NewzIntel.com

Category: Vehicles

  • MIL-OSI Security: Mexican Customs Worker Guilty in Stolen Vehicle Conspiracy

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    McALLEN, Texas – A 33-year-old former member of the Mexican National Guard has entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Luis Enrique Guzman Pablo was assigned to work at customs in Matamoros, Mexico. As part of his official duties, he would inspect and observe vehicles departing the United States to Mexico. 

    From May to July of 2024, Pablo facilitated the entry of stolen vehicles into Mexico in exchange for compensation.

    As part of the scheme, co-conspirators would provide Pablo a description of the vehicle to be exported. He would then ensure the stolen vehicle would pass through the inspection process without being denied entry into Mexico.

    In one instance in May 2024, Pablo assisted co-conspirators with the exportation of a stolen Chevrolet Trailblazer that was exported via the Veteran’s International Bridge in Brownsville to Matamoros in exchange for payment.

    “No matter what side of the border or what country they represent, we expect all authorities to do their duties and respect the law,” said Ganjei. “Pablo abused his position in order to enrich himself, and The Southern District of Texas will continue to ensure those like him face the appropriate consequences.”

    Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane will impose sentencing May 13. At that time, Pablo up to five years in prison as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

    Pablo has been and will remain in custody pending that hearing.

    Homeland Security Investigations and FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Customs and Border Protection and the Fiscalia General de la Republica in Mexico.

    This case is a result 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 on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roberto Lopez Jr. and Sarina D. DiPiazza are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Caravan caper leads pair to court

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Two men have been arrested following a fleeing driver event involving a vehicle towing a caravan in Wellington.

    Shortly after 5am, Police were notified that a caravan had been stolen from outside a Khandallah address.

    Police were able to locate the vehicle and lay road spikes, however, the driver avoided the spikes and allegedly drove at the officer who laid them – fortunately the officer was not harmed.

    The vehicle, still towing the caravan, travelled south through Northland and down into Aro Valley.

    A brief pursuit was initiated before being abandoned.

    Due to the manner of driving, the caravan tipped on its side at one point, but the vehicle continued.

    The caravan hit a number of objects, including parked vehicles, throughout the incident, and broke into pieces, with parts and items from within being scattered across the road.

    The driver then entered the motorway at the Terrace Tunnel, before exiting at Tinakori Road and crashing the vehicle near Grant Road.

    Two occupants fled Police on foot, but were taken into custody by with the assistance of a Police dog handler around 5:30am.

    A 25-year-old and a 31-year-old man have been arrested and charged with various offences relating to the theft and driving matters. They are due in Wellington District Court today.

    Anyone who has this morning discovered they are the victim of damage to either cars or property in these areas this morning, who has not yet reported it to Police, is asked to please do so.

    You can report matters via 105, either by phone or online at Update Report | New Zealand Police quoting job number 250304/8364.

    ENDS

    Issued by the Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI: XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund Declares its Quarterly Distribution of $0.18 per Share – Fund to Change Distribution Frequency

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund (the “Fund” or “MCN”) has declared its regular quarterly distribution of $0.18 per share on the Fund’s common shares, payable on April 1, 2025, to shareholders of record as of March 17, 2025, as noted below. The amount of the distribution represents no change from the previous quarter’s distribution amount of $0.18 per common share.

    In addition, the Fund announced that it will change its distribution frequency from quarterly to monthly. The first monthly declaration will be made on April 1, 2025, and the first monthly distribution will be made on May 1, 2025. Kimberly Flynn, President of XA Investments, said, “MCN has a long history of making consistent periodic payments to shareholders. We believe the change to monthly distributions will enable investors to better manage their cashflow needs.”

    The following dates apply to the declaration:

         
    Ex-Dividend Date    March 17, 2025
       
    Record Date    March 17, 2025
       
    Payable Date    April 1, 2025
       
    Amount    $0.18 per common share
       
    Change from Previous Quarter                No change
         

    Common share distributions may be paid from net investment income (regular interest and dividends), capital gains and/or a return of capital. The specific tax characteristics of the distributions will be reported to the Fund’s common shareholders on Form 1099 after the end of the 2025 calendar year. Shareholders should not assume that the source of a distribution from the Fund is net income or profit. For further information regarding the Fund’s distributions, please visit www.xainvestments.com.

    * * *

    The Fund’s net investment income and capital gain can vary significantly over time; however, the Fund seeks to maintain more stable common share quarterly distributions over time. The Fund’s final taxable income for the current fiscal year will not be known until the Fund’s tax returns are filed.

    As a registered investment company, the Fund is subject to a 4% excise tax that is imposed if the Fund does not distribute to common shareholders by the end of any calendar year at least the sum of (i) 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gain or loss) for the calendar year and (ii) 98.2% of its capital gain in excess of its capital loss (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for a one-year period generally ending on December 31 of the calendar year (unless an election is made to use the Fund’s fiscal year). In certain circumstances, the Fund may elect to retain income or capital gain to the extent that the Board of Trustees, in consultation with Fund management, determines it to be in the interest of shareholders to do so.

    The common share distributions paid by the Fund for any particular period may be more than the amount of net investment income from that period. As a result, all or a portion of a distribution may be a return of capital, which is in effect a partial return of the amount a common shareholder invested in the Fund, up to the amount of the common shareholder’s tax basis in their common shares, which would reduce such tax basis. Although a return of capital may not be taxable, it will generally increase the common shareholder’s potential gain, or reduce the common shareholder’s potential loss, on any subsequent sale or other disposition of common shares.

    Future common share distributions will be made if and when declared by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, based on a consideration of number of factors, including the Fund’s net investment income, financial performance and available cash. There can be no assurance that the amount or timing of common share distributions in the future will be equal or similar to that described herein or that the Board of Trustees will not decide to suspend or discontinue the payment of common share distributions in the future.

    * * *

    The Fund’s objective is to achieve a high level of current income and gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund intends to pursue its objective by investing in a portfolio of common stocks and utilizing an option strategy, primarily by writing (selling) covered call options on a substantial portion of the common stocks in the portfolio in order to generate current income and gains from option writing premiums and, to a lesser extent, from dividends. Market action can impact dividend issuance as the Fund’s total assets affect the Fund’s future dividend prospects. The Fund provides additional information on its website at www.xainvestments.com.

    About XA Investments

    XA Investments LLC (“XAI”) serves as the Trust’s investment adviser. XAI is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in 2016. XAI serves as the investment adviser for two listed closed-end funds and an interval closed-end fund. The listed closed-end funds, the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust (NYSE: XFLT) and XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund (NYSE: MCN) both trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The interval closed-end fund, Octagon XAI CLO Income Fund (OCTIX), is newly launched and has been made widely available to investors.

    In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including development and market research, sales, marketing, fund management.

    XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. XAI provides individual investors with access to institutional-caliber alternative managers. For more information, please visit www.xainvestments.com.

    About XMS Capital Partners
    XMS Capital Partners, LLC, established in 2006, is a global, independent, financial services firm providing M&A, corporate advisory and asset management services to clients. It has offices in Chicago, Boston and London. For more information, please visit www.xmscapital.com.

    About Madison Investments
    Madison Investments is an independent investment management firm based in Madison, WI. The firm was founded in 1974, has approximately $28 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2024, and is recognized as one of the nation’s top investment firms. Madison offers domestic fixed income, U.S. and international equity, covered call, multi-asset, insurance and credit union investment management strategies. For more information, please visit www.madisoninvestments.com.
    Madison and/or Madison Investments is the unifying tradename of Madison Investment Holdings, Inc., Madison Asset Management, LLC, and Madison Investment Advisors, LLC. Madison Funds are distributed by MFD Distributor, LLC. Madison is registered as an investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MFD Distributor, LLC is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a broker-dealer and is a member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority www.finra.org.

    * * *

    XAI does not provide tax advice; please consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax.

    Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. For more information on the Fund, please visit the Fund’s webpage at www.xainvestments.com.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction.

             
    NOT FDIC INSURED        NO BANK GUARANTEE    MAY LOSE VALUE

    * * *

    Media Contact:

    Kimberly Flynn, President
    XA Investments LLC
    Phone: 888-903-3358
    Email: KFlynn@XAInvestments.com
    www.xainvestments.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Food prices soar as Israel blocks aid into Gaza

    Source: United Nations 2

    Humanitarian Aid

    Israel’s move to prevent all aid from entering the Gaza Strip after Hamas reportedly refused to accept a plan to continue with phase one of the fragile ceasefire has had an immediate impact, including a 100-fold increase in the price of flour and vegetables.

    That’s according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, which said on Monday that the Kerem Shalom, Erez and Zikim crossing closures means that vital humanitarian assistance, including thousands of tents, can’t be delivered to civilians in need.

    Phase one of the ceasefire mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US expired on Saturday, with Hamas calling on Israel to move on to the next agreed phase – but Israel is calling instead for a continuation of phase one through the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan in line with a proposal from the top US envoy to the region.

    January’s ceasefire deal has seen the release of 33 Israeli hostages who’ve been held captive since the 7 October terror attacks, with around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners exchanged.

    “The ceasefire has provided the opportunity to distribute food, to distribute water, as well as shelter assistance and medical aid, allowing nearly everyone in Gaza to receive food parcels,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York.

    “Our humanitarian partners tell us that following the closure of the crossings into Gaza yesterday, flour and vegetable prices increased more than 100-fold. Partners are currently assessing the stocks that are currently available,” he added.

    Ceasefire, ‘a critical lifeline’: UNICEF    

    The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that the stoppage of aid deliveries into Gaza will quickly lead to devastating consequences for children and families who are simply struggling to survive.

    “The aid restrictions announced yesterday will severely compromise lifesaving operations for civilians,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East. “It is imperative that the ceasefire – a critical lifeline for children – remains in place, and that aid is allowed to flow freely so we can continue to scale up the humanitarian response.”

    The agency said that between 19 January and last Friday, almost 1,000 UNICEF trucks had crossed into the enclave carrying clean water, medical supplies, vaccines, therapeutic food and other materials.

    Since the start of the ceasefire on 19 January, UNICEF and partners have provided warm clothing to 150,000 children in Gaza and increased daily water distribution for nearly half a million people living in more remote areas, Mr. Dujarric said.

    Nearly 250,000 children and thousands of pregnant and breast-feeding mothers have received nutritional supplements since the ceasefire took effect.

    Over the past two weeks, in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, aid partners have distributed vegetable seed kits for gardening to try and encourage more diverse diets.

    Around 1,500 water distribution points are now operating across Gaza – double the number operational at the start of the ceasefire. “However, partners tell us that pipes and spare parts for maintenance are urgently needed,” said Mr. Dujarric.

    Classrooms open

    Across Gaza, more than 100 public schools have reopened, allowing around 100,000 students back into the classroom.

    In Gaza City and North Gaza, UN partners will use tents to ensure children can continue learning, with some wood pallets recycled into school furniture.

    OCHA teams visited a displacement site in Khan Younis on Monday where around 1,200 people are staying. These communities have not been allowed to return to their homes, which are located in the buffer zone.

    OCHA is working to mobilise assistance to meet their needs.

    Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, OCHA reports that ongoing operation by Israeli forces continues to drive humanitarian needs in northern areas. Humanitarian partners continue to face movement restrictions.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Federal Prosecutors Charge 126 Previously Removed Illegal Aliens, Many with Felony Criminal Records, with Illegally Re-Entering the U.S.

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    LOS ANGELES – Working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement partners, federal prosecutors in recent weeks filed charges against 126 defendants who allegedly illegally re-entered the United States after being removed, the Justice Department announced today.

    Many of the defendants charged in this operation were previously convicted of felony offenses before they were removed from the U.S., offenses that include manslaughter and crimes against children.

    Filed as part of immigration enforcement activities  across the region over the past week, the criminal cases charge each defendant with being an illegal alien found in the United States following a previous removal from the United States. The criminal complaints and indictments were filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and Riverside. The recently filed illegal re-entry cases resulted in nearly three dozen arrests over the past week.

    The crime of being found in the United States following removal carries a base sentence of up to two years in federal prison, defendants who were removed after being convicted of a felony face a maximum 10-year sentence, and defendants removed after being convicted of an aggravated felony face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

    “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is enforcing long-standing immigration laws, and Illegal aliens who defy lawful removal orders by returning to this nation will be prosecuted,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “These charges promote respect for the immigration laws. The individuals charged over the past week include sex offenders, narcotics dealers, violent criminals, and others who pose a danger to the public.”

    “This result represents a brand new, whole-of-government approach to immigration enforcement,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Acting Special Agent in Charge John Pasciucco. “Our primary goal, along with our federal law enforcement partners, is to ensure those who commit transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, financial fraud and child exploitation can no longer commit it in the U.S.”

    Some of the recently filed cases are summarized below with information contained in court documents. Most of these defendants were arrested February 23. Each of these defendants are Mexican nationals.

    • Ricardo Reynoso-Garcia, 59, of Arleta, was convicted in federal court of illegal reentry into the United States in September 2013 and sentenced to 46 months in prison. He was separately removed four other times between 1984 and 2018. Reynoso-Garcia was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of voluntary manslaughter in January 1995 and sentenced to 24 years in prison. He also was convicted in U.S. District Court of fraud and misuse of visas in April 2017 and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
    • Oscar Parra-Reyes, 50, of El Monte, was removed four previous times between 1995 and 2006. He was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court in February 1993 for sale/transportation of marijuana and sentenced to two years in prison. He subsequently was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, corporal injury to a child’s parent and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
    • Luis Roberto Calderon Collantes, 52, of Rialto, was removed from the United States in August 2021 following his February 2017 conviction in San Bernardino County Superior Court for transporting methamphetamine, a felony offense for which he was sentenced to five years in California state prison. In March 2024, Collantes was found in the United States when FBI agents identified his fingerprints on a package of fentanyl they obtained through an undercover purchase on the dark web, a package investigators believe originated from his Rialto home.
    • Valentin Vidal-Lopez, 35, of Granada Hills, was removed from the United States in April 2018. He was convicted of attempted murder in January 2011 in Los Angeles County Superior Court and was sentenced to 10 years in California state prison. According to court documents, immigration authorities were notified on January 26 that Vidal-Lopez was in the custody of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office after his arrested on the charges of resisting, delaying or obstructing a peace officer, DUI alcohol, and possessing a forged driver’s license. At the time of his arrest, Vidal-Lopez allegedly ignored officer commands to step out of his vehicle and then began to drive away. Vidal-Lopez allegedly continued to ignore officer commands and verbally threatened to fight the officers. When taken into custody, Vidal-Lopez allegedly possessed a driver’s license and a Social Security card in other people’s names, along with a bogus lawful permanent resident card, commonly known as a “green card.”
    • Erasmo Hermosillo-Martin, 69, of Inglewood, was removed from the United States to Mexico in March 1994. He was convicted of kidnapping and terrorist threats in May 1991 in Los Angeles County Superior Court and was sentenced to five years and eight months in California state prison. On January 14, law enforcement was notified via the HSI Tipline that Hermosillo-Martin had returned to the United States.
    • Angel Navarro-Camarillo, 42, was removed from the United States four times between 2007 and 2021. He was convicted in Orange County Superior Court in August 2004 for lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and sentenced to five years’ probation and 202 days in jail. In October 2005, but his probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. Navarro-Camarillo was convicted in U.S. District Court in February 2019 for being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
    • Isidro Jimenez-Ibanez, 51, of Coachella, was arrested February 24. Jimenez-Ibanez was removed in 1995 following a conviction for possession for sale of methamphetamine in Riverside County Superior Court. According to the criminal complaint, Jimenez-Ibanez returned to the United States and was convicted in 2023 of assault with a deadly weapon in Riverside County.

    Criminal complaints and indictments contain allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    The illegal re-entry cases filed as part of the past week’s immigration enforcement activities are being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations.

    The FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the United States Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service provided substantial support during the enforcement activities this week.

    The criminal cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys in the Domestic Security and Immigration Crimes Section and the General Crimes Section.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pulled Over for a Suspended Driver’s License, Convicted Felon Faces Up to 15 Years for Possessing Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    PORTLAND, Maine: A Millinocket man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

    According to court records, in March 2023, an officer with the East Millinocket Police Department ran a registration check on a vehicle and discovered that it was registered to someone with a suspended driver’s permit. The officer stopped the vehicle, and a confrontation ensued between the officer and the driver, Jeffrey Barnard, 61. Barnard was arrested with the assistance of a second officer and a private citizen. As he was searched, a .22 caliber revolver was found in his jacket pocket. Barnard is precluded from possessing a firearm due an extensive criminal history, which includes a 2017 conviction in the U.S. District Court for being a felon in possession of a firearm in a case that stemmed from an armed standoff with police in Ellsworth.

    Barnard faces up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum $250,000 fine to be followed by up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case with assistance from the East Millinocket Police Department.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Saddle Road reopens after earlier serious crash

    Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

    Saddle Road has reopened following a serious crash this morning.

    The road,  between Woodville and Ashhurst, closed around 11am and a detour was put in place through Pahiatua Track.

    The Serious Crash Unit has now finished its scene investigation.

    While the road is now open, please drive to the conditions and expect delays while congestion eases.

    NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi appreciated everyone’s patience taking the detour and their understanding during the closure.

    Meanwhile, a reminder a stretch of SH3 at the Vogel Street / Woodlands Road bend remains closed as the new Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū-Tararua Highway roundabout is completed.

    The road is closed 24/7 and is expected to reopen by Sunday 30 March.

    Two detours are in place – through Pinfold and Oxford Roads for light vehicles and through Pahiatua Track via Tay and Station streets in Woodville for heavy vehicles exceeding 30 tonnes in weight.

    The detours are expected to add less than 5 minutes to the journey times for light vehicles and up to 20 minutes for heavy vehicles.

    Additional option for freight

    Heavy vehicles, up to 30 tonnes in weight, are also able to take the Saddle Road detour. If the weight of the vehicle exceeds 30 tonnes, the Pahiatua Track should be used. The reason for this restriction is the Oxford Road bridge and corresponding weight limit.

    For heavy vehicles using the Pahiatua Track, a temporary addendum has been issued allowing HPMV permit holders to use the section of SH57 between Aokautere and Ashhurst during the Woodville closure.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Call for Proposals: Shaping Resilience: Women’s Role in the Private Sector

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    UNDRR is the United Nations’ focal point for the coordination of disaster risk reduction, working with countries and a broad range of partners and stakeholders to support the implementation, monitoring and review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in coherence with the 2030 Agenda and other instruments, for the multi-hazard management of disaster risk in development and the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses.

    UNDRR issues grants, in line with UN Financial Regulations and Rules, to apolitical and not profit-making organizations to facilitate, implement, or carry out activities related to UNDRR’s and the partner’s mandates and work programmes.

    To this end, UNDRR invites non-profit organizations with more than 10 years of operation, with demonstrable experience in disaster risk reduction or sustainable development teams and that have developed projects in gender and private sector teams in Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador to submit grant proposals that focus on the project described below.

    A. Rationale

    This project addresses the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles within the private sector, particularly in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate action in Central America. Despite progress in gender equality, only 37.3% of managerial roles in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are occupied by women, limiting their influence in shaping resilience strategies.

    The private sector plays a pivotal role in DRR efforts; however, gender considerations are often overlooked in policies and actions. By focusing on Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, this initiative aims to empower women leaders by providing them with essential knowledge, tools, and networks necessary for integrating gender-responsive DRR strategies into private sector operations. Women bring significant value to enhancing resilience within the private sector through their leadership skills, strategic decision-making capabilities, and adaptability. Their contributions are vital for fostering a resilient and equitable business environment. Therefore, supporting and empowering women in leadership roles is crucial.

    To maximize impact and scalability, this project leverages existing leadership within the ARISE network-where nearly 70% of regional networks are led by women-positioning it as a catalyst for change that can effectively promote gender equity while enhancing business resilience across Central America.

    B. Purpose

    This project aims to empower women to take on leadership roles in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate actions within the private sector. It focuses on documenting best practices, strengthening women’s leadership capacities, and fostering regional collaboration to address gender disparities. Through participatory workshops, research, and knowledge-sharing activities across Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, the initiative promotes inclusive resilience strategies that prioritize women’s roles within businesses. By aligning with global frameworks like the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 on gender equality and SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth for all and building upon the Paris Agreement’s commitment to integrate gender equality into climate action; this project seeks to have a significant social impact by supporting women in protecting productive assets from disasters while promoting employment generation and enhancing the social function of businesses.

    C. Outcome

    • Enhanced the leadership skills of women in strategic decision-making for business continuity planning and disaster risk reduction.
    • Increased visibility and documentation of gender-responsive DRR practices.
    • Enhanced regional collaboration on DRR through shared learning and cross-sector dialogue.
    • Development of actionable recommendations for integrating gender considerations into private sector DRR strategies.
    • Integrating gender considerations into business operations to contribute to sustainable development goals at the enterprise level.

    D. Output

    • Three documented case studies highlighting women’s contributions to disaster resilience and business continuity.
    • Survey analysis report capturing key insights from at least 80 respondents on challenges and opportunities for women in DRR leadership.
    • Capacity-building workshop training at least 15 women leaders in DRR strategies and business continuity planning.
    • High-level knowledge exchange event with at least 40 participants fostering collaboration on gender and DRR.
    • Comprehensive learning resource guide for private sector stakeholders, distributed to at least 50 key actors.
    • Widespread dissemination of materials reaching at least 200 stakeholders through digital platforms and ARISE networks.

    E. Suggested activities

    The following activities must involve the participation and collection of information, from at least the three primary countries in the project: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

    1. Good Practices Documentation: Conduct field research and stakeholder consultations to identify and document gender responsive DRR practices, ensuring that at least two documented practices are collected for each primary country involved in the project. It is necessary to gather information on the organizations involved, including investment in the practice, location, timeline, scope, key stakeholders, multimedia materials, challenges and setbacks, barriers, implemented activities, impact and results, and lessons learned.
    2. Survey Analysis: Conduct a regional survey with at least 80 respondents to assess perceptions, challenges, and opportunities in gender and DRR leadership.
    3. Capacity-Building Workshop: Organize a tailored leadership workshop to enhance women’s skills in DRR, climate resilience, and business continuity.
    4. Knowledge Exchange Event: Support the organization of a high-level roundtable at the ARISE Americas and Caribbean Forum in May 2025 featuring of a representative from the National Government of Honduras to discuss project findings and best practices.
    5. Development of Learning Resources: Produce a comprehensive guide outlining gender-responsive DRR strategies and disseminate among regional stakeholders.
    6. Creation of Dissemination Materials: Develop communication materials, policy briefs, and outreach materials for broad stakeholder engagement.

    F. Resources

    The project requires USD 70,000 from UNDRR to successfully implement its activities, which include the activities described in section E.

    The Selected NGO is expected to contribute key resources essential for the project’s success, including the allocation of workspaces for the project team, back-office support, and access to meeting facilities for coordination and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, the provision of relevant reports, studies, and data from previous projects-particularly those related to gender and capacity-building efforts-will be crucial for informed decision-making. The Selected NGO’s institutional influence will also play a vital role in strengthening the project’s impact by facilitating connections with key stakeholders. These contributions will serve as in-kind co-financing, enhancing the project’s implementation capacity and alignment with existing initiatives.

    G. Elements specific to the project that the grantee should know

    All International and national non-governmental organizations that wish to be considered for partnership opportunities with UNDRR will need to register and create a profile on the United Nations Partner Portal (UNPP). Following verification of the profile information, partners will be eligible to apply to partnership opportunities with UNDRR as well as the UN Secretariat and all other participating UN Organizations.

    We encourage you to start the registration as soon as possible to avoid delays. Only registered organizations whose profile has been successfully verified will be considered eligible partners to apply for grant opportunities with UNDRR. For more details on registration procedures please visit the UN Section of UNPP.

    Furthermore, the United Nations system requires all partners to be assessed regarding their capacity to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse. UNDRR encourages implementing partners to use the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) module in the UNPP. For more information please see the PSEA Module User Guide.

    H. Budget and administrative-related aspects

    The duration of the proposed project cannot exceed 10 months. The maximum amount requested from UNDRR for the implementation of this project cannot exceed USD 70,000. The project proposal must not exceed 10 pages (attachments such as scanned copies of entity’s registration, CVs of staff etc. do not count). For this purpose, please fill in duly all the sections of the application form, include the required documents (scanned copy of NGO/IGO’s registration certificate, CVs of staff etc.) and budget excel sheets, and send the complete application package (application form, budget excel sheets, entity registration certificate, CVs of staff, etc.) to the following email address: [email protected] cc: [email protected], [email protected].

    Deadline for applications: 10 March 2025, midnight New York, USA EST (Eastern Standard Time). Incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered. 

    Projects’ activities can include, amongst others, the following: seminars, workshops, trainings; capacity building activities; institutional strengthening activities; and advocacy. 

    The following types of activity will not be covered: capital expenditure, e.g. land, buildings, equipment and vehicles; individual scholarships for studies or training courses; supporting political parties; and sub-contracting. 

    Due to the number of applications, only short-listed applicants will be notified. 

    Please note that the grant payment schedule will be determined with the selected grantee when finalizing the agreement. UNDRR standard practice is not to exceed 40% of the requested amount upon signature of the grant agreement; remaining payments made based on a schedule of payments linked to production of project milestones and the final payment, 20%, will be paid after the end of the project, once final documents have been received, verified and approved by UNDRR. 

    Refund of grants: UNDRR may request organizations to refund, either in part or in whole any amounts paid in respect of a grant when: the project was not implemented in full or in part; the grant was spent for ineligible expenditures other than those mentioned in the budget proposal submitted to, and approved by UNDRR; no narrative, financial or audit report was submitted within the deadline established by the grant agreement; a narrative report and/or a financial report submitted was determined to be unsatisfactory; a negative evaluation of the project by UNDRR; any other valid reason provided by the UNDRR.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Clay County Man Pleads Guilty To Possessing A Loaded Firearm As A Convicted Felon

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Jacksonville, Florida –Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces that Toby Harris (46, Clay County) has pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Harris faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and forfeiture of a CANIK 9mm pistol and ammunition used in the offense. No sentencing date has been set.   

    According to court documents, on August 27, 2024, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) received a call about a reckless driver on Blanding Boulevard. After locating the car and arresting the driver for DUI, the CCSO advised Harris, who was a passenger, that the car would be towed. As the CCSO prepared the car for towing, Harris repeatedly approached the car and was told by law enforcement to stay away from the vehicle. Ignoring law enforcement, Harris went to the front driver’s side wheel well and then walked to a grassy area. A deputy walked toward Harris and located a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol laying on the ground, directly where Harris was previously standing. Examination of the firearm determined it contained six rounds of ammunition with one round chambered in the barrel. At the time, Harris had multiple prior felony convictions which prohibits him from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.

    This case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Jacksonville Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Halifax Gang Member Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison After Being Found With A Stolen AR-15 Rifle Loaded With 30 Rounds of Ammunition

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Roanoke Rapids man was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon after he was found in possession of a stolen AR-15 rifle loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition. On August 21, 2024, Shelvy Travon Edwards, age 29, pled guilty to the charges.

    According to court documents and other information presented in court, on September 12, 2023, Halifax County Sheriff’s Deputies and Roanoke Rapids Police Officers received a community tip that Edwards was in the parking lot of an apartment complex and was armed. Officers were looking for Edwards because there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. When law enforcement arrived, they saw Edwards move a long, dark colored object towards the center console of the vehicle he was seated in prior to fleeing on foot and leaving the car door open. Two officers pursued Edwards and quickly apprehended him with the assistance of a K-9 officer.  Two other officers secured the scene and determined that the object Edwards had placed near the center console was a fully loaded AR-15 rifle. A review of the serial number later determined that it was stolen. Edwards has prior felony convictions in North Carolina and Virginia that prohibit him from legally possessing a firearm. The felonies include conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon (NC), and unlawful wounding (VA).

    Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and the Roanoke Rapids Police Department  investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phil Aubart  prosecuted the case.

    Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:24-CR-15-M-RN.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Company acquitted in workplace fatality

    Source: Government of Canada regional news (2)

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Pilot Projects on Hydrogen Fuelled Buses and Trucks Launched under the National Green Hydrogen Mission

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 03 MAR 2025 5:31PM by PIB Delhi

    As part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Government has initiated five pilot projects for using Hydrogen in buses and trucks. Earlier the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had issued guidelines for implementing Pilot projects in the Transport Sector under this Mission.

    Accordingly, the proposals were invited for different types of hydrogen-based vehicles, routes, and hydrogen refueling stations. After detailed scrutiny, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has sanctioned five pilot projects consisting total of 37 vehicles (buses and trucks), and 9 hydrogen refueling stations. The vehicles that will be deployed for the trial include 15 hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles and 22 hydrogen internal combustion engine-based vehicles. These vehicles will run on 10 different routes across the country viz., Greater Noida – Delhi – Agra, Bhubaneshwar – Konark – Puri, Ahmedabad – Vadodara – Surat, Sahibabad – Faridabad – Delhi, Pune – Mumbai, Jamshedpur – Kalinga Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram – Kochi, Kochi – Edappally, Jamnagar – Ahmedabad, and NH-16 Visakhapatnam – Bayyavaram. The above projects are awarded to major companies like TATA Motors Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited, NTPC, ANERT, Ashok Leyland, HPCL, BPCL, and IOCL.

    The total financial support for selected projects made available will be around Rs. 208 Crore from the Government of India. These pilot projects are likely to be commissioned in the next 18-24 months, paving the way to the scaleup of such technologies in India.

    The thrust area for providing support under the scheme is the development of commercially viable technologies for the utilization of hydrogen in the transport sector as fuel in buses and trucks and Supporting infrastructure like Hydrogen refueling stations.

    One of the objectives of the Mission is to support the deployment of Green Hydrogen as fuel in buses and trucks, in a phased manner on a pilot basis. These pilot projects can demonstrate safe and secure operations, assess the effectiveness of hydrogen-based vehicles and refueling stations, validate technical feasibility and performance, and evaluate their economic viability, thereby leading to hydrogen-based vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations under real-world operational conditions.

    The Scheme Guidelines for the implementation of Pilot projects for use of Green Hydrogen in the Transport Sector under the NGHM can be accessed here.

    The National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched on 04th January 2023 with an outlay of Rs. 19,744 crores up to FY 2029-30. It will contribute to India’s goal to become Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) through clean energy and serve as an inspiration for the global Clean Energy Transition. The Mission will lead to significant decarbonization of the economy, reduced dependence on fossil fuel imports, and enable India to assume technology and market leadership in Green Hydrogen.

    Reference:

    https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1999676

    https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2006052

    ****

    Navin Sreejith 

    (Release ID: 2107795) Visitor Counter : 181

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Increase in drug trafficking in Europe and its impact on young people – E-000808/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000808/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Nadine Morano (PPE)

    On 5 November 2024, EUR 1.2 million was seized from a vehicle as part of an anti-drug operation in Marseille. According to the European Union Drug Agency’s 2022 European Drug Report, 362 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Europe, up from 213 tonnes in 2020, the first time the haul was bigger in Europe than in the United States[1].

    In addition, more and more young people are involved in drug trafficking and the number of adolescents accused of drug-related homicide is on the rise.

    In 2023, 60% of victims of drug-related violence in France were under 25 years old[2]. These figures illustrate the increase in drug trafficking in Europe as well as its impact on young people in France and elsewhere in Europe.

    Against this backdrop:

    • 1.What action is the Commission taking to combat this increase in drug trafficking and to stop drugs reaching Europe?
    • 2.How will the Commission limit young people’s exposure to and recruitment into drug trafficking?

    Submitted: 21.2.2025

    • [1] European Drugs Agency, ‘Understanding Europe’s drug situation in 2024 – key developments’, European Drug Report 2024 https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/european-drug-report/2024/drug-situation-in-europe-up-to-2024_en
    • [2] Thomas Saintourens, ‘Trafic de drogue : pourquoi la France atteint un point critique’, Le Monde, 17 November 2024, https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/11/17/trafic-de-drogue-pourquoi-la-france-atteint-un-point-critique_6398366_3224.html
    Last updated: 3 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: $245.3 Million Recovered for New Yorkers in 2024

    Source: US State of New York

    n honor of National Consumer Protection Week, Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services, Department of Public Service and the New York Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection secured more than $245 million in recoveries and restitution for New Yorkers in 2024. This builds on efforts by the Department of Public Service and the New York Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection, which assisted 71,000 New York households with a variety of consumer protection matters, returning $17.3 million to consumers in 2024, up more than 78 percent from $9.7 million in 2023. These efforts reflect the Governor’s ongoing commitment to consumer protection and affordability, including strengthening oversight of financial products, cracking down on predatory fees and ensuring transparency in emerging lending models. Governor Hochul also proposed a suite of consumer protection items in her State of the State and FY26 Executive Budget that seek to protect consumers shopping online, crack down on exploitative practices and regulate emerging industries.

    “The federal government may be taking aim at consumer protection regulations, but New York State is doubling down — recovering more than $245 million in 2024,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m fighting to put more money in New Yorkers’ pockets, and that means taking a hard line against fraud, deception and predatory pricing practices that make it harder for families to get by.”

    New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS)

    DFS’s Consumer Assistance Unit (CAU) plays a critical role in protecting New Yorkers, addressing more than 46,000 complaints in 2024 alone. The CAU works directly with consumers to resolve disputes, investigate claim denials and hold financial institutions accountable. New Yorkers who need assistance with disputes involving banks, insurance companies or other financial service providers can visit dfs.ny.gov/complaint or call (800) 342-3736.

    As financial services rapidly change, Governor Hochul is ensuring consumer protections keep pace with innovation. This includes addressing emerging risks in Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) programs and unfair overdraft fees, both of which are key priorities of her FY26 Executive Budget.

    BNPL services have surged in popularity, with U.S. consumers spending $18.2 billion through these programs during the 2024 holiday season. While they offer flexibility, they often lack clear repayment terms and consumer protections found in traditional credit products. To close these gaps, Governor Hochul’s FY26 Executive Budget advances measures to bring BNPL providers under proper oversight by DFS, ensuring transparency and fair lending practices.

    At the same time, DFS recently proposed new regulations to curb unfair overdraft fees. These regulations, which align with the Governor’s broader consumer protection agenda, would ensure that consumers aren’t charged for minor transactions and receive timely notifications to improve transparency and fairness in banking.

    New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris said, “At DFS, protecting consumers is at the core of what we do. Recovering record amounts for New Yorkers each year reflects our commitment to ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability in financial services.”

    New York State Department of Public Service (DPS)

    DPS fielded more than 42,000 consumer complaint calls, handled approximately 20,000 consumer inquiries and complaints, and returned nearly $13 million in utility consumer refunds, an increase of 75 percent from 2023.

    In 2024, the Public Service Commission levied $23.5 million in financial penalties against five utilities for failing to meet 2023 customer service standards. The Commission also secured $115 million cumulatively from utility shareholders in enforcement proceedings against utilities that violated the Public Service Law, or regulations.

    In this year’s State of the State, the Governor has proposed closing a loophole that does not obligate Energy Service Companies to return unclaimed funds to New Yorkers. Once enacted, this proposal will ensure New Yorkers are able to receive every penny owed to them.

    The DPS Office of Consumer Services monitors the number and types of complaints received against all utilities operating in New York State to ensure that utilities fulfill their obligation to provide effective customer service in compliance with the laws, rules, regulations and policies. Each month, the Office makes public a detailed overview of complaint activity and utility responsiveness that is informative to both consumers and utility companies (visit dps.ny.gov and search for matter no. 19-00950).

    New York State Public Service Commission Chair Rory M. Christian said, “The PSC and Department of Public Service are committed to protecting New Yorkers by ensuring all industries we regulate are in full compliance with consumer protection laws and regulations. Inaccurate utility billing can lead to significant customer overcharges, which the Department works to get refunded back to affected customers.”

    New York State Department of State (DOS)

    The New York State Division of Consumer Protection provides education, advocacy and mediation services to help consumers make informed decisions and protect themselves from fraud and unfair business practices.

    DOS assisted nearly 29,000 New York households with a variety of marketplace disputes, returning more than $2.3 million to consumers. In addition, DOS’s Do Not Call investigation and enforcement work resulted in settlements with seven telemarketing companies and the collection of nearly $1.2 million in fines in 2024, and it advanced cost effective and quality electric, gas, telephone and cable service by representing consumers at 23 utility rate and policy proceedings before State and federal regulators.

    The top five categories of consumer complaints received by DOS in 2024:

    1. Refunds/Store Policy: Complaints related to refunds and store policies, including return policies, restocking fees and refunds for damaged goods.
    2. Orders/Deliveries: Complaints related to the order and delivery of goods purchased, including missing items, incorrect items received, late or delayed delivery or items never shipped.
    3. Merchandise/Product: Complaints related to merchandise or products that did not meet consumers’ expectations.
    4. Credit Cards: Complaints related to erroneous charges, billing, card benefits and illegal surcharges.
    5. Travel: Complaints related to travel and tour reservations, travel agents, accommodations and lodging, and transportation including airlines, cruises and rental cars.

    As part of this year’s State of the State, Governor Hochul proposed legislation to require retail sellers to offer a minimum 30-day return window for various products unless otherwise specified. Additionally, Governor Hochul proposed first-in-the-nation legislation that requires businesses to notify online shoppers when prices are set based on their personal data. To further protect consumers, Governor Hochul proposed additional legislation to ensure cancellation processes are simple, transparent and fair, ensuring that it is just as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up.

    The DOS Division of Consumer Protection’s mission is to assist, protect, educate and represent consumers in an ever-changing economy. The Division of Consumer Protection works hard to assist individuals aggrieved in the marketplace through its complaint mediation efforts, along with educating the public on marketplace scams, and advocating consumers’ interest before legislative and regulatory bodies.

    New York State Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “The Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection is proud to have helped return over $2.3 million to New Yorkers and will continue to protect consumers from deceptive and dangerous business practices in goods and services. We’re working every day to educate the public about the latest scams, how to shop smart to protect their money and stay informed of their rights in order to create a more economically affordable and equitable New York.”

    Through these initiatives, Governor Hochul reaffirms her commitment to empowering and protecting New Yorkers, ensuring a fair, transparent and secure financial marketplace for all.

    For free consumer assistance, visit dos.ny.gov/consumer-protection or call the Consumer Assistance Helpline at (800) 697-1220.

    State Senator Rachel May said, “Our Department of Financial Services has recovered millions of dollars for consumers, demonstrating our commitment to protecting New Yorkers from scams. I want to thank Governor Hochul for her dedication to preventing exploitation in the marketplace. As chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, I share this commitment and will work to promote a fair economy where consumers get what they pay for and where bad actors are held accountable.”

    Assemblymember Nily Rozic said, “Returning over $245 million to consumers and health care providers is a critical step in protecting New Yorkers from financial harm. Unfair fees and predatory practices create real barriers to financial stability, making it harder for people to get ahead or even stay afloat. By ensuring fairness and transparency, these efforts will help ease that burden and build a stronger, more equitable financial system.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Validated Bloods Gang Member Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Possessing a Firearm as a Convicted Felon

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WILMINGTON, N.C. – Jamari Tyrek Ishman, age 24, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Ishman pled guilty to the charge on November 20, 2024.

    According to court records and evidence presented at sentencing, Ishman was stopped by the Edenton Police Department for an expired registration violation on March 16, 2024. The officer detected an odor of marijuana and saw an open bottle of wine in the passenger seat. The officer also saw that Ishman had a juvenile passenger in the car. Based on the odor and open container, the officer asked Ishman and his juvenile passenger to exit the car. Once out of the car, the officer noticed Ishman had a red bandana in his back pocket, believed to reflect Ishman’s validated status as a member of the Bloods street gang. The officer searched Ishman and found a firearm magazine in his pants pocket. Ishman initially denied that there was a gun in the vehicle that matched the magazine, however, he ultimately admitted that there was a gun under the seat. The officer searched the vehicle and found a 9mm handgun with an extended magazine under the seat. The officer also found a pill bottle with a small amount of marijuana inside.

    Ishman is a previously convicted felon prohibited from legally possessing a firearm. His felony convictions include assault inflicting serious bodily injury on a detention employee in 2021 as well as multiple convictions in 2019 for breaking and entering.

    The conviction is a result of the ongoing Violent Crime Action Plan (VCAP) initiative which is a collaborative effort with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, working with the community, to identify and address the most significant drivers of violent crime. VCAP involves focused and strategic enforcement, and interagency coordination and intelligence-led policing.

    Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. Agencies involved in the investigation include the Edenton Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Dixon is prosecuting the case.

    Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for case number: 2:24-cr-00024-M-BM.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General Urges All Efforts to Prevent Renewed Hostilities as Gaza Ceasefire’s First Phase Ends

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

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

    The Secretary-General is closely following developments in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory as the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal reaches its conclusion.  The past six weeks have provided a fragile but vital reprieve, offering a measure of relief to both Palestinians and Israelis. Thousands of trucks carrying life-saving assistance entered Gaza, with aid having reached nearly every person in the Strip.  It is imperative that all efforts be made to prevent a return to hostilities, which would be catastrophic.

    The Secretary-General urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint and find a way forward on the next phase.  A permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages are essential to preventing escalation and averting more devastating consequences for civilians.  The Secretary-General continues to call for the dignified, immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.  The parties must ensure humane treatment for all those held under their power.  Humanitarian aid must continue to flow, without impediment, be adequately funded, and occur in an environment ensuring the safety and security of civilians and other protected persons, including humanitarian workers.

    The Secretary-General also calls for an urgent de-escalation of the alarming situation in the occupied West Bank.

    As Ramadan — a time of peace and reflection — begins, the Secretary-General calls on all sides to spare no efforts to end all violence.  The United Nations stands ready to support all such endeavours.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Cartel Boss Tied to Southlake Murder-for-Hire Among Defendants Expelled From Mexico

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

    Among the 29 cartel bosses expelled from Mexico and transferred to the custody of the United States on Thursday was Northern District of Texas defendant Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, aka “El Gato,” announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad Meacham. 

    Mr. Villarreal Hernandez, a Mexican national who held a high-level position in the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) Drug Cartel, was charged in June 2018 with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the brutal slaying of a 43-year-old Southlake, Texas lawyer in 2013. 

    He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in October 2020 and arrested by Mexican law enforcement agents in Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico in January 2023.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his successful extradition yesterday, pledging to prosecute all extradited cartel bosses “to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels.” 

    Mr. Villarreal Hernandez will make his initial appearance in federal court next week.

    According to evidence presented at the trial of his coconspirators, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez allegedly directed and financed a multi-year effort to locate and assassinate his victim, an attorney with ties to a rival cartel. Testimony revealed that Mr. Villarreal Hernandez allegedly believed the attorney was involved with the death of Mr. Villarreal Hernandez’s father and wanted revenge. 

    The victim was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle outside an upscale shopping center in  Southlake on May 22, 2013. His wife was standing near the driver’s side door when her husband was killed. 

    Three men who, acting on orders from Mr. Villarreal Hernandez, tracked the victim prior to his death were convicted and sentenced in 2016: Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes and Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda were convicted at trial of interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire; Mr. Cepeda-Cortez was also convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings. Both men received life sentences. Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, son of Mr. Ledezma-Cepeda, pleaded guilty prior to trial to one count of interstate stalking and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

    A fourth defendant, Ramon Villarreal-Hernandez, the brother of Jose Rodolfo, was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States in 2020. He pleaded guilty to interstate stalking in June 2022 and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

    According to the U.S. State Department, in addition to allegedly ordering the Southlake murder, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez is believed to have overseen the importation of large quantities of cocaine into the United States as well as committing violent acts within the Republic of Mexico and the United States to maintain his organization’s power and status.

    “After more than a decade, Mr. Villarreal Hernandez will have to answer for his alleged crimes in an American courtroom,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “Since the victim was gunned down in a public parking lot in 2013, law enforcement’s commitment to this case has never wavered. I extend my sincere thanks to the federal, state, local, and international partners who have pulled together to ensure this defendant will be brought to justice.”

    “FBI Dallas and the Southlake Police Department have been determined to bring this individual to justice since he orchestrated a brutal murder in one of the many communities we serve in North Texas,” said R. Joseph Rothrock, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Dallas Field Office. “We would like to thank the United States Marshals Service for ensuring that Villarreal-Hernandez arrived safely and is now in federal custody on U.S. soil.”

    “An investigative success such as this one does not come easily or through individual efforts.  Policing is a team sport,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. “We are proud to stand hand-in-hand with our colleagues from the FBI to secure Villarreal Hernández’ indictment, arrest, and transfer.  Violence and drug trafficking are evil bedfellows, but together we will ensure communities remain safe and criminals face justice.”

    An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. Villarreal Hernandez is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

    The statutory maximum penalty for interstate stalking is life in prison; the statutory maximum for the murder-for-hire charge is life in prison or death.

    The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division, with assistance from the Southlake Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Grapevine Police Department. The  Mexican Secretariat of the Navy, Fiscalía Generalde la República (FGR), Coordinación Nacional Antisecuestro (CONASE) coordinated in the arrest of Mr. Villarreal-Hernandez.  The U.S. Marshal Service for the Northern District of Texas assisted in securing the defendant upon his arrival in Texas. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Mexico City, and the U.S. Marshals Mexico City Foreign Field Office provided valuable assistance.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Burgess (fmr) and Aisha Saleem prosecuted the case against Mr. Luis Cepeda-Cortes, Mr. Ledezma-Cepeda, and Mr. Ledezma-Campano. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn Smith and Laura Montes are prosecuting the case against Mr. Villarreal Hernandez.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Denis Manturov held a meeting on the development of the automotive industry

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    Denis Manturov held a meeting on the development of the automotive industry.

    First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov held a meeting on the prospects for the development of the automotive industry until 2035. Currently, interested departments, on behalf of the First Deputy Prime Minister, are already preparing their proposals to update the Strategy for the Development of the Automotive Industry of the Russian Federation until 2035, approved at the end of 2022. Let us recall that the possibility of updating is provided for by the document itself.

    “It is important to conduct joint work of all departments and ensure the interrelation of the developed updates to the industry strategy for the development of the automotive industry with both the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation – in terms of infrastructure development and balance with other types of transport, and with the Energy Strategy – in terms of the use of traditional and alternative types of fuel,” noted Denis Manturov.

    The event, which took place at the Government Coordination Centre, was attended by Deputy Prime Ministers Alexander Novak and Vitaly Savelyev, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other federal and regional executive bodies, as well as leading companies in the industry.

    Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov spoke about the factors and prerequisites that, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, could have the greatest impact on the development of the domestic automobile industry in the period 2035–2050. Among the key factors is the expansion of the use of alternative fuels in the industry.

    “In the strategic aspect of the development of the domestic auto industry, the further introduction of transport on environmentally friendly fuel is a priority for us. We already have state support measures in place for the conversion of equipment to gas motor fuel, as well as measures stimulating the production of electric transport. The development of commercial transport on liquefied natural gas and hydrogen is currently being discussed. The use of these types of fuel improves the environment, helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and meets the climate goals of achieving carbon neutrality by the Russian Federation by 2060,” said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade identified the further development of the sharing economy, an increase in the share of electric transport and driverless cars as other factors that will influence the appearance of the Russian auto industry.

    The meeting participants also agreed to work out options for fine-tuning government support measures, thanks to which the promising image of the domestic auto industry will be formed.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Nuclear energy watchdog chief raises ‘serious’ safety concerns over sites in Ukraine and Iran

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Peace and Security

    In his latest address to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Monday, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned of the escalating nuclear safety risks in Ukraine as the conflict grinds on.

    Reaffirming the UN-backed IAEA’s commitment to monitoring facilities such as the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), he described how facilities were performing under extreme conditions.

    “The electrical grid’s ability to provide a reliable off-site power supply to Ukrainian NPPs was reduced by damage sustained following military attacks in November and December 2024,” Mr. Grossi stated, underscoring the ongoing strain on national energy infrastructure, in the face of Russia’s ongoing invasion.

    © IAEA

    A team of IAEA experts visits Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine in June 2024.

    Direct attacks on staff

    Direct attacks have complicated the agency’s work. The Director General described a drone strike that severely damaged an IAEA vehicle during a routine rotation.

    “Staff survived this unacceptable attack unharmed, but the rear of the vehicle was destroyed,” he said, noting the continuous risks faced by staff working in these volatile conditions.

    Particularly concerning is the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where six reactor units remain in cold shutdown. The facility’s off-site power supply continues to be vulnerable.

    Mr. Grossi highlighted a recent incident in which ZNPP relied on a single off-site power line after losing its remaining backup, further underscoring the fragility of the plant.

    Meanwhile, an attack on the Chernobyl site nearly three weeks ago, which caused significant damage to the protective structure of the 1986 reactor, was also addressed.

    While no radioactive release occurred, Mr. Grossi stressed that the attack “underlines the persistent risk to nuclear safety during this military conflict.”

    © IAEA

    Fire on the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant site following a drone attack on 14 February 2025.

    Support for safety efforts

    Despite the challenges, Mr. Grossi reaffirmed the IAEA’s ongoing support for Ukraine.

    Since November 2024, the Agency has delivered 31 shipments of nuclear safety, security and medical equipment, totalling over €15.6 million in value.

    “We are grateful to all 30 donor states and the European Union for their extrabudgetary contributions,” Mr. Grossi added, urging continued support for the comprehensive assistance programme.

    Concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme

    Mr. Grossi also reported fresh concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, especially its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 per cent.

    Iran remains the only non-nuclear weapon State enriching uranium to this level, raising significant concerns over potential weapons development.

    “Iran says it has declared all nuclear material, activities and locations required under its NPT Safeguards Agreement. However, this statement is inconsistent with the Agency’s findings of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at undeclared locations in Iran,” Mr. Grossi explained.

    The Director General emphasised the need for greater transparency, stressing that unresolved safeguards issues must be addressed for Iran’s nuclear activities to be deemed peaceful.

    He called on Iran to urgently implement the Joint Statement of March 2023 and engage in serious dialogue aimed at resolving outstanding issues.

    Global safety initiatives

    Mr. Grossi also outlined the IAEA’s broader initiatives, including his recent visit to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, where he oversaw the collection of water samples related to the ongoing release of ALPS-treated contaminated water – in the wake of the major 2011 meltdown.

    “The IAEA has maintained its independent monitoring and analysis efforts, confirming that tritium concentrations in the discharged batches remain far below operational limits,” he noted.

    Looking ahead, the Director General highlighted key upcoming initiatives, such as the launch of the Atomic Technology Licensed for Applications at Sea (ATLAS) and the IAEA’s first International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Energy, which will take place in December 2025.

    A growing role in energy solutions

    With the global demand for energy rising, Mr. Grossi pointed to the growing role of nuclear power in addressing energy needs.

    “In the IAEA’s high case scenario, global nuclear electricity generating capacity is seen increasing two and a half times by 2050,” he said.

    However, the Director General stressed that such growth must be accompanied by public support and a continued commitment to safety.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Recognition of National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Bonta Releases California’s Top 10 Consumer Complaints

    Source: US State of California

    OAKLAND — In recognition of National Consumer Protection Week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today released 2024’s Top 10 Consumer Complaints and highlighted ongoing efforts to protect California consumers. The list released today includes the top consumer complaint categories the California Department of Justice (DOJ) has received in the last calendar year. Attorney General Bonta urges Californians to report misconduct or violations of state consumer protection laws to DOJ at oag.ca.gov/report. Complaints submitted by the public provide DOJ and sister agencies with important information about potential misconduct to help determine whether to investigate a business or individual.

    “California is a pillar of strong state consumer protection laws and an outspoken advocate for robust federal protections,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This National Consumer Protection Week, I urge Californians to help us further this work. If you see misconduct or are the victim of a scam, my office wants to know about it: I encourage consumers to immediately file a complaint online at oag.ca.gov/report. Whether protecting our kids online, stopping egregious bank fees, or cracking down on illegal price gouging, as the People’s Attorney, I am committed to going to the mat for California consumers.” 

    Top 10 Consumer Complaint Categories from 2024:

    1.    Social Media Platforms 
    2.    Online Retailers
    3.    Banks
    4.    Contractors
    5.    Landlord/Tenant Issues
    6.    Online Scams 
    7.    Debt Collection 
    8.    Credit Reporting 
    9.    Telephonic Scams
    10.  Brick and Mortar Retail Sales

    Fighting to Keep More Money in the Pockets of Californians:

    Attorney General Bonta took on bad actors and archaic policies that hurt Californians pocketbooks. Last year, DOJ announced a $700 million multistate settlement with Johnson & Johnson for failing to disclose if asbestos was present in its talc products; secured a settlement with ticket reseller StubHub, Inc. for failing to pay timely refunds to Californians for canceled events during the COVID-19 pandemic; and sponsored successful legislation to protect Californians’ financial future by banning the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports.

    Last month, Attorney General Bonta supported lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Since its creation, the CFPB has actively worked to make the lives of everyday people better and has returned over $20 billion to Americans nationwide. The shuttering of the CFPB would cause catastrophic harm to consumer protections, leaving no federal oversight over large banks, and saddling state agencies with the sole responsibility to protect consumers from conduct regulated by the CFPB.

    Putting Social Media Companies on Notice:

    In response to a dramatic uptick of consumer complaints, last March, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to Meta expressing deep concern regarding the increase in account takeovers and lockouts on Facebook and Instagram and the inadequacy of the company’s response to prevent and address consumer harm from these takeovers. The letter asked Meta to take immediate action to increase mitigation tactics and respond to users whose accounts have been taken over.

    Sticking up for Students: 

    In the last year, Attorney General Bonta continued to protect students by securing a decision that upheld a judgment against Ashford University for giving students false or misleading information about career outcomes, cost and financial aid, and transfer credits, as well as a $4.5 million settlement with University of Phoenix for aggressive and unlawful military student recruitment tactics. 

    Protecting Children Online:

    Attorney General Bonta continued to take action to create a safer internet for children and teens. In October 2024, DOJ filed a lawsuit against TikTok for harming young users and deceiving the public about the social media platform’s dangers; and secured a decision in his lawsuit against Meta that largely denies Meta’s attempt to evade responsibility for their role in the children’s mental health crisis. DOJ proudly supported legislation that would put consumers in control of their relationship with social media, like SB 976 (Skinner), recently enacted legislation which interrupts the ability of social media companies to use addictive design features, and AB 56 (Bauer-Kahan), newly proposed legislation that would require warning labels on social media platforms. 

    Advancing Your Data Privacy Rights: 

    In January, Attorney General Bonta reminded Californians of their right to stop or “opt-out” of the sale and sharing of their personal information under the California law, and encouraged consumers to consider familiarizing themselves with the Global Privacy Control (GPC), an easy-to-use browser setting or extension that allows consumers to take back control of their personal data. 

    Last year, Attorney General Bonta announced a settlement with DoorDash for violating California privacy laws by selling its customers’ personal information; and worked with local partners to secure a settlement with a video game developer for illegally collecting and sharing children’s data. 

    Scram, Scams! 

    Attorney General Bonta continued educating and warning consumers about financially harmful and widespread AI-generated scams, toll booth scams, romance scams, and package delivery text-based scams; and continued the fight against annoying and illegal robocalls, which are often a vehicle for scams.

    Setting the Record Straight on AI:

    In January, Attorney General Bonta issued two legal advisories, reminding consumers of their rights, and advising businesses and healthcare entities who develop, sell, or use artificial intelligence (AI) about their obligations under California law. Many consumers and patients are not aware of when and how AI systems are used in their lives or by institutions that they rely on.

    Businesses use AI systems to evaluate consumers’ credit risk and guide loan decisions, screen tenants for rentals, and target consumers with ads and offers, as such, must comply with California consumer protection laws.

    Tackling Price Gouging During a Natural Disaster: 

    In the wake of Los Angeles Fires, Californians should be coming together to help our neighbors, not attempting to profit off their pain. DOJ takes its duty to protect the public from price gouging, rental bidding, and unsolicited property offers by predatory buyers extremely seriously. In addition to sending over 700 warning letters to hotels and landlords, DOJ has several active investigations into price gouging and has announced price gouging charges against three Los Angeles real estate agents and a landlord (January 22, January 28, and February 18). These investigations are often the result of review of complaints received by DOJ.

    DOJ established the Disaster Relief Task Force to work closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement and regulatory partners; last month, DOJ collaborated with, Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto on misdemeanor price gouging charges against a homeowner and real estate agent who allegedly engaged in price gouging in violation of the law.

    For more tips and information on consumer protection, please visit https://oag.ca.gov/consumers. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: UPDATE – BCMI More Than Doubles Cloud-based Dispatch Footprint

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    REDMOND, Wash., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In 2024, BCMI Corp. celebrated 10 years in business, and another significant milestone. The technology leader and provider of cloud-based mobile software for concrete and bulk materials producers more than doubled its cloud-based ready-mix dispatch footprint across the U.S.

    Industry-leading companies have adopted BCMI’s cloud-based system, beginning with Smith Ready Mix in Valparaiso, Indiana, followed by many others including Miles Sand & Gravel, Geneva Rock and Sunroc (both Clyde Companies subsidiaries), BARD Materials and GCC. These producers and others have added BCMI’s dispatch as part of the end-to-end software platform that includes extensive operational and customer KPIs, quoting and sales tools, and customer invoicing.

    In 2025, BCMI expects its dispatch footprint to expand at an accelerated rate. Implementations are scheduled for large vertical materials producers, imi and Titan America as well as regional ready mix leaders including Consumers Concrete and Zignego.

    “One of the great advantages of BCMI Dispatch is that any change or update from our dispatchers and drivers is instantly shared across our company—and with our customers—through the BCMI mobile apps,” BARD Materials Vice President of Operations Chad Thier says. “BCMI truly partners with producers to shape a concrete dispatch system that leverages the best technology available, ensuring it meets the needs of the industry.”

    The BCMI Dispatch system has the advantage of being cloud-native, meaning it is developed using the most current technology rather than retrofitting older dispatch systems with hardware that must be maintained by producers. BCMI integrates with related systems, such as truck GPS and accounting programs, through API (Application Programming Interface) connections entirely in the cloud. This allows materials producers to choose their own best-in-class solution set to meet their business needs.

    “After an extensive, six-month evaluation, we concluded that BCMI’s combination of current product offerings, plus the opportunity to take part in the continued development of the product, was the best fit for what imi needs to service our customers and our internal teams,” imi President and CEO Pete Lyons says.

    BCMI’s leadership draws on more than 100 years of collective experience in serving the concrete and bulk materials market, making the team uniquely qualified to understand and address the needs of the industry. “We have all experienced the pain of struggling with outdated technology, and it makes us even more passionate about creating better tools for producers and contractors,” BCMI Vice President of Customer Success Janeen O’Dell says. “Things like mobile apps and eTicketing are old news in other industries, and there’s no reason our industry shouldn’t use them to make our day-to-day jobs easier.”

    According to BCMI Co-founder and CEO Craig Yeack, “Our product team is laser focused on innovation, including aggressive research and development of AI tools for materials producers. In the next few years, we’ll see accelerated growth in technology, faster than we’ve seen in decades. We look forward to being the industry’s trusted partner as we navigate these changes together.”

    About BCMI

    BCMI Corp.’s mobile software empowers bulk construction material producers to improve business processes. BCMI’s performance analytics, interactive communication tools and AI-assisted dispatch keep materials producers and contractors aligned with real-time business solutions. For more on our cloud-based BCMI Dispatch, Material Pro and Material Now apps, visit www.bcmicorp.com.

    Media Contact

    Jennifer Jensen, BCMI Media and PR Specialist: Jennifer.jensen@bcmicorp.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Offers Relief to West Virginia Businesses, Nonprofits and Residents Affected by February Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    WASHINGTON – In response to a Presidential disaster declaration issued Feb. 26, 2025, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the availability of low interest federal disaster loans for West Virginia businesses, nonprofits, and residents affected by the severe storm, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides occurring Feb. 15.

    The disaster declaration covers the primary counties of McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming, which are eligible for both Physical damage loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) from the SBA. Small businesses and most private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA EIDLs: Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wayne, as well as Martin and Pike in Kentucky, and Bland, Buchanan, Giles and Tazwell in Virginia.

    Businesses and nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans and may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.    

    Homeowners and renters are eligible to apply for home and personal property loans and may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances. Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.    

    Applicants may also be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements include strengthening structures to protect against high wind damage, upgrading to wind rated garage doors, and installing a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage.    

    “One distinct advantage of SBA’s disaster loan program is the opportunity to fund upgrades reducing the risk of future storm damage,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “I encourage businesses and homeowners to work with contractors and mitigation professionals to improve their storm readiness while taking advantage of SBA’s mitigation loans.”

    SBA’s EIDL program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs that suffered financial losses directly related to this disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business did not suffer any physical damage. They may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    Interest rates are as low as 4% for small businesses, 3.625% for PNPs, and 2.563% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms, based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    Beginning Monday, March 3, SBA customer service representatives will be on hand at the Business Recovery Center in Mercer County to answer questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process and help individuals complete their application. Walk-ins are accepted, but you can schedule an in-person appointment in advance at appointment.sba.gov. The BRC hours of operation is listed below:

    Business Recovery Center (BRC) 
    Mercer County

    Princeton Public Library

    920 Mercer Street

    Princeton, WV 24740

    Opening:   Monday – March 3, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    Hours: Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

    Closed: Sunday

    Disaster survivors should not wait to settle with their insurance company before applying for a disaster loan. If a survivor does not know how much of their loss will be covered by insurance or other sources, SBA can make a low-interest disaster loan for the total loss up to its loan limits, provided the borrower agrees to use insurance proceeds to reduce or repay the loan.

    With the changes to FEMA’s Sequence of Delivery, survivors are now encouraged to simultaneously apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest disaster loan assistance to fully recover.  FEMA grants are intended to cover necessary expenses and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources. The SBA disaster loan program is designed for your long-term recovery, to make you whole and get you back to your pre-disaster condition.  

    To apply online, visit SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.  

    The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is April 28, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Nov. 26, 2025.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: KVH Industries to Host Fourth Quarter/Year-end Conference Call on March 6, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIDDLETOWN, R.I., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — KVH Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: KVHI), will announce its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2024, on Thursday, March 6, 2025. In conjunction with the release, the company will conduct its investor conference call at 9:00 a.m. ET, hosted by Mr. Brent Bruun, CEO, and Mr. Anthony Pike, CFO.

    A live broadcast of the call will be available online at investors.kvh.com. In addition, an audio replay of the conference call will be available on the website for at least two weeks. To listen to the replay, visit investors.kvh.com starting three hours following the conclusion of the call. Investors who wish to submit questions during or following the call may do so to IR@kvh.com.

    About KVH Industries, Inc.

    KVH Industries, Inc. is a global leader in maritime and mobile connectivity delivered via the KVH ONE® network. The company, founded in 1982, is based in Middletown, RI, with research, development, and manufacturing operations in Middletown, RI, and more than a dozen offices around the globe. KVH provides connectivity solutions for commercial maritime, leisure marine, military/government, and land mobile applications on vessels and vehicles, including the TracNet™, TracPhone®, and TracVision® product lines, the KVH ONE OpenNet Program for non-KVH antennas, AgilePlans® Connectivity as a Service (CaaS), and the KVH Link crew wellbeing content service.

    Contact:   

    Chris Watson
    VP, Marketing/Communications
    KVH Industries, Inc.
    401-845-2441
    cwatson@kvh.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Dangerous Firearms and Drugs the Focus of Two Takedowns in Vallejo

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two Vallejo Public Safety Partnership (PSP) investigations have resulted in arrests and federal charges for eight individuals for various gun and drug offenses. The PSP investigations are a part of a larger collaborative effort to address violent crime in the city of Vallejo. Making this announcement are Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith, Chief Jason Ta of the Vallejo Police Department, Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel of the FBI Sacramento Field Office, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Cicolani.

    “The application process to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Safety Partnership Program is competitive, and the United States Attorney’s Office is proud of the Vallejo Police Department’s selection as a participant,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. “This program is focused on maximizing scarce resources to increase Vallejo’s ability to fight violent crime, especially crime related to gang activity involving gun violence and drug trafficking. Our office is honored to partner with Vallejo through this unique initiative to provide focused, data-driven, and evidence-based resources and expertise to promote public safety in this city. The prosecutions announced today show our commitment to that partnership, as we bring federal resources to bear in the fight make Vallejo safer for all its residents.”

    “Every community member deserves to feel safe and secure in their home,” stated Vallejo Police Chief Jason Ta. “We are overcoming our resource limitations through law enforcement and community partnerships. We must work together as a team to make Vallejo safer.”

    “Today’s announcement is yet another example of the FBI’s commitment to collaborative investigations, leveraging the skills and talents of local, state, and federal partners to disrupt violent criminal networks that threaten the success and safety of our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. “Drug and weapons trafficking conducted by criminal networks exploits and slowly erodes communities unless law enforcement and the public stand together against it. Every family should have the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in a safe, crime-free community and the FBI remains firmly committed to disrupt and dismantle gangs and criminal networks that endanger neighborhoods and threaten the potential of all citizens.”

    “ATF is proud to be a part of a collective effort to prevent and reduce violent crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Cicolani, San Francisco Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “The city of Vallejo is a safer community today because of programs like the National Public Safety Partnership or PSP. This investigation serves as a great example of the effectiveness of this program. ATF continues to stay focused on the commitment that we made to the communities we serve, and we hope to continue to have more investigations like this one.”

    Super 8

    According to court documents, since July 2024 until the present, the ATF’s Oakland Field Office has been investigating members of a loosely affiliated group that was illegally selling dangerous, high-powered weapons in Vallejo using a Super 8 motel on Solano Avenue as the hub of their criminal activity. On Feb. 20, 2025, ATF arrested four Vallejo residents charged with federal firearms offenses. Zuryess Anthony Roberts, 24, was charged with possession and transfer of a machine gun. Taezon Laurece Sanderson, 23, was charged with being felon in possession of a firearm. Divaya James Talley, 18, was charged with transfer and possession of a machine gun. Anderson Thurston, 66, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

    Brown Brotherhood (BBH)

    According to court documents, the Brown Brotherhood gang is a subset of the Sureño gang and has been a frequent target of investigations of the Vallejo Police Department and the Solano County Violent Crime Task Force. The primary criminal activities of this gang have included murder, robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, burglary, and stolen vehicles. The current investigation began in February 2024 through today’s arrests and takedown. FBI arrested four people today on federal drug trafficking and firearms charges.

    Leo Alonso-Medina, 32, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Carlos Higuera-Aldana, 23, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Jeremiah Salanoa, 22, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Doroteo Suastegui, 47, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

    These cases are the product of investigations by the ATF, the FBI, the Vallejo Police Department, and the Solano County Violent Crime Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Hitt, R. Alex Cardenas, Nicole Vanek, Douglas Harman, Charles Campbell, and Adrian Kinsella are prosecuting the eight federal cases arising out of this collaborative PSP effort.

    A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: DR Congo: Clean water ‘a lifeline’ for around 364,000 children a day in Goma

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Humanitarian Aid

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are providing lifesaving clean water supplies to 700,000 people a day – around 364,000 of them children – in the regional capital Goma after breaks in the water supply due to the uptick in fighting.

    The intense conflict at the end of January, which saw the city overrun by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, left many of the city’s two million residents without access to clean water, sanitation or power. A third of them have only recently been displaced.

    The humanitarian crisis sparked by the fighting between Congolese Government forces, M23 and other armed factions – who have fuelled instability in the restive east for decades – has raised two pressing needs, says UNICEF.

    Hundreds of thousands of people are now moving from previous displacement sites around Goma to areas of return with only limited water and sanitation services.

    “Clean water is a lifeline. With ongoing cholera and mpox epidemics in eastern DRC, children and families need safe water now more than ever to protect themselves and prevent a deeper health crisis,” said Jean Francois Basse, UNICEF‘s acting Representative in DRC.

    Deadlier risk than violence

    “Around the world, children in protracted conflicts are three times more likely to die from water-related diseases than violence. Re-establishing essential services needs to be prioritised, or we risk even more lives.”

    Despite the deteriorating security situation, UNICEF responded immediately by trucking water to three health facilities, including the Virunga General Referral Hospital, which treated around 3,000 injured patients.

    Medical kits to treat 50,000 people were also distributed to health centres overwhelmed with patients.

    Around 700,000 people now have daily access to water through the REGIDESO water utility company after UNICEF and the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, provided 77,000 litres of fuel, enabling the five main pumping stations to restart after they had shut down due to powerline cuts.

    On the east side of Goma, an additional 33,000 people are receiving water through a UNICEF-constructed water network in the Bushara-Kayarutshiyna area.

    Cholera cases tick up

    However, many still rely on untreated supplies directly from Lake Kivu. UNICEF and partners have set up more than 50 chlorine sites along the coast to treat lake water, supplying 56,000 people daily in a bid to limit the spread of cholera.

    “We are already seeing worrying signs of a rise in cholera cases, closely tied to increased displacement and people relying on unclean water. While gathering data is difficult in these challenging circumstances, with the main rainy season approaching, we’re extremely worried about an explosion in cases,” said Mr. Basse.

    Over the last decade, cholera has killed over 5,500 people in the DRC, where only 43 per cent of the population has access to at least a basic water service, and only 15 per cent has access to basic sanitation.

    In Goma, the conflict has made a dire situation worse. Even before the current escalation, approximately 700,000 displaced people lived in camps with dangerously inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene, exposing children to diseases and increasing risks of gender-based violence for women and girls collecting water and firewood.

    In line with the Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructure, UNICEF is calling on all parties to the conflict to safeguard water supplies.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Lamont Proposes Eliminating Fees for Obtaining and Renewing Occupational Licenses

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    (HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is urging the Connecticut General Assembly to approve legislation he is proposing that eliminates the fees workers in certain professions are required to pay when initially applying for occupational licenses, as well as the fees associated with renewing them.

    By eliminating these costs, the governor is hoping to remove a barrier and encourage jobseekers to pursue careers within in-demand fields in which employers have indicated a need to hire skilled workers. The fee elimination plan was included as part of the governor’s fiscal year 2026/2027 biennial budget proposal that he presented to the legislature last month.

    “Workers in certain skilled professions are required to obtain licenses for understandable reasons, but we should be doing more to encourage jobseekers to enter these fields, and that is why I want to eliminate all of the costs associated with applying for and renewing these licenses,” Governor Lamont said. “Over the last several years, we’ve enacted more than $840 million in permanent tax cuts, most of which are specifically targeted at providing relief to middle-class taxpayers, and I am asking the legislature to continue on this path by eliminating these occupational license fees.”

    Impacted professions under the governor’s proposal include nurses, dental hygienists, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, paramedics, physical therapists, physician assistants, electricians, HVAC workers, plumbers, sheet metal workers, and teachers.

    Fees for these licenses range in cost from $50 to $375 per year, depending on the license. The proposal will benefit nearly 180,000 workers, saving them approximately $18.8 million in fiscal year 2026 and $25 million in fiscal year 2027.

    These licenses are administered by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the Connecticut State Department of Education. Under Governor Lamont’s proposal, workers in these professions will still be required to obtain and renew licenses, however there will be no costs associated with applying for them.


    List of Occupational License Fees Governor Lamont Wants To Eliminate

    Professional Category

    Fee Range

    Number of Payers

    Nursing

    $70-$200

    99,452

    Dental hygienist

    $105-$150

    3,715

    Mental health clinician

    $50-$320

    19,655

    Occupational therapist

    $50-$200

    2,814

    Paramedic

    $150

    2,783

    Physical therapist

    $65-$285

    6,771

    Electrician

    $90-$150

    14,259

    HVAC

    $90-$150

    11,311

    Plumber

    $90-$150

    7,424

    Sheet metal

    $90-$150

    1,549

    Teaching

    $100-$375

    8,385

    TOTAL

    178,117

     
     **Download: Detailed list of all impacted licenses within these categories


    “For several years it has been my top priority to pass legislation to cut burdensome fees on Connecticut’s workers, including our great teachers, nurses, mental health professionals, electricians, plumbers, and hundreds of thousands of other licensed professionals,” State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) said. “I appreciate the governor’s leadership in making it a priority this year. Workers shouldn’t have to pay this tax just for the right to work in our state. Let’s come together to cut licensing fees on workers and send a signal that we want to make it easier to work, live, and succeed in Connecticut.”

    Eliminating these fees builds on Governor Lamont’s track record of reducing taxes to make Connecticut more affordable for middle-class workers. Since taking office in 2019, Governor Lamont has enacted more than $840 million in permanent tax cuts. This includes $500 million in income tax cuts for middle-class filers that was enacted in 2023 and became the largest income tax cut made in Connecticut history; increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit that have essentially eliminated income taxes for low-income filers; the elimination of taxes on pensions and Social Security for most seniors; and the creation of a cap on motor vehicle property taxes.

    The proposal is included in Senate Bill 1246, An Act Concerning Revenue Items To Implement the Governor’s Budget. It is currently under consideration in the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Huawei Li Peng: Maximizing 5G Network Value in the Age of AI Mar 03, 2025

    Source: Huawei

    Headline: Huawei Li Peng: Maximizing 5G Network Value in the Age of AI
    Mar 03, 2025

    [Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2025] At MWC Barcelona 2025, Li Peng, Huawei’s Corporate Senior Vice President and President of ICT Sales & Service, delivered a keynote on how carriers can make the most of AI to fully unleash the value of their networks. Li predicts that symbiosis between 5G-A and AI technologies will stimulate double-digit growth in both DOU (data of usage) and ARPU (average revenue per user) from mobile subscribers.
    “We’re rapidly entering a fully intelligent world. Intelligent applications are spreading everywhere, placing new demands on networks,” said Li. “By embracing and evolving 5G, we can unlock the infinite potential of mobile networks. Huawei is willing and ready to work with carriers and industry partners around the world to promote digital enablement, reinforce network foundations, and bring AI to all. Together, we can shape the D.N.A. for an intelligent world.”
    AI is changing human-machine interaction, driving different requirements for latency
    With advancements in AI, HMI (human-machine interaction) is evolving from simple text-based communications to voice, gestures, and more multi-modal interactions. As a result, HMI is more real-time and convenient than ever, giving rise to a new wave of innovative applications. For example, people can interact more naturally with their devices using AI-powered voice assistants. On cloud phones, AI-powered avatars can provide visual feedback as well, creating a more personal experience for services like health monitoring, making the mobile experience far more accessible and productive for different groups of users.
    To support applications like these, however, networks need to be able to provide guaranteed latency, which will require ongoing evolution from 5G NSA, to 5G SA, and eventually 5G-A. Carriers can also adopt innovative technologies like CUPS (Control and User Plane Separation) and GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate) to reduce basic latency and ensure differentiated, deterministic latency for specific scenarios.
    AI-enabled content production and distribution is raising the bar for upload & download speeds
    Li went on to note that AI will transform how content is produced and distributed. For example, AIGC technology makes it possible to generate hour-long 2D and 3D videos with a single click. Meanwhile, AI recommendations are more targeted than ever, allowing the distribution of more personalized content to broader audiences across the Internet. Both of these trends will cause network traffic to surge over the next five years, placing unprecedented demands on networks. To keep up, carriers will need more spectrum, greater network capacity, and much larger uplink and downlink bandwidth.
    Diverse AI services will need experience-centric network coverage
    Both AI-powered cloud and mobile devices are making intelligent services more accessible, and the industry will see growing demand for experience-centric network coverage. According to third-party data, cloud phones and cloud drives will be used by over one billion people by 2030, each of whom will need fast access to cloud computing power. In addition, intelligent in-vehicle applications will require full coverage across cities, highways, and the countryside to provide a continuous and reliable mobility experience.
    Moving forward, meeting these demands will require ongoing progress in network deployment, from rapid expansion of 5G NSA networks to 5G SA networks for a more seamless indoor/outdoor experience, and eventually to experience-centric 5G-A networks. This will help carriers expand network coverage and ensure a smooth experience for tens of billions of new connections for people, and hundreds of billions of new IoT connections between things.
    Growing network complexity will drive evolution towards application-oriented O&M
    AI will bring more complex application scenarios and a more diverse range of experience requirements. From a networking perspective, this will drive a shift from traditional, resource-oriented O&M to a more application-oriented approach.
    Some carriers are already developing O&M systems based on AI agents. For operations enablement, these AI agents can use digital twins to predict personalized needs for individual users, helping shorten service time-to-market from days to minutes. For network maintenance, AI agents with self-learning capabilities can predict and locate faults in seconds, increasing troubleshooting efficiency by 30%. And for network optimization, digital sandboxes can simulate the traffic of real-world applications, allowing AI agents to analyze traffic patterns and optimize networks 24/7 based on application needs.
    Early-movers are scaling up 5G-A deployment to boost monetization in the age of AI
    “New network capabilities will give rise to new business models,” continued Li. “Carriers can go beyond monetizing traffic and start monetizing experience itself.”
    Right now, carriers around the world are actively exploring new ways to monetize experience based on multiple factors like speed, latency, and VIP benefits. They have launched custom services for business travelers, live streamers, and AI cloud phone users. And some are already expanding into the B2B2C market by exposing network capabilities through Open APIs.
    For example, Chinese carriers are working with over 100 industries, including insurance and catering companies, to provide AI New Calling services through Open APIs. This has helped them increase income from industry customers by a factor of 10.
    “The opportunities are huge,” concluded Li. “And the time to act is now. Pioneers are already scaling up fast in over 200 cities around the world. They’re taking solid steps forward, unlocking incredible new value.”
    MWC Barcelona 2025 is held from March 3 to March 6 in Barcelona, Spain. During the event, Huawei will showcase its latest products and solutions at stand 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1.
    In 2025, commercial 5G-Advanced deployment will accelerate, and AI will help carriers reshape business, infrastructure, and O&M. Huawei is actively working with carriers and partners around the world to accelerate the transition towards an intelligent world.
    For more information, please visit: https://carrier.huawei.com/en/events/mwc2025

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Huawei Li Peng: Maximizing 5G Network Value in the Age of AI

    Source: Huawei

    Headline: Huawei Li Peng: Maximizing 5G Network Value in the Age of AI

    [Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2025] At MWC Barcelona 2025, Li Peng, Huawei’s Corporate Senior Vice President and President of ICT Sales & Service, delivered a keynote on how carriers can make the most of AI to fully unleash the value of their networks. Li predicts that symbiosis between 5G-A and AI technologies will stimulate double-digit growth in both DOU (data of usage) and ARPU (average revenue per user) from mobile subscribers.
    “We’re rapidly entering a fully intelligent world. Intelligent applications are spreading everywhere, placing new demands on networks,” said Li. “By embracing and evolving 5G, we can unlock the infinite potential of mobile networks. Huawei is willing and ready to work with carriers and industry partners around the world to promote digital enablement, reinforce network foundations, and bring AI to all. Together, we can shape the D.N.A. for an intelligent world.”
    AI is changing human-machine interaction, driving different requirements for latency
    With advancements in AI, HMI (human-machine interaction) is evolving from simple text-based communications to voice, gestures, and more multi-modal interactions. As a result, HMI is more real-time and convenient than ever, giving rise to a new wave of innovative applications. For example, people can interact more naturally with their devices using AI-powered voice assistants. On cloud phones, AI-powered avatars can provide visual feedback as well, creating a more personal experience for services like health monitoring, making the mobile experience far more accessible and productive for different groups of users.
    To support applications like these, however, networks need to be able to provide guaranteed latency, which will require ongoing evolution from 5G NSA, to 5G SA, and eventually 5G-A. Carriers can also adopt innovative technologies like CUPS (Control and User Plane Separation) and GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate) to reduce basic latency and ensure differentiated, deterministic latency for specific scenarios.
    AI-enabled content production and distribution is raising the bar for upload & download speeds
    Li went on to note that AI will transform how content is produced and distributed. For example, AIGC technology makes it possible to generate hour-long 2D and 3D videos with a single click. Meanwhile, AI recommendations are more targeted than ever, allowing the distribution of more personalized content to broader audiences across the Internet. Both of these trends will cause network traffic to surge over the next five years, placing unprecedented demands on networks. To keep up, carriers will need more spectrum, greater network capacity, and much larger uplink and downlink bandwidth.
    Diverse AI services will need experience-centric network coverage
    Both AI-powered cloud and mobile devices are making intelligent services more accessible, and the industry will see growing demand for experience-centric network coverage. According to third-party data, cloud phones and cloud drives will be used by over one billion people by 2030, each of whom will need fast access to cloud computing power. In addition, intelligent in-vehicle applications will require full coverage across cities, highways, and the countryside to provide a continuous and reliable mobility experience.
    Moving forward, meeting these demands will require ongoing progress in network deployment, from rapid expansion of 5G NSA networks to 5G SA networks for a more seamless indoor/outdoor experience, and eventually to experience-centric 5G-A networks. This will help carriers expand network coverage and ensure a smooth experience for tens of billions of new connections for people, and hundreds of billions of new IoT connections between things.
    Growing network complexity will drive evolution towards application-oriented O&M
    AI will bring more complex application scenarios and a more diverse range of experience requirements. From a networking perspective, this will drive a shift from traditional, resource-oriented O&M to a more application-oriented approach.
    Some carriers are already developing O&M systems based on AI agents. For operations enablement, these AI agents can use digital twins to predict personalized needs for individual users, helping shorten service time-to-market from days to minutes. For network maintenance, AI agents with self-learning capabilities can predict and locate faults in seconds, increasing troubleshooting efficiency by 30%. And for network optimization, digital sandboxes can simulate the traffic of real-world applications, allowing AI agents to analyze traffic patterns and optimize networks 24/7 based on application needs.
    Early-movers are scaling up 5G-A deployment to boost monetization in the age of AI
    “New network capabilities will give rise to new business models,” continued Li. “Carriers can go beyond monetizing traffic and start monetizing experience itself.”
    Right now, carriers around the world are actively exploring new ways to monetize experience based on multiple factors like speed, latency, and VIP benefits. They have launched custom services for business travelers, live streamers, and AI cloud phone users. And some are already expanding into the B2B2C market by exposing network capabilities through Open APIs.
    For example, Chinese carriers are working with over 100 industries, including insurance and catering companies, to provide AI New Calling services through Open APIs. This has helped them increase income from industry customers by a factor of 10.
    “The opportunities are huge,” concluded Li. “And the time to act is now. Pioneers are already scaling up fast in over 200 cities around the world. They’re taking solid steps forward, unlocking incredible new value.”
    MWC Barcelona 2025 is held from March 3 to March 6 in Barcelona, Spain. During the event, Huawei will showcase its latest products and solutions at stand 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1.
    In 2025, commercial 5G-Advanced deployment will accelerate, and AI will help carriers reshape business, infrastructure, and O&M. Huawei is actively working with carriers and partners around the world to accelerate the transition towards an intelligent world.
    For more information, please visit: https://carrier.huawei.com/en/events/mwc2025

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tina Lüdecke, Leader of the Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption (HoMeCo), Max Planck Institute For Chemistry

    Goodboy Picture Company/Getty Images

    For decades, scientists have been learning more about the diets of early hominins, particularly their reliance on plants. Yet we still don’t know when these ancestors of humans started eating meat.

    This is a frustrating gap in our understanding of human evolution. We think regular meat consumption was one of the main drivers of brain growth and evolution in hominins, because animal products are calorie-dense and easier to digest than unprocessed plant foods. They also contain all the essential amino acids and are rich in biologically important nutrients, minerals and vitamins.

    What we do know is that by the time our genus, Homo, emerged over two million years ago, hominins were regularly eating meat. This is clear from their increased reliance at this point on stone tools to butcher and process meat products. We’ve also found fossil bones with cut marks that indicate butchering.

    But that doesn’t explain when and where regular meat eating started and which species of our ancestors made that crucial shift.

    Now, thanks to fossilised tooth enamel, we’re a step closer to an answer. In a study with several other co-authors, we measured nitrogen isotopes in the enamel from fossilised teeth belonging to the hominin genus Australopithecus, discovered in South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves. This is one of the oldest known human ancestor species.

    Atoms of the same element can have different versions, called isotopes, which have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. This makes them slightly heavier or lighter but chemically similar. For example, nitrogen has two stable isotopes: nitrogen-14 (¹⁴N) and nitrogen-15 (¹⁵N). These occur naturally, but their ratio varies in nature. In food webs, nitrogen isotopes become enriched as you move up the chain, meaning predators have higher ¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratios than herbivores.

    Identifying these isotopes is a way to reconstruct ancient diets and ecosystems, helping scientists understand how past environments shaped the survival of species – including early humans.

    We also tested the isotopic signature of animals that lived in the ecosystem at the same time. We saw that the isotopic signature of Australopithecus was low – similar to that of herbivores.

    Our findings suggest that these ape-like, small-brained early hominins were eating mostly plants. There was little to no evidence of meat consumption. They may have snacked on the occasional egg or insect but they were not regularly hunting large mammals like Neanderthals did millions of years later.

    A toothy approach

    One of us (Dr Lüdecke) began working with fossilised tooth enamel during her PhD. The focus was on measuring stable carbon isotopes in the enamel as a way to uncover the plant-based part of an extant or extinct animal’s diet.

    This approach reveals whether a species relied on lush, leafy plants or hardy, grass-like vegetation in African savanna ecosystems. But there was always that small, unsatisfying sentence in the discussion section of her academic papers: “This dataset cannot inform about the meat portion of the diet.”

    Then inspiration struck. The co-authors of the latest study, Alfredo Martínez-García and Daniel Sigman, had developed a method with their teams to measure nitrogen isotopes in marine microfossils – tiny creatures that, like fossilised tooth enamel, contain almost no organic material.



    Read more:
    The study of tiny fossils reminds us that museums are key to advancing science

    We wondered whether the same technique could work for ancient teeth and finally provide a date marker for early hominins’ meat eating behaviour.

    We started small by testing the method on rodent tooth enamel from animals with controlled diets in a specialised feeding experiment. It worked. From there, we moved on to the enamel of wild mammals from museum collections and other animals that had lived naturally in African ecosystems.

    When these results aligned with what we expected in terms of their known diets, we knew we had a reliable tool. After more laboratory testing, method tweaking and checking, we felt ready to analyse the fossilised tooth enamel of non-primate fauna found in one of the oldest fossil-bearing deposits of South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves. This deposit, Member 4, formed about 3.4 million years ago, during the Late Pliocene period.

    Again, these analyses gave us the expected results: it was clear at the isotopic level whether we were dealing with the teeth of a herbivore or a carnivore.

    Then we finally sampled seven Australopithecus molars from Member 4 to uncover whether these ancient hominins, which lived and died around the Sterkfontein Caves about 3.4 million years ago, were sinking their teeth into meat or sticking to a largely vegetarian menu.

    By comparing the nitrogen isotope ratios of these early hominins with those of other animals from the same ecosystem – like antelopes, monkeys and carnivores – we found that the isotopic signature of Australopithecus was low, similar to that of herbivores.

    Future plans

    This discovery is just the beginning. We’re now expanding our research to other fossil sites across Africa and Asia, hoping to answer bigger questions. When did meat truly enter the hominin diet? Which species of hominins through our evolution consumed meat? Did the behaviour emerge several times and did it coincide with the rise of larger brains, or marked changes in behaviour, like new stone tool technology? And what does this mean for how we understand the evolutionary path that led to our species?

    Tina Lüdecke receives funding from the German Research Foundation Emmy Noether Fellowship (LU 2199/2-1). She is affiliated with the Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) and the Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa).

    Sterkfontein fieldwork is supported by South African governmental platforms DSI-NRF and NRF African Origins Platform, and long-term project and student support from GENUS and PAST.

    – ref. When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer – https://theconversation.com/when-did-our-ancestors-start-to-eat-meat-regularly-fossilised-teeth-get-us-closer-to-the-answer-249737

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE worksite enforcement operation results in multiple arrests in Mississippi

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    JACKSON, Miss. — On Feb. 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded to the scene of a traffic stop by state police in Jackson, Mississippi. There were two separate vehicles pulled over and seven illegal aliens from Guatemala and El Salvador were occupying the vehicles.

    The individuals worked for 3 J Underground LLC located in Byhalia, a company that installs fiber optic cable for phone and Internet services. While on scene, the owner of the company, a naturalized United States Citizen, arrived along with another employee, a Lawful Permanent Resident from El Salvador. The owner of the company was asked if he knew that his employees were unlawfully present in the United States and he stated that he did not require them to complete any paperwork when they began working for him. ICE special agents explained to the owner of the company that employers are required to determine employment eligibility by having new employees complete the Form I-9 and provide supporting identity documents. ICE administratively arrested seven Guatemalan and El Salvadoran illegal aliens.

    Under federal law, employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all individuals they hire, and to document that information using the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. ICE uses the I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law, part of a comprehensive strategy to address and deter illegal employment. Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government uses to ensure that businesses are complying with U.S. employment laws.

    ICE’s worksite enforcement strategy includes leveraging the agency’s other investigative disciplines, since worksite investigations can often involve additional criminal activity, such as alien smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, document fraud, worker exploitation and/or substandard wage and working conditions.

    MIL OSI USA News –