WASHINGTON, March 26 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following In Focus white paper (No. IF12772) on March 25, 2025, by military ground forces specialist Andrew Feickert. Here are excerpts: * * * The Army's Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization (SPH-M) Program Background The Army's current self-propelled artillery system, the M109 Paladin, first entered service in the 1960s and has been upgraded numerous times. The Army has two types of artillery: self-propelled, a more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following news release on March 26, 2025: * * * Chairman Crawford Opens Worldwide Threats Hearing WASHINGTON, D.C.--Today, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01) delivered the following opening statement in a hearing to examine the annual assessment of worldwide threats to the national security of the United States. Wat more PR

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 26 -- The European Commission issued the following fact sheet: * * * Q&A on the EU Preparedness Union Strategy Why is the Preparedness Union Strategy needed? The European Union is facing an increasingly complex and volatile security landscape including rising geopolitical tensions, state-sponsored hybrid and cyberattacks, and foreign interference. Climate change and environmental degradation are exacerbating extreme weather events, and the COVID-19 pandemic revealed  more PR

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 26 -- The European Commission issued the following news release: * * * Euros8 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will support 2,400 dismissed workers in Belgium The Commission is proposing to mobilise Euros8 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) to support 2,400 workers dismissed after the bankruptcy of Belgian coach manufacturer Van Hool. Between 2012 and 2019, Van Hool was selling an average of 427  more PR

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 27 -- The European Broadcasting Union issued the following news release: * * * Exclusive interview with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy on 26 March With relentless war and possible peace hanging in the balance, Eurovision News delivers an exclusive interview on Wednesday (26 March) with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the collaborative interview from Paris conducted by four members of the European Broadcasting Union, Zelenskyy will answer questions and sh more PR

SOUTH HADLEY, Massachusetts, March 27 -- Mount Holyoke College issued the following news: * * * Gov. Maura Healey named Mount Holyoke's Commencement speaker Mount Holyoke College has announced that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey will be the primary speaker at its one hundred eighty-eighth Commencement. Two Mount Holyoke alums, Bess Weatherman '82 and Tara Roberts '91, will also be honored at the event. Mount Holyoke College has announced that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey will be  more PR

LAKEWOOD, Ohio, March 26 (TNSres) -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued the following briefing note on Jan. 27, 2025, by Connor Chung and Dan Cohn entitled "Another bad year -- and decade -- for fossil fuel stocks." Here are excerpts: * * * As 2024 began, oil majors struck up a confident tune. Higher energy prices had generated strong profits in the wake of the emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine. To the industry, this moment was  more PR

LAKEWOOD, Ohio, March 26 (TNSres) -- The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis issued the following briefing note on Feb. 6, 2025, by Kevin Morrison entitled "Queensland LNG exports: A decade of high domestic prices, falling local demand." Here are excerpts: * * * Queensland marked 10 years as an LNG exporter in January 2025, and has emerged as a key supplier of LNG, primarily to China. Besides boosting Australia's energy trade with Asia's largest economy, the industry has lef more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- George Washington University posted the following news: * * * Media Tip Sheet: Russia, Ukraine Agree to Black Sea Ceasefire WASHINGTON (March 26, 2025) - In two separate statements yesterday from U.S. and Russia and U.S and Ukraine, the White House announced an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to pause fighting in the Black Sea to "ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes." The statements di more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, issued the following news release: * * * NEWS: In Letter to Witkoff, Gabbard, Sen. Schiff Demands Accountability for Use of Commercial App to Discuss Sensitive National Security Information Abroad Washington, D.C. -- In a letter today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) demanded answers from United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard over their use of the commercial messaging service Si more PR

VIENNA, Austria, March 26 (TNSrep) -- The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued the following report on March 14, 2025 entitled "Republic of Moldova: Presidential Election and Constitutional Referendum." Moldova's Presidential Election and Referendum Marked by Foreign Interference Concerns, OSCE Report Says The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has released its final report on Moldova's p more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- The Center for European Policy Analysis posted the following news: * * * Putin Has the Fancy Watches -- Europe Has the Time Imagine it - pro-invasion Russian performers are welcomed back to the great European cultural venues, Russian oligarchs reclaim European soccer clubs, Gazprom sponsors events, and glittering parties are thrown, where rivers of champagne lubricate the meetings of Russia's superrich with their Western counterparts. Is that where we're heading? The more PR

SANTA MONICA, California, March 27 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on March 26, 2025: * * * From Strategic Ambiguity to Strategic Anxiety: Taiwan's Trump Challenge By Jude Blanchette and Gerard DiPippo Taiwan's officials are anxious, and rightly so. Taiwan's strategic dilemma is getting worse. Beijing is intensifying its pressure on Taiwan, with Chinese fighter jets and naval vessels testing the island's defenses, while Chinese vessels are implicated in severing Taiwan's und more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following news release on March 26, 2025: * * * Ranking Member Shaheen Remarks at Hearing on Indo-Pacific Alliances WASHINGTON--Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered an opening statement during a hearing titled "Shared Threats: Indo-Pacific Alliances and Burden Sharing in Today's Geopolitical more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, posted the following statement in the extensions of remarks section of the Congressional Record on March 25, 2025: * * * Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1325, the "Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act of 2025." I would like to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma, Congressman Frank Lucas, who was former Chair of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology where I serve as Ranking Member, for reintroducing this legislati more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 (TNSrep) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following Insight white paper (No. IN12532) on March 25, 2025, by Rebecca M. Nelson, international trade and finance specialist. Here are excerpts: * * * Russia's Central Bank Assets After Russia launched a full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022, the Group of 7 countries (G7, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) announced coordinated sanctions against Russ more PR

NEW YORK, March 26 -- The United Nations posted the following news release: * * * Secretary-General Welcomes Reported Commitments on Safe Black Sea Navigation The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: The Secretary-General welcomes the discussions and reported commitments reached in Saudi Arabia by the United States, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Reaching an agreement on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to ensure the p more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, issued the following floor remarks on March 25, 2025: * * * Mr. President, for some reason, the Presiding Officer has drawn the short straw to be the Presiding Officer during my daily or frequent speeches here on the floor, though I appreciate your patience and indulgence. This morning I come to the floor to talk about the Intelligence Committee's "Worldwide Threats" hearing that is ongoing now in the Hart Office Building. We have all the lea more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, issued the following floor remarks on March 25, 2025: * * * Mr. President, on this day in 1949, the Russian-Soviet regime occupying the Baltic countries rounded up 95,000 people, mostly women and children, and sent them to Siberia. During Stalin's rule, more than 220,000 innocent people were deported to cold Siberia. This doesn't even include political prisoners sent to the gulag camps. This day is observed by those Baltic countries of E more PR

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 27 -- The Swedish Ministry of Defence issued the following news release: * * * Investments in stronger military defence, measures against hybrid threats and increased support to Ukraine SEK 25 billion to strengthen military defence; an additional SEK 16.5 billion to increased 2025 'Ukraine framework'; and a SEK 96 million package of targeted measures to counter hybrid threats. These are the proposals the Government will present in the forthcoming Spring Amending Budge more PR

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- The Center for European Policy Analysis posted the following news: * * * Three Ways to Build EU Defense The European Union's long-awaited White Paper for European Defence, which is intended to pave the way for unprecedented investment of EUR800bn ($865bn) by 2030, was published on March 19 by Andrius Kubilius, the Defense and Space Commissioner. While it outlines several areas of defense capability, the paper does not address the crucial issue of member states' polit more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- The Jamestown Foundation issued the following news: * * * Ukraine Brings War Home to Russia By Richard Arnold Executive Summary: * On February 3, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) targeted paramilitary leader Armen Sarkisian in Moscow, illustrating Ukraine's strategy to actualize the war for the removed Russians. * Through assassinations, the operation into Kursk oblast, and drone warfare, Ukraine alarmed everyday citizens who until that point were able to disas more PR

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a policy forum for tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue to inform actionable ideas for the policy community, issued the following news release: * * * Ukrainian Issue in Polish Elections During a session of the European Congress in March 2024, the leader of the People's Party and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that the greatest threat to the Europea more PR