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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The climate crisis: 5 things to watch out for in 2025

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Conor Lennon

    Climate and Environment

    The Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, will be the global focus of efforts to tackle the climate crisis in November 2025, when it hosts one of the most significant UN climate conferences in recent years. 

    However, throughout the years there will be plenty of opportunities to make important progress on several climate-related issues, from the staggering levels of plastic pollution to financing the shift to a cleaner global economy.

    1 Can we keep 1.5 alive?

    “Keep 1.5 alive” has been the UN’s rallying cry for a number of years, a reference to the goal of ensuring that average global temperatures don’t soar beyond 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels. The scientific consensus is that a lack of action would have catastrophic consequences, not least for the so-called “frontline States”, such as developing island nations which could disappear under the ocean, as sea levels rise.

    © UNICEF/Lasse Bak Mejlvang

    A man fishes sitting on sandbags which protect the Pacific Ocean island nation Tuvalu against sea erosion.

    At COP30, the UN climate conference scheduled to take place between 10 and 21 November 2025, mitigation (in other words, actions and policies designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to rising temperatures) is likely to a key focus.

    The nations of the world will arrive with upgraded, more ambitious commitments to lowering greenhouse gases. This is both a recognition that existing pledges are wholly inadequate, in terms of getting temperatures down, and part of the deal that Member States signed up to in 2015 at the Paris COP (nations are expected to “ratchet up” their commitments every five years. The last time this happened was at the 2021 Glasgow COP, delayed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

    2 Protecting nature

    Holding COP30 in the Amazonian rainforest region of Brazil is of symbolic importance. It harks back to the early days of international attempts to protect the environment: the pivotal “Earth Summit”, which led to the establishment of three environmental treaties on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification, took place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

    © Unsplash/Sreenivas

    A parrot stands on a tree branch in Maharashtra, India.

    The location also highlights the role that nature has to play in the climate crisis. The rainforest is a massive “carbon sink”, a system that sucks up and stores CO2, a greenhouse gas, and prevents it from entering the atmosphere, where it contributes to warming.

    Unfortunately, rainforests and other “nature-based solutions” face threats from human development, such as illegal logging which has devastated huge swathes of the region. The UN will continue efforts begun in 2024 to improve the protection of the rainforest and other ecosystems, at biodiversity talks due to be resumed in Rome in February.

    3 Who’s going to pay for all this?

    Finance has long been a thorny issue in international climate negotiations. Developing countries argue that wealthy nations should contribute far more towards projects and initiatives that will enable them to move away from fossil fuels, and power their economies on clean energy sources. The pushback from the rich countries is that fast-growing economies such as China, which is now the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, should also pay their share.

    © UNFCCC/Habib Samadov

    Activists protest against fossil fuels at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a breakthrough of sorts was made, with the adoption of an agreement to triple the amount of climate finance paid to developing countries, to $300 billion per year, by 2035. The deal is a definite step forward, but the final sum is far less than the $1.3 trillion that climate experts say these countries need in order to adapt to the crisis.

    Expect more progress to be made on financing in 2025, at a summit in Spain at the end of June. The Financing for Development conferences only take place once every 10 years, and next year’s edition is being billed as an opportunity to make radical changes to the international financial architecture. Environmental and climate concerns will be raised, and potential solutions such as green taxation, carbon pricing and subsidies will all be on the table.

    4 Laying down the law

    When the attention of the International Court of Justice turned to climate change in December, it was hailed as a landmark moment with regards to States’ legal obligations under international law.

    © UNDP/Silke von Brockhausen

    Vanuatu often experiences destructive extreme weather, such as typhoons, which are being exacerbated by climate change.

    Vanuatu, a Pacific island state particularly vulnerable to the crisis, asked the court for an advisory position, in order to clarify the obligations of States with regard to climate change, and inform any future judicial proceedings.

    Over a two-week period, 96 countries and 11 regional organizations took part in public hearings before the Court, including Vanuatu and a group of other Pacific islands States, and major economies including China and the USA.

    The ICJ will deliberate for several months before delivering its advisory opinion on the subject. Although this opinion will be non-binding, it is expected to guide future international climate law.

    5 Plastic pollution

    UN-convened talks on getting to grips with the global epidemic of plastic pollution edged closer to a deal during negotiations in Busan, South Korea.

    Some key advances were made during the November 2024 talks – the fifth round of negotiations following the 2022 UN Environment Assembly resolution calling for an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.

    Agreement on three pivotal areas needs to be ironed: plastic products, including the issue of chemicals; sustainable production and consumption; and financing.

    UNDP India

    Plastic bottles are collected for recycling in India.

    Member States are now charged with finding political solutions to their differences before the resumed session begins, and with landing a final deal that addresses the full lifecycle of plastics and delivers on the growing global momentum to end plastic pollution.

    “It is clear that the world still wants and demands an end to plastic pollution,” said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen. “We need to ensure we craft an instrument that hits the problem hard instead of punching below its potential weight. I call on all Member States to lean in.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 2024 to become the hottest year on record

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    The year 2024 is set to be the warmest on record, capping a decade of unprecedented heat fuelled by human activities, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 

    “Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024,” said Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the New Year.  

    “This is climate breakdown — in real time. We must exit this road to ruin — and we have no time to lose,” he gravely emphasised.

    WMO will publish the consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 in January and its full State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March 2025.  

    Climate catastrophes 

    Throughout 2024, a series of reports from the WMO community highlighted the rapid pace of climate change and its far-reaching impacts on every aspect of sustainable development.

    Record-breaking rainfalls were documented as well as catastrophic flooding, scorching heat waves with temperatures exceeding 50°C, and devastating wildfires.  

    The organization found that climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024, harming human health and ecosystems in their report When Risks Become Reality: Extreme Weather.  

    Climate change also intensified 26 of the 29 weather events studied by World Weather Attribution that killed at least 3700 people and displaced millions. 

    Celeste Saulo, the WMO Secretary-General, described the year as a sobering wake-up call. 

    “This year we saw record-breaking rainfall and flooding events and terrible loss of life in so many countries, causing heartbreak to communities on every continent,” she stated.

    “Every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and increases climate extremes, impacts and risks,” she underscored.  

    Hope amid crises  

    Despite the grim realities, the year 2024 saw notable advancements with the adoption of the Pact for the Future – a landmark agreement to promote disarmament, financial reform, gender equality, and ethical technological innovation.  

    The COP29 UN climate conference also recently discussed ways to increase finance for poor countries to support them in coping with the impacts of extreme weather.  

    Developing countries are responsible for a small amount of historic carbon emissions, but as WMO research has highlighted, are being hit the hardest by extreme weather. 

    Moreover, in response to the Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat, a targeted group of experts representing 15 international organizations and 12 countries convened at WMO headquarters in December to advance a coordinated framework for tackling the growing threat of extreme heat.  

    2025: A pivotal year  

    With 2025 designated as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, WMO and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aim to prioritise efforts to protect the cryosphere – the Earth’s frozen regions, critical to regulating global temperatures.  

    Additionally, WMO is advancing initiatives like the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch which aims to improve the monitoring of greenhouse gas (GHG) net fluxes globally.  

    By 2027, the organization also aims to ensure universal protection from hazardous environmental events through life-saving anticipatory systems currently developed in the Early Warnings for All programme.  

    Reflecting on WMO’s upcoming 75th anniversary, Ms. Saulo reinforced the shared responsibility to act.

    “If we want a safer planet, we must act now. It’s our responsibility. It’s a common responsibility, a global responsibility,” she firmly stated.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Confirmed: 2024 was the hottest year on record, says UN weather agency

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    UN weather experts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed on Friday that 2024 was the hottest year on record, at 1.55 degrees Celsius (C) above pre-industrial temperatures.

    “We saw extraordinary land, sea surface temperatures, extraordinary ocean heat accompanied by very extreme weather affecting many countries around the world, destroying lives, livelihoods, hopes and dreams,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis said. “We saw many climate change impacts retreating sea ice glaciers. It was an extraordinary year.”

    Four of the six international datasets crunched by WMO indicated a higher than 1.5℃ global average increase for the whole of last year but two did not. 

    The 1.5℃ marker is significant because it was a key goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to ensure that global temperature change does not rise more than this above pre-industrial levels, while striving to hold the overall increase to well below 2℃.

    Climate deal under pressure

    The Paris Agreement is “not yet dead but in grave danger”, the WMO maintained, explaining that the accord’s long-term temperature goals are measured over decades, rather than individual years.

    However, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo insisted that “climate history is playing out before our eyes. We’ve had not just one or two record-breaking years, but a full ten-year series. “It is essential to recognize that every fraction of a degree of warming matters. Whether it is at a level below or above 1.5C of warming, every additional increment of global warming increases the impacts on our lives, economies and our planet.”

    LA fires: climate change factor

    Amid still raging deadly wildfires in Los Angeles that weather experts including the WMO insist have been exacerbated by climate change – with more days of dry, warm, windy weather on top of rains which boosted vegetation growth – the UN agency said that 2024 capped a decade-long “extraordinary streak of record-breaking temperatures”.

    © CAL FIRE

    A bank building burns in Los Angeles, California.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the WMO’s findings as further proof of global warming and urged all governments to deliver new national climate action plans this year to limit long-term global temperature rise to 1.5C – and support the most vulnerable deal with devastating climate impacts.

    “Individual years pushing past the 1.5℃ limit do not mean the long-term goal is shot,” Mr. Guterres said. “It means we need to fight even harder to get on track. Blazing temperatures in 2024 require trail-blazing climate action in 2025,” he said. “There’s still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act – now.”

    The datasets used by WMO are from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Japan Meteorological Agency, NASA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the UK Met Office in collaboration with the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (HadCRUT) and Berkeley Earth.

    Listen back to an interview climate scientist Alvaro Silva at the WMO, following the heat alert in the United States at the end of June: 

    Soundcloud

    Ocean warming

    Highlighting a separate scientific study on ocean warming, WMO said that it had played a key role in last year’s record high temperatures.

    “The ocean is the warmest it has ever been as recorded by humans, not only at the surface but also for the upper 2,000 metres,” the UN agency said, citing the findings of the international study spanning seven countries and published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

    WMO noted that about 90 per cent of the excess heat from global warming is stored in the ocean, “making ocean heat content a critical indicator of climate change”.

    To put the study’s findings into perspective, it explained that from 2023 to 2024, the upper 2,000 metres of ocean became warmer by 16 zettajoules (1,021 Joules), which is about 140 times the world’s total electricity output.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Climate emergency: 2025 declared international year of glaciers

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Pia Blondel

    Climate and Environment

    As glaciers disappear at an alarming rate due to climate change, the UN General Assembly has declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (IYGP).

    Co-facilitated by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this global initiative seeks to unite efforts worldwide to protect these vital water sources, which provide freshwater to more than 2 billion people.

    Glaciers and ice sheets hold around 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater and their rapid loss presents an urgent environmental and humanitarian crisis.

    WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo emphasised this urgency, saying “Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. This international year must be a wake-up call to the world.”

    Alarming data

    In 2023, glaciers experienced their greatest water loss in over 50 years, marking the second consecutive year in which all glaciated regions worldwide reported ice loss.

    Switzerland, for instance, saw their glaciers lose 10 per cent of their total mass between 2022 and 2023, according to the WMO.

    Dr. Lydia Brito, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, explained during the launch event in Geneva that the “50 UNESCO heritage sites with glaciers represent almost 10 per cent of Earth’s glacier area.” However, a recent study warned that glaciers in one-third of these sites are projected to disappear by 2050.

    With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the need for immediate and decisive action has never been more critical.

    2025 key initiatives

    A key focus, the panel explained, is raising global awareness about the essential role glaciers, snow and ice play in regulating the climate and supporting ecosystems and communities.

    “Glaciers don’t care if we believe in science – they just melt in the heat,” said Dr. Carolina Adler of the Mountain Research Initiative.

    The initiative also aims to enhance scientific understanding through programmes like the Global Cryosphere Watch, ensuring that data guides effective climate action.

    Strengthening policy frameworks is another priority, with the integration of glacier preservation into global and national climate strategies, such as the Paris Agreement.

    Mobilising financial resources is another priority – essential to support vulnerable communities and fund adaptation and mitigation efforts – alongside engaging youth and local communities.

    Milestones on climate

    The first World Glacier Day will be celebrated on 21 March 2025, coinciding with World Water Day, coming a day later.

    In May, Tajikistan will host the International Glacier Preservation Conference, bringing together scientists, policymakers and community leaders to discuss solutions and form partnerships.

    “Tajikistan is immensely proud to have played an instrumental role in advocating for this resolution,” said Bahodur Sheralizoda, Chair of Tajikistan’s Committee of Environmental Protection.

    “Let us be clear, the only way to preserve glaciers as an important resource for the entire planet is for all governments to collectively course correct with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) fully consistent with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement limit,” he underscored.

    Challenges ahead

    According to the policy brief on the IYGP, “Some level of glacier loss remains inevitable given current loss rates, which modelling shows will continue until temperatures stabilise.”

    “We must prepare for cryospheric destruction through urgent policy changes,” explained Dr. John Pomeroy from the University of Saskatchewan.

    These efforts will require global cooperation, particularly in regions like Central Asia, where glacier loss has led to significant water security challenges.

    “In Tajikistan alone nearly 1,000 glaciers have melted, accounting for one-third of the country’s glacier volume,” Dr. Brito highlighted.

    A shared responsibility

    The IYGP seeks to unite nations, organizations and individuals in a common mission.

    “[It] provides a mechanism to kick start both renewed efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the science and adaptation necessary to prepare for a warmer, less icy world,” said Dr. Pomeroy

    “History will record that 2025 was the tipping point where humanity changed course and eventually saved the glaciers, ourselves and our planet,” he concluded.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Stats NZ information release: Ready-mixed concrete: December 2024 quarter

    Source: Statistics New Zealand

    Ready-mixed concrete: December 2024 quarter –12 February 2025 – Ready-mixed concrete statistics provide an indicator of construction activity.

    Key facts

    • In the December 2024 quarter, the actual volume of ready-mixed concrete produced was 967,964 cubic metres, down 6.2 percent compared with the December 2023 quarter.
    • In the year ended December 2024, 3.82 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete was produced, down 7.7 percent compared with the year ended December 2023.
    • In seasonally adjusted terms, the volume of ready-mixed concrete fell 4.7 percent in the December 2024 quarter, following a 0.6 percent rise in the September 2024 quarter.

    Files:

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: US, Australia, and UK forces conduct joint combined operations

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    SOUTH CHINA SEA  –  

    The U.S. Navy (USN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and Royal Navy (RN) joined together to conduct a link exercise, a coordinated maneuvering exercise, and a variety of other combined operations in the South China Sea, Feb. 6-7.

    Participating units included the USN Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65), the RAN Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), the RN River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey (P234).

    “Regular military engagements between the defense forces in the Indo-Pacific will help maintain regional security and stability” said Commodore Jonathan Ley, Joint Force Maritime Component Commander for Australia’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command. “This activity is a testament to the growing ability of Australia and the United States to work together in this complex maritime environment. As one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes and home to almost two thirds of the world’s population, it is essential we are ready, willing and able to meet any challenge.”

    During the maritime training, the three ships exercised their ability to exchange data using their tactical datalink systems, while the maneuvering exercise trained the crews’ ability to sail alongside each other in various conditions, improving the self-defense and communication capabilities of the three countries.

    “Operating alongside our Royal Navy and Australian counterparts strengthens collaboration at sea,” said Capt. Justin Harts, Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. “We will continue to reinforce our interoperability with our allies at every corner to maintain a consistent presence in the Indo-Pacific.”

    The U.S. Navy regularly operates alongside our allies in the Indo-Pacific region as a demonstration of our shared commitment to upholding international law. Combined operations provide valuable opportunities to train, exercise and develop tactical interoperability across allied navies in the Indo-Pacific.

    Benfold is forward-deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force.

    U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HONOLULU – Acting United States Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced that John B. Stancil, 37, of Waimanalo, was sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson to 240 months of imprisonment (the statutory maximum) followed by 3 years of supervised release for racketeering conspiracy. Stancil pled guilty on January 22, 2024, in the middle of jury selection, to conspiring to conduct and  participate in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, the “Miske Enterprise,” through racketeering activity that included participating in the commission of murder-for-hire and acts relating to chemical weapons.

    In his plea agreement, Stancil admitted that he and other members of the Miske Enterprise participated in chemical weapon attacks on two Honolulu nightclubs in March 2017, carried out on the orders of codefendant Michael J. Miske. Stancil provided the toxic chemical used in the attacks – a substance called chloropicrin, which can cause death, temporary incapacitation, or permanent harm to humans. Stancil also admitted to joining a murder-for-hire conspiracy with Miske and other Enterprise members. Miske put a murder contract out on an individual he believed was cooperating with law enforcement. Stancil then provided details of where the victim lived to another co-conspirator who agreed to carry out the murder until Miske eventually rescinded the contract. Stancil also admitted he served as the getaway driver for multiple assaults ordered by Miske and on behalf of the Miske Enterprise. According to other information provided to the Court, Stancil also coordinated and participated in numerous robberies on behalf of the Miske Enterprise.

    Stancil was charged alongside twelve other defendants, all of whom pled guilty except for Michael J. Miske who proceeded to trial and was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder, and 11 other felony charges on July 18, 2024. Seven other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise pled guilty to various offenses in related cases.

    “You cannot run from the facts,” Judge Watson advised Stancil during today’s sentencing before reciting the litany of racketeering acts for which the Court found Stancil responsible. Judge Watson found Stancil to be  “among the most culpable” of those in the Miske Enterprise, describing him as one of Michael Miske’s “key confidantes and lieutenants” and a “key player in terrorizing the citizenry of this city and county for years.” Judge Watson further noted that Stancil deserved an even higher prison sentence that the Court was not permitted to impose by statute.

    “Today’s sentence represents the culmination of years of tireless, dogged, skilled, and innovative work on the part of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii and our outstanding law enforcement partners, the Honolulu Division of the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, among others,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. “The court was deprived of the opportunity to sentence Michael Miske due to his untimely death following his guilty verdicts at trial for racketeering and other crimes. But today’s sentence, along with the 18 convictions we have secured against Miske’s henchmen and violent thugs, demonstrates our strong commitment to investigating, prosecuting, and convicting those who violate the law and endanger the safety and welfare of Hawaii’s citizens. Let today’s sentence and the convictions in these cases serve as a stark reminder to those who operate criminal enterprises in Hawaii that we have the tools, expertise, and resolve to bring them to justice.”

    “Mr. Stancil was a key member of the Miske Enterprise, actively participating in a longstanding pattern of racketeering activity involving murder-forhire, robbery, and use of chemical weapons,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter. “This sentencing reflects years of collaboration between FBI Honolulu and our law enforcement partners. The FBI remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantle violent criminal enterprises, hold their members accountable, and pursue justice for victims.”

    “Mr. Stancil’s racketeering charge reminds us that organized crime threatens innocent lives for money,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “Our agency follows the money so we can cut off organized crime at its roots.” 

    “HSI is committed to ending organized crime in Hawaii. The sentencing of Mr. Stancil underscores the importance of leveraging law enforcement partnerships to safeguard our community,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas. “Our dedication to this cause is unwavering, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that these criminals are held accountable for their actions.”

    This prosecution was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligencedriven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental  Protection Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Honolulu Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Cybercrime Lab of the Department of Justice Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team, the Office of Investigations–Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Inciong, Michael Nammar, KeAupuni Akina, and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Twenty Defendants Indicted in Akron Drug Trafficking and Firearms Conspiracy

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

    AKRON, Ohio – A 51-count superseding indictment was unsealed today charging 17 Ohio residents of operating a large-scale drug trafficking scheme based in Akron. The Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) is alleged to be responsible for trafficking distribution quantities of controlled substances in the Summit County, Ohio area including methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, as well as Alprazolam, which is more commonly known under the brand name Xanax. Three other defendants were indicted separately for their involvement in the conspiracy.

    According to court documents, the investigation that led to the indictment began in December 2023 and continued to around August 2024. The alleged leader, Joe Nathan Sanders-Taylor, 41, of Akron, was believed to be the center of the DTO that distributed illegal drugs throughout Northeast Ohio. He was regularly supplied by co-conspirators who funneled drug inventory from sources connected to the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG or Jalisco Cartel). Sanders-Taylor developed a drug distribution process that employed a number of individuals to serve as drug dealers throughout the Northeast Ohio region.

    Court documents show that Sanders-Taylor used a network of associates to re-sell the drugs, assist with financial transactions, or act as lookouts while drug deals took place. Several co-defendants and other members of the conspiracy maintained and used residences in Summit County, Ohio, to store and distribute their drug supplies, or to manufacture controlled substances. Members of the conspiracy also possessed firearms to further their illegal business activities and protect their drug inventory.

    Sanders-Taylor was arrested on June 10, 2024, after he engaged in a pursuit by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on Interstate 77 in Summit County. As he fled from police, he threw two loaded firearms with high-capacity magazines from the vehicle. Sanders-Taylor crashed the vehicle and then fled on foot and attempted to carjack two separate vehicles with people still inside. Sanders-Taylor was later discovered to have prior federal convictions which prohibits him from possessing firearms. Further investigation of the incident determined that he also possessed distribution amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl. The remaining defendants were apprehended in a series of coordinated arrests.

    The superseding indictment charges the following 17 defendants:

    • Joe Nathan Sanders-Taylor, aka Red, 41, Akron
    • Brooke Marie Logan, aka Bee, 29, Akron
    • Tyrell Jerome Jennings, aka 50, 35, Cleveland
    • Christopher Michael Andrews, aka Blondy, 28, Akron
    • Crystal Marie Harris, 50, Akron
    • Ronald Oscar Clark, 58, Akron
    • Chelsey Marie Connelly, 35, Akron
    • Angela Grace Wade, 47, Akron
    • Demardre Leshawn Johnson, aka Icey, 37, Akron
    • Denetris Condra May, aka D-May, aka Mayday, 38, Akron
    • John P. Burton, 41, Akron
    • Brian Keith Hinkle, aka Hizzle, 38, Akron
    • Joshua Lee Hackney, aka Country, 38, Akron
    • Matthew Dion Inman, 54, Akron
    • Thomas Franklin Casanova, 27, Akron
    • Donnie Keith Eugene Schaffer, 30, Akron
    • Julia Francesca Stavole-Habimana, 26, Richfield

    The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants did unlawfully, knowingly, and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, all Schedule II controlled substances, and Alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance.

    In addition, three other defendants involved with this drug trafficking and firearms conspiracy were charged in a separate superseding indictment:

    • Robert Parham, 54, Akron
    • Laverne Fortson, 50, Akron
    • Jeffery Goldbach, 54, Ravenna

    According to court documents, in July 2024, Parham had 28 firearms, which included a machine gun, distribution amounts of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in his possession at his apartment in Akron. Fortson and Goldbach also possessed distribution amounts of narcotics at their residences.

    An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including each defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

    The investigation preceding the superseding indictment was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI Akron Field Office, with assistance from the Akron Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Girard Police Department, Barberton Police Department, Liberty Police Department, and the University of Akron Police Department.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Dangelo for the Northern District of Ohio.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Waterbury Man Who Possessed Guns and Drugs While on Supervised Release Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

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

    Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that D’METRIUS JOHNSON, formerly known as D’METRIUS WOODWARD, and also known as “Meech,” 30, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for unlawfully possessing firearms as a felon, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 12, 2014, Johnson was sentenced in federal court to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his participation in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy.  He was released from federal prison in January 2018.  On November 21, 2022, while Johnson was on supervised release, Brookfield Police arrested him on state charges related to the theft of catalytic converters.  On that date, a search of Johnson’s Waterbury residence revealed a Ruger 57 semiautomatic pistol, a Glock 31 semiautomatic pistol, a Ruger LCP handgun, ammunition, approximately 89 grams of cocaine, and pills containing MDMA (“ecstasy”).

    It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

    Johnson has been detained since his arrest.  On November 14, 2024, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

    This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Waterbury Police Department, with the assistance of the Brookfield Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark.

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 292 Months in Prison

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

    FORT WAYNE – Dontae L. Salter, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

    Salter was sentenced to 292 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

    According to documents in the case, Salter distributed several pounds of methamphetamine from June through October of 2023.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Indiana State Police, the Fort Wayne Police Department, and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also assisting with the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.

    This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    This case was also 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 Submissions: Stats NZ information release: Ready-mixed concrete: December 2024 quarter

    Source: Statistics New Zealand

    Ready-mixed concrete: December 2024 quarter –12 February 2025 – Ready-mixed concrete statistics provide an indicator of construction activity.

    Key facts

    • In the December 2024 quarter, the actual volume of ready-mixed concrete produced was 967,964 cubic metres, down 6.2 percent compared with the December 2023 quarter.
    • In the year ended December 2024, 3.82 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete was produced, down 7.7 percent compared with the year ended December 2023.
    • In seasonally adjusted terms, the volume of ready-mixed concrete fell 4.7 percent in the December 2024 quarter, following a 0.6 percent rise in the September 2024 quarter.

    Files:

     

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scottish activity at Expo 2025

    Source: Scottish Government

    Showcasing key industries to global audiences

    Scotland’s innovation, skills and natural resources are to be showcased at Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan later this year.

    Three one day events at the global exhibition will highlight the country’s strengths in creative industries, life sciences and the offshore wind sector.

    It follows a successful attendance at Expo 2020 in Dubai, which generated forecast sales of almost £90 million for participating Scottish businesses.

    Games companies will be the focus of the creative industries day on 17 April, including eight being supported through the Scottish Government’s Techscaler business accelerator. Also attending will be KeelWorks, an established Edinburgh game development company with an existing deal with Japanese publisher KONAMI.

    Business Minister Richard Lochhead visited the company to launch the Expo programme and hear about its export success.

    Mr Lochhead said:

    “This is an opportunity for Scotland to showcase and shine on the global stage. Our message in Osaka will be simple – Scotland is open for business and is one of the best places in the world to invest.

    “We will demonstrate first hand that we have the skills, technology and opportunities in a range of emerging industries. KeelWorks is just one example of that and later in the year our buoyant life sciences businesses and the offshore wind sector will also be centre stage.

    “Japanese businesses already recognise Scotland’s economic potential, including Sumitomo, which is currently building a subsea cable factory at Nigg in the Highlands. I am confident that further companies and significant investment will follow as result of our presence at the Expo.”

    KeelWorks Chief Executive Meher Kalenderian said:

    “This activity is about strengthening connections, driving investment and opening new doors for collaboration. So, we’re thrilled to be part of Scotland’s presence at Expo 2025 Osaka, highlighting the strong business opportunities between Scotland and Japan’s prominent gaming industries.

    “This platform offers a great chance to showcase our thriving creative sector and build new collaborations. At KeelWorks, we’ve seen first-hand the value of such partnerships through our work with KONAMI on CYGNI: All Guns Blazing.

    “Our presence at the Expo reflects the growing potential for Scottish and Japanese gaming sectors to engage, as both countries lead in innovation.”

    Background

    Expo 2025 Osaka takes place from 13 April to 13 October. It is an international event at which countries, organisations and companies showcase innovations, cultural exchanges and solutions to global challenges. It is expected to attract about 28 million visitors and more than 150 participating countries. Scotland’s three events are supported by Scottish Enterprise.

    Scotland’s first Trade Envoy to Japan was appointed in October 2024. The unpaid role will last for an initial two-year period.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Deadly floods in Spain highlight need to cut greenhouse gas emissions

    Source: United Nations 2

    Climate and Environment

    The record-breaking rainfall and deadly flash floods that hit Spain this week underscore why saving lives as climate change turbocharges extreme weather must be a top priority, the World Meteorological Office (WMO) said on Friday. 

    The UN weather agency is highlighting the importance of early warning systems for all corners of the planet and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

    “The flooding that we’re seeing in Spain is just one of many, many, many, extreme weather and water-related disasters that have been taking place around the world this year. Almost every week we’re seeing such shocking images,” spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva. 

    Lives lost as rains continue

    More than 150 people have been killed in Spain, where a massive search and rescue operation is ongoing even as the rains continue. 

    The Valencia region was worst affected, and “some areas received more than the equivalent of a year’s amount of rainfall in the space of eight hours.” 

    Spain’s meteorological and hydrological service, AEMET, has been issuing constant advisories and alerts throughout the week via the common alerting protocol, she said, referring to the standardized message format for all media, all hazards, and all communication channels.

    A red alert – the top level – was issued on Friday in the southwest province of Huelva, “so, unfortunately, this episode is not finished yet”.

    Extreme weather increasing

    Ms. Nullis recalled that other areas in Europe have been badly affected by floods this year. In mid-September, parts of Central Europe experienced very heavy rainfall, breaking local and national records.

    “According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, extreme weather events causing highly impactful floods and droughts have become more likely and more severe due to anthropogenic climate change,” she said.

    She pointed to WMO’s recently released report on the State of Global Water Resources. Commenting at the time, the agency’s chief, Celeste Saulo, said that the hydrological cycle has accelerated due to rising temperatures.  

    As a result, the world is facing growing problems of either too much or too little water. Furthermore, a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which is conducive to heavy rainfall.

    Ms. Nullis said this is what is happening in Spain.

    “As the air warms, it becomes more moist. So, every additional fraction of warming increases the atmospheric moisture content, and this increases the risk of extreme precipitation, flooding,” she explained.

    World must act now 

    Asked what action can be taken to avoid the devastation caused in Spain and elsewhere, Ms. Nullis said the international community “can make a good start by reducing greenhouse gas emissions which are the driver behind this.”

    Countries also “need to ensure that early warnings lead to informed early action.”

    WMO will publish its latest State of the Global Climate update at the COP29 UN climate change conference in Azerbaijan later this month.  The report will provide more details about extreme events around the world over the past year. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Ukraine’s nuclear security situation ‘highly challenging’, warns UN atomic watchdog

    Source: United Nations 2

    Peace and Security

    Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine caused by the ongoing Russian invasion, the head of the UN atomic energy agency (IAEA) said that safety at the country’s largest nuclear power plant “remains a deep source of concern”.

    Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) – which is also Europe’s biggest nuclear energy facility – has been under Russian control since shortly after it launched a full-scale military campaign in February 2022.

    In recent days, an IAEA expert team crossed the frontline to replace colleagues at the Zaporizhzhya plant who have been monitoring nuclear safety and security since September 2022. The presence of the “IAEA Support and Assistance Mission” at ZNPP and four other nuclear facilities is meant “to help prevent a radiological accident during the military conflict”, IAEA said in a statement.

    “We will stay at these sites for as long as it is needed to help avert the threat of a nuclear accident that could have serious consequences for human health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. “As the nuclear safety and security situation remains highly challenging, our experts are continuing to play a crucial stabilizing role at all these facilities.” 

    Media reports indicated ongoing fighting and drone attacks in the vicinity of the Zaporizhyzhya plant in southeastern Ukraine.

    Conflict ever-present

    “During the past week, the team has continued to hear frequent explosions, some distance away from the ZNPP. No damage to the ZNPP was reported,” IAEA said. The agency’s teams said that the safety and security at four other Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl site reported that safety and security at Ukraine’s four other nuclear plants “is being maintained despite the effects of the ongoing conflict, including air raid alarms for several days over the past week”.

    At the Zaporizhzhya plant, IAEA said that it had been informed that two backup transformers had resumed operation after successful high voltage testing, while maintenance would be carried out on the four remaining backup transformers by the end of the year.

    The IAEA expert team also reported discussing winter preparations for the plant and receiving confirmation that all six reactors will remain in cold shutdown.

    The IAEA expert team also reported discussing winter preparations for the plant and receiving confirmation that all six reactors will remain in cold shutdown.

    Humanitarian crisis worsens

    Latest updates from UN aid teams have highlighted the deepening humanitarian crisis across Ukraine, particularly in frontline areas in the northeast, east and south, owing to “intensified attacks” by Russian forces. UN human rights monitors have verified more than 1,400 deaths and injuries since the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022.

    “Humanitarian response efforts face growing challenges, including safety risks. “Six aid workers were killed or injured in July and August alone.” said UN aid coordination office, OCHA. It noted that in the first nine months of the year, the humanitarian community has provided at least one form of assistance to 7.2 million out of 8.5 million people targeted for support.

    This is despite the 2024 Humanitarian Appeal for Ukraine receiving less than half the requested $3.11 billion.

    “Civilians remaining in front-line communities in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Khersons, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts face dire living conditions, which is expected to worsen as winter approaches,” OCHA warned.

    Repeated attacks on energy infrastructure “are expected to worsen the challenges civilians will face in the coming winter”, the UN agency continued, highlighting likely disruption to essential services such as water, gas and heating.

    According to authorities and UN partners on the ground, attacks in the early hours of Thursday injured dozens of civilians and damaged apartment buildings and hospitals in the capital, Kyiv, and in the front-line regions of Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Sumy and Mykolaiv.

    Aid workers swiftly mobilised to offer psychological support, provide construction materials and deliver cash assistance to vulnerable people, OCHA reported.

    The UN Resident Coordinator Office in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, who witnessed the humanitarian impact of the attacks firsthand, met with local authorities and humanitarian partners to discuss ways to strengthen the humanitarian response.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: Granite Credit Union Selects Appli to Modernize Digital Lending Experience

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Appli, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered financial calculators, announced that Granite Credit Union has selected its financial calculator solution to improve the digital lending experience for its members.

    “In our market, which is very credit union-heavy, staying competitive technologically while maintaining our focus on member service is crucial,” said Garrett Laws, chief lending officer at Granite Credit Union. “Financial calculators are often the first step in a member’s lending journey, but traditional calculators provide limited value. Appli’s guided experience gives members the confidence to move forward with applications while helping those who might not initially qualify understand their path to approval. Even if someone isn’t ready for loan approval today, being able to show them a path forward aligns perfectly with our mission of helping people be confident in their financial future.”

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    Granite Credit Union will implement Appli’s technology to help members better understand their borrowing options and loan qualification potential before submitting formal applications. Starting with auto loans, including its unique “vanishing rate auto loan” program that rewards members with rate discounts for consistent on-time payments, the credit union plans to integrate the calculators throughout its digital presence – from its website and online banking portal to new member onboarding communications. Future phases will expand to personal loans and credit cards, with plans to explore mortgage and business lending applications.

    “Granite Credit Union is a perfect example of the innovative, member-focused approach we designed Appli for,” said Tim Pranger, CEO of Appli. “Their commitment to serving diverse communities and helping members build financial confidence through technology makes them an ideal partner as we continue expanding our platform’s capabilities.”

    About Granite Credit Union
    Founded in 1935, Granite Credit Union serves over 35,000 members and has just over $800 million in assets. Committed to helping members achieve their financial goals, Granite Credit Union offers a variety of financial products and services, including competitive rates, flexible lending options, and personalized financial guidance. With a vision of “always there… so you can make life happen,” the credit union strives to empower members with the tools and support they need to succeed financially. Members enjoy access to secure mobile banking services, online tools, and personalized in-branch assistance at locations across Utah. Granite Credit Union is dedicated to making a positive impact in the communities it serves through financial education, trusted relationships, and exceptional service. Granite Credit Union is always there… so you can make life happen. Learn more at granite.org.

    About Appli
    Appli, founded in 2024 by POPi/o co-founder Tim Pranger, provides AI-powered financial calculators that help lenders and member service representatives create personalized, engaging shopping experiences for financial products. By combining real-time analysis with generative AI, Appli’s tools boost customer confidence and increase conversion rates for financial institutions. For more information about Appli and its smart financial calculator for credit unions, visit hiappli.com.

    Media Contact:
    marketing@granite.org

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Risch, King, Thompson, Golden Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Future Logging Careers Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho James E Risch
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Angus King (I-Maine) and U.S. Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) introduced the Future Logging Careers Act to support America’s family-run timber industry.
    This legislation would allow teenage members of logging families to gain critical, hands-on experience in the trade so they may carry on the family business. The Future Logging Careers Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to work in certain mechanized logging operations under parental supervision. Similar exemptions already exist for farming families.
    “Idaho’s logging industry is rooted in family-run businesses, but current law is preventing them from passing down the trade,” said Risch. “The Future Logging Careers Act empowers timber families to prepare the next generation of loggers to properly manage our forests and support rural economies.”
    “For centuries, logging has been synonymous with the success of Maine — creating good jobs, supporting proud, hard-working families and boosting local rural economies,” said King. “As we prepare for the next generation of Maine loggers, we should provide opportunities for young people to explore this exciting field in a safe and supervised way. The bipartisan Future Logging Careers Act would give aspiring, young loggers the option to jumpstart their career, get valuable hands-on experience, and begin critical training by logging with their parents or grandparents. I’m proud to join my colleagues in working to expand good job opportunities and further build upon our state’s rich forest heritage.”
    “Pennsylvania has long been a leader in the forestry industry, and I have the great privilege of representing numerous family-owned logging businesses,” said Thompson. “By allowing young men and women to work alongside their families in this industry, we’re ensuring that the skills, knowledge, and traditions of logging can be passed down to the next generation.”
    “Maine’s working forests are a distinct part of our identity, thanks to the passionate work of generations today and past,” Golden said. “To carry on that proud tradition, young Mainers need the personal investment that comes only from experiencing something with your own two hands — an opportunity that this bipartisan legislation would finally create.”
    Additional cosponsors of the legislation include U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and John Cornyn (R-Texas).
    The Future Logging Careers Act has received support from the American Loggers Council and the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho. 
    “The timber industry is traditionally a multi-generational business where the skills and knowledge are passed on from one generation to the next. This succession process is critical to ensuring that the timber industry infrastructure remains viable to support public and private healthy forest management, rural jobs, wildfire mitigation, and U.S. made forest products. The Future Logging Careers Act will afford the timber industry sector of the agricultural economy the same opportunities and benefits currently extended to the family farm. Workforce development is critical to maintaining the resources necessary to provide the forest management services required to meet the U.S. sustainable healthy forests objectives for today and the future. The American Loggers Council appreciates the bipartisan/bicameral sponsorship of Senator Risch (ID) and Senator King (ME), and Representative Golden (ME) and Representative Thompson (PA), of the Future Logging Careers Act and their continued support of the American timber industry,” said Scott Dane, Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. 
    “We need this today, more than ever. With the modern mechanized logging practices of today, our contractors have invested millions of dollars in machinery which necessitates the need for equipment operators. In Idaho’s Forest Products Industry, like many others, there is a shortage of labor that is having devastating consequences for our members. We are in the process of a workforce development plan to attract, train and retain workers for our industry, but for now, we rely heavily on family. Our sons and daughters grow up in our family logging operations, visit our jobsites often and many develop a love for logging that fills us with pride. By the time they are 16, they are ready and willing to jump in and start working but are hamstrung by an archaic 1938 Law. We then lose our sons and daughters to other occupations where they are allowed to work, and sadly, many don’t return to the family logging businesses. The Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho fully supports theFuture Logging Careers Actand thank Senator Risch for introducing this important legislation,”said Clete Edmunson, Executive Director of the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho.
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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo, Risch Join REINS Act to Put Power Back in the People’s Hands

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo
    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) joined in co-sponsoring the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act to help reduce overly-burdensome major federal rules.
    “While, thankfully, the current Administration is receptive to eliminating over-reaching federal regulation to help American businesses expand and increase jobs, that has not always been the case,” said Crapo.  “We have been working on this legislation for years, and I welcome the reintroduction of the REINS Act that would allow more scrutiny of new regulations and provide cleanup of current overregulation.”
    “Federal bureaucrats and excessive red tape have burdened Idahoans’ lives for too long,” said Risch.  “The REINS Act restores accountability by requiring Congress to review costly regulations and stop bureaucratic overreach.  We must get the federal government out of the way and restore the freedoms guaranteed to Idahoans by the Constitution.”   
    Under the REINS Act, once major rules are drafted, both chambers of Congress would need to approve them and the President sign them into law.  This would satisfy the bicameralism and presentment requirements of the U.S. Constitution.  Currently, federal agency regulations ultimately take effect unless Congress specifically disapproves.
    The bill defines a “major” rule as one that the Office of Management and Budget determines may result in an economic impact of $100 million or greater each year; “a major increase in costs or prices” for American consumers, government agencies, regions, or industries; or “significant adverse effects” on the economy.
    The REINS Act also includes the following changes from the original bill Crapo and Risch co-sponsored in past Congresses:
    New Defense for Individuals: Individuals can argue that the average person would not have known their actions violated federal law if the statute did not clearly state it.
    Right to Sue: People can sue to stop enforcement if an agency implements a major rule without getting congressional approval.
    LIBERTY Act: Agency guidance with an economic impact of $100 million or more needs congressional approval just like major rules.
    Deregulatory Actions Exempted: Agencies do not need congressional approval to withdraw costly or burdensome rules
    Access full bill text HERE.
    Additional co-sponsors include U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri ).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Capito Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Boost Broadband Supply Chain

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) reintroduced their bipartisan Network Equipment Transparency (NET) Act to increase broadband supply chain transparency through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make sure federal broadband programs stay on track. 
    “In order to effectively connect our communities, it’s critical that our federal agencies work to address any potential problems that would slow or hinder this process of deployment. I’m proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing the NET Act, which will provide us with another tool to monitor the supply chain so these crucial projects can be executed in a timely manner,” Senator Capito said.
    BACKGROUND:
    Previous supply chain disruptions have delayed broadband infrastructure projects. A lack of transparency into the health of the telecommunications supply chain may contribute to future equipment shortages as federal broadband programs prioritize high-speed, reliable, and accessible networks.
    The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) invested billions to jumpstart broadband projects nationwide. This bill would help to identify supply chain issues earlier so they can be addressed with less impact on these ongoing projects.
    Specifically, the bill would require the FCC’s Communications Marketplace Report to describe to Congress the impact of supply chain disruptions on the timely completion or deployment of broadband infrastructure projects. 
    Senator Capito previously introduced the NET Act in the 118th Congress. 
    Full text of the bill can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN expert calls for action as Marshall Islands faces dual displacement crisis

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Human Rights

    An independent UN expert on Thursday called on the international community to fulfill its “urgent moral obligation” to support the Marshall Islands in addressing displacement challenges stemming from the impacts of historical nuclear testing and the growing threat of climate change. 

    The appeal from Paula Gaviria Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, comes as the Pacific nation grapples with generational displacement and the threat posed by rising sea levels and unprecedented global heating.

    The Marshall Islands, a frontline nation in the fight to slow global warming, faces unique challenges.

    As one of the small island developing States (SIDS), it has played a significant role in international climate action. Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, the Marshall Islands was instrumental, along with other SIDS, in advocating strongly for the inclusion of the 1.5 C temperature goal.

    The nation also submitted one of the first Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCS) under the agreement.

    The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) identifies the Marshall Islands as particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with rising sea levels posing an existential threat.

    Despite these challenges, the agreement on ‘Loss and Damage funding’ at COP27,  marks a critical development for vulnerable nations like the Marshall Islands. This mechanism aims to provide financial assistance to the most vulnerable nations impacted by climate change effects.

    Nuclear testing threatens communities

    Beyond environmental challenges, research conducted by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, revealed that 67 nuclear tests performed between 1946 and 1958 by the United States Government in the Marshall Islands left communities displaced and contributed to radioactive land and sea pollution.

    “Legacies of nuclear testing and military land requisitions by a foreign power have displaced hundreds of Marshallese for generations,” while the adverse effects of climate change threaten to displace thousands more,” said Ms. Gaviria Betancur, following her 10-day visit to the country.

    The UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert who receives no salary and represents no government or organization, welcomed Marshall Islanders’ efforts to seek remedy and solutions for displaced persons while emphasizing that the “situation has been largely driven beyond the country’s control”.

    Indigenous rights

    During her visit, Ms. Gaviria Betancur emphasized the profound impact of displacement on Marshallese communities.

    “Many Marshallese I spoke with recounted the profound sense of dislocation they feel as a result of their displacement from lands deeply intertwined with their sense of culture and identity as Indigenous Peoples,” she reported.

    She congratulated the Marshall Islands on its recent election to the Human Rights Council and its introduction of a resolution addressing the human rights implications of the nuclear legacy.

    She also outlined specific recommendations for the government, stating, “the Government should adopt a comprehensive, rights-based policy on displacement, promote greater transparency around laws and policies relevant to displaced persons and continue working with traditional leaders”.

    International Responsibility

    Addressing historical responsibility, the expert noted that displacement occurred while the Marshall Islands were under US administration as a Strategic Trust Territory of the United Nations. She urged the United States to provide complete information about the displacement and health risks to affected communities, ensure meaningful remedy, and seek full consent from those with traditional rights to lands it currently occupies for military purposes.

    “While current compensation agreements may have been put in place after independence, these aims to codify displacement that took place when those displaced could not reasonably have provide free, prior and informed consent in line with Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination,” she stated.

    Ms. Gaviria Betancur called on the international community to provide more support for the Marshall Islands’ climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, highlighting the countries minimal contribution to global emissions. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘War on drugs has failed, completely and utterly’: UN human rights chief

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Human Rights

    The UN human rights chief has called on leaders and international stakeholders to radically rethink global drug policy, stating that the decades-long “War on Drugs” approach has “destroyed countless lives and damaged entire communities”.

    Speaking at the ‘Dealing with Drugs II’ conference in Warsaw on Thursday, High Commissioner Volker Türk highlighted the urgent need for a human rights-based approach to drug regulation, pointing to record numbers of drug-related deaths and increasing drug use disorders.

    The conference, which builds on January’s ‘Dealing with Drugs I’ meeting hosted by the Mayor of Amsterdam, brought together leaders and experts from across Europe and the world to share best practices and expertise.

    “Criminalisation and prohibition have failed to reduce drug use and failed to deter drug-related crime. These policies are simply not working – and we are failing some of the most vulnerable groups in our societies”.

    Global drug crisis

    The High Commissioner’s address comes amid a surge in illicit drug production and distribution.

    In Afghanistan, despite a 2022 Taliban ban that initially reduced opium cultivation by 95 per cent, 2024 saw a 19 per cent resurgence driven by economic hardship and rising prices. Meanwhile, North America faces an unprecedented fentanyl crisis, with synthetic drugs claiming lives at an alarming rate across the United States and parts of Asia and Africa.

    From punishment to support

    He emphasised the need for a radical shift in approach that prioritises health, dignity and inclusion.

    “Instead of punitive measures, we need gender-sensitive and evidence-based drug policies, grounded by public health,” Mr. Türk urged. He also called for “inclusive access to voluntary medical care and other social services,” emphasising that harm reduction measures are essential in preventing drug overdose fatalities.

    A key element of reform, Mr. Türk declared, is decriminalisation. “We need to start treating the person, not punishing the drug use disorder,” advocating for social reintegration support to accompany policy changes.

    The High Commissioner pointed to clear evidence supporting this approach: “Focusing on inclusion and education over incarceration means that drug consumption falls. Choosing social reintegration over stigmatisation means that drug-related infections decrease”.

    Soundcloud

    Prioritising people

    At the centre of policy development, Mr. Türk stressed the importance of a focus on people most affected by current drug policies.

    “Historically, people who use drugs are marginalised, criminalised, discriminated against and left behind – very often stripped of their dignity and their rights,” he noted.

    “We are destined to fail unless we ensure their genuine participation in formulating and implementing drug policy”.

    “The evidence is clear. The so-called War on Drugs has failed, completely and utterly,” Mr. Türk concluded. “And prioritising people over punishment means more lives are saved”.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Underinvestment threatens universal health coverage goals

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Health

    Coinciding with Universal Health Coverage Day on Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO) released its 2024 Global Health Expenditure Report, revealing troubling declines in government health spending.

    The report, titled Global Spending on Health: Emerging from the Pandemic, shows a reduction in per capita government health expenditures in 2022 across all income groups, following a surge during the early COVID-19 pandemic years.

    This concerning trend undermines progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC), a goal enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the agency said.

    This year, Universal Health Coverage Day emphasises the urgent need for governments to prioritise financial protection, ensuring access to essential health services for all without risking financial hardship.

    A global health emergency

    The statistics are stark: 4.5 billion people worldwide lack access to basic health services, and 2 billion experience financial hardship from healthcare costs.

    For many, the high price of medical care presents impossible choices between vital treatments and necessities like food and housing.

    These challenges disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including women, children, and adolescents, who face the greatest barriers to healthcare access.

    “While access to health services has been improving globally, using those services is driving more and more people into financial hardship or poverty,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

    “Universal Health Coverage Day is a reminder that health for all, means everyone can access the health services they need, without financial hardship,” he added.

    The cost of inaction

    Reduced government health investments can have far-reaching consequences.

    Without sufficient funding, health systems waver, leaving populations vulnerable in both their routine health needs and crises.

    The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the connection between UHC and health security, underscoring the need for resilient health systems that protect everyone, everywhere.

    Investing in health is not just a moral imperative but an economic one.

    Access to affordable healthcare improves workforce participation, boosts productivity, and fosters social cohesion.

    On the contrary, when healthcare costs force people into poverty, the economic ripple effects can be devastating.

    UHC Day 2024: A call to action

    Since the UN General Assembly’s endorsement of UHC in 2012, global leaders have reaffirmed their commitments in multiple declarations. Yet, financial protection has worsened over the last two decades.

    This Universal Health Coverage Day, advocates are urging governments to meet their commitments by prioritising health funding in national budgets.

    The 2024 UHC Day theme, “Health: It’s on the Government”, underscores the role of governments in ensuring equitable and affordable healthcare for all.

    Advocates are calling on leaders to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from impoverishing health costs and to ensure no one has to choose between healthcare and basic needs.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Syria: UN health agency launches $56.4 million appeal to meet critical needs

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Vibhu Mishra

    Humanitarian Aid

    The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday launched a $56.4 million flash appeal to address urgent health needs in Syria, where years of conflict have cripped the healthcare system.

    In addition, the developments since late November, culminating with the overthrow of the Assad regime added new dimensions to the crisis, including population displacements as well as return of Syrian refugees from neighbouring countries.

    Since November 2024, over 882,000 Syrians have been displaced amid surging violence, further straining the country’s fragile healthcare system. Attacks on health facilities also escalated, with 37 incidents reported in the past month, according to WHO.  

    Over half of Syria’s hospitals are now non-functional, and 141 health facilities in northern Aleppo and Idlib face imminent closure due to funding shortages.

    Healthcare under unprecedented strain

    “The health infrastructure in Syria is severely strained, more than ever,” said Christina Bethke, acting WHO Representative for the country.

    “Our teams are currently providing care through mobile clinics, restoring immunization services and integrating mental health support into health facilities, especially for those affected by trauma. This appeal is about safeguarding health and dignity while offering Syrians hope for a safer future.”

    Fully funded, WHO’s six-month strategy aims to further strengthen trauma care, deploy ambulances, restore maternal and child health services, enhance disease surveillance, and enable timely patient referrals.

    The agency also aims to bolster health system coordination through its hub in Gaziantep, Türkiye, which coordinates assistance to about five million Syrians, including those in hard-to-reach areas.

    UNHCR highlights refugee challenges

    Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported significant challenges for displaced populations and returning refugees, particularly for vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, women and children.

    Those returning from neighbouring countries face severe hardships, with destroyed homes forcing them to live in tents, with extended family members or pay exorbitant rental fees.

    Unexploded ordnance (UXO) particularly in agricultural land or homes near former frontline areas pose significant risks. Returnees also cited the need for legal assistance, psychosocial support and school rehabilitation.

    In response, UNHCR partners in Aleppo, Hassakeh, Ar-Raqqa and rural Tartous have resumed protection activities, including programmes to keep children engaged, livelihood grants, relief distribution, prevention of sexual violence, and awareness sessions on UXOs and other harmful objects.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Terrorists and their foreign sponsors, though ‘weakened’ still pose a threat, Mali minister warns

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    UN Affairs

    The Deputy Prime Minister of Mali outlined on Saturday the steps the Government has taken to rebuild trust among the country’s diverse communities and push back against terrorism, but he warned that “opportunistic’ terrorist groups, and their foreign sponsors threatened toundo  this work.

    Addressing the UN General Assembly’s annual debate, Abdoulaye Maiga said that since 2012, Mali had been experiencing a multifaceted crisis that led to the loss of more than half its territory and countless civilian lives.

    This was largely due to violence perpetrated by an “opportunistic and incestuous association” of terrorist groups and other armed fighters. NATO’s “haphazard” military intervention in Libya had also played a part in worsening the situation throughout the Sahel.

    Indeed, terrorist activities, instigated by sponsors inside and outside the region, had a dire impact on Mali’s security and stability due to rising violence, “all kinds of trafficking, money laundering and community conflicts,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained.

    Having witnessed the failure of international forces on its territory since 2013 to deal with these issues, Malian authorities decided to “take their fate in their own hands.” Since 2021 Mali had launched a vast campaign to re-equip and reorganize the Malian defense and security forces.

    After a subsequent national assessment, Malian authorities and citizens had together concluded that their country, its people and its defense and security forces had been “left pillaged and polluted; battered and humiliated; high and dry and stabbed in the back,” by parties that had instigated violence, and looted the country’s raw materials for their own gain. Such was the case for much of Africa.

    Considering this “ruthless reality of international relations”, especially as it pertains to Africa, Mali’s president had earlier this year launched a ‘national programme for education on values’ aiming for Malians to recommit to their origins, “without which it would be difficult to image a bright future for our country in its legitimate quest to restore its sovereignty,” Mr. Maiga explained.

    As for Mali’s ongoing political transition, he recalled that the Malian people had chosen to undertake political reforms before holding elections to establish good governance, among other goals. In addition, to further foster national unity, “which is the basis for all development efforts”, the president, on 31 December 2023, the holding of the three phase inter-Malian dialogue for peace and reconciliation. The aim is to allow the nation to seek Malian solutions for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.

    “We call on all Malians to support this trend towards reconciliation, a key step towards returning to constitutional order,” Mr. Maiga said, going on to note that while the outcomes of the reconciliation process were still a guiding principle, the newly reinvigorated security forces had been successful in, among others, efforts to recover all regions form the hands of terrorist groups, particularly in Kidal.

    Even though the terrorist groups had been “severely weakened” as Malian defense forces have been deployed throughout the country, those “criminals” continued “desperate attempts to undermine Mali’s territorial integrity, he said, denouncing the support of such actors by “foreign State sponsors”.

    Mr. Maiga also recalled that, earlier this year, the member States of the Confederation of the States of the Sahel sent a joint letter to the Security Council to condemn Ukrainian authorities’ support for international terrorism; denounce the aggression against Mali; and demand that the Council take appropriate measures against the Ukrainian Government. 

    He also criticized France for its acts of aggression against Mali and its involvement in promoting terrorism in the Sahel through armed, economic and media terrorism.

    Finally, the Deputy Foreign Minister expressed surprise at the “fierce hostility” from some officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “who are acting on orders of imperialists and neocolonial entities”. 

     Click here for the full statement (in French).

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Syrian Minister denounces Israel for its ‘seven-decade-long criminal record’

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    UN Affairs

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria, Bassam Sabbagh, on Monday said the world was at a critical juncture, marked by widespread conflict, economic hardship and environmental degradation.

    All of these, he told the UN General Assembly, are exacerbated by failures of multilateral diplomacy and the failure of the United Nations to achieve its founding objectives.

    “While we previously sought to promote preventive diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes, we are witnessing today more direct wars and proxy wars waged using terrorist tools,” he said.

    “Instead of investing efforts and resources in achieving sustainable development for all, some are flagrantly draining the resources of other countries, stealing from their people, and imposing unilateral coercive measures that impoverish and destroy nations.”

    Stating that Syria has experienced unparalleled suffering for over a decade, he alleged that billions of dollars were spent to erode its development progress, undermine security and stability, spread chaos, and fuel displacement.

    “All that has happened has revealed the true intentions of the collective West, which completely contradict the principles and purposes that formed the pillars of foundation and function of this Organization,” he said.

    The Syrian Minister also condemned Israel for its ongoing occupation of Arab territories since 1967, as well as what he described as its “genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity”. He added that by its actions since 7 October last year, Israel added “another chapter to its seven-decade-long criminal record.”

    “[Syria] strongly condemns the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and renew its solidarity with its legitimate struggle to liberate their occupied land and establish their independent state on their entire national territory, with Jerusalem as its capital, while ensuring the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions,” he said.

    He also denounced Israel’s “heinous crimes” against his country’s people in the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as its “unprecedented crime” against Lebanon.

    “We stress the need to hold Israel accountable for the war crimes it is committing, including the deliberate targeting of more than 200 personnel working for UNRWA [the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees] and other UN and humanitarian agencies.”

    Minister Sabbagh reiterated Syria’s demand for full restoration of the occupied Golan Heights and called for an end to unilateral sanctions imposed by Western countries on Syria and its allies.

    In closing, he urged all nations to “summon the courage and make the right choice” to guarantee a better present and better future for the current and future generations, and to save humanity from the scourge of all-out wars looming on the horizon.

    He underscored the need for adherence to the UN Charter, respect for international law and multilateral diplomacy, and granting developing countries equal opportunities to advance their societies and achieve well-being, prosperity and sustainable development for their peoples.

    Click here for the statement.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN Assembly President calls for global unity as high-level debate concludes

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Vibhu Mishra

    UN Affairs

    The President of the General Assembly on Monday reminded UN Member States that the Organization’s strength “lies in our diversity” and ability to unite around common goals, as the curtains drew on the 79th session’s high-level debate.

    This year’s general debate opened with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressing UN’s membership.

    Over six days, 190 Member States took to the iconic green marble podium, highlighting the pressing challenges confronting the international community and the need for global unity to overcome. In addition, three Observers also spoke.

    As these leaders addressed global challenges, Philémon Yang, President of the General Assembly, closed the session with a powerful reminder of the ongoing conflicts and the urgent need for peace.

    Conflicts raging in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine are unfortunately not an exhaustive list, he said.

    “In the last few days, the world has seen an extremely dramatic escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. That escalation risks causing war in the entire Middle East region.”

    “This must stop, and it must stop now. The world must not allow an all-out war to happen in this volatile region,” he stressed, calling on all parties – Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah – to urgently come to a ceasefire.

    “And for all remaining hostages to be freed immediately and unharmed.”

    Move forward together

    Mr. Yang emphasized that only by working together can the international community confront and overcome the complex and discouraging challenges before it.

    “Only through dialogue, listening, and collective action, can we find solutions that benefit all of us.”

    He emphasized that the theme for the 79th Session – Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for everyone, everywhere – is not just a guiding principle, it is a call to action.

    “The theme reminds us that our strength lies in our diversity, and our ability to unite stakeholders around our common goals,” he said.

    “Let us all move forward together with this spirit of unity and shared responsibility. Let us continue our work, with the clear aim of building a peaceful, just, and dignified future for all.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Chagos Islands: UK’s last African colony returned to Mauritius

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    UN Affairs

    The United Kingdom announced on Thursday that agreement has been reached to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending decades of dispute and negotiation over Britain’s last African colony.

    The agreement follows 13 rounds of talks that began in 2022 after Mauritian calls for sovereignty were recognised by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN General Assembly in 2019 and 2021.

    The world court, as the ICJ is known, is the principle judicial organ of the UN which adjudicates disputes between nations.

    Before granting independence to Mauritius in 1968, Britain was found to have unlawfully separated it to form a new colony on the Chagos archipelago named the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

    The UK had initially dismissed UN rulings and court judgements demanding it return the islands to Mauritius, arguing that the ICJ ruling was merely an advisory opinion.

    Forced displacement of islanders

    In splitting the islands from Mauritius, the UK expelled between 1,500 and 2,000 islanders so that it could lease Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos islands, to the United States for military use which the two allies have since operated jointly.

    According to news reports, the UK falsely declared that Chagos had no permanent population so that it would not have to report its colonial rule to the UN. In reality, the Chagossian community had lived on Chagos for centuries.

    The UK and US governments forcibly displaced the Chagossian population between 1967 and 1973 not only reportedly on Diego Garcia, but also Peros Banhos and Salomon.

    The campaign challenging British ownership of the Chagos archipelago included the Mauritian ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, raising his country’s flag above the atoll of Peros Banhos in a ceremony in February 2022 to mark the first time Mauritius had led an expedition to the territory since the expulsions.

    The new agreement

    Under Thursday’s agreement, the UK will still retain control of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

    The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said the UK government had secured the future of the military base “as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner”.

    However, many Chagossians are still frustrated by the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement, according to news reports.

    Chagossian Voices, a community organisation for Chagossians based in the UK and several other countries where islanders have settled, deplored “the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations”, leaving them “powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland”.

    “The view of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty,” they added.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The week the world comes to Manhattan: Looking back at UNGA79

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    UN Affairs

    Every September when UN Headquarters in New York is swamped – massive motorcades, intense security, snipers on rooftops and world leaders descending along with throngs of diplomats, media and celebrities – it’s not easy to grasp what exactly is going on or what was achieved. 

    Let’s try to unscramble those 10 days for you. This year, some 235 events and hundreds of speakers later, the spotlight was shone on what the world was facing – how to move towards a revamp of an outdated global economic order, forging new pathways to peace, and finding solutions to the growing threat of nuclear war, global public health challenges, climate disruption and dangerous levels of impunity, inequality and uncertainty.

    Kicking off the Summit of the Future (22-23 September) ahead of the General Assembly’s annual high-level week, Secretary-General António Guterres’ clarion call for change made the stakes plain: “We cannot build a future fit for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents.” 

    More than 140 leaders spoke in the action-packed gathering while the UN was taken over by youth and civil society. The end-goal? Torchbearers of change trying to chart a course to rejig a UN that can be fit for purpose and ready to meet 21st century challenges with modernized, upgraded institutions that do not reflect the world of 1945.

    The good news is they agreed on a rescue plan to steer the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track, a groundbreaking Pact for the Future that now needs to be implemented. Despite a last-minute challenge from a group of countries opposed to the pact, UN Member States actually inked a deal – and agreed on the need for justice and reform.

    Soundcloud

    The big wins? Economic justice pledges included a promise to overhaul the international financial architecture so that developing countries reeling under a debt burden can begin to invest in development and not be crippled by debt repayments. Security Council reform saw a groundswell of support to expand and balance rights of membership. Strong backing was expressed for Africa to have permanent representation in the Security Council – along with other contenders like Brazil, India, and Japan. South African Prime Minister Cyril Ramaphosa called for the Security Council to be “more representative and inclusive,” noting that Africa and its 1.4 billion people remain excluded from this key decision-making structure.

    A group of experts delivered findings on the critical need to embrace digital innovation and harness how artificialintelligence could transform our world; but equally to close the digital divide and ensure guardrails around a responsible advance for humanity. 

    A Global Digital Compact was agreed, with the aim of opening the doors to a brave, new and accountable digital world order.

    On the sidelines, a dark moment was captured in a conversation on the future of women in Afghanistan – actress Meryl Streep questioned how it was possible that cats and birds had more freedom in the country where girls were banned from education. “A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban,” Streep said. “This is a suppression of the natural law.”

    In a devastating testimonial during a ministerial meeting “The Cost of Inaction in Sudan”, Sudanese activist Nisreen al-Saem lamented that the war in her country was a “war on women” and appealed: “Oh, Burhan and Hemediti, we’re tired, unite the Sudanese people and lay down your arms”.

    As the General Assembly began its 79th session, 190 countries out of 193 Member States spoke in what is not a debate at all – but a chance for governments to speak their mind on the state of the world or their region or pressing global problems. Highlighting an ignominious fact, Iceland’s Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir – as one of only 19 women speaking in the hallowed hall – chastised: “I thought we had come further than this.”

    Another female leader, the outspoken premier of Barbados, Mia Mottley, a fierce advocate of the Bridgetown Initiative which aims to kickstart global financial restructuring exhorted global institutions to give developing countries – especially small vulnerable ones – “seats at the tables of decision-making”. 

    The chorus was loud on the need for institutional reform at the UN, stoked by fears of an outdated and archaic institution unable to keep pace with a world that has changed profoundly. 

    If the UN is to become a “central platform for finding common ground” according to the Minister for External Affairs of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, “it cannot, by remaining anachronistic.” In his swansong speech, US President Joe Biden reminded fellow leaders: “Never forget we are here to serve the people, not the other way around.” 

    Soundcloud

    The eclipse of multilateralism and international law bubbled up repeatedly – Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, warned that multilateralism is not an option but an existential necessity while Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago wagged his finger at the selective respect for international law.

    A refrain heard repeatedly on the war in Ukraine and Gaza was captured by Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Rasmussen, who worried that the respect for international law is slowly being undermined and flagged that, “Wars of aggression and altering borders is — and should remain — a thing of the past.”

    Many sounded the alarm on the climate-security nexus with President Ramkalawan of the Seychelles flagging this as an existential issue that would plague future generations – a sentiment widely echoed by the young activists who flocked to the UN.

    As nation after nation spoke out about the unimaginable destruction and devastation in Gaza following the terror attacks launched by Hamas on 7 October 2023, and with the drumbeat of war growing in the region, Brazil’s President Luiz Ignacio Lula had warning words: “The right to defense has become the right to vengeance.”  While committing to sending forces to counter the deteriorating security in Haiti, President William Ruto of Kenya regretted that the Charter’s foundations have been shaken. 

    The President of the General Assembly, Philemon Yang pleaded for an end to the spiralling conflict and retribution between Israel and Gaza and a return to a solution grounded in international law for the good of Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the UN to “set the record straight” in a session that was sparsely attended because of a walkout – but his speech was watched by record numbers online illustrating how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominated the discussions.

    The entire General Assembly session was supposed to be about the future, devoted to uplifting commitments to reset the world on the path to sustainable development, to rethink how we can make the world more equitable and efficient, find ways to tackle public health threats like Anti-Microbial Resistance and to showcase how the world can leverage the potential of new technologies. Yet, the focus inevitably ended up on what the Secretary-General called “the purgatory of polarity” and the threat of an “age of impunity.”

    In the spirit of the Pact for Future Generations, heartwarming moments came from youth who showed up for the Action Days and the SDG Media Zone. Sanjana Sanghi, a UN Development Programme climate activist from India, praised the positivity of the younger generation that inspired hope. She summed up the buzz felt around the UN campus: “I am deeply inspired by these young changemakers who are passionately working to address climate issues and secure a sustainable future for everyone.” 

    *This is not an official record. It is a snapshot of this year’s General Assembly High-Level Week.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: First Person: Swapping guns for ballpens in the Philippines

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Peace and Security

    A former combatant fighting for the rights of her people on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines has been talking about how she has swapped her combat fatigues for jilbabs [outer garment] and her life in the jungle for a more peaceful rural community.

    A former combatant fighting for the rights of her people on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines has been talking about how she has swapped her combat fatigues for jilbabs [outer garment]and her life in the jungle for a more peaceful rural community.

    Suraida ‘Sur’ Amil joined the Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade (BIWAB) as an 18-year-old with the with the goal of achieving autonomy for the predominantly Muslim regions of Mindanao.

    After an agreement was signed to end the insurrection and provide a greater autonomy and self-governance for the people of Bangsamoro, she participated in a reconciliation programme supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to reintegrate and rehabilitate former combatants. 

    © UNODC/Laura Gil

    Suraida ‘Sur’ Amil is now a community peace advocate.

    “From an early age growing up in Bangsamoro, I saw how difficult life was for my parents. They faced different forms of discrimination, and they witnessed the brutality of the nine-year-long martial law which was declared in 1972 and which deeply affected many communities across Mindanao, including Muslim populations.

    My parents had a hard life, they lived in poverty and were not able to achieve their dreams. This has affected my life and the life of my nine other siblings. I had hoped to become a teacher but I was never able to do so as I did not finish school due to the lack of financial support.

    At eighteen I realized I had to fight for the rights of our people for our self-determination, not just for my generation but also for future generations.

    A friend of mine was a member of BIWAB and as soon as I heard about its goals, it made me think about the suffering my parents had experienced and what I could do to improve the situation for our community.

    If you ask me whether I would choose war or peace, of course I would never choose war over peace, but we had to fight for that peace.

    © Suraida Amil

    Suraida ‘Amil joined the Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade (BIWAB) as an 18-year-old.

    I spent time operating in the jungles as a combatant. It was a harsh environment living in the mountains alongside wild animals without the comforts of home.

    But women are very strong; they have the ability to become fighters while at the same time be providers for their families.

    Ballpens not guns, jilbabs not military uniforms

    In 2014 the peace agreement for Bangsamoro  (the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, CAB) was signed and so little by little we are transforming ourselves into civilians. I have swapped my combat boots for lipstick, I carry ballpens for writing rather than a gun for shooting, I wear a jilbab and not a military uniform and I have moved out of the jungle and back into my community.

    I have become a peace facilitator and work with people in my local area on issues such as gender-based violence and how to prevent violent extremism.

    Islam teaches us to be kind to one another and not to harm other human beings. We have a saying in Islam that if we save one life, it is as if we have saved humanity.

    I value and am proud of my role as a peace advocate in my community.

    As part of the workshop discussion on modern forms of communications, which I participated in, I learned how to promote the awareness and prevention of violent extremism on social media.

    I am now living a life of peace but my message to my young daughter has always been that she should always fight for her rights.

    When you are fighting for a noble cause, it doesn’t matter if you gain or you lose something, because it is the cause itself which truly matters.”

    • Suraida Amil participated in the Strategic Communications workshop on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) under the EU-STRIVE programme.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Turning the tide’ on childhood violence

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Law and Crime Prevention

    More than 100 governments made historic commitments to end childhood violence on Thursday at a landmark event in Bogotá, Colombia.

    Among the pledges, nine countries pledged to ban corporal punishment – an issue that affects three out of every five children regularly in their homes.

    “Despite being highly preventable, violence remains a horrific day to day reality for millions of children around the world – leaving scars that span generations,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General.

    “Today countries made critical pledges that, once enacted, could finally turn the tide on childhood violence,” he added.

    One billion children affected

    Over half of all children aged two to 17 worldwide – some one billion – are estimated to suffer some form of violence, such as child maltreatment (including corporal punishment, the most prevalent form of childhood violence), physical or emotional abuse and sexual violence.

    Some three in five children are regularly punished by physical means in their home, and one in five girls and one in seven boys experience sexual violence.

    For some of these children, violence results in death or serious injury. Every 13 minutes, a child or adolescent dies as a result of homicide – equating to around 40,000 preventable deaths each year. Moreover, violence, often involving firearms or other weapons, is now the leading cause of death among adolescent males.

    For others, experiencing violence has devastating and life-long consequences. These include anxiety and depression, risky behaviours like unsafe sex, smoking and substance abuse and reduced academic achievement.

    Violence against children is also often hidden, with WHO estimates that fewer than half of affected children tell anyone they experienced violence and under 10 per cent receive any help.

    Enacted prevention strategies

    At the Bogotá conference, countries committed to a range of evidence-based strategies aimed at preventing childhood violence.

    Key measures include expanding parenting support programmes to encourage positive, non-violent discipline. School-based programmes targeting bullying and enhancing social skills also play a crucial role in fostering safer learning spaces.

    Additionally, governments pledged to improve child-friendly health and social services to support young survivors, while new digital safety initiatives aim to protect children from online exploitation.

    Research shows that implementing these strategies could reduce violence against children by 20 to 50 per cent, underscoring the importance of these new commitments in turning the tide on childhood violence.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Transnational organised crime: ‘It’s time we pull together to push back’

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Law and Crime Prevention

    Marking the inaugural International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organised Crime on Friday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called for unified global efforts to counter these pervasive threats.

    Proclaimed by the General Assembly in March 2024, the observance honours victims of organised crime – including law enforcement and judicial personnel who have lost their lives in pursuit of justice.

    The inaugural theme: Organised crime steals, corrupts and kills. It’s time we pull together to push back, underscores the urgency of collective action.

    Speaking to UN News, Candice Welsch, UNODC Regional Representative for the Andean Region and southernmost areas of South America, emphasised the global nature of the threat: “Almost all organised crime is transnational, it does not take place within a single country, but often crosses borders within regions and even beyond.”  

    “Therefore, this UN observance aims at boosting action by governments, the private sector, civil society and the public,” she said.  

    Pillar of international cooperation       

    The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime adopted in 2000 and ratified by 192 States, serves as the cornerstone of UNODC’s efforts to combat and eventually eliminate the scourge of transnational organised crime.

    “We are working hard to strengthen cooperation between countries so that they can share information and intelligence between police forces, or so that border agencies and prosecutors can conduct joint operations,” said Ms. Welsch.  

    UNODC’s efforts include bolstering local, national and international capacities to better understand and combat these challenges.

    UN Video | United Nations takes on organized crime

    Cocaine, deforestation, community impact

    In the Andean region, Colombia and Ecuador face significant challenges with transnational criminal groups. Colombia’s coca cultivation reached 253,000 hectares in 2023, yielding an estimated 2,664 metric tons of cocaine in 2022, according to UNODC data.

    However, the issue is not confined to drug trafficking. Illegal mining, deforestation and wildlife trafficking – particularly in the Galapagos Islands – are also on the rise.

    These activities disrupt security for communities, exacerbate gang violence and contribute to high homicide rates, impacting indigenous communities and young people who face recruitment risks. Migrant flows through the region also make vulnerable populations susceptible to human trafficking and other abuses.

    To address these challenges, UNODC supports alternative development programmes for farmers reliant on coca cultivation. These initiatives promote legal crops such as coffee, cocoa, vanilla and sacha inchi, a nutrient-rich Amazonian plant.

    “What we are trying to do with alternative development programmes is to offer these communities ways to move towards licit economies and a more secure future,” said Ms. Welsch.

    UN News / David Mottershead

    A former opium poppy farmer cultivating tomatoes in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. (file)

    Opium resurgence in Afghanistan

    Despite a 2022 Taliban ban that initially reduced opium cultivation by 95 per cent, 2024 saw a 19 per cent resurgence driven by economic hardship and rising prices.

    Since 2016, UNODC has aided over 85,000 households through alternative development initiatives, such as poultry farming projects that provide both food security and income generation for families affected by drugs.

    Southeast Asia: The Golden Triangle’s drug economy

    Myanmar has surpassed Afghanistan as the world’s leading opium producer, with production rising 36 per cent in 2023.

    Collaborating on security issues can be challenging for states, but the UN plays a crucial role in fostering dialogue
    – Jeremy Douglas, UNODC

    The country also leads global methamphetamine production, which has become the dominant drug according to UNODC data, with seizures quadrupling between 2013 and 2022.

    Furthermore, criminal groups in the Golden Triangle – Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Thailand – have expanded into online scams, wildlife trafficking, money laundering and human trafficking.

    In response, UNODC has promoted regional cooperation through the establishment of approximately 120 border liaison offices to facilitate intelligence sharing and coordinated action.

    “Collaborating on security issues can be challenging for States, but the UN plays a crucial role in fostering dialogue,” said Jeremy Douglas, former UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific and now Chief of Staff and Strategy Advisor to the Executive Director.

    UN News/Daniel Dickinson

    Goods being loaded onto a boat in Lao People’s Democratic Republic to be transported across the Mekong river to Thailand. (file)

    Global drug crisis

    The impact of transnational crime extends far beyond producer countries.

    New synthetic drugs are on the rise, particularly in North America, which faces a fentanyl crisis, as well as in areas of Asia and Africa.

    Western and Central European countries, particularly those with a North Sea coastline, also face considerable challenges, with their ports becoming major entry points for cocaine.

    In the Sahel, illicit gold and fuel trafficking undermine governance and security and complicates sustainable development, depriving the nation of critical income.

    Wildlife crimes, gold smuggling, and organised fraud are just a few examples of how these crimes converge, exploiting fragile ecosystems and vulnerable communities worldwide.

    Nevertheless, UNODC remains committed to supporting global efforts.

    People-centred approach

    “Despite these challenges, there is hope,” Ms. Welsch said.

    She highlighted the importance of public awareness campaigns targeting youth and community programmes involving parents and teachers, as well as the need to ensure that everyone who requires treatment for drug abuse can access it.

    “The only way to overcome global problems is to galvanise international action. That is why UNODC is joining forces with partners to help secure our common future,” she concluded.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –