NewzIntel.com

Category: Asia Pacific

  • Amarnath Yatra suspended due to heavy rainfall forecast; no batch allowed today

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of pilgrims, authorities on Thursday suspended the Amarnath Yatra following a forecast of heavy rainfall along the route. No movement of Yatris was allowed from Jammu to Kashmir Valley and also from the two base camps – Baltal and Pahalgam – towards the holy cave shrine.

    Officials said, “Due to an adverse weather advisory predicting heavy rain along the Yatra route from Jammu to the Valley, as well as from the twin base camps to the holy cave shrine, no movement of Yatris will be permitted today.”

    The Meteorological Department (MeT) has forecast widespread light to moderate rainfall in Kashmir and heavy to very heavy rain in the Jammu division over the next 24 hours.

    Since the Yatra commenced on July 3, more than 2.37 lakh pilgrims have had ‘darshan’ at the sacred cave shrine.

    Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that, given the overwhelming response and enthusiasm of the devotees, this year’s Amarnath Yatra is likely to surpass the expected figure of 3.5 lakh pilgrims.

    The Amarnath Yatra will conclude on August 9.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: From coal to crops: Dayak women lead a just transition through backyard farming

    Source: The Conversation – Indonesia – By Aidy Halimanjaya, Associate lecturer, Universitas Katolik Parahyangan

    The global shift toward renewable energy is no longer a choice but a necessity: the climate crisis intensifies, with 2024 confirmed as the warmest year on record.

    Yet in Indonesia, coal remains an economic lifeline for several regions. In East Kutai, East Kalimantan, coal mining accounts for nearly 75% of the district’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP).

    The end of the coal mining era will come at a cost to local residents, many of whom risk losing their current jobs — especially after their traditional forest-based livelihoods have already been eroded by environmental degradation tied to fossil fuel extraction.

    Aulia, 31, a Dayak women from East Kutai, admitted:

    We’re heavily dependent on mining—it’s the only thing that gives us a substantial income.

    Yet, amid this dilemma, indigenous Dayak women are unfolding a quiet revolution.

    By growing food crops in their backyards, these women not only generate income but also demonstrate that sustainable agriculture can align with local traditions. Their initiative is an inspiration, especially for communities near mining sites seeking alternative sources of income.

    Mining’s hidden toll on women and indigenous communities

    While coal fuels East Kalimantan’s economy, its benefits are unevenly distributed. In 2024, Kutai Kartanegara and East Kutai regencies were ranked first and third among the province’s poorest regions.

    Instead of prosperity, many residents face environmental degradation and the loss of traditional livelihoods (land-based livelihood). This is especially true for women, who are often marginalised in decision-making and excluded from the mining sector.

    Since the forest was converted into a mining pit, the indigenous Dayak Basap community, which once relied on the forest for its livelihood, has lost its traditional living space and been forced to adapt to survive.

    Many men have turned to mining, while women have sought other ways to support their families: some teach, others run small businesses, and many now grow chillies, spinach, and watercress in their backyards.

    From backyards to resistance: A community’s fight for survival

    With the changing economic landscape, Basap Dayak women are turning to their yards as a source of alternative income. There, they grow food crops that yield quick harvests, are in high demand, and may influence local inflation — such as chillies. Spinach and watercress are also among the popular choices.

    This shift is driven by a 2024 pilot project from Just Transition Indonesia and Parahyangan University, supported by Energi Muda, a local NGO focused on energy transition issues.

    On a 700-square-metre plot, local residents have learned to blend traditional farming with modern permaculture techniques, including composting and crop rotation. Permaculture is a holistic approach to agriculture and land management that mimics patterns found in surrounding natural ecosystems. Local youth are also engaged as community mobilisers to support the post-coal transition.

    The results are promising. With agricultural science and technological support from the startup HARA, Dayak Basap women have overcome challenges such as acidic soil and water pollution caused by mining. Through seed cultivation, their crop yields have even outperformed those of conventional farming methods previously tested.

    They’ve also learned to sell their harvests directly to consumers — such as restaurants and cracker producers — cutting out middlemen and increasing their bargaining power. This combination of traditional knowledge and modern innovation is not only enhancing community capacity but also delivering tangible economic benefits.

    When innovation meets tradition: Overcoming barriers

    However, the journey is far from easy. Formerly mined land takes a long time to recover. Acidic soil and water contaminated with heavy metals pose serious challenges, while limited access to tools and fertilisers remains a significant barrier. In some cases, communities must purchase pre-grown seedlings to speed up the planting process.

    This chilli planting program has been very good. It’s just that the condition of the land was inadequate and hard to improve. If there’s a chance, maybe we can try farming that lasts more than just one season—Indigenous Dayak women.

    Furthermore, the transition from shifting cropping to a long-term management system requires ongoing training. This kind of adaptation certainly cannot be achieved overnight and requires intensive mentoring.

    A just transition must be grassroots-led

    Initiatives like these offer valuable lessons.

    First, the energy transition must involve local communities—especially women—from the outset.

    Second, collective, community-based approaches have proven more sustainable than top-down programmes, which often fail to address real needs on the ground.

    Third, policy support must be directed toward grassroots initiatives like this. The focus should not only be on meeting transition targets, but also on ensuring social and ecological justice.

    In the global context, Indonesia has expressed its commitment through the Paris Agreement and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). However, this commitment must be grounded in the lived experiences of communities, particularly indigenous women and those directly impacted by extractive industries.

    A just energy transition requires gradual steps, targeted programme support, inclusive partnerships, and genuine commitment from all stakeholders.

    The story of the Dayak Basap women is more than one of resilience—it is a roadmap for a just energy transition. Their success proves that economic diversification is possible, even in coal-dependent regions. But that success hinges on the quality of support: whether it truly meets community needs and is led by strong local leadership.

    Aidy Halimanjaya terafiliasi sebagai pendiri dan direktur Yayasan Transisi berkeadilan Indonesia. Ia menerima dana dari Bank Indonesia melalui Universitas Parahyangan.

    – ref. From coal to crops: Dayak women lead a just transition through backyard farming – https://theconversation.com/from-coal-to-crops-dayak-women-lead-a-just-transition-through-backyard-farming-260827

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health – ProCare welcomes fast-tracked registration for overseas doctors

    Source: ProCare

    ProCare welcomes the Medical Council’s decision to recognise overseas-trained doctors from Chile, Croatia, and Luxembourg as part of the “Comparable Health System pathway”. Alongside the fast-track registration for GPs from the USA, Canada, and Singapore, this will deliver a much-needed boost to general practices across Aotearoa who are facing a significant GP shortage.

    The decision means ProCare will be better placed to support its primary care network to recruit offshore GPs; further helping to ease workforce pressure and improve access to care for communities.

    Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare, says the organisation is ready to support practices to take full advantage of the change.

    “We know our practices are under pressure and this change gives us a practical way to bring in skilled clinicians faster,” says Norwell.

    Under the changes, GPs from the United States, Canada and Singapore will have their registration applications processed within two months, while specialists from countries such as the UK, Ireland and Australia will benefit from a fast-tracked 20-day assessment process. Japan and South Korea were added to the list in February 2025.

    “At ProCare, we are deeply committed to investing in the primary care workforce. We’ve long advocated for practical solutions that support our network and improve health outcomes for our communities. This announcement aligns with that vision.”

    Earlier this month, ProCare became an Immigration NZ Accredited Employer, allowing it to directly support practices with international recruitment and immigration processes.

    “We’re actively investing in solutions for primary care that make a difference,” says Norwell. “Our investment includes tailored support for general practice teams, leadership development, and tools to improve retention and resilience. We’re committed to building a strong, sustainable workforce that delivers better health outcomes for all New Zealanders.”

    ProCare will continue working closely with its network and partners to ensure overseas-trained doctors are welcomed, supported, and integrated into the communities where they’re needed most.

    Learn about ProCare’s Investment in Workforce: https://www.procare.co.nz/about-us/investment-in-workforce/

    About ProCare

    ProCare is a leading healthcare provider that aims to deliver the most progressive, pro-active and equitable health and wellbeing services in Aotearoa. We do this through our clinical support services, mental health and wellness services, virtual/tele health, mobile health, smoking cessation and by taking a population health and equity approach to our mahi. As New Zealand’s largest Primary Health Organisation, we represent a network of general practice teams and healthcare professionals who provide care to more than 830,000 people across Auckland and Northland. These practices serve the largest Pacific and South Asian populations enrolled in general practice and the largest Māori population in Tāmaki Makaurau. For more information go to www.procare.co.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Greenpeace – Government agency warns controversial bill could delay disaster response

    Source: Greenpeace

    As the cleanup begins in flood-hit Tasman, fresh documents reveal a stark warning from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) that the Regulatory Standards Bill could hinder the country’s ability to respond to climate-related disasters.
    In a briefing obtained by Greenpeace under the Official Information Act, LINZ – the agency responsible for managing Crown land – warned that the Bill may “limit the ability to respond quickly to emerging issues (for example, climate-related or natural disaster issues).”
    Greenpeace has called the advice “yet another nail in the coffin for the doomed Bill”.
    “As families, businesses and farmers in Tasman begin the difficult cleanup after yet another devastating flood, it’s shocking to learn that officials are warning this Bill could make it harder to respond to exactly these kinds of disasters,” says Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.
    LINZ also flagged concerns about the Bill’s impact on critical infrastructure and public works, warning “an overly rigid emphasis on property interests may conflict with broader regulatory objectives, including the Government’s ability to acquire land for infrastructure or public good projects.” This was a concern echoed by the Treasury in its advice on the Bill.
    “The Regulatory Standards Bill is dangerous. It would tie the Government up in new red tape at the very moment when urgent climate action and disaster preparation are needed most,” says Toop
    “The advice is clear. This Bill would make it harder to build the infrastructure we urgently need to decarbonise the economy and prepare for climate disasters – things like flood protection, improved communication links, and renewable energy.”
    LINZ further flagged that the legislation could create new legal barriers to returning land to iwi under the Treaty settlement process, citing concerns raised by the Waitangi Tribunal.
    “These new warnings are yet another nail in the coffin for this doomed Bill. It has attracted blistering criticism from the United Nations, legal experts, health professionals, Māori leaders, environmental groups, and the public service itself.”
    “The Labour and Green parties have committed to repealing the Bill. It simply has no future. The Prime Minister should withdraw National’s support immediately before further time and money is wasted on yet another one of David Seymour’s disastrously unpopular policy ideas.”
    This latest revelation comes as news broke this morning that MBIE had warned the Bill could be much more expensive than previously expected and have a negative impact on economic growth, and just days after news broke that the United Nations has issued a letter to the Government criticising the Bill.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health – PSA decries closure of specialist mental health facility Segar House

    Source: PSA

    The PSA strongly objects to the decision released today to close Rauaroha – Segar House, a specialised mental health facility based in Auckland for some of New Zealand’s most complex patients.
    “Despite the critical life-saving work done at Segar House, Health New Zealand has today announced its decision to shut this unique, much-needed service,” Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi national secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, says.
    “This is terrible news for staff, those who rely on the specialist support offered at Segar House and their loved ones.
    “We’re calling on Health New Zealand and the government to reverse this decision and commit to properly funding Segar House. New Zealanders want – and deserve – public mental healthcare that serves everyone, even and especially those with complex needs.”
    Segar House is a wrap-around service for mental health clients that incorporates several different kinds of therapies. Its emphasis on group work and positive social interaction is designed to help their patients re-integrate smoothly into normal life.
    “The team working at Segar House are devastated, they know this decision will have tragic consequences,” Fitzsimons says.
    “Segar House has supported patients with highly complex health histories, with more than one diagnosed issue, as well as horrific early trauma well for many years. They can only come to Segar House when they’ve already exhausted all other options – it’s the last option for these mental health patients.
    Te Whatu Ora first proposed closing Segar House in April this year, saying the facility was under-utilised.
    In response, staff criticised Te Whatu Ora’s referral rules as overly restrictive.
    After pressure from the clinical team last year, Segar House trialled working with Primary Care Liaison teams to drop the barrier for admission and had good results with an increase in clients getting access to their intensive treatment.
    The PSA is also seeking legal advice following more recent revelations that Te Whatu Ora considered not renewing the Segar House lease last year, months before the closure proposal was tabled.
    The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: REMARKS: Senator Coons condemns deep cuts to humanitarian and disaster aid in moving speech on Senate floor

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered a floor speech today condemning proposed Republican-led efforts to axe humanitarian and disaster relief funding, and eliminate publicly broadcast emergency alerts for rural communities in the latest budget rescission package. The cuts, totaling approximately $9 billion, or roughly 0.1% of the federal budget, target critical aid programs including the World Food Program, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and disaster response efforts around the globe. During his speech, Senator Coons said the cuts not only undermine America’s values, but they also betray the moral teachings at the heart of our faith traditions.
    “Jesus wept,” Senator Coons began, referencing the Gospel of John. Senator Coons warned that the proposed $9 billion in rescissions, which include drastic reductions to food assistance, refugee aid, and disaster response, would cause similar needless suffering to our most vulnerable. “For God’s justice is swift and sure, and I tremble when I think about the answer this chamber will give today to the question, who is my neighbor? Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep.”
    Despite the focus of President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress on cutting foreign aid this year, the United States spends less than 1% of its annual budget on foreign assistance. The money feeds starving children, combats epidemics overseas before they reach American shores, helps us strengthen partnerships and alliances, and is critical in helping us outcompete China.
    “I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines of all the nations on Earth is the most prone to natural disasters,” Senator Coons continued. “They value our partnership, our alliance. We’ve been security partners for decades. There’s many Filipino-Americans. There’s a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders, their elected leaders, their senators and their ministers of their cabinet, they said, you know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines: every time there’s a typhoon, there’s an earthquake, there’s a volcano, it’s the Americans who come. It’s the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support.”
    Shortly afterward, Senator Coons offered an amendment on the Senate floor to strip out $496 million of the cuts that target international disaster relief.
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks are available below.
    WATCH HERE.
    Senator Coons: Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Most of us who grew up in bible-believing households know this is the shortest verse in all of Scripture, and in some ways the most powerful – one that haunts me. Jesus wept in John, the 11th chapter, 35th verse, because he had come too late, seemingly, to save the life of Lazarus. He wept because someone he knew and loved had died, and it had caused such harm and loss to his family. Today we are doing something on this floor of this Senate – my Republican colleagues are doing something on the floor of this Senate – that I believe would make Jesus weep.
    In Luke, there’s a moment in the 10th chapter where a lawyer – and it’s always a lawyer – comes to test Jesus, and trying to justify himself, presses Jesus with questions: “What must I do to gain eternal life?” And Jesus says, “what does the Scripture teach?” He says, “You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. And the second commandment is like unto it, you should love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says, “you have read well. Do this and you will gain eternal life.” But the lawyer, hoping to be justified says – “but, but, but wait. Who is my neighbor?” And what follows is the well-known parable of the good Samaritan where the righteous, the priestly, the respected, the powerful walk on the other side of the road when they encounter someone who’s been set upon by robbers. Not my problem, not my neighbor. But in the parable of the good Samaritan, it’s this person – a Samaritan from a disfavored ethnicity, someone outside the circle of concern to the ancient Israelites – who does the right thing.
    This parable would have been shocking at the time that it was preached by Jesus. The idea that the “good neighbor” was the outcast – the unexpected – would be something that frankly would have been a surprise. So although today being a ‘good Samaritan’ is a common term, it’s important to know the history. We are taught as children that we are to see all as our neighbors, not just those who live next door, not just those who look like us or speak like us or pray like us, but the widest possible definition of neighbor is what we are called through righteousness to see in the world.
    And what a difference it has made. Because our nation has for decades embraced the cause of being present, of caring, of making lifesaving differences to young mothers and children, to widows and orphans, to the imprisoned, to the hungry, to the refugee, to those fleeing oppression, to those seeking relief from authoritarian governments, for those seeking a better way. We are all God’s children, and from childhood we are taught that the Golden Rule, which appears in virtually every religion – do unto others as you would have them unto to you – is the very foundation of the goodness of America, that we care for each other as neighbors, and we care for the world as neighbors. Yes, we are the most charitable, giving, philanthropic, engaged nation on Earth. And yet all that we do in foreign aid is less than 1% of our total federal budget.
    Months ago, when Elon Musk and DOGE began roaming about the federal agencies of our government, their first target was that that delivers disaster relief, that helps feed the hungry, that helps welcome the refugee, that helps stabilize countries going through turmoil. They laid off thousands. They shut down programs. They canceled billions [of dollars]. And yet, here today we are at it again. Republicans are proposing even deeper cuts.
    I want to talk about one area of the many that will be cut, I fear, later today: disaster assistance. Our nation has been riveted as we’ve watched the tragedy that unfolded in the Texas Hill Country, where a raging river killed dozens and dozens of innocent children. And you know, around the world, when disaster strikes, it is the Americans who show up first. It is Americans who show up with relief, with assistance, with skill and talent and ability.
    It’s been this way for decades and it should be this way still. I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines, of all the nations on Earth, is the most prone to natural disasters. They value our partnership, our alliance. We’ve been security partners for decades. There’s many Filipino-Americans. There’s a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders, their elected leaders, their senators and their ministers of their cabinet, they said, you know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines: every time there’s a typhoon, there’s an earthquake, there’s a volcano, it’s the Americans who come. It’s the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support. And you know, in the excess of DOGE’s deep cuts, they fired and laid off most of our experts who are capable of delivering world-class disaster relief.
    We saw the consequences with an earthquake in Myanmar just three months ago, where the few remaining folks who did this work were laid off as they were deployed. And instead, the response was led by the Chinese. We are driving nations into the open arms of our adversaries. We have long been known as a nation that sought to be respected, admired, believed in, embraced, not for the example of our power, but by the power of our example. That when there were dread pandemics killing millions, America showed up. 
    One of the positives of this day is that my Republican colleagues have recoiled from fully shutting down PEPFAR, and that is a positive. One of the best things we’ve ever done as a nation is to save 27 million lives across the world that otherwise would have been lost to HIV and AIDS. But I’ll tell you, when Ebola raged across Africa in 2014, I was the one member of Congress who went to Liberia at the request of the president – a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a brave and proud leader of a nation struggling facing massive losses of life. Projections at the early stages of the Ebola pandemic were that a fifth to a quarter of their population would die in a matter of weeks. And who came to help? The Americans. Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE, the U.S. military, our public health service. 
    I’ll never forget meeting a young Liberian named Alvin. He dropped out of college to become a physician’s assistant to help when the outbreak began and he in caring for patients himself contracted Ebola – a near certain death sentence. Yet, Alvin was evacuated by Americans to the Ebola treatment center set up and funded and equipped by Americans. And his life was saved by Americans. Whether it was the president of the nation, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, or Alvin, the folks I met on that trip to Liberia thanked and praised the American people for our decency, our kindness, our seeing them as our neighbor in their moment of deepest struggle, risk, and loss. And yet today – yet today – my colleagues would rather trim one-tenth of 1% of the budget, $9 billion, to cut deeper into food aid and disaster assistance and fighting pandemics, all to justify a tax cut.
    I can think of few more despicable acts on this floor in my 15 years. I can speak to process. We have a bipartisan appropriations process where we can and should debate and consider these further cuts, and put them on the floor, and vote them up. But this is an odd thing. It’s a rescission. It is a cutting back further of money we’ve already appropriated. Just a few minutes later today, I will be trying to get votes to end $465 million of further cuts in disaster assistance that’ll be on the floor today. Taking money from the World Food Program and UNICEF, from Red Cross and Save the Children, from Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. Folks may think at home that this money that goes out to the world is money better spent here, but for the pennies on the federal dollar that we spend responding to disasters around the world, organizations we all know and the majority of us believe in and support, like the Red Cross, World Vision, or Catholic Relief Services are able to appear in time and deliver lifesaving aid. 
    Think about what we are doing. Think about the example we are setting. Think about what we are teaching our children. Open your hearts and eyes and realize what we are about to do. This is a nation of which I am so proud, and yet at times it does things of which I am so ashamed. I cannot imagine the faces in the refugee camps, in the villages, in the clinics, in the schools, in the towns, in the cities around the world, who for years have been used to the idea that when there’s a pandemic, the Americans come; that when there’s an earthquake, the Americans come; that when there is starvation, the Americans come. Today we will vote, “no, we won’t.” We are more interested in ourselves and in a bigger tax cut than we are in saving starving children, people laid low by the devastation of an earthquake, families separated by a typhoon. The best part of this nation – what truly makes us great – is our selfless giving to others. We will be judged by how we act today. For God’s justice is swift and sure, and I tremble when I think about the answer this chamber will give today to the question, who is my neighbor?
    Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons’ amendment to save international disaster relief funding blocked by Republicans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today introduced an amendment to the Republican rescissions package that would have removed $496 million in cuts to international disaster relief, effectively saving the program. Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
    Ahead of the vote, Senator Coons spoke on the floor about the urgency of this funding to help us outcompete China, raise our standing in the world, and promote our national security. “This money doesn’t just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer from earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and natural disasters,” he said. “It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.”
    International disaster assistance funding is a crucial piece of America’s foreign policy toolkit. The account responds to emergency humanitarian situations in over 60 countries and is a crucial component of our competition with China for global influence. For instance, Filipino leaders have cited disaster assistance funding as the key reason why the nation gave the United States access to nine military sites across the country.
    These cuts will also have a major impact on organizations that are household names and carry out much of the disaster response, including Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and UNICEF.
    The amendment was narrowly blocked by Republicans, 49-50. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted for the amendment.
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks before the amendment vote are below.
    WATCH HERE.
    Senator Coons: Mr. President, it was Ronald Reagan who said “America is great because America is good.” My amendment would restore $496 million of international disaster relief funding by removing it from this rescissions package. This money doesn’t just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer from earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and natural disasters. It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.
    Two months ago, I visited the Philippines on a bipartisan CODEL and was struck to learn it is the most natural disaster-prone country on earth. Today, they’re giving us access to nine new military sites. They are one of our strongest treaty partners in the region. And why? When I asked their leaders, they said, because America helps respond to disasters.
    $496 million. Point-zero-one percent of the debt Republicans have just added to our nation in the past two weeks. And this money is implemented by Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, the World Food Program –
    Senator Sheehy: The senator’s time is expired.
    Senator Coons: I ask my colleagues to support it.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • Syria’s interim president says protecting Druze a ‘priority’ as Israel bombs defence ministry in Damascus

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority”, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

    In his first televised statement after powerful Israeli air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

    “We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

    He added that the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is threatened.

    Israel’s airstrikes blew up part of Syria’s defence ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

    The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the U.S. and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

    Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has said it will not let them move forces into southern Syria and vowed to shield the area’s Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.

    The U.S. said the fighting would stop soon.

    “We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media.

    The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to address the conflict, diplomats said.

    “The council must condemn the barbaric crimes committed against innocent civilians on Syrian soil,” said Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon. “Israel will continue to act resolutely against any terrorist threat on its borders, anywhere and at any time.”

    WARPLANES OVER DAMASCUS

    The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 169 people had been killed in this week’s violence. Security sources put the toll at 300. 

    Damascus came under a series of massive strikes on Wednesday afternoon. Columns of smoke rose from the area near the defence ministry. A section of the building was destroyed, the ground strewn with rubble.

    An Israeli military official said the entrance to the military headquarters in Damascus was struck, along with a military target near the presidential palace. The official said Syrian forces were not acting to prevent attacks on Druze and were part of the problem.

    “We will not allow southern Syria to become a terror stronghold,” said Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief of staff.

    Sharaa faces challenges to stitch Syria back together in the face of deep misgivings from groups that fear Islamist rule. In March, mass killings of members of the Alawite minority exacerbated the mistrust.

    Druze, followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam, are spread between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

    Following calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military was working to save the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed.

    Israeli Druze Faez Shkeir said he felt helpless watching the violence in Syria.

    “My family is in Syria – my wife is in Syria, my uncles are from Syria, and my family is in Syria, in Sweida, I don’t like to see them being killed. They kicked them out of their homes, they robbed and burned their houses, but I can’t do anything,” he said.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Upcoming information session on Pillar Two

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    Calling all multinational entities (MNEs) and tax advisers that may be in scope of the global and domestic minimum tax (Pillar Two).

    Join our Pillar Two information session on Friday 15 August from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm AEST.

    The session will provide an overview of the administrative and system aspects of the implementation of the Pillar Two measure in Australia. It’ll cover stakeholder and international engagement, guidance and system development, the design of the new domestic tax return form, lodgment obligations, key considerations for MNEs and available support.

    Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain insights from experts and stay informed.

    Register for this sessionExternal Link now to secure a spot, as this session will not be recorded.

    Keep up to date

    Make sure to sign up to our Business bulletins newsletter to keep an eye out for additional future Pillar Two sessions. Read more articles in our online Business bulletins newsroom.

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    MIL OSI News –

  • G20 finance chiefs to meet under tariff cloud in South Africa

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    G20 finance chiefs will meet in South Africa on Thursday under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and questions over their ability to tackle global challenges together.

    The club, which came to fore as a forum for international cooperation to combat the global financial crisis, has for years been hobbled by disputes among key players exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow.

    Host South Africa, under its presidency motto “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” has aimed to promote an African agenda, with topics including the high cost of capital and funding for climate change action.

    The G20 aims to coordinate policies but its agreements are non-binding.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend the two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the coastal city of Durban, marking his second absence from a G20 event in South Africa this year.

    Bessent also skipped February’s Cape Town gathering, where several officials from China, Japan and Canada were also absent, even though Washington is due to assume the G20 rotating presidency at the end of the year.

    Michael Kaplan, U.S. acting undersecretary for international affairs, will represent Washington at the meetings.

    A G20 delegate, who asked not to be named, said Bessent’s absence was not ideal but that the United States was engaging in discussions on trade, the global economy and climate language.

    Finance ministers from India, France and Russia are also set to miss the Durban meeting.

    South Africa’s central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said that representation was what mattered most.

    “What matters is, is there somebody with a mandate sitting behind the flag and are all countries represented with somebody sitting behind the flag?” Kganyago told Reuters.

    U.S. officials have said little publicly about their plans for the presidency next year, but one source familiar with the plans said Washington would reduce the number of non-financial working groups, and streamline the summit schedule.

    Brad Setser, a former U.S. official now at the Council on Foreign Relations, said he expected it to be “kind of a scaled-back G20 with less expectation of substantive outcomes.”

    ‘TURBULENT TIMES’

    Trump’s tariff policies have torn up the global trade rule book. With baseline levies of 10% on all U.S. imports and targeted rates as high as 50% on steel and aluminium, 25% on autos and potential levies on pharmaceuticals, extra tariffs on more than 20 countries are slated to take effect on August 1.

    His threat to impose further 10% tariffs on BRICS nations — of which eight are G20 members — has raised fears of fragmentation within global forums.

    German finance ministry sources said on Tuesday that the Durban meeting would seek to deepen global relationships in “turbulent times”.

    South Africa’s Treasury Director General Duncan Pieterse said the group nonetheless hoped to issue the first communique under the South African G20 presidency by the end of the meetings.

    The G20 was last able to take a mutually agreed stance to issue a communique in July of 2024, agreeing on the need to resist protectionism but making no mention of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    (Reuters)

  • UIDAI steps up efforts to deactivate Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals, launches new reporting portal

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    In a move to curb identity fraud and unauthorised use of Aadhaar numbers, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has initiated a multi-pronged strategy to deactivate Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals, the Ministry of Electronics & IT said on Wednesday. The effort aims to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the Aadhaar database, which serves as a crucial digital identity platform for residents of India and NRIs.

    Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number issued by UIDAI, is never reassigned once generated. However, if not deactivated after a person’s death, these numbers could be misused. To address this concern, UIDAI has partnered with multiple stakeholders, including state governments, the Registrar General of India (RGI), banks, and other ecosystem partners, to ensure timely and validated deactivation of such Aadhaar numbers.

    As part of its ongoing efforts, UIDAI requested the RGI to share Aadhaar-linked death records through the Civil Registration System (CRS). So far, the RGI has shared approximately 1.55 crore death records from 24 States and Union Territories. After due validation, UIDAI has successfully deactivated about 1.17 crore Aadhaar numbers. For States and UTs not using the CRS, UIDAI has received an additional 6.7 lakh death records, and deactivation is currently in progress.

    Taking a further step toward empowering citizens, UIDAI launched a dedicated service – “Reporting of Death of a Family Member” – on the myAadhaar Portal on June 9, 2025. This digital service currently covers 24 CRS-enabled States/UTs and allows a family member to report the death by submitting the deceased’s Aadhaar number, Death Registration Number, and other demographic details after self-authentication. The submitted data undergoes a thorough validation process before the Aadhaar number is deactivated. Efforts are underway to extend this service to the remaining States and UTs.

    UIDAI is also considering acquiring death records from banks and other Aadhaar ecosystem partners that may maintain such data, adding another layer of information verification.

    In another unique initiative, UIDAI has launched a pilot program with state governments to verify the status of Aadhaar holders aged over 100 years. The demographic details of these individuals are being shared with state authorities to confirm whether they are alive. Based on the feedback, UIDAI will proceed with appropriate validations and deactivate the Aadhaar numbers where necessary.

    UIDAI has urged citizens to report the death of any family member on the myAadhaar Portal after obtaining a valid death certificate from the registering authorities. This, the Authority states, is crucial to prevent misuse of the deceased’s Aadhaar number and to ensure the overall sanctity of the national identity database.

  • MIL-OSI China: Study book on Xi’s thoughts on ethnic work published in ethnic languages

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

    BEIJING, July 17 — A study book on the thoughts of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on strengthening and improving ethnic work, has been published in five ethnic minority languages.

    The book, compiled by the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, was translated into Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh and Korean.

    The books are available across the country.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Straight from the source – July 2025

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    July marks the beginning of a new financial year – a time for all taxpayers including not-for-profits (NFP) to reset, review, and refocus. It’s also tax time, and with that comes the opportunity to strengthen financial foundations, plan for the year ahead, and ensure your NFP is on track to deliver impact.

    The start of July is also a time of deep cultural significance as we celebrate NAIDOC Week. This year marks 50 years of honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the theme ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’ invites us to reflect on the past, empower the present, and invest in the future. It’s a call to honour the legacy of Elders, uplift young Indigenous leaders, and commit to building a future grounded in respect and inclusion.

    At the opening of NAIDOC Week, I was visiting Rainbow Beach in Cooloola, Queensland, where I respectfully acknowledged the traditional lands of the Butchulla and Kabi Kabi peoples. Wherever I travel across Australia, I make it a point to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and learn about Indigenous history – especially the stories that have been passed down through generations. It’s part of my personal commitment to reconciliation.

    On this trip, I discovered that in December 2019, the Federal Court formally recognised the Butchulla people’s native title rights over land and waters between Rainbow Beach and Burrum Heads. This followed their first determination in 2014, which acknowledged their rights over K’gari (Fraser Island). I also came across the beautiful legend behind Rainbow Beach’s name. According to the Kabi Kabi people, the rainbow-coloured dunes – now heritage-listed – were formed when Yiningie, a spirit represented by a rainbow, plunged into the cliffs after battling an evil tribesman who was pursuing the maiden Murrawar. These stories are powerful reminders of the deep spiritual connection between land and culture.

    As we continue to celebrate NAIDOC Week and every day after, let’s continue to listen, learn, and honour the legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – past, present, and future.

    For not-for-profits, this is a timely reminder to:

    • Recognise the legacy of First Nations Elders and leaders who have paved the way.
    • Support the strength and vision of young Indigenous changemakers.
    • Review your organisation’s role in fostering culturally safe and inclusive spaces.
    • Build partnerships with First Nations organisations that uplift community voices.

    Here are some additional important messages I’d like to share with all NFPs.

    Tax Time 2025: lodge your NFP self-review return today!

    Tax Time 2025 kicked off on 1 July, and the second NFP self-review return is now open for lodgment, and due by 31 October 2025.

    We understand that many NFPs haven’t yet lodged their first return – often due to the time needed to set up access to Online services for business. But don’t wait! You can lodge your return now while completing your digital setup.

    Lodge using our self-help phone service by calling 13 72 26 – have your organisation’s ABN and the reference number from your ATO letter ready when you call.

    If your NFP doesn’t have a letter from us with a reference number, phone us on 13 28 66 to ask us to resend a letter. When you phone us, you’ll have to prove you are authorised to contact us on behalf of your NFP.

    The ATO will support NFPs trying to do the right thing and has suspended penalty application for late lodgment of the 2023–24 NFP self-review return as part of the transitional support arrangements for the sector. 

    However, penalties may apply if you don’t lodge your 2024–25 NFP self-review return by the due date.

    Shaping a strategic roadmap for the NFP sector

    At our upcoming NFP Stewardship Group session, we’ll focus on developing a strategic roadmap to guide tax, superannuation, and registry administration through to 2030 and beyond. This initiative reflects our commitment to building a system that is streamlined, fit for purpose, and aligned with the government’s goal of doubling philanthropy by 2030.

    So far, we’ve engaged a diverse range of stakeholders through targeted interviews to gather insights on common challenges, barriers, and opportunities. Their contributions are helping us shape a roadmap that supports NFPs in meeting their obligations with confidence, while enhancing public trust in the sector.

    The response from the sector has been overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing interest in joining the Stewardship Group and contributing to this important work. These sessions mark the beginning of a collaborative journey, with many opportunities ahead for stakeholders to contribute, test, and validate ideas before any commitments are made.

    Once finalised, the roadmap will outline a coordinated set of projects and activities designed to ensure the sector is well-positioned for long-term sustainability and compliance. We look forward to continuing this work with the broader stakeholder community in the months ahead.

    We continue to receive Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) applications from NFP organisations that do not meet the open membership requirements under the community sheds category.

    Community sheds are charities whose dominant purpose is to advance mental health and prevent or relieve social isolation. A community shed must be open to the community to join and generally not impose criteria restricting membership based on matters such as age, ethnicity or background. Rejecting an application for arbitrary reasons will not constitute open membership.

    Membership may only be restricted in relation to gender or Indigenous heritage or both.

    To meet the open membership requirement, community sheds must:

    • have a clear policy and process for nominating and approving all new members without exception
    • ensure this process is reflected in their governing rules
    • avoid clauses that allow committee members to reject applicants for unspecified or arbitrary reasons.

    We encourage all applicants to review their governing documents carefully and ensure they align with the ATO’s requirements before submitting a DGR application.

    If you have questions or need support, our advice service on 1300 130 248 is here to help between 8:00 am to 6:00 pm AEST, Monday to Friday.

    Community charities that are already listed in a Ministerial Declaration and have registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), can now contact us for guidance on how to apply for DGR endorsement. The best way is to call our dedicated NFP Advice Service on 1300 130 248 between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can email atoendorsements@ato.gov.au

    Support through Australian disaster relief funds (ADRF)

    In times of disaster, Australians come together to support those in need. An Australian disaster relief fund (ADRF) is a public fund established exclusively to provide financial assistance to individuals and communities affected by officially declared disasters. This includes both immediate aid and long-term support for community recovery.

    You can also make a meaningful impact by donating to established DGRs operating in affected areas. These may include public benevolent institutions (PBIs) and other public assistance organisations that provide similar support in their day-to-day operations. By contributing to trusted organisations, your donation helps deliver timely and effective relief to those who need it most.

    The most recent updates to the list of declared disasters are:

    • Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred declared on 1 March 2025
    • Queensland Floods (March 2025) declared on 21 March 2025
    • New South Wales Floods (May 2025) declared on 18 May 2025.

    Details of the declared disasters are available on the Australian Taxation Office website on the list of disasters or by going to www.ato.gov.au and searching for QC 18912.

    Ancillary Funds

    In the lead-up to the end of the financial year, we received a noticeable increase in enquiries to our advice service from ancillary funds.

    A reminder to all private and public ancillary funds – each is governed by its own set of guidelines, which must be followed to ensure compliance.

    Website updates

    You may have noticed that our website content for DGR endorsement has been updated. While the content remains largely unchanged the information has been organised so that it can be accessed more easily, and you will notice that it has been arranged in five tiles that cover:

    1. DGR categories
    2. DGR reforms
    3. Applying for DGR endorsement
    4. Rules and tests for DGR endorsement
    5. Progress of your endorsement application.

    Similarly, all the NFP self-review return information has been reviewed and updated as of 8 July 2025.

    We’re reviewing and rewriting TD 93/190 to update legislative references and clarify the criteria NFP organisations must meet to qualify for an income tax exemption.

    The revised ruling will:

    • reflect current legislation, including all special conditions under Subdivision 50A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
    • explain how ‘community service purposes’ should be interpreted
    • include relevant case law and practical examples of NFP entities that do and do not qualify for the exemption.

    Getting tax ready: your EOFY checklist

    As you can see, there’s a lot happening in July – and it’s never too late to get tax ready! Whether you’re finalising reports or planning ahead, here are some key reminders to help your NFP stay on track:

    • Review your financial records – make sure everything is accurate and up to date.
    • Finalise payroll and superannuation – ensure all obligations are met before deadlines.
    • Prepare your annual reporting – this includes ACNC submissions, any grant acquittals, Ancillary Fund Returns, NFP self-review returns and Income tax lodgments.
    • Acknowledge your donors – send out end-of-year receipts and thank-you messages.
    • Plan for the year ahead – reflect on your impact, set goals, and build a strong foundation.

    Tax time is also a great opportunity to highlight your achievements. Share your impact, thank your supporters, and show how their support and contributions have made a real difference.

    Let’s start the new financial year with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

    Take care and stay safe,

    Jennifer.

    MIL OSI News –

  • President Murmu to confer Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 awards today

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 Awards at a ceremony on Thursday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The event, organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), will be attended by Union Minister Manohar Lal and Minister of State Tokhan Sahu.

    Now in its ninth edition, Swachh Survekshan has grown into the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey. This year’s awards will honour top-performing cities and states across four major categories, including the newly introduced Super Swachh League (SSL), which features cities consistently ranking in the top tier of cleanliness. A total of 78 awards will be presented.

    Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 assessed over 4,500 urban local bodies through 3,000+ assessors who conducted inspections across every ward over a 45-day period. The evaluation emphasized the theme of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and reached over 14 crore citizens through direct engagement, digital platforms, and social media.

    For the first time, cities have been grouped into five population-based categories, ensuring fair evaluation and recognition – from very small towns to million-plus cities. The initiative reflects a commitment to inclusive urban development, recognizing not just the cleanest cities but also those showing exceptional promise.

    With a rigorous assessment framework of 10 parameters and 54 indicators, Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 continues to be a transformative force in shaping urban India’s sanitation and waste management landscape.

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Money Market Operations as on July 16, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India
    (Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
      Volume
    (One Leg)    		 Weighted
    Average Rate    		 Range
    A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 5,91,245.23 5.30 3.00-6.55
         I. Call Money 19,774.73 5.36 4.75-5.45
         II. Triparty Repo 3,84,694.90 5.28 5.25-5.34
         III. Market Repo 1,84,341.05 5.34 3.00-5.90
         IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 2,434.55 5.50 5.42-6.55
    B. Term Segment      
         I. Notice Money** 168.00 5.28 4.90-5.35
         II. Term Money@@ 1,030.00 – 5.50-6.47
         III. Triparty Repo 1,393.20 5.31 5.28-5.38
         IV. Market Repo 284.77 5.45 5.45-5.45
         V. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
      Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
    Cut off Rate
    C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
    I. Today’s Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF# Wed, 16/07/2025 1 Thu, 17/07/2025 879.00 5.75
    4. SDFΔ# Wed, 16/07/2025 1 Thu, 17/07/2025 1,09,064.00 5.25
    5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*       -1,08,185.00  
    II. Outstanding Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo Tue, 15/07/2025 3 Fri, 18/07/2025 57,450.00 5.49
      Fri, 11/07/2025 7 Fri, 18/07/2025 1,51,633.00 5.49
    3. MSF#          
    4. SDFΔ#          
    D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       5,862.63  
    E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -2,03,220.37  
    F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -3,11,405.37  
    G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks          
         (i) Cash balances with RBI as on July 16, 2025 9,60,845.52  
         (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending July 25, 2025 9,63,288.00  
    H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ July 16, 2025 0.00  
    I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on June 27, 2025 5,79,904.00  

    @ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).

    – Not Applicable / No Transaction.

    ** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.

    @@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.

    $ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.

    * Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.

    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    

    Press Release: 2025-2026/727

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: IHC – Cost-of-living crisis deepens longstanding struggle for intellectually disabled New Zealanders

    Source: IHC

    IHC says the cost-of-living crisis is worsening an already serious situation for intellectually disabled New Zealanders and their families, many of whom have faced financial hardship for years.

    As charities sound the alarm on families huddling in single rooms to stay warm, skipping meals, and borrowing to pay power bills, IHC Senior Advocate Shara Turner points out this level of struggle is nothing new for those living with intellectual disability, it’s long been the norm.

    She says the IHC-funded Cost of Exclusion report, released last month, used older data and shows people with intellectual disabilities were living with significant financial stress five years ago.

    “We are calling on the government and policy makers to adjust income support to reflect the true cost of disability and to recognise the long-term, cross-sector disadvantage disabled people experience.”

    The Cost of Exclusion report paints a bleak picture:

    People with an intellectual disability are twice as likely to live in hardship up to age 39 and almost three times as likely at ages 40 to 64, compared to the rest of the population.
    Rates of severe hardship are double in young adulthood and triple in middle age.
    Nearly half of intellectually disabled people cannot pay an unavoidable bill within a month without borrowing.
    They are over four times more likely to go without a meal containing meat or a vegetarian equivalent.
    They are more than twice as likely to feel cold due to heating costs.

    “The current cost-of-living spike will have just added to the struggle. Stats NZ figures show electricity prices have increased by almost 9 percent and petrol by 15.5 percent in the last year. Social services have seen dramatic funding cuts and one provider told RNZ they are now supporting 800 fewer families than last year due to a $1.5 million drop in government funding.”

    “It’s not a blip. We are looking at entrenched, generational poverty and targeted action is needed to change the outcomes for some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people.”

    IHC’s research, which includes powerful interviews with caregivers, offers insight into the systemic barriers that push families into poverty and keep them there. One mother described the toll:

    “I ended up working full-time for three years, which just about killed me… 50 hours a week plus 15 to 20 hours advocating for Simon. It was like running a small business just for his care.”

    Another described how her child’s multiple diagnoses made returning to work impossible for years, significantly eroding their family’s financial stability.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Promised and delivered: CIT Woden Campus officially open!

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    As part of ACT Government’s ‘One Government, One Voice’ program, we are transitioning this website across to our . You can access everything you need through this website while it’s happening.

    Released 17/07/2025

    The ACT Government is today celebrating the grand opening of the new state-of-the-art Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) Woden campus.

    CIT Woden is part of the ACT Government’s $14 billion Infrastructure Plan, ensuring Canberra remains one of the world’s most liveable cities as our community grows.

    Up to 6,500 students each year are expected to attend CIT Woden, which welcomes students from next Monday, 21 July for the start of Semester 2. Spanning 22,500 square metres across five levels, CIT Woden contains 66 learning spaces that will support 24 different industry areas.

    CIT Woden is designed to support the skills Canberra needs now and into the future, with a diverse range of courses in areas such as information technology, cyber security, photography, business, hospitality, hairdressing, creative industries and more. Students and the community can also enjoy amenities like a student-operated restaurant, hair and beauty salon, as well as the vibrant public spaces.

    Minister for Skills, Training and Industrial Relations, Michael Pettersson, said the new campus was a game-changer in delivering quality vocational education in the ACT, and has transformed the Woden Town Centre into a vibrant learning hub.

    “We promised to deliver a world-class education precinct in Woden, and we’ve delivered. The training facilities and learning spaces at the new CIT Woden are second to none,” Minister Pettersson said.

    “Students of all ages are going to love this modern and sustainable facility, and we’ve already had a lot of positive feedback from CIT staff who are starting to feel right at home in their new surroundings. This is another example of the ACT Government building Canberra’s future and providing the next generation with the opportunity to gain the skills needed for their chosen careers.”

    CIT Woden is a sustainable, environmentally friendly campus. All electric commercial kitchens and training restaurants, as well as an array of solar panels, will help contribute to the ACT Government’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. The main building’s structure, floors and architectural finish are crafted from cross-laminated timber and glue-laminated timber sustainably sourced and manufactured in Australia.

    Designing with Country has been a guiding principle for the CIT Woden Campus project, from the Brindabellas inspired ‘Walking the Ridgeline’ façade, to reflecting a silhouette of a ‘Mulleun’, or wedge-tailed eagle through the ‘Oculus’ sky light, at the top of level five.

    More than 520 local jobs and apprenticeships were created during construction of CIT Woden, while construction partner, Lendlease, provided nearly 8,000 hours of training during construction.

    – Statement ends –

    Michael Pettersson, MLA | Media Releases

    «ACT Government Media Releases | «Minister Media Releases

    MIL OSI News –

  • Trump says India trade agreement is close, Europe deal possible

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    The United States is very close to a trade deal with India, while an agreement could possibly be reached with Europe as well, but it is too soon to say whether a deal can be agreed with Canada, President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Real America’s Voice on Wednesday.

    To press for what Trump views as better terms with trading partners and ways to shrink a huge U.S. trade deficit, his administration has been negotiating trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most U.S. imports are due to rise again.

    “We’re very close to India, and … we could possibly make a deal with (the) EU,” Trump said, when asked which trade deals were on the horizon.

    Trump’s comments come as EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was headed to Washington on Wednesday for tariff discussions, while an Indian trade delegation arrived in Washington on Monday for fresh talks.

    “(The) European Union has been brutal, and now they’re being very nice. They want to make a deal, and it’ll be a lot different than the deal that we’ve had for years,” he added.

    Asked about the prospects of a deal with Canada, which like the EU, is readying countermeasures if talks with the U.S. fail to produce a deal, Trump said: “Too soon to say.”

    His comment was in line with the assessment of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said earlier on Wednesday that a deal that works for Canadian workers was not yet on the table.

    Trump also said he would probably put a blanket 10% or 15% tariff on smaller countries.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI Banking: ADB’s New Operating Model Offers Opportunity to Accelerate Change, but Greater Clarity and Responsiveness Needed: Independent Evaluation Report

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Ambitious reforms introduced through ADB’s New Operating Model show promise in enhancing cross-regional collaboration and country-focused operations. However, clearer communication, streamlined processes, and a more inclusive approach to implementation are essential for the reform to succeed, according to a new evaluation by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Reinforcing commitment to disability community

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Information about steps the Government will take to improve the rights of disabled people in line with international obligations is now publicly available, Disability Minister Louise Upston has announced.

    Reinforcing New Zealand’s strong commitment to human rights, Cabinet late last year agreed the Government’s approach to address the 63 concluding observations (recommendations) made by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

    Information about the recommendations, the actions that Government agencies have committed to, and how progress will be tracked, is now public on the Human Rights Monitor.

    “Ensuring we make clear and demonstrable progress is important, for both the disability community and our Government,” Louise Upston says.

    “Having this information publicly available shows our commitment to disability rights and being transparent about the work we are doing to deliver results.

    “Multiple agencies are leading work on 30 of the recommendations we have committed to, while a further 17 are being considered as part of the work being done by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha on the refreshed New Zealand Disability Strategy.” 

    An additional 16 recommendations were considered and noted, with the Government retaining flexibility to reconsider the response to these recommendations at any time.

    “We are making good progress, but we know there is still plenty of work to do.

    “As part of this, I recently re-established a Ministerial Disability Leadership Group to drive action for disabled people across government and to oversee the work to implement the UNCRPD recommendations.

    “This is one of the ways we are delivering real results for the disabled community, alongside work such as the refreshed disability and sign language strategies.”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Acclaimed international musicians and orchestra to perform at LCSD’s “Great Music 2025” from September to November (with photos)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    The “Great Music 2025”, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will continue to present a series of spectacular performances from September to November, featuring numerous world-class musicians and a celebrated orchestra, showcasing the city’s unique charm as an international centre of arts and culture.

    Details of the programmes are as follows:————————————————————————————–
    Date and time: September 14 (Sunday), 8pm
    Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
    Ticket prices: $250 to $550————————————————————————————–
    Date and time: October 21 (Tuesday), 8pm
    Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
    Ticket prices: $200 to $420————————————————————————————–
    Date and time: November 17 (Monday), 8pm
    Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
    Ticket prices: $220 to $480————————————————————————————–
    Date and time: November 20 and 21 (Thursday and Friday), 8pm
    Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
    Ticket prices: $450 to $1,450—————————————————————————————–
    Date and time: November 22 (Saturday), 8pm
    Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
    Ticket prices: $280 to $880

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction. But there are plenty more judgement days to come

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney

    This week, the Federal Court found the Australian government has no legal duty to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change. The ruling was disappointing, but it’s not the end of the matter.

    The plaintiffs, Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai, hail from the low-lying islands of Saibai and Boigu, near Papua New Guinea. They argued the Commonwealth was negligent for failing to take strong action on climate change.

    While the judge accepted the devastating effects climate change has wrought on the Torres Strait Islands, he found the Uncles did not prove their case of negligence.

    However, the judge found previous Australian governments had not taken the best available science into account when setting emissions reduction targets. The finding tightens the screws on the Albanese government, which is due to announce Australia’s long-awaited targets to cut emissions out to 2035.

    To protect communities in the Torres Strait, and across Australia, the government must set a 2035 target that is in line with the science.

    And the court finding is unlikely to stem the tide of litigation seeking greater government accountability for climate change – especially for those most vulnerable to its harms.

    Limitations of Australian law

    The Uncles’ case did not fail because there was no merit in their allegations. It failed because Justice Michael Wigney ruled negligence law was not the appropriate vehicle to deal with climate change policy.

    Justice Wigney found the Torres Strait Islanders proved much of their case, including that Australia’s emissions targets set in 2015, 2020 and 2021 were not consistent with the best available science. That science dictates national governments should set emissions reduction targets in line with international efforts to hold global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

    The Coalition was in power during the period in question. Justice Wigney found the government of the day “did not engage with or give real or genuine consideration to the best available science” when setting its targets.

    Looking ahead to our 2035 targets

    The Labor government is currently weighing its 2035 emissions reduction target. The Climate Change Authority, which provides independent advice to government on climate policy, is expected to recommend a target between 65% and 75%.

    But evidence suggests this may not be in line with the best available science.

    For example, according to some scientists, emissions reduction of 90% by 2035, based on 2005 levels, would be required to stay in line with the 1.5°C goal.

    Australia’s 2035 targets are not just crucial to the global effort to tackle climate change. They will also affect our standing in the Pacific at a time of deepening geostrategic competition.

    Australia is bidding to host the UN climate talks next year in partnership with Pacific island countries. Our climate policy for the decade ahead will be a powerful signal to our Pacific neighbours about our commitment to the region, and to climate justice.

    A shifting legal landscape

    Tuesday’s court finding left open the possibility an appeal court may revisit the state of the law, and recognise the duty of care claimed by the Uncles.

    This would require an appeal to the full court of the Federal Court. Wigney was a single judge and considered himself bound by past precedent set by the full court.

    Around the world, courts and human rights bodies are holding governments accountable for climate inaction. It is possible for Australian law to do the same.

    International courts and human rights bodies are holding governments accountable for climate inaction.
    Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

    Courts in the Netherlands and Belgium, for example, have recognised government duties to heed the science to address foreseeable harms of climate change.

    Next week, the International Court of Justice – the world’s highest court – will issue an historic legal opinion on the obligations of nations to tackle climate change.

    This opinion will clarify the obligations of countries to prevent human rights harms caused by climate change, and to limit pollution of the Earth’s oceans and climate system. The opinion will be non-binding, but could influence future climate litigation.

    What’s more, attribution science is improving all the time. This field of science examines how greenhouse gas emissions affect a particular weather event or climate pattern.

    Clearer attribution science will provide courts an ever-stronger basis to consider how government policy decisions on emissions cause climate impacts – and resulting harms to people.

    As the legal responsibilities of governments are clarified, further strategic litigation in Australia is likely.

    Change is coming

    In his judgement, Justice Michael Wigney said the law currently “provides no real or effective legal avenue” for people or communities to seek legal recourse for government inaction on climate change. That will remain the case until the law changes, he said.

    To remain legitimate, legal norms must reflect changing social expectations. History shows laws can adapt when they are challenged repeatedly by those who are harmed by the status quo. Eventually, the dam wall breaks, and law is reinterpreted.

    A clear example is the Mabo case of 1992. The High Court of Australia acknowledged the obvious fact that Indigenous peoples have lived on this continent for tens of thousands of years, and that the “terra nullius” (land belonging to no-one) concept was a legal myth.

    The Mabo decision allowed common law to recognise native title. It was a departure from previous rulings which relied on the terra nullius concept to reject native title claims.

    Australia’s legal norms largely pre-date the scientific consensus on climate change. They must evolve to better recognise climate impacts that are harming Australians. While this week might not have been the time, change is inevitable.

    As Justice Wigney said, until the law adapts, the key avenue for change is public advocacy, protest and voter action at the ballot box.

    Wesley Morgan is a fellow with the Climate Council.

    Riona Moodley 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. Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction. But there are plenty more judgement days to come – https://theconversation.com/australia-got-off-on-a-technicality-for-its-climate-inaction-but-there-are-plenty-more-judgement-days-to-come-261305

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University

    klebercordeiro/Getty

    If you spend any time in the wellness corners of TikTok or Instagram, you’ll see claims women need one to two hours more sleep than men.

    But what does the research actually say? And how does this relate to what’s going on in real life?

    As we’ll see, who gets to sleep, and for how long, is a complex mix of biology, psychology and societal expectations. It also depends on how you measure sleep.

    What does the evidence say?

    Researchers usually measure sleep in two ways:

    • by asking people how much they sleep (known as self-reporting). But people are surprisingly inaccurate at estimating how much sleep they get

    • using objective tools, such as research-grade, wearable sleep trackers or the gold-standard polysomnography, which records brain waves, breathing and movement while you sleep during a sleep study in a lab or clinic.

    Looking at the objective data, well-conducted studies usually show women sleep about 20 minutes more than men.

    One global study of nearly 70,000 people who wore wearable sleep trackers found a consistent, small difference between men and women across age groups. For example, the sleep difference between men and women aged 40–44 was about 23–29 minutes.

    Another large study using polysomnography found women slept about 19 minutes longer than men. In this study, women also spent more time in deep sleep: about 23% of the night compared to about 14% for men. The study also found only men’s quality of sleep declined with age.

    The key caveat to these findings is that our individual sleep needs vary considerably. Women may sleep slightly more on average, just as they are slightly shorter on average. But there is no one-size-fits-all sleep duration, just as there is no universal height.

    Suggesting every woman needs 20 extra minutes (let alone two hours) misses the point. It’s the same as insisting all women should be shorter than all men.

    Even though women tend to sleep a little longer and deeper, they consistently report poorer sleep quality. They’re also about 40% more likely to be diagnosed with insomnia.

    This mismatch between lab findings and the real world is a well-known puzzle in sleep research, and there are many reasons for it.

    For instance, many research studies don’t consider mental health problems, medications, alcohol use and hormonal fluctuations. This filters out the very factors that shape sleep in the real world.

    This mismatch between the lab and the bedroom also reminds us sleep doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Women’s sleep is shaped by a complex mix of biological, psychological and social factors, and this complexity is hard to capture in individual studies.

    Let’s start with biology

    Sleep problems begin to diverge between the sexes around puberty. They spike again during pregnancy, after birth and during perimenopause.

    Fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones, particularly oestrogen and progesterone, seem to explain some of these sex differences in sleep.

    For example, many girls and women report poorer sleep during the premenstrual phase just before their periods, when oestrogen and progesterone begin to fall.

    Perhaps the most well-documented hormonal influence on our sleep is the decline in oestrogen during perimenopause. This is linked to increased sleep disturbances, particularly waking at 3am and struggling to get back to sleep.

    Some health conditions also play a part in women’s sleep health. Thyroid disorders and iron deficiency, for instance, are more common in women and are closely linked to fatigue and disrupted sleep.

    How about psychology?

    Women are at much higher risk of depression, anxiety and trauma-related disorders. These very often accompany sleep problems and fatigue. Cognitive patterns, such as worry and rumination, are also more common in women and known to affect sleep.

    Women are also prescribed antidepressants more often than men, and these medications tend to affect sleep.

    Society also plays a role

    Caregiving and emotional labour still fall disproportionately on women. Government data released this year suggests Australian women perform an average nine more hours of unpaid care and work each week than men.

    While many women manage to put enough time aside for sleep, their opportunities for daytime rest are often scarce. This puts a lot of pressure on sleep to deliver all the restoration women need.

    In my work with patients, we often untangle the threads woven into their experience of fatigue. While poor sleep is the obvious culprit, fatigue can also signal something deeper, such as underlying health issues, emotional strain, or too-high expectations of themselves. Sleep is certainly part of the picture, but it’s rarely the whole story.

    For instance, rates of iron deficiency (which we know is more common in women and linked to sleep problems) are also higher in the reproductive years. This is just as many women are raising children and grappling with the “juggle” and the “mental load”.

    Women in perimenopause are often navigating full-time work, teenagers, ageing parents and 3am hot flashes. These women may have adequate or even high-quality sleep (according to objective measures), but that doesn’t mean they wake feeling restored.

    Most existing research also ignores gender-diverse populations. This limits our understanding of how sleep is shaped not just by biology, but by things such as identity and social context.

    So where does this leave us?

    While women sleep longer and better in the lab, they face more barriers to feeling rested in everyday life.

    So, do women need more sleep than men? On average, yes, a little. But more importantly, women need more support and opportunity to recharge and recover across the day, and at night.

    Amelia Scott is a member of the psychology education subcommittee of the Australasian Sleep Association. She receives funding from Macquarie University.

    – ref. Do women really need more sleep than men? A sleep psychologist explains – https://theconversation.com/do-women-really-need-more-sleep-than-men-a-sleep-psychologist-explains-259985

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: More support to help Australian business go global

    Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

    To help Australian businesses access new export opportunities and navigate the global trading environment, the Albanese Labor Government is expanding the Go Global Toolkit and launching the Go Global Export Academy.

    The Go Global Toolkit is a one-stop-shop for businesses of all sizes to assess and improve their export readiness, providing Australian businesses with better understanding of markets, local laws, regulations and requirements as well as information on tariffs and taxes.

    More than 200,000 users have accessed the Go Global Toolkit in the past year, and research indicates it has saved businesses thousands of hours over the course of their export journey.

    The expanded Toolkit will be complemented by the launch of the Go Global Academy, and will feature a series of Market Spotlight webinars to support the launch. The series will showcase insights from key export markets in Asia, Europe, UK, the Middle East, America and the Pacific. The Market Spotlight series kicks off this week, and businesses can register for free at https://export.business.gov.au/.

    The Go Global Toolkit forms part of the Government’s Simplified Trade System reforms, which is streamlining our trade system to make it cheaper, faster and easier for Australian importers and exporters to do business.

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell:

    “Trade is vital to Australia’s economic prosperity – one in four Australian jobs are trade-related, with jobs in export industries pay 10 per cent more on average.”

    “The Albanese Government is working to create new opportunities for Aussie businesses, including in India, Southeast Asia, the UK and the Middle East.”

    “We want to make it as easy as possible for Australian businesses to discover and take up opportunities – and that’s exactly what the Go Global Toolkit does.”

    Austrade General Manager for Trade, Jay Meek:

    “Using the resources in the Go Global Toolkit – including live and on demand webinars through the Go Global Export Academy – will enable exporters to pivot when market conditions change or be first to market when new opportunities open up.”

    “Businesses can use the Go Global Toolkit Tariff Finder to explore what tariffs and taxes apply to their goods – knowledge that will arm them with the tools to navigate an increasingly complex world.”

    “The Go Global Toolkit now features a more personalised user experience with content tailored to individual business needs. Central to this is providing the right information to help exporters compare markets and build a resilient diversification strategy.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU student creates app for recognition, digitization and analysis of classical Tibetan texts using machine learning

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    A system for automatic recognition and transliteration of texts in classical Tibetan, focused on old printed documents made using Tibetan syllabic writing, which goes back to the ancient Indian Brahmi script, was created by a student of the Fundamental and Applied Linguistics program working at the Institute of Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Humanitarian Institute of Novosibirsk State University Anna Murashkina. In her research, she used images of pages of classical Tibetan texts from the 18th-20th centuries from the archive of the Center for Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

    — The relevance of my work is due to the need to preserve and make digitally accessible the Tibetan cultural heritage, presented in the form of many historical manuscripts. Old printed documents, manuscripts and xylographs contain unique information about philosophy, religion, medicine, history and art, playing a key role in the study of the cultural traditions of the region. This knowledge is passed down from generation to generation in Tibet. However, over time, under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors, paper media are subject to physical destruction, which leads to the loss of priceless information and limits access to these unique materials. Currently, the Tibetan Fund of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences contains up to 70 thousand units of chronicles that are at risk of being lost. One of the most reliable ways to preserve and systematize historical documents is to digitize them, — said Anna Murashkina.

    The young researcher set herself the task of using machine learning to build a model that would recognize Tibetan alphabet symbols from images, translate them into machine-readable form, and at the same time show greater accuracy than existing open solutions, including Tesseract.

    — To do this, I manually performed linguistic markup of Tibetan text lines from the IMBT SB RAS collection. Then, taking into account the specifics of Tibetan graphics, I developed a system for assessing the quality of optical character recognition (OCR). Then I compared existing architectures and chose a convolutional neural network model, which required additional training, — explained Anna Murashkina.

    She implemented additional training of the model on a marked corpus of documents, and as a result, a complete modular OCR algorithm was created, including the stages of pre-processing, segmentation, recognition and post-processing.

    — For me, the value of the project is that I helped digitize an archive that stores history — documents created by people of the past who wanted to pass on their knowledge to future generations. I am glad that I am helping to transfer this knowledge through time, preserve it and make it available to a wider audience. My development will be used by employees of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The possibility of cooperation with the Buddhist Center for Digital Technologies, which digitizes the archives of temples and monasteries, is also being discussed. In cooperation with this organization, we will expand the possibilities of digitizing Tibetan manuscripts using open resources developed jointly with researchers from organizations in different countries, so that later everyone can touch this priceless heritage and get acquainted with the documents that are in temples and archive repositories, — said Anna Murashkina.

    Material prepared by: Elena Panfilo, NSU press service

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Monster’s on the hunt for title shot

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

    Wounded, yet never tamed, China’s former world champion boxer Xu Can, aka “The Monster”, is back on the prowl, more bloodthirsty than ever, as he targets another title shot in a heavier division.

    Following a career setback that saw him lose his belt in 2021, China’s former WBA featherweight world champion Xu Can (right) is ready to punch his way back into title contention in the super featherweight class and become China’s first two-division champion. XINHUA

    The former World Boxing Association featherweight (126 pound, 57kg) belt holder will have his mettle for the title in the 130-pound class seriously tested on Aug 15, when he defends his International Boxing Organization international title in the super featherweight division against French challenger Jaouad Belmehdi on home soil in Beijing.

    The fight was announced on Tuesday as the main event of the “Kzmall’s Night”, a multi-bout boxing show, organized by Beijing-based Max Power Promotions and sanctioned by the IBO, which will be staged at the National Convention Center in the Chinese capital’s Olympic park.

    Xu, China’s first featherweight world champion under a major sanctioning body, is embracing his defense of the intercontinental belt as a statement of his lofty ambition to become the first Chinese man to win world titles across two weight classes.

    “My goal since coming back (from two straight defeats) is to become China’s first two-division world champion,” said Xu, who claimed his first world title by beating Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas via a unanimous decision in January 2019 in Houston to snatch up the WBA featherweight strap.

    “And to do so, I need to climb the rankings all over again by taking on some legitimate opponents. I am ready for it, I am serious about my mission and I will let my punches do the talking.”

    After wresting the title from Rojas, Xu kept his momentum rolling with two successful defenses against Japan’s Shun Kubo and Manny Robles III of the United States in the same year. It cemented his status as China’s most internationally recognized pro boxer, which was underlined by a five-star rating on BoxRec in 2019, while drawing another wave of mainstream attention to the sport following retired Olympian Zou Shiming’s back-to-back light flyweight gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

    The pandemic, unfortunately, hit at the worst possible time for Xu’s career ascent, severely disrupting his preparations for a third title defense against then British champ Leigh Wood in a bout that later proved to be a Waterloo for the Chinese star, and pushed him almost to the brink of quitting the sport.

    “It was a huge blow for me, psychologically and emotionally, that made me want to give up boxing,” said Xu, who was knocked out by Wood with a 12th-round right hook in July 2021 in England, losing his WBA title.

    Xu’s attempt at an immediate riposte was denied by a split-decision loss to Mexico’s Brandon “Leoncito” Benitez in October 2022, dragging him abruptly out of the sport’s spotlight.

    However, the resilient fighter — known for his slogan: “I am Can, I can!” — refuses to hang up his gloves just yet, having rekindled his fire for a comeback after a yearlong break, accompanied by family and friends, during a healing process that “helped restore his love” for the brutally competitive sport.

    “Looking back at the setbacks, I feel like it was just part of the process of my growth as a pro,” said Xu, a 31-year-old native of Fuzhou, East China’s Jiangxi province.

    “Perhaps, I’ve had too smooth of an early career to be true, progressing on a flat path all the way until losing the belt. Now, I have just started the uphill climb. I am taking steps slower than before, but I am making solid progress — one step at a time,” said Xu, who beat Panama’s Jhonatan Arenas via TKO in his most recent fight in December, claiming the vacant IBO 130-pound international title.

    Standing 1.75 meters tall with impressive range, Xu has built a reputation for high-volume punching and superior endurance during his featherweight reign. However, learning from his defeats, he realizes that striking power, timing and finesse are the keys for success in the super featherweight realm, should he make a convincing run for a world title in the heavier, and more competitive, division.

    Supported by his agency Max Power at Beijing gym M23, Xu, who keeps a 20-4-0 win-loss-draw record, has been focusing on his strength conditioning, footwork and combination diversity to prepare for the fight against Belmehdi (23-1-3), a knockout specialist known as “The Moroccan Bomber “and who is currently rated at three stars on BoxRec.

    “Can is a very good boxer, but I am very confident of my skill. See you on August 15 for an explosive fight,” said the 27-year-old Belmehdi, who’s chalked up 11 KO wins.

    Justin Kennedy, vice-president of IBO, said the winner between Xu and Belmehdi will move closer to a shot at the division’s ultimate prize.

    “This is going to be a great event in the heart of Beijing, in a country that is moving forward rapidly in world boxing with a lot of really world-class fighters coming through,” Kennedy said in a video message played at the news conference launching the event on Tuesday.

    “The fight between these two highly skilled fighters will be a great display of boxing. Please tune in and turn up for what will be an amazing night.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Weather News – A mixed bag of weather on the way – MetService

    Source: MetService

    Covering period of Thursday 17th – Monday 21st July – A mixed bag of weather on the way

    Key points
    – Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches, and a Road Snowfall Warning for parts of the north on Thursday and Friday
    – Fine spells return for many, with chilly southwesterlies bringing frosts this weekend
    – An extreme first half of the year, with at least 38 weather records broken

    A grab bag of winter weather is in store for Aotearoa New Zealand over the coming days, as the country shifts between weather systems, each bringing its own set of features. Rain, wind, fine spells, chilly mornings, and frosts are all on the cards from Thursday through to early next week.

    The wettest and windiest weather is already being felt across the north, as a low-pressure system sweeps across the island. This system is bringing widespread rain and strong southwesterly winds, with Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches in place for parts of the North Island, particularly across Northland where gusts may reach severe gale in exposed places. In contrast, much of the South Island is enjoying sunny skies.

    MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden says, “Thursday is the most active weather day in the mix, with some decent rain for the North Island and strong gusty winds in the far north. We are expecting some settled conditions to follow heading into the weekend, with a chilly edge, thanks to persistent cooler southwesterlies.”

    A weekend of calmer weather is on the horizon. A ridge moves in behind the departing low, setting the stage for a cold and frosty country, with Hamilton well into single digits on Saturday night. “Make sure to wrap up if you’re attending the rugby,” advises Lynden.

    The colder conditions arrive alongside a more settled pattern, with sunshine expected for large parts of both islands over the weekend. Motorist in inland South Island areas should also watch for black ice on the roads, as freezing overnight temperature could create hazardous driving conditions.

    Some patchy cloud, fog and showers will linger in a few places, especially for eastern areas like Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, but for most, it’s looking like a crisp winter weekend with cold starts, blue skies, and a return to calmer weather.

    A more settled weekend may come as a relief for many, as 2025 so far has seen at least 38 weather records broken across weather stations in the MetService network. These span the wettest, driest, coldest, and warmest weather. What they do not include are record-breaking runs of weather, such as the coldest start to the year experienced in places like Wellington and Gisborne in January. It also does not feature the fact that the top of the South Island is seeing its wettest midway point in the year for more than 30 years, so the tally of records broken could well be far higher.

    It is worth mentioning that the length of the measurement record varies between stations. For example, Ashburton only has data from 2006 onwards, while Nelson and Blenheim have records going back to 1941.

    Stay up to date with the latest forecasts, Watches and Warnings at metservice.com.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Wellington Local Advisory Committee Appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the seven inaugural members of Wellington’s new Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were appointed by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ūpoko Region Manager, Bruce Stubbs says the Wellington LAC will provide a voice for the communities across Wellington, Porirua, Kapiti Coast, Hutt City and Wairarapa.
    “Members represent a diverse range of interests, offer strong local knowledge and will bring real value to the table. We look forward to working with them,” he says.
    The committee’s first task will be to plan how to best engage and seek feedback about local needs from people in their communities, and to build a shared understanding with them about the service Fire and Emergency delivers.
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Canterbury this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Wellington Local Advisory Committee
    Adrienne Staples (Chair)
    Shamia Love Shariff (Deputy Chair)
    Maleeha Ahmad
    Asher Wilson Goldman
    Sara Williams
    Andrew Brown
    Maria Mitimeti.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Canterbury Local Advisory Committee appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the eight inaugural members of the new Canterbury Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were selected by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ihu Region Manager, Brad Mosby says the Canterbury LAC will provide a voice for the communities across both Canterbury and Mid-South Canterbury.
    “Our Canterbury LAC members are well connected and respected within their communities, and we look forward to working with them.
    “They’ll engage with community groups about local needs and support our local teams in building a shared understanding with communities about the service we deliver.”
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Wellington this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Canterbury Local Advisory Committee
    Darin Cusack (Chair)
    Wendy Smith (Deputy Chair)
    Ross Paniora
    Mark Adams
    Brett King
    Cherie Leckner
    Andrew Cocking
    Habib Marwat.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Heritage – KAKANUI CHURCH LISTED AS CATEGORY 1 HISTORIC PLACE

    Source: Heritage New Zealand

    The owners of the former Kakanui Church, Michael Simpson and Anna Miles, are thrilled to see their restoration project entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 1 place.

    The Presbyterian church at Kakanui was designed by Robert Arthur Lawson, an important Scottish Dunedin-based architect, who designed many ecclesiastical buildings over his career. The wooden, gothic-style church at Kakanui was built in three months to accommodate 100 people. It was built at a time when Kakanui had just built a port in the hopes of becoming a major export port. This growth never eventuated but the Presbyterian church remained a key community hub.
    The church’s architecture was part of what attracted Michael and Anna to the property when they first saw it was for sale. “We like that it’s Robert Lawson’s smallest, most modest surviving building” says Michael. “It was pretty exciting when we looked at it and saw that it was one of his before we bought it.”
    For Michael and Anna, the purchase and restoration of the church has been a pleasure – they describe the restoration as their “hobby”. When they bought the church, it needed significant work but that didn’t scare the couple. Michael is an experienced carpenter with heritage expertise, and Anna is also hands-on. Gradually they have put new subfloor bearing joists in, replaced corner studs and weatherboards, restored windows, painted, and improved the drainage. “We never had a particular plan except to restore it,” says Michael. “There was no timeframe, no budget and that’s why it’s been such a pleasure. It is going really well at this stage.”
    Part of the journey of restoration has been discovering the emotional ties so many people have to the church. In addition to regular services, the church ran Sunday School classes, which were so popular that in 1933 a dedicated Bible Class Hall was added to the main church. In 1955, two further small buildings were purchased to accommodate the growing Sunday school numbers. The local branch of Brownies used one of these huts as their den.
    When Michael and Anna work on their church they have an open-door policy, they’ve found that people come to visit and chat. “The more we’ve got to know the building, the more we’ve realised it’s a special space that means a lot to a lot of other people”, says Anna. “For us, we’re looking after it at the moment and fixing it up. We see ourselves as stewards of the building.” Now that the church is weathertight and stable, Anna and Michael have opened it up to community use.
    Michael says, “we’ve had weddings in it, gigs, art exhibitions, and carol services. It doesn’t need to be a commercial space, but we’ve realised it should have a life of its own and a reason to exist. We get quite emotional seeing all the life in the building. We never expected that side of what is our hobby. It’s not what we went looking for but it’s rewarding to see.”
    The listing process has highlighted the social and historical value to the Kakanui community. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Heritage Assessment Advisor, Alison Breese, has loved working on the project. “This place is highly significant to the Kakanui community and has outstanding aesthetic, architectural and historic significance. As one of only two surviving Presbyterian timber churches in New Zealand designed by Lawson it’s been a pleasure seeing the love and hard mahi the owners have put into it.”
    For Michael and Anna, the church entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/ Rārangi Kōrero is an important recognition of the significance of the church and will support its ongoing protection and recognition.
    ABOUT HERITAGE NEW ZEALAND POUHERE TAONGA
    Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is the leading national historic heritage agency for Aotearoa New Zealand, operating as an autonomous Crown Entity. Our mission is to identify, protect, and promote heritage – Kia mōhiotia atu, kia tiakina, kia hāpaingia ā tātau taonga tuku iho.
    We actively engage with communities, foster partnerships, and provide valuable resources to support those who are passionate about exploring, learning, and connecting with our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit our website at www.heritage.org.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –