in Davenport. Learn more about the ceremony in Red Oak from KSOM, KMALand, The Red Oak Express, and KMTV. WQAD, KLJB,and the Quad-City Times detailed the event in Davenport.

    To mark one year since devastating storms and tornados swept through southwest Iowa, Ernst visited Adair County where she toured an active Habitat for Humanity home construction site in Greenfield.Raccoon Valley Radio, KCCI, and WHO 13 joined the tour as she talked with the future homeowner about rebuilding and community recovery efforts.

    In Scott County, KWQC covered Ernst’s visit to Davenport Guns & Shooting Club where she met with the store’s owner to discuss the importance of protecting lawful gun dealers from Biden’s ATF with herFIREARM Act. Ernst closed out the visit with some target practice on the shop’s range.

    As Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Ernst elevates the voices of Iowa small businesses and presented five outstanding entrepreneurs across the state with her Small Business of the Week award. The Wilton-Durant Advocate News and the Muscatine Journal both joined as she honored Lynn and Brenda Ochiltree, owners of The Candy Kitchen, a historic soda fountain in downtown Wilton.

    As reported by Journal-Eureka, Ernst stopped by Boomerang Corporation in Jones County to learn more about how their team plans, designs, and oversees construction projects across eastern Iowa.

    In Jackson County, Ernst was thrilled to present Air Force veteran Dr. Don Schwenker and his family with a Small Business of the Week award for all their hard work providing care for veterans and the Maquoketa community at Timber City Chiropractic. The Maquoketa Sentinel-Press featured the visit. Daily Nonpareiland KMTV highlighted Ernst’s work to cut red tape and help rural entrepreneurs thrive during her visit to PowerTech in Council Bluffs.

    Iowa’s leadership in innovation for businesses both large and small was top of mind as Ernst gave remarks at an event hosted by Google in Cedar Rapids.

    Ernst also spotlighted entrepreneurship and the needs of small business owners at her roundtable in Iowa City. As featured on KGAN, she gathered folks with growing small businesses and University of Iowa leadership to discuss her INNOVATE Act followed by a tour of a University of Iowa research laboratory.

    Carroll Broadcasting and the Carroll Times Herald both featured Ernst’s roundtable with Iowa pork producers and cattlemen about her work to support Iowa farmers and producers, which includes fighting for a Farm Bill, pushing back against California’s Prop 12 overreach, and combatting foreign animal disease. Ernst also held a second roundtable in Dallas County to hear about the experiences and concerns of central Iowa law enforcement officers.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: UGC Secretary-General visits US and UK

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    UGC Secretary-General visits US and UK 
         The Secretary-General of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Professor James Tang, led a delegation to visit the United States and the United Kingdom from May 25 (San Diego time) to June 6 (Birmingham time) as part of the effort to promote Hong Kong’s development into an international hub for post-secondary education.
     
         Together with the delegation comprising all eight UGC-funded universities under the aegis of the Heads of Universities Committee’s Standing Committee on Internationalisation (HUCOMSCI), Professor Tang attended the NAFSA Annual Conference and Expo 2025 held in San Diego, the United States, where he spoke at a dedicated session on the strengths of Hong Kong’s higher education sector and the opportunities presented to students from around the world. With funding support from the UGC, the HUCOMSCI also set up a Hong Kong Pavilion to showcase Hong Kong’s internationalised and diversified higher education environment that welcomes academics and students from around the world to realise their aspirations.
     
         “Over the years, with the substantial investment by the Government in higher education, the eight UGC-funded universities have continued to grow, with five ranked among the world’s top 100, six within Asia’s top 50, and four as the top most international universities in the world. Some 70 per cent of our research outputs are assessed as internationally excellent, while the most recent round of quality audits also reaffirms the quality of educational experience that our universities offer to students. Hong Kong is indeed the ideal destination for students to pursue their further studies and achieve greater success,” said Professor Tang at the session at the NAFSA Conference and Expo.
     
         For the first time, the UGC also supported the Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance and the HUCOMSCI to share with the international audience on how the UGC-funded universities have grasped the immense potential brought by artificial intelligence in enhancing students’ learning experiences. This has once again demonstrated Hong Kong’s leadership in quality education through investment and innovation.
     
         Professor Tang then attended the International Higher Education Forum 2025 held on June 4 (Birmingham time) in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, to share the factors underpinning Hong Kong’s success as an international hub for post-secondary education. He stressed that academic freedom and institutional autonomy have been the cornerstones of Hong Kong’s success, while highlighting the diversified composition of Hong Kong’s academic staff. Hong Kong universities attract a strong pool of distinguished scholars with a rich repertoire of international experience, and indeed some 70 per cent of them come from outside Hong Kong.
     
         In the 2024 Policy Address, the Government announced its support for establishing the “Study in Hong Kong” brand in order to attract more meritorious students to pursue their studies in Hong Kong. Through participation in international conferences and exhibitions, Hong Kong has continued to expand its network for student mobility and research collaboration. As of November 2024, the eight UGC-funded universities have jointly signed 2 660 student exchange agreements with universities from around the world, and engaged in over 6 800 active research collaborations with other institutions. At present, around one out of four students in UGC-funded universities are from outside Hong Kong. The Government will continue to support universities to strive for further internationalisation, thereby reinforcing their global reputation and scaling new heights.
     
         During the visit, Professor Tang also met with senior management and prominent scholars from top-tier higher education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom to exchange views on the latest developments in higher education. He also highlighted that Hong Kong’s outstanding universities have been a welcoming academic home for top scholars and talented students from around the world. As an international hub for higher education, Hong Kong’s doors are always open to all who want to realise their academic pursuits and explore the exciting opportunities offered by one of the world’s most dynamic cities.
    Issued at HKT 11:56

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 7, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 7, 2025.

    ‘They cannot block us,’ says activist on Madleen flotilla aid ship to Gaza
    Pacific Media Watch One of the 12 activists on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla aid vessel Madleen has posted an update on their progress, saying the mission would not be deterred by Israel’s threats to block them. In a video posted to X, Thiago Ávila said the crew, which includes high-profile Swedish climate activist Greta

    Jeremy Rose: Mister Netanyahu have you no sense of decency?
    Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Jeremy Rose The word antisemitism has become so debased that depending on who is using it I might well take it as a sign that the accused is worth listening to. When the World Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest,

    Marshall Islands nuclear legacy: report highlights lack of health research
    By Giff Johnson, editor, Marshall Islands Journal, and RNZ Pacific correspondent A new report on the United States nuclear weapons testing legacy in the Marshall Islands highlights the lack of studies into important health concerns voiced by Marshallese for decades that make it impossible to have a clear understanding of the impacts of the 67

    New rules for cosmetic injectables aim to make the industry safer. Will they work?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney BearFoto/Shutterstock New guidelines to regulate Australia’s booming cosmetic procedures industry have been called “tough” and “a crackdown” in media reports this week. On Tuesday, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) announced the new guidelines – one for procedures, the

    Keith Rankin Analysis – Equity Rights: UBI, SUI, BUI, HUI, or GUI?
    Analysis by Keith Rankin. Capitalism is in crisis, and our species’ imagination to save ourselves is sorely lacking. There are of course understandings out there, and solutions; but they are so heavily gate-kept that conversations about saving ourselves are well-nigh impossible. It remains a puzzle why those political and intellectual leaders who would most benefit

    ‘Godfather of AI’ now fears it’s unsafe. He has a plan to rein it in
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Armin Chitizadeh, Lecturer, School of Computer Science, University of Sydney fran_kie/Shutterstock This week the US Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed two men suspected of bombing a fertility clinic in California last month allegedly used artificial intelligence (AI) to obtain bomb-making instructions. The FBI did not disclose the

    John Pesutto owes Moira Deeming $2.3m, but he doesn’t have it. Can former premiers be forced to pick up the tab?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Legg, Professor of Law, UNSW Sydney Victorian MP Moira Deeming attracted headlines recently when news broke she’s intending to sue three former Liberal premiers, among other party figures. Why? Deeming is trying to recoup millions of dollars in legal costs after a successful defamation case. Who

    The kimono is more than an artefact and more than clothing. It is a concept artists will make their own
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sasha Grishin, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University The kimono garment, the national dress of Japan, carries within itself all of the magic and traditions of Japanese culture. The basic features of the kimono are fairly simple. It is a wrapped front garment with square

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Student who injured three people in central China has been subject to preventive measures

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    WUHAN, June 7 (Xinhua) — A 23-year-old student has been taken into criminal custody for allegedly injuring three people at Wuhan University in central China’s Hubei Province, local police said Friday.

    The incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday at a university canteen in Wuhan’s Hongshan District.

    Police quickly arrived at the scene. According to the Hongshan District Public Security Bureau, the injured were immediately sent to hospital for treatment and their lives are not in danger.

    The suspect, surnamed Zhu, was taken into custody by the police on the spot. Investigation showed that he committed the act due to problems with his studies, he confessed to the crime and was subject to preventive measures.

    Further investigation is currently underway. -0-

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Employment campaign launched for new graduates

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

    China launched a 100-day sprint for employment campaign, calling on universities and local authorities to seize the final stretch to boost employment for the class of 2025 before students graduate, according to a circular released by the Ministry of Education on Friday.

    The campaign urges universities to create more market-oriented job opportunities and encourages institutions to promote employment support measures including job expansion subsidies and job-seeking allowances.

    University presidents are urged to increase their participation in the job expansion campaign, especially focusing on disciplines with low job placement rates.

    The notice stipulated that the leadership of universities are supposed to visit at least 100 companies and secure 100 job opportunities, while faculty leadership teams at the college and departmental levels are expected to visit an average of 10 enterprises each, including alumni-run companies and firms within relevant industries.

    Public employment services will be introduced on campuses, with assistance for universities to partner with local human resources departments to set up employment service stations. Industry associations and chambers of commerce are also encouraged to mobilize enterprise job resources, sharing job listings more widely.

    The ministry emphasized speeding up the recruitment for government-supported positions, including programs for kindergarten and K-12 teachers, civil servants and State-owned enterprises, seeking to complete all recruitment by the end of August.

    Ongoing grassroots service initiatives such as the rural doctor project and the special post teacher program, a special recruitment program implemented to address the shortage of teachers in rural areas in central and western China, will be reinforced, while community jobs specifically for college graduates will also be increased.

    Regular universities and vocational schools will be supported to develop job positions such as administrative assistants and teaching assistants, in a bid to strengthen campus services while absorbing more university graduates into the workforce.

    Guidance for students will be strengthened through vocational training. The employment partnership between 100 universities and 100 counties will focus on identifying high-quality job opportunities in top-performing counties.

    Universities are urged to accelerate the development of micro-credential programs aligned with 60 key development areas across 12 urgently needed and high-demand industrial sectors, including artificial intelligence and the low-altitude economy.

    Institutions are required to swiftly launch and begin offering these targeted programs, aiming to help graduates from fields with limited market demand acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to enhance their employment competitiveness, the circular said.

    Colleges will establish records for graduates facing difficulties, offering continuous support for those who remain unemployed after leaving school.

    Employment safety education will also be reinforced, and a crackdown on illegal and irregular employment practices in the human resources market will be carried out, the ministry said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Chile, causes power outages

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

    An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 struck northern Chile on Friday, causing power outages in several areas but no immediate reports of casualties, local authorities said.

    According to the National Seismological Center of the University of Chile, the quake occurred at 1:15 p.m. local time (1715 GMT), 54 kilometers south of Diego de Almagro in the northern region of Atacama, about 950 kilometers north of Santiago.

    The earthquake struck at a depth of 65 kilometers and was felt in nearby towns.

    Local media reported electricity outages in affected areas, and officials said a more detailed assessment would be released later in the day.

    Chile’s Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ruled out any tsunami risk.

    The National Disaster Prevention and Response System is continuing to assess potential damage to people, infrastructure, and essential services.

    Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits northern Chile, causing power outages

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    SANTIAGO, June 6 (Xinhua) — A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, causing power outages in several areas but no casualties were reported, local authorities said.

    The earthquake struck at 13:15 local time /17:15 GMT/, 54 km south of the town of Diego de Almagro in the Atacama region of northern Chile, about 950 km north of Santiago, according to the National Seismology Center of the University of Chile.

    The earthquake’s hypocenter was located at a depth of 65 km, and tremors were felt in nearby cities.

    Local media reported power outages in affected areas, and officials said more details would be released later in the day.

    The Chilean Navy’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service has ruled out the risk of a tsunami.

    Chile’s National Disaster Prevention and Response System continues to assess potential damage to populations, infrastructure and essential services.

    Situated along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The fourth season of the University Shifts project has started.

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    The fourth season of the University Shifts project has started. This year, more than 100 Russian universities have joined the project.

    “University Shifts” is a career guidance project, within the framework of which schoolchildren and college students get a unique opportunity to experience student life, see the structure of universities from the inside and get acquainted with the educational program and opportunities of higher education institutions. Universities create an environment for the children that is as close as possible to a student environment, immerse them in the educational process and introduce them to the scientific potential of the university, including through visits to specialized enterprises – potential employers and university laboratories. During the shifts, the children live on university campuses and country camps. To implement the principle of harmonious personal development, the career guidance program is combined with cultural and leisure activities: visits to museums and theaters, excursions, participation in interactive classes on the history and culture of Russia, as well as meetings with students, university teachers, government officials, athletes, and cultural figures.

    “Our President Vladimir Putin spoke about the importance of choosing a job that you love and realizing your calling. The University Shifts project allows the younger generation to choose a profession and a future university at an early age. In the fourth season, children aged 14 to 17 will be able to participate, including those from new regions. This year, the program’s capabilities have been expanded thanks to the decision of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The Deputy Prime Minister added that during his working trips he visited organizations that are project sites. For example, the Mariupol State University named after A.I. Kuindzhi.

    Among the participants of the first shift of this season are 570 children from the Donetsk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhya and Belgorod regions. In total, nine shifts are planned for the summer season.

    “The first groups will go to universities in Rostov-on-Don, Kostroma, Arkhangelsk, Tambov, Nalchik, Ryazan and Moscow. It is important that this year, in addition to career guidance and cultural and leisure events, the shifts will integrate a program dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the nuclear industry in Russia. Thus, children will learn more about the great deeds of the heroes and scientists of our country,” said the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, Valery Falkov.

    It is planned that over 16 thousand children aged 14 to 17, including those from new regions, will be able to participate in the fourth season.

    Over three years, more than 44 thousand children went to the “University Shifts”, in 2024 alone, 107 universities of the country accepted more than 15 thousand schoolchildren and students of secondary vocational education. The children were able to visit the most remote corners of the country, and discovered Kamchatka.

    Let us recall that since 2023 the project has been implemented jointly with the “Movement of the First”. The All-Russian Children’s Movement has developed methodological recommendations for conducting educational, cultural, educational and career guidance events of the shifts.

    “University shifts are an excellent opportunity for the participants of the “Movement of the First”, schoolchildren and students of professional educational organizations of all regions of Russia to get acquainted with domestic universities, their scientific base and areas of professional training. Career guidance programs will cover more than 100 universities and will be held in eight areas: technical, humanitarian, medical, creative, sports, pedagogical, agricultural and information technology. Immersing yourself in student life for 10 days is the best way to shape your future professional trajectory,” emphasized the chairman of the board of the “Movement of the First” Artur Orlov.

    The University Shifts project has been implemented since 2022. It is both a social support measure and a form of encouragement for talented youth. Young people from new regions, border territories and families of SVO participants take part in it within a separate quota. Participants of the Movement of the First from all over Russia get into the program as a result of a competitive selection, within which they complete tasks in the areas of professional training that interest them.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican National and California Man Charged Following Seizure of Over 45 Kilograms of Fentanyl Pills and Powder

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PHOENIX, Ariz. – Jose Angel Gonzalez-Carrillo, 46, of Modesto, California, and Ethyel Aldahyr Ontiveros-Flores, 25, of Mazatlan, Mexico, were arrested on the evening of June 2, 2025, and charged by criminal complaint for conspiring to distribute over 36 kilograms of fentanyl pills, and over 9 kilograms of fentanyl powder.

    On June 2, 2025, Gonzalez-Carrillo coordinated the sale of approximately 10,000 fentanyl pills to a purported third party in Phoenix, Arizona. Ontiveros-Flores delivered the initial batch of pills, as well as a second delivery of over 90,000 pills later that same day, which was also coordinated by Gonzalez-Carrillo. After the second delivery, law enforcement officers arrested both Gonzalez-Carrillo and Ontiveros-Flores. During a subsequent search of property belonging to Ontiveros-Flores, law enforcement officers discovered over 200,000 additional fentanyl pills, as well as nine packages containing fentanyl powder, each weighing approximately one kilogram.

    A conviction for possessing 400 grams or more of fentanyl for distribution carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, a fine of up to $10,000,000, and a term of supervised release of at least five years, up to life.

    A criminal complaint is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    The DEA is conducting the investigation in this case, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, the City of Goodyear Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona State University Police Department. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.

    CASE NUMBER:            25-MJ-8318-JZB
    RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-089_Carrillo, et al.

    # # #

    For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
    Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

    2025-089_Carrillo, et al.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Advances Sullivan, Padilla Bill to Improve Cybersecurity and Telecommunications for Oceanographic Research Vessels

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan

    05.27.25

    WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced their bipartisan legislation to facilitate cybersecurity and telecommunications upgrades for the 17 oceanographic vessels in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. The Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research (ANCHOR) Act would require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to plan improvements for these critical oceanographic research vessels.

    These ships and their submersibles play a central role in exploring our oceans and strengthening our national security. First commissioned decades ago, these ships are in desperate need of new infrastructure and maintenance, especially with foreign cyberattacks targeting naval vessels on the rise.

    The ANCHOR Act now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

    “The unanimous referral of the ANCHOR Act out of the Commerce Committee sends a strong, bipartisan message: safeguarding America’s maritime research infrastructure is essential to our national security,” said Senator Sullivan. “This bill will better protect our research fleet and institutions—many of which have been targeted by adversarial cyber threats—and ensure that vessels, like the Sikuliaq in Seward, can continue their vital scientific missions without compromise.” 

    “The U.S. Academic Research Fleet is a global leader in performing groundbreaking oceanographic research,” said Senator Padilla. “But with increasing cyberattacks on these vessels, we urgently need to upgrade crucial cybersecurity and telecommunications infrastructure. We have a responsibility to keep both our nation’s research and its researchers safe. I am glad to the see the Senate advance this cost-effective, bipartisan solution, improving research and conditions for our crew members.”

    “Collaborative, interdisciplinary teams are essential to achieving scientific excellence at the University of California, but conducting this work from research vessels at sea presents unique challenges,” said Theresa Maldonado, Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of California. “Teams aboard these floating laboratories need the infrastructure to share their expertise and data effectively in real-time with their land-based collaborators in order to accelerate science and engineering outcomes. This capability depends on networks of satellites, digital assets, software and cyberinfrastructure. The ANCHOR Act is the vital step toward establishing this critical infrastructure, and the University of California thanks Senator Padilla for his leadership.”

    “Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego operates research vessels that are essential in advancing research to understand our oceans and changing climate, and training the next generation of environmental leaders through hands-on experiences at sea.  Reliable network and computing capabilities are essential for the professional operation of all modern ships, and critically important for effective scientific activities on research vessels specifically.  As globally-ranging laboratories that must operate in the most remote areas of the world, research vessels rely on cyberinfrastructure for our mission-critical activities. The ANCHOR Act will make this possible — along with the cybersecurity that is so important now — and gives us the ability to conduct our nation’s research and education missions efficiently, capably and securely,” said Dr. Margaret Leinen, Vice Chancellor, Marine Sciences and Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

    “U.S. scientists depend on the Academic Research Fleet to conduct research that is vital to our understanding of the oceans, which is linked to societal impacts ranging from tsunamis to fisheries ecosystems to global weather. The ANCHOR Act will result in critically-needed cyberinfrastructure throughout the fleet, which will enable our mariners to operate our ships effectively and empower our scientists by enabling satellite communications, shoreside and shipboard digital infrastructure, and technical support. In addition to enabling cutting-edge science, these systems will strengthen our ability to develop and retain a highly skilled workforce of scientific mariners and marine technicians, who are essential to advance our nation’s leadership in ocean enterprise and technology,” said Dr. Bruce Appelgate, Chair of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System.

    Specifically, the ANCHOR Act would require NSF to issue a report within one year that details a budget and plan for cybersecurity and internet upgrades across the 17 research vessels in the fleet, which are owned by NSF, the Office of Naval Research, and U.S. universities and laboratories. The report would outline costs for equipment, training, personnel, and methods to minimize spending.

    Scripps Institution of Oceanography houses California’s three vessels in the fleet, including the R/V Sally Ride, named after the trailblazing scientist who was one of the first six female astronauts in NASA history. Joining the fleet in 2016, the R/V Sally Ride has already made history in honor of its namesake. In 2021, California researchers on board conducted an extensive survey of the historic DDT chemical dumpsite off the coast of Southern California, leading to the World War II munitions discovery. 

    A one-pager on the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Camwood Capital Group Names Co-Founder Matt Mayfield as President and CEO in Strategic Leadership Move

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AUSTIN, TX, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    Matt Mayfield

    Camwood Capital Group (“Camwood”), a private investment firm focused on long-term value creation in industrial sectors and specializing in lower middle-market companies, has officially named co-founder Matt Mayfield as its new Chief Executive Officer and President of TCMG. The leadership transition, which was approved by the Board in February 2024,  marks a strategic milestone for the firm as it deepens its focus on operational execution and long-term portfolio growth.

    As part of the transition, James W. Mayfield has assumed the role of Executive Chairman, following his tenure as President. The Board of Directors unanimously approved the executive restructuring to reinforce Camwood’s long-term strategy and ensure continuity across all affiliates.

    Matt Mayfield, who co-founded Camwood at its inception in 2014, first started off as an Acquisition Strategist and has since moved up to serve as a Managing Director. As a graduate of Texas A&M University, and growing up in a manufacturing environment, he brings more than a decade of experience in private equity–with a focus on transforming founder-led businesses and driving performance improvements across key industries. Under his leadership, Camwood has developed a data-driven, hands-on investment approach that has helped the firm build a strong track record across the industrial, manufacturing, and business services sectors.

    “Matt’s elevation to CEO and President not only reflects his proven leadership but also the trust and confidence of the board in his vision for Camwood’s future,” said Spokesperson at Camwood. “This transition formalizes the role he’s already played in building Camwood’s platform and guiding our next chapter of growth.”

    Mayfield is widely recognized for his disciplined investment philosophy and collaborative leadership style. As CEO and President, he will oversee Camwood’s strategic direction, day-to-day oversight, deal-sourcing, portfolio performance, and institutional partnerships, continuing to advance the firm’s mission of delivering lasting value to its companies and shareholders.

    For more information, visit www.thecamwoodgroup.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: June 6th, 2025 Heinrich, Luján Slam Trump’s Plan to Illegally Rescind Funding for New Mexico’s Local Public Radio & TV Stations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
    Losing this funding would force many public stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors to the rural communities they serve
    WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, joined 29 Senate Democrats to slam Trump and Republicans’ attempt to illegally rescind $1 billion in funding appropriated by Congress and signed into law to fund local public broadcasting stations in New Mexico and nationwide — particularly in rural communities. This move follows President Trump’s executive order directing cuts to federal funding for PBS and NPR. 
    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting supports over 1,500 local public television and radio stations nationwide that provide free, high-quality programming to American households, including in New Mexico. Local public television and radio stations provides young children who don’t get the chance to attend preschool with educational content that helps them learn to read; airs highly trusted nightly news programming; and shares critical public safety information during emergencies. Local public television stations also provide extensive coverage of local government and elections and host candidate debates, helping Americans stay connected with their elected leaders. 
    Because local public television and radio relies heavily on federal funding to operate, losing this funding would force many of these stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors to the communities they serve.
    “Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio,” the senators wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). “This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country. Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB.” 
    As Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, Senator Luján has long supported strengthening and protecting public media. In February, Senator Luján wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington condemning actions taken by the FCC under the Trump administration demonstrating that the FCC is weaponizing its authority over broadcasters and public media for political purposes. In March, Senator Luján introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act, legislation that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from revoking broadcast licenses or taking action against broadcasters based on the viewpoints they broadcast.
    The letter is led by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Alongside Heinrich and Luján, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
    The full text of the letter is available here or below:  
    Dear Majority Leader Thune,
    Federal investment in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supports over 1,500 local and regional public television and radio stations that provide free, high-quality programming to millions of households across the country. Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, as outlined in the Executive Order titled, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” released on May 1, 2025. This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country.
    Our public broadcasting system is a unique American institution that is deeply embedded in our communities and a critical source of lifesaving public safety services, accurate information, and educational programming. The vast majority of the federal funding CPB receives is allocated to local radio and television stations across the country. These cuts will have an immediate and significant impact for stations in rural communities that heavily rely on CPB funding to provide critical services and could likely result in the elimination of programming or outright closure of stations in areas already faced with limited connectivity.
    According to Northwestern University, 55 million people in the United States have no or only one source of local news, and rural counties are far more likely to lose their local news outlets. This number could increase if the two-year advance appropriation for public media is not upheld, resulting in the drastic reduction or complete elimination of free, high-quality local programming. This is especially concerning given the importance of public broadcasting during public emergencies, such as natural disasters, transportation accidents, national security threats, or public safety matters. CPB funds are essential to ensuring that the broadcast infrastructure remains robust and operational in disaster situations, especially scenarios in which local public broadcasters serve as the only source of information for those who need a lifeline. Any cuts in funding will have drastic consequences for communities in need.
    And there is much more to their public safety services in addition to the critical local information they broadcast. Public television’s interconnection technology, which connects local public television stations to PBS, is also one of the backbone pathways for the delivery of our nation’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) services – enabling cell phone subscribers to receive geotargeted emergency text alerts no matter where they are in the country. A cut to public broadcasting funding would put this lifesaving service and its nationwide footprint at risk.
    Public television has also pioneered cutting edge technology that helps first responders communicate with each other over the broadcast spectrum without the need for mobile service or broadband. This datacasting technology and public television’s public safety partnerships is already helping with early earthquake warning and has been proven effective in a wide range of scenarios where broadband or cellular service are limited, including rural search and rescue, overwater communications, large event crowd control and more. But this is only possible if stations serving rural and remote areas with limited broadband are healthy and continue operating as they are today.
    On the education front, public television’s early childhood education services ensure that every family has access to high-quality, non-commercial educational content regardless of their ability to pay for such services. This is essential for over 50 percent of three and four-year old children who do not attend formal preschool.
    If funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is eliminated or rescinded, the impact would be devastating. Millions of people across the country whose stations rely on CPB funding for a significant percentage of their budget would be at risk of losing access to public television’s services. These are services that nobody else in the media world is providing, but it’s exactly the work for which public broadcasting was created, and they are delivering to our communities every day. 
    Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB.
    We appreciate your consideration of this request and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Heinrich, Luján Slam Trump’s Plan to Illegally Rescind Funding for New Mexico’s Local Public Radio & TV Stations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

    Losing this funding would force many public stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors to the rural communities they serve

    WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media,joined 29 Senate Democrats to slam Trump and Republicans’ attempt to illegally rescind $1 billion in funding appropriated by Congress and signed into law to fund local public broadcasting stations in New Mexico and nationwide — particularly in rural communities. This move follows President Trump’s executive order directing cuts to federal funding for PBS and NPR. 

    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting supports over 1,500 local public television and radio stations nationwide that provide free, high-quality programming to American households, including in New Mexico. Local public television and radio stations provides young children who don’t get the chance to attend preschool with educational content that helps them learn to read; airs highly trusted nightly news programming; and shares critical public safety information during emergencies. Local public television stations also provide extensive coverage of local government and elections and host candidate debates, helping Americans stay connected with their elected leaders. 

    Because local public television and radio relies heavily on federal funding to operate, losing this funding would force many of these stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors to the communities they serve.

    “Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio,” the senators wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). “This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country. Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB.” 

    As Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, Senator Luján has long supported strengthening and protecting public media. In February, Senator Luján wrote to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington condemning actions taken by the FCC under the Trump administration demonstrating that the FCC is weaponizing its authority over broadcasters and public media for political purposes. In March, Senator Luján introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act, legislation that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from revoking broadcast licenses or taking action against broadcasters based on the viewpoints they broadcast.

    The letter is led by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Alongside Heinrich and Luján, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

    The full text of the letter is available here or below:  

    Dear Majority Leader Thune,

    Federal investment in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supports over 1,500 local and regional public television and radio stations that provide free, high-quality programming to millions of households across the country. Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, as outlined in the Executive Order titled, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” released on May 1, 2025. This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country.

    Our public broadcasting system is a unique American institution that is deeply embedded in our communities and a critical source of lifesaving public safety services, accurate information, and educational programming. The vast majority of the federal funding CPB receives is allocated to local radio and television stations across the country. These cuts will have an immediate and significant impact for stations in rural communities that heavily rely on CPB funding to provide critical services and could likely result in the elimination of programming or outright closure of stations in areas already faced with limited connectivity.

    According to Northwestern University, 55 million people in the United States have no or only one source of local news, and rural counties are far more likely to lose their local news outlets. This number could increase if the two-year advance appropriation for public media is not upheld, resulting in the drastic reduction or complete elimination of free, high-quality local programming. This is especially concerning given the importance of public broadcasting during public emergencies, such as natural disasters, transportation accidents, national security threats, or public safety matters. CPB funds are essential to ensuring that the broadcast infrastructure remains robust and operational in disaster situations, especially scenarios in which local public broadcasters serve as the only source of information for those who need a lifeline. Any cuts in funding will have drastic consequences for communities in need.

    And there is much more to their public safety services in addition to the critical local information they broadcast. Public television’s interconnection technology, which connects local public television stations to PBS, is also one of the backbone pathways for the delivery of our nation’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) services – enabling cell phone subscribers to receive geotargeted emergency text alerts no matter where they are in the country. A cut to public broadcasting funding would put this lifesaving service and its nationwide footprint at risk.

    Public television has also pioneered cutting edge technology that helps first responders communicate with each other over the broadcast spectrum without the need for mobile service or broadband. This datacasting technology and public television’s public safety partnerships is already helping with early earthquake warning and has been proven effective in a wide range of scenarios where broadband or cellular service are limited, including rural search and rescue, overwater communications, large event crowd control and more. But this is only possible if stations serving rural and remote areas with limited broadband are healthy and continue operating as they are today.

    On the education front, public television’s early childhood education services ensure that every family has access to high-quality, non-commercial educational content regardless of their ability to pay for such services. This is essential for over 50 percent of three and four-year old children who do not attend formal preschool.

    If funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is eliminated or rescinded, the impact would be devastating. Millions of people across the country whose stations rely on CPB funding for a significant percentage of their budget would be at risk of losing access to public television’s services. These are services that nobody else in the media world is providing, but it’s exactly the work for which public broadcasting was created, and they are delivering to our communities every day. 

    Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB.

    We appreciate your consideration of this request and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Mars Orbiter Captures Volcano Peeking Above Morning Cloud Tops

    Source: NASA

    The 2001 Odyssey spacecraft captured a first-of-its-kind look at Arsia Mons, which dwarfs Earth’s tallest volcanoes.
    A new panorama from NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter shows one of the Red Planet’s biggest volcanoes, Arsia Mons, poking through a canopy of clouds just before dawn. Arsia Mons and two other volcanoes form what is known as the Tharsis Montes, or Tharsis Mountains, which are often surrounded by water ice clouds (as opposed to Mars’ equally common carbon dioxide clouds), especially in the early morning. This panorama marks the first time one of the volcanoes has been imaged on the planet’s horizon, offering the same perspective of Mars that astronauts have of the Earth when they peer down from the International Space Station.
    Launched in 2001, Odyssey is the longest-running mission orbiting another planet, and this new panorama represents the kind of science the orbiter began pursuing in 2023, when it captured the first of its now four high-altitude images of the Martian horizon. To get them, the spacecraft rotates 90 degrees while in orbit so that its camera, built to study the Martian surface, can snap the image.

    The angle allows scientists to see dust and water ice cloud layers, while the series of images enables them to observe changes over the course of seasons.
    “We’re seeing some really significant seasonal differences in these horizon images,” said planetary scientist Michael D. Smith of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s giving us new clues to how Mars’ atmosphere evolves over time.”
    Understanding Mars’ clouds is particularly important for understanding the planet’s weather and how phenomena like dust storms occur. That information, in turn, can benefit future missions, including entry, descent and landing operations.
    Volcanic Giants
    While these images focus on the upper atmosphere, the Odyssey team has tried to include interesting surface features in them, as well. In Odyssey’s latest horizon image, captured on May 2, Arsia Mons stands 12 miles (20 kilometers) high, roughly twice as tall as Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa, which rises 6 miles (9 kilometers) above the seafloor.
    The southernmost of the Tharsis volcanoes, Arsia Mons is the cloudiest of the three. The clouds form when air expands as it blows up the sides of the mountain and then rapidly cools. They are especially thick when Mars is farthest from the Sun, a period called aphelion. The band of clouds that forms across the planet’s equator at this time of year is called the aphelion cloud belt, and it’s on proud display in Odyssey’s new panorama.
    “We picked Arsia Mons hoping we would see the summit poke above the early morning clouds. And it didn’t disappoint,” said Jonathon Hill of Arizona State University in Tempe, operations lead for Odyssey’s camera, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS.
    The THEMIS camera can view Mars in both visible and infrared light. The latter allows scientists to identify areas of the subsurface that contain water ice, which could be used by the first astronauts to land on Mars. The camera can also image Mars’ tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, allowing scientists to analyze their surface composition.
    More About Odyssey
    NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Odyssey Project for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and collaborates with JPL on mission operations. THEMIS was built and is operated by Arizona State University in Tempe.
    For more about Odyssey:

    Mars Odyssey

    News Media Contacts
    Andrew GoodJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-393-2433andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
    Karen Fox / Molly WasserNASA Headquarters, Washington202-358-1600karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
    2025-077

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA’s Ready-to-Use Dataset Details Land Motion Across North America

    Source: NASA

    An online tool maps measurements and enables non-experts to understand earthquakes, subsidence, landslides, and other types of land motion.
    NASA is collaborating with the Alaska Satellite Facility in Fairbanks to create a powerful web-based tool that will show the movement of land across North America down to less than an inch. The online portal and its underlying dataset unlock a trove of satellite radar measurements that can help anyone identify where and by how much the land beneath their feet may be moving — whether from earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, or the extraction of underground natural resources such as groundwater.
    Spearheaded by NASA’s Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) project at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the effort equips users with information that would otherwise take years of training to produce. The project builds on measurements from spaceborne synthetic aperture radars, or SARs, to generate high-resolution data on how Earth’s surface is moving.

    Formally called the North America Surface Displacement Product Suite, the new dataset comes ready to use with measurements dating to 2016, and the portal allows users to view those measurements at a local, state, and regional scales in a few seconds. For someone not using the dataset or website, it could take days or longer to do a similar analysis.
    “You can zoom in to your country, your state, your city block, and look at how the land there is moving over time,” said David Bekaert, the OPERA project manager and a JPL radar scientist. “You can see that by a simple mouse click.”
    The portal currently includes measurements for millions of pixels across the U.S. Southwest, northern Mexico, and the New York metropolitan region, each representing a 200-foot-by-200-foot (60-meter-by-60-meter) area on the ground. By the end of 2025, OPERA will add data to cover the rest of the United States, Central America, and Canada within 120 miles (200 kilometers) of the U.S. border. When a user clicks on a pixel, the system pulls measurements from hundreds of files to create a graph visualizing the land surface’s cumulative movement over time.

    “The OPERA project automated the end-to-end SAR data processing system such that users and decision-makers can focus on discovering where the land surface may be moving in their areas of interest,” said Gerald Bawden, program scientist responsible for OPERA at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This will provide a significant advancement in identifying and understanding potential threats to the end users, while providing cost and time savings for agencies.” 
    For example, water-management bureaus and state geological surveys will be able to directly use the OPERA products without needing to make big investments in data storage, software engineering expertise, and computing muscle.
    How It Works
    To create the displacement product, the OPERA team continuously draws data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Sentinel-1 radar satellites, the first of which launched in 2014. Data from NISAR, the NASA-ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Synthetic Aperture Radar mission, will be added to the mix after that spacecraft launches later this year.

    Satellite-borne radars work by emitting microwave pulses at Earth’s surface. The signals scatter when they hit land and water surfaces, buildings, and other objects. Raw data consists of the strength and time delay of the signals that echo back to the sensor. 
    To understand how land in a given area is moving, OPERA algorithms automate steps in an otherwise painstaking process. Without OPERA, a researcher would first download hundreds or thousands of data files, each representing a pass of the radar over the point of interest, then make sure the data aligned geographically over time and had precise coordinates.
    Then they would use a computationally intensive technique called radar interferometry to gauge how much the land moved, if at all, and in which direction — towards the satellite, which would indicate the land rose, or away from the satellite, which would mean it sank.
    “The OPERA project has helped bring that capability to the masses, making it more accessible to state and federal agencies, and also users wondering, ‘What’s going on around my house?’” said Franz Meyer, chief scientist of the Alaska Satellite Facility, a part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.
    Monitoring Groundwater
    Sinking land is a top priority to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. From the 1950s through the 1980s, it was the main form of ground movement officials saw, as groundwater pumping increased alongside growth in the state’s population and agricultural industry. In 1980, the state enacted the Groundwater Management Act, which reduced its reliance on groundwater in highly populated areas and included requirements to monitor its use.
    The department began to measure this sinking, called subsidence, with radar data from various satellites in the early 2000s, using a combination of SAR, GPS-based monitoring, and traditional surveying to inform groundwater-management decisions.
    Now, the OPERA dataset and portal will help the agency share subsidence information with officials and community members, said Brian Conway, the department’s principal hydrogeologist and supervisor of its geophysics unit. They won’t replace the SAR analysis he performs, but they will offer points of comparison for his calculations. Because the dataset and portal will cover the entire state, they also could identify areas not yet known to be subsiding.
    “It’s a great tool to say, ‘Let’s look at those areas more intensely with our own SAR processing,’” Conway said.
    The displacement product is part of a series of data products OPERA has released since 2023. The project began in 2020 with a multidisciplinary team of scientists at JPL working to address satellite data needs across different federal agencies. Through the Satellite Needs Working Group, those agencies submitted their requests, and the OPERA team worked to improve access to information to aid a range of efforts such as disaster response, deforestation tracking, and wildfire monitoring.

    News Media Contacts
    Andrew Wang / Jane J. LeeJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
    2025-076

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ARMD Research Solicitations (Updated June 6)

    Source: NASA

    THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED ON JUNE 6, 2025(Updated Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities.)
    This Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems.
    Most opportunities to participate in research are officially announced through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System, better known as NSPIRES. You are encouraged to visit the NSPIRES web site, create an account, and sign up for automated email announcements.
    Other types of collaborative opportunities, such as those involving Requests for Information or academic research contests, also are included on this page.
    This page has four major sections:

    Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship OpportunitiesProposals are due by June 11, 2025. (NOTE important update below.)
    University Leadership InitiativeStep-A proposals due by June 26, 2025.
    University Student Research ChallengeProposals for Cycle 3 are due by June 26, 2025.

    ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 – OPEN
    Advanced Air Vehicles Program Fellowship Opportunities
    (View the full ROA-2025 NRA Amendment 1 text here.)
    This announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This Notice of Funding Opportunity is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. These opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.
    Research proposals are sought to address the key challenges summarized in the Elements section at the end of the Amendment 1 document, and which reference NASA’s Hypersonic Technology project.
    UPDATE for June 6: Reflecting the Fiscal Year 2026 budget changes, the Transformational Tools & Technologies project opportunities originally described in this announcement were cancelled. Proposals citing this project will not be evaluated.
    Notices of Intent are not required.
    A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution. Two pre-proposal teleconferences for potential proposers will be held and meeting links will be posted on NSPIRES.
    Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EDT on June 11, 2025.

    ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 2 – OPEN
    University Leadership Initiative
    (View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 2 text here.)
    NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing unique technical challenges in aeronautics, defining multi-disciplinary solutions, establishing peer review mechanisms, and applying innovative teaming strategies to strengthen the research impact.
    Research proposals are sought in six ULI topic areas in Appendix D.4.
    Topic 1: Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations
    Topic 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft
    Topic 3: Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports
    Topic 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles
    Topic 5: In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance
    Topic 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation
    This NASA Research Announcement will utilize a two-step proposal submission and evaluation process. The initial step is a short mandatory Step-A proposal, which is due June 26, 2025. Those offerors submitting the most highly rated Step-A proposals will be invited to submit a Step-B proposal. All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. An Applicant’s Workshop will be held on Thursday April 30, 2025; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop9) (Page will be live closer to the event.)
    An interested partners list for this ULI is at https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/partners. To be listed as an interested lead or partner, please send an email to hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov with “ULI Partnerships” in the subject line and include the information required for the table on that web page.

    ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 4 – OPEN
    University Student Research Challenge
    (View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 4 text here)
    NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics.  The challenge will provide students from accredited U.S. colleges or universities with grants for their projects, as well as the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator — requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.
    The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.
    Notices of Intent are not required for this solicitation.
    Proposals for Cycle 3 are due June 26, 2025.
    Proposals can also be submitted later and evaluated in the second and third cycles.
    The USRC Q&A/Info Session and Proposal Workshop will be held on the days/times below. Please join us on TEAMS using the Meeting Link, or call in via +1 256-715-9946,,317928116#.

    USRC Cycle
    Information Session/Q&A Date
    Proposal Due Date

    Cycle 1
    Sept. 20, 2024 at 2 pm ET
    Nov. 7, 2024

    Cycle 2
    Jan. 27, 2025 at 2 pm ET
    March 13, 2025

    Cycle 3
    May 12, 2025 at 2 pm ET
    June 26, 2025

    Aeronautics Innovation Challenges – OPEN
    NASA’s nationwide team of aeronautical innovators are committed to giving students of all ages opportunities to solve some of the biggest technical challenges facing the aviation community today. Through NASA-sponsored challenges and competitions, students representing multiple disciplines will put their skills to work by designing and building solutions to real-world problems.

    Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations RFI – CLOSED
    View the full ACERO RFI announcement here.
    NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project used this request for information to identify technologies that addressed current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA was seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This would support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.
    Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023. Submissions were accepted only from U.S. companies.

    Advanced Air Mobility Mission RFI – CLOSED
    View the full AAM RFI announcement here.
    This request for information is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.
    This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA’s AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM. 
    The respond by date for this RFI closed on Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.

    ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 1 – CLOSED
    (View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 1 text here.)
    The announcement solicited proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This Notice of Funding Opportunity was designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. Advanced Air Vehicle Program fellowship opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.
    Research proposals were sought to address key challenges provided in Elements of Appendix A.8.
    A budget breakdown for each proposal was required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document could adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution.
    Proposals were due by April 30, 2024, at 5 PM ET.

    ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 3 – CLOSED
    (View the full ROA-2024 NRA Amendment 3 text here)
    NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project sought proposals for a fuel injector design concept and fabrication for testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
    The proposal for the fuel injector design aimed to establish current state-of-the-art in low NOx supersonic cruise while meeting reasonable landing take-off NOx emissions. The technology application timeline is targeted for a supersonic aircraft with entry into service in the 2035+ timeframe.
    Proposals were due by May 31, 2024 at 5 pm EDT.

    Competition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.
    The current open solicitations for ARMD Research Opportunities are ROA-2024 and ROA-2025.
    Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.

    NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).
    All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.
    NRA awards originate from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
    Competition for NRA awards is full and open.
    Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.
    Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.
    ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Youth, community leaders take center stage in launch of gun safety effort

    Source: US State of California 2

    Jun 6, 2025

    Reduce the Risk campaign educates people about the 9 protection orders available

    What you need to know: Governor Newsom announced a comprehensive campaign to engage youth and community leaders on the available protection orders to keep Californians safer from gun violence during Gun Violence Awareness Month. 

    SACRAMENTO  – As California continues its nationwide leadership with the strongest gun safety laws in the country, Governor Gavin Newsom launched a campaign aimed at engaging the state’s youth and key leaders about the gun violence protection orders available during times of crisis.  

    Year after year, California continues to step up to protect families statewide from senseless gun incidents. As many of our youth experience a crisis of connection and belonging, we are welcoming them in the ongoing movement to bring communities together around these common-sense solutions.

    Governor Gavin Newsom

    Underscoring the state’s commitment to using every tool available to prevent gun violence, the Reduce the Risk campaign will be led by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and aims to close the gap in public knowledge through key engagement about California’s nine types of protection orders, which temporarily remove firearms to prevent larger tragedies. A recent survey shows nearly 80 percent of Californians are concerned about how little they know about these legal tools. 

    “Protection orders have been a driving factor in reducing shootings, suicides, and domestic violence,” said Cal OES Director Nancy Ward. “Yet many Californians don’t know they exist. This campaign continues the work we began in 2023 to make sure every community knows how to use them.”

    The Reduce the Risk campaign is informed by the Champions Advisory Council,  composed of experts in law enforcement, legal practice, and health care, as well as the Youth Advisory Council, a group of young leaders on the frontlines of gun violence prevention. These youth advisors are helping shape campaign activities to better reach and engage younger Californians, who will be critical to sustaining progress in the future.

    California’s youth as a solution

    Nationwide, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents. Compared to the rest of the nation, California has made substantial long-term progress in reducing per capita rates of youth firearm homicide. CDC data showed that in 2022, California’s firearm homicide rate for youth under 25 was about 50% below the rate recorded for the rest of the U.S. By contrast, nationwide youth gun homicides increased over 46% from 2019-2021.

    “The Youth Advisory Council plays a vital role in shaping real solutions to gun violence by bringing the voices of those directly impacted into the conversation,” said Maxwell Martinez of Sacramento, Youth Advisory Council member, who is a survivor of gun violence and recent graduate from Chico State. “Young people are not just the future, we are the present. Our perspectives are essential in driving urgent, lasting change.”

    California has long been a national leader in gun violence prevention, with laws like universal background checks, assault weapons bans, and mandatory waiting periods. These efforts have paid off: California consistently has one of the lowest gun death rates in the nation. But the toll remains high – about 3,200 Californians lose their lives to gun violence each year, with suicides making up a significant share, especially among men. 

    “Gun violence affects every community, and for too long, young people have been left out of the conversation. Through my work producing a documentary on gun violence prevention, I saw the power of youth voices firsthand,” said Sarah Youssef of San Diego, Youth Advisory Council member, high school senior, and active participant in the local chapter of the Brady Campaign. “Reduce the Risk gives us the platform we need to push for real change and make sure no more lives are lost to preventable violence.” 

    Community leaders come together

    Experts from the Champions Advisory Council include community leaders who see the daily toll that gun violence has on families statewide. 

    “There is solid evidence that restraining orders can help prevent interpersonal violence, including domestic violence and mass shootings, and suicide. Reduce the Risk will help Californians put these important tools to work,” said Garen Wintemute, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Violence Prevention at the University of California, Davis.

    In California, men aged 15–44 die by suicide at 3 to 4 times the rate of women, often by firearms. While violence is focused both internally and externally, affecting all people in the community, men are responsible for almost 80% of violent crime. Almost half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male intimate partner.

    “Too often we see the devastation that could have been prevented if someone had spoken up or taken action. Protection orders are a proven tool that can interrupt violence before it happens,” said Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper. “Through the Reduce the Risk campaign, we are making sure every Californian knows how to use these lifesaving laws.”

    Protection orders reduce gun violence 

    California was the first state in the nation to adopt a “red flag law” in 2016. In the first three years of their existence, these protection orders were used to prevent 58 cases of threatened mass shootings. The protection orders available in California include:

    • Gun Violence Restraining Order
    • Domestic Violence Restraining Order
    • Civil Harassment Restraining Order
    • Elder/Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Order
    • Juvenile Restraining Order
    • Postsecondary School Violence Restraining Order
    • Workplace Restraining Order
    • Criminal Protective Order
    • Emergency Protective Orders

    California’s strong leadership

    California is ranked as the #1 state in the country for its strong gun safety laws — along with some of the lowest rates of gun deaths — by Giffords Law Center and Everytown for Gun Safety. In states where officials have passed gun safety laws, fewer people die by gun violence. Texas and Florida, which ranked 32nd and 21st, respectively in gun law strength, had firearm mortality rates more than 50% higher than California. Click here to download the updated gun safety fact sheet.

    California has reduced its gun violence rate because of its leading gun safety laws. If the gun death rate in the rest of the U.S. matched California’s over the past decade, there would have been nearly 140,000 lives saved and potentially hundreds of thousands fewer gunshot injuries.

    Last year, Governor Newsom signed a bipartisan legislative package to further reinforce California’s nation-leading gun laws, prevent traumatic incidents of mass violence, and establish the first in the nation Office of Gun Violence Prevention. 

    California has invested $1.1 billion since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police, and improve public safety. In 2023, as part of California’s Public Safety Plan, the Governor announced the largest-ever investment to combat organized retail crime in state history, an annual 310% increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and special operations across the state to fight crime and improve public safety.

    Resources

    The campaign also launched a new website, ReduceTheRisk.ca.gov, which will offer educational materials in multiple languages and free training resources for community organizations across the state.

    Recent news

    Jun 5, 2025

    News What you need to know: Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the Golden State Literacy Plan — a step-by-step strategy to improve student reading achievement across California, building on existing efforts and proposing bold new investments. The Golden State…

    Jun 5, 2025

    News SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement today after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must restore funding to AmeriCorps in California. This comes after Governor Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of…

    Jun 5, 2025

    News What you need to know: California is launching the CalAssist Mortgage Fund on June 12, 2025, to provide $105 million in relief offering up to $20,000 to homeowners whose homes were destroyed in recent disasters, including the Los Angeles firestorms. LOS ANGELES —…

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: B.C. appoints new Provincial Court judge

    The Government of British Columbia has appointed a new judge to support timely and efficient access to justice.

    Colleen Spier will be appointed a judge, effective July 7, 2025. Spier will be assigned by the judiciary to Nanaimo Provincial Court to assist with increased pressures the courthouse is experiencing and relieve delays.

    Spier graduated from the University of British Columbia faculty of law in April 2007. Most recently, Spier worked as the assistant deputy minister of the Indigenous justice secretariat at the Ministry of Attorney General.

    Spier has a strong background in family law, child protection and mediation. In 2007, Spier served as a judicial clerk in the Provincial Court’s externship program. In her role as assistant deputy minister, Spier worked with the Provincial Court’s Indigenous justice initiatives, including Indigenous sentencing courts.

    Awards that recognize Spier’s contributions to the legal profession include the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025, King’s Counsel designation in 2023 and the Susanna Jani award supporting excellence in mediation in 2022.

    Judicial appointments are made by considering various factors, such as the court’s requirements, the diversity of the judiciary and the candidate’s areas of expertise.

    The Province is committed to expanding the justice system and enhancing access to services for people in British Columbia.

    Quick Facts:

    • The process to appoint judges involves the following steps:
      • interested lawyers apply, and the Judicial Council of B.C. – a statutory body made up of the chief judge, an associate chief judge, other judges, lawyers and members from outside the legal profession – reviews the candidates;
      • the council recommends potential judges to the Attorney General, with the final appointment made through a cabinet order-in-council.
    • Although judges and judicial justices are located in a judicial region, many use technology such as videoconferencing for court proceedings.
    • Judges also travel regularly throughout the province to meet changing demands.

    Learn More:

    For information about the judicial appointment process, visit: www.provincialcourt.bc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Coral reefs face an uncertain recovery from the 4th global mass bleaching event – can climate refuges help?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Noam Vogt-Vincent, Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Biology, University of Hawaii

    The Great Barrier Reef stretches for 1,429 miles just off Australia’s northeastern coast. Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Image

    Although tropical reefs might look like inanimate rock, these colorful seascapes are built by tiny jellyfish-like animals called corals. While adult corals build solid structures that are firmly attached to the sea floor, baby corals are not confined to their reefs. They can drift with ocean currents over great distances to new locations that might give them a better chance of survival.

    The underwater cities that corals construct are home to about a quarter of all known marine species. They are incredibly important for humans, too, contributing at least a trillion dollars per year in ecosystem services, such as protecting coastlines from wave damage and supporting fisheries and tourism.

    Unfortunately, coral reefs are among the most vulnerable environments on the planet to climate change.

    Since 2023, exceptionally warm ocean water has been fueling the planet’s fourth mass coral bleaching event on record, causing widespread mortality in corals around the world. This kind of harm is projected to worsen considerably over the coming decades as ocean temperatures rise.

    A healthy coral reef in American Samoa, left, experiencing coral bleaching due to a severe marine heatwave, center, and eventually dying, right.
    The Ocean Agency and Ocean Image Bank., CC BY-NC

    I am a marine scientist in Hawaii. My colleagues and I are trying to understand how coral reefs might change in the future, and whether new coral reefs might form at higher latitudes as the tropics become too warm and temperate regions become more hospitable. The results lead us to both good and bad news.

    Corals can grow in new areas, but will they thrive?

    Baby corals can drift freely with ocean currents, potentially traveling hundreds of miles before settling in new locations. That allows the distribution of corals to shift over time.

    Major ocean currents can carry baby corals to temperate seas. If new coral reefs form there as the waters warm, these areas might act as refuges for tropical corals, reducing the corals’ risk of extinction.

    A close-up of double star corals (Diploastrea heliopora) off Indonesia.
    Bernard DuPont/Flickr, CC BY-SA

    Scientists know from the fossil record that coral reef expansions have occurred before. However, a big question remains: Can corals migrate fast enough to keep pace with climate change caused by humans? We developed a cutting-edge simulation to find the answer.

    Field and laboratory studies have measured how coral growth depends on temperature, acidity and light intensity. We combined this information with data on ocean currents to create a global simulation that represents how corals respond to a changing environment – including their ability to adapt through evolution and shift their ranges.

    Then, we used future climate projections to predict how coral reefs may respond to climate change.

    We found that it will take centuries for coral reefs to shift away from the tropics. This is far too slow for temperate seas to save tropical coral species – they are facing severe threats right now and in the coming decades.

    How coral reefs form.

    Underwater cities in motion?

    Under countries’ current greenhouse gas emissions policies, our simulations suggest that coral reefs will decline globally by a further 70% this century as ocean temperatures continue to rise. As bad as that sounds, it’s actually slightly more optimistic than previous studies that predicted losses as high as 99%.

    Our simulations suggest that coral populations could expand in a few locations this century, primarily southern Australia, but these expansions may only amount to around 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares). While that might sound a lot, we expect to lose around 10 million acres (4 million hectares) of coral over the same period.

    In other words, we are unlikely to see significant new tropical-style coral reefs forming in temperate waters within our lifetimes, so most tropical corals will not find refuge in higher latitude seas.

    Even though the suitable water temperatures for corals are forecast to expand poleward by about 25 miles (40 kilometers) per decade, corals would face other challenges in new environments.

    Our research suggests that coral range expansion is mainly limited by slower coral growth at higher latitudes, not by dispersal. Away from the equator, light intensity falls and temperature becomes more variable, reducing growth, and therefore the rate of range expansion, for many coral species.

    It is likely that new coral reefs will eventually form beyond their current range, as history shows, but our results suggest this may take centuries.

    Fish hide out in the safety of Kingman Reef, in the Pacific Ocean between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa. Coral reefs provide protection for many species, particularly young fish.
    USFWS, Pacific Islands

    Some coral species are adapted to the more challenging environmental conditions at higher latitudes, and these corals are increasing in abundance, but they are much less diverse and structurally complex than their tropical counterparts.

    Scientists have used human-assisted migration to try to restore damaged coral reefs by transplanting live corals. However, coral restoration is controversial, as it is expensive and cannot be scaled up globally. Since coral range expansion appears to be limited by challenging environmental conditions at higher latitudes rather than by dispersal, human-assisted migration is also unlikely to help them expand more quickly.

    Importantly, these potential higher latitude refuges already have rich, distinct ecosystems. Establishing tropical corals within those ecosystems might disrupt existing species, so rapid expansions might not be a good thing in the first place.

    A temperate reef near southern Australia, which could be threatened by expansions of tropical coral species.
    Stefan Andrews/Ocean Image Bank, CC BY-NC

    No known alternative to cutting emissions

    Despite enthusiasm for coral restoration, there is little evidence to suggest that methods like this can mitigate the global decline of coral reefs.

    As our study shows, migration would take centuries, while the most severe climate change harm for corals will occur within decades, making it unlikely that subtropical and temperate seas can act as coral refuges.

    What can help corals is reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming. Our study suggests that reducing emissions at a faster pace, in accordance with the Paris climate agreement, could cut the coral loss by half compared with current policies. That could boost reef health for centuries to come.

    This means that there is still hope for these irreplaceable coral ecosystems, but time is running out.

    Noam Vogt-Vincent receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

    – ref. Coral reefs face an uncertain recovery from the 4th global mass bleaching event – can climate refuges help? – https://theconversation.com/coral-reefs-face-an-uncertain-recovery-from-the-4th-global-mass-bleaching-event-can-climate-refuges-help-255804

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: It’s time to stop debating whether AI is genuinely intelligent and focus on making it work for society

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andrew Rogoyski, Innovation Director, Surrey Institute of People-Centred AI, University of Surrey

    ‘Pleased to beat you.’ Aileenchik

    Half of entry-level white collar jobs might cease to exist in the near future, according to Dario Amodei, the CEO of leading AI company Anthropic. Amodei, whose company is behind the Claude platform, has since called for transparency standards requiring companies making AI models to demonstrate how they are handling risks such as the AI enabling cyberattacks or helping to make bioweapons.

    Time and again, such claims suggest the pace of development in artificial intelligence is vastly outstripping our ability to adapt and adopt, creating a series of short-term crises.

    Yet the debate between AI doomers, accelerationists, utopians and other factions is largely trapped in arguments about whether current AIs are truly demonstrating creativity, problem solving, planning and other intelligent characteristics. It’s as if we’re collectively in denial.

    AI is arguably the most important technology humankind will ever invent. We owe it to ourselves, and future generations, to make conscious decisions about introducing AI into everything we do, ensuring that humanity benefits.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    We know that AI is threatening the creative industries, for example. We can argue about whether AI is truly creative or we can set about preserving human creativity, originality and income security.

    For instance, the new CREAATIF report from Queen Mary University of London lays out a series of recommendations, such as treating creatives as co-designers along with AIs, not victims. It calls for clear disclosures about AI-generated creative works, and ensuring creatives can opt out of having their work in AI training datasets.

    We know that AI is being used in warfare. We can argue about what it means for a human to still take crucial battlefield decisions – the idea of “human in the loop”. Or we can set down explicit rules of war, as hinted at by the UN meeting in May on possible restrictions in the use of lethal autonomous systems.

    We know that AI is being used in medicine, from screening blood tests to virtual hospitals – as created by Tsinghua University in China. We can argue about whether AI can ever replace doctors, or we can actively explore where it is most appropriate and desirable to supplement human healthcare expertise with AI.

    Jobs and knowledge

    We also strongly suspect that AI will displace human jobs more broadly. Besides Amodei’s warnings, certain companies are already adopting “AI first” strategies. These treat AIs as the core driver of company operations, not just support tools.

    The canary in the coalmine may be graduate jobs, since companies will likely initially use AI for jobs requiring the least experience. Graduate hiring in the UK is falling. We can argue about whether there is a link with AI, or we can start putting serious thought into the future of education, skills and the meaning of a career in the 21st century.

    Finally, we know that AI is being used to mediate human access to knowledge, whether it’s the recommendation engines in platforms like TikTok and X, or search engines like Google and Bing providing AI summaries in preference to linked websites.

    Misinformation, disinformation and fakery is rife, often enabled by AI tools. And a more insidious side-effect of AI-mediated access to knowledge is the potential decline in how we know what’s true or reliable.

    We can argue about whether this is happening or we can focus on protecting reliable sources of information, and making sure everyone can access them. For example, the US-based Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) develops standards to verify where digital media comes from and whether it has been tampered with.

    What you can do

    AI is not going away, and there will be positives as well as negatives. For instance, AI will undoubtedly help to solve the hard problems of global health, energy generation and climate change.

    We need to recognise the power of existing AI technologies, and acknowledge that AI is likely to get even more advanced very quickly and that we need to act personally and collectively. And there are several things we can do now.

    First, take a personal interest. AI literacy is fast becoming a life skill. Leading AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can create, summarise or rewrite text for you, compile research reports, jazz up presentations, create music, do data analysis, come up with new cooking recipes – the options are endless.

    The future is here.
    Aileenchik

    I’ve seen schoolteachers create AI mentors for students, pensioners create songs and presentations, children transform their artwork into historical contexts, all with no technical skills. Similarly, anyone can now use AI to code. So-called “vibe-coding” allows anyone to describe, in words, what they want a piece of software to do, and the AI will create a version of it – to an increasingly good level of completeness.

    The ability to adapt and adopt is key. Knowing and practising how to use AI will not only position you for future opportunities and changes, but may allow you to steer your workplace to a better outcome too.

    Second, become an advocate for how AI should be used. AI developments in the US and China will continue to drive AI innovation, but we have some choices when it comes to adoption and use.

    So become an “informed buyer”, actively selecting AI technology from companies which have strong ethical, security and privacy standpoints. For instance, I prefer Anthropic’s Claude to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, largely because of the former’s constitutional approach, which means its AIs are trained on a set of principles rather than on what it thinks the user will prefer.

    I like Meta’s track record on publishing detailed papers of how it trained and tested its LLMs (a type of AI model), and the fact that it open-sources them. This makes the best models available to a wider and more diverse range of people or organisations, not just to the wealthiest companies. I’m uncomfortable with the way that OpenAI sought to change its non-profit status recently. These are personal opinions and we should each form our own views.

    Third, voice your advocacy, to your boss, your local MP, and other decision makers you may come across. It’s only by making AI an everyday topic that we can influence the world we live in. As Tim Cook, CEO of Apple once said, “Artificial intelligence is the future, but we must ensure it is a future that we want.”

    Andrew Rogoyski’s department receives research funding from UKRI. He acts as an advisor to TechUK, one of the UK’s leading tech industry trade associations, as is a member of the NatWest Technology Advisory Board.

    – ref. It’s time to stop debating whether AI is genuinely intelligent and focus on making it work for society – https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-stop-debating-whether-ai-is-genuinely-intelligent-and-focus-on-making-it-work-for-society-258430

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Women’s prize for fiction 2025: six experts review the shortlisted novels

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Éadaoin Agnew, Senior lecturer in English literature, Kingston University

    From a longlist of 16, six novels have been shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s prize for fiction. Our experts review the finalists ahead of the announcement of the winner on June 12.

    The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

    The Safekeep, a novel about the expropriation and theft of Jewish property during and after the second world war, revisits a dark chapter of Dutch history.

    When Holland fell to Nazi Germany, many Dutch Jews were deported to the death camps and were stripped of their homes and belongings. Van der Wouden’s debut novel shines alight on the act of keeping or maintaining things left behind that were to be reclaimed by their rightful owners, but which were lost or stolen in the war.

    The trauma of this history hangs over the lives of three siblings grieving the loss of their mother in 1961.

    Isabel, the novel’s lonely protagonist, lives alone in the family house, keeping it in order as her late mother would have wanted. All the while she suspects that their maid is stealing from the kitchen. But following the arrival of her brother’s girlfriend, Eva, Isabel discovers the truth of the house and attempts to right historical wrongs.

    By Manjeet Ridon, Associate Dean International, Arts, Design and Humanities

    Good Girl by Aria Aber

    Aria Aber’s debut is a frequently poetic and powerful künstlerroman (a novel that maps the development of an artist). It follows Nila, a young Afghan woman in Berlin, as she tries to escape from her own cultural heritage and that of the German city in which she lives.

    For much of the novel, Nila moves through the margins of society, from her family home in a brutalist rundown apartment block in the neighbourhood of Neukölln to a seemingly endless cycle of underground clubs, parties and festivals. She pushes away her family, her childhood friends, and her college education to pursue an alternative creative life and a destructive love affair. Ultimately though, Nila realises that her artistic work and a truly independent life can only be forged through her reconciliation with the past.

    Set against the real far-right violence of the 2000s, Aber makes clear how social inequalities and racial prejudices effect artistic access and creativity. She also acutely captures the tensions between freedom and tradition as experienced by bicultural Muslim women grappling with the expectation to be “good girls”.

    By Éadaoin Agnew, Senior lecturer in English literature

    All Fours by Miranda July

    “Everyone thinks doggy style is so vulnerable,” remarks one of the characters in Miranda July’s latest work of fiction. This story takes sexuality as its subject along with its relationship with creativity and ageing – or more specifically, the midlife plunge from a cliff that is female menopause.

    Like the author, July’s nameless protagonist is 45, a successful artist, and married with a non-binary child. This auto-fiction puts the author’s erotic nonconformity at the centre of the frame. Our heroine embarks on a road-trip to New York, but only 20 minutes from her home she falls in love with a young man. The pair spend two weeks together in a motel pursuing a mutual obsession, which ultimately remains unconsummated. This experience upends her life and she rebounds into turbulent adventures in sex, discovering a new sense of self.

    Perhaps it could have been a little tighter than its 322 pages – but then again, it’s a work that explores a capacious road to excess. All Fours is a funny, honest, rambunctious tale

    Elizabeth Kuti, Professor in the Department of Literature Film and Theatre Studies

    The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

    “Do they think we were just some refugees?” Shirin, one of the characters in The Persians, asks her niece Bita. “Weren’t we?” Bita replies. The question of what a refugee looks like and what kind of stories they are expected to tell is a central theme in Mahloudji’s raucous, poignant novel.

    The story shifts back and forward in time, from Tehran in the 1940s to Los Angeles in the Reagan years, and to both America and Iran in the 2000s, interweaving the voices of five women from the wealthy and powerful Valiat family. Mahloudji explores love, miscommunication, loyalties and betrayal across generations as well as between those who left and those who stayed behind.

    Jewellery is a central theme in the novel: glistening in shops, hidden in suitcases or flung away in protest. It represents both the adornment of female identity and the weight of the history that the migrants carry with them.

    Alexandra Peat, Lecturer in English and Director of the MA in Literature and Publishing

    Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

    Tell Me Everything is the tenth novel in Elizabeth Strout’s well-known series that sketches the lives of ordinary, yet complex characters, who enter and exit each other’s lives in the nowhere town of Crosby, Maine. The three main figures in this latest instalment are 90-year-old retired schoolteacher Olive Kitteridge (recognisable from Frances McDormand’s realisation in the award-winning TV series by the same name), early 60s fiction writer Lucy Barton, and 65-year-old lawyer Bob Burgess.

    Loosely, this novel can be described as a murder mystery, though the plot twist of an alleged matricide, and Burgess’s decision to defend the case, are secondary to the three main characters’ process of sharing previously untold accounts of forbidden, traumatic, guilty and unrequited love. It is this telling and memorialising that produces the emotional core of the novel. If sharing their past gives the ageing storytellers some respite from the burden of their hidden lives, it is not in the kind that comforts with meaning and purpose. In Strout’s novel, this relief is unavailable and is replaced with the more ephemeral solace of simply being heard.

    Yianna Liotsis, Associate Professor in the School of English Irish and Communication

    Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

    At the heart of Fundamentally is the affinity that forms between narrator Nadia, appointed by the United Nations to rehabilitate “Isis brides” in Iraq, and one of her subjects, Sara, an east Londoner on the cusp of adulthood.

    They connect through a shared love of rollerblading, Dairy Milk and X-Men, as well as their caustic sense of humour. But the two British Muslim women have followed vastly different routes – Nadia to academia and the UN and Sara to a detention camp in Ninewah.

    Nadia’s story of her journey through the vagaries of the humanitarian sector, punctuated by flashbacks to her failed relationship with first love Rosy and fraught relationship with her mother, is told with a compelling mix of verve and vulnerability. It raises hard ethical and political questions along the way. But it is Nadia’s mission to help Sara that gives the novel its emotional complexity and depth, drawing the reader in while denying us any easy answers.

    Rehana Ahmed, Reader in Postcolonial and Contemporary Literature

    Éadaoin Agnew receives funding from AHRC.

    Alexandra Peat has received funding from the British Academy

    Elizabeth J Kuti, Manjeet Ridon, and Rehana Ahmed 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. Women’s prize for fiction 2025: six experts review the shortlisted novels – https://theconversation.com/womens-prize-for-fiction-2025-six-experts-review-the-shortlisted-novels-253573

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The positive impact of city’s free school meals

    Source: City of York

    City of York Council leaders are highlighting the positive impact of the city’s free school meals pilots, following the government’s announcement [5 June] that it will extend free school meals.

    It will extend free school meals to children in households receiving Universal Credit from September 2026.

    In York, free school meal pilots are running at three primary schools as part of a citywide initiative, providing pupils with a free school meal even if they’re not eligible under the national scheme. 

    Over 46,000 free breakfasts or lunches have been given to children in the three primary schools piloting the initiative – Westfield Primary Community School, Burton Green Primary School and Fishergate Primary School – since it launched in January 2024.

    The campaign is part of the council’s wider commitment both to address affordability challenges and to ensure that  good health and wellbeing is prioritised as early as possible in residents’ lives – part of the council’s four year plan – One City for all. 
    The pilots have been made possible thanks to funding from the council and donations to the York Community Fund’s York Hungry Minds Appeal.

    York Hungry Minds was set up in a bid to address disadvantage and the impact of the cost of living crisis, responding to national evidence suggesting that providing children with healthy, nourishing food can make a significant difference to school attendance, concentration and learning and their physical and mental wellbeing.

    Initial research carried out by researchers from the Universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield into the impact of the York free school meal pilots last autumn showed that pupils taking part showed improved attendance and punctuality compared to their peers. 

    Schools also saw evidence of improved behaviour because children were feeling less hungry, with staff noting improvements in the pupils’ focus and energy levels after receiving a free breakfast [at Burton Green]. 

    Staff and parents at Burton Green Primary School and Westfield Primary Community School highlighted how the Universal Free School Meal pilot had helped ease financial pressures, as part of the evaluation work. They also raised the food insecurity families’ face and the importance of the meals in directly alleviating pressure.

    Tina Clarke, headteacher at Fishergate Primary School, explained the impact the free school meals pilot has had at her school:

    “The breakfast club at Fishergate has made a huge difference to the children who attend.

    “We have seen a positive impact on levels of attendance and punctuality – to be honest we have been surprised by how much of an impact it has had. It has also made a big difference to how the children start the school day – they come into their class settled, happy and ready to learn.”

    Cllr Bob Webb, the council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said:

    “When I have spoken to parents, carers and school leaders about the impact of our free school meals pilot, they highlighted improvements in school attendance and children’s behaviour.

    “A good education is critical to helping children fulfil their potential and live happy and healthy lives, and all the national and local evidence shows that providing a regular, nutritious meal really can have a significant impact on their learning. 

    “I’m pleased that the government has again shown its commitment to expanding eligibility for free school meals and I hope that this announcement will enable even more children and young people in York to get a free school lunch.”

    More details on the research findings into the impact of York’s free school meal pilots are available at https://www.york.gov.uk/free-school-meals/york-hungry-minds

    You can find out more about how to make donations to support York’s free school meals pilots at Two Ridings Community Foundation.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Isha Foundation’s Meditation App Surpasses ChatGPT’s Launch Pace, Signals Global Demand for Digital Stillness

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Los Angeles, CA, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As artificial intelligence dominates headlines, one of the fastest-growing wellness apps is turning heads for a different reason: silence. The Isha Foundation recently launched Miracle of Mind, a free meditation app that recorded over 1 million downloads in just 15 hours, outpacing even ChatGPT’s original adoption rate.

    Founded by spiritual leader Sadhguru, the app combines ancient yogic practices with adaptive technology to offer a simple, evidence-based approach to mental wellness. Its core is a 7-minute guided meditation designed to help users reduce stress, enhance focus, and build inner resilience.

    “People are overwhelmed—by information, by screens, by pressure. This app meets them where they are,” said an Isha Foundation spokesperson.

    Key Features:

    • Multilingual interface (English, Hindi, Tamil, Spanish, Russian) with plans for expansion
    • Gamified challenges, including streaks and badges
    • 100% free access — no subscriptions or in-app purchases

    The app’s methodology is grounded in research from Indiana University, Harvard University, University of Tennessee, Rutgers University, and University of Florida affiliated researchers, which have previously validated Isha’s meditation techniques for reducing stress and improving emotional regulation.

    Momentum & Impact

    • 45% of users are first-time meditators, primarily aged 18–34
    • 70% of users returned to the app within the first week, a retention rate that rivals leading meditation apps like Calm and Insight Timer
    • Self-reported outcomes include 34% drop in anxiety and improved sleep in six weeks
    • Rated 4.8/5 stars across 80,000+ global reviews

    The platform also features a dynamic AI chatbot—“Ask Sadhguru”—trained on over 50,000 hours of his teachings to provide real-time insights.

    Already in use by over 2 million individuals worldwide, Miracle of Mind is scaling faster than most mental health platforms in the nonprofit sector. When the app introduces upgrades such as biofeedback integration, augmented reality meditation environments, and personalized generative meditation tailored to user behavior, it could become even more engaging and exciting..

    As the mental health crisis intensifies globally, Isha Foundation’s Miracle of Mind offers something increasingly rare: an accessible path inward, rooted in wisdom, powered by technology, and available to all.

    Miracle of Mind is available for free on iOS and Android platforms.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Stolen Paintings Recovered and Returned

    Source: US FBI

    Two paintings have been recovered and returned 40 years after they were stolen from the University of New Mexico’s Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What the UK’s ‘Nato-first’ defence approach tells us about Britain’s place in a volatile world

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nick Whittaker, Subject Lead in Social Sciences & Law, University of Sussex

    Since the end of the cold war, the relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has regularly been questioned, even by its most prominent leaders. Its members, therefore, find it necessary to remind each other and the world of its value from time to time.

    The latest example of this is the UK government’s new strategic defence review, which announces a “Nato-first” posture.

    Nato has long been a cornerstone of UK foreign, defence and security policies. But this marks a particularly strident prioritisation of the organisation. It comes just a few years after Boris Johnson’s government began moving the country’s foreign and defence policy priorities towards the Indo-Pacific.

    It tells us much about how Keir Starmer’s administration sees the UK’s place in the world in an unsettled era: as both an influential ally of the US and a reliable partner to European powers, eager to maintain regional and global influence.

    Signed in 1949, the North Atlantic treaty committed its original 12 members to collective security: an attack on one would be an attack on all. In the shadow of the second world war, Nato went further than the nascent United Nations in its defence and security commitments. It brought together a somewhat eclectic mix of states straddling the Atlantic, from the North American behemoths of the US and Canada to tiny Iceland and Luxembourg, the dictatorship of Salazar’s Portugal and the democracies of Norway and Belgium.

    The UK’s participation was largely heralded across an enthusiastic parliament. Winston Churchill, then leader of the opposition, praised this new “fraternal association”. The foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, celebrated the community of interest [and] cooperation with like-minded people”. UK politicians saw Nato as a means to connect with the US and Canada in particular.

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

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    The language at the time also reflected the casting of the Soviet Union as a threat to European security. Although the UK welcomed Nato as a liberal democratic organisation dominated by English-speaking peoples, its primary purpose was always to act as a strategic counterweight to the influence and encroachment of the Soviet Union in Europe. Hence the claimed irrelevance of Nato in the 1990s after the cold war, and its renewed importance today in the face of Russian aggression.

    As always with UK foreign and defence policies, the relationship with the US is paramount. The UK’s Nato-first position is no exception. Starmer clearly believes he can forge a working relationship with the US president. Although seemingly far from natural bedfellows (although neither were John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan or even, politics aside, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher), Donald Trump appears unthreatened by the sober, understated Starmer.

    The thought within Starmer’s foreign policy circle may well be that a loud and unequivocal statement of the UK’s commitment to Nato could help persuade Trump to stay the course with an organisation that he has often threatened to pull the US out of.

    If, on the other hand, Starmer et al are more pessimistic and fear Trump making good on his threats, Nato clearly remains an attractive proposition in terms of the UK’s defence policy. While it does commit the UK to the defence of, say, the Baltic States and Finland, by the same token, Nato puts the UK in lockstep with fellow nuclear power, France, as well as the growing military power of Germany and significant others such as Turkey. In uncertain times, such allies are to be valued.

    Global influence

    Even before Brexit, a fear of losing global and regional influence has stalked every British government since 1945.

    Questioning the wisdom of the departure from the EU remains a Westminster taboo. Yet one might forgive the incoming Labour government for feeling the chill of isolation while Trump occupies the White House and Russia threatens the continent. Nato thus also represents a valuable opportunity to retain regional and global influence. Note the language in Starmer’s introduction to the report when he refers to a desire to “lead in Nato”.

    Can Starmer’s ‘Nato-first’ pivot convince Trump to stay?
    Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, CC BY-NC-ND

    While the other defenestrated European colonial powers found post-1945 influence through the Francophonie or becoming leading civilian forces in what became the EU, the UK had the Commonwealth and Nato. These were the prime proxies for the lost colonial influence, even during the long EU interregnum.

    Without the EU and with a more restive Commonwealth, Nato is of even greater importance. Although France’s president Emmanuel Macron is generally enthusiastic about Nato, there is a history of French ambivalence. The UK could well make the claim to be the most steadfastly committed of all the larger European members.

    This renewed commitment to Nato from the UK government is consistent with the historic prioritisation of the organisation by successive administrations. The difference here is the urgency of the context: Europe faces an unprecedented military threat, while the US president is unpredictable and dubious in his attitude towards continental defence.

    The Nato-first stance is a recognition of grim, strategic realities and also a “Hail Mary”, both pragmatic and hopeful. The UK is not alone in desperately hoping to keep the US commitment to European security alive. The strategic review’s commitment to a Nato-first policy may help – at the very least, it signals a UK administration keen to maximise its influence and retain robust ties with European allies.

    Nick Whittaker 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. What the UK’s ‘Nato-first’ defence approach tells us about Britain’s place in a volatile world – https://theconversation.com/what-the-uks-nato-first-defence-approach-tells-us-about-britains-place-in-a-volatile-world-258336

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The UK is gearing up for autonomous warfare – but missing the reality of war today

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anthony King, Professor of War Studies, University of Exeter

    The UK is facing a security crisis. Great power competition has returned, and the threat of hostility from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is increasing. The west can no longer assume military superiority, and the UK can no longer depend unconditionally on the US. The character of war itself is changing as new technology is introduced.

    This is the situation laid out in the latest strategic defence review. The implications for the UK are clear: the country must prepare for high-intensity, protracted war, not counter-insurgency operations like Iraq or Afghanistan.

    In order to address these challenges, the review says, “the UK must pivot to a new way of war.” Nuclear weapons are important here, and will be renewed and expanded. But the recommendations in the review focus on conventional weaponry and, above all, new remote and autonomous technology.

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

    The ongoing Ukraine war underpins much of the thinking about the military changes the UK needs to make. That conflict has demonstrated a significant change in the character of 21st-century warfare. Most obviously, it has involved a proliferation of cheap, expendable remote systems, some of which have autonomous capabilities.

    Remote first-person-view drones, and drones controlled by unjammable fibre-optic cables, have become ubiquitous on the frontline – reconnoitring, targeting and striking troops on both sides. They have made conventional strategic manoeuvres at the front almost impossible, while also striking civilian and military targets deep in Russia and Ukraine.

    At sea, uncrewed naval drones have struck Russian shipping and infrastructure in Crimea. The Ukrainian armed forces have also developed a digital battle management system and live-data, AI-enabled targeting system, drawing together information from satellite, open-source, ground-sensor and signal intelligence. This has allowed Ukrainian commanders to see deeply across the battlespace, and target Russian forces with an unprecedented depth and precision.

    As a result of remote systems enabled by digitised targeting, military forces have become exponentially more lethal in close battle – and also in the deep.

    The strategic defence review aims for the UK to incorporate these two elements into its war-fighting capabilities, recommending massive investment in remotely controlled and autonomous systems.

    It calls for the UK to create a “leading, tech-enabled defence power”. Part of this involves integrating UK forces and the construction of a unified “digital targeting web”. This would be fed by sensors from every domain (land, air and sea) so that all forces have access to the same intelligence and a common operating picture. The idea is that a target identified in one domain might be prosecuted by forces in another, to “enhance the Armed Forces’ precision and lethality at scale and reach”.

    In order to achieve this, the review also calls for improved and more innovative relationships between British defence, tech and industry. Once again, a lot has been learnt from Ukraine, whose industrial and tech sectors have been integrated into the war from the start.

    The missing link

    The review’s authors – three external experts led by former defence secretary and Nato chief, Lord Robertson – are correct to highlight the increasing importance of remote (and sometimes autonomous) systems in warfare. They are clear that military forces should increasingly draw on live data, processed by artificial intelligence, to help them understand the battlespace, plan and target. The UK must remain competitive with peer enemies who are developing these capabilities.

    However, even assuming that all of this is affordable at 2.5% of the UK’s GDP from 2027 (a 0.2% rise from where defence spending is now), there is a serious gap in the review’s proposals.

    As a scholar who has studied war in the 21st century, and has just completed a book on AI and war, I believe the document vastly overexaggerates the capability of AI and autonomy. For example, it states:

    In modern warfare, simple metrics such as the number of people and platforms deployed are outdated and inadequate. It is through dynamic networks of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous assets and data flows that lethality and military effect are now created.

    This analysis presumes that autonomy will be vital in the future, and implies it will displace the need for large numbers of human combatants. In fact, true autonomy is still rare in combat – and will remain so, according to my research.

    Even if autonomous drone swarms appear, they will not eliminate the need for human programmers or operators behind the frontline. AI has limited military functions which require a huge amount of human input.

    Defence secretary John Healey being shown unmanned and autonomous units on a demonstration.
    UK MOD Crown Copyright 2025

    The review prioritises preparedness for protracted inter-state war. But it ignores the blindingly obvious from Ukraine: the imperative of mass.

    The Ukrainian frontline combat forces have expanded to about 300,000 – Ukraine claims its whole force, including allied fighters, is around 1 million. There are about 400,000 Russian combat troops in Ukraine. Casualties have been eye-watering: the Russians have suffered about 800,000 casualties, the Ukrainians nearly 500,000.

    In my view, the strategic defence review has been mesmerised by the prospect of new technology – and, perhaps, by some wishful thinking.

    In 21st-century war, troop mass matters. Fleets of drones and the most sophisticated digital targeting will be irrelevant without human forces willing to fight and to operate them.

    What is the review’s answer to this? While acknowledging that in the cold war, the British fielded forces of 311,000, UK regular armed forces are to remain the same size: 136,000, of which the army will consist of only 73,000 troops and staff.

    The review proposes that active reserves (volunteer, part-time forces) will be increased by 20%, and that the strategic reserve (ex-regulars) “is central to military mobilisation and must be reinvigorated”.

    It is not surprising that the review’s authors have offered such thin solutions to the question of mass. There has been profound resistance from successive governments, Whitehall and civil society to any expansion in the size of British military forces in the UK. But it is doubtful that an expanded reserve and a reinvigorated strategic reserve will be remotely enough for the UK to fight and win a war of any kind in the coming decade.

    Anthony King 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 UK is gearing up for autonomous warfare – but missing the reality of war today – https://theconversation.com/the-uk-is-gearing-up-for-autonomous-warfare-but-missing-the-reality-of-war-today-258240

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Our program is an intensive path of personal and professional transformation”

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Three groups, more than 100 students, successfully completed the MBA program. Over a year and a half, they completed 16 educational modules, including two on-site ones: to China and to Lake Baikal. The 2025 graduates include entrepreneurs, founders of successful businesses, and top managers of leading Russian companies: Sber, VTB, Rostelecom, NOVATEK, Rosatom, Yandex.Technologies, Almaz-Antey Concern, SKB Kontur, Belkacar, SONET Group, and others.

    Volkov Dmitry Leonidovich

    First Deputy Director of the Higher School of Business

    “The MBA program not only provides knowledge, but also strong networking in the leadership community; for a modern entrepreneur and top manager, it is extremely important to remain in the educational environment and continue learning throughout life.”

    The updated MBA program of the HSE Graduate School of Business covers key areas of modern management: from strategic management and corporate finance to marketing, operations management and innovation, including the use of AI in business.

    All graduates note an important advantage of the HSE Graduate School of Business: a very strong team of teachers, which unites both practitioners, leaders of successful businesses, and outstanding representatives of academic science from across the HSE University.

    Positioning itself as a first-choice business school, HSE has invested a lot of effort into developing its MBA program, including innovative educational formats: business simulations, interactive projects, group assignments to develop practical skills and networking among program students.

    The hallmarks of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business at the National Research University Higher School of Economics are effective on-site modules. The leadership intensive is traditionally held on Lake Baikal and is aimed at developing team management skills, crisis management, and the ability to make decisions under stress and in situations of uncertainty.

    And the recent overseas module was organized jointly with Fudan University, one of the leading centers of business education in Asia. The university is among the best universities in China and Asia, widely recognized for its high level of teaching, quality of scientific research and international programs in the field of economics and management. The overseas modules are the leaders in the most positive feedback from the program participants.

    The final part of the program was the defense of final projects. Participants presented solutions for a wide range of industries: from energy and tourism to industrial production and digital services. Among the initiatives: development of a new data management product, launch and development of a business community, a service for generating income from excess energy capacity, a strategy for bringing self-propelled electric lifts to market.

    The graduation ceremony took place at the HSE campus. The graduates were congratulated by the program teachers and the business school management.

    Koptsev Vladimir Sergeevich

    Head of the MBA program at the Higher School of Business, National Research University Higher School of Economics

    “Our program is an intensive path of personal and professional transformation. We see how students change over the course of a year and a half: their confidence grows, their horizons expand, their ability to make strategic decisions strengthens. It is especially valuable that they leave the program with a clear understanding of their role in business and with a readiness for new challenges.”

    During their studies, participants not only expanded their professional horizons, but also built new strong horizontal connections—the alumni community remains one of the program’s key resources.

    Ekaterina Artemenkova

    Director of the Financial Department, Insurance Company “Guardia”

    “I asked my classmates to name three associations with the program and collected them in a word cloud. The most frequent word turned out to be unexpected, but very accurate – “pleasure”. In the program, we learned to enjoy studying, communicating, challenges. And, perhaps, the main thing we learned was the ability to maintain inner calm in the most stressful situations and to see opportunities even in difficulties.”

    Andrey Dementyev

    Founder of the family project “Elephant Park” in Sochi

    “Over these one and a half years, we have not only mastered the tools of strategic management, Agile and financial analysis – we have learned to see value in people, in the team, in the environment. We have learned from each other, admired, supported – and it is in this atmosphere that ideas, projects and a real team are born.”

    Olga Komleva

    Director of IT Solutions Department, SONET Group of Companies

    “This morning, when I was driving to the airport, I was thinking that this is my last trip as part of the MBA program. It is a warm sadness and great pride at the same time. We have gained knowledge, found friends, and most importantly, made the right choice by coming here. I would like to wish everyone not to lose interest, to study and move forward.”

    The graduation of the HSE Graduate School of Business MBA program has become a significant contribution to the preparation of innovative responsible leaders who change organizations and the world. Start of a new cohort MBA programs is scheduled for this fall and the admissions campaign has already begun.

    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 –