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  • MIL-OSI Security: DHS Announces ICE Law Enforcement are Now Facing an 830 Percent Increase in Assaults

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    Mainstream media lies and hysterical political rhetoric are directly contributing to a massive surge in attacks on federal immigration enforcement officers

    WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are facing an 830 percent increase in assaults from January 21st to July 14th compared with the same period in 2024.

    “Brave ICE law enforcement are risking their lives every day to keep our communities safe from the worst of the worst criminals,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “ICE law enforcement are succeeding to remove terrorists, murderers, pedophiles and the most depraved among us from America’s communities, even as crazed rhetoric from gutter politicians are inspiring a massive increase in assaults against them. It is reprehensible that our officers are facing this threat while simply doing their jobs and enforcing the law.”

    In recent weeks, both the media and politicians have escalated their anti-ICE rhetoric. Democratic members of Congress have been caught red-handed doxing and even physically assaulting ICE officials.

    Just this week, Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA) showed a violent mob an ICE employee’s business card, putting a target on his back and prompting the mob to attack him. The official was struck by a rock and sent to the emergency room where he received multiple stitches.

    Injuries sustained by an ICE employee after he was doxed to a violent mob by Rep. Carbajal

    Earlier this year, Representative LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) trespassed on and stormed the Delaney Hall detention facility, where she proceeded to physically assault an ICE officer. She has been indicted on federal assault charges.

    In Portland, ICE officers have been doxed and threatened by local antifa-affiliated organizations who are posting their pictures and personal addresses and threatening them and their families. One officer even had an individual show up at their house and dump trash on their lawn, which included signs that read “F**k you” and named the officer directly.

    Trash dumped on ICE officer’s lawn with threatening language in Portland, Oregon

    Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to publish alarmist, patently false stories about federal immigration enforcement efforts.

    During an enforcement operation where ICE and federal law enforcement rescued 14 children from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking, the media falsely reported that a man died in law enforcement custody. This was an outright lie. The man was not being pursued by law enforcement but still chose to climb up to the roof of a green house, where he fell 30 feet.

    The media also falsely accused ICE of “targeting” children in a clear attempt to demonize law enforcement. Rather than separate families, ICE asks mothers if they want to be removed with their children or if the child should be placed with someone else safe the parent designates.

    DHS has debunked dozens of these and other fake news narratives that are demonizing federal law enforcement, especially ICE officers, who are just trying to do their job. Their lies and fake stories continue to stir up hate and violence, which is leading to these assaults.

    # # #

     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling − 5 essential reads

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Bryan Keogh, Managing Editor

    Protesters gather during a demonstration at the headquarters of the Department of Education in Washington. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

    The Trump administration was given the green light by the Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, to proceed with mass layoffs at the Department of Education – part of a wider plan to dismantle the agency. In doing so, the conservative majority on the bench overruled a lower court judge that had blocked the move.

    While the court didn’t explain its decision – and didn’t rule on the merits of the case – Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the three liberal justices who objected, issued a strongly worded dissent: “When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it.”

    The Conversation has been following the administration’s efforts to take apart the Department of Education since President Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. Here are a few stories from our archives that explain the executive order targeting the department, why the agency has been in the crosshairs of conservatives, and some of the impacts of carrying out the order.

    1. Hollowing out education

    Trump has promised to eliminate the Department of Education since at least September 2023. What started out as a campaign promise eventually became the executive order he issued on March 20, 2025, released shortly after the administration announced plans to lay off about 1,300 of the 4,000 employees in the department.

    “Although the president has broad executive authority, there are many things he cannot order by himself,” wrote Joshua Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University. “And one of those is the dismantling of a Cabinet agency created by law. But he seems determined to hollow the agency out.”

    And that’s what the Supreme Court says he can do while the case plays out in lower courts. Ultimately, Trump’s order creates a lot of “legal and policy uncertainty around funding for children in local schools and communities.”



    Read more:
    Mass layoffs at Education Department signal Trump’s plan to gut the agency

    Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is responsible for carrying out Trump’s executive order.
    AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.

    2. What the education secretary normally does

    The person directed to actually carry our the president’s order is the education secretary, Linda McMahon. She has called dismantling the department its “final mission.”

    But the secretary – and the department – have many other missions, such as managing students loans and administering Title I funding to help schools serving low-income students obtain an equitable education regardless of their socioeconomic status.

    “Every child in the United States is required to attend school in some capacity, and what happens at the federal level can have real-world impacts on students ranging from preschool to grad school,” wrote Dustin Hornbeck, a scholar of educational policy at the University of Memphis.

    In his article, Hornbeck explored the key duties of the education secretary and the role of the federal government in education, which he argued will continue even if the Education Department is abolished.



    Read more:
    US secretary of education helps set national priorities in a system primarily funded and guided by local governments

    3. Why MAGA targeted the department

    So why did Trump decide getting rid of the Education Department was a top priority and worth the legal risks?

    Fighting what he perceived as “wokeness” was likely one reason, wrote Alex Hinton, an anthropologist who has been studying U.S. political culture at Rutgers University − Newark.

    “First and foremost, Trump and his supporters believe that liberals are ruining public education by instituting what they call a ‘radical woke agenda’ that they say prioritizes identity politics and politically correct groupthink at the expense of the free speech of those, like many conservatives, who have different views,” he explains.

    Trump’s battle against DEI – or diversity, equity and inclusion – is of course a big part of that, but so too are what he and his supporters call “radical” race and gender policies.

    Hinton goes on to describe three other reasons – including supposed “Marxist indoctrination” and school choice – he argues that the MAGA faithful want to eliminate the Department of Education.



    Read more:
    Trump orders a plan to close Education Department – an anthropologist who studies MAGA explains 4 reasons why Trump and his supporters want to eliminate it

    4. It didn’t begin with Trump

    But conservative efforts to gut the department didn’t begin with Trump or MAGA. In fact, the Heritage Foundation, which created the Project 2025 blueprint for remaking the federal government, has been trying to limit or end its role in education since at least 1981 – just two years after the Department of Education was created.

    “In its 1981 mandate, the Heritage Foundation struck now-familiar themes,” including closing the Department of Education and ending funding for disadvantaged students, wrote Fred L. Pincus, a sociology professor focused on diversity and social inequality at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “And the Heritage Foundation called for ending federal support for programs it claimed were designed to ‘turn elementary- and secondary-school classrooms into vehicles for liberal-left social and political change.’”

    The conservative think tank struck similar themes in its Project 2025 playbook, though it went even further in calling out “leftist indoctrination” and “gender ideology extremism,” Pincus noted.



    Read more:
    Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was inspired by the Heritage Foundation’s decades-long disapproval of the agency

    Changes at the Department of Education will have a big impact on students across the country.
    skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

    5. Impact on most vulnerable students

    After all the already planned layoffs go into effect, the Department of Education will have roughly half the staff it started the year with. That will have a significant impact on its ability to carry out its many tasks, such as managing federal loans for college and tracking student achievement.

    The department also enforces civil rights for schools and universities, and that office has been hit especially hard by the job cuts, wrote education professors Erica Frankenberg of Penn State and Maithreyi Gopalan of the University of Oregon.

    “The Office for Civil Rights has played an important role in facilitating equitable education for all students,” they wrote. “The full effects of these changes on the most vulnerable public school students will likely be felt for many years.”



    Read more:
    Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come

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

    – ref. Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling − 5 essential reads – https://theconversation.com/trump-free-to-begin-gutting-department-of-education-after-supreme-court-shadow-ruling-5-essential-reads-261218

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling − 5 essential reads

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Bryan Keogh, Managing Editor

    Protesters gather during a demonstration at the headquarters of the Department of Education in Washington. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

    The Trump administration was given the green light by the Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, to proceed with mass layoffs at the Department of Education – part of a wider plan to dismantle the agency. In doing so, the conservative majority on the bench overruled a lower court judge that had blocked the move.

    While the court didn’t explain its decision – and didn’t rule on the merits of the case – Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the three liberal justices who objected, issued a strongly worded dissent: “When the Executive publicly announces its intent to break the law, and then executes on that promise, it is the Judiciary’s duty to check that lawlessness, not expedite it.”

    The Conversation has been following the administration’s efforts to take apart the Department of Education since President Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. Here are a few stories from our archives that explain the executive order targeting the department, why the agency has been in the crosshairs of conservatives, and some of the impacts of carrying out the order.

    1. Hollowing out education

    Trump has promised to eliminate the Department of Education since at least September 2023. What started out as a campaign promise eventually became the executive order he issued on March 20, 2025, released shortly after the administration announced plans to lay off about 1,300 of the 4,000 employees in the department.

    “Although the president has broad executive authority, there are many things he cannot order by himself,” wrote Joshua Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University. “And one of those is the dismantling of a Cabinet agency created by law. But he seems determined to hollow the agency out.”

    And that’s what the Supreme Court says he can do while the case plays out in lower courts. Ultimately, Trump’s order creates a lot of “legal and policy uncertainty around funding for children in local schools and communities.”



    Read more:
    Mass layoffs at Education Department signal Trump’s plan to gut the agency

    Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is responsible for carrying out Trump’s executive order.
    AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.

    2. What the education secretary normally does

    The person directed to actually carry our the president’s order is the education secretary, Linda McMahon. She has called dismantling the department its “final mission.”

    But the secretary – and the department – have many other missions, such as managing students loans and administering Title I funding to help schools serving low-income students obtain an equitable education regardless of their socioeconomic status.

    “Every child in the United States is required to attend school in some capacity, and what happens at the federal level can have real-world impacts on students ranging from preschool to grad school,” wrote Dustin Hornbeck, a scholar of educational policy at the University of Memphis.

    In his article, Hornbeck explored the key duties of the education secretary and the role of the federal government in education, which he argued will continue even if the Education Department is abolished.



    Read more:
    US secretary of education helps set national priorities in a system primarily funded and guided by local governments

    3. Why MAGA targeted the department

    So why did Trump decide getting rid of the Education Department was a top priority and worth the legal risks?

    Fighting what he perceived as “wokeness” was likely one reason, wrote Alex Hinton, an anthropologist who has been studying U.S. political culture at Rutgers University − Newark.

    “First and foremost, Trump and his supporters believe that liberals are ruining public education by instituting what they call a ‘radical woke agenda’ that they say prioritizes identity politics and politically correct groupthink at the expense of the free speech of those, like many conservatives, who have different views,” he explains.

    Trump’s battle against DEI – or diversity, equity and inclusion – is of course a big part of that, but so too are what he and his supporters call “radical” race and gender policies.

    Hinton goes on to describe three other reasons – including supposed “Marxist indoctrination” and school choice – he argues that the MAGA faithful want to eliminate the Department of Education.



    Read more:
    Trump orders a plan to close Education Department – an anthropologist who studies MAGA explains 4 reasons why Trump and his supporters want to eliminate it

    4. It didn’t begin with Trump

    But conservative efforts to gut the department didn’t begin with Trump or MAGA. In fact, the Heritage Foundation, which created the Project 2025 blueprint for remaking the federal government, has been trying to limit or end its role in education since at least 1981 – just two years after the Department of Education was created.

    “In its 1981 mandate, the Heritage Foundation struck now-familiar themes,” including closing the Department of Education and ending funding for disadvantaged students, wrote Fred L. Pincus, a sociology professor focused on diversity and social inequality at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “And the Heritage Foundation called for ending federal support for programs it claimed were designed to ‘turn elementary- and secondary-school classrooms into vehicles for liberal-left social and political change.’”

    The conservative think tank struck similar themes in its Project 2025 playbook, though it went even further in calling out “leftist indoctrination” and “gender ideology extremism,” Pincus noted.



    Read more:
    Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was inspired by the Heritage Foundation’s decades-long disapproval of the agency

    Changes at the Department of Education will have a big impact on students across the country.
    skynesher/E+ via Getty Images

    5. Impact on most vulnerable students

    After all the already planned layoffs go into effect, the Department of Education will have roughly half the staff it started the year with. That will have a significant impact on its ability to carry out its many tasks, such as managing federal loans for college and tracking student achievement.

    The department also enforces civil rights for schools and universities, and that office has been hit especially hard by the job cuts, wrote education professors Erica Frankenberg of Penn State and Maithreyi Gopalan of the University of Oregon.

    “The Office for Civil Rights has played an important role in facilitating equitable education for all students,” they wrote. “The full effects of these changes on the most vulnerable public school students will likely be felt for many years.”



    Read more:
    Big cuts at the Education Department’s civil rights office will affect vulnerable students for years to come

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

    – ref. Trump free to begin gutting Department of Education after Supreme Court ‘shadow’ ruling − 5 essential reads – https://theconversation.com/trump-free-to-begin-gutting-department-of-education-after-supreme-court-shadow-ruling-5-essential-reads-261218

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defendants Charged with Assaulting Federal Law Enforcement Officers, Other Offenses During Protest Near Spokane ICE Office

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Spokane, Washington – Nine defendants are scheduled to make their first appearances in federal court at 3 P.M. today after the return of an indictment alleging several charges – including assaulting a federal officer – during a protest gathering at the Homeland Security office in Spokane.

    Benjamin Theodore Stuckart, age 53, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Justice Forral, age 33, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Mikki Pike Hatfield, age 34, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers and Assault on a Federal Officer, Employee, or Person Assisting a Federal Officer (intent to cause another felony/use of a dangerous weapon)

    Erin Nicole Lang, age 31 has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Collin James Muncey, age 34 has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Thalia Marie Ramirez, age 20, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Bobbi Lee Silva, age 38, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers and Assault on a Federal Officer, Employee, or Person Assisting a Federal Officer (physical contact / intent to cause another felony)

    Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II, age 35 has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    Jac Dalitso Archer, age 33, has been charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers

    “We respect and honor everyone’s right to peacefully protest. However, the few who choose to cross the line from protest to violence and destruction will be held accountable,” stated Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Van Marter. 

    According to court documents and information shared in court, on June 11, 2025, at approximately 12:52 pm, Stuckart posted on social media a call for others to come and join him as he blocked a bus that was going to be used to transport the federal detainees held at the federal facility in Spokane to Tacoma for their immigration hearings. Archer and other co-conspirators arrived in response to the post, and along with Stuckart, blocked the pathway and door to the transport bus, despite orders to disperse.

    As alleged in the indictment, a short time later, Forral parked his vehicle to block the exit path of the bus. Forral and Lang then released air from the tires of the bus, and other co-conspirators painted the windshield of the bus rendering it unsafe to drive.

    Archer reposted Stuckart’s call and posted additional calls urging others to come and join noting the intent was to “risk arrest to block the exits to ICE”.

    When federal officers attempted to leave the building through a secure parking lot on the south end of property, Forral, Hatfield, Muncey, Silva, Mavalwalla II, Archer, and other co-conspirators blocked the driveway and/or pushed against officers, despite orders to disperse and attempts to remove the defendants from the property. Silva struck a federal officer from behind as the officer was attempting to clear a path for transport vehicles to leave the building.

    Forral, Muncey, Hatfield, and other co-conspirators then placed trash cans, sand/cement bags, benches, signs, and other objects in front of doors and exits to block the exit of federal officers and detainees from the federal facility.

    After Spokane Police arrived, officers placed marked patrol vehicles in front of and behind a red transport van that was then designated to transport the detainees to Tacoma for their immigration hearings. The red van was quickly surrounded by Stuckart, Hatfield, Lang, Silva, and other co-conspirators. Ramirez, armed with a boxcutter, slashed the tires of the van, making it unsafe to drive.

    After dispersal orders issued by Spokane Police Department were ignored, the Spokane Police Department deployed crowd control measures to include inert smoke and pepper balls at the feet of those resistant to leave. According to the indictment, Hatfield picked one up one of those deployed incendiary devices and threw it in the direction of Spokane Police and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

    Multiple calls for assistance were made to local law enforcement agencies. Because of the defendants’ actions, federal agents and the detainees, as well as civilian employees were unable to leave the facility, until approximately 9:00 PM, and only with the assistance of the Spokane Police Department S.W.A.T team.

    This case was investigated by the FBI and other federal agencies, including the USMS.

    An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    2:2025-cr-00113-RLP

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cherokee County felon sentenced to federal prison for firearms violation

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    TYLER, Texas –A Rusk man has been sentenced to federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

    Justin Jones, 37, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle on July 15, 2025.

    According to information presented in court, on December 4, 2023, was seen driving on County Road 2120 in Cherokee County.  The Sheriff recognized Jones and attempted to stop him for an outstanding arrest warrant.  Jones abandoned his vehicle and fled the scene on foot.  A search of the abandoned vehicle revealed Jones’ cell phone, two rifles, and a pistol.  The phone also contained a photo of Jones holding one of the rifles.  Jones has several prior felony convictions, including four prior convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  As a convicted felon, Jones is prohibited by federal law from owning or possessing firearms.

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

    This case was investigated by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives – Tyler Field Office.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN urges de-escalation, protection of civilians as conflict roils Syria

    Source: United Nations 2

    On Sunday, violence erupted between Sunni Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in Sweida, two days after a Druze merchant was abducted on the highway to Damascus.

    The casualty figures are unclear according to local reports, but the death toll is at least 30, and hundreds have been injured.  

    As violent unrest continued Monday, interim government security forces were deployed to restore order, which reportedly led to clashes with local armed militia.

    On the same day, Israeli forces struck tanks under the control of Syrian forces in defence of the Druze, whom it considers a loyal minority at home and in the occupied Golan area, according to news reports.

    Shortly after forces of the caretaker government in Damascus arrived in Sweida on Tuesday, Syria’s defence chief announced a ceasefire.

    Tensions have historically been high between minority groups in the city since Islamist rebels toppled former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December and a new caretaker government was installed which is gaining increasing international recognition.

    Guterres expresses concern

    Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, addressed the situation in Syria on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres at Tuesday’s briefing in New York.

    “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned over the continued violence we have seen in the Druze-majority area in Sweida governorate,” Mr. Dujarric said, adding that he is particularly alarmed by reports of arbitrary violence against civilians.

    Mr. Guterres condemned “all violence against civilians, especially acts that risk enflaming sectarian tensions,” and urged de-escalation, protection of civilians and a transparent investigation into those responsible for the killings and injuries.

    Israel urged to end violations within Syria

    “The Secretary-General is also concerned by Israel’s airstrikes on Syria’s territory and calls on Israel to refrain from violations of Syria’s independence, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” Mr. Dujarric stressed.  

    Mr. Guterres urged support for “a credible, orderly and inclusive political transition in Syria in line with the key principles of Security Council Resolution 2254.” 

    Mr. Dujarric also relayed reports from UN humanitarian partners in Sweida, noting that medical services are overstretched and that markets and essential services – including water, electricity and education – have been disrupted.

    While UN aid operations have been suspended in impacted areas due to blocked roads, the UN is mobilising to respond when conditions allow. 

    Investigators raise alarm

    Also on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council mandated Syria Commission of Inquiry released a statement expressing concern over the situation in Sweida and stressing the urgent need for de-escalation and the protection of human rights.

    The statement cited reports from local residents of killings, abductions, property burnings, looting and a rise in hate speech both online and in person.

    In addition to highlighting concern over sectarian violence and Israeli airstrikes, the Commission emphasized the interim government’s responsibility to uphold human rights and ensure safe passage and humanitarian aid access.

    The independent human rights investigators said they had begun an investigation into alleged human rights abuses related to the killings in Sweida in recent days.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Merchandise trade posts strong growth in Q1 ahead of tariff hikes

    Source: WTO

    Headline: Merchandise trade posts strong growth in Q1 ahead of tariff hikes

    The new tariffs announced by the United States on 2 April at the start of the second quarter were widely anticipated, allowing importers to move purchases forward to avoid paying higher duties at a later date. Trade volume growth in the first quarter was above projections issued in the WTO’s Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report on 16 April, both for the Secretariat’s baseline forecast of 2.7% for 2025, which assumed a continuation of policies in place at the start of the year, and the adjusted forecast of ‑0.2% assuming policies in place on 16 April.
    Since then, a variety of trade agreements and trade measures have nudged the adjusted forecast up and down slightly, but as of mid-June merchandise trade growth for the year was still expected to be basically flat at 0.1%.
    Chart 1: World merchandise trade volume and value, 2019Q1-2025Q1Indices, 2019=100

    Sources: WTO and UNCTAD for merchandise trade volume, WTO for merchandise trade value.Note: Merchandise trade volume refers to the average of exports and imports, while merchandise trade value refers to exports in current US dollar terms.  SA indicates a seasonally-adjusted data series while NSA denotes non-seasonally-adjusted data.
    Meanwhile, the US dollar value of world merchandise trade — as measured by non-seasonally-adjusted exports — was up 4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting strong growth in volume terms and declining prices (Chart 1). The value of trade in the first quarter was down compared to the previous quarter due to regular seasonal variation, but seasonally-adjusted figures continued to rise.
    There were significant disparities across regions in merchandise trade volume growth in the first quarter, especially on the import side (Chart 2). North America recorded the strongest quarter-on-quarter import growth of any region by far at 13.4%, followed by Africa at 5.1%, South and Central America and the Caribbean at 3.6%, the Middle East at 3.0%, Europe at 1.3%, and Asia at 1.1%. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including certain associate and former member states, was the only region to record a decline in the first quarter at -0.5%.  On the export side, the Middle East recorded the strongest quarter-on-quarter growth at 6.3%, followed by Asia at 5.6%, South America at 3.2%, Africa at 2.5%, Europe at 1.9% and North America at 1.8%. The CIS region also registered an export decline of -1.0% in the first quarter.
    Chart 2: Merchandise export and import volumes by region, 2019Q1 – 2025Q1Seasonally-adjusted indices, 2019=100

    a     Refers to South and Central America and the Caribbean.b     Refers to Commonwealth of Independent States, including certain associate and former member states.Source: WTO and UNCTAD estimates.
    Merchandise trade developments in value terms during the first quarter of 2025
    Chart 3 shows year-on-year growth in the US dollar value of world merchandise trade by broad product category in the first quarter.1 The strongest performance was in office and telecom equipment (+16% year-on-year), followed by chemicals (+12%) and clothing (+7%). Among the product categories shown, only automotive products (-4%), fuels and mining products (-4%; of which: fuels -7%) and iron and steel (-3%) decreased in value terms. While fuel prices changed little compared with the same quarter in the previous year, prices for metals and minerals (excluding gold & silver) were 8% higher.
    Chart 3: Year-on-year merchandise trade growth by product in the first quarter of 2025% change in US$ values

    a Includes electrical machinery, non-electrical machinery and power generating equipment.Source: WTO for total merchandise exports, WTO Secretariat estimates for products.
    Africa had the strongest merchandise export growth of any region in value terms in the first quarter, up 9% year-on-year (Chart 4). The increase was led by gold, ores, cocoa, and copper, while fuel shipments declined. It was followed by Asia (up 5%, led by precious metals and machinery) and South and Central America (up 4%, with increases in precious metals, ores and coffee/tea, and declines in fuels, oil seeds, and cereals). Among WTO regions, only the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)2 saw its exports decline (-6%).
    Chart 4: Merchandise trade growth by regions in the first quarter of 2025% change in US$ values

    a  Refers to South and Central America and the Caribbean.b Refers to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including certain associate and former member states.Source: WTO.
    On the import side, strong year-on-year increases were observed in North America (+19%) and South America (+12%). Regarding North America, imports of machinery, precious metals and pharmaceuticals showed marked increases, while vehicle imports dropped slightly. South America saw particularly strong imports of machinery, articles of iron and steel, and vehicles, while imports of fuel fell. Asia’s first quarter merchandise imports increased the least amongst the regions (1%), apart from the 0.1% decline in the CIS region. Asia saw strong import growth for gold and iron ore while imports of vehicles fell. In line with the world trend, Asian imports of fuels also declined year-on-year, while imports of integrated circuits rose.
    Monthly merchandise trade developments
    Monthly merchandise trade statistics in value terms are available for many countries into the second quarter of 2025.  These data show evidence of import demand starting to slow after the first quarter surge. This is illustrated by Chart 5, which shows year-on-year growth in the US dollar value of merchandise exports and imports in 2025 for selected economies in the first quarter, plus partial data for the second quarter (April-May or the latest available month).
    For example, imports of the United States were up 25% in the first quarter but only 1% in the first two months of the second quarter.  For the year to date (Jan-May), US imports were up 15%.  On the export side, shipments from China were up 6% year-on-year in both Q1 and Q2, but other Asian economies saw export growth accelerate (e.g. India, down 4% year-on-year in Q1 but up 9% in April).
    These latest quarterly and monthly merchandise trade statistics and other data can be downloaded from the WTO’s online database at stats.wto.org.
    Chart 5: Merchandise export and import growth of selected economies, Jan.-May 2025year-on-year % change in US$ values

    a  April-June.b  April.Source: National customs statistics accessed through Trade Data Monitor (TDM).

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    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Security: OmegaPro Founder and Promoter Charged for Running Global $650 Million Foreign Exchange and Crypto Investment Scam

    Source: US FBI

    An indictment was unsealed today in the District of Puerto Rico charging two men for their alleged roles in operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international investment scheme that defrauded victim investors of over $650 million.

    According to court documents, Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, was a founder, strategic consultant, and promoter of OmegaPro, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, led OmegaPro’s operations in Latin America and parts of the United States, including Puerto Rico.

    “As alleged, the defendants preyed upon vulnerable individuals in the U.S. and abroad, defrauding them of over $650 million by making false promises of substantial returns and that their money was safe,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is committed to prosecuting these bad actors and pursuing justice for their many victims. Thanks to the dedicated work of our multiagency and international law enforcement partners, we are leading efforts to combat these complex and insidious digital asset investor scams.” 

    “As alleged in the indictment, the defendants operated a global fraud scheme through OmegaPro that deceived investors with false promises of extraordinary returns, only to misappropriate hundreds of millions of victim funds,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico. “We remain committed to dismantling international financial schemes that target U.S. victims — including here in Puerto Rico — and to recovering illicit proceeds through criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture.”

    “The FBI will not stand by while the American public is defrauded,” said Assistant Director Joe Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “Through coordination with our partners, these individuals will have to defend their actions in a court of law.”

    “This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said Chief Guy Ficco of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin – stealing over $650 million from everyday people and vanishing it into virtual currency. These weren’t just scams; they were precision-engineered betrayals. Our job is to stand up for those who’ve been exploited and continue our cross-agency collaboration until those responsible are brought to justice.”

    “This case highlights the critical role international partnerships play in dismantling transnational financial fraud schemes that exploit global markets and victimize unsuspecting investors,” said International Operations Assistant Director Ricardo Mayoral of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “HSI remains committed to working with our partners worldwide to disrupt criminal networks that weaponize emerging technologies to conceal illicit profits and defraud the public.”

    Sims and co-conspirators established OmegaPro in or about January 2019, and Reynoso joined a few months later, in or about April 2019. As alleged, the defendants and others operated and promoted OmegaPro as a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme for investors to purchase “investment packages,” which the defendants and others falsely promised would generate 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange (forex) trading by elite traders. Investors were instructed to purchase these investment packages using virtual currency.

    According to court documents, Sims allegedly misled victims by vouching for OmegaPro’s trading performance and the skills of the hired traders and by falsely advertising the safety of investment in OmegaPro. Reynoso allegedly falsely and misleadingly represented that OmegaPro was operating pursuant to a legitimate license and, at other times, that OmegaPro was not subject to any country’s legal rules. The indictment alleges that Sims and Reynoso, together with co-conspirators, hosted lavish OmegaPro promotional events and trainings all over the world including, for example, projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, at an event in Dubai. The objective of these promotional events allegedly was to convince existing and prospective investors that OmegaPro was a legitimate enterprise that offered a path to wealth and a luxurious lifestyle.

    Further, Sims, Reynoso, and their co-conspirators used social media to display their expensive vacations and cars, as well as their designer clothes and watches. The indictment alleges that through the defendants’ and others’ misrepresentations, OmegaPro raised over $650 million in virtual currency from thousands of investors. After OmegaPro announced that it had suffered a network hack, Reynoso and others told victims in or about January 2023 that their investments were secure and that OmegaPro was transferring their investments to another platform called Broker Group. Despite these representations, victims were unable to withdraw money from either their OmegaPro accounts or their accounts at Broker Group, resulting in millions in victim losses.

    The more than $650 million in funds raised from victims allegedly was first sent to virtual currency wallet addresses controlled by OmegaPro executives and then allegedly transferred to OmegaPro insiders and high-ranking promoters to disperse the funds and obscure their origins. As alleged, Sims and Reynoso both profited millions from this scheme.

    Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, Sims and Reynoso each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.

    The FBI, IRS-CI, and HSI New York are investigating the case, with assistance from FBI’s Virtual Asset Unit, HSI Bangkok, HSI Bogota, HSI Frankfurt, HSI Istanbul, HSI London, HSI Miami, HSI New Delhi, HSI The Hague, the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, and the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), an alliance between the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from the U.K., and IRS-CI.

    Trial Attorneys Ariel Glasner and Tamara Livshiz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Gottfried for the District of Puerto Rico and on detail to the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case.

    If you believe you were potentially victimized by OmegaPro or have information relevant to this investigation, please visit the FBI’s Victim Witness website at forms.fbi.gov/victims/omegaprovictims or contact OmegaProVictims@fbi.gov.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Puerto Rican Man Sentenced for Role in Trafficking 25 Kilograms of Cocaine on Jet Skis

    Source: US FBI

    St. Thomas, USVI – Acting U.S. Attorney Adam F. Sleeper announced today that Emanuel Rodriguez Rodriguez, 34, of Puerto Rico, was sentenced on Tuesday, July 7, 2025, by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Molloy to 121 months imprisonment and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 25 kilograms of cocaine.
     

    According to court documents, on December 11, 2021, at approximately 9:00 a.m., Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) air patrol detected four jet skis traveling from Culebra, PR towards St. Thomas, USVI. AMO air patrol watched the jet skis, each operated by a sole occupant, as they approached the west side of St. Thomas. Air patrol watched as the jet skis made way to the beach at Mermaid’s Chair where they were met by four individuals waiting on the beach. AMO agents saw duffle bags being loaded on to the skis, and the skis quickly leaving towards Culebra, PR. AMO agents also noticed that a red Jeep Wrangler was the only vehicle parked in the parking area above the beach while the skis were being loaded with the duffle bags.
     

    AMO law enforcement vessels pursued the four jet skis towards Culebra, PR. One driver drove his ski on to a Culebra, PR beach and fled on foot. A duffle bag was recovered near the abandoned ski. Inside the duffle bag, officers recovered 26 packages containing cocaine. Three other operators were apprehended.
     

    Meanwhile, DEA, CBP, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents responded to the Botany Bay Preserve community to investigate the red Jeep Wrangler seen by AMO air agents. As the Jeep was approaching the gated exit of the community, agents stopped it. Rodriguez-Rodriguez and five other individuals. were detained. A Glock pistol was seen in plain view inside the rear pocket of the driver’s seat where Vazquez Lopez was seated. Another Glock pistol without a serial number was in the center console.
     

    The investigation was conducted by CBP-AMO, Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virgin Islands Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Payne prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of the Virgin Islands.
     

    This effort was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten
    the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz: Republican Tax Law Will Result In Millions Losing Health Care And Food Assistance, Rural Hospitals Closing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    WASHINGTON – Following the enactment of the Republican tax law, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke out on the Senate floor last night to underscore the harmful impacts the law will have on millions of people. The new law, passed without any bipartisan support, will soon kick more than 17 million Americans off of health insurance, raise monthly health care costs across the country, and slash nutritional assistance for those in need – all in order to cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy.

    “First thing that’s going to happen: 17 million Americans, including 9 million people on Medicaid, will lose health care coverage in about 18 months’ time,” said Senator Schatz. “Hundreds of rural hospitals and nursing homes will close without enough funding to continue operating. More people are going to get sick because of this law. But we’re going to have fewer hospitals and doctors to take care of them. Why? Because Medicaid is a big revenue stream for really all hospitals, but especially rural hospitals.”

    Schatz continued, “We are not going to stop talking about this. We are going to talk about this until it is repealed. We’re going to talk about this when the rates go up for your electricity. We’re going to talk about this when kids are thrown off their nutritional assistance. We’re going to talk about this when rural hospitals close. We are going to talk about this when your insurance coverage rates go up.”

    The full text of Schatz’s remarks can be found below. Video is available here. 

    Two weeks ago, Republicans passed one of the most unpopular bills in the history of the country. And now that it’s law, we don’t have to imagine anymore what might happen. We know for sure what’s going to happen to tens of millions of people all across the country.

    I want to focus on five things that are going to happen. Five things that are going to happen because we no longer have to talk about a House version and the Senate version, or what the president says he wants, or what someone says – you know, “if I don’t get this, I’m going to vote no.” Now we have a law. We have public law. Federal law.

    First thing that’s going to happen 17 million Americans, including 9 million people on Medicaid, will lose health care coverage in about 18 months’ time. To keep their coverage, people will have to complete hours and hours of paperwork just to prove that they’re working. That’s in spite of the fact that the number of nondisabled adults on Medicaid who don’t work is very low, about 8 percent.

    So how do these work requirements actually function? Well, in Arkansas, which is one of the two states that tried this and then pulled it back because it was a failure, the reporting portal was only open during the day and closed between the hours of 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. So let’s say you work long hours as a truck driver. If you’re trying to log on at night to fill out your forms, you are out of luck. Or let’s say something unfortunate happens to you. Let’s say you get in a car accident or have a bad case of the flu. Maybe you’re not hospitalized, but you are incapacitated, at least temporarily. If you miss the reporting window, you might lose the coverage.

    And what’s preposterous about these Medicaid work requirements is in order to establish that you’re either working or seeking work, you have to fill out a form. If you get sick and are bedridden and can’t fill out the form, they say, don’t worry, there’s an exception for a situation like that. Guess how you apply for the exception – by filling out another form.

    There are only a couple of people on a couple of million people on Medicaid who even fit the description of someone who is non-disabled and on Medicaid, and yet the actual official projections, which is to say, the way they save the money, is they’re projecting many, many millions of people are going to get kicked off of Medicaid, even though they’re eligible.

    And I know I’m a Democrat, and I wanted this bill to fail. And I want to tell you why this is a failure of a bill, but that’s literally in their projections. Without those projections, they don’t have enough revenue for the biggest tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the history of the planet.

    Number two, hundreds of rural hospitals and nursing homes will close without enough funding to continue operating. More people are going to get sick because of this law. But we’re going to have fewer hospitals and doctors to take care of them. Why? Because Medicaid is a big revenue stream for really all hospitals, but especially rural hospitals. It can be up to about half of what they call the payer mix. What is a payer mix? It’s just you might get paid by private insurance 30 percent. You might get paid by Medicaid, 45 percent. You might have a little VA. You might have a little private pay adds up to 100 percent. So as you look at your revenue picture, 40, 50, sometimes even more percent of that money comes from Medicaid. If there’s a huge $1 trillion nationwide reduction in Medicaid money, that money is reduced money for rural hospitals and rural hospitals will definitely close. Not all of them, but many of them. So even if you’re not on Medicaid. If you live in a place where there’s a rural hospital and that’s the flagship hospital for a small town that might not be available to you, you might have to drive 2 or 3 hours for care or even emergency care.

    Number three, starting next year, tens of millions of people are going to pay hundreds of dollars a month more for health insurance. And this is one I think we should linger on, because now that the fight over Obamacare is sort of in the rearview mirror, people just think they get on to the ACA portal, they sign up for their health care, and they pay what they pay. Right? Like, “oh, I want a family plan. I want this level of deductible.” And then it spits out how much you’re going to pay every month, what tens of millions of people don’t actually know is those rates on the exchange are subsidized. And without those subsidies, we’re going to go back to the bad old days pre-Obamacare, when people would pay absurd amounts of money for their health care insurance, even if they’re employed, even if they do have insurance.

    And what is I think, underrated both politically and on policy, is all of those rates get set in the next couple of months. Because in order to start paying and in order to start enrolling, you got to notify people, “hey, you’re thing that was $289 a month, now it’s $789 a month.” And so sometime in the fall, it depends on the state, October and November. Some people in December are going to get a letter saying, “if you want to stay on the same health care plan, here’s your new price.” And those new prices are going to be astronomical.

    Now we do have a disagreement between the parties. I think there are a lot of people who just don’t like public subsidy of health care insurance premiums. I’m sure the presiding officer has her reservations about that kind of thing. It is about the size and the scope of government. But there is a factual aspect to this, which is whatever one’s governing philosophy is, whatever one thought about the Affordable Care Act, the plain fact of the matter is people are going to get letters from their insurance carriers with astronomical increases that they will not be able to pay.

    Number four, 5 million people are either going to lose some or all of their nutritional assistance starting next year. You know, this trope is like almost as old as I am, like some lazy person on food stamps. Just like collecting food stamps. Loving that life, going to the store, buying fancy stuff. It’s $6 a day. The average nutritional assistance amount per person per day is six bucks. We have actually, I don’t know if you know this, but we have subsidized food in the United States Senate, not because the government is paying for it, but because all the restaurants that operate here don’t have to pay lease rent. So it’s a little bit cheaper than you would normally get. I can’t get anything for six bucks downstairs in the Dirksen cafeteria. Not that would feed me $6 a day is the average amount. And what the Republicans decided to do. Is to generate savings, is to find saving is to cut nutritional assistance. Why? Because they needed to pay for the biggest tax cut in American history for the wealthiest people and corporations that have ever existed.

    It would be one thing if people were getting 75 bucks a day for food. It would be one thing if they were getting 25 bucks a day for food, but they’re getting six bucks, and 5 million people will now have enormously difficult time trying to figure out just how to survive the day. And I mean, not quite literally, survive the day. Find the calories within your 6 or 8 or $12 budget.

    Finally, people are going to pay hundreds of dollars more per year on electricity because this bill throttles the cheapest and most abundant form of energy in wind and solar. And this is where you got to stay with me for a moment. I’m very passionate about climate action. I think it is a planetary emergency. I think it is a moral obligation that we take care of our planet so it can sustain us for generations to come. But even if you don’t care about that, the only energy that is ready to come on line right now is solar energy. Some wind energy, but mostly solar energy. Why? Because nuclear, frankly takes at least ten years to permit and site. And of course, anytime anyone wants to do any nuclear power generation, everybody in whatever neighborhood or state or county that is tries to stop it. And so you not you don’t just have regulatory risk, you have project risk. Ten years is an optimistic scenario. I’m a big believer in nuclear energy, but ten years is the most realistic scenario to get a bunch of nuclear energy on line.

    Likewise, geothermal maybe 5 to 8 years in the most optimistic scenario. Again, I love geothermal energy. I think it is an untapped resource across the United States of America. We have about a six-year gap before any of those other technologies are ready. And so a lot of fossil advocates go, well, why don’t we do more gas? There is a backlog of combined cycle gas turbines, and that can’t just be fixed by saying I will take more.

    Everybody wants more. There is a backlog. You cannot get gas generation online in the next five years. So what does that mean? It means over the next five years, solar is the stuff that is like instantly pluggable into the grid. Super cheap, not terribly controversial except for in this chamber and ready to power the AI revolution or whatever other load needs we have.

    But this bill kind of putatively, kind of ideologically decides, “no, we’re not for all of the above. You know, that thing we said about whatever’s cheap and plentiful and available every time we were trying to prevent clean energy from coming on the grid? Remember that thing we used to say? Now, really what we meant is we quite hate solar energy. Particularly we hate solar energy.”

    Again, I think that’s preposterous from a planetary standpoint. But even if there were no planetary crisis, this is the energy that is available to us and we are about to face energy shortages. The reason, for instance, Texas of all places, has not had blackouts and brownouts is because solar can’t absorb when the sun is high and it is 108 degrees and everybody’s pumping their air conditioner. That also happens to be the point in time, the point of the day when all the solar farms are running at full capacity and they can power the grid. And so solar energy isn’t something from 17 years ago, when people would say, “you know, sometimes the sun is shining and sometimes it’s not, and it’s intermittent and the batteries aren’t there.” All of that is in the rearview mirror. All the technical issues, not all of them, 90 percent of the technical issues related to solar energy have been resolved. And that’s the scariest thing for the fossil energy people. You know why? Because they can’t argue that this isn’t economically smarter. They just have to argue that it’s like woke or something like woke electrons.

    Who cares where the electrons come from? If they’re cheap and plentiful, we should all be for them. And so this bill is going to create shortages, which will drive up prices. And in some places reduce power quality. What does power quality mean? It means we’re going to have blackouts and brownouts across the country. So to do any of these things in a bill would be bad. But to do all of it, all of it, in order to pay for the biggest wealth transfer from the poor to the rich in history, is morally and economically bankrupt.

    Nobody asked for any of this. Trump voters were not demanding any of this. Nobody was asking to lose their health care or not be able to feed their kids or pay more to keep the lights on at home, but they raced to do it anyway, knowing full well how devastating it would be for the country and for their own home states.

    One final point: we are not going to stop talking about this. We are going to talk about this until it is repealed. We’re going to talk about this when the rates go up for your electricity. We’re going to talk about this when kids are thrown off their nutritional assistance. We’re going to talk about this when rural hospitals close, we are going to talk about this when your insurance coverage rates go up.

    We are not going to stop talking about this because this document, which was enacted into law, is a perfect encapsulation of the difference between the political parties. My party is flawed. Obviously, my party is flawed. But I’ve never seen my party propose a bill that transferred so much money from the poor to the rich, and I’ve never seen my party propose a bill that raises the price of electricity, that raises the price of food and raises the price of health care.

    And so we’re going to talk about this today, tomorrow, for the next 18 months. And until this thing is repealed from the federal law books.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Chinese Premier Calls on China, Australia to Form Stronger Development Synergy

    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

    BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called on China and Australia to further strengthen cooperation ties, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, form stronger development synergy and effectively deal with environmental uncertainty.

    Li Qiang made the remarks at the 8th China-Australia Business Leaders Roundtable, which he co-hosted with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Beijing.

    About 30 heads of chambers of commerce and enterprises of the two countries took part in the round table.

    Li Qiang recalled that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and noted that over the past decade, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has demonstrated remarkable resilience and vitality.

    As the Premier of the State Council pointed out, the economic structures of the two countries are highly complementary and have a solid foundation for linking industrial sectors and markets, making China and Australia natural partners for cooperation.

    Li Qiang noted that China’s vast market will continuously unleash its huge consumer potential, creating more business opportunities for enterprises in both countries. He called on the two sides to strengthen cooperation in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and life sciences to expand the capabilities of the Chinese and Australian industrial sectors.

    With joint efforts by enterprises from the two countries to enhance cooperation in areas such as clean energy, electric vehicles and energy storage, a world-class green industrial chain with sustainability and competitiveness can be built, the premier stressed.

    Li Qiang said governments and enterprises should move in the same direction to better promote development. He said China will continue to promote high-level opening-up, treat domestic and foreign enterprises equally, and protect the rights and interests of foreign companies and entrepreneurs in China in accordance with the law.

    The Chinese leader also expressed hope that Australia would treat Chinese enterprises doing business in the country fairly and properly address issues related to market access and investment screening.

    Li Qiang called on Chinese and Australian companies to maintain openness, seek cooperation, and further promote market convergence and industrial integration between the two countries.

    E. Albanese noted in his speech that bilateral relations are currently developing steadily and the enthusiasm of business circles of both countries for cooperation is growing sharply.

    The Australian side is ready to strengthen dialogue with the Chinese side, expand cooperation in various fields, including trade, agriculture, industry, energy resources and green development, jointly counter such a global challenge as climate change, and uphold international justice and free trade, added E. Albanese. –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 –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael Martin, Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning, University of Sheffield

    Co-created play space with children and the community, Via Val Lagarina Milan. Milan municipality

    Children play everywhere. Yet their right to play – protected by a UN convention – is constantly challenged by adults.

    Play is crucial to support children’s holistic development in cognitive, emotional, physical and social skills. Likewise, we know children’s environments significantly influence their health and wellbeing, for better or worse.

    But across cities, young people are let down by a built environment that fails to appropriately consider their needs.

    Places where children commonly used to play, such as streets and local neighbourhoods, have been transformed into car-only spaces where traffic and parking take priority. Likewise, city spaces frequently “design out” children by prohibiting skateboarding, ball games and other kinds of play.

    Over time, urban planning has confined children’s opportunities for play to dedicated playground spaces only.

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

    However, children don’t have equal access to these formal play spaces. In the largest study of playgrounds in England, my colleagues and I found substantial inequalities in access to play. Children in the most deprived areas needed to travel further to their nearest playground.

    In new research, I’ve explored four international examples of how children and play can be promoted in less likely urban spaces. My findings show how play can be promoted in cities to support children’s right to play anywhere – but also that there is widespread hostility to children’s right to use urban spaces for play.

    Power of play

    In Sydney, a pedal park installation with temporary jumps, ramps and a pump track was set up in different car parks for the duration of the winter. In Paris, a play street was created in central Paris by closing road traffic on Friday afternoons in autumn and spring.

    In Belfast, temporary play equipment and playful street furniture was set up in the Cathedral Gardens public space.

    Cathedral Gardens pop-up play space in Belfast meaningfully encourages children to use the city.
    Park Hood Ltd.

    In Milan, a community-led design involved children in creating a colourful grid, planters, growing beds and games in a school car park, which went on to inspire a new municipal programme of temporary school streets and piazzas.

    These play spaces allowed children to play freely, play with objects, play pretend, play games with rules, and play physically – the core pillars of play. What’s more, they enabled children to develop new connections with their community by appropriating urban spaces to promote relaxation and fun. This was vital following the trauma of the global pandemic – all the projects were active during COVID-19 outside of lockdown.

    Intergenerational encounters at the weekly play street in the 3rd District of Paris.
    Rue’golotte

    These short-term projects invited children to enjoy urban life in new ways. In fact, they bolstered civic access for people of all generations. In Sydney, the closure of the car park fostered a new sense of community. Caregivers, grandparents and residents were able to connect with each other in a whole different setting.

    Children in Sydney play freely in a ‘pop-up pedal park’ created in a public car park.
    Randwick City Council

    Politics of play

    But despite the positives, over time, the projects faced protest and tension. In Milan, fears from residents emerged on play being used as a tool to displace poorer communities. This was in response to the area having long been earmarked for regeneration. In Sydney, Paris and Belfast, people actively targeted and sabotaged the informal play spaces.

    In Sydney, to park their cars, older citizens successfully lobbied local councillors to reduce the total amount of space for play, from the entire car park to one aisle of parking. In Paris, local businesses were exasperated by the presence of children. Collectively they threatened project initiators and staged a protest, claiming that “play streets kill local shops”. In Belfast, the pop-up play space was set on fire, multiple times. By summer 2022, much of the park had been destroyed.

    Destruction and criminal damage of the Cathedral Gardens play space in Belfast.
    Author

    The outcomes demonstrate the politics that children, and their play, were exposed to. Because of a range of aggressive behaviour from adults, children’s use of streets and public spaces were consistently restricted. A common statement from dissenters was “children can go elsewhere”. The reality is they can’t.

    In tracking informal play projects through the pandemic and subsequent years, two additional factors hampered their longer-term success. For the council projects in Sydney and Belfast, council officers hoped to direct more resources to urban play, but the lack of a specific local policy to support play was a significant constraint. By comparison, the community projects in Paris and Milan placed an unsustainable pressure on volunteers to ensure prolonged success.

    Lessons from previous crises highlight how tensions and conflict can affect innovative uses of space, often diluting their progressive purpose. Ultimately, children’s play in recovery from the pandemic experienced a similar fate.

    This is worrying because Unicef research has shown children’s wellbeing has continued to suffer after COVID-19.

    Places that allow for children’s play can create dynamic neighbourhoods, intergenerational encounters, and meaningful participation in urban spaces – if only we let it happen.

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

    – ref. How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds – https://theconversation.com/how-to-give-children-the-freedom-to-play-all-across-the-city-not-just-in-playgrounds-260444

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael Martin, Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning, University of Sheffield

    Co-created play space with children and the community, Via Val Lagarina Milan. Milan municipality

    Children play everywhere. Yet their right to play – protected by a UN convention – is constantly challenged by adults.

    Play is crucial to support children’s holistic development in cognitive, emotional, physical and social skills. Likewise, we know children’s environments significantly influence their health and wellbeing, for better or worse.

    But across cities, young people are let down by a built environment that fails to appropriately consider their needs.

    Places where children commonly used to play, such as streets and local neighbourhoods, have been transformed into car-only spaces where traffic and parking take priority. Likewise, city spaces frequently “design out” children by prohibiting skateboarding, ball games and other kinds of play.

    Over time, urban planning has confined children’s opportunities for play to dedicated playground spaces only.

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

    However, children don’t have equal access to these formal play spaces. In the largest study of playgrounds in England, my colleagues and I found substantial inequalities in access to play. Children in the most deprived areas needed to travel further to their nearest playground.

    In new research, I’ve explored four international examples of how children and play can be promoted in less likely urban spaces. My findings show how play can be promoted in cities to support children’s right to play anywhere – but also that there is widespread hostility to children’s right to use urban spaces for play.

    Power of play

    In Sydney, a pedal park installation with temporary jumps, ramps and a pump track was set up in different car parks for the duration of the winter. In Paris, a play street was created in central Paris by closing road traffic on Friday afternoons in autumn and spring.

    In Belfast, temporary play equipment and playful street furniture was set up in the Cathedral Gardens public space.

    Cathedral Gardens pop-up play space in Belfast meaningfully encourages children to use the city.
    Park Hood Ltd.

    In Milan, a community-led design involved children in creating a colourful grid, planters, growing beds and games in a school car park, which went on to inspire a new municipal programme of temporary school streets and piazzas.

    These play spaces allowed children to play freely, play with objects, play pretend, play games with rules, and play physically – the core pillars of play. What’s more, they enabled children to develop new connections with their community by appropriating urban spaces to promote relaxation and fun. This was vital following the trauma of the global pandemic – all the projects were active during COVID-19 outside of lockdown.

    Intergenerational encounters at the weekly play street in the 3rd District of Paris.
    Rue’golotte

    These short-term projects invited children to enjoy urban life in new ways. In fact, they bolstered civic access for people of all generations. In Sydney, the closure of the car park fostered a new sense of community. Caregivers, grandparents and residents were able to connect with each other in a whole different setting.

    Children in Sydney play freely in a ‘pop-up pedal park’ created in a public car park.
    Randwick City Council

    Politics of play

    But despite the positives, over time, the projects faced protest and tension. In Milan, fears from residents emerged on play being used as a tool to displace poorer communities. This was in response to the area having long been earmarked for regeneration. In Sydney, Paris and Belfast, people actively targeted and sabotaged the informal play spaces.

    In Sydney, to park their cars, older citizens successfully lobbied local councillors to reduce the total amount of space for play, from the entire car park to one aisle of parking. In Paris, local businesses were exasperated by the presence of children. Collectively they threatened project initiators and staged a protest, claiming that “play streets kill local shops”. In Belfast, the pop-up play space was set on fire, multiple times. By summer 2022, much of the park had been destroyed.

    Destruction and criminal damage of the Cathedral Gardens play space in Belfast.
    Author

    The outcomes demonstrate the politics that children, and their play, were exposed to. Because of a range of aggressive behaviour from adults, children’s use of streets and public spaces were consistently restricted. A common statement from dissenters was “children can go elsewhere”. The reality is they can’t.

    In tracking informal play projects through the pandemic and subsequent years, two additional factors hampered their longer-term success. For the council projects in Sydney and Belfast, council officers hoped to direct more resources to urban play, but the lack of a specific local policy to support play was a significant constraint. By comparison, the community projects in Paris and Milan placed an unsustainable pressure on volunteers to ensure prolonged success.

    Lessons from previous crises highlight how tensions and conflict can affect innovative uses of space, often diluting their progressive purpose. Ultimately, children’s play in recovery from the pandemic experienced a similar fate.

    This is worrying because Unicef research has shown children’s wellbeing has continued to suffer after COVID-19.

    Places that allow for children’s play can create dynamic neighbourhoods, intergenerational encounters, and meaningful participation in urban spaces – if only we let it happen.

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

    – ref. How to give children the freedom to play all across the city – not just in playgrounds – https://theconversation.com/how-to-give-children-the-freedom-to-play-all-across-the-city-not-just-in-playgrounds-260444

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI USA: East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Kim Delivers Opening Remarks at Hearing on Critical Mineral Supply Chains

    Source: US House Committee on Foreign Affairs

    Media Contact 202-321-9747

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Young Kim delivered opening remarks at a hearing titled, “Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains.”

    Watch Here

    -Remarks-

    Good morning and welcome to East Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee hearing titled Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us this morning.
    Critical minerals — lithium, cobalt, real earth elements, and others — are the building blocks of modern technology, powering electric vehicles, microchips, and advanced defense systems. Global demand for these minerals is surging. With lithium demand alone, growing nearly 30% annually from 2021 to 2024, driven by rising electric vehicle battery production. Yet, the People’s Republic of China, or PRC, controls 92% of global rare earth element processing and dominates the manufacturing of battery and magnet components. This chokehold reinforced by China’s tens of billions in global mining investments and tactics like price manipulation and export restrictions poses a direct threat to the United States and our allies.
    While the U.S. possesses significant mineral resources, domestic production alone cannot meet the speed or scale of this demand. The U.S. manufacturing, they operate their operation costs, increased significantly in the region, increasing the regional bureau.
    It will take decades to permit natural mining in America. Moreover, the federal government lacks the financial capacity to fully subsidize the level of investment needed to drive large scale private sector investment expansion of domestic production, relying solely on domestic solutions is insufficient. Therefore, we need a bold global strategy to secure resilient, diversified supply chains free from Chinese control.
    The current geopolitical landscape offers an opportune window to act. The recent developments such as President Trump’s critical minerals agreement with Ukraine and the U.S. facilitated peace deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, open new opportunities to access vital resources.
    We’ve also seen coordination like the recently announced quad critical minerals initiative underscore the importance of critical minerals to broader regional engagement. As the administration renegotiates trade relationships, we can strengthen partnerships with our allies to build non-Chinese supply chains, enhancing both economic and national security.
    So in today’s hearing, we will explore these challenges and opportunities. We will examine how to build a proactive global strategy to establish supply chains free from Chinese dominance. So our goal today is very clear: to ensure the United States and its allies have secure, reliable access to the critical minerals that will define the future of technology and security. I look forward to a productive discussion.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The number of cars owned by citizens of Uzbekistan has exceeded 4.5 million

    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

    Tashkent, July 15 (Xinhua) — As of April 1, 2025, more than 4.5 million cars owned by individuals were registered in Uzbekistan, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the National Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

    According to the agency, as of April 1, 2025, 4.5221 million cars owned by individuals were registered in Uzbekistan.

    According to statistics, the largest share of registered vehicles were passenger cars – approximately 4.2 million units.

    In November 2024, the permanent population of Uzbekistan reached 37.5 million people. –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 –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Luzerne County Man Sentenced to 15 Years’ Imprisonment on Drug Trafficking and Firearms Charges

    Source: US FBI

    SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Christopher Essameddin Birry, age 43, of Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on July 9, 2025, to 15 years’ imprisonment by United States District Judge Julia K. Munley on drug trafficking and firearms charges.

    According to Acting United States Attorney John Gurganus, between May 31, 2023, and July 27, 2023, Birry distributed methamphetamine on multiple occasions in the Wilkes-Barre area within Luzerne County. On September 11, 2023, Birry was involved in a motor vehicle stop in Olyphant, Lackawanna County. Birry attempted to flee on foot from law enforcement but was apprehended and found to be in possession of distribution amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl and possessed a loaded handgun. Birry was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to prior felony drug trafficking convictions. At the time of this offense, Birry was on probation for a prior drug trafficking conviction.

    This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiate that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Luzerne County Drug Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police and Olyphant Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jenny P. Roberts and Patrick Bannon prosecuted the case.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Speaker Johnson: Every Citizen, In Every Zip Code, In Every Pocket of America Will Benefit from the One Big Beautiful Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

    WASHINGTON — This morning, at the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference, Speaker Johnson addressed the anniversary of President Trump’s assassination attempt and highlighted how his constituents plan to utilize the thousands of dollars in savings from the One Big Beautiful Bill.

    Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here

    On the anniversary of President Trump’s assassination attempt:

    One year ago, Sunday, on that field in Butler, Pennsylvania, an assassin nearly took the life of President Trump. And we can’t talk about it too much because it was a turning point in American history. It could have gone the wrong way. I mean, if that assassin’s bullet missed just an inch to the right, or if President Trump would’ve turned his head just a millisecond later, he would’ve died on that stage and this country would’ve come apart at the seams. But now, because of all this recent success and the President’s success, it’s easy to forget that just 12 months ago, President Trump was the most vilified politician, arguably in the history of the country.

    Democrats spent years persecuting him on all fronts. They impeached him twice. Social media platforms removed his ability to communicate with his supporters. Armed FBI agents raided his home. Democrat judges and prosecutors bent the law to arrest him. And multiple assassins tried to kill him, but God miraculously spared the president’s life. I think it’s undeniable. And he did it for an obvious purpose. His presidency and his life are the fruits of divine providence. And he points that out, obviously now all the time. And he’s right to do so. President Trump has lived since with the acknowledgement every day since, he has acknowledged that each new day isn’t guaranteed to us. It isn’t to any of us, and that’s why we’re not wasting any time. It’s why he remains so strong and resilient. It’s why we have such a sense of urgency. President Trump took a bullet to his head. He got up shortly thereafter. He pleaded with the crowd to fight, and then he went on to win a historic election less than four months later. America’s changed because he survived that day.

    On the first 6 months of unified Republican government:

    Think about everything we’ve accomplished just the last few weeks. Gas prices hit a four-year low. The last four jobs reports exceeded expectations. The stock market is reaching record highs. We have the lowest monthly border encounters in the history of the United States. Our NATO partners committed to spending 5%, not 2% of their GDP on national defense. We brokered multiple peace agreements and struck many more trade deals, more to come. We significantly damaged Iran’s nuclear program. And on July 4th, we did sign the One Big Beautiful Bill, the president signed it into law. It’s the most consequential transformational legislation ever considered in our lifetimes. And we got it done because the Republican Party delivered on the promises we made to the American people, and the president did as well

    On the Republican agenda after One Big Beautiful Bill being signed into law:

    Every citizen in every zip code in every pocket of America will benefit from the One Big Beautiful Bill. You’ll hear story after story in the weeks ahead. Last week, my office sent a survey to our constituents. I serve Louisiana’s fourth congressional district. And we sent around a survey to Louisiana families, knowing that they’re going to save thousands of dollars now because of the vote that we took on July 3rd. We asked them, how would you use the extra money? And here’s some of the responses: James said he’s going to use the savings to open a Roth IRA for his family. Janice is an 80-year-old widow, she said she’s going to use the savings for much needed repairs to her home. Whitney is in a retirement home; she’s going to utilize the savings to help pay rent. Pamela is grateful for the increased standard deduction and will likely add these savings to a rainy-day fund for future expenses. Another constituent named James said he doesn’t even want the relief. He said he’d like to send it back to us to “use for more plane tickets for people heading back south of the border wall.”  That’s a real response. So many of my constituents said they would use their savings on things like basic needs and bills and debt, payment and transportation and home repairs, and helping family members and adding to their emergency funds or taking a well-deserved vacation. You know what, as Jimmy [Patronis] said earlier, it’s their money. It’s not the government’s money and we’re delighted to give it back to them. That’s the beauty of the One Big Beautiful Bill. And you can spend it however you please.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Gold Price Prediction: Can Gold Reach $5,000 in 2025? — TheExpertVault Releases Forecast on Gold Prices as of July 15

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Chicago, Illinois, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gold prices are soaring in 2025 — and investors are taking notice. As of July 15, gold is trading at $3,361 per ounce, shattering historical highs. With economic uncertainty mounting, inflation persisting, and central banks aggressively buying bullion, TheExpertVault has released a timely warning.

    Worried about cash and stocks in 2025?

    Gold is surging, and smart investors are moving fast.

    This free 2025 Gold Guide reveals top Gold IRA companies, expert tips, and how to protect your savings before the next market shock.

    Get your free 2025 Gold Guide now

    Gold at $3,361 — What’s Driving the Momentum?

    Gold’s rise hasn’t come out of nowhere. Over the past 18 months, several powerful forces have pushed the precious metal into record territory: inflation remains high, U.S. national debt has surged past $40 trillion, and geopolitical risks continue to escalate across multiple regions including Eastern Europe, Taiwan, and the Middle East. On top of this, global central banks are accumulating gold reserves at an unprecedented pace—making gold more attractive to retail and institutional investors alike.

    In short, a combination of economic pressure and geopolitical tension is driving investors toward safe-haven assets. Gold isn’t just a hedge anymore; for many, it’s becoming a foundational part of a retirement strategy.

    Explore TheExpertVault’s free GoldGuide Now

    Can Gold Reach $5,000 in 2025?

    According to TheExpertVault’s latest research, the possibility of gold reaching $5,000 per ounce by the end of 2025 is no longer far-fetched. This scenario hinges on several unfolding macroeconomic dynamics. First is the weakening of the U.S. dollar, as interest rate pressure and national debt weigh on currency confidence. Second, rising geopolitical instability continues to push investors toward tangible assets. And third, the ongoing trend of global de-dollarization is driving countries to diversify reserves away from fiat-based instruments and into gold.

    These forces combined could very well lift gold prices to new all-time highs within the next six months.

    Why $5,000 Isn’t Out of Reach

    At face value, a 49% increase from current levels might appear ambitious—but historical precedent says otherwise. During the 1970s, gold surged over 1,400% in response to stagflation and monetary shocks. Following the 2008 global financial crisis, it nearly tripled in just three years. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, gold has already climbed more than 80%, outperforming many traditional investment classes.

    Gold has consistently proven its strength when other assets falter, and the economic backdrop of 2025 may once again set the stage for a massive run.

    What It Means for Retirement Investors

    Should gold continue its climb, early investors—particularly those using tax-advantaged vehicles like Gold IRAs—could see significant growth in their retirement portfolios. A Gold IRA allows individuals to hold IRS-approved precious metals in a self-directed account while benefiting from tax deferral and regulated storage.

    Start protecting your retirement with a Gold IRA — see our top picks summarized.

    TheExpertVault’s July 15 Outlook

    While some might view gold’s rise as a short-term surge, TheExpertVault’s analysts see broader structural forces at play. With government debt, inflation uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions showing no signs of easing, gold’s long-term trajectory looks increasingly bullish.

    Final Thoughts: Why Gold IRAs Still Matter in 2025

    As inflation lingers and market uncertainty persists, investors are increasingly turning to tangible assets for retirement planning. Gold IRAs offer a tax-advantaged, regulated path to do just that—but not all providers are created equal.

    This year’s rankings focus on credibility, cost-efficiency, and investor-first service to help you make an informed decision. As the role of alternative assets grows, choosing the right partner will be key.

    Gold IRA Companies: FAQs

    What is the most trusted gold IRA company?
    Several firms are highly regarded, but the trusted ones combine transparency, consistent customer satisfaction, and educational support.

    Are gold IRAs a good investment?
    Gold IRAs can be an effective long-term hedge, ideal for diversification and wealth preservation during economic downturns.

    How do I choose a custodian?
    Look for IRS-approved custodians with clear pricing, responsive service, and secure storage options.

    Can you make money with a Gold IRA?
    Yes, especially when gold prices rise over time. While gold doesn’t pay dividends, it offers protection and appreciation potential—making it a valuable addition to a balanced portfolio.

    Company Name: TheExpertVault
    Customer Support Email: info@theexpertvault.com
    Phone Number: 888-728-8834
    Website: www.theexpertvault.com

    Disclaimer: This analysis was conducted by TheExpertVault’s editorial team, based on independent research and third-party data. This is not financial advice. Always perform your own due diligence before making any investment decision.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Travel Advisory: Mendon Road Lane Shift in Cumberland Begins July 18

    Source: US State of Rhode Island

    Starting Friday night, July 18, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will shift the northbound travel lane on Mendon Road (Route 122) at the Mendon Road Bridge over I-295 in Cumberland. The change is the last phase of work before RIDOT fully opens the new bridge later this summer.

    The northbound lane will be shifted back to its original location, removing the left lane shift. This change will create a work zone in the middle of the bridge so RIDOT can finish construction on the center median over the next four weeks. At that time, in mid-August, RIDOT expects to reopen the bridge to its original configuration with two lanes in each direction.

    In September, RIDOT will remove the lane closures in both directions of I-295 under the bridge. All work on the $17.67 million project will wrap up in late summer/early fall.

    The old Mendon Road Bridge was built in 1965 and was classified as structurally deficient for more than 10 years. It carries 22,300 vehicles per day and is a vital link for Cumberland as one of two primary north-south routes through the town.

    All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings, and weather.

    The Mendon Road Bridge Project is made possible by RhodeWorks. RIDOT is committed to bringing Rhode Island’s infrastructure into a state of good repair while respecting the environment and striving to improve it. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Travel Advisory: Overnight Closures for a Section of Oaklawn Avenue in Cranston

    Source: US State of Rhode Island

    Starting on Sunday night, July 20, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will be temporarily closing a section of Oaklawn Avenue at the Route 37 overpass in Cranston during late evening and overnight hours. The closures will take place Sunday through Thursday nights, for the next two to three weeks, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night so RIDOT can begin bridge demolition work.

    During the closure, traffic will use Wilbur Avenue, Vinton Avenue, Cranston Street and Sherman Avenue to detour. RIDOT chose this time for the closure when traffic volumes are lowest, to avoid disrupting traffic as much as possible. A detour map is available at www.ridot.net/DetourMaps.

    The Oaklawn Avenue Bridge is being rebuilt as part of a larger $142.8 million project to make numerous improvements, replacing and rehabilitating six bridges carrying Route 37 over local roads, arterials, and rail lines. It is the third of three Route 37-focused projects, representing more than $300 million of improvements to address all bridges and safety concerns along the entire highway. Route 37 is a critical east-west freeway in central Rhode Island, linking the cities of Cranston and Warwick, major retail, office and residential areas, Interstate highways and Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport. With a daily traffic count of 42,000 vehicles, Route 37 is one of the state’s busiest corridors.

    All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings and weather.

    The rehabilitation of the Oaklawn Avenue Bridge is made possible by RhodeWorks. RIDOT is committed to bringing Rhode Island’s infrastructure into a state of good repair while respecting the environment and striving to improve it. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta, Multistate Coalition Urge Congress to Advance Legislation Requiring Immigration Agents to Identify Themselves

    Source: US State of California

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a multistate coalition in sending a letter to Congressional members urging them to advance legislation prohibiting immigration agents from wearing masks to conceal their identity and requiring them to show their identification and agency-identifying insignia, with limited exceptions. In light of recent events, this legislation is necessary in order to protect the public, ensure accountability, and preserve the reputation and effectiveness of law enforcement at every level of government. 

    “Transparency and accountability are the foundation of good law enforcement, yet in recent weeks, ICE agents have begun the shocking and unacceptable practice of deploying masked agents to carry out immigration enforcement operations,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Trump Administration continues to tout their alarming and undemocratic law enforcement tactics as part of their inhumane anti-immigration agenda, completely ignoring the severe risks these tactics pose to public safety and basic civil liberties. If federal authorities are confident that their practices are lawful and just, they should not fear identifying themselves. We call upon Congress to advance legislation to ensure that federal agents properly identify themselves and uphold the principles of transparency and accountability that are crucial for public safety and trust.” 

    The images of masked, armed men, dressed in plainclothes and traveling in unmarked vehicles, snatching people from streets, homes, workplaces, and courthouses have become common in recent weeks and are now emblazoned in the public consciousness. These detentions are alarming, as the imagery evokes comparisons to repressive tactics that have no place in a free country. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers are now routinely using masked agents who do not identify themselves as law enforcement to carry out arrests in public spaces – which has the effect of terrorizing communities rather than protecting them. 

    The concealment of officers’ identity limits the ability of individuals to challenge unlawful government acts, stripping citizens of their basic rights to hold government actors accountable. Furthermore, the lack of clear identification goes against federal standards for law enforcement conduct. Under 8 C.F.R. 287.8(c)(2)(iii), immigration officers are required at the time of arrest to identify themselves as such, as soon as it is practical and safe to do so. ICE’s practices also reduce accountability and transparency within law enforcement, as they prevent the public from reporting and seeking recourse for unlawful practices or violations of rights that occur during an arrest. This lack of accountability further erodes public trust and encourages, rather than deters, rights violations by federal law enforcement. 

    In the letter, the attorneys general argue that ICE’s tactics pose significant public safety risks. The confusion generated by masked, plainclothes agents makes it difficult or impossible for individuals to know whether they are being legally detained by an ICE agent. Without proper identification as law enforcement, witnesses to these arrests could reasonably believe a kidnapping is underway, which may lead them to intervene or call on local law enforcement for assistance, creating unsafe situations and tying up important local resources.

    As former ICE official Scott Shuchart noted, this situation could be “setting ourselves up for a kind of vigilante problem where people either don’t know, or at least aren’t sure, that these officers who are dressed up like bank robbers are actually law enforcement officers.” This jeopardizes not only the safety of the targets of enforcement actions, it also jeopardizes the safety of ICE agents themselves. Individuals who are unsure whether they are being detained by legitimate law enforcement or are being kidnapped may understandably choose not to obey commands and instead unknowingly resist law enforcement efforts. These tactics have also reportedly given rise to horrific incidents of impersonation of officers, where individuals seeking to extort or do harm have posed as immigration officials to victimize others.

    While measures to protect the identity of federal agents are sometimes necessary, the commonplace use of masks and the failure of ICE to identify themselves as law enforcement makes everyone less safe and weakens the integrity of our justice systems. Acting Director Todd Lyons has defended the use of masks by citing concerns about harassment against agents and their families, ignoring the severe risks posed to public safety and civil liberties. To the extent these concerns are warranted, they can be resolved through targeted, less repressive means that befit a free country.

    In sending this letter, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.  

    A copy of the letter is available here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: One Decade of Celebrating the Boulder-White Clouds

    Source: US State of Idaho

    This August marks ten years since one of the most meaningful land management bills in Idaho’s history—the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act was signed into law. A decade later, we celebrate the protection of the Cecil D. Andrus Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness area and Idahoans’ shared love for the land.
    The Boulder-White Clouds, with their beautiful high peaks, spectacular alpine lakes, and breathtaking country ready for recreation, represent some of the very best of our great state. For decades, however, they were at the center of crafting a compromise over how best to preserve this area.
    That debate ended the Idaho way—with countless Idahoans, including ranchers, recreationists, conservationists, local leaders, and elected officials, coming together, setting aside differences, and producing a solution to protect this iconic land.
    Passing this legislation has been one of my proudest accomplishments in Congress, but I’m even prouder of how it came together. It would not have been possible without the tireless work of Idahoans from all different backgrounds—people like Sandra Mitchell, with the Idaho State Snowmobile Association, numerous county commissioners, including Cliff Hansen and the late Wayne Butts, and Rick Johnson, the former executive director of the Idaho Conservation League.
    As a lifelong Idahoan who loves public lands, protecting access to these special places has always been a top priority. It was critical that the Boulder-White Clouds be designated a wilderness—rather than a national monument—because wilderness status provides the strongest possible protections for public lands.
    The law created three new wilderness areas—the Hemingway-Boulders, the White Clouds, and the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak—permanently preserving over 275,000 acres of public land. At the same time, the legislation honored multiple uses by protecting grazing, maintaining motorized and trail access for snowmobiles, mountain bikes, and two-wheeled vehicles, and supporting the economic well-being of rural communities.
    This legislation also delivered more than $6.5 million in grants to support rural counties and improve trails, most notably the Redfish Lake to Stanley Trail. This was an important piece in the Boulder-White Cloud compromise, and I’m confident that this trail will positively impact recreation and the local economy for years ahead.
    One of the most meaningful milestones wasn’t until a few years after it was signed: renaming the area after the late Idaho Governor and Secretary of the Interior, Cecil D. Andrus. Cecil Andrus devoted his life to protecting the very land he loved and fought for, and now his name is tied to this area forever. 
    Ten years on, protecting and preserving the Boulder-White Clouds has been one of the most rewarding pieces of legislation I have championed. Not only does this bill showcase we’d rather have an Idaho solution than one imposed by DC, but it also serves as an example of what’s possible when Idahoans come together.
    This anniversary is a moment to celebrate—and to look ahead. Knowing that future generations can enjoy the same benefits we have today. Here’s to ten years of the Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness, and to many more generations of Idahoans who will cherish them. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE OVER $21 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 16 AIRPORTS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer

    Major Projects Include Over $6 Million For Long Island’s Republic Airport And Over $5 Million For Buffalo Niagara International Airport

    Today, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, announced $21,155,843 in federal funding to upgrade airport facilities and equipment at 16 airports across New York State. This federal funding was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program and will help fund projects that strengthen safety measures, modernize terminals, and enhance passenger experience at New York’s airports.

    “Keeping our airports in top-notch state is crucial for traveler safety and attracting business and tourism across New York State. Our regional airports are a gateway for commerce, tourism and are vital connectors for residents and visitors. This $21+ million in federal funding will help airports from Long Island to Buffalo reach new heights,” said Senator Schumer. “As Americans across the country have grown more concerned about aviation safety, I’ve fought hard to boost the Airport Improvement Program so our local airports in NY have the resources they need to maintain the highest safety standards. This significant federal investment will help make much-needed improvements so our local economies take off.”

    “From big cities to rural communities, New York’s airports are gateways for commerce, tourism, and travel. It’s vital that every airport has the resources it needs to provide a safe and comfortable experience for anyone who travels through our state,” said Senator Gillibrand. “That’s why I’m proud to announce more than $21 million for airport projects that will deliver critical safety and infrastructure upgrades while enhancing reliability and comfort. I look forward to seeing the impact these improvements will have and will continue fighting for more federal funding to support the upgrades that airports across the country desperately need.”

    A full list of funding recipients can be found below:

    Region

    Recipient

    Project Description

    Award

    Central New York

    Oswego County Airport

    Reconstructs existing runway signage and rehabilitates existing runway lighting. Additionally, reconstructs the precision approach path indicator system

    $76,950

    Finger Lakes

    Ithaca Tompkins International Airport

    Acquires new aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment

    $128,144

    Finger Lakes

    Ithaca Tompkins International Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $1,091,037

    Finger Lakes

    Penn Yan Airport

    Rehabilitates 3,561 feet of existing paved runway and existing runway lighting

    $271,700

    Finger Lakes

    Penn Yan Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment including one carrier vehicle that has reached the end of its useful life

    $507,300

    Finger Lakes

    Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport

    Rehabilitates existing aircraft rescue and firefighting building

    $703,440

    Finger Lakes

    Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport

    Removes airport trees identified as obstructions by the Federal Aviation Administration

    $256,122

    Finger Lakes

    Le Roy Airport

    Removes 8 acres of trees and other facilities, installs lights, identifies obstructions and brings the airport into conformity with current standards

    $469,225

    Long Island

    Republic Airport

    Reconstructs an existing gate and rehabilitates existing runway

    $6,508,930

    North Country

    Lake Placid Airport

    Reconstructs 1,100 square yards of the existing General Aviation Apron pavement and rehabilitates an additional 5,600 square yards of existing General Aviation Apron pavement

    $156,037

    North Country

    Lake Placid Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $270,154

    North Country

    Massena International Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $253,518

    North Country

    Plattsburgh International Airport

    Acquires new snow removal equipment

    $1,110,797

    North Country

    Ogdensburg International Airport

    Terminal expansion

    $476,968

    North Country

    Ogdensburg International Airport

    Conducts an airport wildlife hazard assessment and develops a wildlife hazard management plan

    $181,174

    Southern Tier

    Greater Binghamton Airport

    Reconstructs 51,000 square feet of existing terminal building and replaces the electrical system and associated lighting

    $1,300,000

    Southern Tier

    Corning–Painted Post Airport

    Rehabilitates 3,269 feet of existing paved runway

    $731,951

    Western New York

    Jamestown Airport

    Reconstructs the existing terminal lighting and 13,900 square yards of the existing pavement

    $201,400

    Western New York

    Buffalo Niagara International Airport

    Rehabilitates existing taxiway pavement and lighting

    $5,680,000

    Western New York

    Buffalo-Lancaster Regional Airport

    Updates the existing airport master plan study

    $386,272

    Western New York

    Akron Jesson Field

    Conducts an initial pavement survey and develops a new pavement management plan

    $394,724

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE OVER $21 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 16 AIRPORTS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer

    Major Projects Include Over $6 Million For Long Island’s Republic Airport And Over $5 Million For Buffalo Niagara International Airport

    Today, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, announced $21,155,843 in federal funding to upgrade airport facilities and equipment at 16 airports across New York State. This federal funding was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program and will help fund projects that strengthen safety measures, modernize terminals, and enhance passenger experience at New York’s airports.

    “Keeping our airports in top-notch state is crucial for traveler safety and attracting business and tourism across New York State. Our regional airports are a gateway for commerce, tourism and are vital connectors for residents and visitors. This $21+ million in federal funding will help airports from Long Island to Buffalo reach new heights,” said Senator Schumer. “As Americans across the country have grown more concerned about aviation safety, I’ve fought hard to boost the Airport Improvement Program so our local airports in NY have the resources they need to maintain the highest safety standards. This significant federal investment will help make much-needed improvements so our local economies take off.”

    “From big cities to rural communities, New York’s airports are gateways for commerce, tourism, and travel. It’s vital that every airport has the resources it needs to provide a safe and comfortable experience for anyone who travels through our state,” said Senator Gillibrand. “That’s why I’m proud to announce more than $21 million for airport projects that will deliver critical safety and infrastructure upgrades while enhancing reliability and comfort. I look forward to seeing the impact these improvements will have and will continue fighting for more federal funding to support the upgrades that airports across the country desperately need.”

    A full list of funding recipients can be found below:

    Region

    Recipient

    Project Description

    Award

    Central New York

    Oswego County Airport

    Reconstructs existing runway signage and rehabilitates existing runway lighting. Additionally, reconstructs the precision approach path indicator system

    $76,950

    Finger Lakes

    Ithaca Tompkins International Airport

    Acquires new aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment

    $128,144

    Finger Lakes

    Ithaca Tompkins International Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $1,091,037

    Finger Lakes

    Penn Yan Airport

    Rehabilitates 3,561 feet of existing paved runway and existing runway lighting

    $271,700

    Finger Lakes

    Penn Yan Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment including one carrier vehicle that has reached the end of its useful life

    $507,300

    Finger Lakes

    Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport

    Rehabilitates existing aircraft rescue and firefighting building

    $703,440

    Finger Lakes

    Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport

    Removes airport trees identified as obstructions by the Federal Aviation Administration

    $256,122

    Finger Lakes

    Le Roy Airport

    Removes 8 acres of trees and other facilities, installs lights, identifies obstructions and brings the airport into conformity with current standards

    $469,225

    Long Island

    Republic Airport

    Reconstructs an existing gate and rehabilitates existing runway

    $6,508,930

    North Country

    Lake Placid Airport

    Reconstructs 1,100 square yards of the existing General Aviation Apron pavement and rehabilitates an additional 5,600 square yards of existing General Aviation Apron pavement

    $156,037

    North Country

    Lake Placid Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $270,154

    North Country

    Massena International Airport

    Replaces existing snow removal equipment

    $253,518

    North Country

    Plattsburgh International Airport

    Acquires new snow removal equipment

    $1,110,797

    North Country

    Ogdensburg International Airport

    Terminal expansion

    $476,968

    North Country

    Ogdensburg International Airport

    Conducts an airport wildlife hazard assessment and develops a wildlife hazard management plan

    $181,174

    Southern Tier

    Greater Binghamton Airport

    Reconstructs 51,000 square feet of existing terminal building and replaces the electrical system and associated lighting

    $1,300,000

    Southern Tier

    Corning–Painted Post Airport

    Rehabilitates 3,269 feet of existing paved runway

    $731,951

    Western New York

    Jamestown Airport

    Reconstructs the existing terminal lighting and 13,900 square yards of the existing pavement

    $201,400

    Western New York

    Buffalo Niagara International Airport

    Rehabilitates existing taxiway pavement and lighting

    $5,680,000

    Western New York

    Buffalo-Lancaster Regional Airport

    Updates the existing airport master plan study

    $386,272

    Western New York

    Akron Jesson Field

    Conducts an initial pavement survey and develops a new pavement management plan

    $394,724

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Young Kim Holds Hearing on Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains 

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Young Kim (CA-39)

    Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-40), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled, “Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains.” 

    Watch her remarks HERE or read her opening statement below. 

    Good afternoon and welcome to the East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee’s hearing titled, “Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chain.” I want to thank our witnesses for joining us this afternoon.  

     Critical minerals—lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and others—are the building blocks of modern technology, powering electric vehicles, microchips, and advanced defense systems. Global demand for these minerals is surging, with lithium demand alone growing nearly 30% annually from 2021 to 2024, driven by rising electric vehicle battery production. 

     Yet, the People’s Republic of China or PRC controls 92% of global rare earth element processing and dominates the manufacturing of battery and magnet components. This chokehold, reinforced by China’s tens of billions in global mining investments and tactics like price manipulation and export restrictions, poses a direct threat to the United States and our allies.   

     While the U.S. possesses significant mineral resources, domestic production alone cannot meet the speed or scale of this demand. U.S. mines face high operational costs and significant regulatory burdens. It often takes decades to permit a new mine in America. Moreover, the federal government lacks the financial capacity to fully subsidize the level of investment needed to drive large-scale private sector expansion of domestic production. Relying solely on domestic solutions is insufficient; we need a bold, global strategy to secure resilient, diversified supply chains free from Chinese control. 

    The current geopolitical landscape offers an opportune window to act. Recent developments, such as President Trump’s critical minerals agreement with Ukraine and the U.S.-facilitated peace deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, open new opportunities to access vital resources. We’ve also seen coordination like the recently announced Quad critical minerals initiative underscore the importance of critical minerals to broader regional engagement. As the administration renegotiates trade relationships, we can strengthen partnerships with allies to build non-Chinese supply chains, enhancing both economic and national security. 

     Today’s hearing will explore these challenges and opportunities. We will examine how to build a proactive global strategy to establish supply chains free from Chinese dominance. Our goal is clear: to ensure the United States and its allies have secure, reliable access to the critical minerals that will define the future of technology and security. I look forward to a productive discussion. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Africans survived 10,000 years of climate changes by adapting food systems – study offers lessons for modern times

    Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Leanne N. Phelps, Associate research scientist, Columbia University

    Imagine living in a place where a single drought, hurricane, or mudslide can wipe out your food supply. Across Africa, many communities do exactly that – navigate climate shocks like floods, heatwaves, and failed harvests.

    What’s often overlooked in the development policies to tackle these threats is a powerful sources of insight: Africa’s own history.

    Around 14,700 to 5,500 years ago, much of Africa experienced wetter conditions – a time referred to as the African Humid Period. As wet conditions declined around 5,500 years ago, major social, cultural, and environmental changes ensued across the continent.

    We’re part of a multidisciplinary team of scientists who recently published a study about how diverse African communities adapted to climate variability over the past 10,000 years. This is the first study to explore thousands of years of change in people’s livelihoods across the continent using isotopic data.

    This continent-wide approach offers novel insights into how livelihoods formed and evolved across space and time.

    Prior theories often assumed that societies and their food systems evolved in a linear way. In other words they developed from simple hunting and gathering communities to politically and socially complex societies practising agriculture.

    Instead, what we see is a complex mosaic of adaptable strategies that helped people survive. For 10,000 years, African communities adapted by mixing herding, farming, fishing and foraging. They blended different practices based on what worked at different times in their specific environment. That diversity across communities and regions was key to human survival.

    That has real lessons for food systems today.

    Our research suggests that rigid, top-down development plans, including ones that privilege intensifying agriculture over diversified economies, are unlikely to succeed. Many modern policies promote narrow approaches, like focusing only on cash crops. But history tells a different story. Resilience isn’t about choosing the “best” or most “intensive” method and sticking with it. Rather it’s about staying flexible and blending different strategies to align with local conditions.

    The clues left behind

    We were able to develop our insights by looking at the clues left behind by the food people ate and the environments they lived in. We did this by analysing the chemical traces (isotopes) in ancient human and domestic animal bones from 187 archaeological sites across the African continent.

    We sorted the results into groups with similar features, or “isotopic niches”. Then we described the livelihood and ecological characteristics of these niches using archaeological and environmental information.



    Read more:
    Tooth enamel provides clues on tsetse flies and the spread of herding in ancient Africa

    Our methods illustrated a wide range of livelihood systems. For example, in what are now Botswana and Zimbabwe, some groups combined small-scale farming with wild food gathering and livestock herding after the African Humid Period. In Egypt and Sudan, communities mixed crop farming – focused on wheat, barley, and legumes – with fishing, dairy, and beer brewing.

    Herders, in particular, developed highly flexible strategies. They adapted to hot plains, dry highlands, and everything in between. Pastoral systems (farming with grazing animals) show up at more archaeological sites than any other food system. They also have the widest range of chemical signatures – evidence of their adaptability to shifting environments.

    Our study also used isotopic data to build up a picture of how people were using livestock. Most animal management systems were reliant on grasses (plants such as millet and tropical pasture), and adapted to diverse ecological conditions. Some systems were highly specialised to semi-arid and mountainous environments. Others included mixed herds adapted to wetter or lower elevation regions. In other cases, animals were kept as stock in small numbers to supplement other livelihoods – providing milk, dung, and insurance against crop failure.



    Read more:
    Pastoralists are an asset to the world – and we have a lot to learn from them

    This adaptability helps clarify why, over the past millennium, pastoral systems have remained so important, especially in areas with increasing aridity.

    Mixed livelihood strategies

    The study also provides strong evidence for interactions between food production and foraging, whether at community or regional level.

    Dynamic, mixed livelihood strategies, including interactions like trade within and between communities near and far, were especially apparent during periods of climatic stress. One of these periods was the end of the African Humid Period (from about 5,500 years ago), when a drier climate created new challenges.

    In south-eastern Africa, from 2,000 years ago, there was a rise of diverse livelihood systems blending herding, farming and foraging in complex ways. These systems likely emerged in response to complex environmental and social change. Complex changes in social networks – especially around sharing land, resources, and knowledge – likely underpinned the development of this resilience.



    Read more:
    Hunter-gatherer diets weren’t always heavy on meat: Morocco study reveals a plant-based diet

    How the past can inform the future

    Ancient livelihood strategies offer a playbook for surviving climate change today.

    Our analysis suggests that over thousands of years, communities that combined herding, farming, fishing and gathering were making context-specific choices that helped them weather unpredictable conditions. They built food systems that worked with the land and sea, not against them. And they leaned on strong social networks, sharing resources, knowledge and labour.

    Past responses to climate shifts can inform current and future strategies for building resilience in regions facing socio-environmental pressures.

    Leanne N. Phelps is affiliated with Columbia Climate School at Columbia University; Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK; and NGO Vaevae based in Andavadoake, Toliara, Madagascar

    Kristina Guild Douglass receives funding from The US National Science Foundation. She is affiliated with the NGO Vae Vae.

    – ref. Africans survived 10,000 years of climate changes by adapting food systems – study offers lessons for modern times – https://theconversation.com/africans-survived-10-000-years-of-climate-changes-by-adapting-food-systems-study-offers-lessons-for-modern-times-260240

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Africans survived 10,000 years of climate changes by adapting food systems – study offers lessons for modern times

    Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Leanne N. Phelps, Associate research scientist, Columbia University

    Imagine living in a place where a single drought, hurricane, or mudslide can wipe out your food supply. Across Africa, many communities do exactly that – navigate climate shocks like floods, heatwaves, and failed harvests.

    What’s often overlooked in the development policies to tackle these threats is a powerful sources of insight: Africa’s own history.

    Around 14,700 to 5,500 years ago, much of Africa experienced wetter conditions – a time referred to as the African Humid Period. As wet conditions declined around 5,500 years ago, major social, cultural, and environmental changes ensued across the continent.

    We’re part of a multidisciplinary team of scientists who recently published a study about how diverse African communities adapted to climate variability over the past 10,000 years. This is the first study to explore thousands of years of change in people’s livelihoods across the continent using isotopic data.

    This continent-wide approach offers novel insights into how livelihoods formed and evolved across space and time.

    Prior theories often assumed that societies and their food systems evolved in a linear way. In other words they developed from simple hunting and gathering communities to politically and socially complex societies practising agriculture.

    Instead, what we see is a complex mosaic of adaptable strategies that helped people survive. For 10,000 years, African communities adapted by mixing herding, farming, fishing and foraging. They blended different practices based on what worked at different times in their specific environment. That diversity across communities and regions was key to human survival.

    That has real lessons for food systems today.

    Our research suggests that rigid, top-down development plans, including ones that privilege intensifying agriculture over diversified economies, are unlikely to succeed. Many modern policies promote narrow approaches, like focusing only on cash crops. But history tells a different story. Resilience isn’t about choosing the “best” or most “intensive” method and sticking with it. Rather it’s about staying flexible and blending different strategies to align with local conditions.

    The clues left behind

    We were able to develop our insights by looking at the clues left behind by the food people ate and the environments they lived in. We did this by analysing the chemical traces (isotopes) in ancient human and domestic animal bones from 187 archaeological sites across the African continent.

    We sorted the results into groups with similar features, or “isotopic niches”. Then we described the livelihood and ecological characteristics of these niches using archaeological and environmental information.



    Read more:
    Tooth enamel provides clues on tsetse flies and the spread of herding in ancient Africa

    Our methods illustrated a wide range of livelihood systems. For example, in what are now Botswana and Zimbabwe, some groups combined small-scale farming with wild food gathering and livestock herding after the African Humid Period. In Egypt and Sudan, communities mixed crop farming – focused on wheat, barley, and legumes – with fishing, dairy, and beer brewing.

    Herders, in particular, developed highly flexible strategies. They adapted to hot plains, dry highlands, and everything in between. Pastoral systems (farming with grazing animals) show up at more archaeological sites than any other food system. They also have the widest range of chemical signatures – evidence of their adaptability to shifting environments.

    Our study also used isotopic data to build up a picture of how people were using livestock. Most animal management systems were reliant on grasses (plants such as millet and tropical pasture), and adapted to diverse ecological conditions. Some systems were highly specialised to semi-arid and mountainous environments. Others included mixed herds adapted to wetter or lower elevation regions. In other cases, animals were kept as stock in small numbers to supplement other livelihoods – providing milk, dung, and insurance against crop failure.



    Read more:
    Pastoralists are an asset to the world – and we have a lot to learn from them

    This adaptability helps clarify why, over the past millennium, pastoral systems have remained so important, especially in areas with increasing aridity.

    Mixed livelihood strategies

    The study also provides strong evidence for interactions between food production and foraging, whether at community or regional level.

    Dynamic, mixed livelihood strategies, including interactions like trade within and between communities near and far, were especially apparent during periods of climatic stress. One of these periods was the end of the African Humid Period (from about 5,500 years ago), when a drier climate created new challenges.

    In south-eastern Africa, from 2,000 years ago, there was a rise of diverse livelihood systems blending herding, farming and foraging in complex ways. These systems likely emerged in response to complex environmental and social change. Complex changes in social networks – especially around sharing land, resources, and knowledge – likely underpinned the development of this resilience.



    Read more:
    Hunter-gatherer diets weren’t always heavy on meat: Morocco study reveals a plant-based diet

    How the past can inform the future

    Ancient livelihood strategies offer a playbook for surviving climate change today.

    Our analysis suggests that over thousands of years, communities that combined herding, farming, fishing and gathering were making context-specific choices that helped them weather unpredictable conditions. They built food systems that worked with the land and sea, not against them. And they leaned on strong social networks, sharing resources, knowledge and labour.

    Past responses to climate shifts can inform current and future strategies for building resilience in regions facing socio-environmental pressures.

    Leanne N. Phelps is affiliated with Columbia Climate School at Columbia University; Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK; and NGO Vaevae based in Andavadoake, Toliara, Madagascar

    Kristina Guild Douglass receives funding from The US National Science Foundation. She is affiliated with the NGO Vae Vae.

    – ref. Africans survived 10,000 years of climate changes by adapting food systems – study offers lessons for modern times – https://theconversation.com/africans-survived-10-000-years-of-climate-changes-by-adapting-food-systems-study-offers-lessons-for-modern-times-260240

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fischer, Duckworth’s She DRIVES Act Featured on ‘CBS Mornings’

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer

    Click the image above to watch the CBS Mornings segment.

    Click here to download audio.
    Click here to download video.

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) joined ‘CBS Mornings’ to discuss their bipartisan bill, the She Develops Regulations in Vehicle Equality and Safety (She DRIVES) Act.

    The legislation will modernize vehicle safety tests by requiring the use of the most advanced testing devices available—including a female crash test dummy—and updating U.S. crashworthiness testing procedures.

    The bill was introduced in January, passed the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in February, and now awaits full Senate consideration. It is supported by Drive US Forward, Women Drive Too, and the National Safety Council.

    On the She DRIVES Act:

    Fischer: “Whether driving or as passengers, we want to make sure that women are safe when they get in a vehicle.”

    Duckworth:     “We’re taking the next step. And let’s see if we can’t remedy the situation.”

    Fischer: “And make it safer. …”

    Duckworth: “So that all those moms and daughters and sisters and best friends come home.”

     

    Background:

    Multiple studies have shown that women die and are seriously injured at much higher rates than men in crashes. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,300 women die every year who would have otherwise lived if female death and injury rates were comparable to that of males.

    A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlined the deficiencies in crash testing program, and NHTSA has missed multiple self-declared deadlines on dummy deployment. While NHTSA has long acknowledged that a family of crash test dummies is needed for accurate crash tests, the agency has yet to deploy dummies or tests that represent females, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.

    Click here to read the text of the bill.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fischer, Duckworth’s She DRIVES Act Featured on ‘CBS Mornings’

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer

    Click the image above to watch the CBS Mornings segment.

    Click here to download audio.
    Click here to download video.

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) joined ‘CBS Mornings’ to discuss their bipartisan bill, the She Develops Regulations in Vehicle Equality and Safety (She DRIVES) Act.

    The legislation will modernize vehicle safety tests by requiring the use of the most advanced testing devices available—including a female crash test dummy—and updating U.S. crashworthiness testing procedures.

    The bill was introduced in January, passed the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in February, and now awaits full Senate consideration. It is supported by Drive US Forward, Women Drive Too, and the National Safety Council.

    On the She DRIVES Act:

    Fischer: “Whether driving or as passengers, we want to make sure that women are safe when they get in a vehicle.”

    Duckworth:     “We’re taking the next step. And let’s see if we can’t remedy the situation.”

    Fischer: “And make it safer. …”

    Duckworth: “So that all those moms and daughters and sisters and best friends come home.”

     

    Background:

    Multiple studies have shown that women die and are seriously injured at much higher rates than men in crashes. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,300 women die every year who would have otherwise lived if female death and injury rates were comparable to that of males.

    A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlined the deficiencies in crash testing program, and NHTSA has missed multiple self-declared deadlines on dummy deployment. While NHTSA has long acknowledged that a family of crash test dummies is needed for accurate crash tests, the agency has yet to deploy dummies or tests that represent females, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.

    Click here to read the text of the bill.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fischer, Duckworth’s She DRIVES Act Featured on ‘CBS Mornings’

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer

    Click the image above to watch the CBS Mornings segment.

    Click here to download audio.
    Click here to download video.

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) joined ‘CBS Mornings’ to discuss their bipartisan bill, the She Develops Regulations in Vehicle Equality and Safety (She DRIVES) Act.

    The legislation will modernize vehicle safety tests by requiring the use of the most advanced testing devices available—including a female crash test dummy—and updating U.S. crashworthiness testing procedures.

    The bill was introduced in January, passed the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in February, and now awaits full Senate consideration. It is supported by Drive US Forward, Women Drive Too, and the National Safety Council.

    On the She DRIVES Act:

    Fischer: “Whether driving or as passengers, we want to make sure that women are safe when they get in a vehicle.”

    Duckworth:     “We’re taking the next step. And let’s see if we can’t remedy the situation.”

    Fischer: “And make it safer. …”

    Duckworth: “So that all those moms and daughters and sisters and best friends come home.”

     

    Background:

    Multiple studies have shown that women die and are seriously injured at much higher rates than men in crashes. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,300 women die every year who would have otherwise lived if female death and injury rates were comparable to that of males.

    A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlined the deficiencies in crash testing program, and NHTSA has missed multiple self-declared deadlines on dummy deployment. While NHTSA has long acknowledged that a family of crash test dummies is needed for accurate crash tests, the agency has yet to deploy dummies or tests that represent females, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.

    Click here to read the text of the bill.

    MIL OSI USA News –