NewzIntel.com

Category: Vehicles

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Isabel Schnabel: Keeping a steady hand in an unsteady world

    Source: European Central Bank

    Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at Hoover Monetary Policy Conference “Finishing the Job and New Challenges”, Stanford University

    Stanford, 10 May 2025

    Standard theory of monetary policy rests on a simple premise: a stable relationship between inflation and the output gap. This is the logic behind the Phillips curve, which, in its most common form, relates inflation to a measure of economic slack, expected inflation and supply shocks.[1]

    The relationship between output and inflation was already under scrutiny well before the pandemic.

    After the global financial crisis of 2008, inflation didn’t fall nearly as much as had been implied by conventional Phillips curve estimates. And once economies around the world recovered and unemployment fell, the bounce-back in inflation fell short of model predictions.

    This is why that episode is known as the period of “missing deflation” and “missing inflation”.[2]

    The situation changed fundamentally in the aftermath of the pandemic, when the relationship between inflation and the output gap proved to be much stronger than what would have been expected based on historical estimates. We observed a noticeably steeper Phillips curve across advanced economies, including the euro area (Slide 2).[3]

    In my remarks today, I would like to draw lessons from the instability of the Phillips curve over the past 20 years for the optimal conduct of monetary policy. I will argue that the evidence of a re-flattening of the Phillips curve after the long period of high inflation suggests that, in the euro area, the most appropriate policy response to the potential risks to price stability arising from fiscal expansion and protectionism is to keep a steady hand and maintain rates close to where they are today – that is, firmly in neutral territory.

    Monetary policy and the slope of the Phillips curve

    The slope of the Phillips curve has first-order implications for the conduct of monetary policy.

    If the curve is steep, as it appeared to be in recent years, monetary policy is highly effective in reducing inflation, with only a limited impact on growth and employment. The smaller “sacrifice ratio” suggests that central banks should react more forcefully to deviations of inflation from target, even when the economy is hit by a supply shock that pushes inflation up and output down.[4]

    A steep Phillips curve hence improves the trade-off facing central banks, weakening the case for “looking through”, as forceful policy action minimises the risks of inflation expectations unanchoring and of inflation becoming entrenched.[5]

    Policy prescriptions differ fundamentally if the Phillips curve is flat.

    In this case, a large policy impulse is required to move output sufficiently to generate aggregate price effects. It can then be optimal for policy to tolerate moderate deviations of inflation from target, as the cost of closing a small inflation gap relative to the target may exceed the benefits.

    This prescription holds in both directions.

    When inflation is above the target, a flat Phillips curve would require a sharp rise in policy rates to bring medium-term inflation down from, say, 2.3% to 2%. Such a course of action may imply a substantial rise in unemployment and may thus not be welfare-improving for society at large – a trade-off central banks may face during the last mile of disinflation.[6]

    The experience of the 2010s, when inflation was persistently below the target, demonstrates that the argument also holds in the opposite direction.

    If bringing inflation up from 1.7% to 2%, for example, requires purchasing a large fraction of outstanding government bonds and making potentially time-inconsistent promises about the future path of interest rates, then the central bank must consider carefully whether the benefits outweigh the costs, such as making losses in the future, market dysfunction, rising wealth inequality, financial instability and threats to its reputation.[7]

    The role of inflation expectations

    However, the ability to tolerate moderate deviations of inflation from target critically hinges on a firm anchoring of inflation expectations – that is, a low sensitivity of inflation expectations to realised inflation.

    If inflation expectations are well-anchored, policymakers can tolerate moderate deviations from target, as fluctuations in inflation tend to fade away. If, however, inflation expectations are at risk of unanchoring, central banks should act forcefully.[8]

    There are two challenges to this strategy.

    One is that the anchoring of inflation expectations is endogenous. Central banks themselves can cause an unanchoring if inaction in the face of price shocks is perceived as weakening its commitment to securing price stability.[9]

    History shows that it can be costly to reestablish the credibility of the nominal anchor once it has been lost. This is also because inflation expectations are path-dependent. Research shows that the experience of high inflation may raise the sensitivity of inflation expectations to new inflation surprises.[10]

    The other challenge is that different measures of inflation expectations often yield different results (Slide 3). As such, robust trends cannot easily be identified in real time, much like the slope of the Phillips curve.[11]

    Measures of inflation expectations can even point in opposite directions. Research from the early days of the pandemic showed that most consumers expected the pandemic to raise prices, contrary to the views held by professional forecasters at the time.[12]

    State-dependent pricing and tight labour markets can explain steeper Phillips curve and post-pandemic inflation surge

    The recent period of high inflation illustrates how sensitive policy conclusions can be to the assessment of the slope of the Phillips curve and to measures of inflation expectations that central banks use in their analysis.

    Two key theories have been proposed to explain the post-pandemic inflation surge.[13]

    The first relates to firms’ price-setting behaviour.

    Standard New Keynesian models assume that the probability of firms resetting their prices is constant over time. This is a fair description of aggregate price movements when inflation is low and aggregate shocks are small (Slide 4).

    However, the past few years have demonstrated that this “linear” relationship breaks down in the face of large shocks.[14] When marginal costs increase rapidly and threaten to erode profit margins, firms tend to raise their prices more frequently. As a result, the Phillips curve steepens.

    This feedback loop is strongly asymmetric.[15] It acts as an inflation accelerator when firms face positive demand or adverse cost-push shocks.[16] But it does little to firms’ pricing strategies in the face of disinflationary shocks due to downward price rigidities.

    This helps explain why inflation did not fall much when the pandemic broke out but increased sharply after the reopening of our economies (Slide 5).[17]

    The second theory relates to the tightness of the labour market.

    Downward nominal wage rigidity has been a key factor explaining the “missing deflation” in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.[18] If nominal wages do not fall, or fall only very slowly, firms’ marginal costs change only moderately, and hence disinflationary pressures face a natural lower bound, even if slack is large.

    But when the labour market is tight, wages are more flexible as firms outbid each other in securing their desired workforce.

    Benigno and Eggertsson show that this channel led to a non-linear inflation surge in the United States whenever the number of job vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed workers (Slide 6).[19] In the euro area, the threshold was lower, but the curve still exhibited strong signs of non-linearity.

    Rising near-term inflation expectations may have shifted the Phillips curve up

    New research for the United States, however, suggests that the evidence in favour of the second theory is not very robust.

    Specifically, the finding of non-linearity depends critically on which measure is used to control for inflation expectations: non-linearity holds when controlling for expectations of professional forecasters, but it disappears once inflation expectations of households and firms are considered.[20]

    In other words, it is conceivable that the Phillips curve did not become steeper but rather shifted upwards as inflation expectations rose.[21] Non-linearity has also been rejected recently using a similar approach based on regional data for the euro area.[22]

    Moreover, the expectations that are relevant for such an upward shift are not necessarily the longer-term expectations that central banks typically pay most attention to.

    These have remained remarkably stable over the past few years (Slide 7).

    Rather, inflation expectations over the near term, such as the next 12 months, may be more important in driving macroeconomic outcomes.

    Bernanke and Blanchard, for example, show that one-year-ahead inflation expectations explain a significant share of the recent marked rise in nominal wages, and hence inflation, in the United States.[23] Similar evidence has been found for the euro area and other advanced economies.[24]

    Again, there appears to be an asymmetry: the risks that the Phillips curve shifts downwards are substantially lower. Research shows that consumers tend to respond more to inflationary than disinflationary news, as households value increases in their purchasing power and as they pay less attention to inflation when it is low.[25]

    The impact of tariffs on inflation in the euro area

    Understanding the reasons behind the recent inflation surge is not only important from a conceptual perspective. It also matters for setting monetary policy today, as we are once again confronted with historically large shocks.

    For central banks, this is a difficult environment to navigate.

    Memories of high inflation are still fresh after a long period of sharply rising prices. And just as during the pandemic, there is considerable uncertainty about how firms and households are going to respond to shocks that are largely outside the historical empirical range.

    Ultimately, the impact of current shocks on prices and wages, and hence the appropriate monetary policy response, will depend on the shape and location of the Phillips curve.

    Monetary policy should focus on the medium term and underlying inflation

    Let me illustrate this by looking at the euro area.

    Given the lags in policy transmission, the relevant horizon for monetary policy is the medium term. The past few years, however, demonstrated that inflation forecasting at times of large structural shocks is inherently difficult and plagued by large uncertainty.

    For this reason, the ECB and other central banks have increasingly turned to a data-dependent approach to monetary policy, where the observed dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary transmission are used to cross-check the inflation projections.[26]

    This approach remains valid today.[27] But data dependence is not in contrast to being forward-looking.

    In the current situation, the high level of economic uncertainty, together with the sharp fall in energy prices and a stronger euro exchange rate, will likely dampen headline inflation in the short run, potentially pushing it below our 2% target.

    The question is whether these developments provide meaningful signals about the net impact of current shocks on medium-term inflation.

    During the pandemic, for example, a strong appreciation of the euro against the US dollar, by nearly 14% over seven months, and a marked decline in energy prices were followed by a historical inflation surge.

    Data dependency hence requires examining the potential channels through which current shocks could affect underlying inflation over the medium term.

    In the euro area, there are two main forces that could have the size and persistence to pull underlying inflation sustainably away from our 2% medium-term target.

    One is fiscal policy, which is set to expand on a scale unseen outside periods of deep economic contraction.

    Germany has eased its constitutional debt brake for defence-related spending, and has committed to spending €500 billion, or more than 10% of GDP, on infrastructure and the green transition over the next 12 years. In addition, the European Commission has invited Member States to activate the national escape clause to accommodate increased defence expenditure across the EU.

    The impact of these measures on inflation will depend on how they are implemented, especially their impact on the supply side of the economy. But on balance, the fiscal impulse is likely to put upward pressure on underlying inflation over the medium term.

    Global fragmentation is the second force that could have a lasting impact on prices and wages.

    As we speak, the scale and scope of tariffs, the extent of retaliation as well as how financial markets respond to these developments all remain highly uncertain.

    Ongoing negotiations are a sign that mutually beneficial agreements may still be reached. An ideal outcome – the “zero-for-zero” tariff agreement advocated by the European Commission – could even boost growth and employment on both sides of the Atlantic.

    However, should these negotiations fail, the euro area will simultaneously face adverse supply and demand shocks, as the EU has announced that it will retaliate against higher tariffs.

    Similar to the pandemic, assessing the relative strength of these forces is inherently difficult. Overall, however, there are risks that a lasting and meaningful increase in tariffs will reinforce the upward pressure on underlying inflation arising from higher fiscal spending over the medium term.

    To see this, it is useful to look at the factors driving the macroeconomic propagation of tariffs.

    Euro area foreign demand may prove resilient, with limited effects on inflation

    The severity of the negative demand shock will depend on two factors.

    One is the hit to economic activity in the United States and to global demand from raising tariffs across the board. Under the 2 April tariff rates, the United States will face a supply shock of historic proportions. Inflation is poised to rise, real incomes to fall and unemployment to increase. Retaliatory tariffs would weaken the economy further.

    So even in the absence of demand reallocation, foreign demand can be expected to decline if there is a broad increase in tariffs. The depth and persistence of this decline will also depend on other policies, such as tax and spending cuts and deregulation.

    And it will crucially depend on the final outcome of tariff negotiations, which is likely to be far less severe than the 2 April announcement.

    The second factor affecting the severity of the demand shock relates to the degree of demand reallocation – that is, the elasticity of substitution between foreign and domestic products. This elasticity is highly uncertain and varies across industries, products and countries.[28]

    However, a robust finding in the literature is that products that are more differentiated tend to be relatively price-inelastic, as they are more difficult to substitute.

    This has great relevance for the euro area, where the bulk of exports to the United States comprise pharmaceuticals, machinery, vehicles and chemicals. These goods are typically highly differentiated (Slide 8, left-hand side).

    For instance, the supply of machines for producing semiconductors is basically monopolised by one Dutch company. Similarly, banknotes in the United States are overwhelmingly printed using machinery from a single German manufacturer.

    These and other machines are not easy to replace in the short run, giving euro area exporters leverage to pass higher costs on to foreign importers and limiting the hit to foreign demand.

    In addition, trade diversion may benefit euro area exports.

    Should prohibitive tariffs on Chinese imports remain in place, they will measurably raise the euro area’s price competitiveness in the US market. This can be expected to stimulate demand for euro area goods if there are no alternatives in the United States itself, especially as the number of industries in which both Chinese and euro area firms have comparative advantages has increased measurably over the past two decades (Slide 8, right-hand side).[29]

    New research corroborates this view.[30] It finds that the euro area stands to win in relative terms from a global trade war, as its net exports to the world will rise rather than fall as global demand is reallocated across the global network, offsetting the hit to domestic consumption.[31]

    In other words, for as long as tariffs are not prohibitive to trade and the uncertainty paralysing activity fades, aggregate euro area foreign demand may prove relatively resilient under a range of potential tariff outcomes.

    The recent appreciation of the euro does not refute this view.

    The euro has gone through two distinct phases since the US presidential election in November last year. It first depreciated in nominal effective terms by 3% until mid-February, before starting to appreciate. So, in net terms, the euro is trading just 2.6% above last year’s average.

    In addition, as most exports to the United States are invoiced in US dollars, the pass-through of changes in the exchange rate to import prices tends to be moderate – by recent estimates just about one-fifth.[32] And potential losses in price competitiveness in third countries are in part compensated by lower import costs, as euro area exports have, on average, a large import content.

    This price inelasticity is also reflected in recent surveys, with manufacturing firms reporting an expansion in output for the first time in more than two years (Slide 9). Also, fewer firms are reporting falling export orders.

    Even if part of these developments may reflect frontloading by firms, it is remarkable how resilient sentiment has remained in the face of the extraordinary increase in economic uncertainty.

    Supply shock puts upward pressure on inflation, reinforced by global supply chains

    The downward effects on inflation caused by lower demand are likely to be offset, partly or even fully, by the supply shock hitting the euro area through retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU and other economies.

    The strength of this supply shock also depends on two factors.

    One is the extent to which firms pass higher tariffs on to consumers.

    In the United States, evidence from the 2018 tariff increase suggests that, in most cases, the pass-through to import prices was de facto complete.[33] At the same time, many firms chose to absorb part of the increase in import prices in their profit margins, thereby limiting the increase in consumer price inflation, at least in the short run.[34]

    Whether firms will respond similarly to a renewed rise in tariffs in the current environment is uncertain.

    On the one hand, the recent appreciation of the euro, if persistent, provides some margin for euro area firms to buffer cost increases from retaliatory tariffs. On the other hand, profit margins have already been squeezed by high wage growth and a sluggish economy, and the post-pandemic inflation surge may have lowered the bar for firms to pass higher costs on to consumers.

    Overall, recent surveys of companies in the United States and the euro area suggest that they plan to gradually pass higher tariffs on to consumers over the coming years.[35]

    In addition, in order to compensate for the hit to input costs, firms also tend to raise the prices of goods not directly affected by tariffs. There is evidence that retailers broadly adjust price markups even if only a subset of wholesale prices change.[36]

    The second, and related, factor determining the strength of the supply shock relates to global value chains.

    Unlike during the wave of protectionism in the 1930s, today the dominant share of international trade, about 70%, reflects multinational firms distributing production across countries and along the value chain to minimise costs. In this process, parts and components often cross borders many times.

    Prohibitive tariffs between the United States and China are already disrupting supply chains. Shipments of goods are declining, potentially causing future shortages of critical intermediate goods that could reverberate across the world.

    While current conditions are very different from those seen during the pandemic, when supply chain disruptions were a main factor driving the surge in inflation, the impact of tariffs is likely to be amplified as the increase in firms’ marginal costs propagates through the production network.

    ECB staff analysis shows that, even if the EU does not retaliate, higher production costs transmitted through global value chains could more than offset the disinflationary pressure coming from lower foreign demand, making tariffs inflationary overall (Slide 10, left-hand side).[37]

    These effects will become stronger with full retaliation, including intermediate goods. So far, the EU’s retaliatory measures have disproportionately targeted final consumer goods, such as beverages, food and home appliances – precisely to avoid broader cost effects being transmitted through value chains (Slide 10, right-hand side).

    But if the trade conflict intensifies, the scale of retaliation will widen and increasingly include intermediate goods, as these account for nearly 70% of euro area imports from the United States.

    In other words, retaliatory tariffs on intermediate goods would constitute a much broader cost-push shock for euro area firms, reminiscent of the post-pandemic supply chain disruptions.[38]

    It is possible that these effects will be mitigated by China redirecting goods originally destined for the United States towards the euro area and other economies at a discount.

    In practice, however, this mitigation channel is likely to be contained. India, for example, has already raised temporary tariffs on China to curb a surge in imports. Similarly, the European Commission has repeatedly clarified that it intends to protect euro area firms against dumping prices should imports from China rise significantly in response to the evolving trade conflict with the United States.[39]

    Policy implications

    How, then, should the ECB respond to the current shocks?

    The lessons from the post-pandemic surge in inflation suggest that, from today’s perspective, the appropriate course of action is to keep rates close to where they are today – that is, firmly in neutral territory.

    A “steady hand” policy provides the best insurance against a wide range of potential outcomes. In other words, it is robust to many contingencies.

    Specifically, it avoids reacting excessively to volatility in headline inflation at a time when domestic inflation remains sticky and new forces are putting upward pressure on underlying inflation over the medium term. Given lags in policy transmission, an accommodative policy stance could amplify risks to medium-term price stability.

    This steady hand policy also avoids overreacting to concerns that tariffs may destabilise inflation expectations once again.

    In recent months, households’ short-term inflation expectations have reversed and started rising again. According to the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey, expectations for inflation one year ahead increased to 2.9% in March from their trough of 2.4% in September 2024 (Slide 11, left-hand side). Qualitative inflation expectations, as measured by the European Commission, even rose to levels last seen in late 2022 (Slide 11, right-hand side).

    Currently, there are no indications that this rise is persistent, or that inflation expectations are at risk of unanchoring.

    Hence, we can afford to look through the rise in short-term inflation expectations. This could change if we see clear signs of a strong and front-loaded pass-through of potential tariff increases – something that could bring us back to the steep part of the Phillips curve. So far, however, evidence suggests that firms have notably slowed the frequency with which they revise their prices.

    A steady hand policy also addresses risks of a more substantial decline in aggregate demand in response to the trade conflict.

    If tight labour markets were the main culprit for the recent steepening of the Phillips curve, risks of a sharp decline in inflation caused by a rise in unemployment are much more moderate today.

    The reason for this is that in both the United States and the euro area, the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio has fallen markedly and is now at a level that suggests that labour markets are much more balanced (Slide 12).

    We are thus likely to be operating close to, or at, the flat part of the Phillips curve where a change in unemployment has only limited effects on underlying inflation, in stark contrast to the high inflation period.[40]

    We would only need to react more forcefully to the tariff shock if we observed a sharp deterioration in labour market conditions or an unanchoring of inflation expectations to the downside.

    Both seem unlikely at the current juncture.

    Despite the number of vacancies declining, the euro area labour market has proven resilient, with unemployment at a record low. And most measures of medium-term inflation expectations remain tilted to the upside, including those of professional forecasters (Slide 13).

    Conclusion

    My main message today, and with this I would like to conclude, is therefore simple: now is the time to keep a steady hand.

    In the current environment of elevated volatility, the ECB needs to remain focused on the medium term. Given long and variable transmission lags, reacting to short-term developments could result in the peak impact of our policy only unfolding when the current disinflationary forces have passed.

    Over the medium term, risks to euro area inflation are likely tilted to the upside, reflecting both the increase in fiscal spending and the risks of renewed cost-push shocks from tariffs propagating through global value chains.

    Therefore, from today’s perspective, an accommodative monetary policy stance would be inappropriate, also because recent inflation data suggest that past shocks may unwind more slowly than previously anticipated.

    By keeping interest rates near their current levels, we can be confident that monetary policy is neither excessively holding back growth and employment, nor stimulating it. We are thus in a good place to evaluate the likely future evolution of the economy and to take action if risks materialise that threaten price stability.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: ​China Brings More Confidence to Global Economy

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    Leaders of multinational companies, taking into account the actual situation of scientific and technological innovation, social development and other aspects in China, hope to jointly explore new synergies in the fields of digital technology, artificial intelligence and healthcare.

    “I am very happy to be back in China. IKEA has been in China for 60 years, but we are thinking about the next 60 years,” Inter IKEA Group CEO Jon Abrahamsson Ring said recently, adding that long-term cooperation with China is important and that the development of Chinese renewable energy technologies is “very good,” which will contribute to IKEA’s future sustainable development.

    Sean Green, President and CEO of BMW Group China, noted that “Chinese consumers are on average around 20 years younger than Europeans.” BMW is addressing the digital needs of young Chinese consumers and is deepening strategic collaborations with Chinese technology companies, deeply integrating cloud-based interactive capabilities and personalized generative AI experiences so that vehicles can more seamlessly adapt to China’s smart city infrastructure in the future. André Hoffmann, Deputy Chairman of the Roche Group, noted that China’s healthcare needs, coupled with an aging society, are growing and will provide greater opportunities for innovative medicines to develop. He stressed that Roche looks forward to working closely with the Chinese government, healthcare providers and industry partners.

    Schneider Electric Group Chairman Jean-Pascal Tricoire said Schneider Electric is working with multiple Chinese suppliers to implement carbon-reducing practices. Its plant in Shanghai’s Putuo district has reduced its new product development cycle by 63% and increased its average production efficiency per person by 82%, setting a model for existing plants. By 2027, Amway plans to upgrade and improve more than 100 spaces where people can use its products to promote a healthy, quality lifestyle. The company will also undertake research projects such as building its own organic farms, anti-aging plant breeding, and space breeding…

    The rapidly growing Chinese market will continue to create new growth poles and bring more dynamism and confidence to the global economy. “The transformation of the Chinese mainland economy has opened up enormous opportunities for the world. Various breakthrough innovations are transforming the economic structure and driving economic growth,” said Hong Kong Stock Exchange Chairman Tang Jiacheng. “As a leading financial center in Asia, Hong Kong can provide important financial support for these innovations,” he added.

    Standing at a new historical turning point, the Chinese market has transformed from a uniform production base into a global source of innovation. Foreign-invested enterprises need to seize the breakthrough opportunities of “future technologies” such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and deeply develop “markets in third-tier cities and below” that are closely related to people’s social security.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Tracing radiation through the Marshall Islands: Reflections from a veteran Greenpeace nuclear campaigner

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace

    We’ve visited Ground Zero. Not once, but three times. But for generations, before these locations were designated as such, they were the ancestral home to the people of the Marshall Islands.

    As part of a team of Greenpeace scientists and specialists from the Radiation Protection Advisers team, we have embarked on a six-week tour on board the Rainbow Warrior, sailing through one of the most disturbing chapters in human history: between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs across the Marshall Islands — equivalent to 7200 Hiroshima explosions.

    During this period, testing nuclear weapons at the expense of wonderful ocean nations like the Marshall Islands was considered an acceptable practice, or as the US put it, “for the good of mankind”.

    Instead, the radioactive fallout left a deep and complex legacy — one that is both scientific and profoundly human, with communities displaced for generations.

    The Rainbow Warrior coming into port in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Between March and April 2025 it embarked on a six-week mission around the Pacific nation to elevate calls for nuclear and climate justice; and support independent scientific research into the impacts of decades-long nuclear weapons testing by the US government. Image: © Bianca Vitale/Greenpeace

    Between March and April, we travelled on the Greenpeace flagship vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, throughout the Marshall Islands, including to three northern atolls that bear the most severe scars of Cold War nuclear weapons testing:

    • Enewetak atoll, where, on Runit Island, stands a massive leaking concrete dome beneath which lies plutonium-contaminated waste, a result of a partial “clean-up” of some of the islands after the nuclear tests;
    • Bikini atoll, a place so beautiful, yet rendered uninhabitable by some of the most powerful nuclear detonations ever conducted; and
    • Rongelap atoll, where residents were exposed to radiation fallout and later convinced to return to contaminated land, part of what is now known as Project 4.1, a US medical experiment to test humans’  exposure to radiation.

    This isn’t fiction, nor the distant past. It’s a chapter of history still alive through the environment, the health of communities, and the data we’re collecting today.

    Each location we visit, each sample we take, adds to a clearer picture of some of the long-term impacts of nuclear testing—and highlights the importance of continuing to document, investigate, and attempt to understand and share these findings.

    These are our field notes from a journey through places that hold important lessons for science, justice, and global accountability.

    As part of the Marshall Islands ship tour, a group of Greenpeace scientists and independent radiation experts were in Rongelap to sample lagoon sediments and plants that could become food if people came back. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    Our mission: why are we here?
     With the permission and support of the Marshallese government, a group of Greenpeace science and radiation experts, together with independent scientists, are in the island nation to assess, investigate, and document the long-term environmental and radiological consequences of nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands.

    Our mission is grounded in science. We’re conducting field sampling and radiological surveys to gather data on what radioactivity remains in the environment — isotopes such as caesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium-239/240. These substances are released during nuclear explosions and can linger in the environment for decades, posing serious health risks, such as increased risk of cancers in organs and bones.

    But this work is not only about radiation measurements, it is also about bearing witness.

    We are here in solidarity with Marshallese communities who continue to live with the consequences of decisions made decades ago, without their consent and far from the public eye.

    Stop 1: Enewetak Atoll — the dome that shouldn’t exist

    The Runit Dome with the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in the background. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    At the far western edge of the Marshall Islands is Enewetak. The name might not ring a bell for many, but this atoll was the site of 43 US nuclear detonations. Today, it houses what may be one of the most radioactive places in the world — the Runit Dome.

    Once a tropical paradise thick with coconut palms, Runit Island is capped by a massive concrete structure the size of a football field. Under this dome — cracked, weather-worn, and only 46 centimetres thick in some places — lies 85,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste. These substances are not only confined to the crater — they are also found across the island’s soil, rendering Runit Island uninhabitable for all time.

    The contrast between what it once was and what it has become is staggering. We took samples near the dome’s base, where rising sea levels now routinely flood the area.

    We collected coconut from the island, which will be processed and prepared in the Rainbow Warrior’s onboard laboratory. Crops such as coconut are a known vector for radioactive isotope transfer, and tracking levels in food sources is essential for understanding long-term environmental and health risks.

    The local consequences of this simple fact are deeply unjust. While some atolls in the Marshall Islands can harvest and sell coconut products, the people of Enewetak are prohibited from doing so because of radioactive contamination.

    They have lost not only their land and safety but also their ability to sustain themselves economically. The radioactive legacy has robbed them of income and opportunity.

    Measuring and collecting coconut samples. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    One of the most alarming details about this dome is that there is no lining beneath the structure — it is in direct contact with the environment, while containing some of the most hazardous long-lived substances ever to exist on planet Earth. It was never built to withstand flooding, sea level rise, and climate change.

    The scientific questions are urgent: how much of this material is already leaking into the lagoon? What are the exposure risks to marine ecosystems and local communities?

    We are here to help answer questions with new, independent data, but still, being in the craters and walking on this ground where nuclear Armageddon was unleashed is an emotional and surreal journey.

    Stop 2: Bikini — a nuclear catastrophe, labelled ‘for the good of mankind’

    Aerial shot of Bikini atoll, Marshall Islands. The Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior can be seen in the upper left. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    Unlike Chernobyl or Fukushima, where communities were devastated by catastrophic accidents, Bikini tells a different story. This was not an accident.

    The nuclear destruction of Bikini was deliberate, calculated, and executed with full knowledge that entire ways of life were going to be destroyed.

    Bikini Atoll is incredibly beautiful and would look idyllic on any postcard. But we know what lies beneath: the site of 23 nuclear detonations, including Castle Bravo, the largest ever nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States.

    Castle Bravo alone released more than 1000 times the explosive yield of the Hiroshima bomb. The radioactive fallout massively contaminated nearby islands and their populations, together with thousands of US military personnel.

    Bikini’s former residents were forcibly relocated in 1946 before nuclear testing began, with promises of a safe return. But the atoll is still uninhabited, and most of the new generations of Bikinians have never seen their home island.

    As we stood deep in the forest next to a massive concrete blast bunker, reality hit hard — behind its narrow lead-glass viewing window, US military personnel once watched the evaporation of Bikini lagoon.

    Bikini Islanders board a landing craft vehicle personnel (LCVP) as they depart from Bikini Atoll in March 1946. Image: © United States Navy

    On our visit, we noticed there’s a spectral quality to Bikini. The homes of the Bikini islanders are long gone. In its place now stand a scattering of buildings left by the US Department of Energy: rusting canteens, rotting offices, sleeping quarters with peeling walls, and traces of the scientific experiments conducted here after the bombs fell.

    On dusty desks, we found radiation reports, notes detailing crop trials, and a notebook meticulously tracking the application of potassium to test plots of corn, alfalfa, lime, and native foods like coconut, pandanus, and banana. The potassium was intended to block the uptake of caesium-137, a radioactive isotope, by plant roots.

    The logic was simple: if these crops could be decontaminated, perhaps one day Bikini could be repopulated.

    We collected samples of coconuts and soil — key indicators of internal exposure risk if humans were to return. Bikini raises a stark question: What does “safe” mean, and who gets to decide?

    The US declared parts of Bikini habitable in 1970, only to evacuate people again eight years later after resettled families suffered from radiation exposure. The science is not abstract here. It is personal. It is human. It has real consequences.

    Stop 3: Rongelap — setting for Project 4.1

    The abandoned church on Rongelap atoll. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    The Rainbow Warrior arrived at the eastern side of Rongelap atoll, anchoring one mile from the centre of Rongelap Island, the church spire and roofs of “new” buildings reflecting the bright sun.

    n 1954, fallout from the Castle Bravo nuclear detonation on Bikini blanketed this atoll in radioactive ash — fine, white powder that children played in, thinking it was snow. The US government waited three days to evacuate residents, despite knowing the risks. The US government declared it safe to return to Rongelap in 1957 — but it was a severely contaminated environment. The very significant radiation exposure to the Rongelap population caused severe health impacts: thyroid cancers, birth defects such as “jellyfish babies”, miscarriages, and much more.

    In 1985, after a request to the US government to evacuate was dismissed, the Rongelap community asked Greenpeace to help relocate them from their ancestral lands. Using the first Rainbow Warrior, and over a period of 10 days and four trips, 350 residents collectively dismantled their homes, bringing everything with them — including livestock, and 100 metric tons of building material — where they resettled on the islands of Mejatto and Ebeye on Kwajalein atoll.

    It is a part of history that lives on in the minds of the Marshallese people we meet in this ship voyage — in the gratitude they still express, the pride in keeping the fight for justice, and in the pain of still not having a permanent, safe home.

    Greenpeace representatives and displaced Rongelap community come together on Mejatto, Marshall Islands to commemorate the 40 years since the Rainbow Warrior evacuated the island’s entire population in May 1985 due to the impacts of US nuclear weapons testing. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    Now, once again, we are standing on their island of Rongelap, walking past abandoned buildings and rusting equipment, some of it dating from the 1980s and 1990s — a period when the US Department of Energy launched a push to encourage resettlement declaring that the island was safe — a declaration that this time, the population welcomed with mistrust, not having access to independent scientific data and remembering the deceitful relocation of some decades before.

    Here, once again, we sample soil and fruits that could become food if people came back. It is essential to understand ongoing risks — especially for communities considering whether and how to return.

    This is not the end. It is just the beginning

    The team of Greenpeace scientists and independent radiation experts on Rongelap atoll, Marshall Islands, with the Rainbow Warrior in the background. Shaun Burnie (author of the article) is first on the left. Image: © Greenpeace/Chewy C. Lin

    Our scientific mission is to take measurements, collect samples, and document contamination. But that’s not all we’re bringing back.

    We carry with us the voices of the Marshallese who survived these tests and are still living with their consequences. We carry images of graves swallowed by tides near Runit Dome, stories of entire cultures displaced from their homelands, and measurements of radiation showing contamination still persists after many decades.

    There are 9700 nuclear warheads still held by military powers around the world – mostly in the United States and Russian arsenals. The Marshall Islands was one of the first nations to suffer the consequences of nuclear weapons — and the legacy persists today.

    We didn’t come to speak for the Marshallese. We came to listen, to bear witness, and to support their demand for justice. We plan to return next year, to follow up on our research and to make results available to the people of the Marshall Islands.

    And we will keep telling these stories — until justice is more than just a word.

    Kommol Tata (“thank you” in the beautiful Marshallese language) for following our journey.

    Shaun Burnie is a senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine and was part of the Rainbow Warrior team in the Marshall Islands. This article was first published by Greenpeace Aotearoa and is republished with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Breaking: India Launches Missile Strikes on Three Air Bases in Pakistan

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    Xinhua | 10. 05. 2025

    Keywords: three airbases, india, struck, urgently, pakistan, class missiles, rawalpindi, khan, reported, representative, surface, noor, islamabad, india, launched, air

    ISLAMABAD, May 10 (Xinhua) — India fired air-to-surface missiles at three Pakistani air bases, including Nur Khan in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, a Pakistani army spokesman said.

    Source: Xinhua

    Breaking: India launches missile strikes on three air bases in Pakistan Breaking: India launches missile strikes on three air bases in Pakistan

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Ways you can help a vulnerable person in Canberra

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    In brief:

    • There are many Canberrans who can do with a helping hand.
    • The ACT has many services and initiatives that may be of benefit, whatever the situation.
    • This article features a list of some of these services.

    There are many vulnerable people in our community. Perhaps you know someone who is:

    • at risk
    • chronically unwell
    • unhappy, lonely or isolated
    • elderly or frail
    • facing financial difficulty
    • new to Canberra.

    Whether it’s a family member, neighbour or colleague you’re concerned about, reaching out is a great first step.

    Where relevant, you could help them make a call or fill out a form. You could even go along to an appointment or event with them.

    The list of services below is not exhaustive but may benefit someone you know. Most are free or low cost.

    Help with day-to-day living

    Eligible ACT residents who cannot take their bins out to the kerb, due to chronic illness, frail age or disability, can apply to have this done for them.

    A Companion Card allows people with significant and permanent disabilities to bring a companion for free to certain events and venues.

    Canberrans having difficulty paying for groceries can visit Communities at Work pantries for discounted food and other essentials.

    Communities at Work also provides free clothing, shoes and accessories for job interviews, court, funerals and other important events.

    Canberrans can access free period products throughout the ACT.

    Find more information on cost-of-living assistance.

    Help with transport

    Community bus services are for ACT residents who find it hard to use other forms of transport. They run from Monday to Friday and have flexible routes.

    The ACT Taxi Subsidy Scheme provides financial help to ACT residents with a disability or significant mobility restriction that prevents them from using public and community transport.

    Transport Canberra’s Flexible Bus Service helps Canberrans, such as the aged or people with mobility difficulties, get from their home to local community locations. Booking is required. Carers with a valid carers card are also welcome to travel.

    Special needs transport is available for eligible students. Please check the application open dates and guidelines in advance.

    The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bus service provides opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to connect with their communities and culture in the ACT and surrounding regions.

    More information regarding bus operating and booking hours, eligibility and guidelines for all services is available on Transport Canberra’s website.

    The Fitness to Drive Medical Clinic assesses fitness to drive a motor vehicle.

    Help with health care and wellbeing

    Mobile dental clinics Mobile Dental Clinics are an additional service for aged, school children and vulnerable Canberrans to access dental care in the community.

    Canberrans can access short term loan equipment via the ACT Equipment Loan Service. This is available on referral and includes:

    • mobility aids
    • hoists
    • wheelchairs
    • hospital beds and more.

    This free, short-term service is for anyone being discharged from hospital and for ACT residents needing rehab or to trial equipment.

    Eligible Canberrans with a lifelong or long-term disability  may be able to  access the ACT Equipment Scheme. The scheme can provide long term loan equipment that will help people live at home safely.

    Know someone who already has a mobility aid or appliance? Why not remind them they can have it serviced or repaired through the Clinical Technology Workshop?

    Anyone needing a walking aid can reach out to the Walking Aid Clinic.

    The Canberra Sexual Health Centre offers all Canberrans aged 14 and over professional care without judgment.

    Help is available to Canberrans who have experienced a change in their ability to carry out everyday activities due to a medical or health condition or disability. Brindabella Day and Ambulatory Rehabilitation Service provides a range of rehabilitation therapies.

    Community Care Nursing can assist people with a range of conditions and healthcare needs. It can also be accessed in the home, if medically necessary. Nursing services include wound care, medication management and more.

    Nutrition is a key part of health and wellbeing. The Community Care Nutrition Service offers specialised nutrition services to adults. As well as general healthy eating and nutrition support, the service can advise on chronic health conditions.

    The Liaison and Navigation Service helps adults with complex needs navigate health and other services.

    Adults with a chronic health condition affecting their quality of life may benefit from the Take Control – Live Well program. The three-week program helps people gain the skills and confidence to:

    • take control of their condition/s
    • reach health goals
    • make connections.

    Other services available include:

    You can find a range of other services on the Canberra Health Services website.

    Help to reduce loneliness

    Social isolation and loneliness can be harmful to mental and physical health. Visiting people or inviting them places can be extremely helpful. There is also a variety of ways people can meet others or find a new interest.

    Volunteering can be a great way to find connection and purpose. Canberrans looking for volunteering opportunities, workshops and advice can contact VolunteeringACT.

    There are lots of events happening every day on the Meetup website. From bushwalking to trivia, book clubs to dancing, there’s something to suit every interest.

    Older Canberrans could consider getting involved in an Intergenerational Playgroup through ACT Playgroups. These can help isolated residents and parents to connect.

    Social enterprise Café Stepping Stone runs various events at its Dickson and Strathnairn locations.

    There are also plenty of weird and wacky sports to consider. This is a great way of trying something new and meeting new people at the same time.

    Work-related help

    ACT Women’s Return to Work workshops support women and gender diverse people returning to the workforce with grants and advice on next steps.

    There is a free office skills course and ACT Government work placement for culturally and linguistically diverse Canberrans seeking meaningful employment.

    The ACT Government can help veterans transition from employment in the Australian Defence Force to the ACT Government.

    The RSL Veterans’ Employment Program is a free program helping veterans, family members and partners to find rewarding work.

    Canberrans with a business can get free business support from the Access Canberra Business Assist Team. They can help you understand permits, licenses and approvals.

    The Women’s Legal Centre ACT offers free legal advice to women in low-paid and/or precarious employment who are experiencing problems at work.

    Crisis help

    There is help for those who have experienced domestic and family violence.

    Through a range of support services, Canberrans can apply for financial support following domestic and family violence.

    Canberrans can get help to plan for safety, support children, find accommodation, sort out finances, take legal action and stay safe online.

    Tenants experiencing domestic and family violence can also break a rental lease immediately, if needed.

    There is support available to understand legal options in these circumstances.

    Find more on domestic, family and sexual violence services.

    Communities at Work Crisis Support can give immediate help with food, medical scripts and other essential supports. They can also provide:

    • bus tickets
    • phone vouchers and charging
    • showers
    • hygiene products
    • information and referral services.

    If you know someone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, there is help available. Find out about more services that can help with finding a safe place to stay, getting a free meal, having a shower or doing laundry.

    There are a number of ways you can get help for your mental health in the ACT.

    If you are in crisis or need support after hours, contact:

    If you or a loved one are in an unsafe or life-threatening situation, call triple 000 immediately.

    More avenues for help include:

    Read more like this

    Get ACT news and events delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to our email newsletter:


    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Southern District charges over 300 individuals in border security-related cases this week

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    HOUSTON – A total of 300 cases have been filed charging 302 people from May 2-8 in continuing efforts to secure the southern border, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. 

    As part of the cases, 93 face allegations of illegally reentering the country. The majority have prior felony convictions for narcotics, prior immigration crimes and more. A total of 193 people face charges of illegally entering the country, while 11 cases allege various instances of human smuggling with the remainder involving other immigration-related crimes.  

    Those charged by criminal complaint include two convicted felons authorities had allegedly discovered illegally in the country near Roma. Milton Elias Lara-Lara and Alejandro Tamayo-Velazquez have convictions related to fentanyl and marijuana, respectively, and had previously been removed from the United States, according to their charges.  

    Two more charged this week for unlawfully returning to the United States are Marco Antonio Rangel-Hernandez and Jose Guadalupe Valero-Lavanzate. The charges against them allege both are Mexican nationals who had previously served sentences for illegal reentry.

    As part of the ongoing efforts, others have also admitted they failed to register and be fingerprinted. One of those was Elver Emmanual Ollervidez-Tapia. He admitted he had previously waded across the Rio Grande River and illegally entered the country. Upon arrival, he failed to register and be fingerprinted as required by law. He was charged with that crime and for illegally entering the country and has pleaded guilty.

    In addition to the new cases, a five-time DUI illegal alien offender was ordered to federal prison for 70 months. In imposing the term of imprisonment, the court considered the dangerousness of Isidor Lagunas-Estrada’s crimes, his lack of respect for the law and need for deterrence. Lagunas-Estrada was removed from the United States in 2020 following his fourth DUI conviction. The investigation revealed he illegally reentered again and was found in the United States in October 2022 when he was arrested and later convicted for his fifth DUI.   

    Also announced was an illegal alien who had allegedly attempted to export stolen vehicles for the cartel. Authorities found Angel David Salas-Herrera in a stolen jeep Gladiator, according to the charges. A search allegedly resulted in the discovery of multiple key fobs and a device utilized to program them. The charges allege the Gladiator was intended to be exported to Mexico for the Gulf Cartel. Law enforcement was also able to recover two additional stolen vehicles that were allegedly intended for the same purpose. If convicted, Salas-Herrera faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

    In Brownsville, an armed repeat illegal alien admitted to human smuggling and firearms charges. The investigation revealed Alejandro Ramirez-Carranza was a river guide and had conspired with Issac Azuara-Vasquez to transport and smuggle illegal aliens in the bed of a truck after they illegally arrived from Mexico via boat on the Rio Grande River. Ramirez-Carranza, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, admitted to transporting and bringing an alien into the United States as well as illegal reentry and being an alien in possession of a firearm. Mexican citizen Azuara-Vasquez entered his plea April 10 to the same smuggling-related charges as well as selling a firearm to Ramirez-Carranza, an illegal alien.

    These cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Homeland Security Investigations, ICE – Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with additional assistance from state and local law enforcement partners.

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

    Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for the Southern District of Texas (SDTX). Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children. 

    The SDTX remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than nine million people covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo work directly with our law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels to prosecute the suspected offenders of these and other federal crimes. 

    An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fatal crash, Mangawhai Road, Wellsford

    Source: New Zealand Police

    A person has died after a single-vehicle crash at Te Arai overnight.

    Police were called to the scene on Mangawhai Road, between Braddick Road and Fairy Hill Road, about 11.15pm, where officers found a vehicle crashed into a tree.

    Sadly, the sole occupant died at the scene and Police are providing support to their next of kin.

    The Serious Crash Unit has carried out a scene examination and enquiries into the crash are ongoing.

    Mangawhai Road reopened about 5am.

    ENDS

    Issued by the Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Labrador Letter: Idaho Defends Truckers from California’s EV Overreach

    Source: US State of Idaho

    Home Newsroom Labrador Letter: Idaho Defends Truckers from California’s EV Overreach

    Dear Friends,
    This week, the State of California agreed to repeal key provisions of a sweeping electric-vehicle mandate known as Advanced Clean Fleets. This rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board, sought to force a nationwide shift in trucking technology without legal authority or the consent of other states. Idaho joined a 17-state coalition challenging this mandate in Nebraska v. Cliff, a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The settlement in that case is a major win for state sovereignty, economic freedom, and the constitutional limits on unilateral regulation. At issue was California’s attempt to impose an electric-vehicle mandate on truck fleet owners and operators nationwide through a regulatory scheme called Advanced Clean Fleets. The rule applied to any fleet that operated even a single truck in California if it met certain revenue or size thresholds, regardless of where the company was based. It required these fleets to retire internal-combustion trucks and replace them with battery-electric models under state-imposed deadlines. It also barred manufacturers from selling internal-combustion trucks in California starting in 2036. Because California houses the nation’s largest ports and serves as a gateway for approximately 40 percent of containerized imports and 30 percent of exports, trucking companies across the country depend on access to its roads and trade infrastructure. No manufacturer or fleet operator can feasibly design separate vehicle lines or logistics strategies for California alone. Faced with exclusion from a $3.9 trillion economy, businesses nationwide would be compelled to conform to California’s mandates. In practical effect, California’s regulation would set nationwide trucking policy through market coercion rather than lawful authority. That is why this case mattered not only to Idaho, but to every state that values its sovereignty and the constitutional limits on unilateral state power. The coalition’s complaint raised three legal claims. First, it argued that the rule is preempted by the federal Clean Air Act, which generally forbids states from setting their own emissions standards for new motor vehicles. There is one narrow exception that allows California to request a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency to set its own standards, but it never requested a waiver for Advanced Clean Fleets. And even if it had asked, the EPA lacks the authority to approve rules that eliminate entire engine types. Second, the lawsuit asserted that the rule is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, which prohibits state regulations affecting prices, routes, or services of motor carriers. And third, the complaint argued that the rule violates the Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause, which bars states from regulating economic activity beyond their borders. These were not abstract concerns. The regulation would have imposed immediate costs on out-of-state carriers, compelled extensive reporting obligations for any fleet that sent a truck into California, and forced manufacturers to restrict the availability of internal-combustion vehicles nationwide. Battery-electric trucks remain significantly more expensive, less efficient for long-haul routes, and dependent on a sparse charging infrastructure. For states like Idaho—where transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing rely on affordable and flexible trucking—the burdens would have been severe and unjustified. The settlement halts California’s enforcement of these provisions and requires state officials to initiate formal repeal proceedings. California also conceded that its planned 2036 ban on internal-combustion truck sales cannot be implemented unless the EPA grants a Clean Air Act waiver. Our office will remain vigilant in opposing any further efforts to federalize California’s policies through administrative fiat. California is free to pursue its own environmental goals within its own borders. What it cannot do is transform the nation’s trucking standards by threatening exclusion from its markets. Idaho joined this litigation to defend the principle that policy decisions with nationwide consequences must be made through constitutional processes—not dictated by a single state’s regulatory agency.
    Best regards,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Xi urges China, Myanmar to keep advancing key projects of economic corridor

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

    Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MOSCOW, May 9 — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged China and Myanmar to deepen strategic cooperation and keep advancing the construction of key projects of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.

    Xi made the remarks while meeting with Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War.

    China and Myanmar belong to a community with a shared future that shares weal and woe and supports each other, Xi said, adding that the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, jointly advocated by China and Myanmar, have grown even stronger over time, with their contemporary value becoming increasingly prominent.

    Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Xi said China will seek an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood, follow the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, and share weal and woe with its neighbors.

    China will work with Myanmar to deepen the building of a community with a shared future, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, bringing greater benefits to the people of the two countries, Xi said.

    Xi recalled that not long ago, a strong earthquake hit Mandalay, Myanmar, causing significant casualties and property damage, saying that China was the first to dispatch rescue teams and provide emergency humanitarian supplies, and stands ready to continue offering assistance to support Myanmar in rebuilding.

    The Chinese side supports Myanmar in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, safeguarding its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national stability, and steadily advancing its domestic political agenda, Xi said.

    Xi said it is hoped that Myanmar will take concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Myanmar, and intensify efforts to combat cross-border crimes such as online gambling and telecom fraud.

    He urged the two sides to jointly uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.

    For his part, Min Aung Hlaing said that after Myanmar was struck by the earthquake, China immediately extended sincere condolences, and was the first to provide disaster relief assistance to his country, demonstrating the “Paukphaw” (fraternal) friendship and solidarity in times of hardship towards Myanmar, which the people of Myanmar will forever remember.

    Under the strong leadership of President Xi, China has achieved remarkable progress in advancing Chinese modernization, Min Aung Hlaing said, adding that Myanmar highly values its relations with China and will always be a friendly neighbor that China can trust.

    Min Aung Hlaing said that Myanmar is committed to advancing cooperation with China in areas such as economy and trade, as well as energy, and will make every effort to ensure the safety of Chinese projects and personnel in Myanmar.

    Myanmar highly appreciates the three global initiatives proposed by China and the vision of building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries, and stands ready to work with China to address common challenges, he added.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Isabel Schnabel: Keeping a steady hand in an unsteady world

    Source: European Central Bank

    Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at Hoover Monetary Policy Conference “Finishing the Job and New Challenges”, Stanford University

    Stanford, 10 May 2025

    Standard theory of monetary policy rests on a simple premise: a stable relationship between inflation and the output gap. This is the logic behind the Phillips curve, which, in its most common form, relates inflation to a measure of economic slack, expected inflation and supply shocks.[1]

    The relationship between output and inflation was already under scrutiny well before the pandemic.

    After the global financial crisis of 2008, inflation didn’t fall nearly as much as had been implied by conventional Phillips curve estimates. And once economies around the world recovered and unemployment fell, the bounce-back in inflation fell short of model predictions.

    This is why that episode is known as the period of “missing deflation” and “missing inflation”.[2]

    The situation changed fundamentally in the aftermath of the pandemic, when the relationship between inflation and the output gap proved to be much stronger than what would have been expected based on historical estimates. We observed a noticeably steeper Phillips curve across advanced economies, including the euro area (Slide 2).[3]

    In my remarks today, I would like to draw lessons from the instability of the Phillips curve over the past 20 years for the optimal conduct of monetary policy. I will argue that the evidence of a re-flattening of the Phillips curve after the long period of high inflation suggests that, in the euro area, the most appropriate policy response to the potential risks to price stability arising from fiscal expansion and protectionism is to keep a steady hand and maintain rates close to where they are today – that is, firmly in neutral territory.

    Monetary policy and the slope of the Phillips curve

    The slope of the Phillips curve has first-order implications for the conduct of monetary policy.

    If the curve is steep, as it appeared to be in recent years, monetary policy is highly effective in reducing inflation, with only a limited impact on growth and employment. The smaller “sacrifice ratio” suggests that central banks should react more forcefully to deviations of inflation from target, even when the economy is hit by a supply shock that pushes inflation up and output down.[4]

    A steep Phillips curve hence improves the trade-off facing central banks, weakening the case for “looking through”, as forceful policy action minimises the risks of inflation expectations unanchoring and of inflation becoming entrenched.[5]

    Policy prescriptions differ fundamentally if the Phillips curve is flat.

    In this case, a large policy impulse is required to move output sufficiently to generate aggregate price effects. It can then be optimal for policy to tolerate moderate deviations of inflation from target, as the cost of closing a small inflation gap relative to the target may exceed the benefits.

    This prescription holds in both directions.

    When inflation is above the target, a flat Phillips curve would require a sharp rise in policy rates to bring medium-term inflation down from, say, 2.3% to 2%. Such a course of action may imply a substantial rise in unemployment and may thus not be welfare-improving for society at large – a trade-off central banks may face during the last mile of disinflation.[6]

    The experience of the 2010s, when inflation was persistently below the target, demonstrates that the argument also holds in the opposite direction.

    If bringing inflation up from 1.7% to 2%, for example, requires purchasing a large fraction of outstanding government bonds and making potentially time-inconsistent promises about the future path of interest rates, then the central bank must consider carefully whether the benefits outweigh the costs, such as making losses in the future, market dysfunction, rising wealth inequality, financial instability and threats to its reputation.[7]

    The role of inflation expectations

    However, the ability to tolerate moderate deviations of inflation from target critically hinges on a firm anchoring of inflation expectations – that is, a low sensitivity of inflation expectations to realised inflation.

    If inflation expectations are well-anchored, policymakers can tolerate moderate deviations from target, as fluctuations in inflation tend to fade away. If, however, inflation expectations are at risk of unanchoring, central banks should act forcefully.[8]

    There are two challenges to this strategy.

    One is that the anchoring of inflation expectations is endogenous. Central banks themselves can cause an unanchoring if inaction in the face of price shocks is perceived as weakening its commitment to securing price stability.[9]

    History shows that it can be costly to reestablish the credibility of the nominal anchor once it has been lost. This is also because inflation expectations are path-dependent. Research shows that the experience of high inflation may raise the sensitivity of inflation expectations to new inflation surprises.[10]

    The other challenge is that different measures of inflation expectations often yield different results (Slide 3). As such, robust trends cannot easily be identified in real time, much like the slope of the Phillips curve.[11]

    Measures of inflation expectations can even point in opposite directions. Research from the early days of the pandemic showed that most consumers expected the pandemic to raise prices, contrary to the views held by professional forecasters at the time.[12]

    State-dependent pricing and tight labour markets can explain steeper Phillips curve and post-pandemic inflation surge

    The recent period of high inflation illustrates how sensitive policy conclusions can be to the assessment of the slope of the Phillips curve and to measures of inflation expectations that central banks use in their analysis.

    Two key theories have been proposed to explain the post-pandemic inflation surge.[13]

    The first relates to firms’ price-setting behaviour.

    Standard New Keynesian models assume that the probability of firms resetting their prices is constant over time. This is a fair description of aggregate price movements when inflation is low and aggregate shocks are small (Slide 4).

    However, the past few years have demonstrated that this “linear” relationship breaks down in the face of large shocks.[14] When marginal costs increase rapidly and threaten to erode profit margins, firms tend to raise their prices more frequently. As a result, the Phillips curve steepens.

    This feedback loop is strongly asymmetric.[15] It acts as an inflation accelerator when firms face positive demand or adverse cost-push shocks.[16] But it does little to firms’ pricing strategies in the face of disinflationary shocks due to downward price rigidities.

    This helps explain why inflation did not fall much when the pandemic broke out but increased sharply after the reopening of our economies (Slide 5).[17]

    The second theory relates to the tightness of the labour market.

    Downward nominal wage rigidity has been a key factor explaining the “missing deflation” in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.[18] If nominal wages do not fall, or fall only very slowly, firms’ marginal costs change only moderately, and hence disinflationary pressures face a natural lower bound, even if slack is large.

    But when the labour market is tight, wages are more flexible as firms outbid each other in securing their desired workforce.

    Benigno and Eggertsson show that this channel led to a non-linear inflation surge in the United States whenever the number of job vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed workers (Slide 6).[19] In the euro area, the threshold was lower, but the curve still exhibited strong signs of non-linearity.

    Rising near-term inflation expectations may have shifted the Phillips curve up

    New research for the United States, however, suggests that the evidence in favour of the second theory is not very robust.

    Specifically, the finding of non-linearity depends critically on which measure is used to control for inflation expectations: non-linearity holds when controlling for expectations of professional forecasters, but it disappears once inflation expectations of households and firms are considered.[20]

    In other words, it is conceivable that the Phillips curve did not become steeper but rather shifted upwards as inflation expectations rose.[21] Non-linearity has also been rejected recently using a similar approach based on regional data for the euro area.[22]

    Moreover, the expectations that are relevant for such an upward shift are not necessarily the longer-term expectations that central banks typically pay most attention to.

    These have remained remarkably stable over the past few years (Slide 7).

    Rather, inflation expectations over the near term, such as the next 12 months, may be more important in driving macroeconomic outcomes.

    Bernanke and Blanchard, for example, show that one-year-ahead inflation expectations explain a significant share of the recent marked rise in nominal wages, and hence inflation, in the United States.[23] Similar evidence has been found for the euro area and other advanced economies.[24]

    Again, there appears to be an asymmetry: the risks that the Phillips curve shifts downwards are substantially lower. Research shows that consumers tend to respond more to inflationary than disinflationary news, as households value increases in their purchasing power and as they pay less attention to inflation when it is low.[25]

    The impact of tariffs on inflation in the euro area

    Understanding the reasons behind the recent inflation surge is not only important from a conceptual perspective. It also matters for setting monetary policy today, as we are once again confronted with historically large shocks.

    For central banks, this is a difficult environment to navigate.

    Memories of high inflation are still fresh after a long period of sharply rising prices. And just as during the pandemic, there is considerable uncertainty about how firms and households are going to respond to shocks that are largely outside the historical empirical range.

    Ultimately, the impact of current shocks on prices and wages, and hence the appropriate monetary policy response, will depend on the shape and location of the Phillips curve.

    Monetary policy should focus on the medium term and underlying inflation

    Let me illustrate this by looking at the euro area.

    Given the lags in policy transmission, the relevant horizon for monetary policy is the medium term. The past few years, however, demonstrated that inflation forecasting at times of large structural shocks is inherently difficult and plagued by large uncertainty.

    For this reason, the ECB and other central banks have increasingly turned to a data-dependent approach to monetary policy, where the observed dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary transmission are used to cross-check the inflation projections.[26]

    This approach remains valid today.[27] But data dependence is not in contrast to being forward-looking.

    In the current situation, the high level of economic uncertainty, together with the sharp fall in energy prices and a stronger euro exchange rate, will likely dampen headline inflation in the short run, potentially pushing it below our 2% target.

    The question is whether these developments provide meaningful signals about the net impact of current shocks on medium-term inflation.

    During the pandemic, for example, a strong appreciation of the euro against the US dollar, by nearly 14% over seven months, and a marked decline in energy prices were followed by a historical inflation surge.

    Data dependency hence requires examining the potential channels through which current shocks could affect underlying inflation over the medium term.

    In the euro area, there are two main forces that could have the size and persistence to pull underlying inflation sustainably away from our 2% medium-term target.

    One is fiscal policy, which is set to expand on a scale unseen outside periods of deep economic contraction.

    Germany has eased its constitutional debt brake for defence-related spending, and has committed to spending €500 billion, or more than 10% of GDP, on infrastructure and the green transition over the next 12 years. In addition, the European Commission has invited Member States to activate the national escape clause to accommodate increased defence expenditure across the EU.

    The impact of these measures on inflation will depend on how they are implemented, especially their impact on the supply side of the economy. But on balance, the fiscal impulse is likely to put upward pressure on underlying inflation over the medium term.

    Global fragmentation is the second force that could have a lasting impact on prices and wages.

    As we speak, the scale and scope of tariffs, the extent of retaliation as well as how financial markets respond to these developments all remain highly uncertain.

    Ongoing negotiations are a sign that mutually beneficial agreements may still be reached. An ideal outcome – the “zero-for-zero” tariff agreement advocated by the European Commission – could even boost growth and employment on both sides of the Atlantic.

    However, should these negotiations fail, the euro area will simultaneously face adverse supply and demand shocks, as the EU has announced that it will retaliate against higher tariffs.

    Similar to the pandemic, assessing the relative strength of these forces is inherently difficult. Overall, however, there are risks that a lasting and meaningful increase in tariffs will reinforce the upward pressure on underlying inflation arising from higher fiscal spending over the medium term.

    To see this, it is useful to look at the factors driving the macroeconomic propagation of tariffs.

    Euro area foreign demand may prove resilient, with limited effects on inflation

    The severity of the negative demand shock will depend on two factors.

    One is the hit to economic activity in the United States and to global demand from raising tariffs across the board. Under the 2 April tariff rates, the United States will face a supply shock of historic proportions. Inflation is poised to rise, real incomes to fall and unemployment to increase. Retaliatory tariffs would weaken the economy further.

    So even in the absence of demand reallocation, foreign demand can be expected to decline if there is a broad increase in tariffs. The depth and persistence of this decline will also depend on other policies, such as tax and spending cuts and deregulation.

    And it will crucially depend on the final outcome of tariff negotiations, which is likely to be far less severe than the 2 April announcement.

    The second factor affecting the severity of the demand shock relates to the degree of demand reallocation – that is, the elasticity of substitution between foreign and domestic products. This elasticity is highly uncertain and varies across industries, products and countries.[28]

    However, a robust finding in the literature is that products that are more differentiated tend to be relatively price-inelastic, as they are more difficult to substitute.

    This has great relevance for the euro area, where the bulk of exports to the United States comprise pharmaceuticals, machinery, vehicles and chemicals. These goods are typically highly differentiated (Slide 8, left-hand side).

    For instance, the supply of machines for producing semiconductors is basically monopolised by one Dutch company. Similarly, banknotes in the United States are overwhelmingly printed using machinery from a single German manufacturer.

    These and other machines are not easy to replace in the short run, giving euro area exporters leverage to pass higher costs on to foreign importers and limiting the hit to foreign demand.

    In addition, trade diversion may benefit euro area exports.

    Should prohibitive tariffs on Chinese imports remain in place, they will measurably raise the euro area’s price competitiveness in the US market. This can be expected to stimulate demand for euro area goods if there are no alternatives in the United States itself, especially as the number of industries in which both Chinese and euro area firms have comparative advantages has increased measurably over the past two decades (Slide 8, right-hand side).[29]

    New research corroborates this view.[30] It finds that the euro area stands to win in relative terms from a global trade war, as its net exports to the world will rise rather than fall as global demand is reallocated across the global network, offsetting the hit to domestic consumption.[31]

    In other words, for as long as tariffs are not prohibitive to trade and the uncertainty paralysing activity fades, aggregate euro area foreign demand may prove relatively resilient under a range of potential tariff outcomes.

    The recent appreciation of the euro does not refute this view.

    The euro has gone through two distinct phases since the US presidential election in November last year. It first depreciated in nominal effective terms by 3% until mid-February, before starting to appreciate. So, in net terms, the euro is trading just 2.6% above last year’s average.

    In addition, as most exports to the United States are invoiced in US dollars, the pass-through of changes in the exchange rate to import prices tends to be moderate – by recent estimates just about one-fifth.[32] And potential losses in price competitiveness in third countries are in part compensated by lower import costs, as euro area exports have, on average, a large import content.

    This price inelasticity is also reflected in recent surveys, with manufacturing firms reporting an expansion in output for the first time in more than two years (Slide 9). Also, fewer firms are reporting falling export orders.

    Even if part of these developments may reflect frontloading by firms, it is remarkable how resilient sentiment has remained in the face of the extraordinary increase in economic uncertainty.

    Supply shock puts upward pressure on inflation, reinforced by global supply chains

    The downward effects on inflation caused by lower demand are likely to be offset, partly or even fully, by the supply shock hitting the euro area through retaliatory tariffs imposed by the EU and other economies.

    The strength of this supply shock also depends on two factors.

    One is the extent to which firms pass higher tariffs on to consumers.

    In the United States, evidence from the 2018 tariff increase suggests that, in most cases, the pass-through to import prices was de facto complete.[33] At the same time, many firms chose to absorb part of the increase in import prices in their profit margins, thereby limiting the increase in consumer price inflation, at least in the short run.[34]

    Whether firms will respond similarly to a renewed rise in tariffs in the current environment is uncertain.

    On the one hand, the recent appreciation of the euro, if persistent, provides some margin for euro area firms to buffer cost increases from retaliatory tariffs. On the other hand, profit margins have already been squeezed by high wage growth and a sluggish economy, and the post-pandemic inflation surge may have lowered the bar for firms to pass higher costs on to consumers.

    Overall, recent surveys of companies in the United States and the euro area suggest that they plan to gradually pass higher tariffs on to consumers over the coming years.[35]

    In addition, in order to compensate for the hit to input costs, firms also tend to raise the prices of goods not directly affected by tariffs. There is evidence that retailers broadly adjust price markups even if only a subset of wholesale prices change.[36]

    The second, and related, factor determining the strength of the supply shock relates to global value chains.

    Unlike during the wave of protectionism in the 1930s, today the dominant share of international trade, about 70%, reflects multinational firms distributing production across countries and along the value chain to minimise costs. In this process, parts and components often cross borders many times.

    Prohibitive tariffs between the United States and China are already disrupting supply chains. Shipments of goods are declining, potentially causing future shortages of critical intermediate goods that could reverberate across the world.

    While current conditions are very different from those seen during the pandemic, when supply chain disruptions were a main factor driving the surge in inflation, the impact of tariffs is likely to be amplified as the increase in firms’ marginal costs propagates through the production network.

    ECB staff analysis shows that, even if the EU does not retaliate, higher production costs transmitted through global value chains could more than offset the disinflationary pressure coming from lower foreign demand, making tariffs inflationary overall (Slide 10, left-hand side).[37]

    These effects will become stronger with full retaliation, including intermediate goods. So far, the EU’s retaliatory measures have disproportionately targeted final consumer goods, such as beverages, food and home appliances – precisely to avoid broader cost effects being transmitted through value chains (Slide 10, right-hand side).

    But if the trade conflict intensifies, the scale of retaliation will widen and increasingly include intermediate goods, as these account for nearly 70% of euro area imports from the United States.

    In other words, retaliatory tariffs on intermediate goods would constitute a much broader cost-push shock for euro area firms, reminiscent of the post-pandemic supply chain disruptions.[38]

    It is possible that these effects will be mitigated by China redirecting goods originally destined for the United States towards the euro area and other economies at a discount.

    In practice, however, this mitigation channel is likely to be contained. India, for example, has already raised temporary tariffs on China to curb a surge in imports. Similarly, the European Commission has repeatedly clarified that it intends to protect euro area firms against dumping prices should imports from China rise significantly in response to the evolving trade conflict with the United States.[39]

    Policy implications

    How, then, should the ECB respond to the current shocks?

    The lessons from the post-pandemic surge in inflation suggest that, from today’s perspective, the appropriate course of action is to keep rates close to where they are today – that is, firmly in neutral territory.

    A “steady hand” policy provides the best insurance against a wide range of potential outcomes. In other words, it is robust to many contingencies.

    Specifically, it avoids reacting excessively to volatility in headline inflation at a time when domestic inflation remains sticky and new forces are putting upward pressure on underlying inflation over the medium term. Given lags in policy transmission, an accommodative policy stance could amplify risks to medium-term price stability.

    This steady hand policy also avoids overreacting to concerns that tariffs may destabilise inflation expectations once again.

    In recent months, households’ short-term inflation expectations have reversed and started rising again. According to the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey, expectations for inflation one year ahead increased to 2.9% in March from their trough of 2.4% in September 2024 (Slide 11, left-hand side). Qualitative inflation expectations, as measured by the European Commission, even rose to levels last seen in late 2022 (Slide 11, right-hand side).

    Currently, there are no indications that this rise is persistent, or that inflation expectations are at risk of unanchoring.

    Hence, we can afford to look through the rise in short-term inflation expectations. This could change if we see clear signs of a strong and front-loaded pass-through of potential tariff increases – something that could bring us back to the steep part of the Phillips curve. So far, however, evidence suggests that firms have notably slowed the frequency with which they revise their prices.

    A steady hand policy also addresses risks of a more substantial decline in aggregate demand in response to the trade conflict.

    If tight labour markets were the main culprit for the recent steepening of the Phillips curve, risks of a sharp decline in inflation caused by a rise in unemployment are much more moderate today.

    The reason for this is that in both the United States and the euro area, the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio has fallen markedly and is now at a level that suggests that labour markets are much more balanced (Slide 12).

    We are thus likely to be operating close to, or at, the flat part of the Phillips curve where a change in unemployment has only limited effects on underlying inflation, in stark contrast to the high inflation period.[40]

    We would only need to react more forcefully to the tariff shock if we observed a sharp deterioration in labour market conditions or an unanchoring of inflation expectations to the downside.

    Both seem unlikely at the current juncture.

    Despite the number of vacancies declining, the euro area labour market has proven resilient, with unemployment at a record low. And most measures of medium-term inflation expectations remain tilted to the upside, including those of professional forecasters (Slide 13).

    Conclusion

    My main message today, and with this I would like to conclude, is therefore simple: now is the time to keep a steady hand.

    In the current environment of elevated volatility, the ECB needs to remain focused on the medium term. Given long and variable transmission lags, reacting to short-term developments could result in the peak impact of our policy only unfolding when the current disinflationary forces have passed.

    Over the medium term, risks to euro area inflation are likely tilted to the upside, reflecting both the increase in fiscal spending and the risks of renewed cost-push shocks from tariffs propagating through global value chains.

    Therefore, from today’s perspective, an accommodative monetary policy stance would be inappropriate, also because recent inflation data suggest that past shocks may unwind more slowly than previously anticipated.

    By keeping interest rates near their current levels, we can be confident that monetary policy is neither excessively holding back growth and employment, nor stimulating it. We are thus in a good place to evaluate the likely future evolution of the economy and to take action if risks materialise that threaten price stability.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ranking Member Markey Hosts Virtual Discussion with Small Business Owners on the Impacts of Trump’s Tariffs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Washington (May 8, 2025) – Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today held a virtual listening session with small business owners in Massachusetts and small business owners who serve the Commonwealth on the devastating impacts the Trump Tariffs are having on them.
    “Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, but to small business owners, Trump’s Tariffs are back breaking. Trump’s Tariffs have cost small businesses more than $9,000 every second since he announced his chaotic, reckless policy. This administration is only working to protect the interest of big businesses, telling small businesses to ‘wait it out.’ This is unacceptable. Small businesses live day to day, week to week, or even month to month. They cannot afford to wait and see what happens in Washington – their livelihoods and communities depend on their ability to operate. That is why I introduced the Small Business Liberation Act. This bill would provide small businesses with the relief they need. This should not be a partisan issue, and I will continue to fight to pass this legislation,” said Ranking Member Markey.
    “I operate a USA based manufacturing business where our raw materials – green coffee – literally cannot be produced in the US, yet we are still subject to tariffs. These additional taxes (which is effectively what they are) are sending shockwaves through an industry that was already facing record high prices. We have no other choice but to raise our prices and pass some of these costs to our consumers.  But of course there is a ceiling to what people can and will pay for coffee, so we risk alienating our customer base, driving them back to the bigger businesses, like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, and contributing to continued inflationary economy.  The choices are terrible,” said Shayna Ferullo, Owner of Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters.
    “These aren’t luxury items for us. They’re the foundation of what we do — and when prices double, so do the barriers to growth, opportunity, and community impact. When costs go up and margins shrink, it’s not just our business that feels it — it’s the people we’re training, the clients we serve, and the communities we’re trying to uplift. Before policies are passed, we’re simply asking for a seat at the table — because decisions made at the top are felt most by businesses at the street level,” said Steeve Louis-Charles, Co-founder of Boston Pro Sound.
    “I will run out of inventory in less than 2-3 months.  I can no longer afford to bring my products into the USA.  If I can’t figure something out quickly, I will have to shut down my business.  I will no longer have revenue to pay my employees, bills, vendors, and loans.  I will lose my home.  Small, American-owned businesses need immediate relief from tariffs,” said Beth Benike, Founder of Busy Baby.
    “My lease needs to be renewed and given the uncertainty around the new tariffs, I don’t know if I can afford to stay open unless I shift to an entirely new financial model. In less than two weeks we will have to make a decision on the future of our company that could lock at least 100 people back into a cycle of generational poverty,” said Brandale Randolph, Founder of 1854 Cycling Company.
    “As a small, fourth-generation, family-owned business founded on the ‘American Dream,’ we fully support bringing businesses back to the United States. However, handcuffing us with increased costs and decreased availability on products that are necessary for our success, is making us less competitive, not more competitive,” said Zack Rocheleau, Supply Chain Manager, Rocheleau Tool & Die.
    “Today, Main Street Alliance members Beth Benike of Busy Baby, Jen Faigel of the Commonwealth Kitchen, and Shayna Ferullo of Snowy Owl shared their personal stories with Sen. Markey about the impact of the Trump Tariffs. Without small business relief, shelves are going to go empty and entrepreneurs will go bankrupt. That’s why MSA strongly supports Sen. Markey’s ‘Small Business Liberation Act’ and urges members of the US Senate to co-sponsor this essential legislation,” said Shawn Phetteplace, National Campaigns Director, Main Street Alliance.
    “The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) is incredibly grateful to Senator Markey and his team for hosting a listening session that explored the impact federal trade policies are having on small businesses. Brandale Randolph of 1854 Cycling and Steeve Louis-Charles of Boston Professional Sound Inc., BECMA members, were able to share how detrimental tariffs and the subsequent supply chain challenges already have been to their businesses. Small business is the backbone of the Massachusetts economy, and we will continue to advocate for policies that will positively impact small business growth and sustainability,” said Nicole Obi, President & CEO of BECMA.
    “The tariffs are a nightmare for our small business community, including the farms, food trucks, caterers, product companies, and restaurants we represent and work with. Small businesses, unlike large businesses, don’t have teams of lobbyists nor safety nets underneath us. We are already seeing a domino effect on an awful lot of people that will be hurt: when our businesses go down, the insurance brokers go down, the drivers go down, the distributors go down, and the marketing teams go down,” said Jen Faigel, co-founder and Executive Director of CommonWealth Kitchen. 
    This week, Ranking Member Markey, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) introduced the Small Business Liberation Act, legislation that would exempt small businesses from the broad, global tariffs imposed as a result of the national emergency declared on April 2, 2025, by President Trump. The Small Business Liberation Act gives the more than 34 million U.S. small businesses needed relief from the overly broad, reckless Trump Tariffs that are wreaking havoc on their businesses.
    Ranking Member Markey recently wrote to Small Business Administrator Loeffler, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, calling on the Trump administration to exempt U.S. small businesses from the reckless Trump Tariffs, and afford them the same relief that the administration is giving billion-dollar tech giants such as Apple and Google.
    Previously, Ranking Member Markey, along with Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and all Democrats on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee wrote to Administrator Loeffler, urging her to take immediate action to address the impacts of Trump’s reckless tariff policies on small businesses.
    In April 2025, Ranking Member Markey released a report, “The Trump Tariffs: A Small Business Crisis,” which details the disastrous impacts of Trump’s tariff policies on small businesses across the country.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Charges – Firearm offences discovered after aggravated assault incident

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    NT Police Regional Crime Command has charged a 34-year-old male after he assaulted a man and was found in possession of an illegally manufactured firearm.

    On 6 May, police received reports of a male physically assaulting another male and threatening him with a knife in relation to an ongoing altercation between the pair.

    The following day, police conducted a random traffic apprehension on a vehicle belonging to the alleged offender and he returned a positive roadside drug test. He was also in possession of a less than Traffickable quantity of a schedule 2 dangerous drug.

    Police conducted searches on several dwellings at the alleged offender’s property and subsequently seized ammunition and a disassembled firearm. The male he has since been charged with:

    • Aggravated Assault
    • Driver with Prohibited Drug in Body
    • Possess / Use firearm whilst unlicensed
    • Unlawfully manufacture firearm
    • Possess or use prohibited firearm
    • Possess less than traffickable schedule 2 dangerous drug
    • Possess ammunition without a permit/license
    • Failure to meet storage requirements x2
    • Possess unregistered firearm
    • Unlawfully modify or repair firearm

    He was remanded to appear in Tennant Creek Local Court on Monday 12 May 2025.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Aiding Police Officer in Destroying Evidence of Fatal Shooting

    Source: United States Attorneys General 12

    Joshua M. Rogers of Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty yesterday to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) for his role in destroying evidence related to a police officer’s fatal shooting of a man identified by the initials R.H. With the plea, Rogers admitted that he acted to impair the integrity or availability of R.H.’s body for use in an official proceeding and, in so doing, shield his co-defendant from criminal liability.

    Rogers and his co-defendant, a former Memphis Police Department officer, faced charges following the death of R.H. The indictment alleged that, on Jan. 5, 2021, the officer kidnapped R.H. and shot him in the head. The indictment further alleged that Rogers and the officer sought to cover up the fatal shooting by disposing of R.H.’s body. Specifically, Rogers and the officer transported R.H.’s body in Rogers’ vehicle, and affixed chains, padlocks, and cinder blocks to R.H.’s body. Rogers and the officer then drove to the Wolf River in Memphis, where the two dumped R.H.’s body.

    “The defendant in this case obstructed law enforcement from investigating and seeking justice on behalf of the victim, his family and friends,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “I am proud of the great work by the Department of Justice in their prosecution of this case.”

    A sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 6. Rogers faces a maximum penalty of 70 months in prison based on the terms of the plea agreement. A federal judge will determine any sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The remaining defendant faces civil rights, kidnapping, weapons, and obstruction charges in connection with the fatal shooting of R.H. Trial is set for Nov. 3.

    The FBI Memphis Field Office and the Memphis Police Department investigated the case.

    Trial Attorney MarLa Duncan of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Pritchard for the Western District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Colombian Port Official Sentenced to Over Twelve Years in Prison for Money Laundering

    Source: United States Attorneys General 12

    A Colombian national was sentenced yesterday to 12 years and seven months in prison for conspiring to launder proceeds of bribes. The defendant was also ordered to forfeit a 2017 Lamborghini Huracan Spyder and a 2017 Porsche Cayenne that were involved in the money laundering scheme.

    According to court documents, Omar Ambuila, 64, of Cali, Colombia, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28 to a single count of conspiracy to launder money. As part of his plea, Ambuila admitted that while he was a port official in Colombia, he accepted at least $1,000,000 in illegal bribes that he and co-conspirators laundered to the United States from Colombia. As part of the scheme, Ambuila and his co-conspirators laundered the funds for Ambuila’s benefit and used the funds to purchase luxury vehicles and pay rent on waterfront property, among other things.

    “Criminals who exploit our financial system to launder their illegal gains threaten the security of the United States,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “When you try to abuse the financial system hard working Americans rely upon, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

    “HSI special agents, in close coordination with all their law enforcement partners, will always work diligently to pursue those individuals and those networks of bad actors who exploit the legitimate financial system to support criminal activity,” said Special Agent in Charge John Condon of Homeland Security Investigation Tampa. “This is just another great example of this work.”

    “Let this sentencing serve as a powerful reminder: the United States will not be a sanctuary for those seeking to launder the proceeds of crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Ron Loecker of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Tampa Field Office. “We are relentless in our pursuit of criminals who attempt to exploit our financial systems, and we will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that they face justice. This case underscores our commitment to dismantling transnational criminal operations and holding those responsible accountable, no matter where they try to hide.”

    “This investigation exemplifies the FBI’s commitment to our federal law enforcement partnerships and the unified effort in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting money laundering schemes,” said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Fodor of the FBI Tampa Division.

    The case was investigated by HSI, IRS-CI, and the FBI.

    Trial Attorneys Ariana Lazzaroni and Adrienne Rosen and Deputy Chief Joseph Palazzo of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché’s Office in Bogotá, the HSI Attaché’s Office in Bogotá, and the U.S. Marshals Service provided substantial assistance in securing the defendant’s extradition from Colombia.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Delivering More Housing Coloradans Can Afford: Governor Polis Signs Laws to Create More Housing for Hardworking Coloradans, Strengthen Colorado’s Workforce, and Save People Money on Transportation & Energy

    Source: US State of Colorado

    FORT COLLINS/BROOMFIELD/LAKEWOOD – Today, Governor Polis launched the 2025 Statewide bill signing tour and signed new laws to create more housing that Coloradans can afford, strengthen Colorado’s workforce, and save people money on necessities and energy. 

    To break down barriers to more housing Coloradans can afford, Governor Polis signed bipartisan HB25-1211 – Tap Fees Imposed by Special Districts sponsored by Representatives Rebekah Stewart and Sheila Lieder, and Senators Jeff Bridges and Barbara Kirkmeyer. 

    “We are focused on unlocking more housing that hardworking people can afford. These laws break down cost barriers to make it cheaper to build housing and ensure fees don’t impede new housing opportunities. In Colorado, we are looking at every solution to lower the cost of housing, and I am proud to continue that important work today,” said Governor Polis. 

    The Governor also visited Harmony Cottages in Fort Collins, a Habitat for Humanity housing development creating 48 new energy-efficient homes for hardworking families. 

    At Putnam Elementary School in Fort Collins, Governor Polis signed the bipartisan SB25-154 – Access to Educator Pathways, sponsored by Senator Cathy Kipp, and Representatives Eliza Hamrick and Matt Soper. 

    “This bipartisan bill expands pathways for current teachers to get specialized training, to help them become even better educators. Student success hinges upon our teachers having the support and skills to help students thrive, and expanding opportunities for teachers to get training in early childhood, elementary, or special education is good for our teachers and students,” said Governor Polis. 

    He also signed HB25-1010 – Prohibiting Price Gouging in Sales of Necessities, sponsored by Representatives Yara Zokaie and Kyle Brown, and Senator Mike Weissman. 

    To expand the freedom to move in the Free State of Colorado, Governor Polis signed bipartisan HB25-1281 – Title Register & Drive Kei Vehicles, sponsored by Representatives William Lindstedt and Larry Don Suckla, and Senators Nick Hinrichsen and Byron Pelton.

     “In the Free State of Colorado, we are protecting and strengthening our freedom to live our lives the way we want, including Kei Freedom. Kei vehicles are an affordable, fuel-efficient, and smaller transportation option, and by unlocking Coloradans’ access to Kei vehicles, we are helping Coloradans who want to exercise Kei freedom the ability to save money while getting where we need to go. I’m thrilled that Colorado is joining 38 other states to break down barriers and unlock Kei Freedom,” said Governor Polis. 

    Governor Polis also signed the following bill into law: 

    • HB25-1292 – Transmission Lines in State Highway Rights-of-Way, sponsored by Representatives Andrew Boesenecker and Junie Joseph, and Senator Faith Winter. This bill is bipartisan. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man arrested for endangering life

    Source: New South Wales – News

    A man has been arrested following a pursuit through the south-western suburbs last night.

    About 8.30pm on Friday 9 May, patrols were called to Bonython Avenue at Novar Gardens after reports there was a man in the rear yard of a unit who was unknown to the residents.

    Police spotted the man behind the locked gate and told him to come out from the yard however he entered a vehicle and drove through the gate.

    The white Holden Commodore took off and as he headed out the driveway he swerved towards police who had to move to avoid being hit.

    The car then headed east towards Morphett Road and continued onto Mooringe Avenue and south on Marion Road where PolAir started tracking the car.

    The car was tracked by PolAir travelling without head lights and at high speeds to Lindsay Avenue where it was dumped in a shopping centre car park and the driver attempted to run from the area.

    Patrols located the driver a short distance away hiding behind skip bins and he was arrested.

    Police searched the vehicle where they located methamphetamine and item suspected to have been stolen.

    A 33-year-old man from Stockport was charged with acts to endanger life, dangerous driving to cause a police pursuit, driving at a speed dangerous, unlawfully on premises, driving disqualified and possessing a controlled drug.  He was refused police bail and will appear in court on Monday 12 May.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI: Orezone Gold Reports Fatality at Stage I Hard Rock Plant Construction Site

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE, OTCQX: ORZCF) (“Orezone”) regrets to report a fatality at the Stage I hard rock plant construction site at its Bomboré Gold Mine which occurred on Thursday May 8th. This tragic incident involved an employee of a contractor who was fatally injured in a vehicle-related incident. No other persons were injured in the accident.

    Orezone is working with the relevant authorities and contracting companies involved to fully investigate the incident.

    Patrick Downey, President & CEO stated, “As a Company that prioritizes safety and the health of our employees above all else, we are completely devastated by this casualty. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family, friends and co-workers of our colleague as we offer our full support during this difficult time.”

    About Orezone Gold Corporation

    Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE OTCQX: ORZCF) is a West African gold producer engaged in mining, developing, and exploring its flagship Bomboré Gold Mine in Burkina Faso. The Bomboré mine achieved commercial production on its oxide operations on December 1, 2022, and is now focused on its staged hard rock expansion that is expected to materially increase annual and life-of-mine gold production from the processing of hard rock mineral reserves. Orezone is led by an experienced team focused on social responsibility and sustainability with a proven track record in project construction and operations, financings, capital markets and M&A.

    The technical report entitled Bomboré Phase II Expansion, Definitive Feasibility Study is available on SEDAR+ and the Company’s website.

    Patrick Downey
    President and Chief Executive Officer

    Kevin MacKenzie
    Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

    Tel: 1 778 945 8977 / Toll Free: 1 888 673 0663
    info@orezone.com / www.orezone.com

    For further information please contact Orezone at +1 (778) 945 8977 or visit the Company’s website at www.orezone.com.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange neither approves nor disapproves the information contained in this news release.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Warren, Banks, in Bipartisan Letter, Push DOJ to Investigate High Egg Prices, Anticompetitive Behavior by Egg Producers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    May 09, 2025
    Warren (D-Mass.) and Banks (R-Ind.) raise concerns about major egg producers jacking up prices, raking in record profits while blaming bird flu
    After previous letter led by Warren, DOJ opened probe into potential anticompetitive behavior by egg producers
    Text of Letter (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. – In a new bipartisan letter, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) applauded the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing investigation into potential anticompetitive practices by major egg producers and urged the agency to continue its thorough investigation as egg prices continue to rise.
    “Large egg producers and trade associations have previously been found liable for price fixing,” wrote the senators. “Given this history, we urge DOJ to thoroughly review whether recent trends in egg prices reflect impermissible coordination among egg producers and trade associations.”
    The average retail price of a dozen eggs has reached unprecedented levels, surpassing $6 in March 2025, tripling since 2021. While egg producers and trade associations continue to point to recent bird flu outbreaks as the reason for increased prices, large egg producers, like Cal-Maine, are reporting record profitability while families feel economic pain.
    The cost of eggs started to drop from record peaks just after the DOJ announced an investigation into egg prices, raising concerns as to whether large egg producers are engaging in anticompetitive behaviors to raise prices or restrict supply. A federal jury previously found that large egg producers and trade groups increased egg prices by conspiring to artificially limit the supply of hens between 2004 and 2008. Another lawsuit alleges that Cal-Maine inflated egg prices after a 2015 bird flu outbreak and during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    The five largest egg producers — CalMaine Foods, Rose Acre Farms, Daybreak Foods, Hillendale Farms, and Versova Holdings — control nearly half of the U.S. egg-laying flock, leaving Americans with limited alternatives to purchase eggs if companies are in fact price-gouging consumers.
    The senators requested that the DOJ address their concerns, including if price increases in the egg market can be reasonably explained by bird flu-related supply chain disruptions; how much the five largest egg producers profited during the first three-quarters of fiscal year 2025; if large egg producers’ purchasing patterns potentially reflect an effort to extend the egg supply shortage and maintain high prices; and whether the decline in egg prices following the DOJ’s announcement reflects potential price-fixing among large egg producers.
    “We support DOJ’s investigation into potential anticompetitive behavior by egg producers and urge the agency to consider whether a ‘precipitous drop’ in egg prices just ‘days’ after reports of the investigation broke suggests that egg producers had conspired to artificially inflate prices,” concluded the senators.
    DOJ announced its probe following a January letter Sen. Warren sent to Donald Trump, pressing him to use tools to lower egg prices, including “encouraging DOJ to prosecute actors in the agricultural and food sectors for price-fixing and other anticompetitive behavior.”
    Senators Warren and Banks recently teamed up to open a bipartisan investigation into the harms of private equity roll-ups of fire truck manufacturers. The lawmakers wrote to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), North America’s largest union of firefighters, seeking information about the adverse impact of private equity consolidation on firefighters and communities in Massachusetts, Indiana, and across the country. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Grayson County felon sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for gun violation

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    PLANO, Texas – A Sherman convicted felon has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.

    Mouaidad Mohamad, 30, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on May 9, 2025.

    According to information presented in court, on August 5, 2022, law enforcement officers responded to a report of shots fired in Sherman.  They discovered that Mohamad had fired two shots from the window of a vehicle before forcing his girlfriend to drive away from the scene.  Mohamad was located later in the day in the same vehicle and taken into custody.  Further investigation revealed Mohamad to be a convicted felon having several state felony convictions including robbery and burglary of a habitation.  As a convicted felon, Mohamad is prohibited by federal law from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition.

    This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

    This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Sherman Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William R. Tatum.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defendant Convicted of Armed Robbery at a Brooklyn Convenience Store

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Michael Rutledge Plotted a Violent Robbery with Co-Conspirators and Drove Getaway Car

    Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a federal jury convicted Michael Rutledge on all counts of a superseding indictment charging him with Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.  The charges arose from a robbery committed at gunpoint by Rutledge and two co-conspirators on February 10, 2023.  The verdict followed a five-day trial before United States District Judge Frederic Block.  When sentenced, Rutledge faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to life in prison.

    Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Bryan Miller, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, New York Field Office (ATF); and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the verdict.

    “Rutledge and his co-conspirators meticulously planned a violent robbery in a neighborhood convenience store in Clinton Hill, during which a customer was brutally pistol-whipped and shot, and a hard-working store clerk was held at knifepoint while thieves lined their pockets with thousands of dollars in cash,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “Thanks to exceptional investigative work by the ATF and the NYPD, the defendant was identified, apprehended, and rightly convicted today.”

    This conviction is a testament to the strength of New York City’s law enforcement partnerships and our shared commitment to protecting the public from violent gun crime,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Miller.  “The brazen and violent acts committed in this case are unacceptable. Thanks to the tireless work of the ATF/NYPD SPARTA Group (Strategic Pattern Armed Robbery Technical Apprehension), NYPD 88th Precinct Detective Squad and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District, this defendant has been held accountable and will face the consequences of his actions. We will remain relentless in our efforts to identify, investigate, and stop those who use illegal firearms to terrorize people in our communities.”

    “Michael Rutledge didn’t just act as a getaway driver—he aided and abetted violent criminals who held a store clerk at knifepoint, stole thousands of dollars from his business, and shot an unassuming victim in a targeted attack,” stated NYPD Commissioner  Tisch.  “Today’s guilty verdict holds him accountable for his role in this senseless violence and his attempt to evade justice. We remain committed to working with all of our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who threaten the safety of our communities face the full consequences of their actions.”

    As proven at trial, Rutledge drove co-defendant Angel Gomez and their other co-conspirator (Co-Conspirator) from the Bronx to Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood to execute their plan to rob a convenience store on Myrtle Avenue.  Rutledge parked their vehicle while Gomez and Co-Conspirator walked to the store.  Inside, Gomez displayed a gun and Co-Conspirator pulled out a knife, menacing the store worker.  Co-Conspirator then rifled through two cash registers, removing more than $4,000 in cash. Meanwhile, Gomez pointed his gun at a customer, struck the customer in the head repeatedly with the gun, and shot him in the hip.  The robbery duo fled back to the meet-up location where Rutledge was waiting to drive them away.

    Rutledge was apprehended on June 21, 2023 after law enforcement executed a search warrant at an address in the Bronx where he was staying and where he fled after completing the robbery.  They recovered the clothing he wore on the night of the robbery.

    On February 12, 2025, Gomez pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act Robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.  Gomez is awaiting sentencing.  Co-Conspirator remains at large.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys James R. Simmons and Vincent M. Chiappini are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Matias Burdman and Criminal Investigations Unit Intelligence Research Specialist Ashley Hinkson.

    The Defendant:

    MICHAEL RUTLEDGE
    Age:  45
    Bronx, New York

    Defendant Who Previously Pleaded Guilty:

    ANGEL GOMEZ
    Age:  45
    Bronx, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-269 (S-1) (FB)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Laurel man sentenced to 3 years in prison for possessing stolen firearm after breaking into law enforcement vehicles

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    BILLINGS – A Laurel man who broke into law enforcement vehicles and possessed a stolen firearm was sentenced today to 36 months in prison to be followed by3 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

    Jacob Charles Berger, 28, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to possession of a stolen firearm.

    U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

    The government alleged in court documents that beginning on March 5, 2024, and continuing until March 15, 2024, an unknown male vandalized five different law enforcement vehicles. The suspect stole multiple items from inside the vehicles, including medical kits; body armor; and, on one occasion, a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition. The Billings Police Department began investigating the thefts.

    Law enforcement officers obtained home surveillance footage from one of the thefts which showed the suspect was wearing black “skater” shoes and was riding a black and red bicycle with skinny tires. The bicycle appeared to have been wrapped in black electrical tape. Investigators recovered the bicycle on March 15, and processed it for fingerprints. Three latent fingerprints on the bicycle were identified as Berger’s.

    On March 20, 2024, law enforcement arrested Berger on an unrelated warrant. He admitted to breaking into police vehicles and taking body armor, medical supplies, and a shotgun. Investigators searched Berger’s garage and seized the shotgun, as well as eight other firearms that had been reported stolen between July 2023 and March 2024. They also located the medical kits and body armor Berger stole from the police vehicles.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Yerger prosecuted the case, and the investigation was conducted by the ATF and Billings Police Department.

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

    XXX

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Moscow hosts parade dedicated to 80th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

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

    Moscow, May 9 (Xinhua) — A grand military parade was held on Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in his speech about the need to remember the lessons of World War II, not to allow history to be distorted, and to remember all those who gave their lives for the Victory.

    More than 11,500 servicemen and over 180 units of equipment took part in the Victory Parade. Leaders from over 20 countries were present. Representatives of all strata of Russian society and veterans from various countries who participated in the war against fascism were on the podium.

    “Today, we are all united by feelings of joy and sorrow, pride and gratitude, admiration for the generation that crushed Nazism and, at the cost of millions of lives, won freedom and peace for all of humanity,” said V. Putin.

    “We remember the lessons of World War II and will never agree with the distortion of its events, with attempts to justify the executioners and slander the true victors,” the Russian leader emphasized.

    In memory of the fallen, the Russian President declared a minute of silence.

    V. Putin noted that the complete defeat of Nazi Germany, militaristic Japan and their satellites was achieved through the joint efforts of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

    “We will always remember that the opening of the second front in Europe – after the decisive battles on the territory of the Soviet Union – brought Victory closer. We highly value the contribution to our common struggle of the soldiers of the allied armies, the participants of the Resistance, the courageous people of China. All those who fought for a peaceful future,” added the head of the Russian state. “Glory to the victorious people!”

    Servicemen from the Ministry of Defense and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation – the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Russian National Guard, cadets from military schools and academies of the Russian army and navy, and members of the youth patriotic organization Yunarmiya marched in a ceremonial march across Red Square.

    This was followed by parade units from friendly states: China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Vietnam and other countries.

    The mechanized column consisted of 183 units of combat equipment from the Great Patriotic War and modern models in service with the Russian army: T-90M Proryv, T-72B3M and T-80BVM tanks, BMP-2M and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BMD-4 airborne combat vehicles, BRM-1K combat reconnaissance vehicles, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, Tigr-M armored vehicles, transport vehicles, S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, Iskander-M missile systems, Yars strategic missile systems, Orlan-10, Orlan-30, Lancet-51, Lancet-52, and Geran unmanned aerial vehicles.

    For the first time, modern models of the Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems, the Tosochka heavy flamethrower systems, and the Malva and Giatsint-K artillery systems took part in the parade.

    The parade was completed by pilots of the aerobatic teams “Russian Knights” and “Swifts” on Su-30 and MiG-29 fighters. Six Su-25 attack aircraft closed the parade formation.

    After the parade, Russian and foreign leaders laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall.

    In addition to Moscow, military parades dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory were held in 27 other Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: California Department of Justice Releases Report on Officer-Involved Shooting of Kyle Sostek

    Source: US State of California

    Friday, May 9, 2025

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

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506), today released a report on Kyle Sostek’s death from an officer-involved shooting in Sugar Loaf, California, on March 12, 2023. The incident involved an officer from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department (SBSD). The report is part of the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing efforts to provide transparency and accountability in law enforcement practices. The report provides a detailed analysis of the incident and outlines DOJ’s findings. After a thorough investigation, DOJ concluded that criminal charges were not appropriate in this case.  
     
    “This was a tragic situation with a tragic outcome,” said Attorney General Bonta. “I sincerely hope this report provides the community with the answers they’ve been waiting for. The California Department of Justice aims to partner with law enforcement to build a just and equitable legal environment, ensuring that the rule of law is upheld, and justice is accessible to everyone.”
     
    On March 12, 2023, at the SBSD night shift briefing, it was reported that Mr. Sostek had an outstanding parole warrant and that he was armed and dangerous. It was also reported that he was driving a white Honda sedan. During the shift, a SBSD deputy observed the white Honda described in the briefing. Another SBSD deputy located the vehicle and tried to conduct a traffic stop but a vehicle pursuit ensued. At a dead end of the road, Mr. Sostek stopped the vehicle and opened his door at the same time that the SBSD deputy opened his door. Mr. Sostek ran towards the deputy with his arm extended. The deputy shot multiple times, fatally wounding Mr. Sostek. It was later discovered that Mr. Sostek was not in possession of a deadly weapon.
     
    Under AB 1506, which requires DOJ to investigate all incidents of officer-involved shootings resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in the state, DOJ conducted a thorough investigation into this incident and concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the deputy involved acted without the intent to defend themselves and others from what he  reasonably believed to be the imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution of the deputy and no further action will be taken in this case. 
     
    As part of its investigation, DOJ has identified four policy recommendations related to this incident. The first recommendation is that SBSD require deputies who have participated in officer-involved shootings to be placed in separate patrol vehicles when waiting for transportation to the station and when being transported to the station. This prevents deputies from discussing the incident with one another prior to their attorney consultation and interview with Homicide Detail investigators to preserve the integrity of their statements. 
     
    The second recommendation is that SBSD provide refresher training as to the importance of preserving all evidence and not removing potential evidence related to homicide or any other investigations to ensure proper collection and preservation. Further, if any evidence is to be removed from the scene, including involved vehicles, SBSD must fully document the evidence and document the reason why the policy was not followed. The third recommendation is that SBSD should revise its policies regarding the use of body worn cameras. The fourth recommendation is that SBSD consider equipping and installing an in-car video system in its patrol units.
     
    A copy of the report can be found here

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. Reports April 2025 Assets Under Management

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MILWAUKEE, May 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: APAM) today reported that its preliminary assets under management (“AUM”) as of April 30, 2025 totaled $164.4 billion. Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $80.2 billion of total firm AUM, while separate accounts and other AUM1 accounted for $84.2 billion.

    PRELIMINARY ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT BY STRATEGY2    
         
    As of April 30, 2025 – ($ Millions)    
    Growth Team    
    Global Opportunities $   18,847  
    Global Discovery 1,747  
    U.S. Mid-Cap Growth 10,196  
    U.S. Small-Cap Growth 2,688  
    Franchise 735  
    Global Equity Team    
    Global Equity 347  
    Non-U.S. Growth 13,559  
    China Post-Venture3 113  
    U.S. Value Team    
    Value Equity 4,784  
    U.S. Mid-Cap Value 2,454  
    Value Income 16  
    International Value Group    
    International Value 47,949  
    International Explorer 693  
    Global Special Situations 11  
    Global Value Team    
    Global Value 30,526  
    Select Equity 316  
    Sustainable Emerging Markets Team    
    Sustainable Emerging Markets 1,670  
    Credit Team    
    High Income 11,884  
    Credit Opportunities 306  
    Floating Rate 83  
    Developing World Team    
    Developing World 4,367  
    Antero Peak Group    
    Antero Peak 1,927  
    Antero Peak Hedge 231  
    International Small-Mid Team    
    Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth 5,464  
    EMsights Capital Group    
    Global Unconstrained 894  
    Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities 1,036  
    Emerging Markets Local Opportunities 1,591  
         
    Total Firm Assets Under Management (“AUM”) $   164,434  

    1 Separate account and other AUM consists of the assets we manage in or through vehicles other than Artisan Funds or Artisan Global Funds. Separate account and other AUM includes assets we manage in traditional separate accounts, as well as assets we manage in Artisan-branded collective investment trusts, and in our own private funds.
    2 AUM for Artisan Sustainable Emerging Markets and U.S. Mid-Cap Growth Strategies includes $113.3 million in aggregate for which Artisan Partners provides investment models to managed account sponsors (reported on a lag not exceeding one quarter).
    3 The China Post-Venture strategy is currently in the process of being wound down.

    ABOUT ARTISAN PARTNERS
    Artisan Partners is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of high value-added investment strategies to sophisticated clients around the world. Since 1994, the firm has been committed to attracting experienced, disciplined investment professionals to manage client assets. Artisan Partners’ autonomous investment teams oversee a diverse range of investment strategies across multiple asset classes. Strategies are offered through various investment vehicles to accommodate a broad range of client mandates.

    Investor Relations Inquiries: 866.632.1770 or ir@artisanpartners.com
    Source: Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Fallon Leads Letter Calling for Clarity on Army Depot Modernization

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04)

    Washington, DC — Rep. Pat Fallon (TX-04) led a letter today to Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll asking for greater clarity regarding the services’ plan for army depot modernization.

    Rep. Fallon commented: “To support President Trump’s peace through strength vision, modernizing our depots is vital.” 

    “Red River Army Depot in my district, employing 3,500 workers, sustains key tactical vehicles, ensuring readiness across military branches,” said Rep. Fallon. “As a critical logistical hub, Red River, as well as depots across the country, need a clear modernization plan to avoid reduced capacity.”

    “I urge the Army to provide details on funding, workforce training, AI integration, and inter-service coordination in order to enhance our capabilities.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Purple Pepe secures new exchange listings and marks first real estate use case

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Meme coin Purple Pepe (PURPE) continues its eventful year with a series of significant developments—securing new exchange listings and completing one of the first-ever U.S. real estate transactions to accept a memecoin as payment.

    Launched less than a year ago, PURPE began as a meme-driven experiment and has quickly evolved into one of the most resilient, community-led projects in the crypto space. The token is now trading on Poloniex, LBank, BitMart, Coinstash, Biconomy, and Slingshot, positioning it for potential Tier-1 exchange listings as its holder base climbs past 45,000 and its all-time high market cap approaches $140 million.

    In a groundbreaking move for real-world utility, Missouri-based real estate developer Daniel Westermier is now accepting PURPE as payment for a commercial property in Sedalia, MO (65301). This milestone places PURPE among the first memecoins to be used in U.S. property transactions. Interested buyers can contact Mr. Westermier directly at dwestermier@gmail.com.

    “Accepting PURPE for real estate isn’t a gimmick—it’s the beginning of a new economic layer where community coins have real-world value,” added Daniel Westermier, the first U.S. property developer to list a commercial building for memecoin payment.

    The project’s momentum is further fueled by a sizable grassroots following, including the WallStreetBets Facebook community, which boasts over 550,000 members—one of the most active trading groups on the platform.

    “What started as a meme became a mission. PURPE isn’t just riding the hype cycle—we’re building something with staying power,” said Christopher Berrios, founder of the WallStreetBets Facebook group and a key force behind the token’s resurgence.

    Looking ahead, PURPE is gearing up for a full-scale community presence at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, taking place May 27–29.

    About Purple Pepe (PURPE)

    Purple Pepe (PURPE) is a community-powered memecoin launched in 2024 that quickly transformed from a viral joke into a serious force in crypto. Known for its engaged following and real-world use cases, PURPE is proving that memecoins can be more than internet culture—they can be financial vehicles with tangible impact.

    For more information
    Website: www.purpe.xyz
    X (Twitter): @PurplePepeS0L
    Telegram: https://t.me/Purpe_SOL
    WallStreetBets Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/16QrnBvMue/

    Property for sale to be accepted by Purpe for payment.

    Contact:
    Christopher Berrios,
    CTO
    Christopher@purple.xyz

    Disclaimer: This is a paid post and is provided by Purple Pepe. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.
    Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e292a14-0689-49dd-9f75-35aa452053d7

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reconciliation Recommendations of the House Committee on Homeland Security

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    Legislation Summary

    H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, instructed the House Committee on Homeland Security to recommend legislative changes that would increase deficits up to a specified amount over the 2025-2034 period. As part of the reconciliation process, the House Committee on Homeland Security approved legislation on April 29, 2025, that would increase deficits.

    Estimated Federal Cost

    The reconciliation recommendations of the House Committee on Homeland Security would increase deficits by $67.1 billion over the 2025-2034 period. The estimated budgetary effects of the legislation are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 450 (community and regional development) and 750 (administration of justice).

    Table 1.

    Estimated Budgetary Effects of Reconciliation Recommendations Title VI, House Committee on Homeland Security, as Ordered Reported on April 29, 2025
     

    By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars

    		    
     

    2025

    2026

    2027

    2028

    2029

    2030

    2031

    2032

    2033

    2034

    2025-2029

    2025-2034
     

    Increases in Direct Spending

    		    

    Budget Authority

    69,007

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    69,007

    69,007

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    1,978

    4,963

    8,683

    12,250

    13,458

    11,145

    7,984

    4,556

    2,130

    27,874

    67,147
     

    Net Increase in the Deficit

    From Changes in Direct Spending

    		    

    Effect on the Deficit

    *

    1,978

    4,963

    8,683

    12,250

    13,458

    11,145

    7,984

    4,556

    2,130

    27,874

    67,147

    Basis of Estimate

    For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted in summer 2025. CBO’s estimates are relative to its January 2025 baseline and cover the period from 2025 through 2034. Outlays of appropriated amounts were estimated using historical obligation and spending rates for similar programs.

    Direct Spending

    Enacting this legislation would increase direct spending by $67.1 billion over the 2025-2034 period (see Table 2). All of that amount would result from specified direct appropriations for activities performed by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

    Border Barrier System Construction, Invasive Species, and Border Security Facilities Improvements. Section 60001 would appropriate $51.6 billion for border barrier system construction and related activities, increasing outlays by $49.7 billion over the 2025-2034 period, CBO estimates.

    Border Barrier System and Technology. The legislation would appropriate $46.5 billion for CBP to construct, upgrade, and replace components of the barrier system along the southwestern, northern, and maritime borders of the United States.

    Based on an analysis of information from CBP and historical rates of spending on border construction projects, CBO estimates that enacting the provision would increase outlays by $44.6 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

    CBO expects that all of the funds provided by the legislation will be obligated before the period of availability expires at the end of 2029. However, we do not expect that all funds will be spent during the 2025-2034 period based on the historical spending patterns for other federal construction projects and because the pace of spending for construction projects typically spans more than five years from the time funds are obligated. (Under the rules that govern the federal budget, CBP would need to return any unspent funds to the Treasury on September 30, 2034.)

    CBP Facilities and Checkpoints and Invasive Species Eradication. The legislation also would appropriate $5.0 billion for CBP to lease, acquire, and construct new facilities and checkpoints, and to upgrade or replace existing facilities and $50 million to eradicate invasive plant species along the border, increasing outlays by those amounts over the 2025‑2034 period.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection Personnel and Fleet Vehicles. Section 60002 would appropriate $8.3 billion for CBP to recruit, hire, and train, personnel and to procure new vehicles and technology, increasing outlays by $8.3 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

    CBP Personnel and Training. The legislation would appropriate the following amounts for CBP personnel and training:

    • $4.1 billion for CBP to hire, train, and, in some cases, rehire federal employees as border patrol agents, field operations officers, air and marine agents, and support staff; and
    • $2.1 billion for signing and retention bonuses.

    CBP currently employs about 19,000 border patrol agents, 26,000 officers, and 1,400 air and marine operators. The agency indicates that the funding provided by the legislation would be used to hire approximately 8,500 employees, including 5,000 officers and 3,000 border patrol agents. Using information from the agency, CBO expects that officers and agents would be hired gradually over the next 10 years, with most additions occurring in the next five years, and that enacting this provision would increase outlays by $6.2 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

    Training, Recruitment, and Screening and Patrol Vehicle Procurement. Additionally, the legislation would appropriate the following amounts, increasing outlays equal to the appropriated amounts over the 2025-2034 period:

    • $750 million for CBP to train staff at Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and to improve those facilities;
    • $600 million for marketing, recruitment, applicant screening, and programs to facilitate staff reassignments and relocation; and
    • $813 million for CBP to lease or purchase patrol vehicles.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection Technology, National Vetting Center, and Other Efforts to Enhance Border Security. Section 60003 would appropriate $6.3 billion for CBP to procure, upgrade, and integrate new technology into the border control system, increasing outlays by $6.3 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

    The funding would include:

    • $4.5 billion for surveillance towers, linear ground detection systems, nonintrusive inspection systems, and scanners for the agency’s biometric entry and exit program;
    • $1.2 billion for CBP to acquire or upgrade various air and marine systems, including aircraft, watercraft, and unmanned aircraft systems, which CBO expects would be procured in bulk purchases; and
    • $517 million for other CBP activities, including funds to combat drug trafficking, to support screening of applicants by the National Vetting Center, and for other activities including commemorations of events related to border security.

    State and Local Law Enforcement Presidential Residence Protection. Section 60004 would appropriate $300 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies for costs incurred to protect the private residences of the President, increasing outlays by $300 million over the 2025-2034 period. Most of those amounts would cover overtime pay for officers and other personnel.

    State Homeland Security Grant Program. Section 60005 would appropriate $2.6 billion for FEMA to support state and local law enforcement agencies addressing security threats, increasing outlays by $2.6 billion over the 2025-2034 period.

    The funding would include:

    • $1 billion to reimburse state and local governments for security, planning, and other costs related to hosting the 2028 Olympic Games;
    • $625 million for similar activities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup;
    • $500 million for FEMA to enhance state and local governments’ detection and monitoring of threats from unmanned aircraft systems; and
    • $450 million for the Operation Stonegarden Grant Program, which covers costs for personnel and equipment incurred by state and local governments as part of joint operations to secure U.S. borders.

    Uncertainty

    Significant uncertainty surrounds CBO’s projections of the pace at which CBP would obligate funds and the total amount the agency could spend by 2034 to construct walls, fences, facilities, and checkpoints for the border barrier system. These amounts significantly exceed amounts previously provided for similar activities. For example, over the 2018‑2021 period, lawmakers appropriated about $5.5 billion for physical barriers on the southwestern border of the United States. By the end of 2024, CBP had spent roughly $2.6 billion—less than half of the amount provided.

    How quickly funds provided in this legislation would be spent will depend on factors that include the availability of contractors; fluctuations in the cost and availability of materials; and CBP’s ability to acquire private land or obtain access to state, local, or tribal property.

    Based on information from the agency, CBO expects that some stages of the process could progress more quickly than they might have in the past—many aspects of planning, land acquisition, and permitting for certain segments of the border have been completed or streamlined. However, the pace of spending on construction funded by the legislation is uncertain and the total amounts spent over the 2025-2034 period could be larger or smaller than CBO estimates here.

    Considerable uncertainty also surrounds projections of the pace at which CBP would hire new personnel, particularly border patrol agents and officers. Although the legislation would provide funding for signing and retention bonuses and increase spending on marketing, recruitment, and screening of new employees, significant uncertainty exists about how responsive the labor supply might be to fill those positions. In recent years, because of background checks, training requirements, and other pre-employment processes, the time to recruit and hire new officers has ranged from 300 to 600 days. As a result, the pace of spending on personnel over the 2025-2034 period could be faster or slower than CBO estimates here.

    Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

    The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.

    Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

    CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on‑budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2035.

    Mandates

    The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

    Mandates: Rachel Austin

    Estimate Reviewed By

    Justin Humphrey
    Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit

    Kathleen FitzGerald
    Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

    Christina Hawley Anthony
    Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

    H. Samuel Papenfuss 
    Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

    Chad Chirico 
    Director of Budget Analysis

    Phillip L. Swagel

    Director, Congressional Budget Office

    [Table 2 begins on the next page.]

    Return to Reference

    Table 2.

    Estimated Changes in Direct Spending Under Reconciliation Recommendations Title VI, House Committee on Homeland Security, as Ordered Reported on April 29, 2025
     

    By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars

    		    
     

    2025

    2026

    2027

    2028

    2029

    2030

    2031

    2032

    2033

    2034

    2025-2029

    2025-2034
     

    Increases in Direct Spending

    		    

    Sec. 60001, Border Barrier System Construction, Invasive Species, and Border Security Facilities Improvements

    		                    

    Budget Authority

    51,550

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    51,550

    51,550

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    934

    2,850

    5,505

    8,208

    9,776

    9,333

    7,031

    4,124

    1,929

    17,497

    49,690

    Sec. 60002, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Personnel and Fleet Vehicles

    		                    

    Budget Authority

    8,316

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    8,316

    8,316

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    427

    842

    1,399

    1,949

    2,093

    763

    408

    257

    178

    4,617

    8,316

    Sec. 60003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Technology, National Vetting Center, and Other Efforts to Enhance Border Security

    		                    

    Budget Authority

    6,266

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    6,266

    6,266

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    212

    577

    1,023

    1,403

    1,330

    991

    534

    173

    23

    3,215

    6,266

    Sec. 60004, State and Local Law Enforcement Presidential Residence Protection

    		                    

    Budget Authority

    300

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    300

    300

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    11

    74

    106

    84

    21

    4

    0

    0

    0

    275

    300

    Sec. 60005, State Homeland Security Grant Program

    		                  

    Budget Authority

    2,575

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    2,575

    2,575

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    394

    620

    650

    606

    238

    54

    11

    2

    0

    2,270

    2,575

    Total Changes

    		                        

    Budget Authority

    69,007

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    69,007

    69,007

    Estimated Outlays

    *

    1,978

    4,963

    8,683

    12,250

    13,458

    11,145

    7,984

    4,556

    2,130

    27,874

    67,147
     

    Net Increase in the Deficit

    From Changes in Direct Spending

    		    

    Effect on the Deficit

    *

    1,978

    4,963

    8,683

    12,250

    13,458

    11,145

    7,984

    4,556

    2,130

    27,874

    67,147

    * = between zero and $500,000; Budget authority includes specified amounts only.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Marystown — Arrest warrant issued for TJ Fudge

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Burin Peninsula RCMP is looking to arrest wanted man, 21-year-old TJ Lawrence Fudge, who is actively evading police. Fudge is believed to be hiding in St. John’s and is originally from Grand Bank.

    Fudge is wanted in relation the following charges:

    • Possession of a controlled substance – three counts
    • Impaired driving – two counts
    • Dangerous driving
    • Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
    • Operating a vehicle with a suspended license

    No photo is currently available of Fudge.

    Anyone having information about the current location of TJ Fudge is asked to contact Burin Peninsula RCMP at 709-279-3001. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers: #SayItHere 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit www.nlcrimestoppers.com or use the P3Tips app.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two South Gate Men Charged with over a Dozen Highway Robberies Following Gamblers Targeted for Their Casino Winnings

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – Two South Gate men have been charged in a federal indictment unsealed today for allegedly committing more than a dozen armed robberies, stealing gambling winnings from individuals leaving local casinos.

    Juan Gabriel Gonzalez, 22, was arrested and will make his initial appearance in federal court today. Dereck Nathan Lopez, 21, is currently in state custody and expected to appear in federal court in the coming weeks.

    Both defendants are charged with multiple counts of interference and attempted interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), one count of Hobbs Act conspiracy, and multiple counts of using firearms during a crime of violence. Lopez is also charged with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. 

    According to the 10-count indictment, Lopez and Gonzalez entered local casinos under false names to hunt gamblers appearing to win or cash-in a large number of chips. Lopez, Gonzalez and other co-conspirators then followed the victims’ vehicles from the casino, ambushed them on the highway, brandished firearms, smashed the vehicle’s windows, demanded money or chips, and fled. Lopez, Gonzalez, and other conspirators allegedly robbed and attempted to rob individuals leaving casinos in this manner on at least 15 different occasions, including three on a single night. 

    Before one incident, Lopez is seen on casino surveillance video celebrating a gambling victory with a victim he was scouting, including high-fiving the victim after the win, according to court documents. Within an hour, Lopez’s co-conspirators had blocked in her vehicle, brandished firearms, and stolen $21,000 in cash. In a separate incident, Lopez, Gonzalez and their co-conspirators stole at least $130,000 in casino winnings.

    Lopez is also charged with being a felon in possession of three firearms and over 30 rounds of ammunition found at his home in December 2023. Lopez is not legally permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition because his criminal history includes a conviction in San Bernardino Superior Court for grand theft in November 2023 during the pendency of the indicted robbery spree.

    An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

    If convicted of all charges, each defendant would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

    Operation Safe Cities establishes strategic enforcement priorities with an emphasis on prosecuting the most significant drivers of violent crime. Across this region, the most damaging and horrific crimes are committed by a relatively small number of particularly violent individuals. This strategic enforcement approach is expected to increase the number of arrests, prosecutions and convictions of recidivists engaged in the most dangerous conduct. It is designed to improve public safety across the region by targeting crimes involving illicit guns, prohibited persons possessing firearms, or robbery crews that cause havoc and extensive losses to retail establishments.

    The FBI, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control, and the Montebello Police Department are investigating this matter.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Butler and Jena A. MacCabe of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pauls Valley Man Sentenced to Serve Nearly Three Years in Federal Prison after Receiving Almost $300,000 for Classic Cars He Never Delivered

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    OKLAHOMA CITY – ANDY WAYNE ALEXANDER, 48, of Pauls Valley, has been sentenced to serve 33 months in federal prison for wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

    On December 19, 2024, Alexander was charged by Information with wire fraud. According to the Information, from July 2020 through May 2022, Alexander used Facebook Marketplace to post and advertise classic cars for sale, some of which he did not own or possess at the time he posted. The Information alleges that during the relevant period, at least seven buyers wired Alexander money, approximately $290,925 total, for vehicles he did not intend to deliver. The money was wired into a bank account controlled by Alexander, and despite his reassurances, the money was never refunded. One victim, a New Zealand citizen, traveled to Oklahoma to confront Alexander after a failed vehicle purchase and discovered Alexander did not have the vehicle he purported to sell in his possession, despite his Facebook postings.

    On January 13, 2025, Alexander pleaded guilty, and admitted he caused “a number of people” to send him money by wire transfer to purchase vehicles which he did not deliver, and that he did not refund the money to those victims.

    At the sentencing hearing on April 29, 2025, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Alexander to serve 33 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered Alexander to pay $303,620.00 in restitution. In announcing his sentence, Judge Heaton noted the seriousness of the offense.

    This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle London and Cole McFerren prosecuted the case.

    Reference is made to public filings for additional information.

    MIL Security OSI –