NewzIntel.com

Category: Africa

  • MIL-OSI Video: Sudan, South Sudan, UNRWA & other topics – Daily Press Briefing

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

    Highlights:
    – Secretary-General/ Chief Executives Board
    – Sudan
    – Sudan/ Food Assistance
    – South Sudan
    – UNRWA
    – Occupied Palestinian Territory
    – UNIFIL
    – Haiti
    – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
    – Senior Personnel Appointment – Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia
    – International Day

    SECRETARY-GENERAL/ CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD
    The Secretary-General is in Denmark, where today he is chairing the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, also known as the CEB, which brings together the heads of the UN system organizations.
    During their biannual session, the Chief Executives Board Members will reflect on current world affairs as they affect and are related to the UN system. They will also engage in deliberations on ‘Adapting to New Realities: Leveraging the UN80 Initiative’ and ‘Upholding Respect for International Law’.

    SUDAN
    A statement we issued last night expressed the Secretary-General’s grave concern that recent drone attacks in Port Sudan, the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country. The Secretary-General warns that this major escalation could lead to large-scale civilian casualties and further destruction of critical infrastructure.
    The Secretary-General is alarmed at the expansion of the conflict into an area that has served as a place of refuge for large numbers of people displaced from the capital, Khartoum, and other areas.   
    The Secretary-General reiterates that all parties to the conflict must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law. They must not direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects; must take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental civilian casualties; and must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.  
    The Secretary-General calls on the parties to engage constructively with the mediation support mechanisms already in place to assist the parties to reach a political solution, underscoring the United Nations’ continued support to help find a way out of this crisis. He renews his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stresses that dialogue is the only way to achieve the peace that the people of Sudan demand. The full statement is online.

    SUDAN/ FOOD ASSISTANCE
    And further on Sudan, our colleagues at the World Food Programme are saying that in Tawila, families who fled horrific violence in El Fasher have received vital food and nutrition supplies.
    WFP says that the Agency supported more people than originally planned as needs are overwhelming with hundreds of thousands displaced, and more aid is on its way in the coming week.

    SOUTH SUDAN
    Moving to South Sudan, where our mission, UNMISS, and partners—the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or IGAD, and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, have jointly called on South Sudan’s leaders to cease ongoing hostilities immediately and urgently progress inclusive peace implementation.
    They urged swift, thorough and impartial investigations into security escalations so that responsible parties can be held to account and public trust, restored.

    Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=08%20May%202025

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMOZA1L9xXQ

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy To Secretary Of Homeland Security Kristi Noem: Your Department Is Out Of Control

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
    [embedded content]
    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, on Thursday held a subcommittee hearing with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 skinny budget request for the Department of Homeland Security. Murphy slammed the administration for flagrantly ignoring money appropriated by Congress and the legal rights of immigrants, warning such actions undermine both the Constitution and the rule of law.
    “I say this with seriousness and respect, but your department is out of control,” Murphy said. “You are spending like you don’t have a budget. You are on the verge of running out of money for the fiscal year. You are illegally refusing to spend funds that have been authorized by this Congress and appropriated by this committee. You are ignoring the immigration laws of this nation, implementing a brand-new immigration system that you have invented that has little relation to the statutes that you are required – that you are commanded – to follow as spelled out in your oath of office. You are routinely violating the rights of immigrants who may not be citizens, but whether you like it or not, have constitutional and statutory rights when they reside in the United States. Your agency acts as if laws don’t matter, as if the election gave you some mandate to violate the Constitution and the laws passed by this Congress. It did not give you that mandate. You act as if your disagreement with the law – or even the public’s disagreement with the law – is relevant and gives you the ability to create your own law. It does not give you that ability.”
    Murphy explained how Noem’s reckless spending of federal funds is going to bankrupt the Department while leaving the U.S. vulnerable to cyber-attacks and putting communities at greater risk for severe storm damage: “You’re on track to trigger the Anti-Deficiency Act. That means you are going to spend more money than you have been allocated by Congress. This is a rare occurrence, and it is wildly illegal. Your agency will be broke by July, over two months before the end of the fiscal year. You may not think that Congress has provided enough money to ICE, but the Constitution and the federal law doesn’t allow you to spend more money than you’ve been given, or to invent money. And this obsession with spending at the border, as the Chairwoman mentioned, has left the country unprotected elsewhere. The security threats to the United States are higher, not lower, than before Trump came to office. To fund the border, you have illegally gutted spending for cybersecurity. As we speak, Russian and Chinese hackers are having a field day attacking our nation. You have withdrawn funds for disaster prevention. Storms are going to kill more people in this country because of your illegal withholding of these funds. Your myopia about the border, fueled by President Trump’s prejudice against people who speak a different language, has shattered many of this country’s most important defenses. 
    On the administration’s illegal impoundments of congressionally appropriated funds, Murphy said: “When Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose, the administration has no discretion as to whether to spend or not spend that money, unless you go through a very specific process with this committee. Let me give you two of many instances of this illegal impoundment. The first is a shelter and services program. Senator Britt may want to zero that account out, but that account is funded, and it was funded in a bipartisan way. You don’t like the program. Your policy is to treat migrants badly. I think that that’s abhorrent, but it doesn’t matter that you don’t like the program. You cannot cancel spending in this program, and you cannot use the funds, as you have, to fund other things, like ICE. You have also canceled citizenship and integration grants, which help lawful, permanent residents become citizens, helping them take the citizenship test. I know your goal is to try to make life as hard as possible for immigrants, but that goal is not broadly shared by the American public. That’s why Congress, in a bipartisan way, for decades, has funded this program to help immigrants in this country become citizens. “
    Murphy blasted the administration for targeting and deporting legal immigrants and student protesters without due process: “Finally, let’s talk about these disappearances. In an autocratic society, people who the regime does not like, or people who are protesting the regime, they are just often picked up off the street, spirited away, sometimes to open-ended detention, sometimes they are never seen again. What you are doing, both to individuals who have legal rights to stay here, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, or students, who are just protesting Trump’s policies, is immoral. And to follow the theme, it is illegal. You have no right to deport a student visa holder with no due process simply because they have spoken in a way that offends the President. You cannot remove migrants who a court has given humanitarian protection from removal. Now, reports suggest that you’re planning to remove immigrants with no due process and send them to prisons in Libya. Libya is in the middle of a civil war. It is subject to a level four travel advisory, meaning we tell American citizens never to travel to Libya. We don’t have an embassy there, because it is not safe for our diplomats. Sending migrants with pending asylum claims into a war zone just because it’s cruel is so deeply disturbing.”
    Murphy concluded his opening remarks: We as an appropriations committee, we work interminable hours to write and pass a budget. This budget is really hard to write and pass. And so we make ourselves irrelevant when we allow the administration to ignore what we have decided. And then, when we look the other way when the administration rounds up immigrants who are here illegally and have committed no offenses worthy of detainment, we also do potential, irreversible damage to the Constitution. These should not be partisan concerns. Destroying the power of Congress, eroding individuals’ constitutional rights – this should matter to both parties. Madam Secretary, thank you for being here and I look forward to your testimony.”
    After Noem refused to acknowledge the Supreme Court’s order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Murphy said: “The discussion ends when the Supreme Court rules 9-0 that you have to facilitate his release. And the fact that you can’t even acknowledge the wording of the order which commands you to facilitate his release and you advertise to this committee that you are going to willfully ignore the ruling–that is incredibly chilling for the balance of powers in a democracy that relies on the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of the land.”
    A full transcript of Murphy’s opening remarks can be found below:
    MURPHY: “Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Secretary, thank you for being here. I’m sorry that I missed your call yesterday, and I look forward to working closely with you. 
    “I say this with seriousness and respect, but your department is out of control. You are spending like you don’t have a budget. You are on the verge of running out of money for the fiscal year. You are illegally refusing to spend funds that have been authorized by this Congress and appropriated by this committee. You are ignoring the immigration laws of this nation, implementing a brand-new immigration system that you have invented that has little relation to the statutes that you are required – that you are commanded – to follow as spelled out in your oath of office. You are routinely violating the rights of immigrants who may not be citizens, but whether you like it or not, have constitutional and statutory rights when they reside in the United States. Your agency acts as if laws don’t matter, as if the election gave you some mandate to violate the Constitution and the laws passed by this Congress. It did not give you that mandate. You act as if your disagreement with the law – or even the public’s disagreement with the law – is relevant and gives you the ability to create your own law. It does not give you that ability. 
    “Let’s start with your spending. You’re on track to trigger the Anti-Deficiency Act. That means you are going to spend more money than you have been allocated by Congress. This is a rare occurrence, and it is wildly illegal. Your agency will be broke by July, over two months before the end of the fiscal year. You may not think that Congress has provided enough money to ICE, but the Constitution and the federal law doesn’t allow you to spend more money than you’ve been given, or to invent money. 
    “And this obsession with spending at the border, as the Chairwoman mentioned, has left the country unprotected elsewhere. The security threats to the United States are higher, not lower, than before Trump came to office. To fund the border, you have illegally gutted spending for cybersecurity. As we speak, Russian and Chinese hackers are having a field day attacking our nation. You have withdrawn funds for disaster prevention. Storms are going to kill more people in this country because of your illegal withholding of these funds. Your myopia about the border, fueled by President Trump’s prejudice against people who speak a different language, has shattered many of this country’s most important defenses. 
    “Now let’s talk about the impoundments. When Congress appropriates funds for a specific purpose, the administration has no discretion as to whether to spend or not spend that money, unless you go through a very specific process with this committee. Let me give you two of many instances of this illegal impoundment. The first is a shelter and services program. Senator Britt may want to zero that account out, but that account is funded, and it was funded in a bipartisan way. You don’t like the program. Your policy is to treat migrants badly. I think that that’s abhorrent, but it doesn’t matter that you don’t like the program. You cannot cancel spending in this program, and you cannot use the funds, as you have, to fund other things, like ICE. You have also canceled citizenship and integration grants, which help lawful, permanent residents become citizens, helping them take the citizenship test. I know your goal is to try to make life as hard as possible for immigrants, but that goal is not broadly shared by the American public. That’s why Congress, in a bipartisan way, for decades, has funded this program to help immigrants in this country become citizens. 
    “Now let’s talk about why encounters at the southern border are down so much. This is clearly going to be your primary talking point today. You will tell us that it represents a success. But the primary reason why encounters are down is because you are brazenly violating the law every hour of every day. You are refusing to allow people showing up at the southern border to apply for asylum. I acknowledge that you don’t believe that people should be able to apply for asylum, but you don’t get to choose that. The White House does not get to choose that. The law requires you to process people who are showing up at the border and who claim asylum. Why? Because our asylum law is a bipartisan commitment, an effort to correct for our nation’s unconscionable decision to deny entry to Jews to this country who were being hunted and killed by the Nazis. Our nation, Republicans and Democrats, decided – wrote it into law – that we would not repeat that horror ever again, and thus we would allow for people who were fleeing terror and torture to come here, arrive at the border, and make a case for asylum. 
    “Finally, let’s talk about these disappearances. In an autocratic society, people who the regime does not like, or people who are protesting the regime, they are just often picked up off the street, spirited away, sometimes to open-ended detention, sometimes they are never seen again. What you are doing, both to individuals who have legal rights to stay here, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, or students, who are just protesting Trump’s policies, is immoral. And to follow the theme, it is illegal. You have no right to deport a student visa holder with no due process simply because they have spoken in a way that offends the President. You cannot remove migrants who a court has given humanitarian protection from removal. Now, reports suggest that you’re planning to remove immigrants with no due process and send them to prisons in Libya. Libya is in the middle of a civil war. It is subject to a level four travel advisory, meaning we tell American citizens never to travel to Libya. We don’t have an embassy there, because it is not safe for our diplomats. Sending migrants with pending asylum claims into a war zone just because it’s cruel is so deeply disturbing. 
    “Listen, I understand that my Republican colleagues on this committee don’t view the policy the way that I do. My Republican colleagues do not share my level of concern for the way that this administration treats immigrants. That’s fine. But what I don’t understand is why we do not have consensus, in the Senate and on this committee, on the decision by this administration to impound the spending that we have decided together to allocate in defense of this nation. We as an appropriations committee, we work interminable hours to write and pass a budget. This budget is really hard to write and pass. And so we make ourselves irrelevant when we allow the administration to ignore what we have decided. And then, when we look the other way when the administration rounds up immigrants who are here illegally and have committed no offenses worthy of detainment, we also do potential, irreversible damage to the Constitution. These should not be partisan concerns. Destroying the power of Congress, eroding individuals’ constitutional rights–this should matter to both parties. Madam Secretary, thank you for being here and I look forward to your testimony.”
    An excerpt of Murphy’s exchange with Secretary Noem can be found below:
    MURPHY: “I assume that you have read the Supreme Court decision in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia?”
    NOEM: “Yes.”
    MURPHY: “That court decision requires the administration to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador. Can you describe the steps that you’ve taken to facilitate this release, and specifically can you answer as to whether you’ve reached out to your counterpart in El Salvador to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release?”
    NOEM: “Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador and should never have been in this country and will not be coming back to this country. There is no scenario where Abrego Garcia will be in the United States again. If he were to come back we would immediately deport him again because he is a terrorist, he’s a human smuggler, and he is a wife beater.”
    MURPHY: “You have read the Supreme Court decision. Does the Supreme Court decision not require you to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia?”
    NOEM: “The Trump Administration is complying with all court orders and judges’ orders.”
    MURPHY: “Does the Supreme Court order require you to facilitate the return of Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Yes or no?”
    NOEM: “Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador. It is up to the president of El Salvador to make the decision.”
    MURPHY: “You’re a defendant in the case.”
    NOEM: “It has been a big topic of conversation between all of us, between the countries. When the president visited the United States of America, it was discussed and talked about there. The president has been very clear on this issue, as the Secretary of State and I have as well. Abrego Garcia is not a citizen of this country and is a dangerous individual who doesn’t belong here. “
    MURPHY: “The discussion ends when the Supreme Court rules 9-0 that you have to facilitate his release. And the fact that you can’t even acknowledge the wording of the order which commands you to facilitate his release and you advertise to this committee that you are going to willfully ignore the ruling–that is incredibly chilling for the balance of powers in a democracy that relies on the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of the land.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: San Diego Fentanyl Supplier Sentenced in the District for Role in Nationwide Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    WASHINGTON – Edgar Balderas, 27, of San Diego, California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 148 months in prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Balderas was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.

    The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, and Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division.

    Balderas, aka “Nano,” pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 148-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Balderas to serve five years of supervised release.

    The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case, law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms. 

    According to court documents, Balderas conspired with a Los Angeles-based fentanyl trafficker to supply him with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, which the trafficker would, in turn, supply to his D.C.-based customers. He began supplying the trafficker with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills in Fall 2022 and continued until the L.A.-based trafficker’s arrest in late-February 2023.

    After the Los Angeles-based trafficker’s arrest in late-February 2023, Balderas attempted to begin dealing fentanyl directly to D.C.-based fentanyl distributors. For example, Balderas began communicating via Instagram with a D.C.-based co-defendant in this case the month after the Los Angeles-based trafficker’s arrest. The purpose of these communications was to arrange for the direct sale of fentanyl pills to the D.C.-based co-conspirator, along with other D.C.-based clients of the Los Angeles-based fentanyl trafficker.

    DEFENDANT AGE LOCATION CHARGES/SENTENCE

    Hector David Valdez,

    aka “Curl”

    27

    		 Santa Fe Springs, California

    Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

    Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

    Craig Eastman

    21

    		 Washington, D.C. Sentenced Feb. 6, 2025, to 165 months for conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl.
    Charles Jeffrey Taylor 21 Washington, D.C. Pleaded guilty Feb. 28, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Raymond Nava, Jr. 20

    Bell Gardens,

    California

    		 Sentenced Sept. 17, 2024, to 14 years for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Ulises Aldaz 28

    Bell Gardens,

    California

    		 Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 95 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Max Alexander Carias Torres 27

    Bell Gardens,

    California

    Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

    Conspiracy to commit international money laundering
    Teron Deandre McNeil, aka “Wild Boy” 34 Washington, D.C.

    Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

    Conspiracy to commit wire fraud

    Marvin Anthony Bussie,

    aka “Money Marr”

    		 22 Washington, D.C. Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Marcus Orlando Brown 29 Washington, D.C. Sentenced Oct. 3, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Columbian Thomas, aka “Cruddy Murda” 27 Washington, D.C. Sentenced Oct. 22, 2024, to 160 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Wayne Rodell Carr-Maiden 30 Washington, D.C. Sentenced April 29, 2024, to 45 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Andre Malik Edmond,

    aka “Draco”

    		 23 Temple Hills, Maryland Sentenced July 22, 2024, to 130 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Treyveon James Johnson,

    aka “Treyski”

    		 20 Alexandria, Virginia Sentenced Sept. 5, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Karon Olufemi Blalock,

    aka “Fat Bags”

    		 30 Alexandria, Virginia

    Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

    Conspiracy to commit wire fraud;

    Conspiracy to commit money laundering

    Ronte Ricardo Greene,

    aka “Cardiddy”

    		 29 Washington, D.C. Pleaded guilty Feb. 27, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Melvin Edward Allen, Jr., aka “21” 39 Washington, D.C. Pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Darius Quincy Hodges,

    aka “Brick”

    		 34 Glen Allen, Virginia Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Lamin Sesay,

    aka “Rock Star”

    		 28 Alexandria, Virginia Pleaded guilty Feb. 7, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Paul Alejandro Felix 26

    Glendale,

    California

    		 Sentenced Nov. 12, 2024, to 164 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

    Omar Arana,

    aka “Frogs”

    		 27

    Cudahy,

    California

    		 Sentenced May 2, 2025, to 93 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Edgar Balderas, Jr., aka “Nano” 27

    San Diego,

    California

    		 Sentenced May 8, 2025, to 148 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Raul Pacheco Ramirez 30

    Long Beach,

    California

    		 Sentenced Nov. 26, 2024, to 95 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Giovani Alejandro Briones 30 Victorville, California Sentenced Feb. 20, 2025, to 90 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
    Alfredo Rodriguez Gonzalez 26 Rosarito, Mexico

    Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

    Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

    The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with additional support from the DEA Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris Y. McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section.

    23cr73

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Security News: Former Corrections Officer Sentenced to Prison For Federal Civil Rights Crime in Connection with Death of Inmate at West Virginia Jail

    Source: United States Department of Justice 2

    A former corrections officer from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, was sentenced today for his role in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate, identified by the initials Q.B., on March 1, 2022. Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 25, of Bluefield, was sentenced to nine years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

    With his guilty plea, Wimmer acknowledged that he responded to a call for officer assistance after Q.B. tried to push past another correctional officer. The officers restrained and handcuffed Q.B. Officers, including Wimmer, then escorted Q.B. to an interview room, where officers struck and injured Q.B. while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone. Wimmer admitted that officers struck Q.B. in the interview room in order to punish him for attempting to leave his assigned pod. Wimmer further admitted that he was a member of the conspiracy who injured Q.B. inside the interview room while Q.B. was restrained, handcuffed, and posed no threat.

    Wimmer and former Southern Regional Jail corrections officer Andrew Fleshman pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2023, to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Q.B. Fleshman, 22, of Shady Spring, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14. On Nov. 29, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted six other defendants in connection with the death of Q.B. In November 2024, former correctional officers Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Johnathan Walters each pleaded guilty in connection with the use of unreasonable force against Q.B., resulting in his death. Sentencing hearings for Holdren, Snyder, and Walters are scheduled for June 16. On Aug. 8, 2024, Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe each pleaded guilty to violating Q.B.’s civil rights by failing to intervene when other officers used unreasonable force. Sentencing hearings for Boothe and Toney are scheduled for June 9.

    On January 27, a federal jury convicted defendant Chad Lester, a former Lieutenant at the Southern Regional Jail, on three obstruction of justice charges for his role in conspiring to cover up the death of Q.B. Lester is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15.

    Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston for the Southern District of West Virginia made the announcement.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case.

    Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Deputy Chief Christine M. Siscaretti and Trial Attorney Tenette Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-cr-134.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Former Corrections Officer Sentenced to Prison For Federal Civil Rights Crime in Connection with Death of Inmate at West Virginia Jail

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    A former corrections officer from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, was sentenced today for his role in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate, identified by the initials Q.B., on March 1, 2022. Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 25, of Bluefield, was sentenced to nine years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

    With his guilty plea, Wimmer acknowledged that he responded to a call for officer assistance after Q.B. tried to push past another correctional officer. The officers restrained and handcuffed Q.B. Officers, including Wimmer, then escorted Q.B. to an interview room, where officers struck and injured Q.B. while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone. Wimmer admitted that officers struck Q.B. in the interview room in order to punish him for attempting to leave his assigned pod. Wimmer further admitted that he was a member of the conspiracy who injured Q.B. inside the interview room while Q.B. was restrained, handcuffed, and posed no threat.

    Wimmer and former Southern Regional Jail corrections officer Andrew Fleshman pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2023, to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Q.B. Fleshman, 22, of Shady Spring, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14. On Nov. 29, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted six other defendants in connection with the death of Q.B. In November 2024, former correctional officers Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Johnathan Walters each pleaded guilty in connection with the use of unreasonable force against Q.B., resulting in his death. Sentencing hearings for Holdren, Snyder, and Walters are scheduled for June 16. On Aug. 8, 2024, Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe each pleaded guilty to violating Q.B.’s civil rights by failing to intervene when other officers used unreasonable force. Sentencing hearings for Boothe and Toney are scheduled for June 9.

    On January 27, a federal jury convicted defendant Chad Lester, a former Lieutenant at the Southern Regional Jail, on three obstruction of justice charges for his role in conspiring to cover up the death of Q.B. Lester is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15.

    Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston for the Southern District of West Virginia made the announcement.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case.

    Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Deputy Chief Christine M. Siscaretti and Trial Attorney Tenette Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-cr-134.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Corrections Officer Sentenced to Prison For Federal Civil Rights Crime in Connection with Death of Inmate at West Virginia Jail

    Source: United States Attorneys General 1

    A former corrections officer from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia, was sentenced today for his role in an assault that resulted in the death of an inmate, identified by the initials Q.B., on March 1, 2022. Steven Nicholas Wimmer, 25, of Bluefield, was sentenced to nine years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

    With his guilty plea, Wimmer acknowledged that he responded to a call for officer assistance after Q.B. tried to push past another correctional officer. The officers restrained and handcuffed Q.B. Officers, including Wimmer, then escorted Q.B. to an interview room, where officers struck and injured Q.B. while he was restrained, handcuffed and posed no threat to anyone. Wimmer admitted that officers struck Q.B. in the interview room in order to punish him for attempting to leave his assigned pod. Wimmer further admitted that he was a member of the conspiracy who injured Q.B. inside the interview room while Q.B. was restrained, handcuffed, and posed no threat.

    Wimmer and former Southern Regional Jail corrections officer Andrew Fleshman pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2023, to conspiring with other officers to use unreasonable force against Q.B. Fleshman, 22, of Shady Spring, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14. On Nov. 29, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted six other defendants in connection with the death of Q.B. In November 2024, former correctional officers Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder, and Johnathan Walters each pleaded guilty in connection with the use of unreasonable force against Q.B., resulting in his death. Sentencing hearings for Holdren, Snyder, and Walters are scheduled for June 16. On Aug. 8, 2024, Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe each pleaded guilty to violating Q.B.’s civil rights by failing to intervene when other officers used unreasonable force. Sentencing hearings for Boothe and Toney are scheduled for June 9.

    On January 27, a federal jury convicted defendant Chad Lester, a former Lieutenant at the Southern Regional Jail, on three obstruction of justice charges for his role in conspiring to cover up the death of Q.B. Lester is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15.

    Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston for the Southern District of West Virginia made the announcement.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case.

    Chief United States District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence. Deputy Chief Christine M. Siscaretti and Trial Attorney Tenette Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-cr-134.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jayapal Condemns Planned Third-Country Removal Flights to Libya

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

    WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to the reports that the Trump administration is actively working to send individuals to Libya without due process:

    “The idea that we would send people to Libya, a country for which our government literally has a ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory, where terrorist groups are present, outbreaks of violence between competing armed groups occur with little warning, and migrants are enslaved, is ridiculous.

    “The federal judge who ruled to stop third-country removals has made clear that ruling applies here. The Trump administration must follow and abide by the court order. Whether it is Libya or El Salvador, or anywhere else in the world – people cannot be deported from this country without due process.  

    “This is about all of us. The Trump administration has already illegally deported U.S. citizen children, including a U.S. citizen child in the middle of cancer treatments, as well as others with legal status. The president has also floated shipping U.S. citizens off to prisons in El Salvador. If he can ignore due process rights for some, he could ignore them for everyone. As a country, we must be better than this.”

    Since the Arab Spring in 2011, Libya has been entrenched in a political and humanitarian crisis. The country does not currently have a functioning government, and the United States does not have an embassy within the country. 

    Issues: Immigration

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arrest after stolen vehicle located in Elizabeth Vale

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Man arrested in Elizabeth Vale after fleeing in a stolen car.

    About 12.30am this morning Friday 9 May, police observed a stolen car travelling on Henley Beach Road, Mile End.

    The Honda sedan took off from patrols and was last seen in the back streets of Mile End.

    Police sighted the car a short time later travelling on South Road towards the Port River Expressway.

    With the assistance of PolAir and Dog Operations Unit the car was tracked to Main North Road where it was successfully spiked at the intersection of Park Terrace, Salisbury.

    The car was dumped and three people were seen running from the car into nearby backstreets.

    With the continued assistance of PolAir and Dog Operations PD Arlo located a 22-year-old man from Solomon Town nearby on Chaddenwick Road where he was arrested. He has been charged with unlawful possession and his bail has been refused and he will appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court later today.

    Police conducted a search of the area and were unable to locate the following two suspects.

    Police conducted vehicle checks on the Honda which showed that it had been stolen from a Brompton home last month.

    Police ask anyone who may have CCTV or dash cam footage which may assist in the investigation to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI: VAALCO Energy, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY, LSE: EGY) (“Vaalco” or the “Company”) today reported operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2025.

    First Quarter 2025 Highlights and Recent Key Items:

    • Reported net income of $7.7 million ($0.07 per diluted share), Adjusted Net Income of $6.3 million ($0.06 per diluted share) and Adjusted EBITDAX(1)of $57.0 million;
    • Produced 17,764 net revenue interest (“NRI”)(2)barrels of oil equivalent per day (“BOEPD”), above the high end of guidance, or 22,402 working interest (“WI”)(3)BOEPD, toward the high end of guidance;
    • Sold 19,074 NRI BOEPD, toward the high end of guidance;
    • Entered into new reserves based revolving credit facility with an initial commitment of $190 million with the ability to grow to $300 million, secured against certain Vaalco assets;
    • Reduced full year capital expenditure guidance by about 10%, without impacting full year production or sales guidance;
    • Acquired 70% WI(3)in and will operate the CI-705 block in offshore Côte D’Ivoire;
    • Declared quarterly cash dividend of $0.0625 per share of common stock to be paid on June 27, 2025; and
    • Announced that it will host a Capital Markets Day presentation on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.
    (1) Adjusted EBITDAX, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Working Capital and Free Cash Flow are Non-GAAP financial measures and are described and reconciled to the closest GAAP measure in the attached table under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
    (2) All NRI sales and production rates are Vaalco’s working interest volumes less royalty volumes, where applicable.
    (3) All WI production rates and volumes are Vaalco’s working interest volumes, where applicable.

    George Maxwell, Vaalco’s Chief Executive Officer commented, “We delivered another successful quarter, once again meeting or exceeding our guidance. Sales for the first quarter were toward the high end of guidance and our NRI production was above the high end of guidance, leading to solid net income of $0.07 per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDAX of $57.0 million. We continue to execute our strategic vision, with multiple accomplishments achieved in the first quarter that lay the foundation for profitable growth in 2025 and beyond. We entered into a new credit facility that will supplement our internally generated cash flow and cash balance to assist in funding our robust organic growth projects. In Côte D’Ivoire, we commenced the FPSO refurbishment project and are preparing for a drilling campaign in 2026 to augment the production and economic life of the Baobab field. In Gabon, we are preparing for the 2025/2026 drilling program which is scheduled to begin in Q3 2025. While we are continuing with these two major projects, we have decided to reduce our capital expenditure budget for 2025 by about 10%. We are delaying discretionary capital spending and are deferring our capital program in Canada. We are doing all of this without impacting production or sales forecasts for 2025 due to the strong performance of our assets in Gabon and Egypt.”

    “We believe that we are well positioned to fund the meaningful growth and opportunities that we have planned over the next few years which should lead to even greater growth and value for the remainder of the decade. We look forward to providing additional details at our Capital Markets Day next week describing our diversified asset portfolio and the upside that we believe is available to drive future organic growth.”

    Operational Update

    Egypt

    The start of the 2024 drilling campaign was deferred until late 2024. In Q4 2024, we completed one well. In Q1 2025, we completed an additional five wells. Four of the five wells that were completed in Q1 2025 were brought online and had an average initial production rate for the first 30 days of approximately 135 barrels of oil per day (“BOPD”). The fifth well was brought online in early Q2 2025. In addition to all new wells successfully increasing production levels, new reserves and a new production zone were discovered in the Bakr formation. The Company is reviewing several options to improve flow as the reservoir contains heavier oil.

    The Company continues to perform detailed technical reviews of its newly drilled and existing wells while also continuing to work on enhancing production through a series of planned workovers and recompletions.

    Canada

    In the first half of 2024, Vaalco drilled and completed four 2.75 mile lateral wells in Canada. These wells continue to meet production expectations and the Company is monitoring their longer-term performance for future drilling opportunities. In 2025, Vaalco has decided to defer the drilling of additional wells in Canada to reduce the Company’s overall capital expenditures.

    Gabon

    The Company secured a drilling rig in December 2024 in conjunction with its 2025/2026 drilling program, which is planned to begin in Q3 2025 to drill multiple development wells, and appraisal or exploration wells, as well as to perform workovers, with options to drill additional wells. Vaalco plans to drill the wells at both the Etame platform and at the Seent platform, and perform a re-drill and several workovers in the Ebouri field to access production and reserves that were previously shut in and removed from proved reserves due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide (“H2S”).

    In Q1 2025, Vaalco conducted an extended flow test on the Ebouri 4-H well to gather information on the H2S concentrations at this location to aid in equipment design and to evaluate Vaalco’s chemical crude sweetening process. The well has flowed for over four months, and the H2S concentration is within modeling expectations, demonstrating Vaalco’s ability to treat the oil. The well has provided additional production, with some additional operating costs associated with the chemical treatment, adding to the Company’s strong first quarter results.

    Côte d’Ivoire

    As part of the planned dry dock refurbishment, the Baobab Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (“FPSO”) ceased hydrocarbon production on January 31, 2025 and the final lifting of crude oil from the FPSO took place in February 2025. The vessel departed from the field in late March 2025 and is now currently under tow to the shipyard in Dubai for the refurbishment. Significant development drilling is expected to begin in 2026 after the FPSO is expected to return to service with potential meaningful additions to production from the main Baobab field in CI-40, as well as a potential future development of the Kossipo field, which is also on the license.

    In March 2025, Vaalco announced that it had farmed into the CI-705 block offshore Côte d’Ivoire. Vaalco is the operator of the block with a 70% WI and a 100% paying interest through a commercial carry arrangement and is partnering with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI. The CI-705 block is located in the prolific Tano basin and is approximately 70 kilometers (“km”) to the west of Vaalco’s CI-40 Block, where the Baobab and Kossipo oil fields are located, and 60 km west of ENI’s recent Calao discovery. Block CI-705 covers approximately 2,300 km2 and is lightly explored with three wells drilled to date on the block. The water depth across the block ranges from zero to 2,500 meters. Vaalco has invested $3 million to acquire its interest in the new block, which it believes has significant prospectivity.

    Financial Update – First Quarter of 2025

    Vaalco reported net income of $7.7 million ($0.07 per diluted share) for Q1 2025, which was down 34% compared with net income of $11.7 million ($0.11 per diluted share) in Q4 2024 and up modestly compared to $7.7 million ($0.07 per diluted share) in Q1 2024. The decrease in earnings compared with Q4 2024 was driven by lower sales volume in Q1 2025 of 1,717 MBOE compared to a sales volume of 1,872 MBOE in Q4 2024 and higher production expense, partially offset by lower depreciation, depletion and amortization (“DD&A”) and lower income tax expense.

    Adjusted EBITDAX totaled $57.0 million in Q1 2025, a 25% decrease from $76.2 million in Q4 2024. The decrease was primarily due to lower sales volumes and higher production expense. Adjusted EBITDAX was down 8% from $61.7 million generated in Q1 2024.


    Quarterly Summary – Sales and Net Revenue    		                        
    $ in thousands Three Months Ended March 31, 2025   Three Months Ended December 31, 2024
      Gabon   Egypt   Canada   Côte d’Ivoire   Total   Gabon   Egypt   Canada   Côte d’Ivoire   Total
    Oil Sales   59,864       57,656       5,325       18,042   $ 140,887       54,172       59,010       6,685       28,045   $ 147,912  
    NGL Sales   —       —       1,808       —     1,808       —       —       1,965       —     1,965  
    Gas Sales   —       —       636       —     636       —       —       421       —     421  
    Gross Sales   59,864       57,656       7,769       18,042     143,331       54,172       59,010       9,071       28,045     150,298  
                                           
    Selling Costs & Carried Interest   —       (149 )     (232 )     —     (381 )     450       (130 )     (319 )     —     1  
    Royalties & Taxes   (7,677 )     (23,587 )     (1,357 )     —     (32,621 )     (7,455 )     (19,899 )     (1,224 )     —     (28,578 )
                                           
    Net Revenue   52,187       33,920       6,180       18,042     110,329       47,167       38,981       7,528       28,045     121,721  
                                           
    Oil Sales MMB (working interest)   757       920       80       238     1,995       733       923       99       379     2,134  
    Average Oil Price Received $ 79.09     $ 62.49     $ 66.17     $ 75.87   $ 70.61     $ 73.92     $ 63.92     $ 67.68     $ 73.90   $ 69.30  
    Change                   2 %                    
    Average Brent Price                 $ 75.87                     $ 74.66  
    Change                   2 %                    
                                           
    Gas Sales MMCF (working interest)   —       —       413       —     413       —       —       431       —     431  
    Average Gas Price Received   —       —     $ 1.54       —   $ 1.54       —       —     $ 0.98       —   $ 0.98  
    Change                   57 %                    
    Average Aeco Price ($USD)   —       —     $ 1.43       —   $ 1.43       —       —     $ 1.36       —   $ 1.36  
    Change                   5 %                    
                                           
    NGL Sales MMB (working interest)   —       —       69       —     69       —       —       75       —     75  
    Average Liquids Price Received   —       —     $ 26.39       —   $ 26.39       —       —     $ 26.22       —   $ 26.22  
    Change                   1 %                    
     
    Revenue and Sales Q1 2025   Q1 2024   % Change Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2024   Q4 2024   % Change Q1 2025 vs. Q4 2024
    Production (NRI BOEPD)   17,764     16,848   5 %     20,775   (14 %)
    Sales (NRI BOE)   1,717,000     1,490,000   15 %     1,872,000   (8 %)
    Realized commodity price ($/BOE) $ 64.27   $ 66.43   (3 %)   $ 64.77   (1)%
    Commodity (Per BOE including realized commodity derivatives) $ 64.34   $ 66.41   (3 %)   $ 64.48   — %
    Total commodity sales ($MM) $ 110.3   $ 100.2   10 %   $ 121.7   (9 %)

    In Q1 2025, Vaalco had a net revenue decrease of $11.4 million or 9% compared to Q4 2024 as total NRI sales volumes of 1,717 MBOE was 8% lower than the Q4 2024 volumes of 1,872 MBOE but was 15% higher compared to 1,490 MBOE for Q1 2024, primarily due to production from the Cote d’Ivoire assets acquired in April 2024. Q1 2025 NRI sales were toward the high end of Vaalco’s guidance.

    Costs and Expenses Q1 2025   Q1 2024   % Change Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2024   Q4 2024   % Change Q1 2025 vs. Q4 2024
    Production expense, excluding offshore workovers and stock comp ($MM) $ 44.7     $ 32.1     39 %   $ 36.5     23 %
    Production expense, excluding offshore workovers ($/BOE) $ 26.08     $ 21.58     21 %   $ 19.52     34 %
    Offshore workover expense ($MM) $ —     $ (0.1 )   — %   $ 0.1     — %
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization ($MM) $ 30.3     $ 25.8     17 %   $ 37.0     (18 %)
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization ($/BOE) $ 17.65     $ 17.30     2 %   $ 19.79     (11 %)
    General and administrative expense, excluding stock-based compensation ($MM) $ 7.8     $ 5.9     31 %   $ 7.1     9 %
    General and administrative expense, excluding stock-based compensation ($/BOE) $ 4.51     $ 3.90     16 %   $ 3.80     19 %
    Stock-based compensation expense ($MM) $ 1.4     $ 0.9     50 %   $ 1.4     (3 %)
    Current income tax expense (benefit) ($MM) $ 17.7     $ 25.7     (31 %)   $ 26.2     (32)%
    Deferred income tax expense (benefit) ($MM) $ (1.6 )   $ (3.4 )   (53 %)   $ (9.0 )   (82 %)

    Total production expense (excluding offshore workovers and stock compensation) of $44.7 million in Q1 2025 increased by 23% compared to Q4 2024 and 39% compared to Q1 2024. The increase in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024 was primarily driven by higher expenses in Gabon related to government audit settlements of approximately $4.7 million (net to Vaalco), additional chemical costs associated with the H2S treatment and to the increased sales associated with the purchase of the Côte d’Ivoire asset. The increase in Q1 2025 compared to Q4 2024 was driven by higher expenses in Gabon related to the government audit settlements and higher chemical costs.

    DD&A expense for Q1 2025 was $30.3 million which was lower than $37.0 million in Q4 2024 and higher than $25.8 million in Q1 2024. The decrease in Q1 2025 DD&A expense compared to Q4 2024 is due primarily to the impact of the year end 2024 depletion adjustments based on the year end reserve reports. The increase in Q1 2025 DD&A expense compared to Q1 2024 is due to higher depletable costs in Côte d’Ivoire partially offset by lower depletable costs in Gabon, Egypt, and Canada.

    General and administrative (“G&A”) expense, excluding stock-based compensation, increased slightly to $7.8 million in Q1 2025 from $7.1 million in Q4 2024 and increased from $5.9 million in Q1 2024. The increase in G&A expenses compared to Q1 2024 was primarily due to higher professional service fees, salaries and wages, and accounting and legal fees. Q1 2025 cash G&A was within the Company’s guidance.

    Non-cash stock-based compensation expense was $1.4 million for Q1 2025 compared to $0.9 million for Q1 2024. Non-cash stock-based compensation expense for Q4 2024 was $1.4 million.

    Other income (expense), net, was an expense of $2.4 million for Q1 2025, compared to an expense of $2.3 million during Q1 2024 and an expense of $9.7 million for Q4 2024. Other income (expense), net, normally consists of foreign currency losses and interest expense, net. Also in Q4 2024, the Company recorded a reduction in the bargain purchase gain of $6.4 million as a result of the change in fair value estimates of the net assets acquired in the Svenska acquisition.

    Income tax expense (benefit) was an expense for Q1 2025 of $16.1 million and is comprised of current expense of $17.7 million and deferred tax benefit of $1.6 million. In Q1 2024, income tax expense was $22.3 million and is comprised of current expense of $25.7 million and deferred tax benefit of $3.4 million. Q4 2024 income tax expense was $17.2 million, and is comprised of current tax expense of $26.2 million and deferred tax benefit of $9.0 million.

    Taxes paid by jurisdiction are as follows:

    (in thousands)   Gabon   Egypt   Canada   Equatorial Guinea   Cote d’Ivoire   Corporate and Other   Total  
    Cash/In Kind Taxes Paid:                              
    Three months ended March 31, 2025   $ 30,253   6,953   —   —   $ 790   —   $ 37,996  


    Capital Investments/Balance Sheet

    For the first quarter of 2025, net capital expenditures totaled $58.5 million on a cash basis and $51.3 million on an accrual basis. These expenditures were primarily related to costs associated with project costs and long lead items for Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire and the development drilling program in Egypt.

    At the end of the first quarter of 2025, Vaalco had an unrestricted cash balance of $40.9 million. Working capital at March 31, 2025 was $23.2 million compared with $56.2 million at December 31, 2024, while Adjusted Working Capital at March 31, 2025 totaled $40.4 million.

    In March 2025, Vaalco entered into a new reserves based revolving credit facility (the “new facility”) with an initial commitment of $190 million and the ability to grow to $300 million, led by The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, Isle of Man Branch with other participating banks and financial partners. The new facility, which is subject to customary administrative conditional precedents, replaces the Company’s existing undrawn revolving credit facility that was provided by Glencore Energy UK Ltd. The Company arranged the new facility primarily to provide short-term funding that may be needed from time-to-time to supplement its internally generated cash flow and cash balance as it executes its planned investment programs across its diversified asset base over the next few years.

    Quarterly Cash Dividend

    Vaalco paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0625 per share of common stock for the first quarter of 2025 on March 28, 2025. The Company also recently announced its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.0625 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2025 ($0.25 annualized), to be paid on June 27, 2025 to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 23, 2025. Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are subject to approval by the Vaalco Board of Directors.

    Hedging

    The Company continued to opportunistically hedge a portion of its expected future production to lock in strong cash flow generation to assist in funding its capital and shareholder return programs.

    The following includes hedges remaining in place as of the end of the first quarter of 2025:

                        Weighted Average Hedge Price ($/Bbl)
    Settlement Period   Commodity   Type of Contract   Index   Average Volumes Hedged (Bbl)   Floor   Ceiling
    April 2025 – June 2025   Oil   Collars   Dated Brent   70,000   $ 65.00   $ 81.00
    July 2025 – September 2025   Oil   Collars   Dated Brent   60,000   $ 65.00   $ 80.00

    Subsequent to March 31, 2025, the Company entered into the following additional derivative contracts to cover its future anticipated production:

    Settlement Period   Commodity   Type of Contract   Index   Average Volumes Hedged (GJ)(a)   Weighted Average Hedge Price (CAD/GJ)
    May 2025 – October 2025   Natural Gas   Swap   AECO (7A)   114,000   $ 2.15

    a) One gigajoule (GJ) equals one billion joules (J). A gigajoule of natural gas is approximately 25.5 cubic meters standard conditions.

    Settlement Period   Commodity   Type of Contract   Index   Average Volumes Hedged (Bbl)   Weighted Average Hedge Price ($/Bbl)
    July 1, 2025 – July 31, 2025   Oil   Swap   Dated Brent   100,000   $ 65.45


    Capital Markets Day Presentation

    Vaalco announced that it will host a Capital Markets Day presentation on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The presentation will begin at 8 a.m. Central Time (2 p.m. London Time) and is expected to conclude around 10:00 a.m. Central Time. The agenda will include presentations by key members of management on Vaalco’s longer-term vision including growth across its diversified, multi-country asset base.

    Participation in the Capital Markets Day is directed to Vaalco’s shareholders, buy side and sell side analysts, as well as large institutional investors and portfolio managers. The session will be web cast live along with related presentation materials through Vaalco’s web site at www.vaalco.com in the “Investors” section of the web site. A replay will be archived on the site shortly after the presentation concludes.

    2025 Guidance:

    The Company has provided second quarter 2025 guidance and updated its full year 2025 guidance. All of the quarterly and annual guidance is detailed in the tables below.

          FY 2025   Gabon   Egypt   Canada   Côte d’Ivoire
    Production (BOEPD) WI   19250 – 22310   7000 – 8300   9750 – 11100   2200 – 2600   300 – 310
    Production (BOEPD) NRI   14500 – 16710   6200 – 7100   6200 – 7200   1800 – 2100   300 – 310
    Sales Volume (BOEPD) WI   19850 – 22700   7300 – 8300   9750 – 11100   2200 – 2600   600 – 700
    Sales Volume (BOEPD) NRI   14900 – 17200   6300 – 7200   6200 – 7200   1800 – 2100   600 – 700
    Production Expense (millions) WI & NRI   $148.5 – $161.5 MM                
    Production Expense per BOE WI   $18.00 – $21.50                
    Production Expense per BOE NRI   $24.00 – $28.00                
    Offshore Workovers (millions) WI & NRI   $0 – $10 MM                
    Cash G&A (millions) WI & NRI   $25.0 – $31.0 MM                
    CAPEX excluding acquisitions (millions) WI & NRI   $250 – $300 MM                
    DD&A ($/BOE) NRI   $16.00 – $20.00                
          Q2 2025   Gabon   Egypt   Canada   Côte d’Ivoire
    Production (BOEPD) WI   20000 – 22100   7800 – 8600   10100 – 11200   2100 – 2300   —
    Production (BOEPD) NRI   15400 – 16800   6800 – 7500   6900 – 7400   1700 – 1900   —
    Sales Volume (BOEPD) WI   22800 – 24900   10600 – 11400   10100 – 11200   2100 – 2300   —
    Sales Volume (BOEPD) NRI   17800 – 19300   9200 – 10000   6900 – 7400   1700 – 1900   —
    Production Expense (millions) WI & NRI   $39.5 – $48.0 MM                
    Production Expense per BOE WI   $18.00 – $23.00                
    Production Expense per BOE NRI   $23.00 – $29.00                
    Offshore Workovers (millions) WI & NRI   $0 – $0 MM                
    Cash G&A (millions) WI & NRI   $6.0 – $8.0 MM                
    CAPEX excluding acquisitions (millions) WI & NRI   $65 – $85 MM                
    DD&A ($/BOE) NRI   $16.00 – $20.00                


    Conference Call

    As previously announced, the Company will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2025 financial and operating results, Friday, May 9, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and 3:00 p.m. London Time). Interested parties may participate by dialing (833) 685-0907. Parties in the United Kingdom may participate toll-free by dialing 08082389064 and other international parties may dial (412) 317-5741. Participants should request to be joined to the “Vaalco Energy First Quarter 2025 Conference Call.” This call will also be webcast on Vaalco’s website at www.vaalco.com. An archived audio replay will be available on Vaalco’s website.

    A “Q1 2025 Supplemental Information” investor deck will be posted to Vaalco’s website prior to its conference call on May 9, 2025 that includes additional financial and operational information.

    About Vaalco

    Vaalco, founded in 1985 and incorporated under the laws of Delaware, is a Houston, Texas, USA based, independent energy company with a diverse portfolio of production, development and exploration assets across Gabon, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Canada.

    For Further Information

    Vaalco Energy, Inc. (General and Investor Enquiries) +00 1 713 543 3422
    Website: www.vaalco.com
       
    Al Petrie Advisors (US Investor Relations) +00 1 713 543 3422
    Al Petrie / Chris Delange  
       
    Buchanan (UK Financial PR) +44 (0) 207 466 5000
    Ben Romney / Barry Archer VAALCO@buchanan.uk.com


    Forward Looking Statements

    This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by those laws and other applicable laws and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws(collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Where a forward-looking statement expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “aim,” “target,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “may,” “likely,” “plan” and “probably” or similar words may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to (i) estimates of future drilling, production, sales and costs of acquiring crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids; (ii) expectations regarding Vaalco’s ability to effectively integrate assets and properties it has acquired as a result of the Svenska acquisition into its operations; (iii) expectations regarding future exploration and the development, growth and potential of Vaalco’s operations, project pipeline and investments, and schedule and anticipated benefits to be derived therefrom; (iv) expectations regarding future acquisitions, investments or divestitures; (v) expectations of future dividends; (vi) expectations of future balance sheet strength; and (vii) expectations of future equity and enterprise value.

    Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks relating to any unforeseen liabilities of Vaalco; the ability to generate cash flows that, along with cash on hand, will be sufficient to support operations and cash requirements; risks relating to the timing and costs of completion for scheduled maintenance of the FPSO servicing the Baobab field; and the risks described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Vaalco’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

    Dividends beyond the second quarter of 2025 have not yet been approved or declared by the Board of Directors for Vaalco. The declaration and payment of future dividends remains at the discretion of the Board and will be determined based on Vaalco’s financial results, balance sheet strength, cash and liquidity requirements, future prospects, crude oil and natural gas prices, and other factors deemed relevant by the Board. The Board reserves all powers related to the declaration and payment of dividends. Consequently, in determining the dividend to be declared and paid on Vaalco common stock, the Board may revise or terminate the payment level at any time without prior notice.

    Any forward-looking statement made by Vaalco in this press release is based only on information currently available to Vaalco and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Vaalco undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

    Other Oil and Gas Advisories

    Investors are cautioned when viewing BOEs in isolation. BOE conversion ratio is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalencies described above, utilizing such equivalencies may be incomplete as an indication of value.

    Inside Information

    This announcement contains inside information as defined in Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse which is part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“MAR”) and is made in accordance with the Company’s obligations under article 17 of MAR. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Vaalco is Matthew Powers, Corporate Secretary of Vaalco.

    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

      As of March 31, 2025   As of December 31, 2024
      (in thousands)
    ASSETS      
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 40,914   $ 82,650
    Receivables:      
    Trade, net of allowances for credit loss and other of $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively   120,252     94,778
    Accounts with joint venture owners, net of allowance for credit losses of $1.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively   2,847     179
    Egypt receivables and other   3,235     35,763
    Other current assets   33,590     24,557
    Total current assets   200,838     237,927
    Crude oil, natural gas and NGLs properties and equipment, net   562,926     538,103
    Other noncurrent assets:      
    Right of use operating lease assets   16,303     17,254
    Right of use finance lease assets   78,862     79,849
    Deferred tax assets   48,364     55,581
    Other long-term assets   19,810     26,236
    Total assets $ 927,103   $ 954,950
    LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY      
    Current liabilities $ 177,675   $ 181,728
    Asset retirement obligations   81,053     78,592
    Operating lease liabilities – net of current portion   12,915     13,903
    Finance lease liabilities – net of current portion   66,198     67,377
    Deferred tax liabilities   85,168     93,904
    Other long-term liabilities   —     17,863
    Total liabilities   423,009     453,367
    Total shareholders’ equity   504,094     501,583
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 927,103   $ 954,950


    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Consolidated Statements of Operations

      Three Months Ended
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024   December 31, 2024
      (in thousands except per share amounts)
    Revenues:          
    Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales $ 110,329     $ 100,155     $ 121,721  
    Operating costs and expenses:          
    Production expense   44,806       32,089       36,641  
    Exploration expense   —       48       —  
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization   30,305       25,824       37,047  
    Transaction costs related to acquisition   —       1,313       —  
    General and administrative expense   9,051       6,710       8,454  
    Credit losses and other   (27 )     1,812       1,082  
    Total operating costs and expenses   84,135       67,796       83,224  
    Other operating income, net   —       (166 )     10  
    Operating income   26,194       32,193       38,507  
    Other income (expense):          
    Derivative instruments gain (loss), net   (74 )     (847 )     (365 )
    Interest expense, net   (1,295 )     (935 )     (1,092 )
    Bargain purchase gain   —       —       (6,366 )
    Other income (expense), net   (1,012 )     (487 )     (1,828 )
    Total other income (expense), net   (2,381 )     (2,269 )     (9,651 )
    Income before income taxes   23,813       29,924       28,856  
    Income tax expense   16,083       22,238       17,192  
    Net income $ 7,730     $ 7,686     $ 11,664  
    Other comprehensive income (loss):          
    Currency translation adjustments   117       (2,454 )     (5,975 )
    Comprehensive income $ 7,847     $ 5,232     $ 5,689  
               
    Basic net income per share:          
    Net income per share $ 0.07     $ 0.07     $ 0.11  
    Basic weighted average shares outstanding   103,758       103,659       103,743  
    Diluted net income per share:          
    Net income per share $ 0.07     $ 0.07     $ 0.11  
    Diluted weighted average shares outstanding   103,785       104,541       103,812  


    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

      Three Months Ended March 31,
        2025       2024  
      (in thousands)
    CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:      
    Net income $ 7,730     $ 7,686  
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization   30,305       25,824  
    Exploration expense   146       —  
    Deferred taxes   (1,519 )     (3,441 )
    Unrealized foreign exchange loss   1,673       (102 )
    Stock-based compensation   1,475       898  
    Cash settlements paid on exercised stock appreciation rights   —       (154 )
    Derivative instruments (gain) loss, net   74       847  
    Cash settlements paid on matured derivative contracts, net   123       (24 )
    Cash settlements paid on asset retirement obligations   —       (29 )
    Credit losses and other   (27 )     1,812  
    Other operating loss, net   —       166  
    Equipment and other expensed in operations   972       302  
    Change in operating assets and liabilities   (8,246 )     (11,953 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities   32,706       21,832  
    CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:      
    Property and equipment expenditures   (58,527 )     (16,618 )
    Acquisition of crude oil and natural gas properties   (247 )     —  
    Net cash used in investing activities   (58,774 )     (16,618 )
    CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:      
    Proceeds from the issuances of common stock   —       447  
    Dividend distribution   (6,570 )     (6,463 )
    Treasury shares   (155 )     (6,344 )
    Deferred financing costs   (5,118 )     —  
    Payments of finance lease   (2,943 )     (2,095 )
    Net cash used in in financing activities   (14,786 )     (14,455 )
    Effects of exchange rate changes on cash   27       (208 )
    NET CHANGE IN CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH   (40,827 )     (9,449 )
    CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD   97,726       129,178  
    CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH AT END OF PERIOD $ 56,899     $ 119,729  

    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Selected Financial and Operating Statistics
    (Unaudited)

      Three Months Ended
      March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024   December 31, 2024
    NRI SALES DATA          
    Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales (MBOE) 1,717   1,490   1,872
    Average daily sales volumes (BOE) 19,074   16,374   20,352
               
    WI PRODUCTION DATA          
    Etame Crude oil (MBbl) 767   819   791
    Gabon Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 8,522   9,001   8,598
               
    Egypt Crude oil (MBbl) 920   950   923
    Egypt Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 10,225   10,440   10,035
               
    Canada Crude Oil (MBbl) 80   61   99
    Canada Natural Gas (MMcf) 413   469   431
    Canada Natural Gas Liquid (MBOE) 69   76   75
    Canada Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (MBOE) 218   215   246
    Canada Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 2,420   2,363   2,669
               
    Côte d’Ivoire Crude oil (MBbl) 111   —   368
    Côte d’Ivoire Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 1,235   —   3,997
               
    Total Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production (MBOE) 2,016   1,984   2,328
    Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 22,402   21,804   25,300
               
    NRI PRODUCTION DATA          
    Etame Crude oil (MBbl) 667   713   688
    Gabon Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 7,414   7,835   7,481
               
    Egypt Crude oil (MBbl) 642   641   644
    Egypt Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 7,131   7,044   7,001
               
    Canada Crude Oil (MBbl) 66   51   85
    Canada Natural Gas (MMcf) 338   392   371
    Canada Natural Gas Liquid (MBOE) 56   63   64
    Canada Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (MBOE) 179   179   211
    Canada Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 1,984   1,971   2,296
               
    Côte d’Ivoire Crude oil (MBbl) 111   —   368
    Côte d’Ivoire Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 1,235   —   3,997
               
    Total Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production (MBOE) 1,599   1,533   1,911
    Average daily production volumes (BOEPD) 17,764   16,850   20,775
    AVERAGE SALES PRICES:          
    Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales (per BOE) – WI basis $ 67.03   $ 69.62   $ 65.69
    Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales (per BOE) – NRI basis $ 64.27   $ 66.43   $ 64.77
    Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales (Per BOE including realized commodity derivatives) – NRI basis $ 64.34   $ 66.41   $ 64.48
               
    COSTS AND EXPENSES (Per BOE of sales):          
    Production expense   26.10   $ 21.54   $ 19.57
    Production expense, excluding offshore workovers and stock compensation*   26.05   $ 21.56   $ 19.49
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization   17.65   $ 17.33   $ 19.79
    General and administrative expense**   5.27   $ 4.50   $ 4.52
    Property and equipment expenditures, cash basis (in thousands) $ 58,527   $ 16,618   $ 41,466

    * Offshore workover costs excluded for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 and December 31, 2024 are $0.0 million, $(0.1) million and $0.1 million, respectively.
    * Stock compensation associated with production expense excluded from the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 and December 31, 2024 are immaterial.
    ** General and administrative expenses include $0.76, $0.58 and $0.72 per barrel of oil related to stock-based compensation expense in the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

    NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

    Management uses Adjusted Net Income to evaluate operating and financial performance and believes the measure is useful to investors because it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash and/or other items that management does not consider to be indicative of the Company’s performance from period to period. Management also believes this non-GAAP measure is useful to investors to evaluate and compare the Company’s operating and financial performance across periods, as well as to facilitate comparisons to others in the Company’s industry. Adjusted Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure and as used herein represents net income, plus deferred income tax expense (benefit), unrealized derivative instrument loss (gain), bargain purchase gain on the Svenska Acquisition, FPSO demobilization, transaction costs related to the Svenska acquisition and non-cash and other items.

    Adjusted EBITDAX is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure used by Vaalco’s management and by external users of the Company’s financial statements, such as industry analysts, lenders, rating agencies, investors and others who follow the industry. Management believes the measure is useful to investors because it is as an indicator of the Company’s ability to internally fund exploration and development activities and to service or incur additional debt. Adjusted EBITDAX is a non-GAAP financial measure and as used herein represents net income, plus interest expense (income) net, income tax expense (benefit), depreciation, depletion and amortization, exploration expense, FPSO demobilization, non-cash and other items including stock compensation expense, bargain purchase gain on the Svenska Acquisition, other operating (income) expense, net, non-cash purchase price adjustment, transaction costs related to acquisition, credit losses and other and unrealized derivative instrument loss (gain).

    Management uses Adjusted Working Capital as a transition tool to assess the working capital position of the Company’s continuing operations excluding leasing obligations because it eliminates the impact of discontinued operations as well as the impact of lease liabilities. Under the applicable lease accounting standards, lease liabilities related to assets used in joint operations include both the Company’s share of expenditures as well as the share of lease expenditures which its non-operator joint venture owners’ will be obligated to pay under joint operating agreements. Adjusted Working Capital is a non-GAAP financial measure and as used herein represents working capital excluding working capital attributable to discontinued operations and current liabilities associated with lease obligations.

    Management uses Free Cash Flow to evaluate financial performance and to determine the total amount of cash over a specified period available to be used in connection with returning cash to shareholders, and believes the measure is useful to investors because it provides the total amount of net cash available for returning cash to shareholders by adding cash generated from operating activities, subtracting amounts used in financing and investing activities, effects of exchange rate changes on cash and adding back amounts used for dividend payments and stock repurchases. Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure and as used herein represents net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash and adds the amounts paid under dividend distributions and share repurchases over a specified period.

    Free Cash Flow has significant limitations, including that it does not represent residual cash flows available for discretionary purposes and should not be used as a substitute for cash flow measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Free Cash Flow should not be considered as a substitute for cashflows from operating activities before discontinued operations or any other liquidity measure presented in accordance with GAAP. Free Cash Flow may vary among other companies. Therefore, the Company’s Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

    Adjusted EBITDAX and Adjusted Net Income have significant limitations, including that they do not reflect the Company’s cash requirements for capital expenditures, contractual commitments, working capital or debt service. Adjusted EBITDAX, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Working Capital and Free Cash Flow should not be considered as substitutes for net income (loss), operating income (loss), cash flows from operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDAX and Adjusted Net Income exclude some, but not all, items that affect net income (loss) and operating income (loss), and the calculation of these measures may vary among other companies. Therefore, the Company’s Adjusted EBITDAX, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Working Capital and Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

    The tables below reconcile the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EBITDAX, Adjusted Working Capital and Free Cash Flow.

    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands)

      Three Months Ended
    Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted Net Income March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024   December 31, 2024
    Net income $ 7,730     $ 7,686     $ 11,664  
    Adjustment for discrete items:          
    Unrealized derivative instruments loss (gain)   198       823       96  
    Bargain purchase gain   —       —       6,366  
    Deferred income tax expense (benefit)   (1,610 )     (3,441 )     (11,781 )
    Transaction costs related to acquisition   22       1,313       508  
    Other operating (income) expense, net   —       166       (10 )
    Adjusted Net Income $ 6,340     $ 6,547     $ 6,843  
               
    Diluted Adjusted Net Income per Share $ 0.06     $ 0.06     $ 0.07  
    Diluted weighted average shares outstanding (1)   103,785       104,541       103,812  

    (1)  No adjustments to weighted average shares outstanding

      Three Months Ended
    Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDAX March 31, 2025   March 31, 2024   December 31, 2024
    Net income $ 7,730     $ 7,686   $ 11,664  
    Add back:          
    Interest expense, net   1,295       935     1,092  
    Income tax expense   16,083       22,238     17,192  
    Depreciation, depletion and amortization   30,305       25,824     37,047  
    Exploration expense   —       48     —  
    Non-cash or unusual items:          
    Stock-based compensation   1,352       899     1,196  
    Unrealized derivative instruments loss   198       823     96  
    Bargain purchase gain   —       —     6,366  
    Other operating (income) expense, net   —       166     (10 )
    Transaction costs related to acquisition   22       1,313     508  
    Credit losses and other   (27 )     1,812     1,082  
    Adjusted EBITDAX $ 56,958     $ 61,744   $ 76,233  

    VAALCO ENERGY, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
    Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
    (Unaudited)
    (in thousands)

    Reconciliation of Working Capital to Adjusted Working Capital March 31, 2025   December 31, 2024   Change
    Current assets $ 200,838     $ 237,927     $ (37,089 )
    Current liabilities   (177,675 )     (181,728 )     4,053  
    Working capital   23,163       56,199       (33,036 )
    Add: lease liabilities – current portion   17,249       16,895       354  
    Adjusted Working Capital $ 40,412     $ 73,094     $ (32,682 )
       
      Three Months Ended March 31, 2025
    Reconciliation of Free Cash Flow (in thousands)
    Net cash provided by Operating activities $ 32,706  
    Net cash used in Investing activities   (58,774 )
    Net cash used in Financing activities   (14,786 )
    Effects of exchange rate changes on cash   27  
    Total net cash change   (40,827 )
       
    Add back shareholder cash out:  
    Dividends paid   6,570  
    Total cash returned to shareholders   6,570  
       
    Free Cash Flow $ (34,257 )

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Minister Khumbudzo Ntshaveni addresses at the launch of the second phase ofOperation Vulindlela.

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)

    Minister Khumbudzo Ntshaveni
    addresses at the launch of the
    second phase of
    Operation Vulindlela.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzCVhA9TtDo

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed Rebukes Trump’s Misuse of Military in Immigration Enforcement

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Over the past three months, the Trump Administration has surged military personnel to the Southwest Border, Guantanamo Bay, and the U.S. southern coasts. The Administration has spent nearly $500 billion and engaged tens of thousands of troops, Navy warships, armored combat vehicles, and military aircraft in its immigration enforcement operation.

    On Thursday, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to address the unprecedented and likely illegal use of the U.S. military in domestic law enforcement. 

    A video of Senator Reed’s remarks may be viewed here.

    A copy of Senator Reed’s letter to the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General may be viewed here.

    A transcript of Senator Reed’s floor speech follows:

    REED:  Mr. President, I rise to address President Trump’s dangerous and inappropriate use of the U.S. military to carry out his immigration enforcement campaign. 

    Before I discuss the Trump Administration spending nearly half a billion dollars and sending tens of thousands of troops, ships, combat vehicles, and aircraft away from their real missions, I want to make clear that border security is a priority.  I do not support open borders.  And I believe that those who enter the United States and break our laws should be subject to deportation in accordance with the law and due process.  I have voted time and time again for billions of dollars of increased support for border agents, detection technology, and physical barriers where it makes sense. 

    Mr. President, it is no secret that our borders have been under pressure for more than a decade because of a broken immigration system that Congressional Republicans have consistently refused to help fix.  We have considered bipartisan immigration reform bills in 2006, in 2007, in 2013, and in 2024, all of which were shut down by Republicans.  The mess that we have today rests largely on their decision to put political advantage above real progress.

    Now, President Trump is ignoring Congress, ignoring the law, ignoring the Courts, and ignoring the Constitution in order to implement an immigration policy that fails to respect due process, adversely impacts our innovation economy, and to the point of my remarks, degrades our military.  In the name of his anti-immigrant efforts, President Trump is using the U.S. military to conduct operations on American soil that it has neither the training or authority to carry out.  Our troops, who are already stretched thin for time and resources, are now burning time, assets, morale, and readiness for these overblown operations.

    The President has declared an emergency at the border to justify using the military for civilian law enforcement.  This, despite border encounters currently at the lowest level since August of 2020.  Over the past 12 months, since President Biden’s executive actions last June, there has been a continued, significant decrease in unlawful border crossings – including a?more than 60 percent decrease in encounters?from May 2024 to December 2024. 

    In short, all along the Southern Border we have seen a dramatic drop in illegal crossings and migrant encounters, well before President Trump took office.  A national emergency?  It seems not. 

    We already have an entire federal agency to protect our borders and address illegal immigration: the Department of Homeland Security.  DHS includes Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other law enforcement groups.  I have voted consistently to give these agencies additional resources to carry out their missions.  But immigration enforcement is not, and must not become, a function of the Department of Defense. 

    Our military has long provided technical and logistical support to DHS at the border, but always and exclusively in a supporting role, drawing a clear line between military law enforcement authorities.  Indeed, since the Reconstruction Era, U.S. presidents have been prohibited from using the military in civilian law enforcement by a law known as the Posse Comitatus Act.  This law has kept the commander-in-chief from wielding the military as a domestic political weapon, and it continues to provide an important check on the President’s ability to use the military domestically against American citizens.

    I understand American citizens asking if it matters which Department enforces immigration, as long as the job gets done.  Well, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned by the President’s current approach, even if one agrees with him politically.

    Most alarmingly, President Trump is taking real steps to militarize immigration enforcement.  Once he uses the military for this reason, it will be easier for him to use it for other purposes.  And given the tenor of his public statements, it is a reasonable fear that he may someday order the use of the armed forces in American cities and against American citizens.

    Indeed, the Brennan Center – a law and public policy institution – recently analyzed President Trump’s military actions at the border and concluded, quote: “Using the military for border enforcement is a slippery slope.  If soldiers are allowed to take on domestic policing roles at the border, it may become easier to justify uses of the military in the U.S. interior in the future.  Our nation’s founders warned against the dangers of an army turned inward, which can all too easily be turned into an instrument of tyranny.”

    Beyond these concerns, there are real, immediate consequences for our troops, which we are seeing right now.

    Readiness

    One of the military’s top priorities is readiness.  America faces real, growing threats from China, Russia, Iran, and other adversaries, and the Department of Defense needs to be laser focused on preparing troops to defend our interests abroad.

    It is difficult to explain the border missions as anything but a distraction from readiness.  We should acknowledge the jobs that our troops are actually doing there.  In the past, up to 2,000 National Guard and Reserve troops would rotate to the border each year to assist DHS and Customs and Border Patrol with basic monitoring, logistics, and warehousing activities.  These missions were designed to be “behind the scenes” logistical support to free up Border Patrol agents from administrative duties and return them back to the field to conduct their core mission of immigration enforcement.

    Today, however, Trump has surged more than 12,000 active-duty troops to the border to carry out a variety of expanded missions that do not look anything like “behind the scenes” administrative support.  For example, one Marine battalion has been stringing miles and miles of barbed wire across the California mountains.  Multiple Army infantry companies are patrolling the Rio Grande riverbank on foot, rifles loaded.  Navy aircrews are flying P-8 Poseidons – the most advanced submarine hunting planes in the world – over the desert.  Two Navy destroyers are loitering off our East and West Coasts, looking for migrant boats in the water.  And at least one Army transportation unit is changing the oil and tires on Border Patrol trucks all day, every day. 

    In addition, the Administration has wasted massive amounts of defense dollars by flying migrants out of the country using military aircraft.  Often, they have had to return them to the United States mainland just days later.  According to U.S. Transportation Command, it costs at least $20,000 per flight hour to use a C-130 and $28,500 per flight hour to use a C-17.  In comparison, contracted ICE flights that regularly transport migrants inside of the U.S. cost only $8,500 per flight hour.  President Trump’s decision to use military aircraft instead of ICE aircraft to shuttle migrants across the globe—to as far away as India—is a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars and servicemembers’ time.

    Just yesterday, we learned that the White House wanted to fly migrants, on military aircraft, to Libya, which is one of the most dangerous, hostile locations on earth.  Human rights groups have called the conditions in Libya’s network of migrant detention centers “horrific” and “deplorable.”  The plan has been cancelled for now, but it is unconscionable for the Trump Administration to consider sending migrants to Libya and endangering our troops in the process.

    Further, the Department of Defense has informed Congress that the current surge in border missions—including troop deployments and military flights—could cost as much as $2 billion by the end of the fiscal year.  Secretary Hegseth has claimed that the border mission is so overwhelming that we will have to withdraw massive numbers of troops from Europe in order to meet the demand.  Incredibly, he has also claimed that the border missions will have “no impact” on our military readiness.

    However, we know that these border missions are harming military readiness.  Last month, when the NORTHCOM commander testified before the Armed Services Committee, I asked how his forces on the border mission are maintaining their required military training.  He testified that his troops are spending 5 days a week supporting Customs and Border Patrol and other agencies, and only 1 day a week training.  In other words, 20 percent – at most – of our servicemembers’ time is being spent training on their critical military tasks.

    In my personal engagements with commanders at all levels, they have made clear that readying their formations requires extensive time and training, as well as stability for families.  Border missions will not build these warfighting requirements.  Border missions will distract from training, drain resources, and undermine readiness.  The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, has assessed previous military support missions to DHS and found them to be detrimental to unit readiness.  Specifically, in its 2021 report, GAO found that, quote, “separating units in order to assign a portion of them to the Southwest Border mission was a consistent trend in degrading readiness ratings.”

    Guantanamo Bay

    In February, President Trump issued an unprecedented order to the Defense Department to begin transporting and detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  For decades, the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay has housed a facility called the Migrant Operations Center that is used to temporarily house migrants who are saved at sea while traveling in unsafe vessels from Cuba, Haiti, or other nearby nations.  The facility is typically unoccupied and is kept in a low-level operational state until needed and, until February, it was run by private contractors.  The intended use for this center was never to house migrants flown from the United States to Guantanamo Bay. 

    Nonetheless, President Trump ordered the military to expand the Migrant Operations Center to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants who would be brought there from the United States.  Within weeks, approximately 1,000 active-duty troops were sent to Guantanamo to build tents for this massive number of migrants.  However, once built, the tents were found not to meet ICE standards and, to date, they have never been used and are now being dismantled.  The hundreds of troops sent down for the mission have had very little to do in the meantime. 

    Since February, around 500 individuals identified by the Administration as illegal migrants have been flown to Guantanamo Bay, and most have been detained for no more than two weeks.  Rather than being taken to the Migrant Operations Center, about half of these migrants have been held on the other side of the island at the detention facility that was built and used for law of war detainees – such as 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

    There are currently 15 law of war detainees remaining on Guantanamo Bay.  The facilities housing these detainees have deteriorated significantly in the 20 years since they were built, and the military personnel who guard these individuals also endure the same tough conditions in these dilapidated facilities.   Needless to say, these servicemembers have been stretched thin.  Last fall, it was a significant morale boost for them when the remaining law of war detainees were moved to a “newer” facility.  Naturally, it was a blow to morale when, just one month later, they were ordered back to the older, more decrepit facility to make way for migrants at the newer facility.

    While it is crystal clear that the military is in charge of the law of war detention center at Guantanamo Bay, it is not clear who is legally responsible for the migrants being held there.  Longstanding law dictates that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement maintain “custody and control” of migrants, but in the detention center, the military maintains control.  This leads to questions about who is in charge and accountable.  When I have asked those questions, the answers have often been contradictory.  That’s disturbing.  

    To investigate these issues, I traveled to Guantanamo Bay in March with several colleagues, including Senators Shaheen, Peters, King, and Padilla. We conducted a firsthand examination of the missions underway there and met with military servicemembers, ICE officers, and DHS officials to fully understand the costs and military readiness impacts of these missions.  This trip raised many new questions and concerns. 

    I have grave doubts about the legality of removing migrants from the U.S. to Cuba, a foreign nation, and detaining them there.  There are at least a dozen open cases and court orders impacting the Guantanamo mission.  The detention center has only been used for law of war detainees, and it is reckless to equate migrants with international war criminals. 

    I was outraged by the scale of wastefulness that we found there.  It is obvious that Guantanamo Bay is an illogical location to detain migrants.  The staggering financial cost to fly these migrants out of the United States and detain them at Guantanamo Bay—a mission costing tens of millions of dollars a month—is an insult to American taxpayers.  President Trump could implement his immigration policies for a fraction of the cost by using existing ICE facilities in the U.S., but he is obsessed with the image of using Guantanamo, no matter the cost.

    I am also frustrated that my Senate colleagues and I had to fly to Cuba to get answers to the questions that Defense Secretary Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Noem have been ducking for months.  By avoiding questions, they are putting servicemembers and officers on the ground in the position of trying to make sense of contradictory and political orders without any guidance or support from the Pentagon or DHS headquarters.

    Domestic Law Enforcement

    Since coming into office, the Trump Administration has expanded the role of the military in immigration enforcement in other troubling ways.  The movement of migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay is unprecedented, and the buildup of 12,000 active duty troops at the Southern Border, including the Army’s 10th Mountain Division and 100 armored Stryker combat vehicles, has a huge impact on our military posture.  This is a larger force than we deployed to Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003.

    This Administration has purposely placed many of our military forces into the immigration debate in this country, and I fear it will also place them in legal and ethical risk.

    For example, on March 30th, a military flight traveled from Guantanamo Bay to El Salvador with foreign nationals on board, including seven Venezuelans.  To my understanding, not a single DHS official or civilian was on the flight, meaning that military personnel maintained both custody and control of the migrants, contrary to longstanding DOD policy and practice. 

    Here is an image of that plane unloading in El Salvador.  As you can see, the crew does not include any DHS officials or civilian law enforcement personnel – only uniformed troops, who are physically handing migrants to the Salvadoran police.

    This flight would clearly have been in violation of various immigration laws and policies, recent judicial orders, and the Posse Comitatus Act, as the military carried out a core law enforcement function of deportation without any DHS officials present.  After the fact, the Administration tried to explain itself by saying it used, quote, “counter-terrorism” authorities rather than law enforcement authorities.  I am not aware of any counter-terrorism authorities that would authorize such a flight. 

    Accordingly, last month I sent a letter to the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General asking that office to conduct an inquiry into the incident and any laws or Defense Department policies that may have been violated.  I expect the IG to exercise his independence in carrying out this inquiry, and I am disturbed that the Administration continues to put servicemembers in legal and physical jeopardy through these reckless orders.  Mr. President, I would submit that letter for the record.

    I am also concerned about the Trump Administration’s dubious creation of “National Defense Areas” along the Southern Border in recent weeks.  These National Defense Areas, first designated in New Mexico and later expanded into Texas, were created when the Department of Interior transferred land, including the Roosevelt Reservation—a 60-foot-wide strip along the border—to the Department of Defense.  So now, large swaths of the border are considered military installations.  The Administration has created these zones so that when a migrant crosses the border in those areas, prosecutors can charge them with both entering the U.S. illegally and trespassing on a military installation.  In effect, the National Defense Zones evade the long-standing protections of the Posse Comitatus Act by allowing military forces to act as de facto border police, detaining migrants until they can be transferred to Customs and Border Protection.  In the Administration’s telling, this approach permits military involvement in immigration control without invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807.

    This is both unprecedented and a legal fiction.  As the Brennan Center report found, quote: “No matter how the Trump administration frames these activities… they are civilian law enforcement functions.  He cannot turn them into military operations by misusing the language of war.  These civilian law enforcement activities are not “incidental” — they are the reason for creating the installation.”

    The Administration is also considering using military bases to detain thousands of migrants inside the United States.  Unlike in past emergencies, when military bases near the border were used to hold migrants during large surges, this administration is seeking to use installations deep within the country, including in New Jersey, Indiana, Delaware, California, and Virginia.  One could be forgiven for extrapolating that these bases are being selected to hold round-ups of migrants in major cities. 

    The President is not taking these military actions out of necessity; he is testing the boundaries of our legal system, and, in my view, violating them.  If left unchecked and unchallenged, he will go much, much further in employing the armed forces in to enforce domestic immigration laws, traditionally a civilian law enforcement function.

    For years, Mr. Trump has publicly expressed his desire to use U.S. military personnel for domestic law enforcement.  During the last campaign, he repeatedly claimed that, if elected, he would order the National Guard and active-duty military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants.  He even said that he would deploy the military to conduct local law enforcement in cities, and that troops could shoot shoplifters leaving the scene of a crime.

    Trump’s defenders often say that he is joking or exaggerating when he makes such claims.  But we know these are not idle threats.  In his first 100 days in office, he has declared multiple national emergencies and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport migrants without due process.  Indeed, he has even unapologetically deported U.S. citizens in violation of the Constitution.  We have all seen the chilling videos of masked and hooded ICE agents arresting civilians on the street – scenes we are accustomed to seeing on the nightly news in countries run by dictators.  The Administration is expanding its operation one step at a time, and President Trump’s deployment of forces to the border, the military deportation flights, and the establishment of National Defense Areas can be interpreted as setting the stage to invoke the Insurrection Act and order the military to carry out domestic law enforcement inside the country. 

    In fact, we have seen this situation before.  In June 2020, then-President Trump, infuriated by protesters in front of the White House and across the country, ordered his staff to prepare to invoke the Insurrection Act to allow him to deploy active-duty military forces to patrol the streets of DC and other cities.  Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley talked him out of it, but the President clearly views this as a serious option.

    Beyond the immorality of Trump’s desire to deploy the military domestically, to do so would simply be illegal.  As I mentioned, the doctrine of Posse Comitatus is sacred in our nation to separate the military from direct law enforcement responsibilities. 

    The use of National Guard or active-duty troops should be reserved only to those rare circumstances where civilian law enforcement has collapsed, and state leaders have specifically asked for presidential assistance.  Their deployment should never be at the sole discretion of a President, as Trump has demonstrated that such power begs abuse.

    Ultimately, U.S. military members are trained to engage the enemies of the United States abroad with deadly force, not to arrest migrants on the Southern Border or to deport them from U.S. cities.  The military has a sacred role in our country, but the public’s trust is easily lost, and a pillar of our society is cracked when the commander-in-chief uses the military recklessly. 

    Our constitutional system is fundamentally designed to separate military and civilian roles, reserving police powers for law enforcement agencies, and endowing the military with the superior weaponry and firepower necessary to fight and win the nations’ wars.  When we allow the military to be used in the routine exercise of the police power, the nation teeters on the brink of autocracy and military rule.  One need not be a student of history to see how easily this backsliding can occur.  It is all around us in the world today.

    Trump’s clear intent to use the U.S. military in potentially illegal and certainly inappropriate ways for his own political benefit is antithetical to the spirit of our American democracy. Such power is the hallmark of authoritarians around the world.

    President Trump and Secretary Hegseth must use common sense, follow the law, and immediately cease the military border deployments and deportation flights.  And my colleagues, particularly my colleagues in the majority, should demand the same and hold the Administration accountable for its actions.

    I yield the floor.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s statement on the election of Pope Leo XIV

    Source: United Nations – English

    extend my heartfelt congratulations to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and Catholics around the world. 

    The election of a new Pope is a moment of profound spiritual significance for millions of faithful around the world, and it comes at a time of great global challenges. 

    Our world is in need of the strongest voices for peace, social justice, human dignity and compassion.

    I look forward to building on the long legacy of cooperation between the United Nations and the Holy See – nurtured most recently by Pope Francis – to advance solidarity, foster reconciliation, and build a just and sustainable world for all.

    It is rooted in the first words of Pope Leo.  Despite the rich diversity of backgrounds and beliefs, people everywhere share a common goal: May peace be with all the world.
     

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: India-Pakistan: escalating conflict between two nuclear powers

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor

    This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email newsletter. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.

    Once again, India and Pakistan are locked in conflict over Kashmir. A diplomatic crisis that started with a terrorist attack that killed 26 tourists, all but one of them Indian, became a fortnight of cross-border skirmishes and pugilistic posturing from New Delhi and Islamabad. India responded on May 7 with Operation Sindoor, a series of airstrikes apparently aimed at what India said were terrorist training camps, in which at least 31 people were reportedly killed. Pakistan has vowed revenge and launched its own deadly attacks. And so an old emnity is rekindled.

    India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads over Kashmir virtually since partition in 1947. Its mixed population, its geography and, importantly, its history as what was known as a “princely state”, virtually guaranteed it. Princely states, which were not administered by the British Raj were given the choice of joining either independent India or the newly created Pakistan. Kashmir, ruled over by the Hindu maharaja Hari Singh, eventually joined India.

    Hari Singh reportedly did so with some misgivings. The state he ruled over had a majority population of Muslims. But when the first conflict broke out at the end of 1947, with an invasion by Pakistani tribesmen looking to take control of Kashmir, he called on India for assistance and signed a deal temporarily incorporating the state into India pending a plebiscite – which never took place.

    The first India-Pakistan war ended in 1949 with a UN-mandated ceasefire. A border was drawn through the state giving India roughly two-thirds control over Jammu and Kashmir, with Pakistan controlling the other third. Both sides have claimed the whole territory ever since.

    Violence has broken out periodically in the intervening decades, characterised since the 1980s by insurgencies, which India routinely accuses Pakistan of backing – an accusation which Pakistan routinely denies. Groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) have carried out terror attacks in both Kashmir and India, including LeT’s 2008 Mumbai massacre in which 166 people were killed.

    Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

    Now the situation which the rest of the world has worried about for years, a conflict between two neighbouring nuclear armed powers, has begun to escalate with fears it might spiral out of control. Natasha Lindsteadt, an expert in international security, takes a look at the military – and nuclear– capabilities and policies of the two countries.

    She writes that India has a far larger military (it’s ranked as one of the world’s top five military nations by Military Watch magazine, with Pakistan ranked ninth). The two countries have a roughly comparable nuclear arsenal. But while India has a “no first use” policy, Pakistan has never committed itself in this way, arguing it needs its nuclear arsenal to counter India’s larger conventional forces.

    But even a small nuclear exchange between the two could kill more than 20 million people, writes Lindsteadt.



    Read more:
    Why are India and Pakistan on the brink of war and how dangerous is the situation? An expert explains

    Part of the problem seems to be a complete lack of communications at the highest level. US president, Donald Trump, initially appeared reluctant to get involved, saying that he is “sure they’ll figure it out one way or the other … There’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.” He is since reported to have offered to step in, an offer apparently politely rejected by New Delhi.

    “What is needed now is robust, real-time crisis communication between the two nations,” write security experts Syed Ali Zia Jaffery of the University of Lahore and Nicholas Wheeler of the University of Birmingham. The problem is that there is no mechanism for that.

    And as we know from the Cuban missile crisis, when the US and Soviet Union came very close to a nuclear exchange, it’s all too easy for mistakes to be made which could escalate a conflict between two nuclear powers into a conflagration.

    After that crisis, the two leaders involved, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Krushchev, set up a communications link (which became known as the “hotline”) to enable direct communications. As Jaffery and Wheeler point out, this served to keep the rival powers from further dangerous confrontation (it even helped in bringing about arms treaties when Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Mikhail Gorbachev was in the Kremlin.



    Read more:
    Why a hotline is needed to help bring India and Pakistan back from the brink of a disastrous war

    For a deeper dive into the crisis and the long history of conflict between India and Pakistan, here are five essential reads, carefully curated for you by my colleague Matt Williams, senior international editor at The Conversation in the US.



    Read more:
    India-Pakistan strikes: 5 essential reads on decades of rivalry and tensions over Kashmir

    Netanyahu’s Gaza plan

    In the Middle East, meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are planning to move in large numbers into Gaza with a plan to occupy the whole of the territory. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has described the move as a “forceful operation” which will destroy Hamas and rescue its remaining hostages. The remaining population of 2.1 million Palestinian civilians will be moved “to proect it”.

    With more than 50,000 people dead in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023, you have to say Israel’s attempts to protect civilians have been decidedly unsuccessful.

    Leonie Fleischmann, senior lecturer in international politics at City St George’s, University of London, sees this as Israel’s next step towards clearing Gaza of Palestinians, something she says Netanyahu’s far-right enablers have been pushing for all along. But she also sees parallels with what is happening in the West Bank, where Israel is gradually annexing land occupied by Palestinians and mandated by the Oslo accords of the 1990s as part of a future Palestinian state.

    The recent Louis Theroux documentary film showed the terrible circumstances under which Palestinians live on the West Bank, juxtaposing that with the determination of extreme Zionists to take over what they see as the land of their forefathers.

    Fleischmann notes that this week, Israeli cabinet minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans for construction on land in an area which, if given to settlers, would effectively cut the West Bank in two. This would, she says, “bury any remaining hope for a two-state solution”. Rather chillingly, Smotrich is quoted as saying: “This is how you kill the Palestinian state.”



    Read more:
    Israeli plan to occupy all of Gaza could open the door for annexation of the West Bank

    Where would Palestinians go under Netanyahu’s plan? Well, if the Israeli prime minister shares Donald Trump’s vision of redeveloping Gaza as some sort of Middle Eastern “riviera”, they’d be dispersed into countries such as Egypt and Jordan.

    This idea is a non-starter, writes Scott Lucas of University College Dublin. Lucas, a Middle East expert who has written regularly for us about Israel and Gaza and answered our questions about the situation. He says Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has definitively ruled out accepting a mass exodus of Palestinians via the Rafah crossing at Gaza’s southern end. And Jordan is equally unwilling to accept any more Palestinian refugees. Apart from anything else, it already has about 3 million.

    As Lucas writes: “Any Arab government that takes in Gazans, even amid a humanitarian crisis, would be tacitly burying the idea of a Palestinian state. That would break a 77-year-old principle and resurrect the Nakba – the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948.”

    Israel is unlikely to get much international support for such a move either, Lucas adds. Donald Trump is preoccupied with other things and, even if he weren’t, the rest of the international community would hardly stand for what would probably be seen as an act of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale.



    Read more:
    What does Netanyahu’s plan for ‘conquering’ Gaza mean for Israel, Palestine and their neighbours? Expert Q&A

    But what do ordinary Israelis think of their government’s plans for Gaza? For most Israelis the paramount factor is their security. So far the Netanyahu government’s actions in Gaza had enjoyed majority suppport for that reason and in the hope that somehow the conflict might lead to getting the remaining hostages home.

    But the latest plan to take Gaza completely could scupper any hope of repatriating the hostages. And there are signs that many Israelis are getting tired of the constant crisis and conflict. There appears to be a growing appetite for peace.

    Or so writes Yuval Katz of Loughborough University, who grew up in Israel but left eight years ago to pursue an academic career. He was recently home for the first time in two years and spent time contacting peace groups. Here is what he found.



    Read more:
    Israel’s peace movement offers a ray of hope amid the pain of Gaza conflict

    World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get updates directly in your inbox.

    – ref. India-Pakistan: escalating conflict between two nuclear powers – https://theconversation.com/india-pakistan-escalating-conflict-between-two-nuclear-powers-256277

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: President Cyril Ramaphosa launches the second phase of Operation Vulindlela.

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dtl9BQk5D8

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Multinational command and staff exercises “NATO-Georgia 2025” have ended in Georgia

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    TBILISI, May 8 (Xinhua) — The NATO-Georgia 2025 multinational command post exercise concluded on Thursday at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC) near Tbilisi.

    According to the Georgian Defense Ministry, Georgia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, Great Britain, the United States, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia and Tunisia participated in the headquarters and field parts of the exercises.

    NATO-Georgia 2025 is a brigade-level, computer-assisted command post exercise designed to prepare Georgian-led multinational forces to plan and conduct crisis operations.

    The current NATO-Georgia exercises began on April 28 and are the fourth such exercises. They are held in Georgia every three years. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Economic reforms key to inclusive growth

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has underscored the importance of accelerating economic reforms in order to achieve rapid and inclusive growth.

    The Minister was speaking at the launch of the second phase of Operation Vulindlela (OV) at the Union Buildings on Wednesday afternoon.

    “In order to drive more rapid and inclusive growth over the next five years, we must accelerate economic reform. A commitment to swift implementation of reforms is required across government to lower the cost of doing business, reduce regulatory bottlenecks and provide policy certainty. 

    “This, in turn, will promote investment, support export orientation, enable job creation and reinforce growth,” Godongwana said.
     

    WATCH | President Cyril Ramaphosa launches the second phase of Operation Vulindlela

    The second phase of OV will add to and increase pace on those reforms already underway in phase one.

    “The immediate priority is… to sustain the momentum already developed and follow through on the implementation of existing reforms, in order to realise their full impact. 

    “This will require completing the reforms underway, as well as deepening those reforms which have already been initiated in the energy, logistics and water sectors, and visa regime. However, other structural constraints to growth remain, thus additional reforms will be prioritised in the next phase of OV to promote higher and more inclusive long-term growth,” he said.

    Newly announced areas of priority include:

    • Strengthening local government and improving the delivery of basic services.
    • Harnessing digital public infrastructure as a driver of growth and inclusion.
    • Creating dynamic and integrated cities to enable economic activity.

    Godongwana said government will also prioritise “improving the effectiveness and efficiency of spending by making progress on the implementation of recommendations of spending reviews”. 

    “With over 240 spending reviews undertaken by National Treasury and provincial treasuries since 2013, government has a solid foundation with which to not only introduce cost-cutting measures, but to systematically assess whether public expenditure is effectively aligned with the priorities of this government and delivers the best possible value for money.

    “The road ahead is challenging but with agility, commitment to reform, we can achieve greater competitiveness and a more inclusive economy in line with this administration’s priorities,” Godongwana said. 

    – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Operation Vulindlela phase 2: Focusing on key reforms

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The second phase of Operation Vulindlela, will focus on three key reforms: tackling the legacy of spatial inequality, enhancing local government performance, and accelerating digital transformation. 

    Launching the next phase of this important initiative at the Union Buildings, on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised that this new phase is aimed at driving rapid and inclusive economic growth for the benefit of all South Africans. 

    “We need growth that is both rapid and inclusive. We need growth that serves the millions of people in our country who remain unemployed, and the young people who cannot see a way into the labour market. 

    “And we need growth that improves people’s daily lives by fixing the infrastructure that is broken. That is why, in the next phase of Operation Vulindlela that we are launching today, we will implement reforms in three new areas,” the President said. 

    He stressed that if these reforms are implemented swiftly and boldly, they will put South Africa firmly on the path of economic recovery and renewal. 

    He acknowledged that the process of reform is never easy, and it is often contested, especially by those with vested interests.

    “Yet we have a simple choice to make. If we do not reform our economy, it will not grow and we will not create jobs. Unemployment will rise and poverty will increase. On the other hand, if we implement these reforms – if we do so swiftly and boldly – we will place our economy on a path of growth and renewal. 

    “There is a generation of South Africans that does not know what it is to live in a country that is growing. They have never experienced rising incomes, increasing jobs, thriving businesses and expanding opportunities. 

    “It is our intention to ensure that every South African feels the benefits of rapid, sustained and inclusive economic growth,” he said.

    The first focus area: Tackling Spatial Inequality 

    The second phase will start by addressing the apartheid legacy of spatial inequality, which has forced millions of South Africans to live far from economic opportunity. 

    The President noted that the country’s urban structure must be reshaped to enable citizens to live closer to where jobs and services are located. 

    “The poorest South Africans spend as much as 40 percent of their income on transport to get to work, more than almost any other country in the world. Imagine you earn R10 000 and R4000 of it is spent on transport,” he said. 

    He emphasised that the structure of the country’s cities has to change to enable people to access work. 

    To address this, government will change housing policies to introduce demand-side subsidies for home ownership and affordable rental options, empowering people to choose where they want to live. 

    “While the millions of homes that we have built since 1994 have given families shelter and dignity at an unprecedented scale, we cannot continue to build houses on the periphery of our cities and towns.”

    Publicly-owned land and buildings, particularly in inner cities, will be released for affordable housing, and the backlog of title deeds for affordable housing will be cleared. 

    Reforms will also simplify the titling system, making it more accessible and affordable. 

    The President added that this will turn houses into an asset for poor households. It will enable these households to access credit and use this asset to advance themselves. 

    Finally, a comprehensive regulatory review will be undertaken to remove barriers to low-cost housing development and encourage investment in urban centres rather than peripheral areas.

    “These reforms will help turn our cities and towns into thriving centres of economic activity,” he said. 

    The second focus area: Strengthening Local Government

    The second area of reform during this phase of Operation Vulindlela is improving the performance of local government. 

    The President highlighted that many of the country’s municipalities are unable to deliver basic services to households and businesses. 

    “Operation Vulindlela has set out a clear agenda for local government reform, which starts with improving the delivery of water and electricity services through professional utilities. 

    “Utilities should have the right technical skills, strong regulation and oversight, and full control of their billing and revenue functions to allow them to invest in infrastructure and maintenance,” he said. 

    Another key step is strengthening local government administration.

    “We will work to ensure that capable, qualified people are appointed to senior positions in municipalities, such as municipal managers and CFOs,” he said. 

    This will be done by extending the mandate of the Public Service Commission to local government and taking action against municipalities that fail to comply with minimum competency standards. 

    The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has initiated the process to update the White Paper on Local Government, which includes a review of the institutional structure of local government. 

    Finally, the National Treasury will review the local government fiscal framework, including the design of conditional grants, to ensure that the revenue of municipalities matches their responsibilities. 

    The third focus area: Accelerating Digital Transformation

    The third new area of focus is digital transformation. 

    Last month, Cabinet approved a Digital Transformation Roadmap to drive the adoption of digital technologies in government and to build digital public infrastructure that can be used by all South Africans. 

    This will include a digital identity system, rapid payments to expand financial inclusion, and enabling people to access services like applying for an ID or passport online. 

    “We have established significant momentum. We have seen the green shoots of recovery. It is our responsibility to grow a flourishing crop and to ensure that all South Africans reap the benefits of its harvest,” he said. 

    Successes of the first phase of Operation Vulindlela

    Operation Vulindlela was established in October 2020 as a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms.

    It was initiated in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic impact on the country and around the world. 

    In its first phase, Operation Vulindlela focused on reforms in five key areas namely energy, logistics, telecommunications, water, and the visa system.

    “The pandemic arrived just as the country was emerging from more than a decade of stagnant economic growth and rising unemployment and from the era of state capture. 

    “When I addressed a joint sitting of Parliament in October 2020, I said in the aftermath of a fire, green shoots begin to emerge. The ashes enrich the soil, and new life takes root to replace what was lost. Over the past four years, we have seen the green shoots of economic reform,” the President said. 

    Through far-reaching reforms in the electricity sector, government has substantially reduced the severity and frequency of load shedding, relieving a constraint on growth which had strangled the economy for years. 

    These reforms have enabled private investment in energy generation, unlocking billions of Rands in new investment in renewable energy in every part of the country. 

    The country has also embarked on a major reform of its ports and rail system through the Freight Logistics Roadmap.

    Major successes include the opening of the rail network to competition and the invitation of private sector participation in port terminals, while ensuring that the network infrastructure remains state owned. 

    The completion of the spectrum auction enabled significant investment in telecommunications infrastructure while improving network quality and reducing data costs for every South African. 

    The water use license system, which once served as a barrier to investment, now works efficiently and has allowed projects in forestry, mining and other sectors to proceed. 

    As of last year, the country has implemented an entirely new framework for skilled visas to attract investment and encourage businesses to establish themselves in our country and create jobs. 

    “All of this progress has been made possible thanks to the cooperation and commitment of the relevant government departments, state owned enterprises, public entities and social partners.

    “I commend in particular, the Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Directors-General and CEOs that have provided leadership to these efforts. Over the last four years, Operation Vulindlela has become a government-wide initiative. This is meaningful progress and it will enable higher growth in the years to come,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Operation Vulindlela Phase 2 to address water woes

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured South Africans that Phase Two of Operation Vulindlela will tackle the country’s worsening water crisis, while deepening reforms already underway.

    The second phase of Operation Vulindlela launched by President Ramaphosa on Wednesday, will not only prioritise new areas for implementation, but also deepen the implementation of current reforms. 

    He emphasised that the immediate priority is to follow through on those reforms that are already underway to realise their full impact. 

    On water reform, President Ramaphosa said government will establish the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency as a dedicated entity to own, manage and invest in the country’s water resources. 

    Through the Water Partnerships Office, government will support public-private partnerships in water infrastructure to reduce leaks, access new water sources, and improve wastewater treatment. 

    “To address the root causes of service delivery failures, we will amend the Water Services Act to separate the role of municipalities as water service authorities and water service providers. 

    “The days of standing by and watching while taps run dry or raw sewage runs into our rivers are over. We will take action to make sure that right of every South African to quality drinking water is protected,” he said. 

    Visa System

    On the visa system, the President said government will ensure that the recommendations of the work visa review are fully implemented and introduce an Electronic Travel Authorisation System to support growth in tourism. 

    The Minister of Home Affairs has already introduced the points-based system to make it easier for highly skilled immigrants to come to South Africa and contribute to the country’s economy, while at the same time enforcing immigration laws more effectively to combat illegal immigration. 

    “Through these measures, we will complete the reform of our network industries that we began in the previous phase and address the binding constraints on growth,” President Ramaphosa said. 

    The President acknowledged that while phase one of the programme has made meaningful progress, which will enable higher growth in the years to come, the economy continues to be held back by structural inefficiencies. 

    “Our economy needs to grow much faster to create the jobs that we need and to achieve prosperity for all. We need more rapid growth to enable government to spend more on healthcare, education, social grants, infrastructure and other key areas to improve the lives of our people.  Growth is the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability and social progress,” he said.

    The President said this is why the Government of National Unity (GNU) is committed to sustaining the momentum achieved by Operation Vulindlela on the economic reform agenda. 

    He emphasised the need for bold, far-reaching reform to revive and reshape the economy. 

    Energy sector

    In the energy sector, government will establish a competitive electricity market governed by the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, which came into effect earlier this year. 

    “This will enable multiple generators to compete to produce electricity at the lowest cost and with the greatest efficiency. 

    “To support this, we will complete the restructuring of Eskom and establish an independent Transmission System Operator to create a level playing field for market competition,” he said. 

    To address the lack of grid capacity, the Minister of Electricity and Energy has launched the first round of Independent Transmission Projects to procure more than 1 000 km of new transmission lines. 

    These reforms will ultimately mean lower costs and a reliable electricity supply for all South Africans. 

    Logistics sector

    In the logistics sector, private rail companies will soon be able to operate on the freight rail network, following the publication of the Network Statement by Transnet in December last year. 

    This will enable massive investment in rolling stock and enable more goods to be transported by rail, helping the country’s export industries to grow. 

    “These reforms will generate significant capital and new revenue streams for Transnet to help stabilise its operations and enable it to invest,” the President said. 

    The implementation of the Freight Logistics Roadmap will continue in phase two, including the vertical separation of infrastructure and operations for both rail and ports, which will enable competition in operations and encourage private sector participation. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Nelson Mandela Bay residents urged to reduce water usage during Sundays River Canal shutdown

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has appealed to residents and businesses to reduce their water consumption, as a critical final shutdown of the Sundays River Canal begins this weekend.

    Scheduled from 9 to 13 May 2025, the shutdown will enable the Department of Water and Sanitation to complete essential rehabilitation work on the canal to secure the city’s sustainable water supply.

    The Sundays River Canal, which currently supplies approximately 60% of the metro’s water consumption, first collapsed on 17 May 2017, prompting the implementation of emergency interventions, including temporary earthworks and the installation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lining, a durable thermoplastic used in infrastructure projects to maintain water flow.

    Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Infrastructure and Engineering, Khanyisa Mafaya, said the temporary solution has remained in place for over four years, posing a significant risk to the assurance of sustainable supply.

    Mafaya noted that permanent rehabilitation efforts began in June 2024, through a collaboration between the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Sundays River Irrigation Board.

    “Two prior shutdowns were necessary to begin tie-in work, but further repairs are now needed to secure downstream slabs at the canal’s junction point,” Mafaya explained.

    She stressed the importance of reduced consumption during the shutdown period.

    “Although we envisage the work to be completed within the scheduled time frames, high consumption might lead to water cuts in some areas. We urge our people to decrease their usage to help stabilise the system.”

    As a precaution, the municipality has reconciled all available water resources and will augment supply from alternative sources to minimise potential disruptions.

    Senior Director for Water Distribution, Joseph Tsatsire, said while the city’s water network allows flexible water distribution, consumption levels remain a critical factor.

    “As a result of the shutdown, the Nooitgedagt scheme will only supply 70 million litres… per day, compared to the usual 250 megalitres. This will primarily support areas like Motherwell, Bluewater Bay, Despatch, and Kariega,” Tsatsire said.

    To further relieve the system, Tsatsire said water will be rerouted from Coega Kop Water Treatment Works (WTW) to the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Markman, while inner-city boreholes will also be used for augmentation.

    The planned canal construction is expected to take approximately 77 hours from 9 to 13 May 2025.

    Should any disruptions occur, residents will be notified through ward councillors, and other official channels, including social media, community radio stations, and local print and online media. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Western Cape Government alarmed by 18 road fatalities in one week

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The Western Cape Provincial Government has expressed deep concern over the latest statistics regarding road safety in the province for the period between 29 April and 4 May 2025.

    During this time, 16 fatal crashes resulted in the tragic loss of 18 lives, highlighting the severe consequences of reckless and negligent driving.

    According to the province, a total of 267 speeding violations were recorded. Some of the highest speeds recorded included 163 km/h in a 120 km/h zone, 139 km/h in a 100 km/h zone, 124 km/h in an 80 km/h zone, 114 km/h in a 70 km/h zone, and 104 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.

    “These shocking speeds not only endanger the lives of drivers, but also those of passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists. 

    “Speeding increases the likelihood of losing control of a vehicle, reduces the effectiveness of protective equipment, and increases stopping distances, ultimately raising the risk and severity of incidents,” the statement read. 

    In the past week, the Western Cape’s Provincial Traffic Services carried out 238 integrated operations, which included roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints, and speed control initiatives.

    During these operations, more than 36 000 vehicles were stopped and inspected, with over 8 000 fines issued for various violations, and 128 arrests made.

    “Notably, 86 of these arrests were for driving under the influence of alcohol, further compounding the danger on our roads.”

    The Western Cape Mobility Department urged all road users to take personal responsibility for road safety. 

    The provincial department believes that many crashes and fatalities recorded are preventable and stem from poor driving decisions, including excessive speed, driving under the influence, and ignoring basic road rules.

    “In the past week, 16 crashes could have been avoided, and 18 lives could have been saved. These statistics should not just shock us, they should spur us into action. The truth is that too many of these incidents are due to human error and a disregard for rules that are intended to protect us all. 

    “We each have the power to help prevent crashes and save lives,” said Western Cape Mobility Department’s Head of Communication, Muneera Allie.

    The provincial government said it remains committed to enforcement, education, and interventions to improve road safety. 

    “The success of these efforts depends on every single road user doing their part.

    “Let’s work together to make our roads safer, for our families, our friends, our communities. Every life matters.”

    Tips to avoid speeding:

    •    Plan your journey and allow extra time to reach your destination.

    •    Pay attention to speed limit signs and road conditions.

    •    Avoid distractions and stay focused on the road.

    •    Be mindful of weather and traffic, adjust your speed accordingly. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: N West takes service delivery programmes to Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The North West Provincial Government’s Accelerated Service Delivery Programme, known as Thuntsha Lerole Reloaded, was launched this week in the Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality. 

    This initiative focuses on areas such as Swartruggens, Derby, Redirile, and the Senthumole section in Koster.

    The weeklong service delivery programme will conclude with the provision of on-site social services at the Reagile Community Hall in Koster on Friday, 9 May 2025. 

    READ | North West leaders on drive to expedite services 

    This event will include visits to identified infrastructure projects and a community feedback session, which will be led by Premier Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi.

    According to the provincial government, Mokgosi will be joined by MECs, and District and Local Mayors. 

    In efforts to empower local farmers and enhance food production capacity, a shade net tunnel will be handed over to the Onalerona Community Centre. 

    Meanwhile, a veteran poultry package will be provided to beneficiaries, which includes one three-tier layer cage, layer mash feed, and 120 point-of-lay chickens. 

    A veteran goat package will also be distributed, consisting of 10 Boer goat does and one Boer goat buck.

    In addition, a 10-hectare center pivot system will be handed over to a farmer in Koornfontein.

    The Premier’s team will also embark on a site inspection visit to the new Mphe Bana II Secondary School construction project in Reagile, along with an oversight visit to the special maintenance section of Roads P4/2, including Koster Town and sections of Road P34/2. 

    “Road safety will be improved through the patching of potholes, while grass cutting will be undertaken at identified roads. High-mast and streetlight repairs will also be carried out across Reagile to enhance night-time safety. 

    “Furthermore, an intensified litter picking and waste collection programme will target illegal dumping sites with the launch of the clean cities campaign,” the statement read. 

    In response to the needs of the community, sanitary towels will be issued to learners at Mphe Bana Secondary School to support hygiene and dignity. 

    The leaders will also distribute food parcels to needy families as part of the ongoing community relief efforts. – SAnews.gov.za 

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Nowhere to hide for high-profile criminals

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) has made significant inroads in apprehending individuals involved in high-profile cases, thus ensuring accountability and justice for victims.

    This is according to DPCI Head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, who briefed media on Thursday on the successes and progress made with regards to high profile cases in the fourth quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year.

    He said the DPCI remains committed to its mandate of investigating, preventing and combating national priority offences without fear, favour or prejudice.

    A total of 656 suspects appeared before the various courts in the country during the fourth quarter. Of these arrests, 450 (74%) are South African, whereas 157 (26%) are foreign nationals. 

    “Of the 656 suspects, the Serious Organised Crime Investigation secured 364, the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation secured 220 while the Serious Corruption Investigation secured 72 suspects before court,” General Lebeya said.

    He said most of the arrests were effected in Gauteng with 139, North West with 99, KwaZulu-Natal with 88, Eastern Cape and Free State provinces with 73 suspects each.

    “During these arrests, 395 firearms and 1 746 rounds of ammunition were seized. Seven clandestine drug laboratories were dismantled with drugs worth a total street value of R23 361 125.   

    “During this same period, the Directorate secured convictions for 239 accused persons. A total number of 266 (253 natural and 13 juristic) accused persons including those convicted in the previous quarters were sentenced during the quarter under review.

    “Of the 253 sentenced natural persons, 139 (55%) are South Africans while 114 (45%) are foreign nationals. Most of these convictions and sentences were secured in the Gauteng province,” General Lebeya said.

    According to the General, of these convictions, the Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) secured 157, Serious Commercial Crime Investigation (SCCI) secured 73 and Serious Corruption Investigation (SCI) secured nine.

    “To ensure that crime does not pay, the Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI) has contributed towards the issuing of a combined 102 freezing and forfeiture orders amounting to R418 938 340.14. 

    “Of these orders, 56 were preservation orders with a monetary value of R370 952 439.49, with 45 forfeiture orders with a monetary value of R14 985 900.65 and one restraint order with a monetary value of R33 000 000,” he said.

    General Lebeya said an amount of R19 104 419.50 has been deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA).

    The Digital Forensic Investigation Section of the PCSI component of the DPCI finalised the extraction and analysis of data evidence from 324 electronic devices within 90 days during the quarter.

    Touching on police murders by criminals, General Lebeya said an attack on police officials was an assault on society and an attack on the State.

    “We categorised the killing of police officials as that national priority offence that requires the attention of the DPCI,” General Lebeya said.

    During this period, 22 police officials were murdered of which 16 were off duty while six were on duty. He said 50% of these murders happened in Gauteng.  

    With regard to cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies, General Lebeya said during the fourth quarter, 50 incidents of cash-in-transit robberies were received by the Directorate.

    “A total number of 28 suspects excluding 10 who died in exchange of gunfire with the police were arrested. It is comforting that no one was released on bail.

    “Over and above this, 36 suspects were arrested in CIT-related cases making a combined number of 64 arrest for CIT and related crime,” Lebeya said. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Preferred bidders announced for Transnet’s South Dunes Precinct

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has named five companies as preferred bidders for the development of liquid bulk and green fuel terminals in the South Dunes Precinct of the Port of Richards Bay for a 25-year concession period. 

    The development, worth approximately R17 billion, is an integral part of expanding the port’s liquid bulk handling capacity, while advancing South Africa’s energy transition.

    Following a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued on 6 December 2023 under the Section 56 process of the National Ports Act (No. 12 of 2005), TNPA has awarded preferred bidder status to five companies for the development of five liquid bulk terminals.

    The successful preferred bidders are:

    1. KZN Oils (Pty) Ltd.

    2. Linsen Nambi (Pty) Ltd.

    3. Protank (Pty) Ltd.

    4. Bidvest/Mnambithi Consortium.

    5. KNGM Engineering (Pty) Ltd. 

    The project will entail funding, design, development, construction, operation, maintenance and transfer of the liquid bulk terminals for a 25-year concession period. 

    The sites will be designed to handle various petrochemical products that are critical for the economy of the country, including but not limited to diesel, petroleum, jet fuel, marine fuels, biofuel, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), pure butane, pure propane, base oils and bitumen. 

    This forms part of TNPA’s masterplan for its KwaZulu-Natal ports, aligned with the broader Transnet Segment Strategy.

    “The award of preferred bidders for the South Dunes Precinct development is a major milestone in strengthening the Port of Richards Bay’s position as a premier liquid bulk and green fuel hub. By securing long-term investment in critical infrastructure, we are ensuring the port remains globally competitive, while contributing to South Africa’s energy security objectives,” said Richards Bay Port Manager, Captain Dennis Mqadi, emphasising the significance of the milestone.

    The South Dunes Precinct development aligns with TNPA’s commitment to attract private sector investment, modernising terminal infrastructure and ensuring long-term sustainability. By enhancing the port’s terminal capacity, the development will enable economic growth, job creation and allow opportunities for new entrants to participate in terminal operations.

    Negotiations to conclude the Terminal Operator Agreements will commence accordingly. – SAnews.gov.za

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Minister commends Eastern Cape abalone poaching bust

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has commanded a joint law enforcement operation, which led to the arrest of three suspects involved in illegal abalone possession in the Eastern Cape.

    Three male suspects, aged 27, 28, and 32, were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday, following a joint operation by the Gonubie SAPS, East London Dog Unit, and Green Scorpions.

    The operation was initiated after authorities received an intelligence about illegal diving activities at German Bay Beach.

    In a statement issued on Wednesday, police spokesperson, Captain Hazel Mqala said the members of the force conducted surveillance from 10pm on Tuesday, and at approximately 3:30am, spotted four males emerging from the sea carrying bags.

    “When the suspects noticed the law enforcement presence, they dropped the bags and attempted to flee back into the water. Three of the suspects were successfully apprehended, while the fourth escaped.

    “Upon inspection, the recovered bags were found to contain 693 abalone with an estimated street value of R200 000,” Mqala said.

    George commended the law enforcement for their diligent efforts in apprehending the suspects, highlighting the importance of collaborative efforts in tackling environmental crime.

    The Minister warned that abalone poaching threatens marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of dependent communities.

    “This successful operation demonstrates the effectiveness of collaborative law enforcement efforts in combating the illegal harvesting and trade of our marine resources. Abalone poaching poses a severe threat to the sustainability of our marine ecosystems and undermines the livelihoods of communities that depend on these resources,” George said.

    George underscored government’s firm stance against environmental crimes.

    “The arrest of these suspects sends a clear message that such illegal activities will not be tolerated, and those responsible will face the full might of the law.”

    The Minister further acknowledged ongoing surveillance of enforcement teams.

    “I am encouraged by the swift action taken by SAPS and their partners, as well as their commitment to ongoing surveillance and enforcement.”

    He reaffirmed the department’s dedication to protect South Africa’s natural heritage.

    “As the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, I remain committed to supporting initiatives that protect our natural heritage and ensure the sustainable use of our marine resources.

    “I urge communities to continue working with law enforcement by providing information that can help curb these illegal activities. Together, we can safeguard our environment for future generations,” George said. – SAnews.gov.za
     

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Police find human remains suspected to be of missing journalist and partner

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Thursday, May 8, 2025

    The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola, has confirmed that the police have found human remains in an open veld in the KwaMhlanga area in Mpumalanga. 

    Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said DNA testing will be conducted to ascertain if they belong to missing Pretoria-based journalist and his partner. 

    “The area where the remains were found was pointed out by suspects as an area where they left the pair,” said Mathe on Thursday.

    The couple had been missing since 18 February 2025.

    On Sunday, a cross-province operation involving Gauteng and Mpumalanga police — led by the Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya and the Acting Provincial Commissioner of Mpumalanga, Major General Zeph MKhwanazi — led to the questioning and subsequent arrests of four suspects.

    The first suspect, according to investigations, is said to have been the last in the company of the missing couple.

    The second, third and fourth suspects were found with different vehicle parts believed to be that of Ndlovu. 

    One of those arrested is said to be a mechanic who builds and fixes cars in KwaMhlanga.

    Two of the Volkswagen Citi Golfs that were found in the possession of the suspects have been seized. – SAnews.govza 

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  • MIL-OSI Africa: Energean Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Confirmed to Speak at Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2025 in Paris

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    PARIS, France, May 8, 2025/APO Group/ —

    Mathios Rigas, CEO of Energean, will speak at the upcoming Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2025 Forum in Paris, where he will bring critical insights into the future of gas development and investment in Africa. As the head of one of the Mediterranean’s leading independent E&P companies, Rigas is uniquely positioned to discuss how African nations can accelerate gas monetization, meet rising domestic energy demand and attract private sector-led upstream investment.

    Energean’s entry into Morocco marks a notable expansion of its operations in Africa and reflects the company’s strategic focus on gas development across the continent. In April 2024, Energean farmed into the Lixus and Rissana offshore licenses and began drilling at the Anchois gas project in August. Although the discovery did not yield sufficient volumes to justify development, the move signals Energean’s intent to replicate its gas-focused success in the Mediterranean and target gas-weighed assets.

    IAE 2025 (www.Invest-Africa-Energy.com) is an exclusive forum designed to facilitate investment between African energy markets and global investors. Taking place May 13-14, 2025 in Paris, the event offers delegates two days of intensive engagement with industry experts, project developers, investors and policymakers. For more information, please visit www.Invest-Africa-Energy.com. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

    Following the announcement in December 2024 that Energean would target new acquisitions across Africa, along with the Balkans, the UK and the North Sea, the company is actively reshaping its portfolio around high-impact, development-ready assets. This strategic shift comes in the wake of the divestment of mature assets and signals a renewed focus on frontier and underdeveloped regions, where Energean can apply its proven development model. Africa is set to play a central role in this new chapter, offering both resource potential and strong demand fundamentals.

    With its technical capabilities, successful track record in bringing offshore gas projects online, and experience navigating complex regulatory environments, Energean is well-positioned to make a significant contribution to Africa’s gas agenda. The company’s approach aligns with the continent’s energy transition priorities, offering cleaner-burning fuel sources that can support industrial growth, job creation and greater energy independence.

    IAE 2025 will serve as a critical platform for facilitating dialogue between Energean and key African stakeholders – including governments, regulators and investors – as the company deepens its presence on the continent. As Africa advances its gas agenda and seeks partners to support energy security and industrial development, IAE offers unmatched opportunities to share strategic insights, forge new partnerships and drive investment into high-impact, gas-focused projects.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Peacekeeping Ministerial: Investing in Prisons to Secure Long-lasting Peace

    Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping

    This story was written by the Justice and Corrections Service at the UN Department of Peace Operations, which supports the work of peacekeeping operations and special political missions, as well as other UN entities, to strengthen the rule of law and criminal justice systems, including courts and prisons. 

    In some peacekeeping settings, armed groups attack prisons as a deliberate strategy. Their aim may be to release dangerous inmates and destabilize communities or to free their own members and bolster their ranks by coercing newly released inmates to join them. In others, prisoners are breaking free to escape appalling conditions. Regardless of the reasons, a single mass escape can significantly set back what peacekeeping has taken years to accomplish.  

    “Peacekeepers risk their lives to oppose armed groups and protect civilians, but without a functioning prison system, high-risk prisoners can sometimes simply walk away,” warns Robert Pulver, Chief of the Justice and Corrections Service at the UN Department of Peace Operations. 

    Effective, well-managed prisons are essential to public safety and long-term peace. When prisons are not secured, they can become targets for armed groups. When they are overcrowded, under-resourced or inhumane, they can become flashpoints for violence, mass escapes and radicalization, undermining already fragile peace efforts.  “Without safe, secure and humane prisons, there can be no law and order and no rule of law, the lives of civilians are put in danger and peace remains at risk,” says Pulver.  

    The cost of inaction 

    In January, armed group offensives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) resulted in prison breaks, including in the cities of Goma, Bukavu and Kabare. Over 7,000 prisoners escaped, of which more than 4,500 were high-risk inmates. Some were members of armed groups, some had been convicted of crimes against humanity, war crimes and conflict-related sexual violence. Some remain at large, making threats against victims and those who were involved in the legal proceedings against them. Some have rejoined armed groups, including in command positions.  

    In Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Ngaragba Prison was housing more than five times its intended capacity, causing food shortages, deaths from malnutrition and heightened security and health risks.  Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, DRC, was designed to hold 1,500 inmates but was holding close to 10 times that when an escape occurred last September.  Prisons like these “are time bombs waiting to explode,” says Pulver, facing much higher risks of mass escapes.   

    In conflict-affected settings, prison breaks undo the hard work missions have undertaken to remove dangerous individuals from communities and hold them accountable. They erode confidence in state capacity to maintain order and exacerbate cycles of violence – especially when armed actors exploit prison breaks to advance their agendas.  

    Building safe prisons 

    With support from Member States, UN peacekeeping missions are helping national authorities in conflict-affected countries improve prison management and security. In the DRC, UN peacekeeping has supported the installation of surveillance systems, like CCTV and drones, the improvement of infrastructure and the development of emergency response protocols. In the CAR, we have supported health screenings for over 2,000 detainees, helping them get treatment for illness and malnutrition through the International Committee of the Red Cross. In Kosovo, we have supported rehabilitation programmes for inmates.  

    Currently, 28 Member States provide corrections personnel to peacekeeping and special political missions to help in these efforts. These officers help train national prison staff in key areas including the prevention of violent extremism and prison escapes. However, many challenges remain due to insufficient resources, jeopardizing the very security goals peacekeepers strive to achieve.  

    Stepping up support 

    Canada, Rwanda and Sweden co-chair the Group of Friends of Corrections in New York to draw more political support, expertise and resources for this often-neglected aspect of peace operations.  

    The upcoming Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin offers a key opportunity for Member States to strengthen this work. Participants are expected to pledge vital resources, including trained corrections personnel and equipment such as protective gear and metal detectors.  

    This support will help transform at-risk prisons from security liabilities into pillars of peace and public safety. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: MEXC Lists USD1, Accelerating Global Stablecoin Innovation with World Liberty Financial

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VICTORIA, Seychelles, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MEXC, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it will list World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) in the Innovation Zone on May 9, 2025 (UTC). The USD1/USDT trading pair will also open at 08:00 on May 8, 2025 (UTC), and the MEXC Convert feature will be available from 09:00 on May 8, 2025 (UTC), offering users a seamless asset conversion experience. This listing expands the range of digital assets on the platform and further demonstrates MEXC’s commitment to advancing the global stablecoin ecosystem.

    USD1: A New Era in Stablecoins and Financial Transparency

    USD1 is World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin that provides secure and transparent digital asset services for global users. The stablecoin is backed 1:1 by the US dollar, with its reserve assets custodied by BitGo, held by Fidelity and subject to regular audits by third-party accounting firms to ensure transparency and stability. Currently, USD1 is deployed on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), with plans to expand to additional blockchains in the future to enhance interoperability.

    Furthermore, USD1 has made significant strides in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. For example, ListaDAO has launched a USD1 lending vault on BNB Chain, providing liquidity support for 20 million USD1. Renowned market maker DWF Labs has also deployed USD1 liquidity across multiple platforms, further enhancing its availability and market depth. According to the data from CoinMarketCap, USD1’s market capitalization has surpassed USD 2.12 billion, demonstrating strong market demand.

    Special Promotion to Celebrate the Listing

    To celebrate the successful listing of USD1, MEXC is launching a series of special offers to thank its users for their support. Starting May 8, 2025, at 08:00 (UTC), users can enjoy the following benefits:

    • Zero Trading Fees: The USD1/USDT spot trading pair will have 0 trading fees.
    • Zero Withdrawal Fees: Users will enjoy 0 withdrawal fees when withdrawing USD1.

    MEXC Drives the Evolution of Stablecoins Through Ecosystem Empowerment

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    About MEXC
    Founded in 2018, MEXC is committed to being “Your Easiest Way to Crypto.” Serving over 36 million users across 170+ countries, MEXC is known for its broad selection of trending tokens, everyday airdrop opportunities, and low trading fees. Our user-friendly platform is designed to support both new traders and experienced investors, offering secure and efficient access to digital assets. MEXC prioritizes simplicity and innovation, making crypto trading more accessible and rewarding.
    MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC

    Risk Disclaimer:
    The information provided in this article regarding cryptocurrencies does not constitute investment advice. Given the highly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors are encouraged to carefully assess market fluctuations, the fundamentals of projects, and potential financial risks before making any trading decisions.

    Source

    Contact:
    Lucia Hu
    lucia.hu@mexc.com

    Disclaimer: This is a paid post and is provided by MEXC. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page.

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What does Netanyahu’s plan for ‘conquering’ Gaza mean for Israel, Palestine and their neighbours? Expert Q&A

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

    The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that the Israeli military will launch a new “intensified” offensive in Gaza. In a video posted on X, he said Israel’s security cabinet had approved a plan for “conquering” the Gaza Strip and establishing a “sustained presence” there.

    This announcement was well-received by far-right ministers in the Netanyahu government. Finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has since declared that an Israeli victory in Gaza would see the territory “entirely destroyed” and its residents “concentrated” in the south. From there, they would “start to leave in great numbers to third countries”.

    The plan, which Palestinian militant group Hamas says represents “an explicit decision to sacrifice” Israeli hostages, far exceeds the aims Israel has been pursuing in the war so far. It has drawn widespread criticism, including from the UK, France, EU and UN, as well as from within Israel.

    Middle East expert, Scott Lucas, answered our questions as to what the plan involves and what it means for neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.

    What is Netanyahu’s ultimate plan for Gaza?

    Since March, Netanyahu has been clear that his government’s ultimate plan for Gaza is the “voluntary” emigration of its population.

    It looks like he is using US president Donald Trump’s narcissist thought bubble of Gaza, ethnically cleansed of Gazans in a “Riviera of the Middle East”, as political cover for his ambition and those of his hard-right ministers.

    In January 2024, three months into the military response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on southern Israel, Netanyahu said: “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population.”

    But by September, unable to “destroy” Hamas despite the killing of almost 35,000 Gazans and the displacement of 1.9 million of the territory’s 2.1 million inhabitants, the government was considering occupation with the removal of all those in northern Gaza.

    Political pressure from inside Israel, as well as from the Biden administration in the US, forced Netanyahu to back away. And in January 2025, pushed hard by Trump, he accepted a six-week phase one ceasefire. This involved Hamas returning some of the hostages in return for Israel releasing many Palestinians detained in its jails.

    However, Netanyahu had no intention of moving to phase two, which would have paved the way for a more permanent end to the war. The hard-right ministers in his government made clear they would leave and withdraw support in the Knesset (parliament) if the war ended before Hamas had been completely destroyed.

    Netanyahu could face early elections and his trial on bribery charges should his government collapse. This left only one possible resolution to the “open-ended” war on Gaza: occupation.

    So at the start of March, Israel renewed its airstrikes and cut off humanitarian aid. It began expanding ground operations, initially with the declaration of a “buffer strip” and then claiming northern Gaza.

    Netanyahu has now announced a “forceful operation” in which Gaza’s population “will be moved, to protect it”. Israeli ground forces will be in the Strip indefinitely. “They will not enter and come out,” he said.

    Will Egypt and Jordan accept displaced Palestinians from the Gaza Strip?

    When Trump first proposed displacing Palestinians from Gaza, the leaders of Egypt and Jordan said they would refuse to allow an exodus of refugees on their territory. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, said at the end of January: “The deportation and displacement of the Palestinian people from their land is an injustice that we cannot take part in.”

    That position has not changed. Egypt and Qatar reiterated on May 7 that they will persist with mediation to alleviate suffering and promote de-escalation within Gaza. Egypt affirmed that it will not be drawn into any agendas that “do not serve the interests of the Palestinian people”.

    Any Arab government that takes in Gazans, even amid a humanitarian crisis, would be tacitly burying the idea of a Palestinian state. That would break a 77-year-old principle and resurrect the Nakba, the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948.

    It would also risk unrest from disaffected populations. The Gazans are added to the 5.9 million Palestinians who are refugees in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

    How might Egypt and Jordan respond to increased pressure to house Gazan refugees?

    Trump has previously looked to coerce Egypt and Jordan into accepting Palestinians from Gaza, even threatening to withhold US aid to the two countries.

    But such pressure does not look likely at present. The Trump administration is a chaotic mess. Bent on destroying US agencies, it has gutted the State Department, threatened the military, and undermined intelligence services.

    Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, the real estate developer Steve Witkoff, is now preoccupied with photo opportunities in the Kremlin and informal talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.

    The US government has walked away, leaving Israel to resume the mass killing but abjuring any role beyond that. The UN is not going to back ethnic cleansing. Nor will the EU, China, Russia or the Gulf States.

    Does the depopulation of Gaza now look inevitable?

    Far from it, at least in the sense of Palestinians being relocated from Gaza. In recent weeks, Israel has finally eased its near-total block on exiting Gaza and has allowed hundreds of people to leave.

    But this is not forced removal. It was the Israeli government relenting on urgent cases of those who were trapped in the Strip – dual nationals or their dependents, Gazas needing medical treatment, students, and some people with visas for third countries.

    The depopulation is instead occurring within Gaza. Depopulation through killing, starvation, destruction of healthcare, displacement from housing, and lack of clean water.

    It is depopulation through the reduction of Gazans to nothing more than irritants in the way of Hamas’s quest for survival and the Netanyahu government’s quest for perpetual dominance.

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

    – ref. What does Netanyahu’s plan for ‘conquering’ Gaza mean for Israel, Palestine and their neighbours? Expert Q&A – https://theconversation.com/what-does-netanyahus-plan-for-conquering-gaza-mean-for-israel-palestine-and-their-neighbours-expert-qanda-256150

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: We set out to improve literacy among struggling readers in Kenya – what we learnt

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fridah Gatwiri Kiambati, Post Doctoral research scientist, African Population and Health Research Center

    Literacy – being able to read, write and understand written or spoken language – is a cornerstone of educational achievement. Yet, for millions of children worldwide, acquiring basic literacy skills is a significant challenge.

    This is a result of systemic inequalities, poverty, conflict, displacement and gender disparities. A Unicef report on global literacy levels in 2023 found that 89% of 10-year-olds in sub-Saharan Africa were unable to read or comprehend a basic story.

    In Kenya, the gap in foundational literacy is stark. A nationwide evaluation of over 44,000 children across 1,973 primary schools in 2023 found that three in 10 grade 6 learners aged 11 struggled to read grade 3-level (age 8) texts.

    These numbers highlight the critical need to address reading difficulties in early grades to ensure that learners do not fall behind irretrievably.

    When learners aren’t able to read, they are likely to fall behind in literacy and other learning areas. This is because foundational learning skills – which include literacy (reading) and numeracy (basic maths) – are the building blocks for learning in later years of schooling and for lifelong learning.

    I am an inclusive education researcher. I was involved in the Developing Readers Study. It set out to design and pilot an intervention to improve literacy skills among grade 2 and 3 learners who are furthest behind in reading.

    The study, implemented by the African Population and Health Research Center, was aimed at providing policy-relevant evidence on how support for struggling readers can be formally and systematically incorporated into school timetables and education systems.

    In 13 weeks, more than a third of the learners had become fluent readers.

    The study

    The Developing Readers Study was implemented in 15 schools in Kiambu County, which neighbours the Kenyan capital Nairobi. This was strategic to design, test and refine the intervention before scaling up.

    The intervention started with the preparation of instruction materials. These included a teachers’ guide and assessment booklet, as well as homework packets for the learners. Teachers were trained on how to deliver the structured intervention while accommodating individual learner needs.

    Learners were assessed to identify those with reading difficulties. Out of 2,805 learners from 15 schools screened, 920 (33%) learners had reading difficulties.

    They were then categorised into three groups as per their reading levels at baseline:

    • module 1 for non-readers, who numbered 410 (45%)

    • module 2 for beginning readers, who could read 1-9 correct words per minute (212 learners, or 23%)

    • module 3 for intermediate readers who could read 10-16 correct words per minute (298 learners, or 32%).

    The learners were then taken through remedial lessons for English and Kiswahili for 13 weeks. Each lesson lasted 30 minutes. During the intervention period, teachers received support from curriculum support officers, and quality assurance and standards officers in Kiambu County.

    In addition, these officers observed the lessons to identify the support needed. Cluster meetings were held to gather teacher feedback on the implementation process.

    Parents were also engaged through homework packets. This encouraged a supportive home environment for learning.

    The results

    The study led to significant improvements in literacy outcomes among participating learners over the 13 weeks.

    1. The proportion of non-readers who couldn’t read any correct word per minute reduced from 43.3% (following a few dropouts) to 18.9% at endline. This improvement highlights the power of targeted instruction to transform learning outcomes for struggling readers.

    2. Both boys and girls benefited from the programme. However, girls consistently outperformed boys in tasks like syllable and oral passage reading. These insights highlight the importance of designing interventions that address gender-specific learning needs.

    3. The programme equipped teachers with practical tools and strategies to give learners individual attention according to their needs. By the endline assessment, 92% of teachers were closely following the structured lesson guides, demonstrating increased confidence and competence.

    4. Parents played a pivotal role in the programme’s success. Weekly homework packets provided opportunities for learners to practise reading at home.

    5. Over a third of the learners (37%) advanced to emergent and fluent reading levels, meaning they no longer required remedial support. This progression was particularly notable among younger learners in grade 2, underscoring the value of early intervention.

    The developing readers intervention stands out because it goes beyond addressing literacy challenges at the classroom level. It also brought in education officials, rigorous teacher training and contextualised learning materials.

    Its findings demonstrate that structured, targeted interventions can effectively address foundational literacy gaps. This same model can be used elsewhere.

    What next

    The study provides a roadmap for addressing Kenya’s literacy crisis. Its positive outcomes demonstrate that early, targeted interventions can put struggling readers on the path to success.

    Scaling up this programme offers an opportunity to ensure no child is left behind in acquiring foundational literacy skills.

    To achieve this, policymakers must make sure remedial interventions take place at schools. They must also provide resources for teacher training and promote home-school collaboration.

    With sustained investment and a commitment to evidence-based strategies, Kenya can bridge its literacy gap and pave the way for a brighter future for its learners.

    – We set out to improve literacy among struggling readers in Kenya – what we learnt
    – https://theconversation.com/we-set-out-to-improve-literacy-among-struggling-readers-in-kenya-what-we-learnt-253252

    MIL OSI Africa –