Category: AM-NC

MIL-OSI United Nations: Kyiv: UNESCO is deeply concerned about threats to World Heritage in Ukraine’s capital

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

UNESCO expresses its grave concern over the increasing threats affecting the World Heritage site ‘Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’, following the attack on 10 June 2025 by the Russian Federation. This damage occurred amidst a surge of attacks on numerous Ukrainian cities, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to cultural and educational institutions.

Together with the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, UNESCO representative in Ukraine visited the Saint-Sophia Cathedral to assess the situation and discuss potential support for an in-depth structural analysis and emergency conservation measures. This preliminary inspection indicates that the eastern façade of Saint-Sophia Cathedral has been damaged. This iconic monument, dating back to the early 11th century, is a cornerstone of Eastern Christian architecture and monumental art.

UNESCO condemns any attack that could threaten World Heritage sites and reiterates the obligations of States Parties under the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which prohibits any deliberate actions that may cause damage to cultural and natural heritage located within the territory of another State Party.

Repeated attacks have led the World Heritage Committee to inscribe three Ukrainian sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger – located in Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa – recognizing both the risk of direct strikes and the cumulative impact of shockwaves.

Since 2022 and with the support of Japan, UNESCO has provided assistance to the National Conservation Area of Saint Sophia, to develop an emergency preparedness plan and advanced digital documentation of the buildings, and provide training of conservation staff in emergency response. Furthermore, through its World Heritage Fund, UNESCO supports the restoration of the Cathedral’s monumental paintings, as part of its broader cultural emergency response in Ukraine.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: JOINT HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STATEMENT ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Know Your Immigration Rights

If you or a loved one encounter immigration enforcement officials, it is essential that you know your rights and have prepared your household for all possible outcomes.

Ask for a warrant: The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects you from unreasonable search and seizure. You do not have to open your door until you see a valid warrant to enter your home or search your belongings.

Your right to remain silent: The Fifth Amendment protects your right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself. You are not required to share any personal information such as your place of birth, immigration status or criminal history.

Always consult an attorney: You have a right to speak with an attorney. You do not have to sign anything or hand officials any documents without speaking to an attorney. Try to identify and consult one in advance.

The New York City Office of Civil Justice and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) support a variety of free immigration legal services through local nonprofit legal organizations. To access these resources, dial 311 and say “Action NYC,” call the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. or visit MOIA’s website.

Learn more here: KNOW YOUR IMMIGRATION RIGHTS – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

MIL OSI USA News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Secures Preliminary Injunction in Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Immigration Enforcement Conditions on Grant Funding

Source: US State of California

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement on a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island to grant a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Transportation’s imposition of unlawful immigration enforcement conditions on unrelated grant funding. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that imposing this new set of conditions across a range of grant programs is arbitrary and capricious, exceeds the Trump Administration’s legal authority, and violates the Spending Clause.

“President Trump is threatening to withhold critical transportation funds unless states agree to carry out his inhumane and illogical immigration agenda for him. He is treating these funds – funds that go toward improving our roads and keeping our planes in the air – as a bargaining chip,” said Attorney General Bonta. “It’s immoral – and more importantly, illegal. I’m glad to see the District Court agrees, blocking the President’s latest attempt to circumvent the Constitution and coerce state and local governments into doing his bidding while we continue to make our case in court.”

BACKGROUND

Last month, Attorney General Bonta led a coalition of 20 states, alongside the attorneys general of Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maryland, in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s effort to unlawfully impose immigration enforcement requirements on U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grants. California receives billions in grant funding from DOT each year to support and maintain the roads, highways, railways, airways, and bridges that connect our communities and carry our residents to their workplaces and their homes. This includes funding to maintain and build highways. It also includes funding for transit systems in urban and rural communities across the state — including buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, trolleys, and ferries. Neither the purpose of these grants, nor their grant criteria, are in any way connected to immigration enforcement.

A copy of the court’s decision is available here.

# # #

MIL OSI USA News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Registration open for training grant that supports in-demand jobs
Source: Government of Canada regional news

People hoping to build better careers will continue to have access to a popular grant program, as registration for StrongerBC future skills grant funded programming opens for the fall semester.

People living in British Columbia can continue to access grants for eligible short-term training programs at public post-secondary institutions, giving them more opportunities to gain new skills for in-demand jobs. The grant covers up to $3,500 and is open to B.C. residents over age 19.

“British Columbia is the engine of Canada’s new economy, but it’s the strength of our workforce that drives the machine,” said Anne Kang, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. “The StrongerBC future skills grant removes barriers so more people can get the skills they need to start or advance their careers. By helping more people get into the workforce, we’re closing the skills gap and building a more robust economy.”

Since its launch in fall 2023, more than 10,000 people have benefited from the grant, which plays a pivotal role in preparing people for current and emerging job markets.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that the future skills grant has given me to complete a risk management professional certificate from Simon Fraser University,” said Erica Commons, recent grant recipient and current student. “This training is already benefiting me in my current role as an enterprise risk manager, and the certificate satisfies the education requirements for the Canadian Risk Management designation, which is highly valued by employers. Obtaining this designation will help advance my career.”

More than 300 programs are eligible for the grant at 24 public post-secondary institutions throughout B.C. The eligible programs address the province’s labour market needs and government priorities, including training opportunities in high-demand sectors, such as health care, construction and mining.

“The StrongerBC future skills grant made it possible for me to enrol in Simon Fraser University’s climate action certificate, training I needed to retool my communications career for the climate future we all face,” said Michelle Gaudet, recent grant recipient and program graduate. “This grant allowed me to gain essential skills without taking on debt. Accessible education funding like this is key to helping people pursue meaningful learning opportunities.”

Course offerings from participating post-secondary institutions will be released daily throughout the months of June and July. Those interested should check Education Planner BC or the post-secondary institution they plan to attend frequently for updates and program additions.

Learning opportunities include in-person, online or hybrid delivery, making it easier for people throughout B.C. to find training that fits. Types of training that are supported include:
- health-care training, such as medical terminology, emergency medical responder and dental office administration;
- trades and firefighting training, such as construction, automotive (electric vehicle) repair services, and wildfire fighting;
- professional, scientific and technical training, such as cybersecurity training and digital marketing; and
- other certificates and micro-credentials across many industries, including education, mining and marine transportation, finance and more.
The StrongerBC: Future Ready Action Plan is a cross-government plan to make education and training more accessible, affordable and relevant to help prepare the people of B.C. for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Learn More:

To explore and register for eligible programs as they are rolled out over June and July, visit Education Planner BC: https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/future-skills-grant (can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com)

For general information about the future skills grant, visit: https://www.workbc.ca/find-loans-and-grants/students-and-adult-learners/strongerbc-future-skills-grant

To learn more about the StrongerBC: Future Ready Action Plan, visit: https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/jobs-and-training/

A backgrounder follows.

MIL OSI Canada News –
June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Every Decision Is a Health Decision: How We’re Helping People’s Wellbeing Through Intentional Health Technology Innovation

Source: Samsung

I’ve spent years witnessing technology change the way people live their lives. The way we work, connect and make decisions is entirely different from a generation ago; but until recently, eating routines, movement, and rest have largely been unchanged.

Technology today, in particular the rise of wearables, is now helping us also become aware of our health and track many elements of it. Everything from when to sleep and exercise and even what to eat. We’re at the dawn of truly predictive, personalised health intelligence.

This seismic shift is where every mouthful of food, every step taken, every wink of sleep is not just a mundane choice, but an act of self-care. Where technology moves from passive companion to active guardian – anticipating our needs and nudging us towards our goals.

What’s more, younger generations are running away from unhealthy choices. Recent data suggests run clubs have seen a 59% increase in global participation in 2024[1], with people making friendships, and one in five of them resulting in a date. Health technology is not a passing fad or trend but something that is accelerating every day and making a real difference to people’s well-being.

This week, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we announced new Samsung Health features[2] to help improve sleep, heart health, fitness, and nutrition. These new features are designed to help empower our consumers to lead healthier lives through proactive care and holistic health management.

My colleague Dr. Hon Pak, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Health Team, Mobile eXperience, talks about how sleep is the cornerstone of our approach to health, as it influences physical and mental well-being, social relationships, and even work performance.

Picture waking up, like many of us do, and checking your watch or ring. Instead of telling you how you slept, it guides your next choices by telling you “here’s why you slept well, and here’s what to do next”, or flagging any potential sleep issues.

The next frontier is preventative health, where technology doesn’t just monitor our wellbeing, it helps shape it. It’s happening all around us now, thanks to a seismic cultural shift which at Samsung, we are adapting to quickly.

A groundbreaking new Galaxy Watch feature we announced this week will measure vascular load[3], the amount of stress on your vascular system while sleeping. The vascular system carries blood throughout the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients and remove waste, making it a strong indicator to determine good heart health.

I also spoke this week about our new Antioxidant Index[4] – an industry first feature to measure carotenoids. Antioxidants are the nutrients found in many healthy foods, which help prevent chronic illnesses and promote healthy ageing. Importantly, antioxidants neutralise free radicals, which damage cells and accelerate aging. Behavioural factors, such as drinking alcohol, smoking, UV exposure, stress and lack of sleep, can accelerate aging by increasing free radicals in the body.

You will be able to use your Galaxy Watch and its advanced, light-activated BioActive sensor to measure carotenoids in just five seconds, which are antioxidants found in green and orange vegetables and fruits, stored in your skin.

You’ll quickly see how these insights reflect behavioural changes. For example, drinking carrot juice can show changes in the index. This transforms abstract nutrition into measurable outcomes that drive sustained healthy behaviours.

So, as we look ahead to the future of health tech, one thing is becoming undeniably clear: health will become the filter through which we make every choice. Not just the big decisions, like how we treat illness or manage fitness, but the small, everyday ones. What we watch. What we eat. What we buy. Because soon, the data will be right there with us, moment by moment, guiding us toward what our bodies and minds actually need.

And in that world, brands will have a new kind of responsibility. It won’t be enough to be relevant by trend or preference. Brands will need to prove their role in supporting people’s well-being—in showing how they truly fit into a better, healthier life.

That’s where we’re headed. We will continue to be more intentional with our health tech innovation. It will be deeply human focused, rooted in biology, mood, need, and real-time context.

At Samsung, we’re not just creating products that cut through the noise. We’re creating technology that cares. Because in the end, the greatest innovation isn’t in what we build, but in how we help people truly thrive.

Annika Bizon, Mobile Experience VP of Product & Marketing, Samsung UK&I.

[1]https://press.strava.com/articles/strava-releases-annual-year-in-sport-trend
[2]Health features are intended for general wellness and fitness purposes only. The measurements are for your personal reference only. Please consult a medical professional for advice. Samsung account login required. Vascular Load, Running Coach and Antioxidant Index are available on Android phones (Android 10 or above) and requires the Samsung Health app (v6.30.2 or later). Vascular Load and Antioxidant index are Labs features that you can preview before its official launch. If you don’t want to use these experimental features, you can turn them off in Samsung Health settings.
[3]Vascular Load is available on Android phones (Android 10 or above) and requires the Samsung Health app (V6.30 or above). Samsung account login is required. To measure vascular load, it is required to wear Galaxy Watch (Galaxy Watch Ultra, Watch8 and later release Galaxy Watch series) when sleeping for at least 3 days out of recent 14 days. Vascular load monitoring is for fitness and wellness only. If you have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or are recovering from surgery, be sure to follow your doctor’s treatment plan. Not intended for use in detection, diagnosis, treatment of any medical condition or diseases. This is a Labs feature that you can preview before its official launch. If you don’t want to use this feature, you can turn if off in Samsung Health settings.
[4]To measure, place the centre of your finger on the sensor at the back of the Watch and hold it for 5 seconds. While Anti-oxidant index can be measured using any finger, the thumb is recommended for most accurate result. Repeat measurement if there is uneven placement of finger. Requires Samsung Account login and Samsung Health app 6.27 or later. Available on devices with Android OS 10 (Q OS) or later. AGEs is supported in Samsung Galaxy Watch7 and later released Samsung Galaxy Watch models only. Not intended for use in detection, diagnosis, treatment of any medical condition. Anti-oxidant monitoring is for your personal reference only. Please consult a medical professional for advice.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI from the NYPost: FBI Emails Obtained by Grassley ‘Expose Biden DOJ’s Obsession with Piling on Trump Charges’

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

Miranda Devine: FBI emails revealed to The Post expose Biden DOJ’s obsession with piling on Trump charges
June 18, 2025
New York Post

Internal FBI emails reveal that rogue agents and prosecutors in the Biden DOJ were looking for ways to pile on new criminal charges against Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — this time over his involvement with the J6 prisoner choir, based on a single partisan news article.

The 2023 emails obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and revealed exclusively to The Post are an example of the nitpicking malice of anti-Trump lawfare that tainted special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, during Joe Biden’s presidency.

“Can we do some work to nail down Trump’s role in this,” writes prosecutor JP Cooney to DOJ colleagues on March 8, 2023, in an email with the subject line “J6 Prisoner Choir/DJT” and an attached Forbes.com article titled “Trump Collaborates On Song With Jan. 6 Defendants.”

Cooney was a deputy special counsel who worked on both the Robert Mueller and Smith get-Trump special counsel investigations.

‘Agent Zero’

“According to this Forbes article, Trump recorded the Pledge of Allegiance at MAL [Mar a Lago] and Kash Patel [now FBI director] and Ed Henry [a former Fox News host] were also involved,” Cooney wrote in the email chain.

“The profits are routed to an LLC run by Henry, and proceeds are intended for families of incarcerated J6 defendants — but there is apparently a vetting process that excludes families of defendants who assaulted police officers.

“I asked Ahmed [likely prosecutor Ahmed Baset, who was fired earlier this month] to preserve this last night. I’ll talk to Maria/Erin and Julia about doing some follow up here to nail down Trump’s role.”

Cooney also instructed colleagues to look at starting “some process on Ed Henry’s LLC,” presumably a legal process such as a subpoena, search warrant or other court-authorized actions to gather evidence.

His email was forwarded to eight agents and DOJ staff, including notorious anti-Trump FBI Special Agent Walter Giardina, who responded two days later to say he was investigating the claims in the Forbes article about Trump and the J6 prisoner choir: “Esther and I are working on this today. We’re going to put together our findings at 2 and get something to you shortly after that.”

Giardina was “Agent Zero” in a lot of overzealous FBI actions involving Trump and his allies, including the investigation of Trump White House adviser Dr. Peter Navarro on contempt of Congress charges for refusing to appear before the House committee investigating the J6 riot.

It was Giardina’s FBI team that arrested Navarro as he was about to board a plane at Reagan National Airport in 2022, put him in leg irons and threw him in jail instead of simply issuing a summons for him to come to court, as the federal judge overseeing the case later said while criticizing the heavy-handedness.

Giardina was also significantly involved in Operation Crossfire Hurricane (the debunked Russia collusion investigation against Trump), Mueller’s investigation and cases involving Trump allies Dan Scavino and Roger Stone, as well as the Hillary Clinton emails case.

According to Grassley, Giardina was an “initial recipient of the Steele Dossier” and falsely claimed that the bogus Clinton campaign smear sheet against Trump was corroborated as “true.”

Giardina also “electronically wiped the laptop he was assigned while working for Special Counsel Mueller outside of established protocol for record preservation, raising the possibility that he destroyed government records.”

Whistleblown away

Whistleblowers have told Grassley that Giardina “openly stated his desire to investigate Trump, even if it meant false predication,” because of his hostility to the past and future president.

Grassley believes this email chain is another “clear example” of how the federal law enforcement apparatus was weaponized to try to “get Trump” at all costs.

“Instead of focusing on DOJ and FBI’s core law enforcement responsibilities,” Grassley told The Post, “partisan prosecutors and agents were surfing the web to find any shred of information they could use to spin another baseless case against Trump. Their actions are a disservice to Americans, who pay their salaries and depend on DOJ and FBI to keep them safe…”

Read the rest HERE.

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MIL OSI USA News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Chief coroner will not direct inquest into death of Lisa Colleen Rauch

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, British Columbia’s chief coroner, has determined not to direct an inquest in the death of Lisa Colleen Rauch as the circumstances do not meet the requirement for a mandatory inquest under the Coroner’s Act.

On Dec. 28, 2019, Lisa Rauch’s death in Victoria was reported to the BC Coroners Service. It followed events involving members of the Victoria Police Department. Lisa Rauch was 43 years old at the time of her death.

After a review of the circumstances, the chief coroner has determined that an inquest is not required under Section 18(2)(a)(ii) of the Coroner’s Act because there was no meaningful connection between the care Lisa Rauch received while in custody and her death, nor is it necessary under Section 18(3). The circumstances around Lisa Rauch’s death were reviewed during a public hearing held before former attorney general Wally Oppal, KC, a retired Court of Appeal justice, at the direction of the B.C. police complaint commissioner. This hearing informed the public of the circumstances of Lisa Rauch’s death, and the resulting recommendations are public.

In making the decision not to direct an inquest, the chief coroner has also carefully considered the wishes of Lisa Rauch’s family.

Learn More:

To access B.C.’s Coroner’s Act, visit: https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/07015_01

To learn more about coroner’s inquests, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/death/coroners-service/inquest-schedule-jury-findings-verdicts

MIL OSI Canada News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The photo exhibition “Their Feat is Immortal, Their Memory is Eternal,” dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, opened in St. Petersburg

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

St. Petersburg, June 19 /Xinhua/ — “Their Feat is Immortal, Their Memory is Eternal” is the title of a joint photo exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, which opened in St. Petersburg on June 19. The photo exhibition, organized jointly by China’s Xinhua News Agency and Russia’s TASS News Agency, was opened by the heads of the agencies Fu Hua and Andrei Kondrashov.

The exhibition aims to promote the preservation of historical memory and, on this basis, continue the traditions of friendship between the two countries and their peoples, said Xinhua Director General Fu Hua. According to him, Xinhua intends to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with TASS and explore the possibility of holding new events within the framework of cultural and humanitarian exchanges.

A. Kondrashov recalled that cooperation between TASS and Xinhua has a long history. As he emphasized, holding a joint photo exhibition not only once again reflects the high level of bilateral cooperation, but also proves that the two agencies preserve the memory of the common history of Russia and China.

“On the one hand, these are such great photographs, the great people they depict, and the great events they tell, that it is awkward and uncomfortable to stand with your back to them. But, on the other hand, it is also symbolic, because this is the generation that really stands behind us and reminds us that we are obliged to preserve the memory of those times,” said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who was present at the opening of the exhibition, adding that the Russian side will firmly stand on China’s side and protect historical memory together with it.

The exhibition presents vivid photographic evidence of how, during the World Anti-Fascist War, the peoples of China and Russia fought side by side, helped each other, and made the two countries’ historic contribution to the defense of peace and the progress of humanity.

On the same day, Fu Hua met with A. Kondrashov. The parties confirmed their readiness to further deepen practical cooperation. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: The 19th General Assembly of the Organization of Asian and Pacific News Agencies opened in St. Petersburg

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

ST. PETERSBURG, June 19 (Xinhua) — The 19th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) opened in St. Petersburg on Thursday. During the two-day event, representatives of news agencies from the Asia-Pacific region (APR) will hold in-depth discussions on how news agencies can respond to global changes and technological challenges.

“Today, objective, timely information is in high demand for strengthening trust and mutual understanding between countries and peoples. Your largest association of news agencies on the planet has been creating a significant part of the global news flow for many years now, enjoying the attention of a multi-million audience,” says the greeting to the General Assembly from Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was read at the opening ceremony by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

“I am confident that constructive, meaningful discussions will take place during the General Assembly, and new, promising joint projects will be outlined that will serve the further development of mutually beneficial international cooperation,” says V. Putin’s greeting.

In his welcoming speech, Fu Hua, Director General of Xinhua News Agency, noted that the Asia-Pacific region is the engine of economic globalization, the center of world economic growth, the pillar of global development and stability, the outpost of international cooperation, and plays an important role in countering global challenges.

Xinhua calls on Asia-Pacific news agencies to work together to enhance mutual trust, promote inclusiveness, and advance cooperation and mutual benefit, Fu Hua said. He pledged that Xinhua will effectively fulfill its responsibilities, deepen partnerships with OANA member agencies, and develop multilateral mechanisms such as the World Media Summit, the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum, and the China-Central Asia News Agency Forum to write new chapters in the history of exchanges among news agencies.

TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov pointed out that today’s world is going through a key period of profound changes and transformation of the information environment, when cyber threats and fake information undermine audience trust in the media. According to him, in-depth exchanges and cooperation between Asia-Pacific news agencies, joint discussions on the use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, accelerate the transformation of the media industry, which not only helps the development of the news agencies themselves, but is also of great importance for protecting the security and prosperity of the region and the entire world.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming said in a video message that in today’s turbulent world, news organizations and their staff face many serious challenges. Strengthening dialogue and exchanges between media outlets is especially important in this context, she said.

Director General of the Vietnam News Agency Vu Viet Trang told Xinhua that the world is changing rapidly today and news agencies must improve the efficiency of information delivery through technological innovations while ensuring accuracy and speed. At the same time, news agencies in the Asia-Pacific region must strengthen their voice in addressing regional and international issues, “this is the overall mission of news agencies in the Asia-Pacific region,” Vu Viet Trang stressed.

Deputy Director of the Kazakh Presidential Television and Radio Complex Askar Dzhaldinov told Xinhua that the world’s media are currently facing many common challenges. He noted that the media should not only fulfill their responsibilities in disseminating information, but also actively influence social development and the implementation of state policy.

As part of the General Assembly, its participants visited the OANA photo exhibition, which included photographs by Xinhua.

OANA is a regional media organization that unites 41 news agencies from 33 countries. Its predecessor was the Organization of Asian News Agencies, founded in Thailand in December 1961. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: New Affordable Housing Units Open for Seniors in Saskatoon Through Federal and Provincial Funding
Source: Government of Canada regional news

Released on June 19, 2025

Solving Canada’s housing crisis requires immediate action to address the urgent needs of Canadians. To provide seniors with increased access to affordable and sustainable housing, the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan announced today a $990,000 joint investment. The official opening of the Columbian Manor Expansion Phase V, developed by KC Charities, marks a significant step in providing safe, supportive homes for low-income seniors.

This project is adding 134 housing units for seniors in Saskatoon, including the development of 30 one-bedroom units, 20 fully accessible units and 10 barrier-free units for low-income seniors with limited mobility.

The developer, KC Charities, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing and supportive services for seniors in Saskatoon.

Funding provided for this project is as follows:
- $990,000 in cost-matched funding from the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan through the National Housing Strategy (NHS) -Saskatchewan Priorities Initiative (SPI).
- $ 340,000 from the City of Saskatoon.
- $1,750,000 from KC Charities.
Quotes:

“Everyone deserves a home to call their own,” Secretary of State (Rural Development) and Member of Parliament for Desneth Missinippi Churchill RiverBuckley Belanger said. ” Thanks to our partnership with Saskatchewan through the National Housing Strategy, your federal government is helping to make that a reality for more seniors in Saskatoon. Safe, affordable, and accessible senior housing is a key part of our housing plan, making sure no one is left behind.”

“When we work together with community partners, we can support developments that make a real difference in the lives of Saskatchewan people,” Social Services Minister and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC) Terry Jenson said. “The Columbian Manor project provides dignity, comfort and connection to seniors who have given so much to our communities.”

“The City of Saskatoon is proud to support the expansion of Columbian Manor, which reflects our ongoing commitment to building a more inclusive and caring community,” Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block said. “This partnership with KC Charities and other orders of government helps ensure that seniors in Saskatoon have access to safe, affordable housing and the support they need to thrive.”

“A place to call home, where comfort meets affordability, and every senior is valued, respected, and cared for,” KC Charities Inc Executive Director of Operations Norma Denis said.

Quick facts:

The NHS is a 10 plus year, $115 plus billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly on the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) website. The Housing and Infrastructure Project Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.

As of March 2025, the federal government has committed $65.84 billion to support the creation of over 166,000 units and the repair of over 322,000 units. These measures prioritize those in greatest need, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children fleeing violence.

NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life and people with lived experience of housing need.

All NHS investments delivered by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments will respect the key principles of NHS that support partnerships, people and communities.

In 2019, the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan entered into an agreement through the NHS. TheCanada-Saskatchewan Bilateral Agreement will invest $585 million over 10 years, which is cost matched between the federal and provincial governments.

The Rental Development Program (RDP) provides one-time capital funding in the form of a forgivable loan to assist in the development of affordable rental housing units for households with low incomes. The RDP is funded by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC).

KC Charities is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable housing and supportive services for seniors in Saskatoon. Since 2007, it has worked with government and community partners to develop over 150 affordable housing units, helping seniors live independently in a caring and inclusive environment.

Associated Links:

Visit Canada.ca/housing for the most requested Government of Canada housing information.

CMHC plays a critical role as a national facilitator to promote stability and sustainability in Canada’s housing finance system. Our mortgage insurance products support access to homeownership and the creation and maintenance of rental supply. We also actively support the Government of Canada in delivering on its commitment to make housing more affordable. Our research and data help inform housing policy. By facilitating cooperation between all levels of government, private and non-profit sectors, we contribute to advancing housing affordability, equity, and climate compatibility. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly on the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) website. The Housing and Infrastructure Project Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.

In November 2019, the Government of Saskatchewan released Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan: the Next Decade of Growth 2020-2030, which sets out the government’s vision for a province of 1.4 million people by 2030. The plan identifies principles, goals and actions to ensure Saskatchewan is capturing the opportunities and meeting the challenges of a growing province. To learn more, visit: www.saskatchewan.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Media Relations
Social Services
Regina
Phone: 306-787-3610
Email: MediaMSS@gov.sk.ca

Sofia Ouslis
Office of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure
Email: Sofia.Ouslis@infc.gc.ca

Mark Rogstad
Media Relations Manager,
Saskatoon
Email: mark.rogstad@saskatoon.ca

Media Relations
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Email: media@cmhc-schl.gc.ca

MIL OSI Canada News –
June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: 25 new places to eat in 2025
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
- Many new cafes, restaurants and bars have opened recently in Canberra.
- This story includes a list of new eateries to try in Canberra.
New year, new restaurants.

Whether you are after a new brunch spot or your next date night location, there is something new for everyone.

You can find Canberra’s first dedicated acai spot just outside of Westfield Woden.

Build your own acai bowl by choosing from a list of delicious toppings. They also have loaded waffles, shakes, and chocolate covered strawberries.

A new Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar is now open in Weston Creek.

Menu highlights include the carbonara arancini, lamb shoulder ragu, and pistachio crème brûlée.

This new Italian-inspired bar is the newest addition to Verity Lane.

Enjoy an Aperol Spritz with antipasti or your pasta of choice.

This new café is serving up Japanese-inspired desserts after dark.

Menu items include Shibuya Toast, bingsu, and matcha cheesecake.

Get your late-night sweet treat until 10:30pm, Thursday to Saturday nights.

You no longer need to visit Sydney to grab ButterBoy cookies. You can now buy these mouth-watering cookies at Red Brick.

Flavours include snickerdoodle, banoffee and Nutella. They also have gluten free options.

This new family-run café has a large menu full of authentic Turkish dishes.

Enjoy breakfast dishes such as meneme, or the kebabs and gozleme. Sweet tooths can enjoy desserts like baklava, while sipping on Turkish coffee and tea.

The owners of Champi in Kingston have opened a new venue in Phillip.

Champi Express is serving up southeast Asian breakfast and lunch dishes.

Clover dining blends classic Italian dishes with Japanese flavours and cooking techniques.

The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some of their innovative dishes include the oyster mushroom sandwich, wagyu sirloin with sesame seeds and burnt garlic, and miso black cod.

This new Italian wine bar is serving up cured meats and cheeses, craft beer and great wine.

You can also book in for a wine tasting or grab a take-away charcuterie box.

This new café is serving up delicious breakfast and lunch, Monday to Friday.

Start your day with classic brunch options like a bacon and egg burger and eggs benedict or try something new like kimchi fried ramen with bacon and egg.

Verity Lane’s newest addition specialises in authentic Japanese and Korean katsu dishes.

Choose from classic options such as chicken, pork, and fish katsu, as well as vegetarian alternatives.

This new London-inspired modern café offers breakfast and lunch options, as well as an exclusive range of European luxury sweets, and ‘London Blend’ coffee.

This new restaurant on City Walk is serving up delicious Chinese dishes.

They do great lunch specials and happy hour.

You can now find authentic Vietnamese on Marcus Clarke Street in the City.

Try traditional Vietnamese dishes such as pho, chicken rice, banh mi and cơm tấm, in a cosy and elegant setting.

This new Malaysian restaurant is now open at Capital Food Market.

It’s open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Check out The Peacemaker Saloon for a taste of America’s wild west.

Indulge in hearty southwestern food such as smoked brisket and pork ribs, wings and mac ‘n cheese. There’s also an extensive cocktail and whiskey list.

This new southside spot is serving up coffee, protein shakes, smoothies, breakfast items, burgers and wraps.

A second location has opened for Pronto, with the first over in Queanbeyan.

This authentic Italian restaurant is the perfect spot to gather and share food with family and friends, with their large party menu.

Their Neapolitan pizza is a must-try, made from a 300-year-old recipe, as well as any of their regional Italian pastas.

Shaw Estate has a new restaurant in Murrumbateman.

The estate’s new dining space has a neutral and modern interior and a Mediterranean-inspired menu. Enjoy Italian dishes made with local and seasonal ingredients.

After building some buzz in 2024 with pop-ups at local venues such as Terra, Sunny now has their own food truck and will be popping up at events across Canberra.

Keep an eye on their socials to find out where you can grab one of their delicious smash burgers and hand-cut fries.

Located at the former site of Bellucci’s, this new pub is bringing a fun new energy to southside.

Whether you want to watch sport, catch up with friends or have a great pub feed, this spot has something for all Canberrans.

This new pub on southside opened in late April.

Enjoy tap beer, cocktails or mocktails with traditional pub food including schnitzels, burgers wings and more.

They do happy hour every day and have great lunch specials.

Located on the former site of Lonsdale Street Roasters, this multi-level venue is bringing good vibes to Braddon.

Uptown has a bakery and bar downstairs, and a bistro upstairs.

They offer European- based cuisine with a modern Australian twist, freshly baked sweet treats, coffee, cocktails and a great selection of wines.

You can find this Korean and Asian-inspired café on Lonsdale Street.

Menu items include crab scrambled egg, Korean fried chicken burger and smashed avocado with yuzu.

Located in the Eat Street precinct in Dickson, Zaiqah is serving up traditional Pakistani food.

Coming soon

This beloved Canberra burger joint is coming to Belco!

Keep an eye out on their channels for the opening date.

Masala Kitchen is a modern Indian cuisine restaurant opening soon in Braddon.

The chef behind Pizza Artigiana and food truck Hem & Co, Chef Hem, is opening a new venue on Marcus Clarke Street that will serve Roman-style pizza slices.

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MIL OSI News –
June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Jaws at 50: the first summer blockbuster is still a film that bites – even when the shark didn’t work

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will Jeffery, Sessional Academic, Discipline of Film Studies, University of Sydney

Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

When I was eight years old, on a Saturday night before surf lifesaving training, my dad put on the film Jaws and it changed my life forever.

Unlike the generations of filmgoers who were afraid of sharks and going into the water during its initial release in 1975, I fell in love with the water and sharks.

Steven Spielberg’s film was the first summer blockbuster, received Academy Awards for sound, editing and music, and became the first film to earn US$100 million at the United States box office.

It was only the third film for the 28-year-old Steven Spielberg, and his second theatrical release (his first film, Duel, was made for TV), and success arrived only after much trouble.

Jaws was only the second feature film for Spielberg, pictured here on set.
Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Image

A marketed behemoth

Chief of Police Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) has recently moved from New York City to Amity Island with his wife, Ellen (Lorriane Gary), and their two children. As the small town prepares for its crucial 4th of July celebrations, a series of shark attacks threatens the festivities – and the town’s summer economy.

Mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton) insists on keeping the beaches open for “summer dollars”. When the shark strikes again, local fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) is hired to hunt it down. Brody and visiting marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) insist on joining the expedition to save the island.

The film was advertised as a suspense and horror monster movie. In what director Spielberg described as a marketing “blitzkrieg” campaign, Jaws, was released in the summer – peak swimming season.

Universal Pictures made sure every household knew about the film. There were multiple TV spots, a cover on Time Magazine, talk show appearances from cast and crew, and a wave of merchandise. It was the most money the company had ever spent on a film’s pre-release marketing.

The first American film released in more than 400 theatres at once, Jaws found its audience with overwhelmingly positive reviews and word of mouth – because Jaws was also extremely well made.

Wrangling the shark

Peter Benchley was hired to adapt his novel, but another screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb, was brought in to redraft Benchley’s more serious narrative and provide comic relief.

Jaws was initially planned for 55 days of shooting, but ballooned to 159 days and $8 million over budget. The main reason: the shark.

Apart from one scene using real underwater shark footage from Australians Ron and Valerie Taylor, the shark was mechanical. There were three sharks made for the film, all nicknamed “Bruce” after Spielberg’s lawyer.

Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts depicted the fictional Amity Island, and much of the second half was shot in water.

Much of the second half of the film was shot on the water.
Photo by Universal Studios/Courtesy of Getty Images

The mechanical shark sank … a lot. No wonder Spielberg named the temperamental and unreliable shark after his lawyer.

With the lack of a functioning shark, Spielberg made the artistic decision – echoing Alfred Hitchcock – to suggest the shark’s presence rather than show it outright in the film’s first half.

Spielberg even quotes Hitchcock’s Vertigo shot (a dolly zoom) in the scene when Brody realises a shark attack is unfolding under his watch.

Even without appearing onscreen, the shark has an overwhelming presence and effect on the audience, thanks to John Williams’ music: most of the film’s cues are associated with the shark.

Tension onscreen

One of my favourite moments in the film is in the aftermath of an attack on the young Alex Kintner (and poor dog Pippet!). Brody is slapped in the face by the mother of the slain Alex – but this is followed by a cute and wholesome encounter between Chief Brody and his son Sean.

As a father, Brody’s failure to prevent the attack on Alex reflects his loss of authority to capitalism. The water is the island’s summer revenue, and the hungry shark swims in it.

The film could have seen an early shark attack and immediately launched a shark hunt. However, the shark doesn’t appear much at all for a monster movie due to its malfunctioning. This worked in the film’s favour.

Instead, the film relied on good writing and strong performances to heighten the tension and build anticipation for the rare moments the shark has onscreen.

A lot of the film’s success comes from the dynamic and well-written trio of Brody, Hooper and Quint. In the final act set at sea with just the three leads on a boat surrounded by the shark, they needed to deliver – and they did, arguably stealing the movie from the shark.

Possibly the most famous scene in the entire film comes when the shark is fully revealed for the first time. Startled by its size, Brody backs into the cabin and delivers an improvised line: “you’re gonna need a bigger boat”.

Dreyfuss and Shaw famously didn’t get along in real life. You can see that tension play out onscreen. It arguably enhances their performances.

Still, one of the most iconic moments comes when Dreyfuss’s Hooper is left speechless by Quint’s USS Indianapolis monologue, describing being in the water with sharks after the warship was torpedoed.

The monologue was scripted, but Shaw improvised much of it.

A cinema classic

Jaws is now a cinema classic.

It launched Spielberg’s illustrious career, scared an entire generation from going into the water, and also inspired a new generation of marine activists – such as myself – who love sharks and the ocean.

I hope you’ll join me in revisiting Amity Island one more time to watch this timeless film that, apart from its mechanical shark, completely works.

Will Jeffery 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. Jaws at 50: the first summer blockbuster is still a film that bites – even when the shark didn’t work – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-the-first-summer-blockbuster-is-still-a-film-that-bites-even-when-the-shark-didnt-work-246247

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Jaws at 50: the first summer blockbuster is still a film that bites – even when the shark didn’t work

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will Jeffery, Sessional Academic, Discipline of Film Studies, University of Sydney

Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

When I was eight years old, on a Saturday night before surf lifesaving training, my dad put on the film Jaws and it changed my life forever.

Unlike the generations of filmgoers who were afraid of sharks and going into the water during its initial release in 1975, I fell in love with the water and sharks.

Steven Spielberg’s film was the first summer blockbuster, received Academy Awards for sound, editing and music, and became the first film to earn US$100 million at the United States box office.

It was only the third film for the 28-year-old Steven Spielberg, and his second theatrical release (his first film, Duel, was made for TV), and success arrived only after much trouble.

Jaws was only the second feature film for Spielberg, pictured here on set.
Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Image

A marketed behemoth

Chief of Police Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) has recently moved from New York City to Amity Island with his wife, Ellen (Lorriane Gary), and their two children. As the small town prepares for its crucial 4th of July celebrations, a series of shark attacks threatens the festivities – and the town’s summer economy.

Mayor Larry Vaughan (Murray Hamilton) insists on keeping the beaches open for “summer dollars”. When the shark strikes again, local fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw) is hired to hunt it down. Brody and visiting marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) insist on joining the expedition to save the island.

The film was advertised as a suspense and horror monster movie. In what director Spielberg described as a marketing “blitzkrieg” campaign, Jaws, was released in the summer – peak swimming season.

Universal Pictures made sure every household knew about the film. There were multiple TV spots, a cover on Time Magazine, talk show appearances from cast and crew, and a wave of merchandise. It was the most money the company had ever spent on a film’s pre-release marketing.

The first American film released in more than 400 theatres at once, Jaws found its audience with overwhelmingly positive reviews and word of mouth – because Jaws was also extremely well made.

Wrangling the shark

Peter Benchley was hired to adapt his novel, but another screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb, was brought in to redraft Benchley’s more serious narrative and provide comic relief.

Jaws was initially planned for 55 days of shooting, but ballooned to 159 days and $8 million over budget. The main reason: the shark.

Apart from one scene using real underwater shark footage from Australians Ron and Valerie Taylor, the shark was mechanical. There were three sharks made for the film, all nicknamed “Bruce” after Spielberg’s lawyer.

Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts depicted the fictional Amity Island, and much of the second half was shot in water.

Much of the second half of the film was shot on the water.
Photo by Universal Studios/Courtesy of Getty Images

The mechanical shark sank … a lot. No wonder Spielberg named the temperamental and unreliable shark after his lawyer.

With the lack of a functioning shark, Spielberg made the artistic decision – echoing Alfred Hitchcock – to suggest the shark’s presence rather than show it outright in the film’s first half.

Spielberg even quotes Hitchcock’s Vertigo shot (a dolly zoom) in the scene when Brody realises a shark attack is unfolding under his watch.

Even without appearing onscreen, the shark has an overwhelming presence and effect on the audience, thanks to John Williams’ music: most of the film’s cues are associated with the shark.

Tension onscreen

One of my favourite moments in the film is in the aftermath of an attack on the young Alex Kintner (and poor dog Pippet!). Brody is slapped in the face by the mother of the slain Alex – but this is followed by a cute and wholesome encounter between Chief Brody and his son Sean.

As a father, Brody’s failure to prevent the attack on Alex reflects his loss of authority to capitalism. The water is the island’s summer revenue, and the hungry shark swims in it.

The film could have seen an early shark attack and immediately launched a shark hunt. However, the shark doesn’t appear much at all for a monster movie due to its malfunctioning. This worked in the film’s favour.

Instead, the film relied on good writing and strong performances to heighten the tension and build anticipation for the rare moments the shark has onscreen.

A lot of the film’s success comes from the dynamic and well-written trio of Brody, Hooper and Quint. In the final act set at sea with just the three leads on a boat surrounded by the shark, they needed to deliver – and they did, arguably stealing the movie from the shark.

Possibly the most famous scene in the entire film comes when the shark is fully revealed for the first time. Startled by its size, Brody backs into the cabin and delivers an improvised line: “you’re gonna need a bigger boat”.

Dreyfuss and Shaw famously didn’t get along in real life. You can see that tension play out onscreen. It arguably enhances their performances.

Still, one of the most iconic moments comes when Dreyfuss’s Hooper is left speechless by Quint’s USS Indianapolis monologue, describing being in the water with sharks after the warship was torpedoed.

The monologue was scripted, but Shaw improvised much of it.

A cinema classic

Jaws is now a cinema classic.

It launched Spielberg’s illustrious career, scared an entire generation from going into the water, and also inspired a new generation of marine activists – such as myself – who love sharks and the ocean.

I hope you’ll join me in revisiting Amity Island one more time to watch this timeless film that, apart from its mechanical shark, completely works.

Will Jeffery 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. Jaws at 50: the first summer blockbuster is still a film that bites – even when the shark didn’t work – https://theconversation.com/jaws-at-50-the-first-summer-blockbuster-is-still-a-film-that-bites-even-when-the-shark-didnt-work-246247

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of the GST between the states?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saul Eslake, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Tasmania

When the Western Australian state government handed down its state budget on Thursday, it showed a balance sheet solidly in the black with a A$2.5 billion surplus. But, as it has for seven years, the state has received an outsized boost to its coffers from the federal government.

In 2018, the Morrison government – with the full support of the then Labor opposition – handed WA a special deal for the distribution of income from the goods and service tax (GST).

Under the deal, WA gets a much greater share of the centrally collected GST revenue than it would have been entitled to under the methods previously used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

So what can be done to ensure a return to a fairer distribution of the GST revenue?

How the GST carve-up is supposed to work

The 2018 deal upended a principle known as “horizontal fiscal equalisation”. This principle seeks to ensure each state and territory has the fiscal capacity to provide its residents with a broadly similar range and quality of public services, while levying a similar level of state taxes. This applies to states with different populations and needs.

That principle is the main reason why the quality of health care, schooling and policing in your community depends much less on which state you happen to live in, compared with other countries with a federal system. Just think of the United States.

But that principle was jettisoned in the pursuit, by both major parties, of seats from WA in the House of Representatives, which in effect determined the outcome of the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections.

WA gets a much greater share of GST revenue than under methods once used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

Holding onto the mineral wealth

During the mining boom starting in 2000, WA became rich. While it previously received extra grants from other states, it was now having to share income from mining royalties with other states.

But the 2018 amendment changed how the GST revenue is distributed. Instead of equalising all states to have the fiscal strength of the strongest state (such as WA during the boom), funds were now equalised to the stronger of New South Wales or Victoria. States are also guaranteed a minimum per capita share of revenue.

The only state that benefits from these changes is Australia’s richest state: WA. Since 2018-19 it has received A$24.2 billion more than it would have done had the 2018 changes not been made.

Combined with the $58.3 billion it has collected in mineral royalties over the past seven years, that has enabled WA to rack up cash surpluses totalling more than $18 billion. Every other state and territory recorded cash deficits over that time.

Over the next four years, WA will receive $26.3 billion more from the carve-up of GST revenues than it would otherwise have done.

No one worse off?

To cajole the other states and territories into accepting this “deal”, the Morrison government agreed to “top up” the revenue from the GST to ensure none would be any worse off than if the long-standing system had remained in place.

It estimated this “No Worse Off guarantee” (or NoWO as it is now called) would cost the federal budget $8 billion over the nine years to 2026-27, when NoWO would expire.

To avoid expected pushback from the other states, the Albanese government agreed in 2023 to extend NoWO by another three years. It is now expected it will have cost the federal budget almost $60 billion by its scheduled expiry in 2029-30.

This is the biggest blow-out in the cost of any single policy decision, with the exception of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This $52 billion blowout from the GST carve-up represents a massive drain on the federal budget, at a time when it is forecast to be in deficit for the next ten years, to appease the greed of Australia’s richest, and luckiest, state.

A government that truly believed in equity, and was committed to prudent and responsible budget outcomes, would scrap this appalling piece of public policy. And an Opposition that was sincere in its claims to stand for fiscal responsibility would support any move by the government to do so.

The system is not working as intended

The 2018 legislation requires the Productivity Commission to report, by the end of 2026, on whether the new system is working “efficiently, effectively and as intended”. Since it clearly wasn’t intended for the changes to cost anywhere near as much as they have done, the answer to that question must surely be a resounding “no”.

But rather than giving it such a narrow remit, the Treasurer could, and should, task the Productivity Commission with devising a way of achieving the long-standing objective of “horizontal fiscal equalisation” in a simpler, more transparent and more predictable way.

This should be possible by reference to fewer than a dozen readily available economic, demographic and social indicators. These could replace the “black box” processes currently used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission to allocate GST. WA has been able to exploit this lack of transparency in pursuit of its claims on an unjustified share of GST revenue.

Steven Kennedy, in his new role as head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, is reportedly open to considering controversial tax changes, including the GST carve-up. Hopefully he will be making this suggestion to the Prime Minister.

An inquiry by the Productivity Commission along these lines would enable the government to step away from the 2018 changes in the 2027-28 budget. That would, in turn, represent a substantial contribution towards the task of budget repair. And it would reinstate a principle that has helped make Australia a fairer, and better, country than it would otherwise have been.

Saul Eslake 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. Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of the GST between the states? – https://theconversation.com/is-there-any-hope-for-a-fairer-carve-up-of-the-gst-between-the-states-258913

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of the GST between the states?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saul Eslake, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Tasmania

When the Western Australian state government handed down its state budget on Thursday, it showed a balance sheet solidly in the black with a A$2.5 billion surplus. But, as it has for seven years, the state has received an outsized boost to its coffers from the federal government.

In 2018, the Morrison government – with the full support of the then Labor opposition – handed WA a special deal for the distribution of income from the goods and service tax (GST).

Under the deal, WA gets a much greater share of the centrally collected GST revenue than it would have been entitled to under the methods previously used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

So what can be done to ensure a return to a fairer distribution of the GST revenue?

How the GST carve-up is supposed to work

The 2018 deal upended a principle known as “horizontal fiscal equalisation”. This principle seeks to ensure each state and territory has the fiscal capacity to provide its residents with a broadly similar range and quality of public services, while levying a similar level of state taxes. This applies to states with different populations and needs.

That principle is the main reason why the quality of health care, schooling and policing in your community depends much less on which state you happen to live in, compared with other countries with a federal system. Just think of the United States.

But that principle was jettisoned in the pursuit, by both major parties, of seats from WA in the House of Representatives, which in effect determined the outcome of the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections.

WA gets a much greater share of GST revenue than under methods once used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

Holding onto the mineral wealth

During the mining boom starting in 2000, WA became rich. While it previously received extra grants from other states, it was now having to share income from mining royalties with other states.

But the 2018 amendment changed how the GST revenue is distributed. Instead of equalising all states to have the fiscal strength of the strongest state (such as WA during the boom), funds were now equalised to the stronger of New South Wales or Victoria. States are also guaranteed a minimum per capita share of revenue.

The only state that benefits from these changes is Australia’s richest state: WA. Since 2018-19 it has received A$24.2 billion more than it would have done had the 2018 changes not been made.

Combined with the $58.3 billion it has collected in mineral royalties over the past seven years, that has enabled WA to rack up cash surpluses totalling more than $18 billion. Every other state and territory recorded cash deficits over that time.

Over the next four years, WA will receive $26.3 billion more from the carve-up of GST revenues than it would otherwise have done.

No one worse off?

To cajole the other states and territories into accepting this “deal”, the Morrison government agreed to “top up” the revenue from the GST to ensure none would be any worse off than if the long-standing system had remained in place.

It estimated this “No Worse Off guarantee” (or NoWO as it is now called) would cost the federal budget $8 billion over the nine years to 2026-27, when NoWO would expire.

To avoid expected pushback from the other states, the Albanese government agreed in 2023 to extend NoWO by another three years. It is now expected it will have cost the federal budget almost $60 billion by its scheduled expiry in 2029-30.

This is the biggest blow-out in the cost of any single policy decision, with the exception of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This $52 billion blowout from the GST carve-up represents a massive drain on the federal budget, at a time when it is forecast to be in deficit for the next ten years, to appease the greed of Australia’s richest, and luckiest, state.

A government that truly believed in equity, and was committed to prudent and responsible budget outcomes, would scrap this appalling piece of public policy. And an Opposition that was sincere in its claims to stand for fiscal responsibility would support any move by the government to do so.

The system is not working as intended

The 2018 legislation requires the Productivity Commission to report, by the end of 2026, on whether the new system is working “efficiently, effectively and as intended”. Since it clearly wasn’t intended for the changes to cost anywhere near as much as they have done, the answer to that question must surely be a resounding “no”.

But rather than giving it such a narrow remit, the Treasurer could, and should, task the Productivity Commission with devising a way of achieving the long-standing objective of “horizontal fiscal equalisation” in a simpler, more transparent and more predictable way.

This should be possible by reference to fewer than a dozen readily available economic, demographic and social indicators. These could replace the “black box” processes currently used by the Commonwealth Grants Commission to allocate GST. WA has been able to exploit this lack of transparency in pursuit of its claims on an unjustified share of GST revenue.

Steven Kennedy, in his new role as head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, is reportedly open to considering controversial tax changes, including the GST carve-up. Hopefully he will be making this suggestion to the Prime Minister.

An inquiry by the Productivity Commission along these lines would enable the government to step away from the 2018 changes in the 2027-28 budget. That would, in turn, represent a substantial contribution towards the task of budget repair. And it would reinstate a principle that has helped make Australia a fairer, and better, country than it would otherwise have been.

Saul Eslake 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. Is there any hope for a fairer carve-up of the GST between the states? – https://theconversation.com/is-there-any-hope-for-a-fairer-carve-up-of-the-gst-between-the-states-258913

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lovering, Lecturer in International Relations, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Getty Images

Recent controversies over New Zealand’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch program have revolved around the apparent shortcomings of the food and its delivery. Stories of inedible meals, scalding packaging and general waste have dominated headlines.

But the story is also a window into the wider debate about the politics of “fiscal responsibility” and austerity politics.

As part of the mission to “cut waste” in government spending, ACT leader and Associate Education Minister David Seymour replaced the school-based scheme with a centralised program run by a catering corporation. The result was said to have delivered “saving for taxpayers” of $130 million – in line with the government’s overall drive for efficiency and cost cutting.

While Finance Minister Nicola Willis dislikes the term “austerity”, her May budget cut the government’s operating allowance in half, to $1.3 billion. This came on top of budget cuts last year of around $4 billion.

Similar policy doctrines have been subscribed to by governments of all political persuasions for decades. As economic growth (and the tax revenue it brings) has been harder for OECD countries to achieve over the past 50 years, governments have looked to make savings.

What is strange, though, is that despite decades of austerity policies reducing welfare and outsourcing public services to the most competitive corporate bidder, state spending has kept increasing.

New Zealand’s public expense as a percentage of GDP increased from 25.9% in 1972 to 35.9% in 2022. And this wasn’t unusual. The OECD as a whole saw an increase from 18.9% in 1972 to 29.9% in 2022.

How can we make sense of so-called austerity when, despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever?

Austerity and managerialism

In a recent paper, I argued that the politics of austerity is not only about how much governments spend. It is also about who gets to decide how public money is used.

Austerity sounds like it is about spending less, finding efficiencies or living within your means. But ever rising budgets mean it is about more than that.

In particular, austerity is shaped by a centralising system that locks in corporate and bureaucratic control over public expenditure, while locking out people and communities affected by spending decisions. In other words, austerity is about democracy as much as economics.

We typically turn to the ideology of neoliberalism – “Rogernomics” being the New Zealand variant – to explain the history of this. The familiar story is of a revolutionary clique taking over a bloated postwar state, reorienting it towards the global market, and making it run more like a business.

Depending on your political persuasion, the contradiction of austerity’s growing cost reflects either the short-sightedness of market utopianism or the stubbornness of the public sector to reform.

But while the 1980s neoliberal revolution was important, the roots of austerity’s managerial dimension go back further. And it was shaped less by a concern that spending was too high, and more by a desire to centralise control over a growing budget.

Godfather of ‘rational’ budgeting: US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at a Vietnam War briefing in 1964.
Getty Images

Many of the managerial techniques that have arrived in the public sector over the austerity years – such as results-based pay, corporate contracting, performance management or evaluation culture – have their origins in a budgetary revolution that took place in the 1960s at the US Department of Defense.

In the early 1960s, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was frustrated with being nominally in charge of budgeting but having to mediate between the seemingly arbitrary demands of military leaders for more tanks, submarines or missiles.

In response, he called on the RAND Corporation, a US think tank and consultancy, to remake the Defense Department’s budgetary process to give the secretary greater capacity to plan.

The outcome was called the Planning Programming Budgeting System. Its goal was to create a “rational” budget where policy objectives were clearly specified in quantified terms, the possible means to achieve them were fully costed, and performance indicators measuring progress were able to be reviewed.

This approach might have made sense for strategic military purposes. But what happens when you apply the same logic to planning public spending in healthcare, education, housing – or school lunches? The past 50 years have largely been a process of finding out.

What began as a set of techniques to help McNamara get control of military spending gradually diffused into social policy. These ideas travelled from the US and came to be known as the “New Public Management” framework that transformed state sectors all over the world.

What are budgets for?

Dramatic moments of spending cuts – such as the 1991 “Mother of all Budgets” in New Zealand or Elon Musk’s recent DOGE crusade in the US – stand out as major exercises in austerity. And fiscal responsibility is a firmly held conviction within mainstream political thinking.

Nevertheless, government spending has become a major component of OECD economies. If we are to make sense of austerity in this world of permanent mass expenditure, we need a broader idea of what public spending is about.

Budgets are classically thought to do three things. For economists, they are a tool of macroeconomic stabilisation: if growth goes down, “automatic stabilisers” inject public money into the economy to pick it back up.

For social reformers, the budget is a means of progressively redistributing resources through tax and welfare systems. For accountants, the budget is a means of cost accountability: it holds a record of public spending and signals a society’s future commitments.

But budgeting as described here also fulfils a fourth function – managerial planning. Decades of reform have made a significant portion of the state budget a managerial instrument for the pursuit of policy objectives.

From this perspective, underlying common austerity rhetoric about eliminating waste, or achieving value for money, is a deeper political struggle over who decides how that public money is used.

To return to New Zealand’s school lunch program, any savings achieved should not distract from the more significant democratic question of who should plan school lunches – and public spending more broadly.

Should it be the chief executives of corporatised public organisations and outsourced conglomerates managing to KPIs on nutritional values and price per meal, serving the directives of government ministers? Or should it be those cooking, serving and eating the lunches?

Ian Lovering is affiliated with the Tertiary Education Union Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa.

– ref. Despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this? – https://theconversation.com/despite-decades-of-cost-cutting-governments-spend-more-than-ever-how-can-we-make-sense-of-this-258902

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lovering, Lecturer in International Relations, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Getty Images

Recent controversies over New Zealand’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch program have revolved around the apparent shortcomings of the food and its delivery. Stories of inedible meals, scalding packaging and general waste have dominated headlines.

But the story is also a window into the wider debate about the politics of “fiscal responsibility” and austerity politics.

As part of the mission to “cut waste” in government spending, ACT leader and Associate Education Minister David Seymour replaced the school-based scheme with a centralised program run by a catering corporation. The result was said to have delivered “saving for taxpayers” of $130 million – in line with the government’s overall drive for efficiency and cost cutting.

While Finance Minister Nicola Willis dislikes the term “austerity”, her May budget cut the government’s operating allowance in half, to $1.3 billion. This came on top of budget cuts last year of around $4 billion.

Similar policy doctrines have been subscribed to by governments of all political persuasions for decades. As economic growth (and the tax revenue it brings) has been harder for OECD countries to achieve over the past 50 years, governments have looked to make savings.

What is strange, though, is that despite decades of austerity policies reducing welfare and outsourcing public services to the most competitive corporate bidder, state spending has kept increasing.

New Zealand’s public expense as a percentage of GDP increased from 25.9% in 1972 to 35.9% in 2022. And this wasn’t unusual. The OECD as a whole saw an increase from 18.9% in 1972 to 29.9% in 2022.

How can we make sense of so-called austerity when, despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever?

Austerity and managerialism

In a recent paper, I argued that the politics of austerity is not only about how much governments spend. It is also about who gets to decide how public money is used.

Austerity sounds like it is about spending less, finding efficiencies or living within your means. But ever rising budgets mean it is about more than that.

In particular, austerity is shaped by a centralising system that locks in corporate and bureaucratic control over public expenditure, while locking out people and communities affected by spending decisions. In other words, austerity is about democracy as much as economics.

We typically turn to the ideology of neoliberalism – “Rogernomics” being the New Zealand variant – to explain the history of this. The familiar story is of a revolutionary clique taking over a bloated postwar state, reorienting it towards the global market, and making it run more like a business.

Depending on your political persuasion, the contradiction of austerity’s growing cost reflects either the short-sightedness of market utopianism or the stubbornness of the public sector to reform.

But while the 1980s neoliberal revolution was important, the roots of austerity’s managerial dimension go back further. And it was shaped less by a concern that spending was too high, and more by a desire to centralise control over a growing budget.

Godfather of ‘rational’ budgeting: US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at a Vietnam War briefing in 1964.
Getty Images

Many of the managerial techniques that have arrived in the public sector over the austerity years – such as results-based pay, corporate contracting, performance management or evaluation culture – have their origins in a budgetary revolution that took place in the 1960s at the US Department of Defense.

In the early 1960s, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was frustrated with being nominally in charge of budgeting but having to mediate between the seemingly arbitrary demands of military leaders for more tanks, submarines or missiles.

In response, he called on the RAND Corporation, a US think tank and consultancy, to remake the Defense Department’s budgetary process to give the secretary greater capacity to plan.

The outcome was called the Planning Programming Budgeting System. Its goal was to create a “rational” budget where policy objectives were clearly specified in quantified terms, the possible means to achieve them were fully costed, and performance indicators measuring progress were able to be reviewed.

This approach might have made sense for strategic military purposes. But what happens when you apply the same logic to planning public spending in healthcare, education, housing – or school lunches? The past 50 years have largely been a process of finding out.

What began as a set of techniques to help McNamara get control of military spending gradually diffused into social policy. These ideas travelled from the US and came to be known as the “New Public Management” framework that transformed state sectors all over the world.

What are budgets for?

Dramatic moments of spending cuts – such as the 1991 “Mother of all Budgets” in New Zealand or Elon Musk’s recent DOGE crusade in the US – stand out as major exercises in austerity. And fiscal responsibility is a firmly held conviction within mainstream political thinking.

Nevertheless, government spending has become a major component of OECD economies. If we are to make sense of austerity in this world of permanent mass expenditure, we need a broader idea of what public spending is about.

Budgets are classically thought to do three things. For economists, they are a tool of macroeconomic stabilisation: if growth goes down, “automatic stabilisers” inject public money into the economy to pick it back up.

For social reformers, the budget is a means of progressively redistributing resources through tax and welfare systems. For accountants, the budget is a means of cost accountability: it holds a record of public spending and signals a society’s future commitments.

But budgeting as described here also fulfils a fourth function – managerial planning. Decades of reform have made a significant portion of the state budget a managerial instrument for the pursuit of policy objectives.

From this perspective, underlying common austerity rhetoric about eliminating waste, or achieving value for money, is a deeper political struggle over who decides how that public money is used.

To return to New Zealand’s school lunch program, any savings achieved should not distract from the more significant democratic question of who should plan school lunches – and public spending more broadly.

Should it be the chief executives of corporatised public organisations and outsourced conglomerates managing to KPIs on nutritional values and price per meal, serving the directives of government ministers? Or should it be those cooking, serving and eating the lunches?

Ian Lovering is affiliated with the Tertiary Education Union Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa.

– ref. Despite decades of cost cutting, governments spend more than ever. How can we make sense of this? – https://theconversation.com/despite-decades-of-cost-cutting-governments-spend-more-than-ever-how-can-we-make-sense-of-this-258902

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Bribe or community benefit? Sweeteners smoothing the way for renewables projects need to be done right
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University

Louise Beaumont/Getty

When a renewable energy developer announces a new project, there’s one big question mark – how will nearby communities react?

Community pushback has scuttled many renewables projects. Sometimes, communities are angry landowners hosting infrastructure will be paid, but neighbours and those further afield may not.

As a result, renewable projects often involve schemes where the developer gives funding or resources to local community initiatives.

Australia has dozens of these schemes, with many more to come as the clean energy transition accelerates. The Clean Energy Council estimates developers contribute about A$1,050 to communities for every megawatt of wind and about $850 for solar.

The problem is, research shows poorly designed schemes can look a lot like bribery. Developers dish out money to gain community acceptance. Our new research points to a clear solution: design these schemes carefully.

How do these schemes work?

Renewable developers usually structure community-benefit schemes in one of three ways:
- community funds, where a developer offers a one-time or ongoing payment for local infrastructure such as roads, services or community projects
- in-kind benefits, such as investment in local sports fields or tourism initiatives
- local ownership models, such as offering community members preferential access to shares in the company or a community co-ownership model of the project.
In Australia, a number of community schemes are already established or planned.

More are on their way. The Queensland government has introduced laws which require wind and solar farm developers enter into community benefit agreements.

Worldwide, offshore wind farms have for many years involved community benefit sharing. Australia is very likely to follow suit as this industry emerges.

Developers will sometimes set up more targeted neighbour payment schemes where funding is given to nearby landowners.

What are they for?

There are three reasons why benefit sharing can be a good idea overall. They are:

1. Impact on locals: solar farms take up large areas of land, while wind farms on land or sea draw the eye and can compete with other uses of the space. Community benefit schemes can help counterbalance these impacts.

2. Benefits are centralised: solar, wind and battery developments generate significant economic value. But this is largely captured by the developer. Benefit schemes can make residents feel the deal is fairer.

3. Acceptance: change of any kind is often hard. Offering incentives to towns and communities can make the change easier.

Payments to communities hosting renewable projects can look like bribes if not done carefully.
myphotobank.com.au/Shutterstock

Straying into bribery?

The definition of a bribe is a benefit which influences or intends to influence a person to violate their role-based obligations. Offering money to a police officer to avoid losing your licence would count as a bribe.

Community benefit sharing isn’t a bribe in a strict legal sense. But the payments can resemble bribes if they influence community members to accept the new development. Improving community acceptance is often a central goal of such schemes.

The accusation is common. In the United Kingdom, researchers observe these schemes are regularly seen:

as an attempt by local developers to ‘bribe’ local communities to ‘buy’ support for their wind farm development.

Community members may decry a scheme as a “paltry bribe” or “shut up candy”. Some insist their “principles are not for sale”.

Developers recognise this too. As one says:

you don’t just turn up in a community and say, don’t worry, we’ll buy you a new rugby pitch […] because it really does look like you’re trying to buy them off.

But do local communities have obligations which accepting a renewables project might violate?

As part of a democracy, residents have civic obligations to make public-spirited decisions, evaluating policies and developments based not on self-interest but in a principled way.

This is why it’s illegal to pay someone to vote for a particular candidate in an election, for instance.

Offering money for community initiatives isn’t intrinsically wrong. As a community objector to a wind farm proposal put it:

Of course it is a relevant planning consideration if a wind power company is offering to pour significant sums of money into a community for the life of a wind farm […] Why should that not be recognised as a good thing?

But any economic boon to a town must be considered alongside other important concerns, rather than wiping them away.

If these schemes operate by influencing citizens to ignore their civic duties, that’s intrinsically wrong. Worse still, it risks a backlash from offended community members.

In the worst cases, benefit sharing operates as a pay-off, where uneasy communities are given money to reduce their resistance.

Offshore wind farm developers overseas often set up community benefit schemes.
Tupungato/Shutterstock

Achieving fairness, avoiding bribery

The solutions are straightfoward: design these schemes strategically so they are fair and avoid eroding civic obligations. Here are four aims:

1. Minimise self-interest. Schemes should avoid large up-front payments and focus on in-kind benefits.

2. Respect the community. Employ and contract local staff, keep the community informed and respond transparently to complaints.

3. Encourage community involvement. Big renewable projects should stack up on energy, environmental, economic and community grounds. Robust and genuine community consultation should be used when designing any benefit scheme.

4. Ensure integrity. Development and implementation of any scheme should be genuine, transparent and accountable.

Getting it right

As climate change intensifies, Australia’s clean energy transition has a clear moral urgency. But this cannot be done by steamrolling local residents or buying them off with cash for community projects.

When community benefit schemes are sensibly designed with local input, it will boost both climate action and civic legitimacy.

Hugh Breakey receives funding from the Blue Economy CRC. This research was funded through the project ‘Pre-conditions for the Development of Offshore Wind Energy in Australia’ by the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.

Charles Sampford receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Professional Services Council and the Blue Economy CRC.

Larelle Bossi 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. Bribe or community benefit? Sweeteners smoothing the way for renewables projects need to be done right – https://theconversation.com/bribe-or-community-benefit-sweeteners-smoothing-the-way-for-renewables-projects-need-to-be-done-right-258903
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Bribe or community benefit? Sweeteners smoothing the way for renewables projects need to be done right
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University

Louise Beaumont/Getty

When a renewable energy developer announces a new project, there’s one big question mark – how will nearby communities react?

Community pushback has scuttled many renewables projects. Sometimes, communities are angry landowners hosting infrastructure will be paid, but neighbours and those further afield may not.

As a result, renewable projects often involve schemes where the developer gives funding or resources to local community initiatives.

Australia has dozens of these schemes, with many more to come as the clean energy transition accelerates. The Clean Energy Council estimates developers contribute about A$1,050 to communities for every megawatt of wind and about $850 for solar.

The problem is, research shows poorly designed schemes can look a lot like bribery. Developers dish out money to gain community acceptance. Our new research points to a clear solution: design these schemes carefully.

How do these schemes work?

Renewable developers usually structure community-benefit schemes in one of three ways:
- community funds, where a developer offers a one-time or ongoing payment for local infrastructure such as roads, services or community projects
- in-kind benefits, such as investment in local sports fields or tourism initiatives
- local ownership models, such as offering community members preferential access to shares in the company or a community co-ownership model of the project.
In Australia, a number of community schemes are already established or planned.

More are on their way. The Queensland government has introduced laws which require wind and solar farm developers enter into community benefit agreements.

Worldwide, offshore wind farms have for many years involved community benefit sharing. Australia is very likely to follow suit as this industry emerges.

Developers will sometimes set up more targeted neighbour payment schemes where funding is given to nearby landowners.

What are they for?

There are three reasons why benefit sharing can be a good idea overall. They are:

1. Impact on locals: solar farms take up large areas of land, while wind farms on land or sea draw the eye and can compete with other uses of the space. Community benefit schemes can help counterbalance these impacts.

2. Benefits are centralised: solar, wind and battery developments generate significant economic value. But this is largely captured by the developer. Benefit schemes can make residents feel the deal is fairer.

3. Acceptance: change of any kind is often hard. Offering incentives to towns and communities can make the change easier.

Payments to communities hosting renewable projects can look like bribes if not done carefully.
myphotobank.com.au/Shutterstock

Straying into bribery?

The definition of a bribe is a benefit which influences or intends to influence a person to violate their role-based obligations. Offering money to a police officer to avoid losing your licence would count as a bribe.

Community benefit sharing isn’t a bribe in a strict legal sense. But the payments can resemble bribes if they influence community members to accept the new development. Improving community acceptance is often a central goal of such schemes.

The accusation is common. In the United Kingdom, researchers observe these schemes are regularly seen:

as an attempt by local developers to ‘bribe’ local communities to ‘buy’ support for their wind farm development.

Community members may decry a scheme as a “paltry bribe” or “shut up candy”. Some insist their “principles are not for sale”.

Developers recognise this too. As one says:

you don’t just turn up in a community and say, don’t worry, we’ll buy you a new rugby pitch […] because it really does look like you’re trying to buy them off.

But do local communities have obligations which accepting a renewables project might violate?

As part of a democracy, residents have civic obligations to make public-spirited decisions, evaluating policies and developments based not on self-interest but in a principled way.

This is why it’s illegal to pay someone to vote for a particular candidate in an election, for instance.

Offering money for community initiatives isn’t intrinsically wrong. As a community objector to a wind farm proposal put it:

Of course it is a relevant planning consideration if a wind power company is offering to pour significant sums of money into a community for the life of a wind farm […] Why should that not be recognised as a good thing?

But any economic boon to a town must be considered alongside other important concerns, rather than wiping them away.

If these schemes operate by influencing citizens to ignore their civic duties, that’s intrinsically wrong. Worse still, it risks a backlash from offended community members.

In the worst cases, benefit sharing operates as a pay-off, where uneasy communities are given money to reduce their resistance.

Offshore wind farm developers overseas often set up community benefit schemes.
Tupungato/Shutterstock

Achieving fairness, avoiding bribery

The solutions are straightfoward: design these schemes strategically so they are fair and avoid eroding civic obligations. Here are four aims:

1. Minimise self-interest. Schemes should avoid large up-front payments and focus on in-kind benefits.

2. Respect the community. Employ and contract local staff, keep the community informed and respond transparently to complaints.

3. Encourage community involvement. Big renewable projects should stack up on energy, environmental, economic and community grounds. Robust and genuine community consultation should be used when designing any benefit scheme.

4. Ensure integrity. Development and implementation of any scheme should be genuine, transparent and accountable.

Getting it right

As climate change intensifies, Australia’s clean energy transition has a clear moral urgency. But this cannot be done by steamrolling local residents or buying them off with cash for community projects.

When community benefit schemes are sensibly designed with local input, it will boost both climate action and civic legitimacy.

Hugh Breakey receives funding from the Blue Economy CRC. This research was funded through the project ‘Pre-conditions for the Development of Offshore Wind Energy in Australia’ by the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.

Charles Sampford receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Professional Services Council and the Blue Economy CRC.

Larelle Bossi 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. Bribe or community benefit? Sweeteners smoothing the way for renewables projects need to be done right – https://theconversation.com/bribe-or-community-benefit-sweeteners-smoothing-the-way-for-renewables-projects-need-to-be-done-right-258903
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: New cases of meningococcal disease have been detected. What are the symptoms? And who can get vaccinated?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archana Koirala, Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist; Clinical Researcher, University of Sydney

Two Tasmanian women have been hospitalised with invasive meningococcal disease, bringing the number of cases nationally so far this year to 48. Health authorities are urging people to watch for symptoms and to check if they’re eligible for vaccination.

Invasive meningococcal disease is a rare but life-threatening illness caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Invasive means the infection spreads rapidly through the blood and into your organs.

Early emergency medical care is important for survival and to reduce the chance of long-term complications. Even in those who survive, up to 30% suffer permanent cognitive, physical or psychological disabilities.

Thankfully, vaccines are available to protect against it.

How do you catch it?

Around one in ten people carry the meningococcal bacteria in their nose or throats.

The bacteria does not easily pass from person to person by breathing the same air or sharing drinks or food – and the bacteria do not survive well outside the human body.

It is spread through close and prolonged contact of oral and respiratory secretions, such as saliva, from others who live in your household or through deep, intimate kissing.

There is no way to know if you carry the bacteria, as carriers don’t have symptoms.

Who is most at risk?

Meningococcal disease can affect anyone.

But infants under one, adolescents and young adults aged 15–25 years, and people without a spleen or who are immunosuppressed are at a higher risk of developing invasive disease.

Meningococcal disease notifications by age and sex

Babies and teens are more likely to contract the disease than other age groups.
National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System

Although sensitive to common antibiotics such as penicillin, the meningococcal bacteria can cause severe infection and death in a matter of hours. The difficulty in picking up meningococcal disease early is that, early on, it can mimic common viral illnesses that people would recover from without any treatment.

Most people experience a sudden onset of fever, difficulty looking at light and/or a rash. The rash is non-blanching, meaning it doesn’t fade when you apply pressure to it. But early in the illness, it can start out as a blanching rash that fades with pressure.

Young infants may also become irritable, have difficulty waking up, or refuse to feed.

The bacteria usually causes a meningitis – inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord – or a bloodstream infection, called septicemia or sepsis. But sometimes it can cause an infection of the bone, lungs (pneumonia) or eyes (conjunctivitis).

Protection against different strains

There are 13 types of meningococcal bacteria that cause invasive disease, but types A, B, C, W and Y cause the most illness.

The rapid disease progression occurs because the bacteria has a sugar capsule which allows it to evade the immune system.

But each of the 13 types has its own unique capsule. So immunity to one strain does not offer immunity to other strains.

Currently, two types of vaccines are available: a vaccine that protects against meningococcal A, C, W and Y (MenACWY); and another vaccine that protects against meningococcal B.

The vaccines are manufactured differently and therefore have different mechanisms of protection.

The MenACWY vaccine uses parts of the sugar capsule within each of the bacteria and joins them to a protein. This is called a “conjugate vaccine” and allows for a better immune response, especially in young infants.

The MenB vaccine does not contain the sugar capsule but includes four other proteins from the surface of the meningococcal B bacteria.

Both vaccines are registered for all people aged six months and older, and are safe for immunocompromised people.

The vaccines can be given from six months.
lavizzara/Shutterstock

MenACWY vaccine

The MenACWY vaccine is funded under the National Immunisation Program, and given for free, to all infants aged 12 months. There is also a free catch-up program for teens in Year 10.

The MenACWY vaccine protects against disease and also decreases the bacteria load in the throat, reducing the likelihood of transmission to others.

MenB vaccine

The MenB vaccine recommended for all infants aged six weeks or more. But it’s only available for free to infants in South Australia and Queensland, through state-based programs, and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants nationally, via the National Immunisation Program.

Parents of non-Indigenous infants in other states will pay around A$220–270 for two doses of the MenB vaccine.

The MenB vaccine is highly protective against invasive disease for the person who receives the vaccine. But it does not eradicate the bacteria from the throat, nor does it decrease spread of the bacteria to others.

Reducing meningococcal disease

Other people who are at high risk of meningococcal exposure are also recommended for vaccination: people without a functional spleen, those with certain immunocompromising conditions, certain travellers and some lab workers.

Since the rollout of the conjugate MenC vaccine in 2001 and the MenACWY in 2018, rates of invasive meningococcal disease have dropped dramatically, from 684 cases in 2002, to 136 cases in 2024. The most common strain to cause disease is now meningococcal B.

Meningococcal notifications by jurisdiction

Vaccination has reduced case numbers.
National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System

Another reason for adults to get vaccinated

The MenB vaccine has also been shown to lower rates of another bacterial infection, gonorrhoea, by 33–47%. This is because the gonococcal bacteria is closely related and shares similar surface protein structures to meningococcal bacteria.

In Australia, rates of gonorrhea have doubled over the past ten years , with higher rates among young Aboriginal and Torres Islander people.

The Northern Territory began offering the vaccine to people aged 14 to 19 last year as part of a research trial.

Further research is underway in Australia to better understand the meningococcal bacteria, its capability to evade the immune system and the cross protection against gonorrhoea.

Archana Koirala has worked on research funded by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care and NSW health. She is the chair of the Vaccination Special Interest Group through the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.

– ref. New cases of meningococcal disease have been detected. What are the symptoms? And who can get vaccinated? – https://theconversation.com/new-cases-of-meningococcal-disease-have-been-detected-what-are-the-symptoms-and-who-can-get-vaccinated-259049

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: New cases of meningococcal disease have been detected. What are the symptoms? And who can get vaccinated?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archana Koirala, Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist; Clinical Researcher, University of Sydney

Two Tasmanian women have been hospitalised with invasive meningococcal disease, bringing the number of cases nationally so far this year to 48. Health authorities are urging people to watch for symptoms and to check if they’re eligible for vaccination.

Invasive meningococcal disease is a rare but life-threatening illness caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. Invasive means the infection spreads rapidly through the blood and into your organs.

Early emergency medical care is important for survival and to reduce the chance of long-term complications. Even in those who survive, up to 30% suffer permanent cognitive, physical or psychological disabilities.

Thankfully, vaccines are available to protect against it.

How do you catch it?

Around one in ten people carry the meningococcal bacteria in their nose or throats.

The bacteria does not easily pass from person to person by breathing the same air or sharing drinks or food – and the bacteria do not survive well outside the human body.

It is spread through close and prolonged contact of oral and respiratory secretions, such as saliva, from others who live in your household or through deep, intimate kissing.

There is no way to know if you carry the bacteria, as carriers don’t have symptoms.

Who is most at risk?

Meningococcal disease can affect anyone.

But infants under one, adolescents and young adults aged 15–25 years, and people without a spleen or who are immunosuppressed are at a higher risk of developing invasive disease.

Meningococcal disease notifications by age and sex

Babies and teens are more likely to contract the disease than other age groups.
National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System

Although sensitive to common antibiotics such as penicillin, the meningococcal bacteria can cause severe infection and death in a matter of hours. The difficulty in picking up meningococcal disease early is that, early on, it can mimic common viral illnesses that people would recover from without any treatment.

Most people experience a sudden onset of fever, difficulty looking at light and/or a rash. The rash is non-blanching, meaning it doesn’t fade when you apply pressure to it. But early in the illness, it can start out as a blanching rash that fades with pressure.

Young infants may also become irritable, have difficulty waking up, or refuse to feed.

The bacteria usually causes a meningitis – inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord – or a bloodstream infection, called septicemia or sepsis. But sometimes it can cause an infection of the bone, lungs (pneumonia) or eyes (conjunctivitis).

Protection against different strains

There are 13 types of meningococcal bacteria that cause invasive disease, but types A, B, C, W and Y cause the most illness.

The rapid disease progression occurs because the bacteria has a sugar capsule which allows it to evade the immune system.

But each of the 13 types has its own unique capsule. So immunity to one strain does not offer immunity to other strains.

Currently, two types of vaccines are available: a vaccine that protects against meningococcal A, C, W and Y (MenACWY); and another vaccine that protects against meningococcal B.

The vaccines are manufactured differently and therefore have different mechanisms of protection.

The MenACWY vaccine uses parts of the sugar capsule within each of the bacteria and joins them to a protein. This is called a “conjugate vaccine” and allows for a better immune response, especially in young infants.

The MenB vaccine does not contain the sugar capsule but includes four other proteins from the surface of the meningococcal B bacteria.

Both vaccines are registered for all people aged six months and older, and are safe for immunocompromised people.

The vaccines can be given from six months.
lavizzara/Shutterstock

MenACWY vaccine

The MenACWY vaccine is funded under the National Immunisation Program, and given for free, to all infants aged 12 months. There is also a free catch-up program for teens in Year 10.

The MenACWY vaccine protects against disease and also decreases the bacteria load in the throat, reducing the likelihood of transmission to others.

MenB vaccine

The MenB vaccine recommended for all infants aged six weeks or more. But it’s only available for free to infants in South Australia and Queensland, through state-based programs, and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants nationally, via the National Immunisation Program.

Parents of non-Indigenous infants in other states will pay around A$220–270 for two doses of the MenB vaccine.

The MenB vaccine is highly protective against invasive disease for the person who receives the vaccine. But it does not eradicate the bacteria from the throat, nor does it decrease spread of the bacteria to others.

Reducing meningococcal disease

Other people who are at high risk of meningococcal exposure are also recommended for vaccination: people without a functional spleen, those with certain immunocompromising conditions, certain travellers and some lab workers.

Since the rollout of the conjugate MenC vaccine in 2001 and the MenACWY in 2018, rates of invasive meningococcal disease have dropped dramatically, from 684 cases in 2002, to 136 cases in 2024. The most common strain to cause disease is now meningococcal B.

Meningococcal notifications by jurisdiction

Vaccination has reduced case numbers.
National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System

Another reason for adults to get vaccinated

The MenB vaccine has also been shown to lower rates of another bacterial infection, gonorrhoea, by 33–47%. This is because the gonococcal bacteria is closely related and shares similar surface protein structures to meningococcal bacteria.

In Australia, rates of gonorrhea have doubled over the past ten years , with higher rates among young Aboriginal and Torres Islander people.

The Northern Territory began offering the vaccine to people aged 14 to 19 last year as part of a research trial.

Further research is underway in Australia to better understand the meningococcal bacteria, its capability to evade the immune system and the cross protection against gonorrhoea.

Archana Koirala has worked on research funded by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care and NSW health. She is the chair of the Vaccination Special Interest Group through the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.

– ref. New cases of meningococcal disease have been detected. What are the symptoms? And who can get vaccinated? – https://theconversation.com/new-cases-of-meningococcal-disease-have-been-detected-what-are-the-symptoms-and-who-can-get-vaccinated-259049

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Tribunal Issues Determination of Reasonable Indication of Injury—Certain Carbon or Alloy Steel Wire from Various Countries

Source: Government of Canada News (2)

Ottawa, Ontario, June 19, 2025—The Canadian International Trade Tribunal today determined that there is a reasonable indication that the dumping of certain carbon or alloy steel wire from China, Chinese Taipei, India, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Türkiye and Vietnam has caused injury to the domestic industry.

The Tribunal’s inquiry was conducted pursuant to the Special Import Measures Act as a result of the initiation of a dumping investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The CBSA will continue its investigation and, by July 21, 2025, will issue a preliminary determination.

The Tribunal is an independent quasi-judicial body that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. It hears cases on dumped and subsidized imports, safeguard complaints, complaints about federal government procurement and appeals of customs and excise tax rulings. When requested by the federal government, the Tribunal also provides advice on other economic, trade and tariff matters.

MIL OSI Canada News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: First-of-its-kind in Canada, First Nations healing centre breaks ground
Source: Government of Canada regional news

People in northeastern British Columbia are one step closer to a new centre that will offer a holistic, culturally safe approach to addictions treatment and recovery, supporting more people on their healing journey.

“This groundbreaking marks a meaningful step forward in building a more inclusive and culturally safe health-care system,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. “The North Wind Wellness Centre will provide vital, comprehensive support for people on their healing journey, closer to home and community. It’s a powerful example of how we can work together to build services that are rooted in community and focused on wellness.”

Located in Pouce Coupe at 5213 Hospital Rd., the new North Wind Wellness Centre (NWWC) will have 55 spaces and will integrate First Nations healing practices with clinical care to support people at all stages of recovery. The NWWC will provide five detox beds, 10 addiction treatment beds, 40 self-contained supportive housing units and the Junction, a recovery-based community centre at the heart of the complex that will serve as a resource hub for those in treatment.

“At the North Wind Wellness Centre, people near and around Pouce Coupe will be able to get the care and housing they need locally, in the community they know,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. “The centre offers stable, safe homes and continued support after treatment, helping people build a foundation for a healthier life. At the same time, cutting-edge care and services will honour and deepen connections to family, First Nations culture and community.”

The NWWC will deliver a full continuum of addictions recovery services in one place, combining detox, early recovery housing, treatment and supportive housing through the Addictions Recovery Community Housing (ARCH) model. This model combines Indigenous healing traditions with western medicine practices, including co-ordinated access, live-in treatment supports and post-recovery supports.

“With the generous support of our funders, the NWWC is proud to establish Canada’s first health and wellness centre, pioneering an innovative approach that unites the full continuum of care under one roof with the ARCH model,” said Isaac Hernandez, executive director, North Wind Wellness Centre. “This integrated model combines withdrawal management, addiction treatment, and assisted recovery housing, providing comprehensive support for individuals on their healing journey. The Northeast Junction, a peer-led central hub, connects all components, fostering a strong sense of community and holistic support.”

Designed with input from local First Nations and featuring culturally significant design elements, the new 3,200-square-metre (35,000-square-foot) centre will provide trauma-informed, culturally safe care to people 19 and older.

“Too many people in rural and Indigenous communities face barriers to accessing appropriate addiction care,” said Amna Shah, parliamentary secretary for mental health and addictions. “By building a centre that blends traditional Indigenous wellness with clinical supports, we are helping people heal in a place that feels like home, close to culture, community and care.”

This project is a partnership between the Province, the First Nations Health Authority, Northern Health, BC Housing, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the North Wind Wellness Centre Society. The project also received support from the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, the Peace River Regional District and the Village of Pouce Coupe.

Enhancing supports for people living with mental-health and addiction challenges is an integral part of government’s work to build a full continuum of mental-health and substance-use care that works for everyone.

Quotes:

Rob Turnbull, president and chief executive officer, Streetohome –

“This project reflects nearly a decade of cross-sector collaboration, vision and heart. It began with a commitment to do better – for individuals, for communities, and for future generations. With the collective support of funders including BC Housing, CMHC, FNHA, Northern Health and Streetohome, we’re not just building a facility, we’re creating a lifeline rooted in respect, culture and long-term recovery.”

Marlene Roy, executive director, Treaty 8 Tribal Association –

“Treaty 8 Tribal Association has proudly supported NWWC, recognizing that having this facility is a crucial and vital step forward in addressing the needs of our communities. As we continue to navigate this toxic drug crisis together, this facility will represent a shared commitment to resilience, support and healing. Situated in Pouce Coupe, the centre will stand on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Treaty 8 First Nations, fostering healing and support for those in need.”

Danielle Veach, mayor of Pouce Coupe –

“The new North Wind Wellness Centre brings hope to our region. Many families have suffered unendurable losses due to the toxic drug epidemic in our communities. This facility offers a second chance to those struggling with addiction, and reassurance to families that help is close to home.”

Leonard Hiebert, board chair, Peace River Regional District –

“The Peace River Regional District is pleased to support the NWWC’s new Health and Wellness Centre. This facility will bring a unique approach to addiction recovery services to our region, helping those who have previously had to travel far for this essential support. It will serve people throughout the province as well. We’re excited to see this project move forward – it’s going to make a real difference for people who need help.”

Katie Hughes, vice-president, public health response, First Nations Health Authority –

“Today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the North Wind Wellness Centre marks the latest milestone in bringing culturally safe treatment and healing closer to home for First Nations people in B.C. This ground-breaking reaffirms the First Nations Health Authority’s commitment as tripartite partners along with the First Nations Health Council, the Province and the Government of Canada, to meet the urgent need to support healing and wellness services for First Nations people and families across the province.”

Colleen Nyce, Northern Health board chair –

“The North Wind Wellness Centre fills a critical need in the region and will allow people to get the care they need in a facility rooted in healing, culture and community. Northern Health is proud to be a partner in this journey, supporting a model of care that is both innovative and deeply respectful of Indigenous traditions.”

Quick Fact:
- NWWC was established in 1996 to serve Indigenous communities in Treaty 8 Territory.
- The new centre represents a significant advancement in addiction recovery in Canada, by integrating the entire continuum of care under one roof and combining Western medical practices with Traditional Indigenous healing.
Learn More:

To learn more about NWWC, visit: https://northwindwellnesscentre.ca/about-us/about-the-centre/

MIL OSI Canada News –
June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM meeting with Prime Minister of Bahrain: 19 June 2025
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

Press release

PM meeting with Prime Minister of Bahrain: 19 June 2025

The Prime Minister welcomed His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain to Downing Street today.
The Prime Minister welcomed His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain to Downing Street today.

The leaders reflected on the strength of the UK-Bahrain relationship, and welcomed the UK becoming a full member of the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement (C-SIPA) today. The agreement will deepen trilateral cooperation with Bahrain and the United States on regional security at a critical time, both agreed.

The Prime Minister also welcomed the signing of the Strategic Investment and Collaboration Partnership, building on the two-way investment partnership between the countries, and how this will unlock new investment, growth and jobs into the UK, delivering on the Plan for Change.

The leaders also underscored the importance of the new Defence Cooperation Accord between the two countries, deepening joint military training and building on the two nations’ strong naval ties.

Highlighting the strength of the 200-year relationship between both nations, the leaders looked forward to further cooperation, including trade negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Turning to the situation in the Middle East, the leaders called for de-escalation and both agreed on the need for enduring and closer relationships across the region to support stability.

The Prime Minister and Crown Prince looked forward to speaking again soon.

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Published 19 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Video: AliExpress in breach of the DSA

Source: European Commission (video statements)

AliExpess has been found in breach of the Digital Services Act, relating to the dissemination of illegal products on its marketplace. The DSA’s purpose is to regulate online platforms and protect consumers from disinformation and illegal activities.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pCGGSRcYYNc

MIL OSI Video –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: South Sudan: Free medical care by Indian peacekeepers gives hope to over 300 displaced people

As security concerns continue in parts of Upper Nile state, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is making every effort to protect civilians and boost community confidence.

As an example—Blue Helmets from India hosted a two-day medical outreach at the UN Protection of Civilians site, adjacent to the Mission’s base in Malakal where some 315 displaced people received free treatment.

Patients suffering from various ailments were diagnosed and provided with care options.

For Dr. Sandeep Ravi, a medical peacekeeper, such interventions lie at the heart of the UN Peacekeeping mission’s mandate to help build lasting peace in this country.

“Accessible and inclusive healthcare is key for communities to thrive. Across Upper Nile state, conflict has disrupted not only people’s lives and livelihoods but also reduced the number of available health facilities. So, we decided to come together and, for a limited time, bridge this gap as much as possible,” he explained.

“Bringing quality healthcare directly to communities goes beyond free consultations and treatment. It gives hope to people who are most vulnerable.”

Mary Joseph, a 20-year-old patient, can testify to Dr Ravi’s opinion.

“I’ve had a problem with my leg for three months now but had no money to pay for treatment at the local clinics in town. Today, Indian doctors have examined me carefully and given me medications to treat the condition as well as manage my pain. I hope I can restart my small business soon,” she said with a smile.

Albino Amum, a community leader residing at the camp who helped peacekeepers mobilize this event, described the activity as timely and significant.

“Earlier, we were receiving healthcare from various international and nongovernmental organizations, but we understand that there is a reduction in funding, which has left a big vacuum. So, this medical drive by our friends at UNMISS came at a very opportune time. We hope they’ll consider doing similar activities for us for five or six days in future. It makes a big difference for those who are financially constrained yet need urgent health checks,” stated Mr. Amum.

For his part, Dr. Ravi reveals that the biggest satisfaction was the response from community members.

“As medical professionals and peacekeepers, there is no greater reward than the genuine appreciation we have received from the displaced communities we treated. I believe this initiative is a testament to what collective effort and compassion can achieve in strengthening public health.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

MIL OSI Africa –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Minister Joly travels to France to support innovative Canadian industries

Source: Government of Canada News (2)

June 19, 2025 – Paris, France

The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, led Canada’s presence at the 55th International Paris Air Show.

Minister Joly showcased Canada’s highly innovative aerospace sector and promoted the country as a top destination for global aerospace investment—at a time when Canada is seeking to help build trusted, reliable partnerships that support its companies and workers.

Minister Joly met with CEOs of Canadian and global aerospace businesses as well as with key provincial partners, including François Legault, Premier of Quebec; Christine Fréchette, Quebec Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy; and the Honourable Victor Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

During the visit, Minister Joly underscored Canada’s world-class aerospace sector, with its strong workforce and cutting-edge innovation, and highlighted that the government is committed to making major investments in the economy and supporting Canada’s defence sector. These investments will generate jobs and opportunities throughout Canada’s industrial base, strengthen domestic capabilities, and diversity Canada’s international partnerships. She also advocated for workers across other Canadian industries, including steel and aluminum, which are well positioned to be better integrated into global aerospace supply chains.

A highlight of the visit was LOT Polish Airlines’ announcement of its intention to purchase up to 84 Canadian-built Airbus A220 aircraft, made in Mirabel, Quebec. This is a major win for Canadian workers. The deal will create many high-paying jobs and highlights Canada’s desire for deeper industrial and commercial ties with Europe at a time when cooperation with reliable partners is more important than ever.

Minister Joly welcomed France’s announcement of its purchase of new GlobalEye aircraft from Saab, which uses Bombardier’s Canadian-designed, -developed and -built Global 6500 platform.

In addition, Minister Joly welcomed the announcement of $87.4 million for the latest projects from the Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology (INSAT), a pan-Canadian, industry-led network focused on accelerating sustainable innovation in aviation.

Prior to the Paris Air Show, Minister Joly represented Canada at VivaTech 2025, Europe’s largest startup and tech event. Canada was Country of the Year at the event, and its participation was a celebration of our leadership in AI and new technologies that the world needs.

MIL OSI Canada News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: LEADER JEFFRIES STATEMENT ON JUNETEENTH

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement:

160 years ago, today, Union troops reached Texas and delivered news of emancipation, marking the end of slavery in the United States and the first commemoration of Juneteenth. Today, we celebrate the freedom that Black Americans long fought for and the rich culture that grew from that great struggle.

That struggle roars on, with President Trump and MAGA extremists banning books about Black history, dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs and trying to detonate the citizenship protections of the 14th Amendment. This is an intentional effort to turn back the clock and tear our country apart.

House Democrats are in an all-hands-on-deck fight in the Congress, the Courts and communities across the country to push back against the malignant assault on our nation’s progress. We will always stand up for liberty and justice for all, not just the privileged few.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: NATO Deputy Secretary General attends the international Paris Air Show 2025

Source: NATO

On Thursday (19 June), NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska met leading Allied industry representatives at the international Paris Air Show 2025 at Le Bourget.

The Deputy Secretary previewed the priorities of the NATO Summit in The Hague next week, where Allies are expected to agree a new defence investment plan that raises defence spending commitments to levels not seen in decades, reflecting the challenging security environment and taking into account the Capability Targets agreed by NATO Defence Ministers on 5 June 2025. During her visit, increasing Allies’ defence industrial capacity and production and expediting innovation, adoption and integration in defence capabilities were among the main topics of discussion with executives from both established aerospace industry and start-ups.

The Deputy Secretary General further stressed the importance of expanding and reinforcing transatlantic defence industry cooperation to ensure the delivery of the capabilities and technologies the Alliance needs now and in the future.

The Deputy Secretary General also reviewed cutting-edge technologies in critical areas for defence including satellite communications, sensors and surveillance, secure information sharing and autonomous systems.

MIL Security OSI –

June 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Expert workshop held in Nigeria to boost judicial cooperation with EU

Source: Eurojust

In a significant milestone in the fight against transnational organised crime, a high-level expert workshop was convened in Abuja, Nigeria, on 18 June 2025. The workshop brought together top officials from Eurojust, the Nigerian government, and EU Member States to discuss the judicial cooperation between partners.

The expert workshop between Eurojust and Nigeria aims to tackle the complex challenges posed by transnational organised crime, particularly in areas such as fraud, cybercrime, and human trafficking, and terrorism. The impact of these crimes is felt in both the EU and Nigeria, with significant consequences for regional security, economic stability, and good governance, underscoring the need for enhanced cooperation and collaboration.

During the workshop, participants could join sessions on the role of Eurojust, judicial cooperation procedures in Nigeria, and challenges to judicial cooperation. The workshop also provided a platform for constructive dialogue and knowledge-sharing. By exploring ways to enhance collaboration, participants aimed to identify opportunities for more effective cooperation between Nigeria and EU Member States in the fight against organised crime.

The workshop is a key event in the implementation of the Working Arrangement, signed between Eurojust and the Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice in November 2023. Nigeria is the first sub-Saharan African country to partner with Eurojust, and the working arrangement lays the foundation for structured and closer cooperation.

In Abuja, the Eurojust delegation, led by Vice-President José de la Mata, also participated in several high-level meetings, including with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the EU and EU Member States Ambassadors and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

MIL Security OSI –

June 20, 2025