Category: Vehicles

MIL-OSI USA: ICMYI: Estes Joins Washington Watch with Tony Perkins

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas)

U.S. Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) joined Washington Watch with Tony Perkins with guest host Jody Hice to discuss the rescissions package, federal spending and provisions within the One Big, Beautiful Bill that will help Kansans and Americans, and more. Watch the interview on YouTube.

On the rescissions package:

“Obviously there’s a lot of work we need to do. One out of five dollars that the government spends is borrowed, so we’ve got a lot of things we need to look at. As you said, the rescissions package here was the first time in decades that a president has requested that discretionary spending be pulled back. That, ‘Hey, we don’t need to spend everything that was appropriated a year or longer ago, and focus on specific areas.’

“If you look through what’s in that rescissions package, the things that we were particularly pulling out, things like funding for NPR. They wanted to fund drag queen programs for children and programs talking about animals need to have their own pronouns … PBS had programs talking about white privilege.

“We all heard earlier this year all of the horror stories coming out of USAID in terms of the money that was being wasted around the world. Things like $3 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam and $70,000 for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion musical in Ireland. I don’t know why Ireland would want to have a DEI musical, but, if they do, the Irish taxpayers ought to pay for it and not American taxpayers.

“It’s great to do this rescissions package. [I was] glad to hear Speaker Johnson reiterate today that we need to be doing more of this as we look at all of the discretionary spending that comes out of the federal government, and what do we do going forward. We’ve got a lot of work to do, not just on a discretionary side with rescissions, but obviously some of those automatic spending programs as well.”

On other areas of the federal government that may be right for rescissions:

“When we look across the discretionary course, the spending has grown so great since before Covid. If you look at going back to I believe 2019, our tax revenue has gone up. It’s gone up 46% or so, so we’ve got a lot more tax revenue coming in after we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.

“What we’ve seen is spending’s gone up 70%. Some of that was temporary spending, or should have been temporary spending in Covid, but now it’s gotten baked in and it’s continued on grant programs and other areas across multiple programs. We’ve got so many programs at the federal level that are redundant. You may have four or five different programs in two or three different agencies that are designed to target the same issue. So we’ve got lots of areas to look at that.

“DOGE did a great effort earlier this year in identifying some of those areas, but we need to have a constant look at that in terms of where do we spend money, where should we be spending money, and does it make sense to spend dollars at this point, particularly when we’re borrowing one out of five dollars that’s being spent.”

On the tone of Democrats’ messaging to their voter base:

“[Democrats] really are [tone deaf.] They don’t have a positive message. They don’t have something that they want America to be for. Basically the Democrat party has become a party of socialists. They’re looking at, ‘How can they make the government spend and dictate what other people do?’

“For example, we look at the One Big, Beautiful Bill, I could talk about so many great provisions there. But their message out of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, that they oppose, is because they wanted to make sure that illegal immigrants got Medicaid. They wanted to make sure that people didn’t have to work at all for the Medicaid dollars that would be given to them to provide for their healthcare, [for] even as little as 20 hours a week, working in a job or getting an education or even in a volunteer role. And so, as they get more strident trying to talk against commonsense things, the American public is turning against them.

“When you look at the polling data that’s out there right now, of all Americans, [there is] 72% opposition to Democrats and the positions they’re taking in Congress. Even among Democrats, there’s a majority, 52% of Democrats are not happy that Democrats in Congress are not doing what should be done for America.”

On Congressman Estes’ op-ed on the One Big, Beautiful Bill:

“We talk a lot about the One Big, Beautiful Bill. There’s just so much positive things in there. A lot of it was centered around the tax provisions that we needed to extend after 2017, that were going to expire this year, and the results of provisions around border security and defense. But if you really peel some of the layers back and look at some of the details, there’s a whole lot of pro-family and pro-life provisions in there.

“What we really wanted to do is make sure that, for example, Medicaid funding was used not by Planned Parenthood to provide abortions. I mean we should have Medicaid to actually help people preserve and protect life and not end it. We wanted to make sure that families could raise their children … So we focused on increasing the Child Tax Credit for families and indexing it for inflation. We increased a tax credit for adoption for people to adopt families. That’s so important now when we see the birth rate dropping down to 11.7% per thousand. We need to have a continual growth in population to make sure that America continues to grow.

“You look at provisions like employer-funded childcare provisions. We wanted to make sure those were available. Permanent family and medical leave to help people who maybe have a temporary illness or an issue with their family. We wanted to make sure after these disastrous years of Bidenflation that people were able to raise their families and have the income to provide for their family.”

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: House Appropriations Approves Bill Including Cline Funding For I-81 Improvements

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ben Cline (VA-06)

House Appropriations Approves Bill Including Cline Funding For I-81 Improvements

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA) announced today that the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill passed by the House Appropriations Committee includes $17 million for improvements to Interstate 81. This funding, which Cline requested and supported as a member of the Appropriations Committee, will support key upgrades and potential widening along the corridor, which runs directly through Virginia’s Sixth District and is one of the most heavily traveled highways in the region.

The I-81 Corridor handles an enormous volume of freight and passenger traffic. Each year, more than 12 million commercial trucks travel along the interstate, moving over $300 billion in goods. As traffic increases, so does the need to modernize the highway to support on-time delivery and reduce disruptions that hurt both local businesses and national commerce.

“I hear from constituents daily about the dangerous conditions on I-81,” said Congressman Cline. “This funding will help reduce congestion, improve safety, and make the highway more efficient for the millions who rely on it. I’m proud to deliver these federal dollars for our communities, along the 1-81 corridor.”

Originally built over 50 years ago, I-81 has not kept up with growing traffic and freight demands. A 2018 state report identified urgent needs along the corridor, and while Virginia has taken important steps to address them, additional federal investment is necessary.

Travel delays are becoming more frequent and unpredictable, impacting both freight movement and personal travel. To help fix this, Virginia’s Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Program (CIP) includes plans to widen the road from two to three lanes in critical sections. These upgrades will reduce congestion, create more room for emergency response vehicles, and lower the risk of crashes by allowing more space for vehicles to maneuver.

“I-81 is essential to our region’s economy,” Cline continued. “Whether it’s commuters, families, or truck drivers moving goods through the Valley, Virginians deserve a safer and more reliable interstate. I’ll keep working toward real solutions to make that happen.”

Congressman Ben Cline represents the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia. He previously was an attorney in private practice and served both as an assistant prosecutor and a Member of the Virginia House of Delegates. Cline and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Botetourt County with their two children.

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MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: 5 Things to Know About Powerful New U.S.-India Satellite, NISAR

Source: NASA

Data from NISAR will map changes to Earth’s surface, helping improve crop management, natural hazard monitoring, and tracking of sea ice and glaciers.
A new U.S.-India satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will provide high-resolution data enabling scientists to comprehensively monitor the planet’s land and ice surfaces like never before, building a detailed record of how they shift over time. Hailed as a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during their visit in Washington in February, the NISAR launch will advance U.S.-India cooperation and benefit the U.S. in the areas of disaster response and agriculture.
As the first joint satellite mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between the two space agencies. Years in the making, the launch of NISAR builds on a strong heritage of successful programs, including Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Axiom Mission 4, which saw ISRO and NASA astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station for the first time.
The information NISAR provides will help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor agricultural fields, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The satellite will also provide key global observations of changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, as well as forests and wetlands.
The NISAR mission is slated to launch no earlier than July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Here are five things to know about NISAR:
1. The NISAR satellite will provide a 3D view of Earth’s land and ice.
Two synthetic aperture radars (SARs) aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet’s surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth’s surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 39 feet (12 meters) across. The satellite’s ability to “see” through clouds and light rain, day and night, will enable data users to continuously monitor earthquake- and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing. It also will offer unprecedented coverage of Antarctica, information that will help with studying how the continent’s ice sheet changes over time.
2. Data from NISAR will provide critical insights to help governments and decision-makers plan for natural and human-caused hazards.
Earthquakes, volcanoes, and aging infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth’s surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a possible disaster. For earthquakes, NISAR will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. The satellite will be able to monitor the area around thousands of volcanoes, detecting land movement that could be a precursor to an eruption. When it comes to infrastructure such as levees, aqueducts, and dams, NISAR data collected over time can help managers detect if nearby land motion could jeopardize key structures, and then assess the integrity of those facilities.
3. The most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA or ISRO mission, NISAR will generate more data on a daily basis than any previous Earth satellite from either agency.
About the length of a pickup truck, NISAR’s main body contains a dual-radar payload — an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system is sensitive to land and ice features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. By including both radars on one spacecraft — a first — NISAR will be more capable than previous SAR missions. These two radars, one from NASA and one from ISRO, and the data they will produce, exemplify how collaboration between spacefaring allies can achieve more than either would alone.

The radars will generate about 80 terabytes of data products per day over the course of NISAR’s prime mission. That’s roughly enough data to fill about 150 512-gigabyte hard drives each day. The information will be processed, stored, and distributed via the cloud — and accessible to all.

4. The NISAR mission will help monitor ecosystems around the world.
The mission’s two radars will monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days. Their near-comprehensive coverage will include areas not previously covered by other Earth-observing radar satellites with such frequency. The NISAR satellite’s L-band radar penetrates deep into forest canopies, providing insights into forest structure, while the S-band radar is ideal for monitoring crops. The NISAR data will help researchers assess how forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and permafrost change over time.
5. The NISAR mission marks the first collaboration between NASA and ISRO on a project of this scale and marks the next step in a long line of Earth-observing SAR missions.
The NISAR satellite features components developed on opposite sides of the planet by engineers from ISRO and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working together. The S-band radar was built at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, while JPL built the L-band radar in Southern California. After engineers from JPL and ISRO integrated NISAR’s instruments with a modified ISRO I3K spacecraft bus and tested the satellite, ISRO transported NISAR to Satish Dhawan Space Centre in May 2025 to prepare it for launch.
The SAR technique was invented in the U.S. in 1952 and now countries around the globe have SAR satellites for a variety of missions. NASA first used the technique with a space-based satellite in 1978 on the ocean-observing Seasat, which included the first spaceborne SAR instrument for scientific observations. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India.
More About NISAR
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and provided the L-band SAR. JPL also provided the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the Near Space Network, which will receive NISAR’s L-band data.
The ISRO Space Applications Centre is providing the mission’s S-band SAR. The U R Rao Satellite Centre is providing the spacecraft bus. The rocket is from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, launch services are through Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and satellite mission operations are by the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network. The National Remote Sensing Centre is responsible for S-band data reception, operational products generation, and dissemination.
To learn more about NISAR, visit:
https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/

News Media Contacts
Andrew Wang / Jane J. LeeJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-379-6874 / 626-491-1943andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
2025-090

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hours to Change at Disaster Recovery Centers in Tennessee

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: Hours to Change at Disaster Recovery Centers in Tennessee

Hours to Change at Disaster Recovery Centers in Tennessee

Middle and Western Tennesseans who experienced damage from the April 2-24 severe storms can get in-person assistance at FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

The deadline to apply for assistance is Aug

19

Money is available for survivors who need help covering uninsured costs for things like rental expenses, home repairs, vehicle damage, medical expenses, moving and storage, and reimbursement for temporary housing

Homeowners, renters, students, self-employed, ranchers and farmers in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Dyer, Hardeman, McNairy, Montgomery, Obion and Wilson counties can apply for FEMA assistance

Disaster Recovery CenterHours: Beginning Monday, July 21 centers are open:9 a

m

to 6 p

m

Monday – Friday9 a

m

to 2 p

m

SaturdayClosed SundayLOCATIONS:Dyer County: Bogota Community Center, 78 Sandy Lane, Bogota, TN 38007Hardeman County: Safehaven Storm Shelter, 530 Madison Ave W

, Grand Junction, TN 38039McNairy County: Latta Theatre, 205 W

Court Ave

, Selmer, TN 38375Montgomery County: Montgomery County Library, 350 Pageant Lane, Clarksville, TN 37040Obion County: Obion County Library, 1221 E

Reelfoot Ave

, Union City, TN 38261How to Apply for FEMA AssistanceApply online at DisasterAssistance

gov, use the FEMA App for mobile devices or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362

In-person help is available at any Disaster Recovery Center for submitting applications, getting updates and asking questions

Find a center here: DRC Locator (fema

gov)

Video: What to Expect Before Applying for FEMA Assistance | ASL | SpanishVideo: Next Steps After Applying for FEMA Assistance | ASL | Spanish
kwei

nwaogu
Mon, 07/21/2025 – 13:22

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Leader of National Catalytic Converter Theft Ring Pleads Guilty and Admits to Selling Stolen Goods for More Than $600M

Source: United States Attorneys General

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Northern District of Oklahoma to leading a multi-state operation that stole thousands of catalytic converters from private vehicles and sold them on a secondary market for millions of dollars, based on the value of the precious metals that the converters contain.

Navin Khanna, 41, of Holmdel, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive, possess, and dispose of stolen goods in interstate commerce and five counts of money laundering regarding his participation in the stolen goods scheme.

“The defendant made $600 million and financed his ostentatious lifestyle by buying and selling stolen goods,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to taking the profit out of crime. Sophisticated criminal schemes may afford you luxury cars and homes in the short term but will cost you a federal felony conviction in the long term.”

“Khanna’s theft ring took advantage of hard-working citizens in the Northern District of Oklahoma by stealing catalytic converters, rendering the vehicle unusable,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma. “I would like to thank the Tulsa Police Department and our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts in bringing this senseless crime to justice.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, Khanna admitted to being the owner and operator of New Jersey-based D.G. Auto Parts, a criminal enterprise that bought and sold auto parts across the country. From May 2020 through October 2022, Khanna conspired with others to purchase and transport large quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and other states to New Jersey. Khanna admitted to receiving more than $600 million by reselling the stolen catalytic converters to a metal refinery that extracted the precious metals.

In response to a drastic increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout Tulsa in 2020, the Tulsa Police Department initiated an investigation that soon uncovered a national criminal enterprise. During the investigation, search warrants were executed in Oklahoma, Texas, California, New Jersey and New York. Khanna was indicted by federal grand juries in the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Eastern District of California. Over twenty individuals throughout the country have been charged for their role in the conspiracy. Khanna’s 13 co-defendants in the Northern District of Oklahoma have pleaded guilty for their participation in the criminal scheme and are awaiting sentencing.

As part of his plea agreement, Khanna agreed to forfeit almost $4 million in cash, 11 luxury vehicles — including a Lamborghini, two Mercedes AMGs, two Ferraris, a McLaren, a Porsche, a Ford F650 Truck, and a BMW M3 — real estate properties, high-end jewelry, gold bars, and over 200 pallets of catalytic converters, all seized by law enforcement during the execution of search warrants at Khanna’s properties. Khanna’s co-defendants have agreed to forfeit more than $3.2 million, including more than $250,000 from multiple bank accounts; two lots of land located in Oklahoma, cars, and stolen catalytic converters seized during the investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma has agreed that Khanna’s sentencing will be transferred to the Eastern District of California, where he awaits further prosecution for related crimes.

Khanna faces a maximum penalty of 168 to 210 months in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the investigation. IRS-Criminal Investigations, the Tulsa Police Department, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wyandotte Nation Police Department contributed to the investigation.

Trial Attorney César S. Rivera-Giraud of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reagan Reininger and David Nasar for the Northern District of Oklahoma are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M.A. Alegría for the Eastern District of California assisted in the prosecution of the case and is prosecuting Khanna and others there.

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

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Leader of National Catalytic Converter Theft Ring Pleads Guilty
Source: Office of United States Attorneys

TULSA, Okla. – The leader of a national catalytic converter theft ring pleaded guilty today in federal court and admitted to selling the stolen converters for more than $600 million, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

Navin Khanna, 31, Holmdel, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy and five counts of Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Specified Unlawful Activity.

“Khanna’s theft ring took advantage of hard-working citizens in the Northern District of Oklahoma by stealing catalytic converters, rendering the vehicle unusable,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “I would like to thank the Tulsa Police Department, and our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts in bringing this senseless crime to justice.”

“Across the United States thousands of people have had the catalytic converters cut off their parked cars because they contain valuable precious metals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Unable to extract the metals themselves, thieves sell the stolen parts to middlemen like the defendant and his co-conspirators, who use special equipment to crack the catalytic converters open. In the aggregate the value of the stolen goods is worth enormous amounts ─ here more than $600 million.”

Khanna admitted to being the owner and operator of D.G. Auto Parts, a criminal enterprise that bought and sold auto parts across the country. From May 2020 through October 2022, Khanna conspired with others to purchase and transport large quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and other states to New Jersey. Khanna admitted to receiving more than $600 million in reselling the stolen catalytic converters to a metal refinery that extracted the precious metals.

Khanna further agreed to forfeit more than $3 million in cash, over $800,000 from various checking accounts, several luxury vehicles, his interest in several real estate properties, high-end jewelry, gold bars, and over 200 pallets of catalytic converters seized during the execution of a warrant.

In response to a drastic increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout Tulsa in 2020, the Tulsa Police Department initiated an investigation that soon uncovered a national criminal enterprise. During the investigation, search warrants were executed in Oklahoma, Texas, California, New Jersey, and New York. Federal grand juries in the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Eastern District of California indicted Khanna. Over twenty individuals throughout the country have been charged for their role in the conspiracy.

Khanna’s co-defendants in the Northern District of Oklahoma have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing to the following:
- Tyler James Curtis, 26, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. He agreed to forfeit over $3 million and multiple vehicles;
- Adam Sharkey, 26, of West Islip, New York, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.2 million;
- Robert Gary Sharkey, 57, of Babylon, New York, pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony and agreed to forfeit his interest in more than $1.2 million in currency seized by law enforcement;
- Benjamin Robert Mansour, 24, of Bixby, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
- Reiss Nicole Biby, 24, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony and agreed to forfeit her interest in more than $1.1 million and seized catalytic converters;
- Martynas Macerauskas, 28, of Leila Lake, Texas, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $2.2 million;
- Kristina McKay Macerauskas, 21, of Leila Lake, Texas, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.1 million;
- Parker Star Weavel, 25, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Receiving Stolen Property in Indian Country;
- Shane Allen Minnick, 26, of Haskell, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit $500,000;
- Ryan David LaRue 29, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy;
- Brian Pate Thomas, 25, of Choteau, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy; and
- Michael Anthony Rhoden, 26, of Keifer, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma has agreed that Khanna’s sentencing will be transferred to the Eastern District of California, where he awaits further prosecution for related crimes.

Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Tulsa Police Department, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wyandotte Nation Police Department led or contributed to the lengthy investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Nasar and Reagan Reininger lead the Northern District of Oklahoma’s prosecution with assistance from the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section’s Trial Attorney Cesar Rivera-Giraud and Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M.A. Alegría of the Eastern District of California.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.

MIL Security OSI –
July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Leader of National Catalytic Converter Theft Ring Pleads Guilty and Admits to Selling Stolen Goods for More Than $600M

Source: US State of North Dakota

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Northern District of Oklahoma to leading a multi-state operation that stole thousands of catalytic converters from private vehicles and sold them on a secondary market for millions of dollars, based on the value of the precious metals that the converters contain.

Navin Khanna, 41, of Holmdel, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive, possess, and dispose of stolen goods in interstate commerce and five counts of money laundering regarding his participation in the stolen goods scheme.

“The defendant made $600 million and financed his ostentatious lifestyle by buying and selling stolen goods,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to taking the profit out of crime. Sophisticated criminal schemes may afford you luxury cars and homes in the short term but will cost you a federal felony conviction in the long term.”

“Khanna’s theft ring took advantage of hard-working citizens in the Northern District of Oklahoma by stealing catalytic converters, rendering the vehicle unusable,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma. “I would like to thank the Tulsa Police Department and our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts in bringing this senseless crime to justice.”

According to court documents and statements made in court, Khanna admitted to being the owner and operator of New Jersey-based D.G. Auto Parts, a criminal enterprise that bought and sold auto parts across the country. From May 2020 through October 2022, Khanna conspired with others to purchase and transport large quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and other states to New Jersey. Khanna admitted to receiving more than $600 million by reselling the stolen catalytic converters to a metal refinery that extracted the precious metals.

In response to a drastic increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout Tulsa in 2020, the Tulsa Police Department initiated an investigation that soon uncovered a national criminal enterprise. During the investigation, search warrants were executed in Oklahoma, Texas, California, New Jersey and New York. Khanna was indicted by federal grand juries in the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Eastern District of California. Over twenty individuals throughout the country have been charged for their role in the conspiracy. Khanna’s 13 co-defendants in the Northern District of Oklahoma have pleaded guilty for their participation in the criminal scheme and are awaiting sentencing.

As part of his plea agreement, Khanna agreed to forfeit almost $4 million in cash, 11 luxury vehicles — including a Lamborghini, two Mercedes AMGs, two Ferraris, a McLaren, a Porsche, a Ford F650 Truck, and a BMW M3 — real estate properties, high-end jewelry, gold bars, and over 200 pallets of catalytic converters, all seized by law enforcement during the execution of search warrants at Khanna’s properties. Khanna’s co-defendants have agreed to forfeit more than $3.2 million, including more than $250,000 from multiple bank accounts; two lots of land located in Oklahoma, cars, and stolen catalytic converters seized during the investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma has agreed that Khanna’s sentencing will be transferred to the Eastern District of California, where he awaits further prosecution for related crimes.

Khanna faces a maximum penalty of 168 to 210 months in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the investigation. IRS-Criminal Investigations, the Tulsa Police Department, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wyandotte Nation Police Department contributed to the investigation.

Trial Attorney César S. Rivera-Giraud of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (VCRS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reagan Reininger and David Nasar for the Northern District of Oklahoma are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M.A. Alegría for the Eastern District of California assisted in the prosecution of the case and is prosecuting Khanna and others there.

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

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Brooklyn Man Charged with Arson of 10 NYPD Vehicles

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

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a complaint was unsealed charging Jakhi McCray with arson for setting 10 New York City Police Department vehicles and a trailer on fire in a locked parking lot. McCray was arrested today and will make his initial appearance this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon.

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

“This destructive act of arson was deliberate, dangerous, and deeply disruptive,” said United States Attorney Nocella. “Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest—it is a federal crime. Our Office will not tolerate violence or destruction that undermines law enforcement efforts to ensure public safety and will prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.”

Mr. Nocella also expressed his thanks to the ATF-NYPD Arson & Explosives Task Force, the FDNY Marshalls, and the United States Marshalls Services NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force for their valuable contribution to the case.

“Intentionally setting fire to police vehicles is a dangerous criminal act and a direct threat to public safety. The ATF Arson and Explosives Task Force — which includes ATF, the NYPD, and FDNY — is fully committed to identifying and bringing to justice anyone responsible for these dangerous and unlawful acts. This arrest demonstrates our shared resolve and unified approach to protecting our communities. We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force, the NYPD and the FDNY for their continued partnership in pursuing justice,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Miller.

“The arson attack against New York City Police Department vehicles in Bushwick, Brooklyn was as cowardly as it was criminal,” stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch. “The defendant in this case may have wanted to send a message – but all he did was mobilize the full force of the NYPD, the ATF, and the FDNY to identify, locate, and arrest him. Now, through the work of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, he will face much-deserved justice. Thank you to all the NYPD detectives, as well as our law enforcement partners, who closed this case.”

“Burning a police vehicle is an intolerable crime that could have killed a police officer,” stated FDNY Commissioner Tucker. “We are grateful to our FDNY Fire Marshals for their role in investigating this crime, and our partners in law enforcement for their assistance in identifying the suspect. Arson is a serious crime that must be punished.”

According to the complaint, at 12:52 a.m. on June 12, 2025, McCray was recorded on surveillance video scaling a fence into a secure private lot for reserve NYPD vehicles assigned to precincts in northern Brooklyn. The lot contained numerous NYPD vehicles and was located on DeKalb Avenue between Wilson Avenue and Central Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. McCray remained in the lot for approximately 32 minutes, during which he lit 10 NYPD vehicles and one trailer on fire.

At approximately 1:24 a.m., an NYPD officer arrived to inspect the lot. As he approached, the officer saw the fire and observed McCray attempting to escape by scaling a fence, then fleeing through an existing hole in the fence. Subsequently, NYPD personnel recovered at the scene a cigar lighter torch and a pair of sunglasses. They also discovered 22 retail fire starters and 10 BBQ dragon egg fire starters that were placed under three undamaged vehicles. It was later determined that the sunglasses had McCray’s fingerprints on them. The vehicles were ignited two days before protests were scheduled to be held over the June 14-15, 2025 weekend. The NYPD has estimated that the total replacement cost of for the damaged vehicles is over $800,000.

The charge in the complaint is an allegation, and McCray is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, McCray faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Section. Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca M. Urquiola is in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

JAKHI MCCRAY
Age: 21
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-MJ-238

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The main factor in the growth of exports from Georgia in the first half of 2025 was the re-export of passenger cars

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

Tbilisi, July 21 (Xinhua) — Georgia’s exports amounted to $3.2 billion in the first half of 2025, up 13 percent year-on-year, the National Statistics Office of Georgia reported on Monday.

According to published data, the main factor behind the growth was the active re-export of passenger cars, the volume of which increased by 30 percent year-on-year and reached $1.2 billion.

In terms of total exports, Kyrgyzstan remains Georgia’s largest sales market for the second year in a row. Exports to this country totaled $681 million, up 50 percent from the first half of last year. Kazakhstan ranked second with $414 million, and Azerbaijan third with $342 million.

As for the export of goods of Georgian origin, it increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year, amounting to $1.473 billion. The largest markets for Georgian goods in the first half of 2025 were Russia /310.6 million dollars/, China /162.3 million dollars/ and Turkey /150.4 million dollars/. The main export goods were ferroalloys, mineral and fresh waters, carbonated drinks containing sugar, wine, nitrogen fertilizers, packaged medicines, as well as unprocessed and semi-processed gold. –0–

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

.

MIL OSI Russia News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: New Evacuation Order Limits UN’s Ability to Deliver Aid in Gaza, Secretary-General warns

Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

SG/SM/22734

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General is appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing.

He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families.

Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted. The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life.

Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations.

The Secretary-General notes that the intensification of hostilities in recent days comes as the humanitarian system is being impeded, undermined and endangered.

A new evacuation order in parts of Deir al Balah — home to tens of thousands — pushes people into more desperate conditions and further displacement and restricts the United Nations’ ability to deliver life-saving aid. UN staff remain in Deir al Balah, and two UN guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises, which are inviolable. These locations — as with all civilian sites — must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders.

The Secretary-General reiterates his urgent call for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and for the provision of essential resources to ensure their survival.

He once again calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The UN stands ready to significantly scale up our humanitarian operations. The time for a ceasefire is now.

For information media. Not an official record.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Gaza: Guterres condemns killing of people seeking food as humanitarian conditions deteriorate

Source: United Nations 2

Stéphane Dujarric was speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York a day after dozens of Palestinians were killed seeking food aid.

He said the Secretary-General deplored the growing reports of both children and adults suffering from malnutrition and strongly condemned the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing and injuring of people attempting to get food.

Not a target

“Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted,” said Mr. Dujarric, noting that the population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life.

He stressed that “Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.”

Mr. Dujarric said the Secretary-General noted that the recent intensification of hostilities comes as the humanitarian system in Gaza is being impeded, undermined and endangered.

New evacuation orders

He pointed to a new evacuation order issued for parts of Deir Al-Balah, which is pushing people into more desperate conditions and sparking further displacement, while restricting the UN’s ability to deliver aid.

He reported that two UN guesthouses in Deir Al-Balah were struck, despite the parties being informed about their locations.

“They suffered damage,” he said, responding a reporter’s question. “The UN staff inside was, to say the least, rattled.”

Mr. Dujarric underscored that the UN intends to remain in Deir Al-Balah.

 Ceasefire now

The Secretary-General reiterated his urgent call for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and for the provision of essential resources to ensure their survival.

He once again called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Mr. Dujarric said the UN stands ready to significantly scale up its humanitarian operations in Gaza, adding “the time for a ceasefire is now.”

More to follow…

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Gloucester drug trafficker sentenced to five years in prison for firearms offense

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

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Gloucester man was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, on July 15, 2024, Kyle Jacob Buquor, 26, parked a pickup truck in the area of Market Drive and entered a store. While Buquor was inside the store, a K9 positively alerted for narcotics in the truck as law enforcement conducted an open-air sniff around the vehicle.

Buquor was detained when he returned to the vehicle. During a probable cause search of the vehicle agents recovered a handgun, three loaded magazines, an empty magazine, 11.5 grams of methamphetamine, and various items indicative of drug trafficking.

Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Anthony A. Spotswood, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division; and Darrell W. Warren, Jr., Gloucester County Sheriff, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Heath prosecuted the case.

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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-cr-56.

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Weekly Immigration Caseload Dips Below 200 in Western District of Texas

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

SAN ANTONIO – United States Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced today, that federal prosecutors in the district filed 178 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from July 11 through July 17.

Among the new cases, Edgar Josue Montelongo-Loera was charged in a criminal complaint in Del Rio for trafficking in firearms. On June 12, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, assisting in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigation, allegedly observed Montelongo-Loera transfer a plastic bag containing seven 9mm pistols to a non-immigrant alien co-conspirator at a parking lot in Eagle Pass. The criminal complaint states that HSI agents followed the co-conspirator to the Eagle Pass Port of Entry, where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers allegedly located eight firearms concealed inside the vehicle during an inspection. Further investigation by ATF revealed that Montelongo-Loera allegedly purchased one of the pistols at a retail location in San Antonio.

Also in the Del Rio sector, Mexican national Jose Elias Gavina-Vasquez was arrested on July 14 and charged with illegal re-entry. Gavina-Vasquez has seven prior deportations, and he was most recently deported to Mexico on Feb. 23, 2023. He has a prior felony conviction from June 2022 and a separate conviction for driving while intoxicated from March 2022.

Mexican national and convicted felon Juan Antonio Torres-Moreno was also arrested and charged with illegal re-entry in Del Rio. Torres-Moreno has three prior removals and a voluntary departure, the last being a deportation in 2019. The 2019 deportation resulted from his second illegal-re-entry conviction. He was sentenced to nine months confinement in that case.

Sergio Villeda-Hernandez, also a Mexican national, was arrested in Eagle Pass on July 13 and charged with illegal re-entry after he was recently removed from the U.S. on March 18. Villeda-Hernandez is a convicted felon, having been sentenced to just over a year in prison in 2007 for a felony battery, possession of cocaine, and selling cocaine in DeSoto County, Florida.

In El Paso, Mexican national Mario Humberto Sanchez-Hernandez was found less than a mile and a half west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry without immigration documents allowing him to be or remain in the U.S. Sanchez-Hernandez was just removed from the U.S. to Mexico for the third time on June 21 through San Diego and was convicted in October 2024 for driving under the influence in Newark, New Jersey.

Two brothers were arrested in El Paso, each charged with one count of alien smuggling. U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted an undercover operation that led them to meet Marcos Dominguez, who allegedly believed the agents were transporting two illegal aliens and were in need of a stash house. A criminal complaint affidavit alleges that Marcos exited his vehicle to assist with transferring one of the illegal aliens from the agents’ vehicle to his own. Marcos was then detained for further investigation and agreed to guide the agents to his residence. At the residence, the agents encountered Marcos’s brother, Andres Dominguez, who allegedly admitted that illegal aliens were present inside. Agents located four subjects determined to be illegal aliens. The illegal aliens were arrested and transported to the Ysleta Border Patrol Station. The investigation revealed that Marcos allegedly housed more than 40 illegal aliens at his residence, was paid $200 per day for his smuggling actions, and would split the earnings with his brother Andres, whom he said helped him house and transport the illegal aliens.

In Austin, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fugitive Operations Team (FOT) encountered Honduran national Jimmy Reinel Espinal-Mejia on July 16. Espinal-Mejia was convicted for illegal re-entry in May 2024 after being previously removed in January 2024. For that conviction, he was sentenced to 63 days confinement and removed in July 2024. Six years earlier, in 2018, Espinal-Mejia was convicted for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

In Waco, a Mexican national was charged with illegal re-entry on July 17 when Temple Police responded to a vehicle collision in Temple and identified Eloy Hernandez-Ponce as one of the vehicle occupants. ICE identified Hernandez-Ponce as a previously removed alien who was last deported in March 2010 following a felony conviction for intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in Houston.

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

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas comprises 68 counties located in the central and western areas of Texas, encompasses nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people. The district includes three of the five largest cities in Texas—San Antonio, Austin and El Paso—and shares 660 miles of common border with the Republic of Mexico.

These 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

###

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Best Summer Week for MTA Since 2019

Source: US State of New York

overnor Kathy Hochul today announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) achieved its best summer subway ridership week since 2019, hitting four million subway riders three days in a row in a summer season — a first since the start of the pandemic. On Tuesday, July 15, New York City Transit recorded 4,046,610 subway riders; on Wednesday, July 16, the agency recorded 4,121,751 subway riders; and on Thursday, July 17 saw 4,029,692 riders. This milestone was also achieved during the same week NYC experienced a near-record rainfall on Monday, July 14, and transit crews worked expeditiously to restore service the evening of the storm and through the night to ensure a smooth commute the next day. Moreover, Wednesday’s ridership of 4,121,751 subway riders is a new post-pandemic ridership high for the summer.

“We’re delivering a transit system that is safer and more reliable, and New Yorkers have responded by riding in record numbers,” Governor Hochul said. “Transit is the lifeblood of New York City, it powers our economy and makes city life possible for millions. When ridership is on the rise, New York is on the rise.”

The four million mark has now been achieved seven times in three weeks, starting at the end of the school year. The first time the MTA reached four million subway riders in a single day during a summer season since the start of the pandemic was on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, followed by Thursday, June 26, 2025, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, and Thursday, July 10, 2025, and now July 17 through July 19. This milestone comes days after the Governor announced the Authority’s path towards a record-breaking year in ridership and on-time performance.

This is the first summer NYC students are enjoying expanded benefits from Student OMNY cards distributed last September, which allow use after the conclusion of the school year. Student OMNY cards are valid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Previously, Student MetroCards limited rides on days when the student’s school was open for class.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “New Yorkers are demonstrating their confidence in the MTA’s faster and more reliable transit, voting with their taps to get around the City this summer. And thanks to Governor Hochul’s investments in state-of-good-repair work, safety, and accessibility, we’re achieving post-pandemic ridership records every week.”

New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said, “Thanks to the dedication of New York City Transit workers, we’re continuing to see record-breaking ridership on subways and buses this year. And we’re not done yet – with a capital plan that funds new train cars, more accessible stations, and computerized signals that allow for increased speeds and shorter travel times, riders will continue to see improvements both in the short term and well into the future.” 

On top of the ridership increases, tap-and-go continues to surge in popularity with 75 percent of riders deciding to tap their phones, contactless debit/credit cards, or OMNY cards to pay their fares during the week of July 14, up from 67 percent in March 2025.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Support Grows for Grassley’s Combating Organized Retail Crime Act

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – Following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on organized retail crime, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) welcomed growing support for his bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) from retail industry leaders, law enforcement organizations and hundreds of affected businesses.

Grassley and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev) introduced the bill to establish a multi-agency response to organized retail crime, enhancing coordination between retail industry representatives and law enforcement. The legislation would also strengthen reporting efforts, create new tools to assist in the investigation and prosecution of retail and supply chain crime, and support efforts to recapture stolen goods and their proceeds.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act currently has 26 bipartisan Senate cosponsors and is endorsed by 38 state attorneys general. Additionally, the legislation has garnered significant support from advocacy groups, including the world’s largest retail trade association, major law enforcement organizations and a coalition of over 260 impacted businesses. Reps. David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) are leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Watch experts and industry leaders discuss the Judiciary Committee’s hearing and the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act below, followed by statements of support from local, state and federal organizations and businesses.

[embedded content]

VIDEO

The National Retail Federation and a coalition of over 260 impacted businesses:

“We respectfully urge Congress to advance and pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 without delay. This bipartisan, commonsense legislation is essential to modernizing our national response to organized retail crime, which threatens not only public safety but also the health and security of America’s supply chains and consumer access to goods. By strengthening coordination, enforcement and prevention, CORCA will help protect American businesses, workers and families. The time to act is now.”

The National Association of Attorneys General:

“As Attorneys General of Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois and South Carolina, we are joined by the 34 Attorneys General of the undersigned states to encourage action during the 119th Congress to support our efforts to combat the nationwide organized retail crime epidemic… CORCA would provide the necessary resources at the state and federal level to bring the organizations and individuals behind this nationwide problem to justice.”

The National Police Association:

“The [National Police Association] extends its gratitude to Sen. Grassley and Rep. Joyce for introducing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a federal bill that would allow the private sector and law enforcement partners at all levels to work in tandem to fight these crime syndicates. The government’s priority is to provide for the safety and welfare of its citizens, and this bill goes a long way in accomplishing this.”

The American Trucking Association:

“The trucking industry takes great pride in delivering America’s freight safely and on time; however, the billions of tons of goods transported by trucks from coast to coast have increasingly become a prime target for organized crime rings, including transnational organizations, putting truck drivers at risk and raising costs for consumer. ATA commends this bipartisan group of leaders for addressing this alarming trend and safeguarding our supply chain. By empowering federal agencies to improve cooperation across jurisdictions and ramp up enforcement actions, this bill would strike an effective blow against organized crime.”

Brenda Neville, President and CEO of the Iowa Motor Truck Association:

“We commend the Senate Judiciary Committee for shining a spotlight on the growing problem of cargo theft. Chairman Grassley’s legislation is vitally important for Iowa’s trucking industry and the more than 100,000 Iowans who work to keep freight moving safely and efficiently. Cargo theft not only threatens the security of Iowa’s freight—it puts these hardworking men and women at serious risk. We are thankful to Chairman Grassley and the entire committee for their efforts to protect the people and the industry that are vital to Iowa’s economy.”

Matt Hart, Executive Director of the Illinois Trucking Association:

“Cargo theft is an epidemic affecting the entire supply chain, and Illinois is at the epicenter of the problem. Our state is among the top three nationally in cargo theft occurrences, and it is critical that Congress pass common-sense legislation that deters these criminal actors and gives law enforcement the tools it needs to combat these sophisticated crimes. On behalf of the nearly 340,000 Illinoisans who work throughout the trucking industry, we call on Senator Durbin to support the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act.”

Eric Sauer, CEO of the California Trucking Association:

“Cargo theft is an issue impacting the entire supply nation across the country, but nowhere is it more acute than in California. Without this much-needed legislation, sophisticated criminal organizations will continue to operate with impunity at a great cost to consumers, highway safety, and the hardworking men and women throughout our industry. Senator Padilla’s support of the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act means law enforcement has the tools it needs to prosecute these criminal actors.”

The Association of American Railroads:

“Organized criminal operations continue to evolve and escalate their targeted attacks against our nation’s supply chain and retailers. This alarming trend affects every industry – including the nation’s largest railroads, which experienced a 40 percent spike in cargo theft last year. Disrupting these organized crime networks requires a unified, federally-led response. Chairman Grassley and Rep. Joyce’s bipartisan legislation provides the strategic framework necessary to disrupt these criminal networks and safeguard our supply chain.”

The Retail Industry Leaders Association:

“Organized criminal enterprises are endangering communities across the country through brazen and violent criminal acts that put retail employees and customers in harm’s way. Whether stealing mass quantities of products from retail stores or hijacking consumer goods throughout the supply chain, these gangs are wreaking havoc. And these criminal rings use the profits from retail theft to support larger illicit activities such as human trafficking, gun smuggling, narcotics, and terrorism. In order to expose and prosecute these sophisticated criminal rings, we need federal, state and local law enforcement to be coordinated, which is exactly what CORCA will do.”

The International Council of Shopping Centers:

“Across the United States, communities small and large are facing an unprecedented number of [organized retail crime] incidents. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would provide the necessary resources to bring the people and organizations behind this nationwide problem to justice by establishing formal coordination between law enforcement and the private sector. We applaud Senators Grassley and Cortez Masto, and Representatives Joyce, Lee and Titus, for reintroducing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. We believe the bill represents a huge step in the right direction towards addressing this growing issue.”

The Intermodal Association of North America:

“The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act offers commonsense solutions to identify and deter organized crime throughout the supply chain by enhancing legal frameworks, improving enforcement capabilities, and fostering collaboration across relevant federal, state and local agencies. The legislation will strengthen the U.S. economy by enhancing supply chain efficiency, penalizing dangerous crime groups and protecting American workers and consumers.”

The National Insurance Crime Bureau:

“On behalf of the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), I write to express our strong support of S. 1404, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025. As a leader in the fight against insurance fraud and crime, NICB urges the Committee to take up and advance this bipartisan measure, which will deter retail and cargo theft that harms American consumers and job creators; finances organized, transnational criminal networks; and increases costs for all.”

The Home Depot:

“The Home Depot strongly supports CORCA, and we are pleased to see that the Senate bill has over 20 bipartisan cosponsors. The bill would create the Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center, bringing together federal, state and local law enforcement and private sector experts to share information and collaborate on strategies to keep our stores, customers, and associates safe and secure. The bill would allow us to expand upon the progress made at the local and state levels and address cases that reach certain thresholds or cross state lines.”

Ulta Beauty, Inc.:

“We support CORCA’s goal to establish a coordinated federal approach to fighting these crimes. By enabling real-time data sharing and cross-jurisdictional collaboration between federal, state and local authorities, CORCA would empower law enforcement to pursue and prosecute [organized retail crime] offenders more effectively, deterring future activity and protecting retail workers and consumers. We believe this bill represents a meaningful and necessary step toward a safer, more secure retail environment, and we respectfully urge Congress to advance its passage.”

Donna Lemm, Chief Strategy Officer, IMC Logistics:

“It is imperative that action is taken at the federal, state, and local levels to confront and neutralize this growing threat. The trucking industry and our supply chain partners need more cooperation and interagency information-sharing, as well as a more robust investigative and prosecutorial posture, to tackle these challenges head-on. For those reasons, we are proud to support and endorse the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, a bill that will provide the tools and resources necessary to facilitate that unified response.”

Scott McBride, Chief Global Asset Protection Officer, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.:

“As a professional dedicated to protecting customers and associates, I implore all members of the Congress to work together to ensure that the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act urgently becomes the law of the land. This critical legislation will help us stop these senseless crimes in our communities.”

-30-

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Foreign Secretary statement on the Middle East, 21 July 2025

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Oral statement to Parliament

Foreign Secretary statement on the Middle East, 21 July 2025

The Foreign Secretary made a statement to parliament on the Middle East

With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the Middle East.

I’ll begin on Syria.

We have been horrified by the recent violence in the south, including civilian deaths.

Clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias have quickly escalated into intense fighting between government forces and further Israeli strikes on the Syrian military.

As I said directly to Foreign Minister Shaibani we want to see the fighting ended, civilians protected and the rights of all Syrians upheld.

The violence in Suwayda must be investigated and those responsible held accountable.

We want humanitarian access to be restored, aid delivered and Syria’s sovereignty must be respected.

The UK can be proud of our support to the Syrian people over many, many years.

And a stable Syria matters to the UK’s national interest, for terrorism, for irregular migration, for regional stability.

We must work to prevent extremism, sectarianism or lawlessness taking hold now that Assad is gone.

That’s why we are backing a sustainable ceasefire and that is why we support an inclusive transition.

And that’s why I visited Damascus recently to support and to press the new government to meet its commitments.

I will now turn to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It’s two and a half months since Prime Minister Netanyahu restarted offensive operations.

The IDF has driven Palestinians out of 86 per cent of Gaza, leaving around two million people trapped in an area scarcely over twenty square miles.

Whatever this Israeli government might claim, repeated displacement of so many civilians is not keeping them safe. In fact, it’s quite the reverse.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the new Israeli aid system is inhumane, it’s dangerous and it deprives Gazans of human dignity.

It contradicts long-stablished humanitarian principles. It creates disorder Hamas is exploiting with distribution points reduced from 400 to just four.

It forces desperate civilians, children among them, to scramble unsafely for the essentials of life.

It’s a grotesque spectacle, wreaking a terrible human cost.

Almost 1000 civilians have been killed since May seeking aid, including 100 over this weekend alone.

There are near daily reports of Israeli troops opening fire on people trying to access food.

Israeli jets have hit women and children waiting for a health clinic to open.

An Israeli drone has struck down children filling water containers which Israeli officials blamed on a ‘technical error’.

Hamas is contributing to the chaos and taking advantage of it.

I utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their most basic needs.

The Israeli government must answer:

What possible military justification can there be for strikes that have killed desperate, starving children?

What immediate actions are they taking to stop this litany of horrors?

What will they do to hold those responsible to account?

Mr Deputy Speaker, I have said before I am a steadfast supporter of Israel’s security and right to exist.

I treasure the many connections between our peoples

And the horrors of October 7th must never be forgotten.

But I firmly believe the Israeli government’s actions are doing untold damage to Israel’s standing in the world and undermining Israel’s long-term security.

Netanyahu should listen to the Israeli people, 82 per cent of whom desperately want a ceasefire.

And to the hostages’ families because they know it offers the best chance to bring their loved ones home.

Those hostages may be hidden in cramped tunnels under the ruins of Gaza but we will not forget them or Hamas’s despicable actions and we will continue to demand their unconditional release.

This offensive puts them in grave danger.

But still Netanyahu persists.

Indeed, Minister Katz has gone further proposing to drive Gaza’s entire population into Rafah, imprisoning Palestinians, unless persuaded to emigrate.

Mr Deputy Speaker, this is a cruel vision which must never come to pass.

I condemn it unequivocally.

Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Many Israelis themselves are appalled.

A former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said ‘it marches us into the abyss’. He was right.

Mr Speaker, today I joined a joint statement by 25 Foreign Ministers with a simple, urgent message:

the war in Gaza must end now.

There is no military solution.

Negotiations will secure the hostages.

Further bloodshed serves no purpose.

Hamas and Israel must both commit to a ceasefire now.

And the next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.

I thank the US, Qatar, and Egypt for their tireless efforts.

And I am sure all Members share my intense frustration it has not happened.

Until there is such a breakthrough, we must keep doing all we can to relieve suffering.

UK aid has saved lives.

Reaching hundreds of thousands with food, water, hygiene, and sanitation, and essential healthcare.

And under the most appalling circumstances our aid is saving lives today.

That includes, the almost nine million pounds the UK has provided to UK-Med, since we entered office,

reaching half a million patients inside Gaza, 24,000 in the past fortnight alone.

Like 3-year old Razan.

UK-funded medics removed a bullet from her neck after nearly three hours of surgery.

These doctors and nurses working in the most extreme conditions are true heroes.

They deserve the thanks and admiration of the entire House.

We are also working, of course, multilaterally.

The 149 trucks from the World Food Programme and UNICEF entering Gaza in recent day included food supplies funded by the UK.

And thousands more trucks laden with aid paid for by British taxpayers can enter, the moment the Israeli government lets it.

Today, I am announcing an extra £40 million for humanitarian assistance in Gaza this year, including seven and a half million for UK-Med to sustain their vital operations in Gaza and save more lives.

Mr Deputy Speaker, accompanying the horrors in Gaza, there is an accelerating campaign to prevent a future Palestinian state in the West Bank.

It’s embraced by Netanyahu, it’s encouraged by his Ministers. It’s driven by an extremist ideology which wants to suffocate the two-state solution, the only route to a lasting peace and security.

We see it in the unprecedented pace of settlement expansion.

In the shocking levels of settler violence, even settler terrorism,

for that is what the most egregious ideological attacks are.

And in the deliberate attempts to squeeze the Palestinian Authority, unjustly denying it access to its own funds, and it harms Israel’s long-term interests.

Now, the Israeli government is reintroducing plans to construct new units in the E1 area of occupied east Jerusalem.

If built, this settlement would separate the West Bank’s north from its south and Palestinians in the West Bank from East Jerusalem.

These plans are wholly unacceptable.

They are illegal.

And they must not happen.

Mr Deputy Speaker, we are also striving to keep open the prospects of a two-state solution.

UK assistance has been preserving the Palestinian Authority, contributing to essential Palestinian workers’ salaries and supporting them to progress critical reforms.

Today, I can confirm we are enhancing our support, providing £7 million to strengthen the PA and Palestinian governance, implementing the agreement signed by myself and PM Mustafa earlier this year.

And we’re delivering the reform plans President Abbas has set out.

I can also confirm that we are providing £20 million to support UNRWA’s many services for Palestinian refugees.

And alongside this support, we are leading diplomatic efforts to show there must be a viable peaceful pathway to a Palestinian state, involving the PA, not Hamas, in security and governance of the area.

Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.

Israeli Ministers should support the PA – not actively undermine its economy, as Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are doing.

The UK is co-leading with Egypt the humanitarian and reconstruction track for the forthcoming Two-State Solution Conference.

And we are pushing to agree plans for a credible next phase in Gaza with a responsible, reformed PA at their core.

So we turn any temporary ceasefire into a lasting peace.

Mr Deputy Speaker, in our year in office, this Labour Government has acted to address this horrendous conflict.

We restored funding to UNRWA, after the Tories froze it.

We suspended arms export licenses, when the Tories declined to act.

We have provided nearly a quarter of a billion in humanitarian assistance, this year and next, getting medical treatment and food to hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza.

We have stood with the hostage families at every stage.

We’ve worked with Jordan to fly medicines into Gaza, with Egypt to treat medically evacuated civilians, with Kuwait and UNICEF to help children in Gaza.

We’ve delivered three sanctions packages on violent settlers, suspended trade negotiations with this Israeli government and sanctioned far-right Israeli Ministers for incitement.

We have defended the independence of international courts. We signed a landmark agreement with the Palestinian Authority, and hosted the Palestinian Prime Minister in London, pushing for the reform it needs.

We called for…

worked for…

and voted for…

an immediate ceasefire and the release of the hostages at every possible opportunity.

And we will keep doing so until this war is over, Hamas release the hostages and we finally have a pathway to a two-state solution.

I commend this statement to the House.

Updates to this page

Published 21 July 2025

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Dreams amid the rubble: Gaza’s women speak of homes, loss and hungry children

Source: United Nations 2

In Gaza City, families living in tents reveal a shared, grim reality.

Many have been forced to flee the fighting dozens of times. Most find themselves homeless and hungry while facing an uncertain future.

Khadija Manoun and her daughter in the space she uses as a kitchen inside a destroyed building.

Khadija Manoun: Kitchen of life’s leftovers

Khadija Manoun said she and her family have moved more than 20 times, from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip to a destroyed building in western Gaza, in search of shelter. She had owned a new fully furnished house, which she had built with a bank loan.

“I furnished my house well, with tiles and electrical appliances,” she said. “It had only been three years since I had the house. Then the war came and everything was lost.”

Today, everything has changed, Ms. Manoun said. Her spacious, fully equipped kitchen is now just a corner in the rubble, where a solitary soap dish borrowed from a neighbour sits. Metal utensils have been replaced with plastic tea containers to serve 10 people.

The bathroom was reduced to a corner covered with pieces of cloth that had been blankets. Her dressing room is now home to tattered suitcases.

“This is now my closet where I put everything,” she said. “I had a bedroom that had cost me 10,000 shekels.”

Her family sleeps on simple mattresses. Clean drinking water is a luxury that Khadija chases after, running between trucks, often returning with empty containers.

Amid all this, she sometimes reminisces, scrolling through photos on her mobile phone of her old home and the meals they used to eat.

Badriya Barrawi, a displaced person in Gaza, is living among the ruins of destroyed buildings.

Badriya Barawi: Exhausted by hunger

In her modest tent on the beach west of Gaza City, Badriya Barawi, from Beit Lahia, sits, arranging what remains of her life. Tears stream from her eyes.

“Have mercy on us,” she said. “We are fed up and exhausted, mentally and physically. We can’t bear it any longer. How long will this life go on?”

She says her children are crying from the heat and hunger.

“We haven’t had bread for three days. This morning, I fed the children hummus, but is that enough for their stomachs?” said Ms. Barawi, who suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.

She said she collapses daily from a lack of food.

Hiyam Zayed is displaced from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hiyam Zayed: Trampled garden of dreams

In a nearby tent, Hiyam Zayed and her eight daughters eat lentil soup without bread. Describing her former home, she said there were six rooms and a garden.

“I was happy in my home,” she said. “My daughters and I used to have fun there. They played on the roof or inside the rooms. We had a beautiful garden in front of the house, and we grew plants and ate its produce and raised chickens. My daughters were very happy. We fed them the best food and dressed them in the best clothes.”

She also said she used to have a washing machine, a fully equipped kitchen and a refrigerator “full of goodies”.

Now, everything is gone.

“No food, no washing machine, no feelings: we’ve become depressed,” she added.

“My daughters wear the worst clothes. I can’t find a way to bathe them. I used to turn on the water tap at home and water would run for drinking or bathing. Now, we live in a tent in the sand. I light a fire to cook after I used to have gas. I borrow cooking utensils.”

“How are we to blame for what happened, and who bears responsibility?” Ms. Zayed asked. “What is my fault and my children’s fault when we are displaced from one place to another and they die of hunger?”

Hiyam’s daughters eating a lunch of lentil soup, without bread, where they live, inside a destroyed building.

Mass displacement

According to UN reports, more than two million Palestinians –the population of Gaza – live in about 15 per cent of the Strip’s area after the war caused widespread destruction of infrastructure and homes.

International organizations have warned that the continuation of the conflict threatens to have “catastrophic consequences” in the near term.

That includes a serious impact on children’s mental and physical health, the spread of disease and the disintegration of social structures.

This amid the absence of any clear path towards a political or humanitarian solution.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hawley, Welch Introduce Legislation Targeting ‘Patent Thickets’ to Reduce Prescription Drug Prices
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

Thursday, July 17, 2025
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced the ETHIC Act, which would prevent Big Pharma from gaming our patent system through the use of anticompetitive “patent thickets.”

“Big Pharma knows exactly what it’s doing in monopolizing the U.S. patent system: driving up drug costs for Americans while preventing generic-drug manufacturers from getting their foot in the market. This bipartisan bill would break up the anticompetitive “patent thickets” that pharmaceutical companies have abused to the detriment of the American patient,” Senator Hawley said.

“For decades, Big Pharma has exploited U.S. courts and the patent system through anti-competitive practices that prevent generic and biosimilar competitors from entering the market, forcing Vermonters to pay more out of pocket for life-saving drugs. It’s outrageous, and it’s gone on for far too long,” said Senator Welch. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the ETHIC Act to stop pharmaceutical companies from abusing the patent system and lower prescription drug prices for patients across the country. Congress must pass our legislation to cut drug costs for families and streamline access to care.”

“Patent thickets” are dense webs of overlapping patents that companies must navigate to commercialize new technology, particularly common in pharmaceuticals where a single drug may be protected by dozens of patents covering an active compound, formulations, manufacturing processes, and delivery methods.

While these thickets can emerge naturally from the complexity of drug development, pharmaceutical companies also strategically build patent walls around drugs to extend market exclusivity beyond the original patent expiration, slowing access to affordable generic alternatives.

If signed into law this year, the Eliminating Thickets to Improve Competition (ETHIC) Act would:

Limit Big Pharma’s ability to exploit the patent system to prevent generic competitors from entering the market.

Save $16 billion over 10 years.

Apply only to patents asserted against generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers and does not impact other industries.

Allows a drug company to assert one patent per ‘terminally disclaimed group’ against a generic or biosimilar competitor, meaning if one patent in a family of duplicates is struck down by the courts, then all of its duplicates will also be invalidated.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: In Mékro, in central Côte d’Ivoire, sustainable agriculture is giving hope to an entire community

Source: APO

Day breaks in Mékro, some 300 km from Abidjan, in central Côte d’Ivoire. The first rays of sun announce the start of what promises to be another sweltering day in a region known for its intense heat. Some women return from the backwaters bringing water to supply the family beehives. Others, armed with brooms made from palm leaves, begin sweeping the compounds, clearing away fallen leaves and scraps from the previous day’s meals.

A little farther off, domestic animals gradually emerge from their pens, joining the morning hustle and bustle that breathes life back into Mékro’s daily routine. In this area of high food crop production, yams, rice and cassava are produced in abundance. Yet despite its agricultural riches, Mékro has long remained in the shadows, unlike other places.

For years, farmers here relied on age-old techniques passed down through generations—methods that limited yields and left the population in a state of chronic vulnerability.

That morning, Koffi Kouakou Charles, known as “KKC,” sharpened his machete, the basic tool he uses to clear his field, under the watchful eyes of his seven children. At 30 years old, he mounted his bicycle and headed to Abokouassikro, five km away, where he has cultivated yams for several years.

In the past, Koffi grew “Kouba” yams, a popular local variety. Reflecting on those days, he recalls how traditional farming techniques learned and passed down from his ancestors, failed to reward his hard work. “Frankly, the work was exhausting. On top of that, we were using old-fashioned techniques. Despite our efforts, the harvests were poor. It was really hard,” sighs Koffi.

Hope restored

In the first half of 2024, his plight worsened when an epidemic known as the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) struck the village and wiped out his hens and goats. Hurting from this new financial blow, Koffi turned to the Project to Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholders and Women (PREMOPEF) (https://apo-opa.co/40ujK40) to regain hope.

Set up by the government of Côte d’Ivoire, the project is funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) (https://apo-opa.co/4lEIa36) and the African Development Fund (https://apo-opa.co/4o1986y), the concessional financing window of the African Development Bank Group. Its objective is to contribute to improving first, food and nutrition security and secondly, resilience to the effects of climate change among smallholder farmers, women and young people in the N’Zi region.

The project is focused on three agricultural crops: yams, cassava and vegetables, as well as traditional poultry farming, and aims to improve the living conditions of 60,000 vulnerable people, 50 percent of whom are women and 35 percent young people.

At the “Farmer Training Field,” one of the project’s initiatives, Koffi and his fellow project beneficiaries were introduced to agroecological techniques for yam production and conservation. Thanks to the training, Koffi has turned his back on “Kouba” yams and old production practices in favour of new varieties called “Anader” and “Cameroun” (also known as “R3” and “C15”), which are more climate-resistant and productive.

A twofold increase in yield

From his first harvest in December 2024, Koffi’s yam yield doubled—from two to four tonnes on the same plot of land. Thinking ahead, he reserved three-quarters of the harvest for his family’s consumption and seed stock for the next season. The remaining quarter was sold at the local market in Mékro, earning him 125,000 CFA francs (around USD 250)—a significant windfall in this rural region.

“Before, I was just focused on surviving,” Koffi says. “Today, thanks to this project, I can think about my children’s future and even expand my farm.” Energized by his progress, Koffi is now determined to scale up and become one of the region’s leading yam producers. The prospect of mechanizing his work excites him. “I’m thinking of buying a ridging machine and a seed drill to make fieldwork easier and increase my yield,” he says confidently.

“The Project to Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholders and Women is a powerful tool for reducing household vulnerability and strengthening resilience to economic and environmental shocks,” says Ceserd Waba Akpaud, the project coordinator.

“PREMOPEF reflects our commitment to transforming rural communities through sustainable, farmer-focused solutions. By applying innovative approaches, we’re putting agriculture at the center of inclusive development,” adds Philip Boahen, GAFSP project coordinator at the African Development Bank.

To further boost his productivity, Koffi also envisions large-scale storage facilities to cut post-harvest losses. He’s planning to diversify his activities too. After losing his livestock to PPR—a disease he attributes to a lack of proper training—he intends to relaunch his poultry business using improved, safer methods. He is now exploring livestock training courses to build the necessary skills.

“It’s also a chance for me to make up for the schooling I missed,” he says, determined to turn past setbacks into opportunities.

With the knowledge he’s gained and the positive impact of the project, a new horizon is opening—not just for Koffi, but for the people of Mékro and the broader economy of the N’Zi region.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media files

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MIL OSI Africa –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Lectures, workshops and horizontal connections: the Summer Engineering and Economics School 2025 has started at the State University of Management

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Official website of the State –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

On July 21, 2025, the Summer School of Engineering and Economics started at the State University of Management.

The School brings together postgraduate students, young scientists and engineers from different Russian universities for the fourth time. The School’s research areas are engineering, unmanned aircraft systems, mechanical engineering, food security, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development.

At the opening ceremony, the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev said that the first School was held in 2023 in Grozny on the basis of the GGNTU named after Academician M.D. Millionshchikov, but subsequently changed its location.

“Holding the School in different cities is a positive moment. This way, young scientists get to know the country, establish connections, because not everyone will necessarily work in one place their entire lives. Thanks to this, the geography of the School itself is also expanding. Three universities started the project, and today there are seven universities. The program includes lectures, workshops, master classes, but the main thing for you is communication. I wish you a productive time,” the rector said.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Boris Chernyshov noted that the Summer Engineering and Economics School, through the efforts of the rector and management of the State University of Management, shows excellent results not only in attracting funding for science, but also in terms of specific results.

“The topic of management in science is one of the key areas in achieving state strategic goals, including in a special military operation. Associations of young scientists can become a new milestone on the path of continuous development of public administration principles. And the State University of Management in this sense can create conditions for attracting new personnel. Science is the future today, and the ability to manage it is a key factor in success in any activity. I hope that the School will result in an attempt to look into the future and suggest new solutions to pressing issues,” Boris Chernyshov wished.

The following institutions will participate in the Summer School of Engineering and Economics – 2025: — BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov (Belgorod); — VlSU named after A.G. and N.G. Stoletov (Vladimir); — GGNTU named after academician M.D. Millionshchikov (Grozny); — GUU (Moscow); — DonNTU (Donetsk); — Moscow State University named after A.I. Kuindzhi (Mariupol); — NTU “Sirius” (federal territory “Sirius”).

Immediately after the opening ceremony, the School’s students were treated to a lecture entitled “Engineering Heritage: Russia – USSR – Russian Federation”. But before that, we managed to find out from the Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of the GGNTU named after academician M.D. Millionshchikov Temirlan Sultanbekov, who is participating in the program for the third time, what attracts him to the School.

“The school attracts with relevant and useful lectures, interesting master classes. It is not only interesting, but also undoubtedly useful. And the program changes and is updated every year. At my university, I do not only science, and the School helps to develop various skills. And with each visit, I notice that my level of personal and professional skills, which I can apply in my work, is increasing,” Temirlan Sultanbekov.

The Summer School of Engineering and Economics will last until July 25. Students will not only be able to attend lectures on artificial intelligence and workshops on the design of unmanned aerial vehicles, but also tours of production facilities, exhibition spaces, and the State Duma.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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MIL OSI Russia News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Armed Career Criminal Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

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

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber has sentenced Reshay Rashard Nelson (45, Tampa) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Nelson pleaded guilty in April 2025.

According to court documents, officers from the Tampa Police Department stopped a vehicle driven by Nelson on April 10, 2023. A search of Nelson and his vehicle resulted in the discovery of an ounce of cocaine, a scale, and a loaded firearm. Nelson received an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act based on his prior felony convictions for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, obstructing an officer with violence, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, and trafficking in cocaine.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David P. Sullivan.

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.

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Alan Wilson announces caregiver charged with beating vulnerable adultRead More

Source: US State of South Carolina

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that his office’s Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit (VAMPF) has arrested Robin C. Hatley, 61 years old, of Laurens, S.C., for Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult {43-35-0085 (D)}. Hatley was booked into the Greenville County Detention Center on July 18, 2025.

A joint investigation by VAMPF and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office alleges that on June 14, 2025, Hatley, a caregiver at Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center in Simpsonville, S.C., struck a vulnerable adult resident multiple times on the head, face, and nose. The victim, classified as a vulnerable adult under South Carolina law, was a resident of the facility at the time of the alleged incident.

Pearl at Five Forks Memory Care Center reported this incident to law enforcement and cooperated fully with investigators. This case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.

Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult is a felony and, upon conviction, has a penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Pursuant to federal regulations, VAMPF has authority over Medicaid provider fraud; abuse and neglect of Medicaid beneficiaries in any setting; and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals residing in assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

The South Carolina Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, dba VAMPF, receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $2,889,252 for federal fiscal year 2025. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $963,084 for FFY 2025, is funded by South Carolina.

MIL OSI USA News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Droughts are causing record devastation worldwide, UN-backed report reveals

Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

This is according to a new report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the International Drought Resilience Alliance on the global impacts of droughts from 2023 to 2025.

“Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its scars run deep,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.

“This is not a dry spell,” stressed Dr. Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC Director. “This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I’ve ever seen. This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on.”

Record devastation in Africa

According to the report, as 90 million people face acute hunger across Eastern and Southern Africa, some areas in the region have been experiencing the worst drought ever recorded.

In Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, maize and wheat crops have suffered repeated failures. In Zimbabwe in particular, the 2024 corn crop was down 70 per cent year on year, maize prices doubled, and 9,000 cattle died of thirst and starvation.

Some 43,000 people in Somalia died in 2022 alone due to drought-linked hunger. The crisis continued through 2025, with a quarter of the population facing crisis-level food insecurity at the beginning of the year.

As a result of drought, Zambia is suffering one of the world’s worst energy crises: in April, the Zambezi River plummeted to 20 per cent of its long-term average, and the country’s largest hydroelectric plant, the Kariba Dam, fell to 7 per cent generation capacity, causing electricity blackouts of up to 21 hours a day. This has led to the shuttering of hospitals, bakeries, and factories, further compounding the devastation.

Worldwide impacts

But the effects of drought extend beyond Africa. For example, by September 2023 in Spain, two years of drought and record heat caused a 50 per cent drop in the olive crop, doubling olive oil prices nationwide.

In Türkiye, drought-accelerated groundwater depletion has triggered sinkholes, endangering communities and their infrastructure while reducing aquifer storage capacity.

In the Amazon Basin, record-low river levels in 2023 and 2024 led to mass deaths of fish and endangered dolphins, disrupted drinking water supplies and created transport challenges for hundreds of thousands. Ongoing deforestation and fires also threaten to shift the Amazon from a carbon sink to a carbon source.

Declining water levels in the Panama Canal slashed transit by more than one-third, leading to major global trade disruptions. Among the spillover effects were declines in American soybean exports and shortages and rising prices reported in UK grocery stores.

Call for cooperation and solutions

The report listed several recommendations to help combat this crisis, including stronger early warning systems, real-time drought and drought impact monitoring, and nature-based solutions such as watershed restoration and indigenous crop use.

It also called for more resilient infrastructure – including off-grid energy and alternative water supply systems – and global cooperation, particularly regarding transboundary river basins and trade routes.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza

Source: United Nations secretary general

The Secretary-General is appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing.

He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food for their families.

Civilians must be protected and respected, and they must never be targeted. The population in Gaza remains gravely undersupplied with the basic necessities of life.

Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations.

The Secretary-General notes that the intensification of hostilities in recent days comes as the humanitarian system is being impeded, undermined and endangered.

A new evacuation order in parts of Deir al Balah – home to tens of thousands – pushes people into more desperate conditions and further displacement and restricts the United Nations’ ability to deliver life-saving aid. UN staff remain in Deir al Balah, and two UN guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises, which are inviolable. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders.

The Secretary-General reiterates his urgent call for the protection of civilians, including humanitarian personnel, and for the provision of essential resources to ensure their survival.

He once again calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

The UN stands ready to significantly scale up our humanitarian operations. The time for a ceasefire is now.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Analysis: Dating app categories could be shaping you more than you know

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kevin Guyan, Chancellor’s Fellow & Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab, University of Edinburgh

Natalllenka.m/Shutterstock

Any account of love and dating in the 2020s is incomplete without addressing an uncomfortable topic: are our encounters with technology shaping who we are and how we desire?

Dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble and Feeld allow users to choose from dozens of genders, sexualities, desires and relationship types. Commonplace descriptors such as “straight”, “gay” and “bisexual” are now joined by labels including “polysexual” (an attraction to multiple, but not all, genders), “skoliosexual” (an attraction predominantly to people who don’t conform to traditional gender norms) and “heteroflexible” (an attraction that is mostly heterosexual with some exceptions).

But do these categories provide a more accurate representation of the world beyond the app? Or do they partly construct the world they claim to describe?

As a regular user of gay dating apps throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, I discovered a menu of categories to describe myself. There was everything from “twinks” (slim build, youthful appearance and little or no body hair) and “otters” (the same but with a bit more body hair and a more masculine appearance) to “bears” (large build and lots of body hair) and “muscle daddies” (older with a muscular physique).

I quickly understood how to maximise my success on the app by hacking the algorithm: the curated buzzwords in my bio, profile pics that struck the right balance between “sexy” and “intelligent”, how often to use the app and when. If the app gave prominence to a certain “category” of gay man in its listings, I was more than willing to present myself as that category.

But, in the process, the line between the category and the thing being categorised (me and my desires) became increasingly impossible to untangle.

This experience inspired research in my new book Rainbow Trap, which investigates the technical aspects of app design and how the provision of more “inclusive categories” for LGBTQ+ communities often does nothing to reconfigure the narrow accounts of desire encoded in the tech.

Dating today can feel like a mix of endless swipes, red flags and shifting expectations. From decoding mixed signals to balancing independence with intimacy, relationships in your 20s and 30s come with unique challenges. Love IRL is the latest series from Quarter Life that explores it all.

These research-backed articles break down the complexities of modern love to help you build meaningful connections, no matter your relationship status.

Writing in the early 2000s, science and technology scholars Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star coined the term “convergence” to describe what happens when “people get put into categories and learn from those categories how to behave”. Philosopher of science Ian Hacking similarly used the term looping effect“ to describe the multi-directional relationship between a category and the “thing” being categorised.

These encounters, however, highlight a fundamental tension between queer communities and classifications: the classifications used to describe us also come to define us. This can determine what doors are opened and closed and who we are allowed to be.

Thinking back to my early forays into dating apps, I would often assign myself to the category of “twink”. Although used by app designers to assist with the algorithmic sorting of users, the identity felt contoured to my life.

The connections suggested by the app, based on my self-categorisation as a “twink”, felt as if they reflected who I was and what I had always wanted. And, for a period, I believed it.

However, in hindsight, I don’t know if I was ever really attracted to men with 26-inch waists and hair frazzled by too much bleach. I had limited myself to what the app told me I should like. But desire isn’t so easily put into a box.

Getting critical about categories

Underpinning the mechanics of all dating apps are categories, and we can learn a lot about love and dating by thinking critically about the categories used.

Between 2021 and 2023, Tinder reported a 30% increase in the use of gender identities other than “male” or “female” on the app, creating more than 145 million new matches. Identification with the label “non-binary” also more than doubled in just one year.

In 2023, the dating app Feeld (which describes itself as designed “for the curious”) reported that more than half its users who identified as “heterosexual” connected with someone on the app who did not identify as “heterosexual”. Feeld also has claimed that over 180,000 people “changed their sexuality” during their first year of using the app and that “the longer Feeld members are on the app, the less heterosexual they get”.

I am not suggesting that our navigation of love and dating through the prism of technology (and its growing menu of categories) is making us more queer – as these technologies could just as equally be making us more straight. But whatever is happening, it is clear that assigning yourself to a particular category opens and closes opportunities for love and desire.

It is app designers who then hold the power to decide what connections are made – for example, whether “twinks” connect with “bears”, whether your category features first or last on the home page. Because the classifications used to describe us are also now defining us, app designers partly shape how you think about yourself and your desires. This power does not stop when you turn off the app, it extends into offline worlds too.

So, for app users, be open to how your encounters with categories shape who and how you desire. Who will the app include and exclude based on your self-categorisation? And is that the experience you necessarily what?

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

– ref. Dating app categories could be shaping you more than you know – https://theconversation.com/dating-app-categories-could-be-shaping-you-more-than-you-know-256368

MIL OSI Analysis –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA News: ✅ President Trump Has Kept His Promises — and Then Some
Source: US Whitehouse
President Donald J. Trump campaigned on a list of “20 core promises to Make America Great Again” — and in just six months, he has unquestionably delivered. From lowering costs to securing the border to enhancing public safety, President Trump has done more to make good on his promises than any president in modern American history, and he’s just getting started.

The list goes far beyond these promises. President Trump has successfully forced hospitals nationwide to abandon their so-called “gender-affirming care“ and chemical castration programs for kids, defunded biased PBS and NPR, ended woke DEI programming across higher education and corporate America, weeded out nonsense “climate” initiatives, made English our official language, and so much more.

Promises Made, Promises Kept:
1. Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion: “We will close the border. We will stop the invasion of illegals into our country.” (10/12/24, Aurora, CO)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: Under President Trump, the number of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border are at historic lows and border wall construction has resumed. Last month, illegal border crossings were the lowest ever recorded, while this fiscal year is on track to see the fewest illegal crossings in five decades. For two straight months, zero illegals were released into the country’s interior.
2. Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history: “We will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” (10/21/24, Concord, NC)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: Every single day, the Trump Administration is removing illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals off our streets — and sending them back.
3. End inflation, and make America affordable again: “Starting the day I take the oath of office, I will rapidly drive prices down and we will make America affordable again.” (8/17/24, Wilkes-Barre, PA)
4. Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far: “We will stop the Biden-Harris war on American energy … American energy is such a big deal. We will drill, baby, drill.” (8/3/24, Atlanta, GA)
5. Stop outsourcing, and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower: “Together, we’re going to … bring thousands of factories back to the USA, right where they belong — and that will be done through tariffs and smart policy. We will build American, we will buy American, and we will hire American.” (1/19/24, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: As President Trump pursues his bold commitment to an America First trade agenda, scores of companies have announced trillions of dollars in new investment as they onshore workers from foreign countries and create tens of thousands of new American jobs — positioning the U.S. as the dominant player for the jobs of the future.
6. Large tax cuts for workers, and No Tax on Tips: “We’re going to have very large tax cuts for workers and … No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime.” (10/12/2024, Reno, NV)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: The largest tax cut in history for working- and middle-class Americans — including No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and No Tax on Social Security — is now the law of the land, along with unprecedented tax relief for small businesses, farmers, workers, and families.
7. Defend our constitution, our bill of rights, and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms: “We’re going to bust up the censorship regime and bring back free speech again” (1/28/23, Columbia, SC), “I will defend religious liberty.” (1/19/25, Washington, D.C.)
8. Prevent World War III, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our entire country — all made in America: “We will build a great Iron Dome over our country like Israel has a dome like has never been seen before, a state-of-the-art missile defense shield that will be entirely built in America and create jobs, jobs, jobs.” (6/15/24, Detroit, MI)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump has achieved remarkable success by employing his Peace Through Strength doctrine around the world —preventing war between India and Pakistan, ending the 12 Day War, brokering a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and averting escalation in other areas. Meanwhile, the One Big Beautiful Bill delivers funding for the Golden Dome missile defense system to protect our homeland from 21st Century threats.
9. End the weaponization of government against the American people: “Biden has worked to persecute political dissidents, including conservatives, Catholics and other Christians, and opponents of his weaponized state … This abuse will be rectified, and it will be rectified very quickly.” (5/25/24, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump has purged corrupt elements from the DOJ and FBI, pardoned pro-life Americans wrongly targeted by the Biden Administration, and launched full-scale investigations into deep state abuses — bringing the era of weaponized government to an end and restoring fairness and trust in American institutions.
10. Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence, and lock up violent offenders: “The drug cartels are waging war on America — and it’s now time for America to wage war on the cartels” (12/22/23), “We will expel every single illegal alien gang member and migrant criminal operating on American soil and remove the savage gang, Tren de Aragua, from the United States.” (1/19/25, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: The Trump Administration is dismantling human smuggling networks, sanctioning cartels and designating them as foreign terrorist organizations, and deporting gang members in droves — ridding our country of these public safety threats for good and making our streets safer than they’ve ever been.
11. Rebuild our cities, including Washington, D.C., making them safe, clean, and beautiful again: “We will rebuild our once great cities, including our capital in Washington, DC, making them safe, clean, and beautiful again.” (1/19/25, Washington, D.C.)
12. Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world: “We will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen.” (1/20/25, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: With the largest military investment in decades, President Trump is modernizing our forces with cutting-edge technology, rebuilding depleted stockpiles, and ensuring our troops are the best-equipped in history — deterring adversaries and keeping America safe without unnecessary conflicts.
13. Keep the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency: “If I’m elected, the dollar is so secure. Your reserve currency is the strongest it’ll ever be.” (10/15/24, Detroit, MI)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: Through pro-growth policies and tough trade deals, President Trump has fortified the dollar’s dominance, preventing de-dollarization efforts abroad and ensuring it remains the global standard — boosting American economic power worldwide.
14. Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age: “I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare … I will not talk about one day or one year shorter, and I will not raise the retirement age of Social Security by one day, not by one year.”(7/27/24, West Palm Beach, FL)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump hasn’t touched Social Security — and has consistently called for rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse to safeguard the programs’ solvency for future generations, delivering on his ironclad commitment to America’s seniors.
15. Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations: “We’re going to be ending the electric car mandate quickly.” (1/7/25, Palm Beach, FL)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: On day one, President Trump revoked the burdensome electric vehicle mandate — and fortified that action by signing a congressional resolution into law. The Trump Administration has also slashed job-killing regulations to unleash innovation, lower costs, and put American workers first.
16. Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children: “I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory … or political content onto the shoulders of our children.” (8/3/24, Atlanta, GA)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump signed an order to defund schools promoting divisive critical race theory and radical gender ideology.
17. Keep men out of women’s sports: “We will keep men out of women’s sports.” (5/26/24, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump immediately ended the unfair, demeaning practice of forcing women to compete against men in sports — which resulted in the NCAA changing its rules and drove countless states and high schools to change their policies.
18. Deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again: “We will deport the foreign Jihad sympathizers and Hamas supporters from our midst. We will get them out of our country.” (9/19/24, Washington, D.C.)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump has cracked down on campus chaos with federal enforcement and visa revocations for pro-Hamas agitators — restoring safety, free speech, and American values to universities across the nation.
19. Secure our elections, including same day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship: “We will secure our elections — and they will be secure once and for all.” (10/13/24, Prescott Valley, AZ)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump implemented nationwide election integrity measures through executive action, banning foreign nationals from election interference, strengthening voter citizenship verification, prosecuting non-citizen voting, requiring voter-verifiable paper ballot records, and ensuring state-by-state compliance with federal law.
20. Unite our country by bringing it to new and record levels of success: “It’s time to unite … Success is going to bring us together.” (11/6/24, West Palm Beach, FL)
  
  ✅ PROMISE KEPT: President Trump’s remarkable success is bringing the country together — with more Americans saying the country is on the right track than any point in two decades and support among Republicans for President Trump and his agenda near historic levels.
MIL OSI USA News –
July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Defence Minister McGuinty participates in the 29th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group

Source: Government of Canada News

July 21, 2025 – Ottawa, Ontario – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Today, the Honourable David McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, participated in the 29^th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, hosted by the United Kingdom and Germany. The meeting was held virtually and brought together representatives from more than 50 countries.

During the meeting, Minister McGuinty announced that Canada will be donating an additional $20 million to support the Leopard 2 Maintenance and Repair facility in Poland. This donation comes from the Government of Canada’s 2025-26 investment for military assistance to Ukraine.

Minister McGuinty also reaffirmed that Canada is providing an additional $2 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, highlighting Prime Minister Carney’s announcement last month at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit. This brings Canada’s total commitment of military assistance to $6.5 billion since February 2022.

The Minister also noted that the delivery of Armoured Combat Support Vehicles to the Polish logistics hub will begin in August 2025. Training is underway and the delivery of all 50 vehicles will be completed before the end of this year.

Canada continues to work closely with Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the comprehensive military aid that it needs as quickly as possible.

MIL OSI Canada News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Terror and chaos for Gaza’s people now entering the ‘death phase’

Source: United Nations 2

In an alert, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, relayed desperate testimonies from its colleagues who are also struggling to survive in the war-torn enclave.

“We’re in the death phase,” one UNRWA worker said. “Everything around people at the moment is death, whether it’s bombs or strikes, children wasting away in front of their eyes from malnourishment, from dehydration, and dying.”

Doctors and nurses who continue to work in the UN agency’s clinics and medical centres “are watching children disappear and die in front of their eyes, and there’s absolutely nothing that they can do about it,” the worker continued.

Civilians ‘faced sniper and tank-fire’

The development comes after desperate Gazans seeking aid came under fire at the weekend “from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire”, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

In a detailed statement after the incident on Sunday 20 July, it explained that a 25-truck lorry convoy crossed the Zikim border point in northern Gaza “destined for starving communities”.

Shortly after passing the final checkpoint after the Zikim crossing point, the convoy encountered large crowds of civilians waiting to access food supplies. This was when the shooting began, leaving “countless” Gazans dead, WFP said, echoing reports by the health authorities.

Condemning the incident, WFP noted that the victims “were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation”.

The UN agency said furthermore that the violence had happened “despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve; including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes.”

Without such fundamental guarantees, it will not be possible to continue providing life-saving support across the Gaza Strip, WPF said, its reaction coming a day after a reported 36 people seeking aid were reportedly killed close to a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hub run by the Israeli and US in the south of the Strip.

Deir Al-Balah evacuation shock

In central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah, meanwhile, 50,000 to 80,000 people have been impacted by a mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military – the first since war erupted on 7 October 2023.

“The new order cuts through Deir Al-Balah all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, further splintering the Strip,” OCHA said. “It will limit the ability of the UN and our partners to move safely and effectively within Gaza, choking humanitarian access when it is needed most.”

UN staff remain in Deir Al-Balah across “dozens of premises” whose coordinates have been shared with the warring parties. “These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of displacement orders,” OCHA insisted, as Israeli tanks reportedly moved into southern and eastern areas of the city.

According to reports, this may be where some of the remaining hostages seized in Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October 2023 in Israel may still be held.

Gaza cut in two

The latest evacuation order means that almost 88 per cent of Gaza is impacted by displacement orders or falls within Israeli-militarized zones. Some 2.1 million civilians who have been uprooted multiple times are now squeezed into the little remaining space, where essential services have collapsed.

“There’s nowhere for [Gazans] to escape. They are trapped,” said UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer Louise Wateridge. “They cannot leave the Gaza Strip. They’re trying to keep their children alive. They’re trying to keep themselves alive.”

In comments to UN News, the veteran humanitarian explained that no food is available and only very limited water, explaining why so many desperate Gazans risk their lives to fetch aid from the few distribution centres and arrival points still operational.

“Children are malnourished, they’re dehydrated, they are dying in front of their [parents’] eyes,” Ms. Wateridge continued. “The bombs and the strikes are continuing; there’s no way to run, there’s nowhere to hide. There’s no way to escape there.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Jacksonville Convicted Child Sex Traveler Sentenced To More Than 17 Years In Prison For Attempting To Entice And Meet A 13-Year-Old Child To Engage In Sexual Activity

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Jacksonville, Florida – Chief United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Jeremy Wayne Leggett (37, Jacksonville) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for using the internet to attempt to entice and meet a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Leggett was arrested on June 19, 2023, and has remained been in federal custody. Leggett pleaded guilty on January 15, 2025.

According to court records, Leggett is a registered child sex offender, having been previously convicted in Florida in 2020 of traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual offense and transmitting harmful materials to a minor.

On June 16, 2023, an undercover FBI agent (UC) in the Jacksonville area, posing as a child, was working online in a social media application (app) to identify individuals seeking to meet children for sexual activity. The UC engaged in online conversation with an app user “dAddi” who posted a notice in a public chat room that read “Lookingfor [under 18 emoji] wannaspoiladaughter.” During this online conversation, user “dAddi,” who was identified as Leggett, was advised that the “child” was 13 years old. Leggett asked if the “child” “[l]ike[d] older men,” and sent the “child” a photo of himself. Leggett denied being a murderer or a kidnapper, telling the “child” that he was “just a pedophile.” He suggested that that they meet so he could perform oral sex on “her” in his vehicle. After more conversation, Leggett sent the “child” explicit photos of himself. On June 17, 18, and 19, 2023, Leggett initiated text messages with the UC and continued attempting to persuade the “child” to meet for sex.

On June 19, 2023, Leggett and the “child” arranged through text messages to meet at a retail shopping center in Jacksonville. That evening, Leggett drove his vehicle to this location to meet the “child” and circled the parking lot. When law enforcement officers attempted to stop Leggett’s vehicle, he quickly reversed his vehicle and fled the scene. A short time later, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents located Leggett at a residence in Jacksonville and he was arrested.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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

MIL Security OSI –

July 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: why it’s a bad idea
Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Hanri Mostert, SARChI Chair for Mineral Law in Africa, University of Cape Town

A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country signs away its mineral resources to a superpower in return for opaque assurances of security.

The peace deal, signed in June 2025, aims to end three decades of conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.

A key part of the agreement binds both nations to developing a regional economic integration framework. This arrangement would expand cooperation between the two states, the US government and American investors on “transparent, formalized end-to-end mineral chains”.

Despite its immense mineral wealth, the DRC is among the five poorest countries in the world. It has been seeking US investment in its mineral sector.

The US has in turn touted a potential multi-billion-dollar investment programme to anchor its mineral supply chains in the traumatised and poor territory.

The peace that the June 2025 deal promises, therefore, hinges on chaining mineral supply to the US in exchange for Washington’s powerful – but vaguely formulated – military oversight.

The peace agreement further establishes a joint oversight committee – with representatives from the African Union, Qatar and the US – to receive complaints and resolve disputes between the DRC and Rwanda.

But beyond the joint oversight committee, the peace deal creates no specific security obligations for the US.

The relationship between the DRC and Rwanda has been marred by war and tension since the bloody First (1996-1997) and Second (1998-2003) Congo wars. At the heart of much of this conflict is the DRC’s mineral wealth. It has fuelled competition, exploitation and armed violence.

This latest peace deal introduces a resources-for-security arrangement. Such deals aren’t new in Africa. They first emerged in the early 2000s as resources-for-infrastructure transactions. Here, a foreign state would agree to build economic and social infrastructure (roads, ports, airports, hospitals) in an African state. In exchange, it would get a major stake in a government-owned mining company. Or gain preferential access to the host country’s minerals.

We have studied mineral law and governance in Africa for more than 20 years. The question that emerges now is whether a US-brokered resources-for-security agreement will help the DRC benefit from its resources.

Based on our research on mining, development and sustainability, we believe this is unlikely.

This is because resources-for-security is the latest version of a resource-bartering approach that China and Russia pioneered in countries such as Angola, the Central African Republic and the DRC.

Resource bartering in Africa has eroded the sovereignty and bargaining power of mineral-rich nations such as the DRC and Angola.

Further, resources-for-security deals are less transparent and more complicated than prior resource bartering agreements.

DRC’s security gaps

The DRC is endowed with major deposits of critical minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and tantalum. These are the building blocks for 21st century technologies: artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, wind energy and military security hardware. Rwanda has less mineral wealth than its neighbour, but is the world’s third-largest producer of tantalum, used in electronics, aerospace and medical devices.

For almost 30 years, minerals have fuelled conflict and severe violence, especially in eastern DRC. Tungsten, tantalum and gold (referred to as 3TG) finance and drive conflict as government forces and an estimated 130 armed groups vie for control over lucrative mining sites. Several reports and studies have implicated the DRC’s neighbours – Rwanda and Uganda – in supporting the illegal extraction of 3TG in this region.

The DRC government has failed to extend security over its vast (2.3 million square kilometres) and diverse territory (109 million people, representing 250 ethnic groups). Limited resources, logistical challenges and corruption have weakened its armed forces.

This context makes the United States’ military backing enormously attractive. But our research shows there are traps.

What states risk losing

Resources-for-infrastructure and resources-for-security deals generally offer African nations short-term stability, financing or global goodwill. However, the costs are often long-term because of an erosion of sovereign control.

Here’s how this happens:
- certain clauses in such contracts can freeze future regulatory reforms, limiting legislative autonomy
- other clauses may lock in low prices for years, leaving resource-selling states unable to benefit when commodity prices surge
- arbitration clauses often shift disputes to international forums, bypassing local courts
- infrastructure loans are often secured via resource revenues used as loan security. This effectively ringfences exports and undermines sovereign fiscal control.
Examples of loss or near-loss of sovereignty from these sorts of deals abound in Africa.

For instance, Angola’s US$2 billion oil-backed loan from China Eximbank in 2004. This was repayable in monthly deliveries of oil, with revenues directed to Chinese-controlled accounts. The loan’s design deprived Angolan authorities of decision-making power over that income stream even before the oil was extracted.

These deals also fragment accountability. They often span multiple ministries (such as defence, mining and trade), avoiding robust oversight or accountability. Fragmentation makes resource sectors vulnerable to elite capture. Powerful insiders can manipulate agreements for private gain.

In the DRC, this has created a violent kleptocracy, where resource wealth is systematically diverted away from popular benefit.

Finally, there is the risk of re-entrenching extractive trauma. Communities displaced for mining and environmental degradation in many countries across Africa illustrate the long-standing harm to livelihoods, health and social cohesion.

These are not new problems. But where extraction is tied to security or infrastructure, such damage risks becoming permanent features, not temporary costs.

What needs to change

Critical minerals are “critical” because they’re hard to mine or substitute. Additionally, their supply chains are strategically vulnerable and politically exposed. Whoever controls these minerals controls the future. Africa must make sure it doesn’t trade that future away.

In a world being reshaped by global interests in critical minerals, African states must not underestimate the strategic value of their mineral resources. They hold considerable leverage.

But leverage only works if it is wielded strategically. This means:
- investing in institutional strength and legal capacity to negotiate better deals
- demanding local value creation and addition
- requiring transparency and parliamentary oversight for minerals-related agreements
- refusing deals that bypass human rights, environmental or sovereignty standards.
Africa has the resources. It must hold on to the power they wield.

Hanri Mostert receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. She is a member of the Expropriation Expert Group and a steering committee member of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Academic Advisory Group (AAG) in the Sector for Energy, Environmental, Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL).

Tracy-Lynn Field receives funding from the Claude Leon Foundation. She is a non-executive director of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.

– ref. Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: why it’s a bad idea – https://theconversation.com/africas-minerals-are-being-bartered-for-security-why-its-a-bad-idea-260594
MIL OSI –
July 22, 2025