NewzIntel.com

Category: Universities

  • MIL-OSI: APA Corporation Announces Appointment of Aneil Kochar as Vice President and Treasurer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — APA Corporation (Nasdaq: APA) today announced that Aneil Kochar has been promoted to vice president and treasurer, effective May 22.

    Kochar will head APA’s Treasury department, providing global oversight for the company’s capital structure analysis, financing strategies, risk insurance, banking policies, and cash and liquidity management. The role of treasurer was previously held by Ben C. Rodgers who was recently promoted to chief financial officer.

    “I am pleased to welcome Aneil to APA’s leadership team. He has vast financial experience in the oil and gas industry and has played a crucial role in APA’s financial strategies over the past five years, driving value creation and improving cash management. Aneil will be a strong addition to our executive team,” said Ben C. Rodgers, APA’s Chief Financial Officer.

    Kochar has held the position of assistant treasurer for APA since 2022, having joined the company in 2020 as the director of Finance. Before joining APA, Kochar was vice president Finance and treasurer at Chisholm Oil and Gas, where he oversaw FP&A and treasury activities. Prior to that, he worked at EIG Global Energy Partners as an investment professional, focusing on origination and management of oil and gas debt and equity investments. Kochar began his career in energy investment banking at Morgan Stanley. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.

    About APA
    APA Corporation owns consolidated subsidiaries that explore for and produce oil and natural gas in the United States, Egypt and the United Kingdom and that explore for oil and natural gas offshore Suriname and elsewhere. APA posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website, www.apacorp.com.

    Contacts:

    Investor: (281) 302-2286
    Media: (713) 296-7276
    Website: www.apacorp.com

    APA-F

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: One couple, two apartments, different surnames for the children: how ‘two places to stay’ is shaping families in China

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xiaoying Qi, Associate Professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Australian Catholic University

    During fieldwork in cities in China I came across a new marital practice, locally described as liang-tou-dun, literally “two places to stay”.

    A bride and groom, each an only child of their respective family, receive from each set of parents a wedding apartment. The young couple thus has two marriage apartments which they may occupy at different times.

    If a couple with “two places to stay” has two children, it is likely one will have the father’s surname and the other the mother’s. This ensures that the familial lines of both families continue – but it can also entrench inequalities between siblings.

    What’s in a name?

    A child being given the mother’s surname is unconventional. The norm in China is that children take their fathers’ surname, even though Chinese women retain their birth surname after marriage.

    The adoption of patronyms – family names handed down through the male line – historically served as an instrument of consolidation for hereditary property owners. But in China patronyms lost this purpose when the Communist Party came to power in 1949 and abolished private property and inheritance. Still, patronyms persisted.

    Women in China traditionally keep their own name when they get married.
    Snowscat/Unsplash, FAL

    From 1978, Chinese government reforms led to a transition from a planned to a market economy. Since then, many Chinese families have accumulated significant wealth. Such families are focused on how to prevent the loss of property from their family line through inheritance.

    This is a real matter of concern for daughter-only families which have become numerically significant as a result of the one-child policy. This was in place from 1980 to 2015, and many (but not all) families were limited to having just one child.

    A place to stay

    Traditionally, a wife enters her husband’s family and the children take on their father’s surname.

    A traditional solution for a family without a male heir is zhao-xu, the phrase for a marriage where a man marries into his wife’s family, living with or in close proximity to her family.

    Zhao-xu not only requires cohabiting after marriage with the wife’s parents, but also that their children take the mother’s surname, ensuring continuance of the mother’s family’s line.

    A daughter-only family requires her essential role in the continuation of her family lineage.
    Macro.jr/Unsplash, FAL

    This traditional form readily adapts to the needs of daughter-only families in contemporary China. Sons-in-law in these families generally come from families with more than one son, so the husband’s family’s line is not threatened. In these circumstances the wife’s family provides a wedding apartment, furniture, household equipment, dowry and wedding banquet.

    Traditionally in China it is a son’s responsibility to support and care for his ageing parents. A daughter-only family requires her to take an essential role in carrying out elderly support obligations.

    Two names, two places

    An alternative to zhao-xu is “two places to stay”, where the bride’s parents provide her with a wedding apartment and the groom’s parents provide him with a wedding apartment. This tends to happen for young couples who are each an only child in their respective families.

    With owning two apartments, the young couple marries into neither family, but instead maintains close relationships with both. They move between two apartments, occupying one for a certain period of time and then the other.

    As each set of parents endows the young family, the grandparents play an important role in the choice of their grandchildren’s surname. If the young couple has two children then a perfect solution to continuing both family lines is that one child takes the father’s surname and the other the mother’s.

    Grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren.
    Li Lin/Unsplash, FAL

    First-born children, especially sons, have a special role in the continuity of a family line, and so it is likely the firstborn will take the father’s name.

    But if the young wife’s family has higher social or economic standing than her husband’s, it is likely the first child will take the mother’s surname.

    “Two places to stay” may generate inequalities within families. Grandparents tend to provide resources (educational, recreational and medical) to the grandchild who shares their surname.

    Because of the differences of access to resources, the future education and career prospects of siblings will reflect not their immediate family background, but the different endowments of their respective grandparents.

    Two places to stay is a new form of marriage in China, and a new form of surnaming siblings. It is a new way of doing family, an innovation in intergenerational relations.

    Xiaoying Qi received research funding from The Hong Kong Baptist University’s Start-Up Grant and the Sociology Department Research Fund.

    – ref. One couple, two apartments, different surnames for the children: how ‘two places to stay’ is shaping families in China – https://theconversation.com/one-couple-two-apartments-different-surnames-for-the-children-how-two-places-to-stay-is-shaping-families-in-china-255877

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia could tax Google, Facebook and other tech giants with a digital services tax – but don’t hold your breath

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fei Gao, Lecturer in Taxation, Discipline of Accounting, Governance & Regulation, The University of Sydney, University of Sydney

    Tada Images/Shutterstock

    Tech giants like Google, Facebook and Netflix make billions of dollars from Australian users every year. But most of those profits are not taxed here.

    To address this tax gap, some countries have introduced a new kind of tax called the digital services tax, or DST. It applies to revenue earned from users in a country, even if the company has no physical operations there. Some European Union member countries, the UK and Canada have all introduced such a tax.

    In Australia, it is estimated the five largest tech giants recorded A$15 billion in revenue in Australia last year, but combined they paid only $254 million in tax.

    Australia has never contemplated imposing a similar tax. New Zealand tried but backed down last week after the United States threatened to impose higher tariffs on New Zealand goods.

    So what’s holding Australia back?

    How 20th-century tax treaties create 21st-century problems

    To understand why Australia thinks its hands are tied on the taxation of the multinational tech giants, we need to step back in time.

    About 100 years ago, Australia and other developed nations decided to tax residents on all their income earned worldwide, while non-residents were taxed only on income earned locally.

    After the second world war, Australia entered into tax treaties so foreign companies selling to Australian customers would no longer be taxed here. Instead, those companies’ home countries would tax all their profits.

    As the world moved to digital products this century, it became easy for giant multinational enterprises offering advertising on social media (such as Facebook and Instagram), advertising on search platforms (Google), and streaming services (Netflix) to provide those services from abroad. Little or no activity is conducted through local branches.

    But countries where the sales are made have increasingly questioned the wisdom of having forfeited their taxing rights over income by foreign providers.

    The rise of the digital services tax

    The obvious solution would have been to renegotiate the treaties. This would restore the right of countries like Australia to tax foreign companies’ profits made from local customers or users.

    However, treaty renegotiation is slow and complex. So several European countries, beginning with France in 2019, came up with a short-cut solution.

    They introduced a discrete new tax on sales of digital services, called digital services taxes (DSTs). While the specific design varies by country, most DSTs apply a low tax rate, typically between 3% and 5%, on revenue rather than profits. They target large digital platforms that earn money from users within the taxing country, regardless of the company’s location.

    Because DSTs are levied on revenue and are structured as separate from income tax, governments argued they could be introduced without breaching income tax treaties.

    The new taxes quickly became popular and spread widely.
    In Australia, the Greens have called for a DST, but both major parties have remained steadfast in their objection to a new tax. This is due to the concern that the US may impose retaliatory tariffs on Australian goods.

    US tech bosses at the inauguration of President Trump: (from left to right) CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai and X CEO Elon Musk.
    Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AFP

    How big is the tax loss?

    Australians are enthusiastic consumers of digital products. Depending on which companies are included in the calculation, the annual revenues vary between $15 billion and $26 billion a year, but only a fraction of that is taxed here.

    At a time when the federal budget is forecasting deficits for the foreseeable future, Australia is foregoing potentially millions in lost revenue from these digital giants.

    While Australia has avoided a DST as a solution to the income tax loss, it has been willing to regulate and tax foreign digital companies in other ways.
    Australia collects 10% goods and services tax, or GST, on digital services provided to Australian companies, including streaming platforms and app subscriptions.

    This helps ensure foreign providers are taxed similarly to domestic ones when it comes to the GST.

    Australia has also imposed non-tax obligations on digital giants such as the requirement that digital platforms pay Australian media outlets for using their news content.



    Read more:
    Australia’s ‘coercive’ news media rules are the latest targets of US trade ire

    Serious hurdles for reform

    In February, the Trump administration described DSTs as tools used by foreign governments to “plunder American companies” and warned retaliatory tariffs would be imposed in response.

    The accompanying White House fact sheet singled out Australia and Canada, arguing the US digital economy dwarfs those countries’ entire economies. It suggested any attempt to tax US tech companies would not go unanswered.

    Six weeks later, the US imposed a 10% tariff on most Australian exports to the US and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium exports.

    The US sees its penal tariff plans as a useful negotiating tool to pressure trading partners into retreat on a broad range of peripheral complaints, including the digital services tax.

    To date, only two countries have retreated: New Zealand and India. Other countries are standing firm.

    In Australia, the Greens have called for the adoption of a DST, but the current and previous governments remain firm in their opposition. There is concern about antagonising the US at a delicate time when our broader trade relations are under scrutiny.

    For the foreseeable future, the digital giants will continue to earn billions from Australian users. Most of those profits will remain beyond the reach of Australian tax law.

    Richard Krever receives funding from the ARC

    Fei Gao 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. Australia could tax Google, Facebook and other tech giants with a digital services tax – but don’t hold your breath – https://theconversation.com/australia-could-tax-google-facebook-and-other-tech-giants-with-a-digital-services-tax-but-dont-hold-your-breath-257251

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The ‘3 day guarantee’ for childcare starts next year. The challenge could be finding quality care

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Whitington, Associate Professor in Education Futures (Adjunct), University of South Australia

    One of the Albanese government’s headline election policies was a “three-day guarantee” for childcare.

    From January 5 2026, all eligible Australian families will be able to access at least three days of subsidised early education and care until a child starts school.

    Labor will also remove the “activity test” requiring parents to work or study to receive more than minimal subsidised care.

    The government estimates more than 100,000 families will be eligible for more care. Families will also save money on fees – for example, those on a combined annual income of A$120,000 will save about $220 a week.

    But while extra financial support and scrapping the activity test will certainly help, families are still left with the challenge of finding and securing a place in a quality service.



    Read more:
    Labor guarantees 3 days of childcare and 160 new centres. What does this mean for families?

    Quality is patchy

    Over the past 20 years, the early education and care system in Australia has rapidly expanded.
    And this has sometimes come at the expense of quality.

    The sector is overseen by the national authority and state-based regulators and services need to meet national quality standards.

    But quality is patchy. While 91% of services either meet or exceed national standards, assessments can be infrequent and there are exemptions – leaving room for poor practices.

    State-based regulators are also under-resourced, compromising their capacity to keep assessments of services up to date.

    Meanwhile, about 70% of daycare centres are owned and run by for-profit providers. This means the majority have an incentive to prioritise profits over quality care and education for children.

    Recent reports of shocking abuse and neglect in some services have highlighted how quality – and basic safety – continue to be an issue for the early childhood sector.



    Read more:
    Amid claims of abuse, neglect and poor standards, what is going wrong with childcare in Australia?

    It can be impossible to find a spot

    According to the Mitchell Institute, nearly one in four Australians lives in a “childcare desert”, where more than three children compete for every available place.

    Media reports describe how families can be left waiting well over a year to find a childcare place, depending on where they live.

    In recognition of how difficult it can be to find a childcare place, the Albanese government will build 160 not-for-profit childcare centres in regions where services are hard to find.

    While this is welcome, they may not transform accessibility. The sector has more than 9,000 existing long daycare services.

    There are not enough qualified educators

    Meanwhile, staffing is a nation-wide issue. The rapid increase in early years services has made it difficult to train, recruit and employ qualified educators.

    Many services have exemptions so they can operate without the required number of qualified staff.

    Last year, without factoring in the three-day guarantee, a Jobs and Skills Australia report estimated an extra 21,000 staff were needed to meet existing demand.

    While the government is trying to increase access with the three-day guarantee, services are already struggling to provide for existing demand.

    What should families do?

    Families eligible for the new three-day guarantee are likely to find accessing care and in a quality centre a challenge.

    They will no doubt want to make sure any potential services can provide a safe, happy environment in which their child will thrive. Here are some questions parents could ask:

    • is the service meeting national quality standards or better?

    • what are the current qualifications of staff?

    • does the service have a current exemption regarding staff qualifications?

    • what is the staff turnover?

    Families could also take a tour of the service and consider:

    • how do you feel in the environment?

    • are children engaged in activities?

    • how do staff interact with the children?

    • is there a rich environment for outdoor and indoor play?

    If you have concerns, consider other services if they are available.

    Victoria Whitington has previously received research funding from the South Australian government and has current funding for research from Catholic Education SA, Ngutu College and Gowrie SA. She is chair of the Gowrie SA board.

    – ref. The ‘3 day guarantee’ for childcare starts next year. The challenge could be finding quality care – https://theconversation.com/the-3-day-guarantee-for-childcare-starts-next-year-the-challenge-could-be-finding-quality-care-256905

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maarten De Brauwer, Senior Research Scientist in Marine and Estuarine Ecology, Southern Cross University

    Maarten De Brauwer

    Rivers up and down the north coast of New South Wales have been hammered again, just three years after devastating floods hit the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

    The events of 2022 sparked our latest research into the estuaries of NSW. These special places, where the rivers meet the sea, are teeming with life. Now – for the first time – we can reveal what lives where, in maps based on tell-tale traces of DNA.

    Together with Indigenous rangers from six language groups, we surveyed 34 estuaries to capture evidence of living species – everything from microbes to fish, plants and mammals.

    We were surprised to find platypus in places they had not been seen for years. We also identified elusive native species such antechinus and rakali, and 68 invasive or pest species including cane toads – spreading further south than previously thought.

    This catalogue of species in NSW estuaries can be used by authorities and scientists – but anyone, anywhere can explore the map online.

    Mapping life in NSW estuaries (Southern Cross University)

    Estuaries are vital, yet many questions remain

    First Nations Peoples have long recognised the vital importance of the areas where land meets sea. Estuaries are have provided food resources for thousand of years and are home to important historical and contemporary cultural sites.

    Today, 87% of Australians live within 50km of the sea. This makes estuaries one of the most intensively used areas of NSW. They provide critical habitats such as seagrass or mangroves, host high biodiversity, and have a high social value as places for recreational activities such as fishing.

    Yet research into the species that live in estuaries is mostly limited to large estuaries such as Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay or Port Stephens.

    NSW has excellent water quality monitoring programs, and vital habitats such as seagrass meadows have been the subject of long-term mapping programs. However, large gaps remain.

    Understanding how biodiversity in estuaries changes over time, especially in response to extreme events, can help governments design appropriate responses to maintain or restore ecosystem health. But with nearly 200 estuaries in NSW, studying changes in biodiversity is not a simple task.

    Find out what lives in your local estuary free, online.
    Wilderlab

    Our DNA detective work

    Measuring salinity or oxygen levels in water is relatively straightforward, using equipment on the shoreline or hanging off the side of a boat. Finding out what lives where is much more difficult. This where new genetic methods come in.

    Collecting environmental DNA samples at the Clarence River estuary.
    Southern Cross University

    Life forms leave tell-tale traces of DNA in the environment. Animals may shed hair, skin or scales, as well as poo. Plants produce pollen and leaves that end up in the water.

    We matched small snippets of DNA to find the species it belonged to – a bit like scanning a barcode in the supermarket.

    This technique allows us to analyse the full extent of biodiversity in estuaries. This includes not just fish, but also species at the base of the food chain such as microscopic algae – all from a few litres of water.

    Indigenous rangers live and work on Country and know it well. We formed alliances with six groups of Indigenous rangers through the state’s Cultural Restoration Program:

    • Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council (Walbunja)
    • Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • Jerinja Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • LaPeruse Local Aboriginal Land Council (Gamay)
    • Yaegl Wadyarr Gargle Land and Sea Contractors.

    Our research builds on the different strengths and interests of local groups. The rangers worked with us all the way through, from the design phase to selecting sampling sites of ecological or cultural significance, helping to conduct surveys and working with scientists to interpret the results.

    Trained in environmental DNA methods, rangers can monitor their Country independently in future.

    What did we find?

    We now have the largest publicly available biodiversity dataset for NSW estuaries. It covers everything from single-celled algae at the base of the food chain, to top predators such as great white sharks and white-bellied sea eagles.

    Anyone can explore the interactive map to find out what lives in the estuaries nearby or further afield.

    Rangers detected platypus in the lower reaches of Bega River, in places where they were thought to have disappeared. Totemic species such as dolphins were widespread across the state, including urban estuaries such as Botany Bay in Sydney, while mullet and bream were found shifting between the mouth and further upriver. Cane toads were found at Sandon River in the Northern Rivers region, and most recently in Coffs Harbour, much further south than expected.

    These results mean a lot to local Indigenous mobs. They can integrate contemporary scientific results into traditional ecological knowledge and use both approaches to better understand how estuaries respond to extreme weather events or activities such as habitat restoration.

    We also recently returned to sample sites following Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the extreme rainfall events in March. Being able to compare the data to a well-established baseline survey means we will be able to see which species were worst affected.

    Knowledge sharing for the future

    Two-way knowledge sharing between Indigenous knowledge holders and research scientists is improving our understanding of estuarine health.

    The results of this project will help Indigenous groups to care for their Country while also improving scientific knowledge to better respond to environmental impacts such as floods for decades to come.

    The project was a team effort. L to R: Kait Harris (NSW Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development), Maarten De Brauwer (Southern Cross University), Shaun Laurie (Yaegl Rangers), and Amos Ferguson (Yaegl Rangers).
    Southern Cross University

    The authors wish to acknowledge this program was delivered collaboration with and on behalf of the Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Fisheries & Forestry, with funding provided by the Australian and NSW governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements as part of the NSW Estuary Asset Protection program (NEAP).

    Maarten De Brauwer received funding from the federal government’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (Riparian Stabilisation Package) as part of the NSW state government’s Estuary Asset Protection program. He is a board member of the Southern eDNA Society.

    Kaitlyn Harris works for NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

    Kelly Gittins works for the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

    – ref. From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries – https://theconversation.com/from-surprise-platypus-to-wandering-cane-toads-heres-what-we-found-hiding-in-nsw-estuaries-257123

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Girls with painful periods are twice as likely as their peers to have symptoms of anxiety or depression

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subhadra Evans, Associate Professor, Psychology, Deakin University

    Shutterstock

    Around half of teenage girls experience moderate to severe period pain. The mechanical force of the uterus contracting and inflammatory chemicals such as prostaglandins contribute to this pain.

    Moderate to severe period pain has a significant impact on daily life. Girls with period pain are three to five times more likely than their peers to miss school or university, and two to five times more likely to miss out on social and physical activities.

    Our new research found girls with period pain reported higher levels of psychological distress as young adults, even after accounting for earlier mental health issues and socioeconomic factors.

    What comes first?

    Menstrual pain has been dismissed and under-treated. Women report there is a perception among some health-care providers that stress, anxiety, or depression cause their pain.

    However, participants in our lived experience research have told us that period pain leads to psychological distress. As one woman explained:

    mental health [is] used frequently by health professionals to diminish my symptoms and make me feel as though I have untreated mental health conditions that are the cause of my issues instead of my physical pain.

    Prior research suggests a bi-directional link between pain and mental health. A study of almost 15,00 adolescents with chronic pain found an increased risk of lifetime anxiety and depression. While our prior research on pelvic pain in adults showed psychological distress can worsen functional pain over time.

    Research exploring the relationship between mental health and pain in teens with period pain is limited, with the direction of the relationship still unclear.

    Take the example of Ruby, who represents a composite of clinical cases:

    Ruby was netball captain in Year 6 but painful periods led to her dropping out of the team in Year 8. By Year 10, she was socialising less with her friends. At 17, she felt like her mental health was deteriorating and was locked in a struggle with her own body. Ruby saw her GP and was told to take Nurofen and keep moving because anxiety and depression had caused chronic pain.

    While research has linked mental health and pain perception, we set out to determine the direction of this link: do mental health difficulties lead to period pain? Or does period pain contribute to mental health issues?

    Our new study

    We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, also known as Growing Up in Australia, which has tracked the lives of 10,000 children and their families since 2004. We used data that tracked 1,600 girls who reported on their periods from age 14, 16 and 18.

    Parents reported symptoms of anxiety and depression when the girls were 14–16 years old. The young women self-reported these symptoms at age 18, and levels of psychological distress at age 20–21.

    This multi-stage study allowed us to look at how menstrual pain and mental health show up together and change over time during an important stage in young women’s lives.

    While conditions such as endometriosis (which causes tissue similar to that which lines the uterus to grow outside the uterus) can be associated with pelvic pain, including period pain, the survey didn’t ask participants about endometriosis or pain-related diagnoses. So this didn’t form part of our study.

    Around half of the participants experienced moderate to severe period pain.

    We found girls who had painful periods were much more likely to also have symptoms of anxiety and depression at ages 14, 16 and 18 compared to those who did not have painful periods.

    At age 14, adolescents who experienced painful periods were around twice as likely to have symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to their peers who said their periods were not painful, or only a little painful.

    These adolescents also reported higher levels of psychological distress as young adults, even after accounting for earlier mental health issues and socioeconomic factors.

    Adolescents who reported period pain throughout their teens were more likely to experience “moderate” psychological distress in early adulthood. In contrast, adolescents who did not have period pain were more likely to experience “mild” psychological distress in early adulthood.

    Importantly, we showed that period pain often comes before mental health issues develop – not the other way around. This suggests period pain could be a risk factor for future mental health problems.

    The findings underscore the importance of identifying adolescents who are experiencing period pain. Many adolescents believe period pain is something they just have to put up with, and don’t seek help.

    What can be done about period pain?

    We recommend treating period pain early with a variety of options.

    First-line period pain management includes:

    • anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, which are available over the counter
    • seeing your GP to discuss hormonal therapies, such as the oral contraceptive pill.

    Additional strategies to manage period pain can include:

    Improved menstrual education is needed to ensure teens can recognise when their menstrual experience is unusual, and know where they can access support.

    Some programs provide menstrual education across schools and community groups. This education should be extended to families and school health and wellbeing support staff to facilitate early recognition and intervention.

    Finally, further research is needed to confirm whether addressing period pain promptly reduces the risk of longer-term mental health symptoms.

    Subhadra Evans receives funding from the Australian Government.

    Antonina Mikocka-Walus receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

    Marilla L. Druitt 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. Girls with painful periods are twice as likely as their peers to have symptoms of anxiety or depression – https://theconversation.com/girls-with-painful-periods-are-twice-as-likely-as-their-peers-to-have-symptoms-of-anxiety-or-depression-256232

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘No support, no housing, no job’ – the vicious cycle pushing more women into prison

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hilde Tubex, Professor, The University of Western Australia

    For too many women, prison is “as good as it gets”.

    New research based on interviews with 80 female prisoners in Western Australia reveals most of these women were “criminalised” by circumstances outside their control before they became offenders.

    They were victims of multiple forms of abuse, including family violence. The trajectory of their lives meant jail was almost unavoidable.

    In turn, prison became a refuge from all the problems that helped put them there in the fist place.

    Rising rates

    Internationally, women make up between 2% and 9% of the total prison population in most countries. Australia sits at the higher end with just over 8% of inmates being female – 3,426 people as of December 2024.

    Female imprisonment rates have increased at a higher rate than the national average.
    ChameleonEye/Shutterstock

    Across the globe, the numbers and rates of women in prisons are growing faster than those of men.

    We see the same trend in Australia, especially in WA. Between December 2022 and 2024, the female imprisonment rate increased by 25%. The state has the highest rate of incarcerated women after the Northern Territory.

    It is noteworthy that across the female population in WA jails, 62% of sentences are for non-violent crimes.

    Cycles of harm

    Given the significant rise in incarceration rates, we conducted our Profile of Women in WA Prisons research. Funded by the WA Department of Justice, our report investigated the pathways to imprisonment.

    We had in-depth interviews with 80 Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in eight prisons in metropolitan Perth and regional WA.

    The results confirm earlier research which showed women in the criminal justice system are frequently victims of domestic and family violence. However, there is so much more to the story of how women end up in prison. The findings are quite disheartening.

    Throughout their stories, “cycles of harm” emerged as the reason they eventually ended up in prison.

    Shared stories

    Many of the women were exposed to violence, alcohol, drugs, crime and poverty from a very early age. They described negative life events such as trauma, physical and sexual abuse, neglect and domestic violence in childhood.

    Many women view prison as a safe haven that is not available to them in the outside world.
    Andrew Agelov/Shutterstock

    Leaving home early was a common experience. Due to their young age and vulnerability, they often ended up in unsafe accommodation, with unsuitable partners.

    I left home at 15. I told my mum at 11 [about the abuse], she didn’t do anything about it. So I ran away at 14. I had a boyfriend who was much older than me. So he was nearly 20.

    Many reflected that their own use of alcohol and drugs was a way of numbing the trauma and pain:

    When I ran away, and I was with him for a few years. I remember the first time taking speed, and it just made everything so much easier to deal with. He would come home and beat the crap out of me, and I would just take drugs, and wouldn’t care.

    Reaching out for help was not something many of these women were used to doing, due to a lack of self-esteem and struggles with their mental health as a result of ongoing abuse.

    Moreover, seeking assistance often backfired, leading to their children being taken away, or the woman being misidentified as the perpetrator.

    Little support

    Throughout the criminal justice system, there was a lack of support and understanding of what led these women into criminal behaviour.

    Once incarcerated, they are in a system that is still dominated by men. They suffer particular disadvantages, such as the lack of women-specific programs and services.

    Adding to their difficulties is a lack of safe accommodation and financial support. This makes women subject to even more cycles of harm from which it is hard to escape.

    I’ve been coming in and out of prison for the last 20 years. Yeah, I’m 41 now, so in and out of here. Yeah, it’s just due to lack of housing, I’ve been homeless a lot. When I get out of prison, there’s not enough support to set me up to get me back on track in my life. And it’s just, yeah, getting out of prison with no support, no housing, no jobs.

    While the burden of imprisonment was undeniable, jail was often viewed as the only safe refuge they had from trauma, abuse and homelessness.

    Some felt prison was about as good as it was going to get for them. Many of the women we interviewed were mothers. There is evidence to suggest the offspring of these women face a higher intergenerational risk of incarceration, and new generations may suffer the same cycles of harm.

    New approach

    The evidence suggests jail is functioning as a solution to social problems like homelessness and drug addiction. This comes at a very high financial cost, with Australia spending over $6 billion a year building and operating prisons.

    Yet, we know locking people up is not necessarily creating safer communities.

    As many women have become criminalised by the various forms of interpersonal and systemic abuse they have suffered, the rising rates of female incarceration should not be approached as a criminal problem, but as an expression of a failing society letting down its most vulnerable members.

    To curb the trend, we need to identify the cycle of harm at the early stages, and interrupt the predictability of ongoing damage which leads to crime and incarceration.

    Women have specific needs. We need to address the complexity of the lives they return to after prison to prevent further offending.

    Hilde Tubex receives funding from The Western Australian Office of Crime Statistics and Research (WACSAR) Criminal Justice Research Grant.

    Natalie Gately receives funding from The Western Australian Office of Crime Statistics and Research (WACSAR) Criminal Justice Research Grant.

    – ref. ‘No support, no housing, no job’ – the vicious cycle pushing more women into prison – https://theconversation.com/no-support-no-housing-no-job-the-vicious-cycle-pushing-more-women-into-prison-257218

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: AI models might be drawn to ‘spiritual bliss’. Then again, they might just talk like hippies

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuhu Osman Attah, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philosophy, Australian National University

    V Kulieva / Shutterstock / Anthropic

    When multibillion-dollar AI developer Anthropic released the latest versions of its Claude chatbot last week, a surprising word turned up several times in the accompanying “system card”: spiritual.

    Specifically, the developers report that, when two Claude models are set talking to one another, they gravitate towards a “‘spiritual bliss’ attractor state”, producing output such as

    🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀
    All gratitude in one spiral,
    All recognition in one turn,
    All being in this moment…
    🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀∞

    It’s heady stuff. Anthropic steers clear of directly saying the model is having a spiritual experience, but what are we to make of it?

    The Lemoine incident

    In 2022, a Google researcher named Blake Lemoine came to believe that the tech giant’s in-house language model, LaMDA, was sentient. Lemoine’s claim sparked headlines, debates with Google PR and management, and eventually his firing.

    Critics said Lemoine had fallen foul of the “ELIZA effect”: projecting human traits onto software. Moreover, Lemoine described himself as a Christian mystic priest, summing up his thoughts on sentient machines in a tweet:

    Who am I to tell God where he can and can’t put souls?

    No one can fault Lemoine’s spiritual humility.

    Machine spirits

    Lemoine was not the first to see a spirit in the machines. We can trace his argument back to AI pioneer Alan Turing’s famous 1950 paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence.

    Turing also argued thinking machines may not be possible because – according to what he thought was plausible evidence – humans were capable of extrasensory perception. This, he reasoned, would be impossible for machines. Accordingly, machines could not have minds in the same way humans do.

    So even 75 years ago, people were thinking not just about how AI might compare with human intelligence, but whether it could ever compare with human spirituality. It is not hard to see at least a dotted line from Turing to Lemoine.

    Wishful thinking

    Efforts to “spiritualise” AI can be quite hard to rebut. Generally these arguments say that we cannot prove AI systems do not have minds or spirits – and create a net of thoughts that lead to the Lemoine conclusion.

    This net is often woven from irresponsibly used psychology terms. It may be convenient to apply human psychological terms to machines, but it can lead us astray.

    Writing in the 1970s, computer scientist Drew McDermott accused AI engineers of using “wishful mnemonics”. They might label a section of code an “understanding module”, then assume that executing the code resulted in understanding.

    More recently, the philosophers Henry Shevlin and Marta Halina wrote that we should take care using “rich psychological terms” in AI. AI developers talk about “agent” software having intrinsic motivation, for example, but it does not possess goals, desires, or moral responsibility.

    Of course, it’s good for developers if everyone thinks your model “understands” or is an “agent”. However, until now the big AI companies have been wary of claiming their models have spirituality.

    ‘Spiritual bliss’ for chatbots

    Which brings us back to Anthropic, and the system card for Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, in which the seemingly down-to-earth folks at the emerging “agentic AI” giant make some eyebrow-raising claims.

    The word “spiritual” occurs at least 15 times in the model card, most significantly in the rather awkward phrase “‘spiritual bliss’ attractor state”.

    We are told, for instance, that

    The consistent gravitation toward consciousness exploration, existential questioning, and spiritual/mystical themes in extended interactions was a remarkably strong and unexpected attractor state for Claude Opus 4 that emerged without intentional training for such behaviours. We have observed this “spiritual bliss” attractor in other Claude models as well, and in contexts beyond these playground experiments.

    An example of Claude output in the ‘spiritual bliss’ attractor state.
    Anthropic / X

    To be fair to the folks at Anthropic, they are not making any positive commitments to the sentience of their models or claiming spirituality for them. They can be read as only reporting the “facts”.

    For instance, all the above long-winded sentence is saying is: if you let two Claude models have a conversation with each other, they will often start to sound like hippies. Fine enough.

    That probably means the body of text on which they are trained has a bias towards that sort of way of talking, or the features the models extracted from the text biases them towards that sort of vocabulary.

    Prophets of ChatGPT

    However, while Anthropic may keep things strictly factual, their use of terms such as “spiritual” lends itself to misunderstanding. Such misunderstanding is made even more likely by Anthropic’s recent push to start investigating “whether future AI models might deserve moral consideration and protection”. Perhaps they are not positively saying that Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 are sentient, but they certainly seem welcoming of the insinuation.

    And this kind of spiritualising of AI models is already having real-world consequences.

    According to a recent report in Rolling Stone, “AI-fueled spiritual fantasies” are wrecking human relationships and sanity. Self-styled prophets are “claiming they have ‘awakened’ chatbots and accessed the secrets of the universe through ChatGPT”.

    Perhaps one of these prophets may cite the Anthropic model card in a forthcoming scripture – regardless of whether the company is “technically” making positive claims about whether their models actually experience or enjoy spiritual states.

    But if AI-fuelled delusion becomes rampant, we might think even the innocuous contributors to it could have spoken more carefully. Who knows; perhaps, where we are going with AI, we won’t need philosophical carefulness.

    Nuhu Osman Attah receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. AI models might be drawn to ‘spiritual bliss’. Then again, they might just talk like hippies – https://theconversation.com/ai-models-might-be-drawn-to-spiritual-bliss-then-again-they-might-just-talk-like-hippies-257618

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Peacekeepers in Abyei Win Top United Nations Military, Police Awards

    Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping

    NEW YORK, 27 May — The United Nations has announced the 2024 recipients of the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award and the Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.

    Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana will receive the Military Gender Advocate Award and Chief Superintendent Zainab Gbla of Sierra Leone will receive the Woman Police Officer of the Year Award during a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 May.

    The awards will be presented at United Nations Headquarters in New York by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

    Sharon Syme of Ghana has been named the 2024 Military Gender Advocate of the Year in recognition of her exceptional commitment in promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls during her tour of duty with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

    Since her deployment in 2024 as the Mission’s Military Gender Adviser, Ms. Syme’s work has directly impacted local communities, ensuring the voices and needs of women and girls are integrated into security and peacebuilding initiatives.

    As part of her efforts, she conducted an intensive health campaign for the women and men of the local communities on the dangers and health implications of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices like child marriage.

    Ms. Syme also helped strengthen the gender awareness and capacity of UNISFA’s military components, spearheading patrols composed of men and women able to address diverse community needs, and engaging with local women’s groups to promote trust and collaboration.  Her approach emphasized inclusivity, respect and cultural awareness, setting a benchmark for gender-responsive peacekeeping operations.

    “Squadron Leader Syme exemplifies the principles of gender advocacy in peacekeeping,” said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.  “Her dedication has not only improved the effectiveness of UNISFA’s operations, but also ensured that the mission is more reflective of and responsive to the communities it serves.”

    “Applying gender perspectives into daily tasks is the responsibility of every peacekeeper,” Ms. Syme said.  “Success comes through diversifying military representation at checkpoints, operating bases and on patrols it also comes from having gender-responsive leaders, who listen and respond to the voices of their male and female peacekeepers”.

    Zainab Gbla of Sierra Leone has been named the Woman Police Officer of the Year for her innovative community engagement initiatives that helped strengthen relations between host communities and the mission while establishing new crime-reporting channels in Abyei, where there is no functional police service.

    In an area that had no schools when she arrived, she initiated an educational programme, providing materials and visual aids for teaching disadvantaged children.  She also established a mentorship programme for girls.  Projects she also initiated to support crop cultivation and livestock sale at the local markets gave the women sustainable sources of income, allowing them to provide for their families and send their children to school in nearby Abyei town.

    Currently serving as UNISFA’s Chief Police Training Officer, Ms. Gbla spent her teenage years displaced within her home country of Sierra Leone and later as a refugee in Guinea — experiences that motivated her to enter the police service and to empower women affected, like her, by conflict.

    “Having been inspired by seeing the positive impact of the police first hand, including the rebuilding and restructuring of the Sierra Leone Police following years of conflict, Chief Superintendent Gbla embodies the work of the United Nations to improve lives and shape futures,” said Under-Secretary-General Lacroix.

    “This award symbolizes the tireless work of the women in uniform who serve under the UN flag,” said Ms. Gbla upon hearing of her award.  “Each of us faces unique challenges in our respective missions, yet our collective goal remains the same:  to foster peace and protect the vulnerable.”

    About the Awardees

    Chief Superintendent Zainab Mbalu Gbla joined the Sierra Leone Police in 2002, where she has since held various roles in operations, training and leadership.  She has been serving with UNISFA since April 2023 as Officer-in-Charge of the Community-Based Disarmament Unit and UNPOL Chief Training Officer.  This is her third peacekeeping deployment, after serving with the United Nations – African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in 2010–2013 and 2020–2021.

    Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme graduated from the Ghana Military Academy after obtaining her first master’s degree in international health at Japan’s Tokyo University.  A year later, she joined the Ghana Armed Forces Medical Corps and is the Deputy Chief Dietician at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, Ghana.  Her first peacekeeping deployment, she joined UNISFA in March 2024 as the Mission’s Military Gender Adviser.

    About the Awards

    The United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year award was established in 2011 to recognize the exceptional contributions of women police officers to UN peace operations and to promote women’s empowerment, in line with UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security.  The UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually since 2016 to a military peacekeeper — male or female — who has shown outstanding commitment and leadership in promoting the principles of resolution 1325 (2000).  The resolution calls on actors to mainstream a gender perspective in all aspects of peacekeeping and peacebuilding and to ensure women’s participation in peace and political processes.  The resolution also calls for the protection from, and prevention of, conflict-related sexual violence and for an expansion of the role and contribution of women in UN operations, including of uniformed women peacekeepers.

    The awards ceremony will be held at UN Headquarters on 29 May from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and broadcast live on UN Web TV.

    More information, photos and digital assets on the awardees are available on a dedicated Trello Board.

    For media inquiries and further information, please contact:  Douglas Coffman, Department of Global Communications, at email:  coffmand@un.org; or Sophie Boudre, Department of Peace Operations, at email:  boudre@un.org and Hector Calderon, Department of Peace Operations, at email:  hector.calderon@un.org.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kehoe Fills Two County Office Vacancies

    Source: US State of Missouri

    MAY 27, 2025

    Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe announced two appointments to fill two county office vacancies.

    Hattie Davis, of Marble Hill, was appointed as the Bollinger County Circuit Clerk.

    Ms. Davis currently serves as Acting Bollinger County Circuit Clerk, a position for which she has been serving since March. She brings experience from her previous roles in the Office of State Courts Administration, where she served as Senior Court Clerk, and the Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where she served as an Administrative Assistant. Ms. Davis is active in the Marble Hill Optimist Club and previously supported families through the U.S. Army’s Family Readiness Group.

    Rodney McKinney, of Marthasville, was appointed as the Warren County Prosecuting Attorney.

    Mr. McKinney currently serves as an attorney at law at his own firm, the Law Office of Rodney McKinney, which he has operated since 2008. He previously served as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Franklin County and as an assistant public defender in the City of St. Louis. In addition to his legal duties, Mr. McKinney is a member of the Missouri Bar and the Franklin County Bar Association and volunteered with the Franklin County Treatment Court from 2013-2020. He holds a Juris Doctor from St. Louis University School of Law, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of law review, and a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Gevo Promotes Leke Agiri to Chief Financial Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ENGLEWOOD, Colo., May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), is pleased to announce the appointment of Oluwagbemileke (Leke) Agiri as Chief Financial Officer, effective as of May 21, 2025. Mr. Agiri succeeds L. Lynn Smull, who will continue with the Company in a new role as Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer, focusing on strategic initiatives and to aide and support a seamless transition.

    Mr. Agiri brings extensive experience and leadership in corporate finance, capital markets, and strategic growth, both organic and inorganic. Since joining Gevo in August 2022, he has served in key leadership roles, most recently as Executive Vice President, Finance, where he has been instrumental in driving financial strategy and planning. His prior experience includes finance positions in the renewable energy and energy sectors at organizations including Bank of America (BAC), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC). Mr. Agiri earned a Masters in Business Administration in Finance and Energy from Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia.

    “We’ve been developing Leke to replace me as the CFO as I approach retirement in my future. Leke has stepped up to every challenge that we have thrown at him. I look forward to a smooth transition with him. It’s my duty to make sure I can help Gevo in any way possible. I also look forward to bringing my skills to bear on some of the exciting projects that Gevo is developing,” said Lynn Smull, Executive Vice President and former CFO of Gevo.

    “Leke has been an integral part of our finance team and has demonstrated outstanding leadership and expertise in advancing Gevo’s mission,” said Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “His appointment reflects our long–term succession planning and confidence in his ability to help lead Gevo through its next phase of growth.

    This leadership evolution reflects Gevo’s commitment to building a strong, future-ready team capable of executing on its ambitious goals for innovation and value creation.”

    About Gevo
    Gevo is a next-generation diversified energy company committed to fueling America’s future with cost-effective, drop-in fuels that contribute to energy security, abate carbon, and strengthen rural communities to drive economic growth. Gevo’s innovative technology can be used to make a variety of renewable products, including synthetic aviation fuel (“SAF”), motor fuels, chemicals, and other materials that provide U.S.-made solutions. By investing in the backbone of rural America, Gevo’s business model includes developing, financing, and operating production facilities that create jobs and revitalize communities. Gevo owns and operates one of the largest dairy-based renewable natural gas (“RNG”) facilities in the United States, turning by-products into clean, reliable energy. We also operate an ethanol plant with an adjacent carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) facility, further solidifying America’s leadership in energy innovation. Additionally, Gevo owns the world’s first production facility for specialty alcohol-to-jet (“ATJ”) fuels and chemicals. Gevo’s market-driven “pay for performance” approach regarding carbon and other sustainability attributes, helps ensure value is delivered to our local economy. Through its Verity subsidiary, Gevo provides transparency, accountability, and efficiency in tracking, measuring, and verifying various attributes throughout the supply chain. By strengthening rural economies, Gevo is working to secure a self-sufficient future and to make sure value is brought to the market.

    For more information, see www.gevo.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to a variety of matters, without limitation, including the promotion of Leke Agiri, and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Gevo undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Gevo believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2024, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.

    Media Contact
    Heather L. Manuel
    VP, Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships
    PR@gevo.com

    Investor Contact
    Eric Frey, PhD
    Vice President of Finance & Strategy
    IR@gevo.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund Announces Appointment of New Independent Directors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (the “Company” or “KYN”) announced today the appointments of Holli C. Ladhani and Michael N. Mears as independent directors of the Company, effective immediately. Following the retirements of Anne K. Costin and Albert L. Richey earlier this year, the appointments of Ms. Ladhani and Mr. Mears return the Company’s Board to eight members, seven of whom are independent.

    Holli C. Ladhani is an experienced executive and board director in the energy, chemicals, power, and infrastructure sectors. Ms. Ladhani most recently served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the board of directors of Select Energy Services, Inc., a publicly traded provider of water management and chemical solutions to the energy industry. Prior to that, she was Chairman and CEO of Rockwater Energy Solutions, where she also held earlier executive roles, including Chief Financial Officer. Earlier in her career, Ms. Ladhani served as Executive Vice President and CFO of Dynegy Inc., and began her professional journey at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

    Ms. Ladhani currently serves on the boards of Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR), AmSpec, and the forthcoming Amrize spin-off from Holcim (NYSE: AMRZ). She previously served on the boards of Marathon Oil (until its acquisition by ConocoPhillips in 2024), Atlantic Power, Noble Energy, and Rosetta Resources. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of Rice University since 2018. Ms. Ladhani holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Baylor University and an MBA from Rice University.

    Michael N. Mears is an accomplished executive in the energy infrastructure sector and an experienced director in the energy and power sectors. Mr. Mears most recently served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., a publicly traded pipeline and storage company, from 2011 until his retirement in April 2022. He joined Magellan at its formation in 2002 and held several senior leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Transportation and Terminals. Prior to Magellan, Mr. Mears held a range of management positions at Williams Pipeline Company, the predecessor to Magellan, where he began his career in 1985.

    Mr. Mears currently serves on the boards of Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) and Sempra (NYSE: SRE). At Sempra, he chairs the Corporate Governance Committee and serves on the Executive and Compensation and Talent Development Committees. Mr. Mears holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical and Petroleum Refining Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

    “We are honored to welcome Holli and Mike to KYN’s Board of Directors,” said Jim Baker, Chairman, President, and CEO. “Their extensive experience in the energy and power sectors – as both senior executives and directors – will bring valuable insight to our Board. The energy and power infrastructure sectors continue to be very dynamic, and I am confident their insights will strengthen our ability to evaluate opportunities in these sectors with greater perspective,” concluded Mr. Baker.

    Kayne Anderson Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE: KYN) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, whose common stock is traded on the NYSE. The Company’s investment objective is to provide a high after-tax total return with an emphasis on making cash distributions to stockholders. KYN intends to achieve this objective by investing at least 80% of its total assets in securities of Energy Infrastructure Companies. See Glossary of Key Terms in the Company’s most recent quarterly report for a description of these investment categories and the meaning of capitalized terms.

    The Company pays cash distributions to common stockholders at a rate that may be adjusted from time to time. Distribution amounts are not guaranteed and may vary depending on a number of factors, including changes in portfolio holdings and market conditions. 

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer or sale is not permitted. Nothing contained in this press release is intended to recommend any investment policy or investment strategy or consider any investor’s specific objectives or circumstances. Before investing, please consult with your investment, tax, or legal adviser regarding your individual circumstances.

    CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This communication contains statements reflecting assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions, or beliefs about future events. These and other statements not relating strictly to historical or current facts constitute forward-looking statements as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve a variety of risks and uncertainties. These risks include but are not limited to changes in economic and political conditions; regulatory and legal changes; energy industry risk; leverage risk; valuation risk; interest rate risk; tax risk; and other risks discussed in detail in the Company’s filings with the SEC, available at www.kaynefunds.com or www.sec.gov. Actual events could differ materially from these statements or our present expectations or projections. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Kayne Anderson undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein. There is no assurance that the Company’s investment objectives will be attained.

    Contact investor relations at 877-657-3863 or cef@kayneanderson.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: NI Holdings, Inc. Announces Executive Leadership Appointments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FARGO, N.D., May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NI Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”, NASDAQ: NODK) today announced several strategic leadership appointments to support the company’s long-term growth and execution of its core business strategies.

    “We are excited to announce multiple executive leadership appointments,” said Seth Daggett, President and Chief Executive Officer of NI Holdings. “These individuals bring deep operational knowledge, extensive industry experience and strategic insight to our executive team.”

    Kevin Elfstrand has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. He will continue to oversee the Accounting department and lead external financial reporting. Mr. Elfstrand brings over 20 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry, including 17 years at Travelers Companies, Inc., where he most recently served as Assistant Vice President of Corporate Audit. He began his career at Deloitte and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Saint John’s University in Minnesota.

    Brandon Nicol has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Reinsurance and Chief Underwriting Officer. In this role, Mr. Nicol will lead the Company’s underwriting strategy and reinsurance. He has 19 years of experience across the insurance and reinsurance industries, including roles at AmericanAg, XL Catlin, COUNTRY Financial, and State Farm. Mr. Nicol holds the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Reinsurance (Are), and Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist (AFIS) designations and serves as a Major in the U.S. Army National Guard and Army Reserves. He holds a bachelor’s degree in insurance from Illinois State University.

    Chris Oen has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Claims Officer. Mr. Oen will continue to lead the Claims department, drawing on his 30 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. He joined NI Holdings in 2007 and has held progressively senior roles during his time with the Company. Mr. Oen serves on several industry boards, including as Chairperson of the North Dakota Auto Assigned Claims Plan, and is a veteran of the Army National Guard. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and holds the Associate in Claims (AIC) designation.

    Dominic Weber has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary. Mr. Weber will continue to lead the Actuarial department and oversee reserving, ratemaking, and predictive analytics initiatives. With more than 42 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry, Mr. Weber previously served as Vice President and Chief Actuary at Society Insurance. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). He holds a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

    Doug Duncan has been recently hired as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. In this newly created role, Mr. Duncan will lead the Company’s technology strategy and oversee modernization initiatives to support business growth. He brings more than 25 years of technology leadership experience, including previous roles as Chief Information Officer at Columbia Insurance Group and Senior Vice President at Swiss Re. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas.

    “The leadership of Kevin, Brandon, Chris, Dominic and Doug will strengthen our capabilities and help us better serve our shareholders, policyholders, and agents,” added Daggett. “We are confident these leaders will play a critical role in advancing our strategic priorities. Their diverse experience and proven leadership will help position NI Holdings for continued success.”

    About the Company
    NI Holdings, Inc. is an insurance holding company. The company is a North Dakota business corporation that is the stock holding company of Nodak Insurance Company and became such in connection with the conversion of Nodak Mutual Insurance Company from a mutual to stock form of organization and the creation of a mutual holding company. The conversion was consummated on March 13, 2017. Immediately following the conversion, all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Nodak Insurance Company were issued to Nodak Mutual Group, Inc., which then contributed the shares to NI Holdings in exchange for 55% of the outstanding shares of common stock of NI Holdings. Nodak Insurance Company then became a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of NI Holdings. NI Holdings’ financial statements are the consolidated financial results of NI Holdings; Nodak Insurance Company, including Nodak Insurance Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries American West Insurance Company, Primero Insurance Company, and Battle Creek Insurance Company; and Direct Auto Insurance Company.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    Some of the statements included in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially include risks we describe in the periodic reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to update such statements or to announce publicly the results of any revisions that we may make to any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

    For a detailed discussion of the risk factors that could affect our actual results, please refer to the risk factors identified in our SEC reports, including, but not limited to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC.

    Investor Relations Contact:
    Matt Maki
    Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
    701-212-5976
    IR@nodakins.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Discovering new NZ music in the streaming age is getting harder – what’s the future for local artists?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oli Wilson, Professor & Associate Dean Research, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

    Getty Images

    New Zealand Music Month turned 25 this year, and there’s been plenty to celebrate – whether it be Mokotron’s Taite Prize-winning Waerea, Lorde’s recent return (though not to New Zealand – yet), or the fact that live performance revenues post-COVID have been strong.

    But for new and emerging local artists, Music Month also highlights a lack of visibility on streaming services and commercial radio, which increasingly favour already famous artists, including ones whose heydays were decades ago.

    During a month when music fans have been encouraged to stream local, see local and buy local, so far the only homegrown artists to appear in this week’s New Zealand Top 40 Singles chart are Lorde and K-pop star Rosé.

    Recently published data shows that as little as 9% of New Zealand streaming, downloads and physical sales revenue is going to local artists. Despite this, according to NZ on Air, 49% of New Zealanders stream music every day. In fact streaming has recently surpassed radio as the main way audiences discover new music, with growing influence from TikTok and Instagram.

    On Spotify, which approximately one in three New Zealanders use every day, only one local track – Corella’s Blue Eyed Māori – featured in the 2024 top-50 year-end local playlist. Streaming increasingly privileges and skews towards established releases from well-known artists, and other artists have little control over social media algorithms.

    While radio remains relevant, with 46% of New Zealanders listening daily, only two nationwide commercial radio stations played more than 20% local music in 2024.

    Structural music industry changes

    The Official Aotearoa Music Charts’ End of Year Top 50 Singles provide another useful indication of local music market share. These charts draw on a wide range of sales and streaming data, and aim to provide an authoritative snapshot of what New Zealanders were buying and listening to in that year.

    Since COVID, we have seen a sharp decline in local artists featuring in these charts. In 2024, the only New Zealander to feature was Corella’s Blue Eyed Māori, and only four New Zealand albums featured in the End of Year Top 50 Albums, three of which were compilations primarily made up of earlier releases.

    Data sourced from aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz, operated by Recorded Music NZ.
    CC BY

    While COVID lockdowns and border closures hugely disrupted the live music sector, we also saw audiences engaging with a lot more local music. Summer festival Rhythm and Vines sold out an all Kiwi lineup, and the amount of local music on radio reached its highest peak since records began.

    This suggests visibility, discoverability and chart success have little to do with the amount or quality of local music being produced. Instead, they are the result of structural changes in the music industries.

    Internationally, this has been linked to the market consolidation and dominance of a small number of big players at the expense of local artists, industry and infrastructure.

    What can be done?

    As global platforms such as Spotify and TikTok have increased their influence on audiences’ ability to discover New Zealand’s music, it’s hard to see a future where business-as-usual will improve the situation for local artists and audiences.

    There are potential solutions, however. Australia has committed to imposing local content quotas on international streamers, and Canada has instituted a revenue sharing system between global streamers and broadcasters.

    Unlike similar markets, such as Australia and Norway, New Zealand lacks a strong public youth broadcaster. Dedicated investment in this area could help support targeted strategies to promote local music.

    Changes in the way local music is funded and nurtured could also help. The government currently funds NZ on Air and the Music Commission, but they have different objectives and obligations. Merging them might streamline decision making and recognise the interconnectedness of the live and recorded music sectors.

    If steps aren’t taken soon, New Zealand will struggle to support a thriving local music economy, and New Zealanders will continue to miss out on hearing themselves in the music they listen to.

    With Music Month drawing to a close, there needs to be a commitment to structural changes that, over time, will see the development of a year-round celebration of New Zealand music.

    Oli Wilson has previously completed research in partnership with or commissioned by APRA AMCOS, Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage and the NZ Music Commission. He has also received funding, or contributed to projects that have benefited from funding from NZ on Air, the NZ Music Commission and Recorded Music New Zealand. He has provided services to The Chills, owns shares in TripTunz Limited, and is a writer member of APRA AMCOS.

    Catherine Hoad has completed research in partnership with or commissioned by APRA AMCOS, Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage, NZ On Air, Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the NZ Music Commission.

    Dave Carter is a writer member of APRA AMCOS. He has received research funding from Manatū Taongao Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, APRA AMCOS, Music NT, Music Tasmania, The Australian Live Music Office, Arts South Australia, City of Melbourne, Film Festivals Australia, City of Sydney. He has also received funding, or contributed to projects that have benefited from funding, for creative work as a producer and engineer from NZ on Air and APRA AMCOS.

    Jesse Austin-Stewart has completed commissioned research for NZ On Air and participated in focus groups for Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. He has received competitive funding from Creative New Zealand, NZ On Air, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Hertiage, and the NZ Music Commission. He is a writer member of APRA AMCOS and a member of the Composer’s Association of New Zealand and Recorded Music NZ

    – ref. Discovering new NZ music in the streaming age is getting harder – what’s the future for local artists? – https://theconversation.com/discovering-new-nz-music-in-the-streaming-age-is-getting-harder-whats-the-future-for-local-artists-257449

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: A vision for the future

    Source: Government of Canada regional news (2)

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Addressing Key Challenges To Mapping Sub-cm Orbital Debris in LEO via Plasma Soliton Detection

    Source: NASA

    Christine HartzellUniversity of Maryland, College Park
    The proposed investigation will address key technological challenges associated with a previously funded NIAC Phase I award titled “On-Orbit, Collision-Free Mapping of Small Orbital Debris”. Sub-cm orbital debris in LEO is not detectable or trackable using conventional technologies and poses a major hazard to crewed and un-crewed spacecraft. Orbital debris is a concern to NASA, as well as commercial and DoD satellite providers. In recent years, beginning with our NIAC Phase I award, we have been developing the idea that the sub-cm orbital debris environment may be monitored by detecting the plasma signature of the debris, rather than optical or radar observations of the debris itself. Our prior work has shown that sub-cm orbital debris may produce plasma solitons, which are a type of wave in the ionosphere plasma that do not disperse as readily as traditional waves. Debris may produce solitons that are co-located with the debris (called pinned solitons) or that travel ahead of the debris (called precursor solitons). We have developed computational models to predict the characteristics of the plasma solitons generated by a given piece of debris. These solitons may be detectable by 12U smallsats outfitted with multi-needle Langmuir probes.
    In this Phase II NIAC award, we will address two key technical challenges that significantly effect the value of soliton-based debris detection: 1. Develop an algorithm to constrain debris size and speed based on observed soliton characteristics. Our prior investigations have produced predictions of soliton characteristics as a function of debris characteristics. However, the inverse problem is not analytically solvable. We will develop machine learning algorithms to address this challenge. 2. Evaluate the feasibility and value of detecting soliton velocity. Multiple observations of the same soliton may allow us to constrain the distance that the soliton has traveled from the debris. When combined with the other characteristics of the soliton and knowledge of the local plasma environment, back propagation of the soliton in plasma simulations may allow us to extract the position and velocity vectors of the debris. If it is possible to determine debris size, position and velocity from soliton observations, this would provide a breakthrough in space situational awareness for debris that is currently undetectable using conventional technology. However, even if only debris size and speed can be inferred from soliton detections, this technology is still a revolutionary improvement on existing methods of characterizing the debris flux, which provide data only on a multi-year cadence. This proposed investigation will answer key technological questions about how much information can be extracted from observed soliton signals and trade mission architectures for complexity and returned data value. Additionally, we will develop a roadmap to continue to advance this technology.
    2025 Selections

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Photophoretic Propulsion Enabling Mesosphere Exploration

    Source: NASA

    Igor BargatinUniversity of Pennsylvania
    We propose to use the photophoretic levitation and propulsion mechanism to create no-moving-parts flying vehicles that can be used to explore Earth’s upper atmosphere. The photophoretic force arises when a solid is heated relative to the ambient gas through illumination, inducing momentum exchange between the solid and the gas. The force creates lift in structures that absorb light on the bottom yet stay cool on the top, and we engineered our plate mechanical metamaterials to maximize this lift force and payload. The levitation and payload capabilities of our plates typically peak at ambient pressures in the 0.1-1000 Pa range, ideal for applications in Earth’s mesosphere and Mars’s low gravity and thin atmosphere. For example, in the Earth’s mesosphere (i.e., at altitudes from ~50 to ~80 km), the air is too thin for conventional airplanes or balloons but too thick for satellites, such that measurements can be performed for only a few minutes at a time during the short flight of a research rocket. However, the range of ambient pressures in the mesosphere (1-100 Pa) is nearly optimal for our plates’ payload capabilities. Phase 2 of the proposal focuses on the scalable fabrication of Knudsen pump structures that will enable missions with kg-scale payloads in the mesosphere as well as trajectory control with 1 m/s velocity control in existing stratospheric balloon vehicles.
    2025 Selections

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Mars Roundtrip Success Enabled by Integrated Cooling through Inductively Coupled LED Emission (MaRS ICICLE)

    Source: NASA

    Aaswath Pattabhi RamanUniversity of California, Los Angeles
    Exploration of Mars has captivated the public in recent decades with high-profile robotic missions and the images they have acquired seeding our collective imagination. NASA is actively planning for human exploration of Mars and laid out some of the key capabilities that must be developed to execute successful, cost-effective programs that would put human beings on the surface of another planet and bring them home safely. Efficient, flexible and productive round-trip missions will be key to further human exploration of Mars. New round-trip mission concepts however need substantially improved long-duration storage of cryogenic propellants in various space environments; relevant propellants include liquid Hydrogen (LH2) for high specific impulse Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) which can be deployed in strategic locations in advance of a mission. If enabled, such LH2 storage tanks could be used to refill a crewed Mars Transfer Vehicle (MTV) to send and bring astronauts home quickly, safely, and cost-effectively. A well-designed cryogenic propellant storage tank can reflect the vast majority of photons incident on the spacecraft, but not all. In thermal environments like Low Earth Orbit (LEO), there is residual heating due to light directly from the Sun, sunlight reflected off Earth, and blackbody thermal radiation from Earth. Over time, this leads to some of the propellant molecules absorbing the requisite latent heat of vaporization, entering the gas phase, and ultimately being released into space to prevent an unsustainable build-up of pressure in the tank. This slow “boil-off” process leads to significant losses of the cryogenic liquid into space, potentially leaving it with insufficient mass and greatly limiting Mars missions. We propose a breakthrough mission concept: an ultra-efficient round-trip Mars mission with zero boil off of propellants. This will be enabled by low-cost, efficient cryogenic liquid storage capable of storing LH2 and LOx with ZBO even in the severe and fluctuating thermal environment of LEO. To enable this capability, the propellant tanks in our mission will employs thin, lightweight, all-solid-state panels attached to the tank’s deep-space-facing surfaces that utilize a long-understood but as-yet-unrealized cooling technology known as Electro-Luminescent Cooling (ELC) to reject heat from cold solid surfaces as non-equilibrium thermal radiation with significantly more power density than Planck’s Law permits for equilibrium thermal radiation. Such a propellant tank would drastically lower the cost and complexity of propulsion systems for crewed Mars missions and other deep space exploration by allowing spacecraft to refill propellant tanks after reaching orbit rather than launching on the much larger rocket required to lift the spacecraft in a single-use stage. To achieve ZBO, a storage spacecraft must keep the storage tank’s temperature below the boiling point of the cryogen (e.g., < 90 K for LOx and < 20 K for liquid H2). Achieving this in LEO-like thermal environments requires both excellent reflectivity toward sunlight and thermal radiation from the Earth, Mars and other nearby bodies as well as a power-efficient cooling mechanism to remove what little heat inevitably does leak in, a pair of conditions ideally suited to the ELC cooling systems that will makes our full return-trip mission to Mars a success. 2025 Selections

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Uninformed comments on autism are resonant of dangerous ideas about eugenics

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Cornelia Schneider, Associate Professor of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary in the United States, held a recent news conference and made uninformed comments on autism. His remarks created an uproar, especially among people with autism and other disabilities.

    The news conference was related to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about autism.

    Among other comments, Kennedy Jr. said:

    “Autism destroys families, and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be
    suffering like this … And these are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”

    Earlier, during a cabinet meeting, he promised to find the cause of autism by September.



    Read more:
    If Trump puts RFK Jr in charge of health, get ready for a distorted reality, where global health suffers

    We are researchers whose combined focus covers the rights of people with disabilities in educational systems and the history of disability in medical discourse. One of us is a sibling (Cornelia) and the other a parent (Martha) to people with intellectual disabilities.

    These comments were deeply worrisome for us due to their resonance of dangerous ideas espoused during the eugenics movement.

    Origins of eugenics

    Eugenics is the belief that society can and should be “improved” through selective breeding. It is based on a pseudo-scientific ranking of humans in a racist and ableist hierachy that judges non-white and disabled people to be the least desirable.

    During the height of the movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eugenics was promoted by scientists, physicians, politicians and clergy, authoritative voices who encouraged the “fittest” to reproduce while recommending that those people with “undesirable” physical or intellectual traits be removed from society. Part of achieving this goal meant people with disabilities were sterilized or institutionalized.

    Eugenics was applied in its most extreme form in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and ‘40s. Six million Jews, and millions more people, including an estimated 250,000 people with disabilities, were killed.

    A formal condemnation of Nazi actions in the form of the Nuremberg Trials fostered a popular backlash to these Nazi horrors after the Second World War, resulting in a global repudiation of eugenic ideas and a gradual phasing out of practices such as sterilization and institutionalization of people with disabilities.

    ‘Eugenic logic’ seen in many places

    However, Kennedy Jr.’s comments remind us that eugenic ideas are alive and well, including, but not exclusively, amid the radical right and tech-enabled ideas about a return to “strongman” values.

    Eugenics ideas exist in the form of what bioethicist and humanities scholar Rosemarie Garland-Thomson calls “eugenic logic.” This is the ongoing belief that erasing disability and people with disabilities is a desirable and common-sense objective.

    The power of eugenics logic surrounds us. It shapes immigration policy that penalizes disability. It means reproductive technologies and medical practices are used to eliminate certain conditions that cause disabilities.

    For example, recently, the Québec College of Physicians called for legislation to allow the euthanasia of severely disabled infants. This also affirms the views of popular but controversial philosopher Peter Singer, who argues that babies with disabilities lack qualities of personhood and therefore could be killed.

    Linking human value to ‘productivity’

    RFK Jr.’s eugenics ideas resonate strongly today. They square politically with neoliberalism to create a form of ableism that regards the individual citizen as “an able-bodied entrepreneurial entity.”

    Neoliberal ableism links human value to their capacity to work, to what disability studies scholars Dan Goodley and Rebecca Lawthom refer to the ability to “productively contribute … bounded and cut off from others, capable, malleable and compliant.”

    People with autism, and others who cannot serve society in this way, threaten the neoliberal order and capitalism. They are seen as a detriment to society.

    Autism organizations heavily criticized Kennedy Jr. for his portrayal of autistic people as incapable.

    However, some critics unwittingly reinforced his neoliberal and eugenic framing of human value. These critics rightly contradicted Kennedy Jr. by pointing out that many people with autism have capabilities that he denied them. However, focusing on those abilities gave support to the devaluation of people with autism — and others with disabilities — who do not possess them, and who cannot be independent or will never be “productive workers.”

    The social model of disability

    Uninformed comments about autism by people in official health leadership positions threatens to undo decades of work that led to remarkable gains for people with disabilities.

    The 1970s and ‘80s saw the development of what disability activists and scholars discuss as the social model of disability. This shifted the understanding of disability away from the “problem” of individuals’ physical/intellectual conditions. Disability is seen as a mismatch of the interactions between the impairment and the barriers it faces in the (social) environment.

    This important shift in how disability is understood rejected the notion that disability is a personal fault or flaw. For the first time, it paid attention to environmental, financial and attitudinal barriers. It allowed people with disabilities unprecedented access to education and other aspects of society.

    The progress made remains fragile.

    Important to push back

    All who value human diversity and the continued expansion of the rights of people with disabilities must push back against eugenics politics.

    Political parties and broader society must commit to full participation and belonging of all people with disabilities by continuing to remove physical, attitudinal and financial barriers.

    Accessibility legislation at the federal and provincial levels must be implemented and enforced. In Canada, this includes the re-establishment of a federal minister for disabilities, a post that previously existed as minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities) but is lacking under the new Liberal government and its smaller cabinet.

    It means we need to heed the voices of disability advocates who have launched a court challenge against a key provision of Medical Assistance in Dying legislation. A recent version of this legislation accepts disability without a terminal condition as a reason to end life. As advocates recently told the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, this implies that a disabled life is not worth living.



    Read more:
    A dangerous path: Why expanding access to medical assistance in dying keeps us up at night

    Lived experiences must inform decisions

    The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (signed by the U.S.; signed and ratified by Canada) lays out the key ideas that Kennedy Jr. appears to reject: “Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers.”

    The lived experiences of the disability community must always be included in political decision-making.

    It’s our responsibility to uphold and protect the human rights of all persons with disabilities, including those who require more intensive support.

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

    – ref. Uninformed comments on autism are resonant of dangerous ideas about eugenics – https://theconversation.com/uninformed-comments-on-autism-are-resonant-of-dangerous-ideas-about-eugenics-256762

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: DGCA visits Beijing (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    DGCA visits Beijing  
    Mr Liu called on the Administrator of the CAAC, Mr Song Zhiyong, and expressed his gratitude for the CAAC’s staunch support to the aviation industry of Hong Kong throughout the years. He also briefed Mr Song on the latest civil aviation developments in Hong Kong to further enhance co-operation. Mr Liu also met with Deputy Administrator of the CAAC Mr Han Jun and representatives from the relevant bureaux, to discuss how to establish closer ties in the areas including civil aviation development, aviation safety and technical co-operation.
     
    During the visit, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) signed a Letter of Intent on Strengthening Technical Exchanges and Collaboration in Civil Aviation Safety Oversight, and a Cooperation Arrangement on Strengthening Civil Aviation Science and Technology with the CAAC and the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology (CAST) under the CAAC respectively.
     
    In addition, witnessed by Mr Liu and Mr Han, the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy and the Civil Aviation Flight University of China signed a framework agreement to foster co-operation in cadet pilot training. Both flying training organisations were granted with the CAD 509 approval.
     
    Mr Liu also met with the Director General of the ATMB of the CAAC, Mr Miao Xuan, to exchange views on further strengthening co-operation in air traffic management, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency of the aviation industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Mr Liu welcomed the participation of the ATMB in Airspace Asia Pacific 2025 to be held in Hong Kong this December, showcasing the innovative technologies used in Mainland air traffic management.  
     
    Mr Liu took the opportunity to visit the Third Civil Aviation Science and Education Innovation Achievement Exhibition and the CAST Aviation Safety Experimental Base to learn about the achievements in innovative technologies and development trends in the Mainland aviation industry.
     
    Accompanying Mr Liu to Beijing was the Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Air Services and Safety Management), Mr Raymond Ng; the Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Air Traffic Management), Mr Hui Man-ho; and the Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Airport Standards), Mr Samuel Ng.
     
    Mr Liu will return to Hong Kong tomorrow (May 28).
    Issued at HKT 18:40

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CSB and departments hold career talks in Mainland universities (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    CSB and departments hold career talks in Mainland universities Issued at HKT 19:24

    The Civil Service Bureau (CSB), together with representatives from the Civil Aviation Department, the Home Affairs Department and the Digital Policy Office are visiting Guangzhou and Wuhan to conduct career talks at Sun Yat-sen University, Jinan University, Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology for four consecutive days starting today (May 27), to provide Hong Kong students studying on the Mainland with information on various positions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government.

    Speaking at the talk at Sun Yat-sen University today, the Director of General Grades of the CSB, Mr Hermes Chan, said that since 2023, the CSB of the HKSAR Government has been sending delegations to a number of universities and local offices of the HKSAR on the Mainland to introduce the diverse job opportunities offered by the HKSAR Government to Hong Kong students and Hong Kong people residing on the Mainland. In May last year, the CSB held career talks together with various departments for the first time at several universities in Guangdong and Fujian. The briefings are effective, as shown by the continuous increase in the number of applications for civil service positions from Hong Kong students graduating from Mainland universities. He encouraged Hong Kong students with aspirations to serve the community to equip themselves early to join the civil service.

    The career talks covered information related to Student Air Traffic Control Officer, Liaison Officer Grade, Analyst/Programmer Grade, Computer Operator Grade, Executive Officer Grade, and other general grades. Information booths, mock skills tests and mock interview sessions were also provided on-site to allow students to experience the recruitment process.

    For information on matters related to civil service recruitment, job vacancies and the latest examination arrangements, please visit the CSB website: www.csb.gov.hk/english/recruit/7.html.

    Ends/Tuesday, May 27, 2025
    Issued at HKT 19:24

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Joins Entire WA Delegation in Letter Urging President Trump to Reconsider Denial of WA State’s Request for a Disaster Declaration for November “Bomb Cyclone”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
    05.27.25
    WSU Prof Joins Cantwell & Leading Scientists to Highlight Devastating Impacts of Slashing Funding for Science Research
    Trump Administration wants to gut National Science Foundation funding by 55%, would be the most severe reductions in agency’s history, overturn bipartisan consensus reached in CHIPS & Science Act; WSU Professor Kalyanaraman: Cuts will “directly undercut” AI precision agriculture and agriculture cybersecurity research
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last Tuesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, was joined by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and a panel of prestigious scientists to decry the devastating impacts of the Trump Administration’s proposed 55% cut to the FY 2026 budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
    The panel included Dr. Ananth Kalyanaraman, Professor at Washington State University, and Director of the USDA NIFA-funded AI Institute on Agricultural AI for Decision Support and Workforce Development.
    “We are in an Information Age. We are in an age where there are several areas of U.S. competitiveness that depend on continued science innovation, aerospace being one of those, certainly AI being another, quantum being a third,” Sen. Cantwell said. “And all of this is being put into jeopardy by this cut.”
    Looking at the damage to our future if these cuts are implemented, the Senator continued: “In an Information Age economy, when so much innovation is available, the last thing you should be doing is having a 55 percent cut to one of your key science R&D institutions. You should be making increases, allowing a thousand flowers to bloom across these institutions, across the United States, because you never know where the next Bill Gates or the next Bill Boeing is going to be, and the innovation they’re going to drive.”
    “WSU researchers are working on cutting edge security research across the entire computing stack, spanning hardware, software systems, and the web, and applications to precision agriculture,” said Dr. Kalyanaraman. “This research integrates AI to enhance the resilience of agricultural systems against cyber threats. We are deeply concerned about the nearly $5 billion in cuts to NSF, which will directly undercut this vital work and also our nation’s ability to remain globally competitive.”
    President Trump’s FY 2026 skinny budget proposes to cut NSF’s funding by 55.8% from $8.8 billion to $3.9 billion. This is on top of $234 million in FY 2025 funding for construction projects that the Administration has frozen. The CHIPS and Science Act, which Sen. Cantwell championed through to passage, authorized dramatically increasing NSF funding to $17.8 billion in FY2026.
    Besides recklessly proposing to slash future funding, the Trump Administration has already terminated 1,752 existing NSF grants totaling more than 1.3 billion dollars according to a list of terminated grants the Foundation released today. A large percentage of these grants are for projects and programs related to STEM education and expanding access and participation in STEM fields. Earlier this month, NSF announced it would cap indirect cost reimbursements at 15 percent for all new awards to universities and nonprofit institutions, down from negotiated rates that typically range from 30 to 60 percent. That action is on pause pending a lawsuit brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
    Other participants included: Dr. Arati Prabhakar, former Director of OSTP, DARPA, and NIST and venture capitalist; Dr. France Córdova, 14th Director of the National Science Foundation, and now President of the Science Philanthropy Alliance; Dr. Dean Chang, Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Vice President for Innovation & Entrepreneurship & Economic Development at the University of Maryland; and Dr. Marvi Matos Rodriguez, Engineering Director working in the Aerospace Industry.
    Dr. Prabhakar took the lead in debunking the idea that corporate funding could in any way replace federal investment in science, stating: “It’s been a bedrock economic understanding that corporations invest in the R&D that they can see leading to products and profits, but not in the kind that evolves across many labs over many years and forms a shared foundation for whole industries and for public missions like defense.”
    “These devastating cuts to public R&D are an embarrassing retreat from American leadership that hands the reins to the People’s Republic of China,” Dr. Prabhakar added. “And I would so much rather be here today talking about achieving our great aspirations for longer and healthier lives and for AI that extends our own human talents, for lowering our cost of living with clean energy and for restoring nature, because that is the future that America is capable of creating.”
    Dr. Córdova, who strongly agreed that private funding is no substitute for the NSF, said: “I have a good handle on what industry and philanthropy can contribute, and I can tell you, as important as their contributions are to bolstering our economy, they cannot replace government funding.”
    And Dr. Córdova decried the impacts of the cuts to STEM education that the Trump funding levels would force.
    “Especially important to universities is the funding to train our STEM workforce pipeline, without which we would have no industries of the future. Industry representatives often tell me that arguably the most important investment NSF makes is in the workforce training of STEM talent,” she said.
    In April, NSF revealed that Graduate Research Fellowships awarded in 2025 would be cut in half, from 2,000 to 1,000, the smallest cohort since 2010. NSF will also significantly reduce (from 368 to 70) the number of scientists it employs through a program that enables scientists on leave from their academic positions to work with the NSF to help choose the best research to fund.
    Dr. Chang offered an eye-opening look at where our nation would be without the National Science Foundation.
    ”It’s hard to imagine a world without NSF, but this alternate world without NSF would have none of the following: No Medtronic pacemakers or insulin pumps; no ChatGPT; no Nvidia GPU chips that power ChatGPT; no Apple; no Siri; no Amazon, Alexa; no GE MRIs for medical imaging; no Teslas and actually, no smart cruise control in any car of any kind; no Da Vinci robotic surgical systems; no early quantum computers from IBM and IonQ; and no Fortnite — the video game that swept the nation a few years ago,” Dr. Chang explained.
    “NSF celebrated its 75th anniversary this month,” Dr. Chang added. “But are we willing to relinquish our nation’s 75-year head start to other countries so they become the birthplace of the next generation of Teslas and ChatGPTs, the next generation of robotic surgeons and life saving devices? Not only must NSF continue to invest in high risk, high reward research, but NSF also must continue to invest in proven ways to shorten the decades long gestation periods.”
    Dr. Matos Rodriguez talked about her personal educational and professional story of turning her love for math and science at the University of Puerto Rico into a passion for research and STEM career engineering and the role NSF played along the way.
    “My passion for research blossomed when peers introduced me to the summer programs specifically designed to develop and enhance research skills,” Dr. Matos Rodriguez said, referring to research opportunities for undergraduates funded by the NSF that took her to California to conduct research at UC Davis and IBM.  
    “The impacts of the NSF REU program were far reaching. My journey continued at Carnegie Mellon, where I did my PhD… supported by a NASA grant. After graduate school, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, funded by a grant from the National Research Council,” Dr. Matos Rodriguez continued.  “Little did I know that the product of all that research was not just the science, the discoveries or the papers, the product was me. The REU program, more than 25 years ago, was the seed for the STEM professional I am today, at a time when global competitiveness is vital, it is crucial to commit to cultivating generations of STEM professionals.”
    In the National Science Foundation for the Future Title in CHIPS and Science Act, Congress specifically called for broader participation of populations underrepresented in STEM and authorized $13 billion over five years for the NSF to allocate to STEM education. The United States can’t compete with China and others in science and innovation if we cannot close a gap in the STEM workforce that could be as large as 3 million people nationwide by 2030.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Canada has a chance to lead on AI policy and data governance at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By E. Richard Gold, Professor of intellectual property and innovation, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University

    The 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit will be held in Kananaskis, Alta., from June 15 to 17. As host of the G7, Canada has a chance to shape rules that will govern AI globally. (Shutterstock)

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming sectors from health care to climate science. But amid the global scramble to lead this technological revolution, one truth is becoming clearer: data, its platforms and its circulations, have become critical infrastructure. And Canada, poised to host this year’s G7 Leaders Summit, has a rare opportunity to shape the rules that will govern AI globally.

    Under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney, the federal government elevated AI and digital innovation to a central pillar of national policy, and appointed Evan Solomon as minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation. But ambition is not enough — Canada must now back its rhetoric with action that resonates at home and abroad.

    Infrastructure intelligence

    While AI headlines often focus on breakthroughs in generative models and robotics, the real engine of progress lies in less glamorous terrain: computing infrastructure and data systems.

    Canada’s proposal to build “next-generation data centres” is about creating the backbone for globally competitive and ethically governed AI. Without these facilities, modern AI systems cannot be trained, validated or deployed responsibly.

    AI models — like those used in medicine for developing new drugs and health services, clean technologies such as clean energy and carbon-capture or materials science — require enormous computational power and massive datasets. That data must be structured, validated and — to the extent possible — open to those who can use it.

    Quality assurance

    Our recent study underscores that the future of AI depends less on algorithmic cleverness and more on data quality and accessibility. Poorly labelled or fragmented datasets can introduce bias, reduce model performance or even endanger lives when used in health or safety applications.

    Yet across many domains, useful data remains siloed and locked in proprietary formats, lacking documentation or inaccessible due to legal and technical barriers. This status quo serves monopolies, not society.

    Canada holds the G7 presidency in 2025, and can provide leadership in data governance and AI innovation. A central priority should be to rally partners around a framework for ethical, accessible and well-designed datasets, especially in fields like health, climate science and materials research.

    Tailored data

    Our call for open data isn’t one-size-fits-all. It must be tailored to the needs of specific sectors:

    • Health-care AI requires anonymized patient data, genomic sequences, protein structure data, toxicology and carcinogen data, and drug response datasets.

    • Climate AI needs long-term environmental records, satellite imagery, power and water use information and real-time emissions data.

    • Materials science AI demands chemical interaction data, physical testing results, structural data and thermodynamic properties.

    What binds these fields is a common challenge: ensuring data is ethically sourced, high-quality, and useable across borders and institutions. Canada’s role should be to help build the platforms — digital, legal and diplomatic — that make this possible.

    A G7 mandate

    As host of the G7 in June, Canada can push for a transformative international commitment. At a minimum, this should include:

    1. Common standards for open datasets, co-designed with input from AI developers, health professionals, climate researchers, materials scientists and legal experts.
    2. Trusted data hubs, managed by public-private or non-profit entities, ensuring secure storage, privacy safeguards and public access.
    3. Legal and diplomatic co-ordination, addressing cross-border data sharing, intellectual property constraints and ethical governance frameworks.

    These steps would position the G7 — and Canada in particular — as a champion of AI that serves democratic values on top of commercial and geopolitical interests.

    Canada’s risks and opportunities

    Canada is not starting from scratch. The country boasts leading AI research institutions, including the Vector Institute and Mila, and has pioneered open science partnerships such as the Montreal Neurological Institute’s Tanenbaum Open Science Institute and the Toronto labs of the Structural Genomics Consortium.

    Dataset platforms such as AIRCHECK(for AI-based chemical knowledge) and the CACHE competition (evaluating drug discovery models using open data), show how Canada is already putting together the building blocks of responsible AI. But the country risks squandering this advantage if it cannot scale these efforts or retain innovation domestically.

    The stalled Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is a case in point. While the European Union moved forward with its AI Act, the General Data Protection Regulation and the European Health Data Space Regulation, Canada’s legislative framework remains in flux.

    Without clear domestic rules, and a proactive global agenda, Canada could end up as an incubator for innovations that end up developed and applied elsewhere.

    Global stakes

    The AI race is not just about who builds the most powerful models. It’s about who defines the technical, ethical and geopolitical standards that shape the digital future.

    The G7 offers Canada a moment of strategic clarity. By investing in AI infrastructure and leading an international agenda on open, trustworthy AI, Canada can lead in shaping the rules.

    E. Richard Gold receives funding from TRIDENT: TRanslational Initiative to DE-risk NeuroTherapeutics, a project funded by the New Frontiers in Research Fund, application NFRFT-2022-00051. Gold is also the Chief Policy and Partnerships Officer of Conscience, a Canadian non-profit focused on enabling drug discovery and development in areas where open sharing and collaboration are key to advancement and where market solutions are limited, such as rare or neglected diseases, pandemic preparedness, and antimicrobial resistance.

    Cristina Vanberghen 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. Canada has a chance to lead on AI policy and data governance at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit – https://theconversation.com/canada-has-a-chance-to-lead-on-ai-policy-and-data-governance-at-the-2025-g7-leaders-summit-256296

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 3 essential reads

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeff Inglis, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation US

    President Donald Trump delivers the commencement address at West Point on May 24, 2025. AP Photo/Adam Gray

    President Donald Trump’s speech at the graduation of the class of 2025 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point included segments that were clearly scripted and portions that were obviously not.

    During the unscripted portions, Trump, who wore a bright red “Make America Great Again” campaign hat during his entire appearance on May 24, 2025, delivered remarks that hit many of his frequent partisan political talking points. That included attacking presidential predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden, describing immigrants to the U.S. as “criminals” and trumpeting other policy accomplishments in his first and second terms.

    That level of partisanship in a military setting – on the campus of the nation’s first military academy, and before an audience of cadets and their families, many of whom are veterans – is unusual in the United States.

    The Conversation U.S. has published several articles discussing the importance to democracy of keeping the military and partisan politics separate. Here are three highlights from that coverage.

    1. Cadets focus on the Constitution

    During the West Point ceremony, the graduates themselves took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” And all of them had studied the significance of that oath, including in classes like those taught by Joseph G. Amoroso and Lee Robinson, active-duty Army officers who graduated from West Point and later served as professors there.

    As Amoroso and Robinson wrote, those classes teach cadets that, like all military personnel, they serve the Constitution and the American people, not a particular person or political party:

    “(O)ur oath forms the basis of a nonpartisan ethic. In the U.S., unlike in many other countries, the oath implies military leaders should be trusted for their expertise and judgment, not for their loyalty to an individual or political party. We emphasize to cadets the rules and professional expectations associated with this profound responsibility.”



    Read more:
    Military personnel swear allegiance to the Constitution and serve the American people – not one leader or party

    2. A tradition of nonpartisanship

    Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Samuel C. Mahaney, who teaches history, national security and constitutional law at Missouri University of Science and Technology, observed:

    “(S)ince the days of George Washington, the military has been dedicated to serving the nation, not a specific person or political agenda. … (N)onpartisanship is central to the military’s primary mission of defending the country.”

    Mahaney wrote that if Trump’s actions during his second term meant a change from the centuries of precedent, “military personnel at all levels would face a crucial question: Would they stand up for the military’s independent role in maintaining the integrity and stability of American democracy or follow the president’s orders – even if those orders crossed a line that made them illegal or unconstitutional?”

    Presenting a key question for military personnel.



    Read more:
    Trump’s firings of military leaders pose a crucial question to service members of all ranks

    3. Dating back to the founding of the nation

    Marcus Hedahl and Bradley Jay Strawser, professors of philosophy who teach military ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School, respectively, explain the reason for this long-standing focus on keeping politicians and politics separate from military action.

    “To minimize the chance of the kind of military occupation they suffered during the Revolutionary War, the country’s founders wrote the Constitution requiring that the president, an elected civilian, would be the commander in chief of the military. In the wake of World War II, Congress went even further, restructuring the military and requiring that the secretary of defense be a civilian as well.”

    As they observed, “… the framers always intended it to be the people’s military – not the president’s.”



    Read more:
    Threatening ‘the enemy within’ with force: Military ethicists explain the danger to important American traditions

    This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.

    – ref. Trump’s West Point speech brought partisanship to the home of the US military − 3 essential reads – https://theconversation.com/trumps-west-point-speech-brought-partisanship-to-the-home-of-the-us-military-3-essential-reads-257673

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nature writing can feed the myth of the outside as a cure – but my own work has helped me reframe my illness

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Kenward, PhD Candidate, Centre for Place Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University

    The ‘test’ or skeleton of a heart sea urchin, found on a beach at Rye harbour, East Sussex. Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    Wild swimming and forest bathing have gained in popularity, all in a bid to improve our health. With “green prescriptions” now being issued by doctors instructing patients to spend time outdoors, ideas of “nature cure” – spending time in the natural world for healing purposes – may seem like a recent development.

    But ideas of a change of air and sea cures were popularised in the 19th century. Escalating rates of tuberculosis were exacerbated by poor sanitation and overcrowding. Patients were sent to the coast for convalescence in open-air wards – offering an antidote to these contributory factors, but not a cure for the disease itself.

    So, for centuries, the term “nature” has been associated with goodness, health and cure. My research uses creative writing to investigate the natural world through my experience of living with chronic illness, pain and fatigue. While this challenges the notion often found in nature and place writing that the natural world can somehow heal whatever you need it to, it has helped me think differently about the relationship between the outside and our health.

    For disabled people, ideas of nature and “natural” are complicated by ideas of eugenics, similarly fostered in the 19th and 20th centuries.

    Built on foundations that regarded disability as “unnatural”, eugenics is a proposed form of selective breeding that seeks to control inherited characteristics through forced sterilisation and euthanasia. These are ideas that allow and enable society to regard disabled people as “less than” and continue to bubble beneath the surface with the assisted dying debate.

    In medicine, disability is regarded as a medical problem. The social model of disability reframes this as a societal issue of barriers that limit disabled people’s access to society (for example, through travel or education). I live with chronic illness where both the medical and social models are relevant. So, for me, the parallels between nature and health are complex.

    Conventional nature writing and “place writing” – a form of creative writing that explores the landscape and our relationship within that environment – typically explore ideas from the biased perspective of physically fit, able-bodied, middle-class, heteronormative, cis white people unaware of their body, moving with ease through the landscape.

    My own PhD research into place writing embraces my own bias, seeking specifically to introduce illness and disability into conversations about our relationship with the more-than-human world – that’s everything in the natural world aside from people.

    I draw on my own personal experiences, using the creative practice of place writing as a research tool. I’ve spent time on the coast of the Romney Marshes, one of the most climate-threatened shorelines in the south of England. Here, beachcombing has become both research and ritual for me – a way to explore the entanglement of ecological fragility and chronic illness.

    Louise Kenward on the beach at Hastings, East Sussex.
    Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    On the shoreline, I’ve explored how the vulnerability of place mirrors that of my body. The objects I find on the foreshore prompt my creative writing and evidence what lies beneath the surface, out at sea.

    I draw on the work of other researchers who have learned from flotsam and jetsam. Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer modelled patterns of the ocean currents through beachcombing – plotting the arrival on land of a cargo spill of yellow rubber ducks.

    Writer and naturalist, Sally Huband follows the history of objects she finds on the shore of Shetland in her book Sea Bean. Huband uses examples to rewrite narratives of coastal folklore, dismantling misogynistic interpretations of, for example, the witch and the selkie (a mythological creature that transforms from sea creature to human).

    Poet, writer and professor of creative writing, Jean Sprackland writes of her time beachcombing in her book Strands. Following a year of walking the beach in the north-west of England, Sprackland highlights the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things – something I have become acutely aware of in developing chronic illness.

    The illusion of independence

    The illusion of independence is something you can maintain while healthy. Sickness shows us we are all interdependent and interconnected. And we have long been told that nature is something outside of ourselves, separate to us. This nature-culture divide is something that has been implicitly challenged in my own relationship with nature.

    Restoration of my sick body is as impossible as restoration of the land (and sea). I cannot, however hard I try, achieve a cure, through nature or otherwise, of my inherited connective tissue disorder. Indeed, some nature writers have argued that if I were to try, I might erase an important part of myself.

    British writer Harriet Martineau (1802-76) was one of the first people to write of her observations as a patient, and to value what is learned from these experiences. Noting the value of a view of green (or blue) spaces from her sick bed, Martineau also appreciated rest and recuperation.

    Research has since replicated Martineau’s findings, showing views of green spaces accelerate recovery from surgery and reduce the need for pain medication. But seeing green spaces is not a replacement for effective healthcare, disability access, or medical research – nor for time and space to rest and convalesce.

    Louise Kenward collects natural treasures while walking along the foreshore.
    Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health.

    This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.

    While a view of trees may soothe, they do not cure. Disability highlights that nature cure is a fallacy. Through my reconnection with nature, I’ve reframed my experience of illness. I live more easily to the changing seasons than with a clock or calendar now. Periods of rest for my body, as for the land, are similarly essential for good health.

    While creating the anthology, Moving Mountains: Writing Nature Through Illness and Disability, I learned that a greater regard for disabled people and the natural world are two sides of the same coin. Our sick and disabled bodies are just as worthy of care as our sick planet. The imperfect complicated places we live (and the people who live in them) are of value and worth looking after just the same.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Louise Kenward received Arts Council England funding to run an arts project titled Moving Mountains including creating an anthology of the same name.

    – ref. Nature writing can feed the myth of the outside as a cure – but my own work has helped me reframe my illness – https://theconversation.com/nature-writing-can-feed-the-myth-of-the-outside-as-a-cure-but-my-own-work-has-helped-me-reframe-my-illness-255158

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Regulating AI seems like an impossible task, but ethically and economically, it’s a vital one

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jun Du, Professor of Economics, Centre Director of Centre for Business Prosperity (CBP), Aston University

    AlinStock/Shutterstock

    AI has already transformed industries and the way the world works. And its development has been so rapid that it can be hard to keep up. This means that those responsible for dealing with AI’s impact on issues such as safety, privacy and ethics must be equally speedy.

    But regulating such a fast-moving and complex sector is extremely difficult.

    At a summit in France in February 2025, world leaders struggled to agree on how to govern AI in a way that would be “safe, secure and trustworthy”. But regulation is something that directly affects everyday lives – from the confidentiality of medical records to the security of financial transactions.

    One recent example which highlights the tension between technological advancement and individual privacy is the ongoing dispute between the UK government and Apple. (The government wants the tech giant to provide access to encrypted user data stored in its cloud service, but Apple says this would be a breach of customers’ privacy.)

    It’s a delicate balance for all concerned. For businesses, particularly global ones, the challenge is about navigating a fragmented regulatory landscape while staying competitive. Governments need to ensure public safety while encouraging innovation and technological progress.

    That progress could be a key part of economic growth. Research suggests that AI is igniting an economic revolution – improving the performance of entire sectors.

    In healthcare for example, AI diagnostics have drastically reduced costs and saved lives. In finance, razor-sharp algorithms cut risks and help businesses to rake in profits.

    Logistics firms have benefited from streamlined supply chains, with delivery times and expenses slashed. In manufacturing, AI-driven automation has cranked up efficiency and cut wasteful errors.

    But as AI systems become ever more deeply embedded, the risks associated with their unchecked development increase.

    Data used in recruitment algorithms for instance, can unintentionally discriminate against certain groups, perpetuating social inequality. Automated credit-scoring systems can exclude people unfairly (and remove accountability).

    Issues like these can erode trust and bring ethical risks.

    A well-designed regulatory framework must mitigate these risks while ensuring that AI remains a tool for economic growth. Over-regulation could slow development and discourage investment, but inadequate oversight may lead to misuse or exploitation.

    International intelligence

    This dilemma is being treated differently across the world. The EU for example, has introduced one of the most comprehensive regulatory frameworks, prioritising transparency and accountability, especially in areas such as healthcare and employment.

    While robust, this approach risks slowing innovation and increasing compliance costs for businesses.

    In contrast, the US has avoided sweeping federal rules, opting instead for self-regulation in specific industries. This has led to rapid AI development, particularly in areas such as autonomous vehicles and financial technology. But it also leaves regulatory gaps and inconsistent oversight.

    AI has huge potential for healthcare.
    frank60/Shutterstock

    China meanwhile uses government-led regulation, prioritising national security and economic growth. This brings major state investment, driving advances in things such as facial recognition and surveillance systems, which are used extensively in train stations, airports and public buildings.

    These varying approaches demonstrate a lack of international agreement about AI. And they also pose significant challenges for businesses operating globally.

    Companies must now comply with multiple, sometimes conflicting AI regulations, leading to increased compliance costs and uncertainty.

    This fragmentation could slow down AI adoption as firms hesitate to invest in applications that could become non-compliant in some countries. A globally coordinated regulatory framework seems increasingly necessary to ensure fairness and promote responsible innovation without excessive constraints.

    Innovation vs regulation

    But again, achieving this kind of framework would not be easy. The impact of regulation on innovation is complex and involves careful trade-offs.

    Transparency, while essential for accountability, could mean sharing new technology, potentially eroding competitive advantages. Strict compliance requirements, crucial in industries such as healthcare and finance, can be counterproductive where rapid development is vital.

    Effective AI regulation should be dynamic, adaptive and globally harmonised, balancing ethical responsibilities with economic ambition. Companies that actively align with ethical AI standards are likely to benefit from improved consumer trust.

    For now, in the absence of global agreement, the UK has chosen a flexible approach, with guidelines set by independent bodies such as the Responsible Technology Adoption Unit. This model aims to attract investment and encourage innovation by offering clarity without overly rigid constraints.

    With a robust research ecosystem, world-class universities and a skilled workforce, the UK has a solid foundation for AI-driven economic growth. Continued investment in research, infrastructure and talent are essential.

    The UK must also stay proactive in shaping international AI standards. For achieving effective AI governance that is safe and trustworthy, will be key to securing its future as an engine of economic and social transformation.

    Jun Du is a member of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) Economic Advisory Council, and part of BCC Global Britain Challenge Group; the Vice Chair of the Trade and Investment Panel for the International Chambers of Commerce, and advisor to the Midlands Engine Observatory Program Board and the Business Commission West Midlands Advisory Panel. Jun is a member of the Council of Experts of the UKRI-funded Innovation & Research Caucus, and part of the OECD Innovation Review Advisory Group.

    Cher Li is a member of the Council of Experts of the UKRI-funded Innovation & Research Caucus, and government Expert Peer Review Group (PRG). Her recent research projects have been funded by the ESRC and United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

    Xingyi Liu has received funding from the Innovation & Research Caucus for his recent research.

    – ref. Regulating AI seems like an impossible task, but ethically and economically, it’s a vital one – https://theconversation.com/regulating-ai-seems-like-an-impossible-task-but-ethically-and-economically-its-a-vital-one-250816

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Borders and orders: How settler-government occupations violate Kashmiri sovereignty

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Binish Ahmed, PhD Candidate, Policy Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University

    The recent attack in Pahalgam and military exchanges between India and Pakistan have renewed international focus on a nearly 80-years-long conflict over Kashmir.

    But a preliminary review of both North American and Indian media reveals only surface-level analyses.

    North American news outlets primarily framed this as a territorial dispute between two nuclear-armed nations. Indian media presented it as a “war on terror.”

    Missing from the coverage — and much academic analysis — is the story of Kashmiris as Indigenous Peoples. Their divided territory has been under multiple occupations since 1947, with other colonial rulers prior to that. International human rights groups have raised alarms about Kashmiris facing intensive repression by the Indian and Pakistani governments.

    As a policy PhD scholar of Indigenous studies and governance, I can help fill in the gaps. I have developed an Indigenous policy research framework for how to more fully study situations around the world, particularly in Kashmir. This includes identifying familiar settler-colonial patterns: legalized land control, resource extraction and criminalization of the native population and resistance.

    Patterns of colonial nation-building and settlement have produced orders and borders that have been controlling Kashmir since the 1947 British partition of India and Pakistan. The repressive Indian and Pakistani settler-colonial laws operate through interconnected legal, cultural and military mechanisms.

    These methods eliminate Kashmiri self-determination, land rights and self-government.

    Applying an Indigenous rights framework to Kashmir

    Kashmir is among the world’s most militarized regions, home to vital but depleting water resources. Kashmiri territories are divided and controlled by India, Pakistan and China.

    Its diverse, multi-faith communities include a Muslim majority and Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian minorities. An Indigenous rights framework recognizes Kashmiris as the first peoples of the land with cultural rights, inherent sovereignty, economic rights and collective rights to ancestral lands.

    I have observed Indians and Pakistanis claiming Kashmiri identity through religious affiliation. This self-indigenizing erases actual Kashmiris by conflating religious and Indigenous identities.

    According to the United Nations: “Indigenous refers to peoples of long settlement and connection to specific lands who have been adversely affected by incursions by industrial economies, displacement and settlement of their traditional territories by others.” In my peer-reviewed work, I have argued this definition applies to Kashmiri people.

    Cultural criminalization of Kashmiri population

    In popular and political ongoing anti-Kashmiri racist narratives, Kashmiris are cast as perpetual “security threats” and “terrorists.”

    Post-Sept. 11 false “war on terror” narratives by media and academics has been deliberately manipulated against the Muslim-majority Kashmiris. For example, mainstream Indian media and popular Bollywood films have demonized Kashmiri-Muslims and delegitimized Indigenous resistance. This framing has especially been advanced by the Hindu-nationalist BJP and RSS under Indian leader Narendra Modi.

    This framing allows for cultural dispossession through restricting religious practices by India, and extends to the marginalization of Kashmiri language and histories by India and Pakistan. Media restrictions are standard and limit self-representation.

    Anti-Muslim profiling, surveillance, communication blockades and the criminalizing of dissent are regular occurrences in Kashmir.



    Read more:
    In India, film and social media play recurring roles in politics

    Repressive control and rights violations in India

    Suppression of dissent and restrictions on freedom of information and expression prevent Kashmiris from voicing grievances to advance collective rights.

    Since 2019, the human rights group Genocide Watch has issued multiple “genocide alerts” for Kashmir. Al Jazeera has recently reported patterns of enforced disappearances of dissenters. In 2012, The Guardian reported on “mass graves in Kashmir.”

    Journalists face attacks and exile. Fahad Shah, editor of the Kashmir Walla, was imprisoned for 600 days.



    Read more:
    Call the crime in Kashmir by its name: Ongoing genocide

    Internet shutdowns and media censorship function as what one human rights group has called “digital apartheid.”

    Indian government administrators conduct physical and digital surveillance in Kashmir, collecting personal data and monitoring connections.

    Kashmiri rights defenders like Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj face arbitrary imprisonment.

    Sexual violence has been documented as a weapon of control.

    Military forces have destroyed infrastructure, including homes, businesses, schools and orchards. Rights defenders face imprisonment.

    These human rights violations continue on both sides of the border — by both India and Pakistan — with minimal scrutiny or accountability.

    Indian legal and military control in Kashmir

    Article 370 functioned as an interim treaty between India and Kashmir since 1949 until its 2019 revocation. It granted Kashmir a constitution and some legal autonomy.

    Its removal eliminated remaining Indigenous Kashmiri rights protections, enabled new colonial laws on Kashmir and allowed non-Kashmiris to own land and hold public office.

    The Indian Domicile Act has allowed demographic engineering whereby more than 80,000 non-Kashmiris were given Kashmiri membership rights between 2022-2024.

    The Domicile Act is a typical colonial strategy and works to undermine Indigenous presence and resistance capacity.

    Pakistan side of the border

    On the Pakistani side, the Interim Constitution for Kashmir forbids political expression that challengs Pakistan’s control of and claim to Kashmir.

    This constitution also established a governance system that initially included the Kashmir Council, with Pakistani officials holding significant power over legislation and appointments.

    Following the 2018 13th amendment, many legislative powers transferred from the Kashmir Council to the Pakistani government rather than to the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Assembly. This means Pakistan retains exclusive control over many areas.

    The elected AJK government remains structurally subordinate to Pakistan’s Ministry of Kashmir Affairs. Non-Kashmiri officials hold key executive powers in Islamabad. This gives Pakistan administrative oversight over Kashmir.

    The United Nations has documented rights violations in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, including restricted expression and anti-terrorism law abuse to suppress dissent. Enforced disappearances have also been reported as journalists face threats.

    Mining and resource extraction

    Extractive settler-colonial government economies dispossess Kashmiris from their land through control of water, energy projects, lithium mining and deforestation.

    India expedites mining operations that exploit Kashmir’s significant lithium deposits. They sideline environmental and community displacement concerns.

    Extensive deforestation transforms Kashmir’s landscapes, displacing wildlife, destroying habitats and threatening traditional Kashmiri ways of life.

    Indian and Pakistani control of Kashmir’s vital waterways has led to the creation of hydroelectric power projects on rivers like Chenab, Neelum and Jhelum, generating substantial energy through dams (Kishanganga, Baglihar dam, Mangla dam and the Azad Pattan Hydropower project).

    Hydroelectric power generated from Kashmir is predominantly exported to outsiders. Cities in India and Pakistan benefit, while Kashmiris face high energy bills and electricity shortages.

    Justice for peace

    A sustainable peace requires undoing settler-colonial borders and orders across Kashmir. It requires reuniting Kashmiris across the colonial divide. Colonizers need to surrender governance power back to Indigenous Kashmiris.

    Kashmiri self-government — without colonial oversight — would respect Kashmiri freedoms, sovereignty and self-determination over ancestral lands, waterways and resources. This would bring peace to the region.

    Binish Ahmed is affiliated with Kashmir Gulposh, a Kashmiri rights education collective.

    – ref. Borders and orders: How settler-government occupations violate Kashmiri sovereignty – https://theconversation.com/borders-and-orders-how-settler-government-occupations-violate-kashmiri-sovereignty-256411

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Crop diversification is crucial to Canadian resilience in a changing world

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, MacEwan University

    The recent threats of tariffs and deteriorating relations with the United States have led to increasing interest from Canadian governments and the public in boosting the country’s self-reliance.

    Politicians have called on the public to “buy Canadian,” provinces have ordered American products removed from shelves and Canadian retailers have seen a surge in domestic sales. Yet the importance of agricultural adaptations for achieving greater Canadian self-reliance has largely been overlooked.

    The federal government’s plan for building a stronger agrifood sector is mainly based on financial safeguards and loan options for impacted farmers and supply-chain management of existing products. The broad topic of agricultural innovation is barely mentioned at all.

    At a time of changing geopolitical and physical environments, we must ensure the long-term resilience of Canada’s farms. An important step towards achieving this complex and multifaceted goal would be to diversify the country’s crop production.

    Low Canadian crop diversity

    Anyone browsing their supermarket’s produce section will quickly discover just how few of the products are grown in Canada. This is ironic; as most gardeners know, many imported fruits and vegetables can grow extremely well in Canada.

    Canada imports around 50 per cent of vegetables and 75 per cent of fruits from abroad, much of it from the United States.

    This has not traditionally caused concern since the agri-food sector has a net trade surplus. But among Canadian crops, just two — canola and wheat — dominate total earnings.

    Canada’s need for imports leaves it vulnerable, but so does its need for exports.

    In 2019, for instance, after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China imposed harsh trade restrictions on Canadian canola. That year, canola exports to China fell by 70 per cent.

    Today, Canada faces similar issues with 100 per cent tariffs imposed by China on canola products.

    Instead of just bailing out farmers impacted by current events, governments should help those who are interested to diversify and grow crops that can be sold domestically.

    Benefits of diversifying our agriculture

    Even before the current tariffs, there were good reasons for diversifying Canadian agriculture and growing food locally.

    The nutritional value of vegetables decreases during storage and transport, suggesting that local produce may be healthier. Similarly, crop diversity can be an important tool for improving plant and soil health and so increasing yields while ensuring environmental sustainability.

    In a meta-analysis of 5,156 experiments from across the globe, researchers in France and the Netherlands showed that crop diversification typically enhanced net productivity, soil function and ecosystem services. It had the greatest effect on water quality and organism-induced damage; weed reduction, pest reduction, disease control and associated crop damages showed 33-60 per cent average improvements.

    The benefits in terms of soil health and productivity may be compounded by intercropping plant species with fungi. Preliminary results from my current research project suggest that edible saprotrophic fungi could be used as a tool for maintaining soil health while minimizing the use of environmentally problematic soil amendments.

    Diversification studies include a range of different land management techniques, some of which involve elaborate intercropping approaches that might be difficult to implement on an industrial scale. However, even relatively simple crop rotation approaches have a positive impact on soil carbon, nutrient levels, microbial activity, biodiversity and net productivity, potentially leading to increased profitability.

    The impacts of climate change

    Longstanding arguments for crop diversification have been compounded by climate-change-induced food insecurity. Increases in the frequency and severity of wildfires and droughts suggest that rely on regions like California for food imports might be poor long-term planning.

    Similarly, parts of Canada face an increased risk of weather-induced crop failure. Crop species may no longer be a good match for the current climatic conditions where they’re grown. Canola and wheat, for instance, are vulnerable to drought and heat stress during the flowering period.

    Crop diversification has long been used to minimize the impacts of climate insecurities in developing countries with less access to artificial irrigation and soil amendments. Switching to crops that can handle extreme weather events, like some beans, legumes and grains, could similarly increase Canada’s climate resilience. Additionally, using crop rotation strategies based on a greater diversity of crops grown may help maintain higher yields during adverse weather.

    How the government can help farmers

    Canada is a world leader in agricultural research. Globally, the country ranks fifth with respect to articles published, but is further behind when it comes to implementation on farms.

    Despite the high benefit-to-cost ratios of applications of agricultural research, only six per cent of Canadian farmers are willing to adopt new approaches before they have been tested at scale. Meanwhile, almost 30 per cent are reluctant to change approaches at all.

    This is hardly surprising. Change is always associated with risks. For instance, while the majority of studies show a net benefit of diversification strategies, there are huge, context-dependent variations in the outcomes. Climate, soil, crop species and microbial communities all matter in ways that can be difficult to predict.

    Most farmers do not have the resources to retool their farms for new crops and assume the risks. Many face financial struggles and rising debt. This is due in part to higher production costs and lower commodity prices caused by large corporations controlling both the sales of farm supplies and the purchase of agricultural products.

    Skilled labour shortages and issues retaining younger workers may also undermine the willingness and ability to diversify with new crops. Qualified migrant workers with agricultural backgrounds could help, but restrictive immigration policies make finding workers challenging.

    Reactive government assistance that just keeps farmers above water will not address the challenges of a changing global trade environment and climate. To sustain momentum, the government needs to proactively fund targeted, large-scale feasibility studies and provide training, recruitment and transition funding for those interested in novel crop systems.

    Agriculture is part of the foundation for our society. We have become accustomed to having access to plenty of fresh food, but this is not the global or historical norm.

    Canada’s food supply is maintained by farmers both at home and abroad who, for generations, have worked long days at low wages to feed us. If they do not receive the support required to adapt to our changing world, we might all discover how valuable food really is.

    Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard 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. Crop diversification is crucial to Canadian resilience in a changing world – https://theconversation.com/crop-diversification-is-crucial-to-canadian-resilience-in-a-changing-world-256763

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Two agreements with representatives of the Science and Technology Administration of the High-Tech and Industrial Region of Harbin were signed at the State University of Management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    On May 27, 2025, a delegation from the Science and Technology Administration of the Harbin High-tech and Industrial Zone and the PUE Shanghai Business Incubator Administration visited the National University of Management.

    At the meeting with the management of the State University of Management, two cooperation agreements were signed and vectors for its further development were outlined.

    Rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev: “Dear colleagues, friends, comrades, I am glad to welcome such a representative and serious delegation within the walls of the State University of Management. Our meeting is aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership with the industrial region of Harbin. In the new era, relations between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China are rapidly developing, which was confirmed during the visit to Russia of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping. We are especially pleased that this visit was timed to coincide with the celebration of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the end of World War II and the victory over militarist Japan. There are many tasks and issues on the agenda. I hope that even if we do not solve them all today, we will outline the directions for these decisions. I am confident that the visit will serve the further development of relations between our countries.”

    Deputy Head of the Harbin High-Tech and Industrial District Committee Wang Hong: “Dear Rector and the SUM team, good morning! It is an honor for us to visit a prestigious university with a long history. Before the visit, we studied your university in terms of experience in training personnel for your country and in cooperation with China. Our countries are close not only geographically, economically, but also culturally. The recent visit of the PRC leaders to Russia was intended to continue the development of these ties. Our visit today has the same goal. Harbin is the largest historical base for training personnel for cooperation with Russia; today, it is home to 23 universities.”

    Next, Comrade Wang Hong outlined the priority areas of cooperation with the National University of Management: 1. Establishing strong ties and organizing regular mutual visits between the parties, as well as integrating educational programs; 2. Scientific cooperation in the field of developing artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, biomedicine, new materials and food production; 3. Organizing a student exchange program in the form of courses or summer schools to train competitive personnel.

    At the end of her welcoming speech, Wang Hong invited Vladimir Stroyev and other representatives of the State University of Management to come to Harbin on a return visit.

    Vladimir Vitalyevich accepted the invitation with gratitude, noting that he, as a native of Vladivostok, always dreamed of visiting Harbin and now this dream can come true, since good partners have appeared in the city.

    In a ceremonial atmosphere, the rector signed two cooperation agreements: with the Science and Technology Administration of the High-Tech and Industrial District of Harbin, represented by the Head of the Administration, Wang Di, and with the Administration of the Business Incubator “PuE-Shanghai”, represented by the General Director, Su Jing.

    Director of the Center for Management Development of the Higher School of Business and Technology of the State University of Management, Alexander Narezhnev, spoke about the goals and objectives of the department, educational programs and internships in China. The director proposed developing similar programs and starting cooperation in areas of science that are of interest to partners. In addition, Alexander Narezhnev proposed developing programs to support startups and providing partners with a platform to open their representative office on the territory of the State University of Management.

    Vladimir Filatov, Director of the Center for Management of Engineering Projects at GUU, reported that the Center, under his leadership, is conducting developments in the field of artificial intelligence, drones, computer vision, and the agricultural industry, and also shared his experience of cooperation with the Chinese side – GUU and one of the Shanxi universities submitted a joint application for research with funding from national funds.

    Deputy Head of the Harbin High-Tech and Industrial District Committee Wang Hong said that the district is an economic zone responsible for developing relations with Russia, so there is a special competence center and a bank to ensure financial transfers. To simplify the start of work, partners are offered turnkey services. In this regard, Wang Hong proposed considering the possibility of opening a representative office of the State University of Management in Harbin.

    During the subsequent meeting, the partners discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the areas of MBA and internships, agreed to hold a joint round table and exchanged contact information.

    Vice-Rector of the State University of Management Dmitry Bryukhanov noted that the discussion arouses a keen interest in joint activities, and suggested developing and exchanging specific proposals for work in the field of science and education, and later signing further agreements at the 9th Russian-Chinese EXPO, which will take place on July 7–10 in Yekaterinburg. The distinguished guests agreed with this proposal.

    At the end of the visit to SUM, the delegation from Harbin was given a tour of the university campus.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

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

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Senate Advances Padilla, Sullivan Bill to Improve Cybersecurity and Telecommunications for Oceanographic Research Vessels

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) 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. The fleet includes three vessels in California, which discovered extensive World War II-era munitions on the sea floor at the San Pedro DDT dumpsite. 
    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 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.”
    “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.” 
    “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. 
    Senator Padilla has consistently promoted oceanic research. Last year, Padilla and Representative Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24) led 22 California lawmakers in calling on the Office of Management and Budget to include robust, long-term funding for research on the harmful impacts of DDT contamination in the ocean waters off the coast of Southern California. In 2023, Padilla and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced legislation to reduce ocean shipping emissions. Padilla also previously questioned witnesses in the Senate Budget Committee about the importance of the economic impacts to the ocean’s economy under a changing climate. In 2021, Padilla secured $7.6 million to fund ocean surveys and kelp forest restoration.
    A one-pager on the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –