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Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Landmark decision on the human right to a healthy climate delivered by the highest court in the Americas

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    Amsterdam, Netherlands – The Inter-American Court of Human Rights just delivered a landmark decision on the obligations of States in the face of the climate emergency.[1] The Court established that governments must take “urgent and effective actions” to safeguard the right to a healthy climate, and that companies have obligations with regard to climate change and its impacts on human rights. This decision unequivocally puts the rights of people and nature above the interests of polluters.

    In an unprecedented move, the Court also recognised the right to nature and ecosystems to maintain their essential ecological processes, as a crucial part in the effort to address the triple planetary crisis [2] and to achieve a truly sustainable development model that respects planetary boundaries and guarantees the rights of present and future generations. 

    Pablo Ramírez, Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace Mexico, said: “This is a life-changing decision for thousands of communities that are impacted by climate change on our continent. The highest court in the Americas is providing us with a pathway to climate justice, obliging States to guarantee human rights, address climate impacts and force polluting industries to repair the damage they have caused.”

    The Court’s decision puts powerful legal tools to secure climate accountability and justice in the hands of more than 300 million people in 20 states that are party to the American Convention on Human Rights, including Indigenous Peoples, civil society organisations and individuals. 

    The advisory opinion was requested in January 2023 by the governments of Chile and Colombia. [3] It was followed by the most participatory process in the history of the Court, with 150 oral interventions from States, international organisations, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society, as well as 265 written submissions, including from Greenpeace International.

    Latin America and the Caribbean are highly affected by air pollution,[4] rising sea levels and extreme weather events,[5] fuelled by emissions from oil and gas corporations and other polluting industries.[6] 

    The Court’s decision is grounded in clear scientific evidence that attributes large emissions from corporations to impacts such as loss of life and livelihoods from climate disasters. This Court decision will directly assist individuals and communities in pushing back against corporate polluters and corporate violations of human rights.

    Maria Alejandra Serra, Legal Counsel, Greenpeace International, said: “For too long, politicians and corporations have gotten away with profiting from the destruction of our environment and from harming the lives of ordinary people. This decision marks the beginning of the era of corporate accountability and a big step towards dismantling the colonial legacy of systemic impunity in our region.”

    The decision builds on the growing global momentum in courts tasked with interpreting international law facing the climate crisis.[7] It is expected to be used by governments to present more ambitious climate action plans and shape future decisions by other international human rights courts, setting the stage for a forthcoming historic advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice – the world’s highest court – on the responsibilities of States to mitigate climate impacts. 

    ENDS 

    Notes:

    Photos and videos of Greenpeace International and its allies in the process at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Greenpeace Media Library. 

    [1] The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, one of three regional human rights courts in the world, has the role to interpret and clarify the obligations of States. Its decisions inform national governments and courts. Read the full decision in Spanish here.

    [2] As established by the United Nations, “[t]he triple planetary crisis refers to the interconnected challenges of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss”. See here 

    [3] Read the Advisory Opinion Request here. 

    [4] A review on the impact of climate change and air pollution in the region, particularly in the Caribbean, is detailed in a Columbia University publication authored by Muge Akpinar-Elci and Olaniyi Olayinka.

    [5] As recently as 2024, the Americas region faced devastating effects from multiple extreme weather events, which continued to impact lives, livelihoods, and food supply chains long after the events had passed, according to a publication by the World Meteorological Organization. 

    [6] Written observation on the request for an advisory opinion on the climate emergency and human rights by Greenpeace International, the Center for International Environmental Law, the NYU Climate Law Accelerator, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Open Society Justice Initiative.

    [7] Some examples are the recent decisions from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which classified greenhouse gas emissions as marine pollution, and the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights against Switzerland, a State failing to set adequate climate targets.

    Contacts:

    Tal Harris, Greenpeace International, Global Media Lead – Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign, +41-782530550, [email protected]

    Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]Follow @greenpeacepress on X/Twitter for our latest international press release

    Follow @greenpeacepress on X/Twitter for our latest international press release

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Discovery Alert: Scientists Spot a Planetary Carousel

    Source: NASA

    KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c 

    A new investigation into old Kepler data has revealed that a planetary system once thought to house zero planets actually has two planets which orbit their star in a unique style, like an old-fashioned merry-go-round. 

    The KOI-134 system contains two planets which orbit their star in a peculiar fashion on two different orbital planes, with one planet exhibiting significant variation in transit times. This is the first-discovered system of its kind. 

    Over a decade ago, scientists used NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope to observe the KOI-134 system and thought that it might have a planet orbiting, but they deemed this planet candidate to be a false positive, because its transits (or passes in front of its star) were not lining up as expected. These transits were so abnormal that the planet was actually weeded out through an automated system as a false positive before it could be analyzed further. 
    However, NASA’s commitment to openly sharing scientific data means that researchers can constantly revisit old observations to make new discoveries. In this new study, researchers re-analyzed this Kepler data on KOI-134 and confirmed that not only is the “false positive” actually a real planet, but the system has two planets and some really interesting orbital dynamics! 
    First, the “false positive” planet, named KOI-134 b, was confirmed to be a warm Jupiter (or a warm planet of a similar size to Jupiter). Through this analysis, researchers uncovered that the reason this planet eluded confirmation previously is because it experiences what are called transit timing variations (TTVs), or small differences in a planet’s transit across its star that can make its transit “early” or “late” because the planet is being pushed or pulled by the gravity from another planet which was also revealed in this study. Researchers estimate that KOI-134 b transits across its star as much as 20 hours “late” or “early,” which is a significant variation. In fact, it was so significant that it’s the reason why the planet wasn’t confirmed in initial observations. 
    As these TTVs are caused by the gravitational interaction with another planet, this discovery also revealed a planetary sibling: KOI-134 c. Through studying this system in simulations that include these TTVs, the team found that KOI-134 c is a planet slightly smaller than Saturn and closer to its star than KOI-134 b. 

    KOI-134 c previously eluded observation because it orbits on a tilted orbital plane, a different plane from KOI-134 b, and this tilted orbit prevents the planet from transiting its star. The two orbital planes of these planets are about 15 degrees different from one another, also known as a mutual inclination of 15 degrees, which is significant. Due to the gravitational push and pull between these two planets, their orbital planes also tilt back and forth. 
    Another interesting feature of this planetary system is something called resonance. These two planets have a 2 to 1 resonance, meaning within the same time that one planet completes one orbit, the other completes two orbits. In this case, KOI-134 b has an orbital period (the time it takes a planet to complete one orbit) of about 67 days, which is twice the orbital period of KOI-134 c, which orbits every 33-34 days. 
    Between the separate orbital planes tilting back and forth, the TTVs, and the resonance, the two planets orbit their star in a pattern that resembles two wooden ponies bobbing up and down as they circle around on an old-fashioned merry go round. 

    While this system started as a false positive with Kepler, this re-analysis of the data reveals a vibrant system with two planets. In fact, this is the first-ever discovered compact, multiplanetary system that isn’t flat, has such a significant TTV, and experiences orbital planes tilting back and forth. 
    Also, most planetary systems do not have high mutual inclinations between close planet pairs. In addition to being a rarity, mutual inclinations like this are also not often measured because of challenges within the observation process. So, having measurements like this of a significant mutual inclination in a system, as well as measurements of resonance and TTVs, provides a clear picture of dynamics within a planetary system which we are not always able to see. 

    A team of scientists led by Emma Nabbie of the University of Southern Queensland published a paper on June 27 on their discovery, “A high mutual inclination system around KOI-134 revealed by transit timing variations,” in the journal “Nature Astronomy.” The observations described in this paper and used in simulations in this paper were made by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and the paper included collaboration and contributions from institutions including the University of Geneva, University of La Laguna, Purple Mountain Observatory, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Southern Queensland, and NASA’s retired Kepler Space Telescope.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks as prepared for delivery by Becky Pringle, President, National Education Association, to the 104th Representative Assembly

    Source: US National Education Union

    Oh, Freedom.

    I am Becky Pringle. I am the great-granddaughter of people who were kidnapped from the Ghanaian region of West Africa and enslaved in Charlottesville, Virginia. I am the daughter of Haywood Harrison Board, a public school history teacher and Mildred Taylor Board, a Head Start food service worker. I am the widow of Nathan, a labor attorney, who loved and supported me, unconditionally. I am the proud mother of Nathan and Lauren and the grandmother of the beautiful and brilliant Carter and Mackenzie. I am an educator, who has spent 31 of my 70 years on this earth teaching middle school students the wonders of science. And now, I have the honor and privilege of being the president of the largest labor union in this country—the National Education Association.

    Oh, Freedom is a Negro Spiritual that my family choir sang at our annual concerts at our church. During these long weeks when our spirits have been saddened, our consciousness outraged, our realities rattled . . . that song has stirred in my soul. I sang it out loud as the Supreme Court decisions were handed down last week; as lawsuits we had won were challenged. Oh, Freedom. I sing it while watching evil run rampant; while witnessing so much hurt and harm. But delegates, I also sing Oh, Freedom while watching millions rise up to say no; when decent people remind this nation of what is good, and right, and true; when morality carries the moment.

    Oh, Freedom. It is a reminder . . . a clarion call for courage and determination . . . for the righteous indignation that must fuel our resistance and resolve. And when I look back at my family’s ties to that song, I know that the singing of it built community. Just like we are doing in this space—building a community of support and strength and love.

    And, my community, I must express some radical gratitude. You continue to show up with courage in the midst of exhaustion. You defend truth and equity amid a vicious swirl of hatred and lies. You are the holders of hope and the keepers of dreams. You provide love and care to our students and to each other.  NEA, thank you . . .  for all you are, and for all you do. 

    Fellow delegates, as the highest governing body of the NEA, our country is depending on us—on this community—to lead the way . . . from dogmatism back to decency and democracy. NEA, we must lead the way from callousness and the castigation of society’s at-risk communities. It is up to us to lead the way toward the care, consideration and compassion that is everyone’s right.

    We know well the obstacles we face—all of them designed to distract, divert, and divide as those in power blatantly and aggressively target immigrants, our Black, Brown, Indigenous, API, and LGBTQ+ communities, and anyone who dares to demand the safety and humanity that should be the inheritance of us all.

    Those in power are trying to erase the truth of our history. They want to whitewash the past so our students are denied the full story of who we are. They want to silence all of the pain, all of the struggle. Even in the telling of the triumphs, their narration is incomplete. They want to stop our students from looking inward to see their own dignity, or outward to a diverse world filled with possibility and pride.

    NEA, none of this, none of it is normal. And, it is not an accident. It is all despicably deliberate. This pitting of parents against educators, neighbors against neighbors, and communities against themselves. Scapegoating, othering, and blaming, instead of fixing the inequitable systems that are baked into this nation’s soil. 

    And as they blame and they ban, Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies are slashing already promised federal support, funneling public dollars into private hands that are already obscenely wealthy, gutting protections for trans students, and dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that lift up every student.

    Notice I said the words: Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. We cannot allow this administration, or anyone else, to reduce these three sacred values to a simple, three-letter slur. 

    Diversity is our uniqueness, our strength. Equity means every student gets what they need, when they need it, and in the way that serves them best. Inclusion means all students are seen, valued, and respected; that they all have access to opportunities and support. 

    Delegates, we cannot allow fear to write the future. Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Say the words, NEA! Say the words!

    NEA, we know exactly why public education lies at the core of their attacks.

    Because a public, free, universal education that is grounded in teaching critical thinking is a threat to authoritarianism. Because if they can control what our students learn, they can control what they believe, and then they can use those beliefs to manipulate reality and reason, and manifest confusion and cruelty. 

    That’s why they want to dismantle, defund, privatize, and voucherize public education. That’s why they want to demoralize the education professionals who have dedicated their lives to teaching and feeding, nurturing, counseling, and driving our students every day. 

    This is an intentional, coordinated campaign to strip away the very tools that challenge power, demand justice, and preserve democracy. As they work to destroy public education, and then profit from the wreckage, this administration wants to lock in policies that will take generations to undo.

    Delegates, I need you to understand that we are in a prolonged fight—one that cannot end on the last day of this RA. 

    While you have been elected to lift up the voices of educators across our country and then decide the future of our union, your responsibility reaches well past these four days. It’s not only about what we deliberate, debate, and decide, and…learn. NEA, it is always about what we do.

    We must use our power to take action that leads, action that liberates, action that lasts.

    And, we cannot simply fight against, NEA. We must also fight forward: for our vision of a public school system where every student—every one—attends a school that is safe, welcoming, and plentiful in resources; a school where every student is celebrated for who they know themselves to be; a school that is steeped in excellence and care; where education justice is recognized as a birthright; where educators—you—are valued as the professionals you are.

    NEA, I see you. In so many ways, you are already fighting forward to make that vision reality.

    Just last month, in a historic vote for unionization, determined education support professionals in Kansas brought nearly 600 new members into the Lawrence Education Association. Their dedication unites all school employees into one powerful local, laying the groundwork for a statewide movement for dignity and respect. 

    Last fall—while we didn’t “win all the things”…yet—we can find strength and inspiration and learning in victories in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kentucky. In each of those states, public education was on the ballot. And every time—every time—voters said no to school vouchers. 

    And in legislative sessions this year, educators helped to beat back vouchers in Utah, Kansas, Mississippi and in North and South Dakota. 

    And not just that.

    NEA-New Mexico wrapped a circle of protection around our immigrant students. They fought against using the standardized testing process to collect student immigration status—and they won.

    Educators in Sackets Harbor, New York, mobilized their community and won the release of their students who were detained in an ICE raid.

    NEA, this is the type of work that we must do all over this country.  

    And I will forever be proud of NEA’s response to the Department of Education’s dangerous, diabolical, and unconstitutional edict, which was designed to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion. NEA stood up. And we won. In three states, federal judges blocked implementation, ruling that what the department had done was a clear abuse of power. 

    As we continue and expand this work across our nation, we must take action guided by these seven important verbs: Educate. Communicate. Organize. Mobilize. Litigate. Legislate. Elect. 

    In many of the world’s cultures, spiritual systems, and creation stories, the number seven holds special significance. In the Lakota Sioux tradition, “Every decision we make must be done with consideration for the next seven generations.” 

    Our seven verbs hold similar long-term thinking. As we answer the call to fight back now, we must also fight forward for those who will follow us in our continuous struggle for justice. 

    Our multi-pronged strategy to protect our nation’s promise is designed to meet the multi-pronged attack on our democracy and our schools. Seven verbs… 

    We must EDUCATE. We will talk openly about what is happening to the world around us and what it portends for the future. As the rapid consolidation of power leads us down a treacherous and dark road toward authoritarian rule, we must be vigilant in teaching the lessons of history, and help not just our students, but our communities understand what is at stake and ensure they are able to fully imagine their world as it should be. 

    We must COMMUNICATE. We will use truth to cut through all of the noise and each of the lies. We will share all of the joyful and miraculous stories we have witnessed serving in our nation’s classrooms, on campuses, and worksites. Together, we will inspire, motivate, prepare, and compel others to join our movement and take action. 

    We must ORGANIZE, and we must build our power. Power to promote, protect, and strengthen public education. Power, expanded by partnerships that connect our work to the struggles for worker rights, wages, and protections. For fair taxes and economic justice. For reproductive freedom. That’s why we’ve allocated more money to organizing. It is the most powerful tool for creating change. 

    We must MOBILIZE. We will show up in school board elections, state capitals, marches, protests, at the ballot box—wherever our students’ futures are at stake, we will stand. Together. 

    We must LITIGATE. Whenever the rights of students and educators are denied, we will take our fight to the courts! Just since January, NEA has filed several suits and joined our allies in hundreds of other lawsuits on: diversity, equity, and inclusion; public education funding and support; and the closure of the Department of Education. We’ve worked to protect collective bargaining rights, the right to strike, and the right to engage in union advocacy. We’ve stood up for disability rights, the rights of students, educators, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and constitutional rights to voting, speech, and assembly.

    Every time they create an unjust policy, we will use every legal tool to challenge it.  

    And, we must LEGISLATE. From school board meetings and state houses to the halls of Congress, we will continue to call for laws that provide what’s best for our students. Together, we will continue to demand for educators the dignity, respect, and fair pay that every professional should have. We will create and support measures that invest in public schools. That’s why we’re fighting so hard against the Big, Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Bill that recently passed in the Senate—a bill that will allow taxpayer dollars to fund private schools that are allowed to hand pick students and freely discriminate; a bill that will slash Medicaid, school meals, healthcare. 

    And in November of 2026, we will hold lawmakers accountable! 

    We will ELECT. We must have leaders who believe in fully funded public education. Leaders who will stand with us in the battle for racial and social justice. Leaders who know educators deserve the freedom to teach and our students deserve the freedom to learn.

    NEA, we are not simply reacting to a moment. We are building a strong, sustainable movement. A movement that votes. That holds leaders accountable. A movement of strong educator leaders who run for office—and win!

    Educate. Communicate. Organize. Mobilize. Litigate. Legislate. Elect. NEA, I need you to remember these verbs. Action words. Then, I ask that you decide every day what you will do; which actions you will take!  

    Use your power to fuel our resistance and resolve; our righteous indignation and our renaissance!

    Show me your power, NEA!

    If you led a walk-in or rally, a march or a protest, stand up!

    If you’ve joined with allies in acts of resistance, stand up! 

    Stand if you’ve said something or done something to defend our democracy.

    Stand if you have fought for the survival of public education!

    If you will make the commitment to protect every student . . . every family . . . every community . . . stand up! 

    Stand, NEA! Stand! Look around and see each other. 

    I see you NEA!

    As you return to your seats, I ask you to relax into the poetry of Leslé Honoré. Allow her writing to lift your hearts, feed your spirit, and strengthen your resolve: 

    Hold your head high

    Especially when the winds are heavy

    Especially when the lies are loud . . . when the traps are set . . .

    Especially when the truth is banned . . . 

    Hold your head high . . .

    Dance in the rain you walking miracle…

    You are the resistance

    You are the victory

    You are the history

    And present 

    And future . . .

    You are the wildest dream

    Dreaming still for the dreamers yet to come

    Hold your head high

    You are 

    Living

    Breathing

    Hope

    NEA, as you fight back: hold your head high! 

    There is power in what you do every day.

    As you fight forward, hold your head high knowing there is hope in the future you are building.

    Through your courage and your conviction, we will create a path for our children toward a world where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a promise fulfilled.

    NEA, remember who you are and hold your head high!

    You are brave. You are powerful. You are the NEA!

    Hold your head high!

    Hold your head high! 

    Oh Freedom! 

    -###- 

     Follow us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/neapresident.bsky.social and https://bsky.app/profile/neatoday.bsky.social  

    The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEA reacts to final passage of Trump administration’s budget bill

    Source: US National Education Union

    By: Celeste Fernandez, NEA Communications

    Published: July 3, 2025

    WASHINGTONG, D.C.—Today, congressional passage of the administration’s budget bill finalized a plan that guts critical funding for education, health care, and nutrition—disproportionately harming Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, low-income families, working-class people, immigrants, veterans, seniors, and individuals with disabilities.

    The following statement is from NEA President Becky Pringle:

    “This budget is a direct attack on the very people our public institutions are meant to lift up. Instead of investing in our children’s education, as well as their health and their future, this law hands billions in tax breaks to the ultrawealthy—while pulling the rug out from under America’s students and families.

    “This isn’t just a policy failure—it is a moral disgrace. Trump and congressional Republicans undermined our public schools and every student in them. When politicians in D.C. slash state funding, students in rural, suburban, and urban communities alike bear the brunt of devastating cuts.

    “They’re not just slashing budgets—they’re taking food away from hungry children by cutting SNAP. They’re stripping health care from millions by dismantling Medicaid. This isn’t just irresponsible—it’s a complete betrayal of America’s students, families, and core values.

    “Educators and parents will not stand by in silence as Trump terrorizes our communities. We will speak out, organize, and fight back because we know what is at stake. Our students deserve better. Our families deserve better. And we will not rest until every student—no matter their background or ZIP code—has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.”

    ###

    Follow us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/neapresident.bsky.social & https://bsky.app/profile/neatoday.bsky.social

    The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: In Dialogue with Spain, Experts of the Human Rights Committee Commend Measures Making Abortion More Accessible, Ask about Accountability for Past Rights Violations and Overcrowding in Migrant Reception Centres

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Human Rights Committee today concluded its consideration of the seventh periodic report of Spain on how it implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  Committee Experts commended revisions to the State’s abortion law promoting increased access, while raising issues concerning its efforts to address accountability for past human rights violations and overcrowding in offshore migrant reception centres.

    A Committee Expert said there had been positive changes in legislation on sexual and reproductive health and voluntary termination of pregnancy, with the removal of requirements for parental consent and the mandatory three-day reflection period.

    Another Committee Expert said serious human rights violations were committed during the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship.  Did the 2022 law on democratic memory overturn the 1977 law on amnesty?  How many high-ranking officials had been tried and sentenced for crimes committed during the dictatorship?

    A Committee Expert said that in Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, migrants had been forced to sleep on the streets due to the lack of capacity in reception centres.  The Committee had also received disturbing reports about overcrowding and abuse of unaccompanied children in detention, particularly in the Canary Islands.  What progress had been made in redistributing migrants held in the Canary Islands to other areas of Spain?

    Marcos Gómez Martínez, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, presenting the report, said Spain remained firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights. Since the presentation of the previous report in 2015, Spain had adopted important legislative, institutional and political measures to strengthen the protection of human rights in the country, in particular civil and political rights.

    Mr. Gómez Martínez said Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory consolidated the right to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship.  A national census of victims, a map of graves and a State plan for exhumations had been created, with the participation of the autonomous communities and civil society.

    The delegation added that work was underway to create a DNA database of disappeared individuals.  There was a unit in the Prosecutor’s Office that specialised in identifying the whereabouts of disappeared persons, and an information service for persons affected by the kidnapping of babies, which facilitated access to birth certificates and genetic records.

    In response to the influx of arrivals to the Spanish islands, particularly in the Canary Islands, the Government was working to strengthen resources and support access to the asylum procedure, the delegation said.  It had opened four large reception centres on the Canary Islands, and had moved some asylum seekers from the Canary Islands to Madrid to allow them to submit asylum applications.  Detainment in migrant holding centres was a last resort.

    In concluding remarks, Mr. Gómez Martínez thanked the Committee for the dialogue and the quality of its questions.  The full guarantee of civil and political rights was an ongoing process.  The Committee helped the State party to guarantee these rights domestically.

    Changrok Soh, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, said the dialogue had addressed key topics related to implementation of the Covenant. The Committee urged the State party to implement its recommendations to strengthen implementation of the Covenant.

    The delegation of Spain was made up of representatives of the Ministry of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts; Ministry of the Interior; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Equality; Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration; Ministry of Youth and Children; and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Human Rights Committee’s one hundred and forty-fourth session is being held from 23 June to 17 July 2025.  All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage.  Meeting summary releases can be found here.  The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m., Thursday 3 July to begin its consideration of the second periodic report of Haiti (CCPR/C/HTI/2).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the seventh periodic report of Spain (CCPR/C/ESP/7).

    Presentation of the Report

    MARCOS GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, said Spain remained firmly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights.  Since the presentation of the previous report in 2015, Spain had adopted important legislative, institutional and political measures to strengthen the protection of human rights in the country, in particular civil and political rights.

    In June 2023, the second national human rights plan (2023-2027) was approved, which expanded the protection of political and civil rights; incorporated the equality of women and men, as well as non-discrimination; and advanced measures to guarantee the universality of human rights for all people. There was a structure responsible for monitoring and supervising implementation of the plan, which followed up on the opinions and recommendations of the human rights treaty bodies.  The plan recognised the importance of the national human rights institution, the Ombudsman, as an independent institution, with its own resources and competences in the field of human rights monitoring.

    Spain had made significant progress in the fight against discrimination.  In 2023, a law was approved that guaranteed of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, eliminating the requirement of medical intervention for changing information on sex in the civic registry, as well as the age requirement.  Conversion therapies and unnecessary surgical interventions on intersex people under 12 years of age were also prohibited.

    Law 15/2022 facilitated the creation of the Independent Authority for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination.  The criminal framework against hate crimes had also been strengthened, expanding the recognised causes of discrimination, including age, social exclusion and ethnicity.  The Attorney General’s Office had consolidated a network of prosecutors specialising in hate crimes and discrimination, and specific police units were created for prevention and investigation.

    The Strategy for Equality, Inclusion and Participation of the Gitanos [Spanish Romani] (2021-2030) had been renewed, with specific measures addressing education, employment, health, housing, essential services, poverty, and gender equality.  In addition, studies and awareness-raising campaigns on racism and xenophobia had been promoted, and the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia had been strengthened, as had the Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination.  Judicial mechanisms for dealing with victims of hate crimes had been strengthened, as well as the detection and reporting of hate speech on social networks, including a specific protocol to combat it online.

    In 2024, Spain took a decisive step towards the effective recognition of the rights of persons with disabilities through the reform of article 49 of the Constitution.  The new wording guaranteed that all persons with disabilities could exercise their rights in conditions of freedom and equality.  In addition, in Spain the right to vote was fully guaranteed to all persons with disabilities.

    Organic Law 10/2022 on the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom expanded prevention, care and reparation measures.  Within the Ministry of the Interior, the National Office against Sexual Violence was created in 2023.  Organic Law 1/2023 guaranteed access to voluntary termination of pregnancy free of charge, including for minors and women with disabilities.  Organic Law 8/2021 on the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence strengthened the framework for the protection of minors. 

    In July 2023, Spain approved the new protocol for the forensic medical examination of detainees.  In 2022, the Ministry of the Interior created the National Office for Human Rights Guarantees, a body responsible for ensuring compliance with national and international standards against torture by the State security forces.

    Spain’s prison population had decreased in recent years and detention conditions had improved, including through increased access to health and care for people with disabilities and a reduction of the use of mechanical restraints. Incommunicado detention was applied on an exceptional basis and could not be applied to minors under 16 years of age.  In Temporary Stay Centres for Immigrants, specific modules had been set up for women and families, eliminating situations of overcrowding.

    A contingency plan implemented since 2022 called on child protection services in all the country’s territories to take in unaccompanied minors.  Royal Decree Law 2/2025 implemented urgent measures to guarantee the rights and best interests of migrant children and adolescents. The Government was preparing a Royal Decree that set minimum quality standards in terms of reception centres’ size, resources and accessibility.  

    Law 2/2023 regulated the protection of people who reported regulatory breaches and created the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers.  This was one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Democracy of 2024, which aimed to expand and improve the quality of Government information, and strengthen the transparency and accountability of the media, the legislative branch and the electoral system.  

    Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory consolidated the right to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of the Civil War and the dictatorship.  A national census of victims, a map of graves and a State plan for exhumations had been created, with the participation of the autonomous communities and civil society.

    Spain reiterated its commitment to the international human rights system and to the effective implementation of the Covenant.  

    Questions by Committee Experts

     

    A Committee Expert said reports revealed positive steps had been taken by the State party, however challenges remained in implementing the Convention.  Was there an oversight mechanism assessing implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and Views?  What was the jurisprudence of the State’s courts regarding the Committee’s Views? The Supreme Court had issued a decision asserting the binding nature of human rights treaty bodies’ Views.  Was this decision being applied?  Could the delegation give some examples of court cases that had referenced the Covenant?

    The 2022 law on equality, which recognised the right of all persons to non-discrimination, had no bearing on the legislation on immigration, which inhibited access to public services for migrants.  Would the State party address this issue?  There had been major delays in the establishment of the proposed Authority for Equal Treatment; when would this be completed?  What was the status of the proposed Organic Act against Racism?

    The Criminal Code did not address hate crimes based on language, political opinion or economic status. How did the State party tackle such hate crimes?  There had been a disturbing rise in hate crimes recently; how was the State party working to prosecute and prevent these crimes?

    What remedies had the State party provided for newborns and intersex children subjected to unnecessary medical treatments?  The State party had made steps forward in promoting self-determination of gender with the adoption of the recent law on the topic, however this did not recognise the rights of non-binary persons.  Did the State party plan to amend the law to recognise non-binary persons? Had it considered expanding the options for declaring sex in the civil registry beyond simply “male” and “female”?

    Another Committee Expert said that Spain had concluded its first national action plan on human rights.  How did the consultative commission work with the Ombudsperson’s Office to assess implementation of the plan?  The Ombudsperson’s Office had “A” status under the Paris Principles.  What efforts had been made by the State to implement the recommendations of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions to strengthen the role of                               Ombudsperson?  Was the Ombudsperson mandated to investigate complaints of torture and ill-treatment by security forces?

    There had been positive changes in legislation on sexual and reproductive health and voluntary termination of pregnancy, with the removal of requirements for parental consent and the mandatory three-day reflection period.  How did the State party promote access to abortions for women with disabilities and minority women?  What measures would the State party take to address conscientious objections by doctors to abortions?  How did the State party fight against obstetric violence?

    Serious human rights violations were committed during the Civil War and the Franco dictatorship.  Positive progress had been made with the 2022 law on democratic memory, but the right to truth, justice and reparation of the family members of victims had not been guaranteed and the Law of Amnesty of 1977 had not been overturned.  Did the 2022 law overturn the 1977 law on amnesty?  Were there efforts to overturn the law on State secrets related to the Franco dictatorship?  There had been a proposal to create a DNA database of babies stolen during the dictatorship.  How many high-ranking officials had been tried and sentenced for crimes committed during the dictatorship?  What would the makeup of the proposed Truth Commission be, and how would it promote access to truth, justice and reparation for victims of historical human rights violations?

    One Committee Expert welcomed the strategy for equality and inclusion for the Gitanos, and institutions set up to tackle discrimination and racism.  The quality of education provided to Gitano people was lower than that of the rest of the population, and the community had lower employment levels. What measures were in place to address these issues?  The Council for the Elimination of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination had recommended increasing persons from diverse backgrounds in public institutions and measures to redress discrimination.  Had the State party implemented these recommendations?  What measures were in place to prevent discrimination against people of African descent?

    Law enforcement officials reportedly continued to engage in discriminatory identity checks.  Did the State party plan to adopt a law explicitly prohibiting racial and ethnic profiling?  Challenges to proving discrimination resulted in underreporting of racial and ethnic profiling.  Who investigated such reports and how were perpetrators held accountable?  Internal accountability mechanisms lacked transparency and data was not publicly available.  How were people disciplined for infractions?

    The Committee was concerned by the reported increase in hate speech in Spain, particularly neo-fascist hate speech, and a reduction in the budgets of Government mechanisms to combat this phenomenon.  How would the State party tackle this issue?  The Committee was also concerned by the rise in hate crimes against minorities. The State party had launched several initiatives to tackle hate crimes, but their effects appeared to be limited. How was the State party collecting data on and working to ensure the implementation of measures to tackle hate crimes?

    A Committee Expert welcomed Organic Law 10/2022 and other measures to tackle gender-based violence.  There had been an increase in femicides, and women faced barriers in reporting violence.  What measures were in place to ensure implementation of Law 10/2022?  What resources had been allocated to services for victims of violence and programmes tackling gender-based violence?  Were there oversight mechanisms that monitored the treatment of women in courts?  How was the State party tackling online discrimination against women and gender biases in artificial intelligence tools?

    Another Committee Expert welcomed recent amendments to the Criminal Code removing an article that justified forced sterilisation in certain circumstances.  Had past cases of forced sterilisation been exempt from prosecution by this article?  What measures had the State party taken to ensure specialised training for health workers related to the prohibition of forced sterilisation?

    Acts of torture in Spain were subject to a statute of limitations if they did not qualify as crimes against humanity.  Were there plans to amend the definition of torture to bring it in line with international standards and remove the statute of limitations?  Time bars prevented many victims of past political violence in Basque accessing remedies and justice.  How was this issue being addressed?  What steps had been taken to identify and prosecute historic allegations of torture?  The State party did not make video recordings of interrogations; would it consider making such recordings?

     

    Responses by the Delegation

     

    The delegation said Spain had implemented the recommendations in the Views issued by the Committee and all treaty bodies.  The Views being implemented were referred to in the preambles of the relevant laws.  The Supreme Court and lower courts applied the provisions of these Views in their interpretations of Spanish law.  A July 2024 Royal Decree established a monitoring committee tasked with drafting follow-up reports on the implementation of the Views of treaty bodies.

    The Ombudsperson had the mandate to submit recommendations to the Government related to complaints it received, including complaints from the Spanish autonomous communities.

    There were no limitations on foreigners’ access to the police to report human rights violations.  The immigration law suspended deportation procedures involving victims of trafficking and minors.  Foreigners were assisted in criminal proceedings, and all victims were treated equally before the law, regardless of their migration status. New immigration regulations implemented this year protected foreign victims of crimes, who were permitted to live and work in Spain.  There were specific norms for victims of sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking in persons.

    Implementation of the law on racism and intolerance continued to be a priority.  There had been delays in implementation of the draft law on equal treatment.  The chair of the independent authority on equal treatment had been appointed and the body was fully operational.

    A Royal Decree of 2024 promoted equality and non-discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals, and the Government planned to adopt State strategies for the inclusion of this group.  A mechanism had been set up for reporting hate crimes against this community. Spanish laws prohibited conversion therapy.  The State party had made progress in conducting a study on non-binary people.

    Organic Law 1/2023 strengthened inclusion for women with disabilities.  All women could access voluntary interruption of pregnancy from 16 years of age, including women with disabilities.  The State party was promoting access to abortion services in autonomous communities.  Each autonomous community needed to ensure that they had sufficient personnel to promote access to abortions.  The Organic Law set out concrete measures to eradicate obstetric violence.  Autonomous communities ensured that health care centres could report malpractice.  Legal exceptions which allowed for sterilisation of persons with disabilities without their consent had been removed in 2020.  Specialised training on legislation related to abortion and sterilisation was being provided to medical staff.

    Spain had a decentralised governance structure, and the Central Government did not have the authority to address some issues that were the purview of autonomous community governments. 

    The law on democratic memory sought to ensure victims’ right to truth.  It would be implemented in line with international law.  The law on investigations into human rights violations occurring during the Civil War and dictatorship had established a Centre of Memory. Court cases involving crimes occurring during the Civil War had failed due to the statute of limitations.  The Prosecutor’s Office had worked to create a DNA database of victims of these human rights violations.  Autonomous communities’ laws on historical violations were being challenged by the State in the Constitutional Court.  Spain had a law on transparency and a working group was seeking to expand transparency in access to information involving historic rights violations.  Parliament was addressing cases of children stolen during the dictatorship, and the law on democratic memory recognised these rights of these children.

    The State party had a national strategy on the Gitanos, which promoted social inclusion, equal opportunities and empowerment of this group, as well as their access to education, housing and healthcare services.

    The State party had conducted an analysis on racism and xenophobia to inform related policies.  It had established strategies promoting the inclusion of migrants.  The national action plan on preventing racism and xenophobia ran until 2026 and had already achieved tangible results.  The State party had been working with the European Commission to monitor and address online hate speech, and was drafting a strategy to address hate speech in sport.  Artificial intelligence was used in social networks to fight discrimination; it had led to increased detections of hate speech.  Data was collected on different forms of hate speech, including in sport. A working group was developing strategic plans promoting the inclusion of ethnic minorities.  Spain had been issuing subsidies to civil society organizations working to prevent hate speech and hate crimes.  The State party was promoting coordination between the police and other agencies to ensure the reporting of hate crimes.

    The Ministry of Interior had a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and hate crimes.  There had been a rise in reports of these crimes, but this indicated that barriers to reporting had been addressed.  Police officers had been trained in combatting hate speech.  The State had implemented measures for protecting the Gitanos from hate speech.

    There was a robust legal framework governing police checks.  The police had committed to guaranteeing public security. There was an internal oversight body that investigated complaints related to racial profiling.

    Some 1.5 billion euros had been invested in the State Pact, and responsibilities for its implementation had been delineated.  Under the Pact, the State was working to combat all forms of violence against women.  The Constitutional Court had granted all victims of sexual aggression the right to appeal court cases.  There were 51 shelters for victims of violence, who also had access to compensation.  Budget had been allocated to improving care in rural areas.  Measures had been implemented to combat macho attitudes.  There was a comprehensive victim protection system that ensured appropriate protections for victims.  A campaign on psychological violence would be carried out by the State party this year.  Systems had been set up within the Ministry of the Interior to address sexual and gender-based violence.

    The definition of torture in the Criminal Code was not fully aligned with that of the Convention against Torture. However, the Code and other legislation sufficiently addressed the crime of torture, and did not need to be amended. The Code provided for the non-application of the statute of limitations for crimes of torture that were deemed to be crimes against humanity.  The statute of limitations was 15 years; this was sufficient time for the prosecution to act. Police practices needed to be aligned with international standards.

    Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts

    One Committee Expert welcomed specific measures to address online hate speech and hate speech at sporting events.  What measures were in place to address other forms of hate speech?

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on the legal status of the Committee’s recommendations regarding compensation; national policies promoting sexual and reproductive health education; whether the 2022 law on memory brought an end to the amnesty imposed by the 1977 amnesty law; how the State party reconciled its obligations to guarantee access to justice and the concordia laws being adopted by the autonomous communities; measures to repeal amnesty laws to deal with enforced disappearance and to adopt a State plan for search and identification of the disappeared; and the legal framework on public access to archives on historic human rights violations.

    Experts also asked questions on whether the State party was considering adopting a law on racial profiling; the functions to be carried out by the body mandated to implement the recommendations of treaty bodies; whether all foreigners who were victims of serious crimes were provided with residency permits; whether the State’s efforts to prevent forced sterilisation were sufficient; the role of the Office of Human Rights Guarantees in implementing international standards on preventing torture; and investigations into numerous reports of torture and excessive use of force in a 2017 incident in Catalonia.

     

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said persons could go before the courts to claim financial compensation based on treaty bodies’ Views and recommendations.

    Spain had an educational curriculum on sexual and reproductive health, which promoted mutual respect and the prevention of violence.  The Ministry of Education and Health was also providing online training on sexual and reproductive health for teachers and families.

    The concordia laws drafted by three autonomous communities had been challenged in the Constitutional Court.

    Video recordings of interrogations could be used in certain kinds of investigations; however, they could not be used when they undermined investigations.

    There had been a clear drop in hate speech crimes, from over 2,000 cases in 2023 to 1,900 in 2024.  This had been influenced by training provided to public officials and civil society on hate speech.  The number of cases of hate speech against the Gitanos had also fallen over this period.  There were laws on police ethics; if police did not abide by these laws, they were sanctioned and could possibly be released from service.

    The right to truth, reparation and non-repetition was enshrined in the law on democratic memory.  A map of disappeared persons had been created, and work was underway to create a DNA database of disappeared individuals. There was a unit in the Prosecutor’s Office that specialised in identifying the whereabouts of disappeared persons.  In one cemetery, the remains of up to 120 victims of human rights violations from the Civil War had been found.  There was an information service for persons affected by the kidnapping of babies, which facilitated access to birth certificates and genetic records.

    The police oversight body within the Ministry of Justice took actions in response to reports of police misconduct and conducted preventative activities.  It complemented internal police oversight units.

    A 2024 Royal Decree regulated the second national human rights plan, which included a measure establishing a commission for following up on the recommendations of human rights treaty bodies. It addressed all of Spain, including the autonomous communities.

    Last year, the Constitutional Court decided that the 2022 law on democratic memory did not affect the 1977 amnesty law.  The 1977 law provided a broad amnesty to those persons who were arrested under the dictatorship, as part of the transition from the dictatorship to a democracy.  Court rulings extended the amnesty to victims of forced labour and military personnel. The prosecutor’s office was opening investigations into alleged cases of human rights violations which had taken place in the dictatorship-era.  The aim of the investigations was to provide redress to victims.  Thus far, around 7,000 human remains had been identified and more would be exhumed soon.

    The Commission for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was working with the private sector, unions and civil society to promote equality.  It held events related to racism, conducted studies and aided victims of racial discrimination.  Its funds had been increased in 2023, allowing it to expand its remit, which had led to an increase in reports of discrimination.

    Legal amendments had been made to make forced sterilisation a crime in all circumstances.  Since the amendments were enacted, there had been no reports of forced sterilisation.  The Government had held an event in which it offered an apology to victims.  The National Council for Disabilities was working to rectify this historic harm and support the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls with disabilities.

    Questions by Committee Experts

     

    A Committee Expert said the national preventive mechanism had identified material deficiencies in the oldest prisons, a dearth of psychiatric and healthcare professionals, and the use of mechanical subjugation.  How had authorities responded to these observations?  Electric shocks had been used against detainees as part of a study on aggressiveness.  Why was this allowed and how would the State party prevent repetition?

    Isolation was used in prisons, with prior authorisation for up to 14 days, with the possibility of extension. Why did the State party maintain this regime of incommunicado detention?  Had it seriously considered the possibility of its elimination? Legislation allowed for incommunicado detention of minors aged 16 to 18.  Would the State cease this practice?  There were no laws establishing maximum time limits for incommunicado detention; would limits be established?

    Were there alternatives to migratory detention?  To what extent were they applied?  What measures had the State party taken to respond to reports of ill-treatment of migrant children by officials in holding facilities?

    One Committee Expert said Spain was a country of destination and transit for migrants.  What was the nature and scope of the ongoing study on trafficking in persons?  What challenges remained in harmonising regional legislation on trafficking?  Was there a timeline for the adoption of the draft anti-trafficking law?  What did it cover?  Was the State party considering developing a more comprehensive national referral mechanism?

    Spain had no formal age determination procedure for migrants.  Would this be developed?  There were reports of abuse in migrant reception centres and of minors being held with adults.  How did the State party ensure that unaccompanied minors received legal assistance, protection and family reunification opportunities?

    To what extent was legislation on slander and libel compatible with international standards?  Was the State party considering decriminalising defamation? What was the rationale for maintaining the defamation law?  The transparency law did not cover judicial bodies and did not impose penalties on public officials for non-compliance.  Was the current legal system sufficient for securing transparency in public information? What measures were in place to promote increased application of the law?

    Between 2017 and 2020, at least 65 Catalan politicians, activists, and public figures had reportedly been targeted with Pegasus spyware, allegedly linked to the National Intelligence Centre, and there had been no investigations into these reports.  Did the State party intend to launch investigations into these allegations?  The 2024 amnesty law granted amnesty to individuals involved in recent pro-independence activities in Catalonia.  What progress had been made in applying the law?  What was the impact of the recent Constitutional Court ruling on the law?  Was the law compatible with international standards?

    A Committee Expert said migrant intake facilities could detain migrants for up to 60 days.  Did the State party provide consistent access to medical care and legal support for migrants in these centres?  In Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, migrants had been forced to sleep on the streets due to the lack of capacity in reception centres.  The Committee had also received disturbing reports about overcrowding and abuse of unaccompanied children in detention, particularly in the Canary Islands.  What progress had been made in redistributing migrants held in the Canary Islands to other areas of Spain?

    There were long wait times for the assessment of asylum applications; there were over 240,000 applications pending as of 2024.  How was this being addressed?  There were pushbacks at the border preventing migrants from entering the State, forcing them to swim or jump fences.  At least 15 migrants had died in an incident in a border area in 2014, and 23 had died in 2022.  What measures were in place to prevent deaths of migrants and promote effective and timely investigations of deaths?  When would the State party cease the practice of pushbacks?  A 2022 agreement with Morocco authorised Spain to send migrants back to Morocco.  How did the State party ensure that migrants who were sent back to Morocco had the right to apply for asylum?

    Another Committee Expert said the public security act of 2015 had a dissuasive impact on the activities of journalists and human rights defenders.  The Constitutional Court had issued a decision stating that the prohibition to film officials needed to be limited to cases where there was a threat to the official.  What measures were in place to amend the law in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling? Did the State party still use the dangerous practice of undercover police agents?  The offence of glorification of terrorism had been used in 2024 against two Palestinian activists.  What was the status of proposed reforms to restrict the application of this offence?

    Limited progress had been made in combatting corruption in the judiciary.  In 2025, after five years of deadlock, an agreement was reached on establishing the General Council of the Judiciary.  Was fully operational?  How would the State party ensure that it functioned independently?  Judges and prosecutors had gone on strike this week to protest recent judicial reforms, fearing that it would harm their independence.  What was the purpose of these reforms?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said there were shortages of medical professionals in prisons.  Healthcare was the mandate of the autonomous communities, but the Central Government continued to provide resources to support healthcare.  Remote doctors were always available, and the State coordinated with the police to facilitate transfers of inmates to hospitals in cases of medical emergencies. Rosters for nurses and other medical professionals in prisons had been 95 per cent completed.

    Experimentation on inmates was prohibited, but voluntary scientific studies could be conducted in prisons.  Mechanical subjugation, such as the use of handcuffs, straps and tranquilisers in extreme cases, was regulated in the law on penitentiaries.  All guarantees were in place to ensure legality and proportionality in the use of these devices.  These devices were used as a last resort.

    The European Council had not established infractions related to Spain’s use of incommunicado detention.  Persons in incommunicado detention needed to be visited twice daily by medical authorities and visits by consular authorities were not restricted.  Legislation on incommunicado detention was fully aligned with European standards.  The State’s isolation regime had received the support of the Council of Europe’s torture body.  Typically, isolation was used for short periods of a few minutes or hours to prevent conflicts.

    The Government had conducted a study on trafficking in persons in 2024; its results had been published online.  The study identified that there were around 9,000 women in prostitution at risk of being trafficked.  A draft bill had been developed that sought to prevent trafficking and ensure support for victims.  A public hearing on the bill had been concluded, and it would go through the legislature in September.  The bill would establish a national referral mechanism.  Several training courses for the security forces promoted identification of trafficking victims using objective, streamlined criteria.

    Detainment in migrant holding centres was a last resort, applied only in cases of irregular residency.  Migrants could be held for up to 72 hours in these centres.  The legal regime for these centres aligned with that of detention in police centres. Detainees had the right to food and drinks.  The average occupation rate in these centres did not exceed 30 per cent.

    Between November 2023 and January 2024, there had been a mass arrival of asylum seekers at Madrid Airport.  Holding rooms at the airport were expanded and a room for women and girls was established.  The Government had expedited the processing of asylum claims for these people. 

    There had been an influx of arrivals to the Spanish islands, particularly in the Canary Islands, during the last two years.  In response, the Government was working to strengthen resources and support access to the asylum procedure.  A specific plan to support minors had been developed.  The Government had opened four large reception centres on the Canary Islands.  One centre that opened in 2023 had housed more than 37,000 people to date.

    The Government was committed to defending child migrants’ rights; it had developed a protection framework for these children.  Royal Decree 2/2025 introduced measures to ensure the best interests of the child in cases of irregular migration, regulating when unaccompanied minors could be welcomed by autonomous communities.  The State party was trying to redistribute these minors across the territory to ensure that the capacities of communities were not exceeded.  A draft Royal Decree on minimum standards had been developed, which would ensure a basic level of care for migrant children, establish training for officials on migrant children’s rights and support migrants’ inclusion in communities.  There were minors who wished to be considered as adults so that they could work in the country.  Specialised prosecutors had established standard criteria for determining migrants’ age.  A draft bill would amend civil procedures to establish a formal age determination process, including the assumption that migrants were minors until proven otherwise.

    Spain worked in step with European instruments in regulating its border in national territories bordering Africa. Investigations into the cases of migrant deaths in 2022 were ongoing.

    In 2020, the criteria evaluated by judges when determining acts that glorified terrorism were revised.  In all prosecuted cases of acts of glorification of terrorism, limits on the freedom of expression had been exceeded. 

    The Organic Law on the protection of citizens’ safety was an administrative law that did not have a criminal aspect.  There had been an increase an administrative sanctions after the implementation of this law, which related to restrictions on the freedom of movement implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The law was currently being revised by the parliament.

    There were women’s penitentiaries in Spain, and large prison facilities had wings that were exclusively for women.  The penitentiary administration had developed programmes that supported women after their release from prison.

    In June 2024, an agreement was reached on the appointment of magistrates to Spanish courts, which resulted in the filling of 120 vacancies. Strikes by prosecutors and judges were related to the appointment process.  Individuals could lodge complaints with oversight mechanisms regarding issues with transparency in the judiciary.  These mechanisms ensured that prosecutors and judges did not have links to political groups.  Specialised units had been established in the prosecutor’s office that were fighting public corruption, and draft laws on transparency in the public administration had been developed.

    Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts

     

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on reasons why police officers found guilty of human rights violations had not had their medals withdrawn; the treatment of people of African descent in Spain; efforts to investigate human rights violations involving migrants at the border more seriously; the number of autonomous communities involved in accommodating unaccompanied minors; efforts to standardise the process of determining minority across regions and increase the efficiency of the assessment process for minors’ asylum applications; how the State party had given effect to the national preventive mechanism’s recommendations regarding mechanical constraints; the law that determined the maximum duration of solitary confinement; the justification for the incommunicado detention regime; why the Constitutional Court had empty posts; and reforms that would be made by the forthcoming Organic Law on the judiciary.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said legal provisions were in place that allowed for the withdrawal of medals from officers who were found guilty of human rights violations.

    Tackling discrimination against people of African descent was a high priority for the State party.  It had developed policies and awareness raising campaigns that promoted the rights of this group.

    The Ministry of the Interior had moved some asylum seekers from the Canary Islands to Madrid to allow them to submit asylum applications.  Deportations to Morocco were processed in line with Spanish law.  Communities that shared a land border with Africa were saturated.  The budget for asylum processing had been significantly increased recently but was still not sufficient.  A draft bill had been developed to ensure that communities with the greatest demand were given greater priority in budgeting.  The State presumed that migrants subject to age determination procedures were minors until proven otherwise.

    Activities by undercover agents and “infiltrators” were regulated by State legislation.  They were mandated to gather information that contributed to public safety.

    There were around 300 cases in which had been necessary to use mechanical or chemical restraints between 2018 and 2025.  The use of such restraints was always filmed.

    Detainees who committed specific crimes, such as terrorist crimes or crimes related to organised crime, were subjected to the incommunicado detention regime.  Some 390 people, including 15 women, had been subjected to the regime.  There was a five-day maximum duration for such detention.

    Closing Statements

    MARCOS GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the dialogue and the quality of its questions.  The full guarantee of civil and political rights was an ongoing process.  The Committee helped the State party to guarantee these rights domestically.

    CHANGROK SOH, Committee Chairperson, said that, over the past two days, the dialogue had addressed key topics related to implementation of the Covenant. The Committee commended progress in several areas, but was concerned by issues in other areas.  It urged the State party to implement its recommendations to strengthen implementation of the Covenant.  Mr. Soh closed by thanking the delegation for its participation and all those who had contributed to the dialogue.

    ____________

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

    CCPR25.014E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Briefing – Tackling cyberbullying at regional/local level – 03-07-2025

    Source: European Parliament

    The growth in accessibility of online spaces and digital channels has been remarkable in recent years, providing citizens with many benefits, including enhanced communication, greater learning opportunities and easier access to private and public services. However, this growth has seen a commensurate increase in the associated risks and harms. Cyberbullying, cyber-violence and sexual extortion are just some of the dangers to which people, particularly vulnerable people, are exposed in the digital environment. In our ‘always-on’ world, issues such as cyberbullying can be a relentless experience and can leave victims with a constant sense of being under attack. Like the digital space itself, these dangers know no borders, which can make the problem a global issue. The solutions therefore are not ‘one size fits all’, but a combination of regional, national and transnational actions. The examples outlined here at regional level, while varying in size and scope, all have a common thread, which is the recognition of the risks to people and the desire to make a positive change. The approaches taken often involve a coordinated or cooperative style, with the involvement of students, teachers and parents. The message is consistent on the importance of recognising the dangers of the internet. It is important for victims to be able to quickly identify cyberbullying, cyber-violence and sexual extortion, and know how to deal with it and whom to turn to, in order to prevent risks from turning into harm. This briefing has been drafted at the request of a member of the European Committee of the Regions, in the framework of the cooperation agreement between the European Parliament and the Committee.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Morocco, Guatemala’s Foreign Ministers (FMs) Hail Outstanding Bilateral Ties Marked by ‘Very Positive’ Dynamic

    Source: APO


    .

    Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr. Nasser Bourita, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala, Mr. Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado hailed the outstanding Morocco–Guatemala relations, which are marked by a very positive dynamic, on Thursday in Rabat.

    At the end of their meeting, the two ministers highlighted the excellent ties of friendship and solidarity uniting the two nations and agreed on the need to continue these exchanges and to take stock of bilateral relations to bolster them.

    They also underscored that international law is fundamentally based on respect for territorial integrity, state sovereignty, and the fulfillment of obligations under treaties and other sources of international law.

    Furthermore, the two ministers exchanged views on regional and international issues, particularly the situation in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.

    They also expressed their shared willingness to continue strengthening the bilateral legal framework to address areas of common interest for cooperation.

    To this end, Ministers Mr. Bourita and Alvarado welcomed the signing of the Morocco–Guatemala Cooperation Roadmap for 2025–2027, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding in academic and diplomatic cooperation between the Moroccan Institute for Training, Research, and Diplomatic Studies and the Diplomatic Academy of Guatemala.

    They also emphasized that multilateral cooperation remains essential to intensify efforts in areas of shared interest such as trade, food security, sustainable development—including access to energy, water and food, fuels and fertilizers—as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation, education, health, pandemic prevention and response, and the fight against terrorism and transnational crime, which are sources of insecurity and corruption.

    The ministers also discussed the importance of implementing the SDGs in an integrated and holistic manner, particularly with the goal of eradicating poverty and combating climate change, while promoting sustainable land use and water management.

    Concerning migration, which both countries face, Morocco and Guatemala commended the efforts made in this area, particularly within the framework of the Marrakech Pact, the Rabat Process, and the Los Angeles Declaration, reiterating their shared commitment to dynamic mobility that enables a safe, smooth, and orderly movement of people.

    On the economic front, both countries highlighted the importance of launching projects aimed at decarbonizing the economy, which offers great potential for investors, especially in the field of renewable energy.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Kingdom of Morocco – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Former Deputy President David Mabuza passes away

    Source: Government of South Africa

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent his condolences to the family of former Deputy President David Dabede Mabuza who passed away on Thursday.

    Mabuza, who served as Deputy President between 2018 and 2023, passed away in a hospital at the age of 65.

    “On behalf of government and the nation, I offer my profound condolences to the late Deputy President’s wife, Mrs Mabuza, and the children.

    “I extend my condolences to Deputy President Mabuza’s friends and the people of Mpumalanga whom he served as Premier from 2009 to 2018, and previously as a Member of the Executive Council of Mpumalanga across a range of portfolios.

    “My thoughts are also with Deputy President Mabuza’s comrades in his political home, the African National Congress, where he was elected as the organisation’s Deputy President in December 2017,” President Ramaphosa said.

    He praised the former Deputy President’s contribution to government.

    “During his service as Deputy President of the Republic, Deputy President Mabuza applied his leadership and mobilisation abilities to his role as the Leader of Government Business in Parliament; leading the South African National Aids Council; coordinating anti-poverty initiatives in the form of Public Employment Programmes, Integrated Service Delivery and Enterprise Development.

    “Deputy President Mabuza also represented South Africa on global platforms and consolidated relations between South Africa and its closest partners.

    “As Deputy President, he chaired the Cabinet Committees of Governance, State Capacity and Institutional Development [GSCID] as well as Justice, Crime-Prevention and Security [JCPS],” the President said.

    The Mpumalanga-born politician – affectionately referred to as DD or The Cat – was a teacher by training, however, he was drawn into political activism.

    “We are saddened today by the loss of a leader who was grounded in activism at the early stages of his political career and who came to lead our nation and shape South Africa’s engagement with our continental compatriots and the international community in his role as Deputy President.

    “The former Deputy President deserves our appreciation for his deep commitment to the liberation struggle and to the nation’s development as an inclusive, prosperous, democratic state.

    “Further announcements will be made in due course on memorial arrangements and the honours with which the country will pay its final respects to the former Deputy President,” President Ramaphosa said. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Nathaniel Moran Honors 2nd Annual Texas Congressional Service Award Winners

    Source: Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01)

    Tyler, Texas – Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) proudly recognized this year’s recipients of the Texas First Congressional Award, an annual honor he created to spotlight outstanding high school students across the First District of Texas. Now in its second year, the award celebrates young leaders who demonstrate exceptional character, service, and commitment to their communities.

    “I am thrilled to announce this year’s recipients of the Texas First Congressional Service Award,” said Congressman Moran. “Each of these students has answered the call to serve with humility, dedication, and purpose. Their leadership is sincere, their impact is real, and their example is powerful. I’m confident that their service will inspire even more young Texans to step up and give back in the years ahead.” 

    The Texas First Congressional Service Award is not a scholarship, but a distinct honor designed to recognize students in the First Congressional District of Texas who have demonstrated a strong commitment to service. Schools are encouraged to nominate one male and one female student, ideally in their junior or senior year.

    To learn more or submit a nomination, please email Robbin.Bass@mail.house.gov.

    Recipients of the 2025 Texas First Congressional Service Award:

    Center High School, Center, TX: 

    Melody Khan

    Caleb Mosley

    Pittsburg High School, Pittsburg, TX: 

    Jareely Espinoza

    Connor Gilbert

     Tyler High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Ruby Ayala-Ponce

     Marshall High School, Marshall, TX: 

    Sydney Walsh

    Cameron Archield

     Pine Tree High School, Longview, TX: 

    Adrian Juarez Vega

    Rachel Malloy

     Gilmer High School, Gilmer, TX: 

    Marithza Jaramillo

     Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, TX: 

    Abigail Bentley

    Brandyn Gutierrez

     Panola Early College High School, Carthage, TX: 

    Jason Meek

     Hallsville High School, Hallsville, TX: 

    Evelyn Labay

    Jose Juarez

     De Kalb High School, De Kalb, TX: 

    Caleb Bowles

    Kyndra Andrews

     New Diana High School, Diana, TX: 

    Olivia Carder

    Ayden Hamilton

     Carlisle High School, Rusk County, TX: 

    Jessica Gabriela Hernandez

     Mount Pleasant High School, Mount Pleasant, TX: 

    Diya Desai

    Tanner Marshall

     Texas High School, Texarkana, TX: 

    Kyndal Lee

    Bryce DePriest

     Cumberland High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Courtney Erickson

    Jose Sanchez

     New Boston High School, New Boston, TX: 

    Brook Higginbotham

    Sawyer Hobson

     Maud High School, Maud, TX: 

    James Slyder Sanders

     Jefferson High School, Jefferson, TX: 

    Aiden Slayde Cooner

    Eden Alexandria Hopes

     Trinity Schools of Texas, Longview, TX: 

    McKenzie Brown

     Mount Enterprise High School, Mount Enterprise, TX: 

    Jaxon Jones

    Carthage High School, Carthage, TX: 

    Jadyn Baker

    Hailey Compton

     West Rusk High School, New London, TX: 

    Dustyn Redden

     Bishop High School, Bishop, TX: 

    Nathan Glosson

    Allison Harrell

     Gladewater High School, Gladewater, TX: 

    Landon Henry Brown

    Trently Sky Gamel

     Tyler Legacy High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Caroline Hines

    Matthew Scheusner

     Spring Hill High School, Longview, TX: 

    Hannah Fiscus

    Caden Castleberry

     Rivercrest High School, Bogata, TX: 

    Ramsey Blagg

     Whitehouse High School, Whitehouse, TX: 

    Caroline Joy Weissmann

    Tony Starns

     BrookHill High School, Bullard, TX: 

    Caroline Smith

    Jacob McLain

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Nathaniel Moran Honors 2nd Annual Texas Congressional Service Award Winners

    Source: Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01)

    Tyler, Texas – Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) proudly recognized this year’s recipients of the Texas First Congressional Award, an annual honor he created to spotlight outstanding high school students across the First District of Texas. Now in its second year, the award celebrates young leaders who demonstrate exceptional character, service, and commitment to their communities.

    “I am thrilled to announce this year’s recipients of the Texas First Congressional Service Award,” said Congressman Moran. “Each of these students has answered the call to serve with humility, dedication, and purpose. Their leadership is sincere, their impact is real, and their example is powerful. I’m confident that their service will inspire even more young Texans to step up and give back in the years ahead.” 

    The Texas First Congressional Service Award is not a scholarship, but a distinct honor designed to recognize students in the First Congressional District of Texas who have demonstrated a strong commitment to service. Schools are encouraged to nominate one male and one female student, ideally in their junior or senior year.

    To learn more or submit a nomination, please email Robbin.Bass@mail.house.gov.

    Recipients of the 2025 Texas First Congressional Service Award:

    Center High School, Center, TX: 

    Melody Khan

    Caleb Mosley

    Pittsburg High School, Pittsburg, TX: 

    Jareely Espinoza

    Connor Gilbert

     Tyler High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Ruby Ayala-Ponce

     Marshall High School, Marshall, TX: 

    Sydney Walsh

    Cameron Archield

     Pine Tree High School, Longview, TX: 

    Adrian Juarez Vega

    Rachel Malloy

     Gilmer High School, Gilmer, TX: 

    Marithza Jaramillo

     Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, TX: 

    Abigail Bentley

    Brandyn Gutierrez

     Panola Early College High School, Carthage, TX: 

    Jason Meek

     Hallsville High School, Hallsville, TX: 

    Evelyn Labay

    Jose Juarez

     De Kalb High School, De Kalb, TX: 

    Caleb Bowles

    Kyndra Andrews

     New Diana High School, Diana, TX: 

    Olivia Carder

    Ayden Hamilton

     Carlisle High School, Rusk County, TX: 

    Jessica Gabriela Hernandez

     Mount Pleasant High School, Mount Pleasant, TX: 

    Diya Desai

    Tanner Marshall

     Texas High School, Texarkana, TX: 

    Kyndal Lee

    Bryce DePriest

     Cumberland High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Courtney Erickson

    Jose Sanchez

     New Boston High School, New Boston, TX: 

    Brook Higginbotham

    Sawyer Hobson

     Maud High School, Maud, TX: 

    James Slyder Sanders

     Jefferson High School, Jefferson, TX: 

    Aiden Slayde Cooner

    Eden Alexandria Hopes

     Trinity Schools of Texas, Longview, TX: 

    McKenzie Brown

     Mount Enterprise High School, Mount Enterprise, TX: 

    Jaxon Jones

    Carthage High School, Carthage, TX: 

    Jadyn Baker

    Hailey Compton

     West Rusk High School, New London, TX: 

    Dustyn Redden

     Bishop High School, Bishop, TX: 

    Nathan Glosson

    Allison Harrell

     Gladewater High School, Gladewater, TX: 

    Landon Henry Brown

    Trently Sky Gamel

     Tyler Legacy High School, Tyler, TX: 

    Caroline Hines

    Matthew Scheusner

     Spring Hill High School, Longview, TX: 

    Hannah Fiscus

    Caden Castleberry

     Rivercrest High School, Bogata, TX: 

    Ramsey Blagg

     Whitehouse High School, Whitehouse, TX: 

    Caroline Joy Weissmann

    Tony Starns

     BrookHill High School, Bullard, TX: 

    Caroline Smith

    Jacob McLain

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Culbokie ELC rated very good in latest Care Inspectorate Inspection report

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    The Highland Council welcomes the positive Care Inspectorate Inspection report following a recent unannounced inspection visit to Culbokie Primary School Nursery, Dingwall.

    Following the inspection, Culbokie Primary School Nursery received the following:

    • How good is our care, play and learning? – 5 Very Good
    • How good is our setting? –  5 Very Good
    • How good is our leadership? – 5 Very Good
    • How good is our staff team – 5 Very Good

    Education Committee Chair, Cllr John Finlayson said: “The recent unannounced inspection at Culbokie Primary School Nursery from the Care Inspectorate received an outstanding report, reflecting the professionalism, dedication and commitment of the caring staff at the setting to create an inclusive, safe and nurturing ethos for all pupils attending.

    “The report found significant strengths in aspects of the care provided and how these supported positive outcomes for children, the child centred approach by all staff, with supportive and highly skilled leadership and robust quality assurance processes that enable Culbokie Nursery to deliver high quality care and support tailored to meet children’s and families’ needs.

    “I’d like to congratulate the staff at Culbokie Primary School Nursery for their continued dedication and ‘full marks’ inspection report.”

    Key messages from the report:

    Staff were warm, caring and nurturing in their approaches to support children. As a result, children felt confident and secure.

    • Staff use skilled interactions to support children’s developing early literacy, language and numeracy skills.
    • The nursery was warm and welcoming, and furnished to a high standard which gave children a strong message that they mattered.
    • Robust quality assurance processes allowed focussed and meaningful opportunities for the manager and staff to review and monitor various aspects of the service.
    • The staff team had high aspirations for all children, and this was evident in the care and support they received, in both nursery and breakfast club settings.

    3 Jul 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Reflecting on the success of the “Sharing Food, Sharing Languages” event

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    “Sharing Food, Sharing Languages” – an event organised by the Highland Council’s Adult Learning team in partnership with migrant and refugee learning communities – successfully took place at Eden Court, Inverness on 22 June on the concluding day of Refugee Week Scotland (13-22 June).

    Refugee Week Scotland is the largest arts and culture festival, celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

    The event brought together over 200 people from New Scots and host Communities to celebrate “milestones”, the theme for this year’s event.  The key purpose was to promote diversity and cross-cultural understanding and connect people through shared interests and passions. It also provided a platform to ensure marginalised communities could express themselves through art.

    Learners were able to showcase their diverse skills, expertise, history and culture. Voices were heard and represented through stories, song and poetry.  

    Participants were invited to take part in creative workshops including Ukrainian embroidery and the art of writing different scripts. There were unique language tasters led by native speakers of Pashto, Dari, Arabic, Ukrainian and Turkish and a multicultural Storytime for families.

    Wonderful performances from Cheryl Heggie’s Highland dancers and Mriya Ukrainian Childrens’ Choir, from Aberdeen, created a rich immersive cultural experience.

    To top it all off, there were delicious traditional dishes to try from Ukraine, Eritrea, South Sudan and Afghanistan.

    Lucy McGlennon, Head of Engagement at Eden Court said:  “Sharing Food, Sharing Languages” was a fantastic event and we are delighted to have been in a position to support it.  Eden Court is for everyone, and it is important to us that people of all cultures feel that they are welcome here.  It was a moment of great pride to see so many cultures represented through delicious foods, national dress and through song, dance and poetry.”

    Highland Council Learning for Life, part of the Community Learning and Development, supports adult learning activities which help with everyday skills such as reading, writing, using numbers, English as second language and digital literacy. All activities are learner-centred and learner-led.

    To find out more contact Kirsty.Dambrosio@highland.gov.uk

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General Appoints Carlos G. Ruiz Massieu of Mexico Special Representative for Haiti, Integrated Office Chief

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Carlos G. Ruiz Massieu of Mexico as his new Special Representative for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).  He succeeds María Isabel Salvador of Ecuador, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedication and service.

    Mr. Ruiz Massieu brings to this position over 30 years of experience in public service and diplomacy, both in bilateral and multilateral contexts.  As Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Colombia since 2019, he led the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, monitoring the implementation of the Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army (FARC-EP) guerrilla.  He provided good offices and political leadership in the recent peace dialogues of the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, as well as with other illegal armed groups.  Prior to this assignment, he served as the Chairperson of the General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions from 2013 to 2018.

    A distinguished career diplomat, Mr. Ruiz Massieu served in different positions in the Mexican Government prior to joining the United Nations, including at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations.  Mr. Ruiz Massieu is a graduate in law from the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and holds a Master of Arts in politics from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, with a focus on Latin America.  In addition to Spanish, he speaks English and French.

    __________

    * This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1844-BIO/5164 of 10 December 2018.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Mrvan Statement on Republican Majority Reconciliation Legislation

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank J. Mrvan (IN)

    Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Frank J. Mrvan issued the statement below following the House approval of the Republican Majority Reconciliation Legislation.  As the Senate has already approved this legislation, it is expected to be signed into law shortly by President Trump.

    “This so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” may seem beautiful to the boardrooms of major corporations and to the most wealthy billionaires, but to the teacher in East Chicago, the nurse in Gary, the steelworker in Portage, or the farmer in LaPorte County, it will create uncertainty and actually increase the cost of living.  

    “I opposed this measure because I cannot in good conscience leave people behind.  The Republican Majority made a decision to prioritize their elite donors and corporations, and now our seniors, veterans, hard-working Americans, women, children and those yet to be born will pay with increased costs and possibly their lives.

    “It is wrong that the Republican Majority failed to address the legitimate concerns raised by some within their own ranks, and resorted to coercion, bribery with personal gifts, and empty promises to meet an artificial deadline.

    “I won’t back down when it comes to protecting access to healthcare, feeding the hungry, and creating more opportunities for work and wealth for everyone.”

    Please click here to see Congressman Mrvan’s video statement from yesterday on this legislation.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Nadler Statement on Opposing Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill” and Its Cruel Betrayal of New Yorkers

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (10th District of New York)

    WASHINGTON, DC — This afternoon, after Republicans tried to hide the cruelty of their agenda by debating the bill in the dead of night, I proudly cast my vote against Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill—because no one should be forced to lose health care, go hungry, or see their child priced out of college in order to fund permanent tax cuts for Republican donors and the ultra-wealthy.

    This bill is a historic betrayal of working Americans. It delivers the largest transfer of wealth from low-income families to the ultra-rich in our nation’s history, slashing incomes for the bottom sixty percent of earners while adding $4 trillion to the deficit, the largest increase ever passed by Congress. Republicans claim this was their only chance to extend tax cuts for the middle class. That’s false. They could have done it without gutting health care and food aid, and without adding to the deficit, if they had the courage to ask billionaires to pay their fair share.

    It strips health care from over 17 million people, including 1.5 million New Yorkers, as part of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts nationwide. In New York alone, hospitals are projected to lose over $8 billion in funding, forcing closures, service reductions, and the elimination of programs for children, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses. Nursing homes and community health centers face similar threats. The bill also attacks reproductive freedom by blocking Medicaid patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers, cutting off cancer screenings, contraception, STI testing, and preventive care for millions who have nowhere else to turn. It also functions as a backdoor abortion ban, threatening to shut down one in four abortion providers nationwide. By some estimates, it could also result in more than $500 billion in cuts to Medicare.

    It slashes $2.1 billion a year from New York State and local governments by shifting SNAP costs onto them, gutting food aid for 300,000 households across our state. Families already struggling to afford groceries will see their benefits cut by an average of $220 per month, slashing support to less than $5 per day. One in seven New Yorkers relies on SNAP. And by stripping that funding, the bill threatens access to free and reduced-price school meals, forcing more children to learn on an empty stomach.

    It doesn’t stop there. The bill ends Pell Grants for 1.4 million students, eliminates income-driven repayment, and caps student borrowing, effectively slamming the door on higher education for students who can’t pay upfront. Medicaid cuts will also force states to raid education budgets just to keep health systems afloat. Campuses will close. Students will drop out. Our country needs more nurses, teachers, and engineers, not fewer. But this bill will shrink our skilled workforce and leave the U.S. less competitive in the global economy.

    It also decimates our clean energy economy, tearing up solar and wind projects, repealing tax credits, and eliminating key climate protections. It hands public lands back to Big Oil and halts progress toward energy independence. Experts warn it could cost 840,000 clean energy jobs in just five years. And families will pay the price. In New York alone, household energy bills will rise by $1.3 billion annually by 2030, $2.5 billion by 2035, and $12 billion over the life of the bill.

    Meanwhile, Republicans are spending $170 billion to ramp up family detention, mass deportations, and border militarization, giving ICE a bigger budget than the entire Canadian military. It’s unconscionable to spend billions expanding ICE’s surveillance and detention machine while slashing school lunches for children and ripping Medicaid away from cancer patients.

    Even the few crumbs Republicans offered to working families, like temporary SALT relief and short-term tax breaks on tips and overtime, expire after just four years. Yet the tax cuts for billionaires are permanent. Republicans continue to tout these short-term provisions as evidence they’re helping the middle class, but every so-called benefit for working Americans disappears quickly, while every giveaway to the ultra-wealthy is forever. And here’s the kicker: if Republicans had done nothing at all, the SALT cap would have expired this December. Instead, they passed a bill that leaves New Yorkers worse off.

    For months, I’ve been fighting this bill and listening to New Yorkers and people across the country who will suffer because of it. And behind these numbers are real lives. Patricia, 83 years old, lives in poverty in New York and relies on Medicaid just to get to her doctor. She told me, “I have no transportation other than help from Medicaid. I also live on only my Social Security and SNAP. If I lose this precious help, I will be homeless and surely die.” That’s the real cost of these cuts. I think of the father who told me he may have to sell his house to afford chemo for his child. I think of the senior who rationed insulin last winter to keep the heat on. This awful bill makes the rich richer and leaves everyone else behind.

    And to my Republican colleagues: come November 2026, you’ll have to answer for this vote. You’ll have to explain to the families who lost their health care, to the parents who lost child care, and to the students who lost their futures why you turned your backs when they needed you most. Because when hospitals close, when grocery bills spike, when classrooms empty and jobs disappear, your constituents will remember exactly who was responsible.

    I voted no because I came to Congress to fight for the people I serve, not to sell them out to further enrich the ultra-wealthy. And I will do everything in my power to shield New Yorkers from the harm this bill threatens to unleash, from pushing back against these cuts to working with local leaders to protect access to health care, food, education, and opportunity. New Yorkers deserve better. The American people deserve better. And I will never stop fighting to deliver for them.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Scott Peters Votes NO on Disastrous Republican Tax Plan

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

    Washington, D.C – Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) voted against the Republican tax plan to cut healthcare and food assistance for millions of vulnerable Americans to pay for tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations that don’t need them. The Republican plan would kick 17 million people off their Medicaid and Affordable Care Act health plans, according to an analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office. The bill also cuts short programs that encourage clean energy development that would produce enough energy to power 227 million homes. This will increase electricity bills by up to 29% and cost millions of construction jobs. And the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has found that the bill could add more than $4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

    After the House voted 218-214 to pass the measure, Representative Peters released the following statement:

    “Today, Congressional Republicans put President Trump’s cruel, reckless agenda above the good of the American people. They will have to answer to the people they represent on how forcing millions off their health coverage will make America healthy again, how higher energy prices, fewer jobs, and more pollution will help our communities, and how they can support the biggest ever addition to the national debt.

    “All of this is to pay for tax cuts for people and corporations that don’t need them. We can all agree that to get our fiscal house in order, there should be compromise and shared sacrifice. But this partisan bill asks only those with the least to sacrifice while giving tax breaks to those with the most. It is obscene.

    “The fight for more affordable and accessible healthcare, a cleaner environment, and responsible fiscal policy is not over. I will continue to work to minimize the harm of this disastrous bill on San Diegans.”

    Read more about Rep. Peters’ opposition to the bill here.

    CA-50 Medicaid Facts: 

    • 156,100 people in the district rely on Medicaid for health coverage—that’s 20 percent of all district residents. 
      • 34,700 children in the district are covered by Medicaid. 
      • 17,700 seniors in the district are covered by Medicaid. 
      • 64,900 adults in the district have Medicaid coverage through Medicaid expansion—that includes pregnant women who are able to access prenatal care sooner because of Medicaid expansion, parents, caretakers, veterans, people with substance use disorder and mental health treatment needs, and people with chronic conditions and disabilities. 
    • At least five hospitals in the district had negative operating margins in 2022. These hospitals would be especially hard-hit by cuts to Medicaid. For example: 
      • Scripps Mercy Hospital had a negative 25.3 percent operating margin—and nearly 22 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
      • Sharp Coronado Hospital had a negative 3.5 percent operating margin—and over 36 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
      • University of California San Diego Medical Center had a negative 2.4 percent operating margin—and nearly 19 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
    • There are 54 health center delivery sites in the district that serve 529,944 patients. 
    • Those health centers and patients rely on Medicaid—statewide, 69 percent of health center patients rely on Medicaid for coverage. 
    • Health centers will not be able to stay open and provide the same care that they do today, with more uninsured and underinsured patients. They are already operating on thin margins—in 2023, nationally, nearly half of health centers had negative operating margins. 
    • Medicaid cuts put health centers at risk, including: 
      • Family Health Centers of San Diego 
      • Neighborhood Healthcare 
      • North County Health Project 
      • San Diego American Indian Health Centers 
      • St. Vincent De Paul Village 

    Representative Peters is the co-author of the Fiscal Commission Act, legislation to create a bicameral and open-door commission to tackle our nation’s long-term debt, help us avoid automatic and across-the-board cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and secure a more prosperous future for our children. 

     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner & Kaine Statement on Trump Administration Illegally Withholding $108 Million From Virginia Schools

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Trump Administration missed a key deadline to distribute $6.2 billion in federal K-12 funding, including $108 million for Virginia schools, to support teacher training, after school programming, mental health resources, and more:
    “Virginians know that high-quality public schools and the well-being of our children are critical to the Commonwealth’s future and economic success. The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold over $6 billion in funding that Congress appropriated for schools across the country, while pushing for a disastrous megabill that slashes programs Virginians rely on to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, tells you everything you need to know about their priorities. This move will devastate our students, especially those in our rural communities. We demand that the Administration immediately provide Virginia schools with the $108 million in funding we voted to secure, and urge all of Virginia’s leaders to do the same.”
    The $108 million being withheld from Virginia represents over 12 percent of the Commonwealth’s total K-12 funding.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology

    Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock

    Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial advice.

    Consumers should not believe everything they see on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube from the growing numbers of “finfluencers” – content creators who build their audience by giving out financial advice.

    The regulator responsible for financial products and advice, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has issued warning notices to 18 social media finfluencers. ASIC said it suspects they have broken the law by promoting high-risk financial products or providing unlicensed financial advice. ASIC did not name them.

    So, why is regulated financial advice important and what are some of the common practices finfluencers use to attract followers and customers?

    Financial advice rules explained

    Australian Financial Services laws are designed to protect consumers and investors, while promoting the integrity of financial markets. It is both unethical and illegal to promote financial products without proper authorisation.

    In Australia, it is an offence under the Corporations Act to provide financial advice without an Australian Financial Services licence. Penalties include up to five years’ imprisonment or fines of A$1 million or more.

    ASIC issued a similar warning to online finfluencers in 2022. Since then, the number of social media posts by unauthorised finfluencers have substantially reduced.

    Many finfluencers became licensed or authorised representatives of a licensee, along with being more diligent about what they were posting online. Natasha Etschmann, with 300,000 Instagram and TikTok followers at @TashInvests, became licensed immediately after the 2022 warning.

    Some other finfluencers were arrested, issued fines or ordered to take down their websites.

    High-risk products

    However, some finfluencers who style themselves as “trading experts” continue to provide unauthorised financial advice, usually for a fee or commission. They promote high-risk, complex investment products that can cause consumers substantial harm.

    These products include contracts-for-difference
    and over-the-counter derivative products that do not trade on an exchange. ASIC says its current concerns lie with these content creators:

    Their social media content is often accompanied by misleading or deceptive representations about the prospects of success from the products or trading strategies they promote, sharing images of lavish lifestyles, sports cars and other luxury goods.

    What to watch on socials

    About 41% of young Australians aged 18 to 30 look online for financial information or advice.

    While budgeting tips can be helpful, it’s important to be extra careful with online financial advice. Consumers should not believe everything they see on social media.

    Conducting due diligence and checking finfluencers’ credentials on ASIC’s Professional Registers search tool is crucial. Choose expert and licensed finfluencers rather than accounts with large followings and exaggerated or misleading claims. Popularity does not always mean credibility.

    There are certain red flags to watch out for. Some finfluencers use pseudonyms. They promote “exclusive” financial advice content and access to “invitation-only” online communities for a fee. In many cases, they lack credible experience or certified financial planning training to provide financial advice.

    Your finfluencer vetting toolkit

    When choosing to follow or acquire the services of a finfluencer, ask:

    1. is this finfluencer licensed or authorised?

    2. how realistic are the promised financial outcomes? Are they too good to be true?

    3. does the finfluencer disclose their personal financial position or investments when discussing financial products or strategies?

    4. are they transparent about? their track record of accuracy or accountability?

    5. do they address publicly a case when their audience lost money from a strategy they recommended?

    6. does the finfluencer tailor content to different investment risk profiles or financial maturity levels in their audiences?

    Are you being sold a dream?

    Social media finfluencer content can often come with misleading or deceptive representations (such as the sports cars and luxury goods that ASIC has warned about). Content may overstate the prospects of success and potential profits.

    Some – usually unlicensed – finfluencers use social media content as “proof” of their financial expertise. One common practice is to try to lure consumers by creating a hyped world around their own personal lifestyle. Many finfluencers often extend invitations to consumers to join closed forums to “learn” their hidden secrets to success or copy their “famous” trading practices.

    These finfluencers usually try to convince consumers they can achieve a similar lifestyle by following their advice.

    Finfluencers are global

    ASIC issued the warnings as part of a recent global week of action. ASIC and eight regulators from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada took coordinated action to disrupt unlawful finfluencer activity.
    The global campaign aims to raise awareness about unlawful finfluencer activity, protect consumers, and prevent them from investing after encountering misleading content.

    Consumers need to distinguish between credible financial advice and self-serving or misleading content before trusting their money to anyone.

    Spotted unlicensed influencer activity? Report this misconduct to ASIC.

    Dimitrios Salampasis is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and member of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).

    – ref. 6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash – https://theconversation.com/6-simple-questions-to-tell-if-a-finfluencer-is-more-flash-than-cash-259906

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology

    Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock

    Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial advice.

    Consumers should not believe everything they see on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube from the growing numbers of “finfluencers” – content creators who build their audience by giving out financial advice.

    The regulator responsible for financial products and advice, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has issued warning notices to 18 social media finfluencers. ASIC said it suspects they have broken the law by promoting high-risk financial products or providing unlicensed financial advice. ASIC did not name them.

    So, why is regulated financial advice important and what are some of the common practices finfluencers use to attract followers and customers?

    Financial advice rules explained

    Australian Financial Services laws are designed to protect consumers and investors, while promoting the integrity of financial markets. It is both unethical and illegal to promote financial products without proper authorisation.

    In Australia, it is an offence under the Corporations Act to provide financial advice without an Australian Financial Services licence. Penalties include up to five years’ imprisonment or fines of A$1 million or more.

    ASIC issued a similar warning to online finfluencers in 2022. Since then, the number of social media posts by unauthorised finfluencers have substantially reduced.

    Many finfluencers became licensed or authorised representatives of a licensee, along with being more diligent about what they were posting online. Natasha Etschmann, with 300,000 Instagram and TikTok followers at @TashInvests, became licensed immediately after the 2022 warning.

    Some other finfluencers were arrested, issued fines or ordered to take down their websites.

    High-risk products

    However, some finfluencers who style themselves as “trading experts” continue to provide unauthorised financial advice, usually for a fee or commission. They promote high-risk, complex investment products that can cause consumers substantial harm.

    These products include contracts-for-difference
    and over-the-counter derivative products that do not trade on an exchange. ASIC says its current concerns lie with these content creators:

    Their social media content is often accompanied by misleading or deceptive representations about the prospects of success from the products or trading strategies they promote, sharing images of lavish lifestyles, sports cars and other luxury goods.

    What to watch on socials

    About 41% of young Australians aged 18 to 30 look online for financial information or advice.

    While budgeting tips can be helpful, it’s important to be extra careful with online financial advice. Consumers should not believe everything they see on social media.

    Conducting due diligence and checking finfluencers’ credentials on ASIC’s Professional Registers search tool is crucial. Choose expert and licensed finfluencers rather than accounts with large followings and exaggerated or misleading claims. Popularity does not always mean credibility.

    There are certain red flags to watch out for. Some finfluencers use pseudonyms. They promote “exclusive” financial advice content and access to “invitation-only” online communities for a fee. In many cases, they lack credible experience or certified financial planning training to provide financial advice.

    Your finfluencer vetting toolkit

    When choosing to follow or acquire the services of a finfluencer, ask:

    1. is this finfluencer licensed or authorised?

    2. how realistic are the promised financial outcomes? Are they too good to be true?

    3. does the finfluencer disclose their personal financial position or investments when discussing financial products or strategies?

    4. are they transparent about? their track record of accuracy or accountability?

    5. do they address publicly a case when their audience lost money from a strategy they recommended?

    6. does the finfluencer tailor content to different investment risk profiles or financial maturity levels in their audiences?

    Are you being sold a dream?

    Social media finfluencer content can often come with misleading or deceptive representations (such as the sports cars and luxury goods that ASIC has warned about). Content may overstate the prospects of success and potential profits.

    Some – usually unlicensed – finfluencers use social media content as “proof” of their financial expertise. One common practice is to try to lure consumers by creating a hyped world around their own personal lifestyle. Many finfluencers often extend invitations to consumers to join closed forums to “learn” their hidden secrets to success or copy their “famous” trading practices.

    These finfluencers usually try to convince consumers they can achieve a similar lifestyle by following their advice.

    Finfluencers are global

    ASIC issued the warnings as part of a recent global week of action. ASIC and eight regulators from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Hong Kong and Canada took coordinated action to disrupt unlawful finfluencer activity.
    The global campaign aims to raise awareness about unlawful finfluencer activity, protect consumers, and prevent them from investing after encountering misleading content.

    Consumers need to distinguish between credible financial advice and self-serving or misleading content before trusting their money to anyone.

    Spotted unlicensed influencer activity? Report this misconduct to ASIC.

    Dimitrios Salampasis is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and member of the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID).

    – ref. 6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash – https://theconversation.com/6-simple-questions-to-tell-if-a-finfluencer-is-more-flash-than-cash-259906

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

    Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis.

    The government has spent NZ$507.3 million on cancelled iReX ferry plans, the country’s fleet has an average age of 28 years, and the earliest New Zealanders can hope for promised replacements is 2029.

    The Marlborough Chamber of Commerce warns unreliable ferries already shake tourist confidence. Several more years of duct-tape solutions won’t help.

    The recent pattern of breakdowns and cancellations has become so routine that New Zealand risks normalising what should be viewed as a national crisis: a serious infrastructure failure.

    It is also a textbook example of how short-term political cycles, coupled with chronic under-investment, create far more expensive problems than the ones they promise to solve.

    Cost blowouts

    While ministers claim to have spared taxpayers a $4 billion blowout on new ferries, Treasury papers show almost 80% of the cost escalation lay in seismic upgrades for wharves, not in the vessels themselves. Those land-side works will be required no matter what ferries the country eventually orders.

    Justifying the original contract cancellation, Finance Minister Nicola Willis quipped that iReX was a Ferrari when a Toyota Corolla would do. But the cost of finding a suitable Corolla is adding up fast.

    Annual maintenance costs are projected to nearly double to $65 million, just to keep the existing ageing ferries running. Additionally, $300 million had to be earmarked to cover fees for breaking the original ferry replacement contract.

    By retiring the Aratere this year – New Zealand’s only rail-capable ferry – the government is also severing the interisland rail link for almost five years.

    KiwiRail will “road-bridge” rail freight, an expensive workaround that involves loading train cars onto trucks, putting those trucks on ferries, then reversing the process at the other end. This will increase truck traffic, produce more emissions and add more wear to already strained infrastructure.

    Forcing more than $14 billion worth of annual freight from rail to road could also negatively affect New Zealand’s climate change commitments. Freight moved by rail generates only about 25% of the CO₂ per tonne-kilometre of the same load produced when hauled by truck.

    The cancelled hybrid ferries would have also cut emissions by 40%. Instead, New Zealand is locking in higher emissions for another half decade or longer.

    Unrealistic timelines

    The ferry saga reflects New Zealand’s infrastructure problem in a nutshell. The country tends to underestimate costs, create unfeasible timelines, then shows dismay when projects blow up or limp home at double the price.

    Auckland exemplifies the pattern. The city has seen decades of cancelled harbour crossing proposals and a scrapped light rail project, with nothing to show but consultancy fees.

    When New Zealand does build –Transmission Gully, for example – the final bill bears little resemblance to initial quotes. The 27 kilometre motorway north of Wellington was nearly 50% over budget and took eight years to build – two years longer than promised.

    The systematic underestimation of costs reflects a flawed approach to infrastructure planning. Politicians need quick wins within three-year electoral cycles, while infrastructure projects take decades to deliver.

    Projects are approved based on lowball estimates, with the outcome inherited by another administration. This has crossed party lines and created a system that rewards short-term thinking and punishes long-term planning.

    Just consider the second crossing for Auckland Harbour. For 35 years, the government has commissioned study after study – from the 1988 tunnel plans to the 2010 business cases – each time backing away when the price tag appeared, or the government changed.

    The iReX cancellation marks the first time the government has actually signed contracts and then walked away. As with the second Auckland Harbour crossing, each delay has only made the inevitable solution more expensive.

    Other countries have, to a degree, addressed this problem. Infrastructure Australia, for example, provides independent cost assessments and long-term planning that transcends political cycles. New Zealand’s Infrastructure Commission, established in 2019, lacks similar teeth and independence.

    Ultimately this isn’t really about ferries. It’s about how New Zealand consistently fails to deliver, on time and at cost, the infrastructure that keeps its economy moving.

    Timothy Welch 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. NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning? – https://theconversation.com/nz-will-soon-have-no-real-interisland-rail-ferry-link-why-are-we-so-bad-at-infrastructure-planning-260279

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

    Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis.

    The government has spent NZ$507.3 million on cancelled iReX ferry plans, the country’s fleet has an average age of 28 years, and the earliest New Zealanders can hope for promised replacements is 2029.

    The Marlborough Chamber of Commerce warns unreliable ferries already shake tourist confidence. Several more years of duct-tape solutions won’t help.

    The recent pattern of breakdowns and cancellations has become so routine that New Zealand risks normalising what should be viewed as a national crisis: a serious infrastructure failure.

    It is also a textbook example of how short-term political cycles, coupled with chronic under-investment, create far more expensive problems than the ones they promise to solve.

    Cost blowouts

    While ministers claim to have spared taxpayers a $4 billion blowout on new ferries, Treasury papers show almost 80% of the cost escalation lay in seismic upgrades for wharves, not in the vessels themselves. Those land-side works will be required no matter what ferries the country eventually orders.

    Justifying the original contract cancellation, Finance Minister Nicola Willis quipped that iReX was a Ferrari when a Toyota Corolla would do. But the cost of finding a suitable Corolla is adding up fast.

    Annual maintenance costs are projected to nearly double to $65 million, just to keep the existing ageing ferries running. Additionally, $300 million had to be earmarked to cover fees for breaking the original ferry replacement contract.

    By retiring the Aratere this year – New Zealand’s only rail-capable ferry – the government is also severing the interisland rail link for almost five years.

    KiwiRail will “road-bridge” rail freight, an expensive workaround that involves loading train cars onto trucks, putting those trucks on ferries, then reversing the process at the other end. This will increase truck traffic, produce more emissions and add more wear to already strained infrastructure.

    Forcing more than $14 billion worth of annual freight from rail to road could also negatively affect New Zealand’s climate change commitments. Freight moved by rail generates only about 25% of the CO₂ per tonne-kilometre of the same load produced when hauled by truck.

    The cancelled hybrid ferries would have also cut emissions by 40%. Instead, New Zealand is locking in higher emissions for another half decade or longer.

    Unrealistic timelines

    The ferry saga reflects New Zealand’s infrastructure problem in a nutshell. The country tends to underestimate costs, create unfeasible timelines, then shows dismay when projects blow up or limp home at double the price.

    Auckland exemplifies the pattern. The city has seen decades of cancelled harbour crossing proposals and a scrapped light rail project, with nothing to show but consultancy fees.

    When New Zealand does build –Transmission Gully, for example – the final bill bears little resemblance to initial quotes. The 27 kilometre motorway north of Wellington was nearly 50% over budget and took eight years to build – two years longer than promised.

    The systematic underestimation of costs reflects a flawed approach to infrastructure planning. Politicians need quick wins within three-year electoral cycles, while infrastructure projects take decades to deliver.

    Projects are approved based on lowball estimates, with the outcome inherited by another administration. This has crossed party lines and created a system that rewards short-term thinking and punishes long-term planning.

    Just consider the second crossing for Auckland Harbour. For 35 years, the government has commissioned study after study – from the 1988 tunnel plans to the 2010 business cases – each time backing away when the price tag appeared, or the government changed.

    The iReX cancellation marks the first time the government has actually signed contracts and then walked away. As with the second Auckland Harbour crossing, each delay has only made the inevitable solution more expensive.

    Other countries have, to a degree, addressed this problem. Infrastructure Australia, for example, provides independent cost assessments and long-term planning that transcends political cycles. New Zealand’s Infrastructure Commission, established in 2019, lacks similar teeth and independence.

    Ultimately this isn’t really about ferries. It’s about how New Zealand consistently fails to deliver, on time and at cost, the infrastructure that keeps its economy moving.

    Timothy Welch 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. NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning? – https://theconversation.com/nz-will-soon-have-no-real-interisland-rail-ferry-link-why-are-we-so-bad-at-infrastructure-planning-260279

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Health Science, Swinburne University of Technology

    AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY

    Concussion in sport continues to make headlines, whether it be class actions, young men flocking to the highly violent “RunIt” activity or debate about whether Australian rules football should remove the “bump” once and for all.

    Bringing this weighty issue to greater prominence are the former athletes who bravely share their long-term health struggles after careers in sport – cognitive impairments, mental health issues or concerns about neurodegenerative disease, specifically chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

    Yet for all the progress made by many sports in recent years, it feels like we still have not fully grasped the understanding of CTE – or maybe we don’t want to.

    Remind me again, what is CTE?

    CTE is a neurodegenerative brain disease, just like dementia, motor neurone disease (MND) and Parkinson’s disease.

    Expert groups agree on the links between traumatic brain injury and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (and other dementias), and the growing evidence of links to MND and Parkinson’s.

    People who have never had a traumatic brain injury can still regrettably suffer from these diseases. However, while CTE is rare in the general population, those with a history of repetitive impacts to the brain are more at risk.

    These impacts may not be diagnosed brain injuries or concussions, but rather non-concussive impacts (smaller hits that do not produce signs or symptoms of concussion).

    Contrary to anecdotal opinion, an athlete’s concussion history is not the crucial variable in risk and severity of CTE.

    Emerging international evidence, including my own recently published studies, show the risk of developing CTE (and its severity) is linked to exposure: the age a person starts full contact sport and the length of a playing career.

    The grey area of concussion, CTE and mental health

    Currently, CTE cannot be diagnosed in living people.

    However in understanding the progression of the disease in those who have passed away with CTE, families have described signs and symptoms including cognitive impairments such as:

    • Parkinsonism
    • memory loss
    • trouble with planning and organising tasks
    • impulsive behaviours
    • anger and irritability
    • emotional instability
    • substance misuse
    • suicidal thoughts/behaviour.

    While these signs and symptoms can overlap with those we associate with mental health, this does not necessarily mean the affected person had “mental health concerns”.

    The continued awareness in men’s mental health is a good thing broadly but it has sometimes misappropriated CTE as a mental health issue. For example, some fundraising games in the names of athletes who have died with CTE are being channelled to mental health charities and institutes, confusing the wider community.

    Consequently two recent tragic stories, one from the family of deceased former AFL player Shane Tuck and the other from Amanda Green, the widow of the late NRL player and coach Paul Green, needed to be told.

    Their stories contradicted widely held beliefs in the media and among fans that Tuck or Green were suffering with a psychiatric disease prior to their untimely deaths. In fact, they had CTE.

    An uncomfortable conversation

    So, why aren’t we talking about CTE more?

    The answer is, unfortunately it is an inconvenient truth.

    Considering CTE is entirely preventable if we remove exposure risk of repetitive hits to the head, the solution is to further modify many of our most popular sports to make head impacts much rarer.

    There is sizeable opposition to this idea.

    “Now is not the time to discuss such ‘political’ issues,” is the response I usually get from academics and colleagues involved in these sports, and even football loving friends, when I try to raise awareness.

    This continued hesitation only slows the science of CTE further.

    If an athlete’s family has been courageous in donating their brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank and CTE has been found, the standard response from sports organisations is:

    the (insert sport here) takes athlete health and wellbeing as its greatest priority […] the (insert sport here) has implemented strict concussion protocols and continues research into athletes’ brain health.

    Even a Senate parliamentary inquiry has done little to change the situation.

    In fact, while most sports have tried to become safer through rule changes, progress more broadly has plateaued or even regressed in recent years.

    Take one recent example in the NRL, when some in the rugby league community made light of the multiple concussions suffered by Victor Radley. After playing his 150th game, he posed smiling with a t-shirt detailing the number of concussions he had suffered during his career. His club, the Sydney Roosters, posted the photo on Instagram before it was later removed.

    Even more worrying is a new controversial activity called “RunIt”, which involves two men running full speed at each other with the intention of knocking over (or more aptly knocking out) the opponent.

    A recent death of a New Zealand teenager playing RunIt has highlighted the dangers.



    Read more:
    Head knocks and ultra-violence: viral games Run It Straight and Power Slap put sports safety back centuries

    What more can be done?

    With the help of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, experts around the world, including myself, have produced a CTE prevention protocol. This does not mean banning any sports but rather modifying components that will reduce exposure risk.

    Here are five ideas I believe would make a difference.

    1. Reducing contact loads in training, particularly in pre-season training.

    2. Modify contact sports for children until the age of 14. This potentially removes six to eight years of incidental and unnecessary hits to kids’ heads. They can still play and learn all the fundamental motor skills and enjoy the psychological benefits of sport before graduating to the full version of the game at 14.

    3. Influential media commentators need to upskill themselves around CTE and to not be afraid to mention CTE rather than deferring to “concussion protocols”.

    4. Medical and allied health practitioners do not regularly screen for concussion or contact sport playing history when assessing a patient who is struggling with movement disorders, chronic headaches/fatigue or cognitive/behavioural impairments. Repetitive head impact history should be screened just like alcohol and drug use history.

    5. When an athlete suddenly and tragically dies, we need to include, along with emergency help lines, information for help and support for those unsure about CTE.

    Unfortunately, if we don’t have the political will to acknowledge CTE and act, more families will be grieving tragic deaths of athletes. These families may not even be aware of CTE.

    This does not make me anti-sport, but pro-athlete. Let’s all become pro-athlete for the sake of our sports and the people who play them.

    Alan Pearce is currently unfunded. Alan is a non-executive director for the Concussion Legacy Foundation (unpaid position) and Adjunct research manager for the Australian Sports Brain Bank (unpaid position). He has previously received funding from Erasmus+ strategic partnerships program (2019-1-IE01-KA202-051555), Sports Health Check Charity (Australia), Australian Football League, Impact Technologies Inc., and Samsung Corporation, and is remunerated for expert advice to medico-legal practices.

    – ref. I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously – https://theconversation.com/ive-seen-the-brain-damage-contact-sports-can-cause-we-all-need-to-take-concussion-and-cte-more-seriously-259785

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bo Li, Professor, Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong

    Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al.

    Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out in 2014–15 and 2018–19, the tools have now been dated by a team of archaeologists, geologists, chronologists (including me) and paleontologists.

    The rare wooden tools were found alongside an assortment of animal and plant fossils and stone artifacts.

    Taken together, the finds suggest the early humans at Gantangqing were surprisingly sophisticated woodworkers who lived in a rich tropical or subtropical environment where they subsisted by harvesting plants from a nearby lake.

    The location of the Gantangqing site and excavation trenches.
    Liu et al. / Science

    Why ancient wooden tools are so rare

    Wood usually decomposes relatively rapidly due to microbial activity, oxidation, and weathering. Unlike stone or bone, it rarely survives more than a few centuries.

    Wood can only survive for thousands of years or longer if it ends up buried in unusual conditions. Wood can last a long time in oxygen-free environments or extremely dry areas. Charred or fire-hardened wood is also more durable.

    At Gantangqing, the wooden objects were excavated from low-oxygen clay-heavy layers of sediment formed on the ancient shoreline of Fuxian Lake.

    Wooden implements are extremely rare from the Early Palaeolithic period (the first part of the “stone age” from around 3.3 million years ago until 300,000 years ago or so, in which our hominin ancestors first began to use tools). Indeed, wooden tools more than even 50,000 years old are virtually absent outside Africa and western Eurasia.

    As a result, we may have a skewed understanding of Palaeolithic cultures. We may overemphasise the role of stone tools, for example, because they are what has survived.

    What wooden tools were found at Gantangqing?

    The new excavations at Gantangqing found 35 wooden specimens identified as artificially modified tools. These tools were primarily manufactured from pine wood, with a minority crafted from hardwoods.

    Some of the tools had rounded ends, while others had chisel-like thin blades or ridged blades. Of the 35 tools, 32 show marks of intentional modification at their tips, working edges, or bases.

    Two large digging implements were identified as heavy-duty digging sticks designed for two-handed use. These are unique forms of digging implements not documented elsewhere, suggesting localised functional adaptations. There were also four distinct hook-shaped tools — likely used for cutting roots — and a series of smaller tools for one-handed use.

    Nineteen of the tools showed microscopic traces of scraping from shaping or use, while 17 exhibit deliberately polished surfaces. We also identified further evidence of intensive use, including soil residues stuck to tool tips, parallel grooves or streaks along working edges, and characteristic fracture wear patterns.

    The tools from Gantangqing are more complete and show a wider range of functions than those found at contemporary sites such as Clacton in the UK and Florisbad in South Africa.

    The wooden tools from Gantangqing took a variety of forms.
    Liu et al. / Science

    How old are the Gantangqing wooden tools?

    The team used several techniques to figure out the age of the wooden tools. There is no way to determine their age directly, but we can date the sediment in which they were found.

    Using a technique called infrared stimulated luminescence, we analysed more than 10,000 individual grains of minerals from different layers. This showed the sediment was deposited roughly between 350,000 and 200,000 years ago.

    Dating the different layers of sediment excavated at the site produced a detailed timeline.
    Liu et al. / Science

    We also used different techniques to date a mammal tooth found in one of the layers to roughly 288,000 years old. This was consistent with the mineral results.

    Next we used mathematical modelling to bring all the dating results together. Our model indicated that the layers containing stone tools and wooden implements date from 360–300,000 years ago to 290–250,000 years ago.

    What was the environment like?

    Our research indicates the ancient humans at Gantangqing inhabited a warm, humid, tropical or subtropical environment. Pollen extracted from the sediments reveals 40 plant families that confirm this climate.

    Plant fossils further verify the presence of subtropical-to-tropical flora dominated by trees, lianas, shrubs and herbs. Wet-environment plants show the local surroundings were a lakeside or wetlands.

    Animal fossils also fit this picture, including rhinoceros and other mammals, turtles and various birds. The ecosystem was likely a mosaic of grassland, thickets and forests. Evidence of diving ducks confirms the lake must have been at least 2–3 metres deep during human occupation.

    Examples of stone and bone tools found at Gantangqing.
    Liu et al. / Science

    What were the Gantangqing wooden tools used for?

    The site contained evidence of plants such as storable pine nuts and hazelnuts, fruit trees such as kiwi, raspberry-like berries, grapes, edible herbs and fern fronds.

    There were also aquatic plants that would have provided edible leaves, seeds, tubers and rhizomes. These were likely dug up from shallow mud near the shore, using wooden tools.

    These findings suggest the Gantangqing hominins may have made expeditions to the lake shore, carrying purpose-made wooden digging sticks to harvest underground food sources. To do this, they would have had to anticipate seasonal plant distributions, know exactly what parts of different plants were edible, and produce specialised tools for different tasks.

    Why the Gantangqing site is important

    The wooden implements from Gantangqing represent the earliest known evidence for the use of digging sticks and for the exploitation of underground plant storage organs such as tubers within the Oriental biogeographic realm. Our discovery shows the use of sophisticated wood technology in a very different environmental context from what has been seen at sites of similar age in Europe and Africa.

    The find significantly expands our understanding of early hominin woodworking capabilities.

    The hominins who lived at Gantangqing appear to have lived a heavily plant-based subsistence lifestyle. This is in contrast to colder, more northern settings where tools of similar age have been found (such as Schöningen in Germany), where hunting large mammals was the key to survival.

    The site also shows how important wood – and perhaps other organic materials – were to “stone age” hominins. These wooden artifacts show far more sophisticated manufacturing skill than the relative rudimentary stone tools found at sites of similar age across East and Southeast Asia.

    The excavation, curation, and research of the Gantangqing site were supported by
    National Cultural Heritage Administration (China), Yunnan Provincial Institute of
    Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Yuxi Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism,
    Chengjiang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Australian Research Council
    (ARC) Discovery Projects, Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese
    Academy of Sciences, Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), National Natural
    Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

    – ref. Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans – https://theconversation.com/rare-wooden-tools-from-stone-age-china-reveal-plant-based-lifestyle-of-ancient-lakeside-humans-260204

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Dallas County Teen Serves as Senate Page

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

    Senate Page Sawyer Mann and Senator John Boozman in his office on Capitol Hill.

    WASHINGTON—High school student Sawyer Mann spent part of his summer in the nation’s capital navigating the corridors of Congress. The rising senior from Sparkman served as a U.S. Senate Page alongside several dozen other high schoolers from across the country.

    Mann and his peers reported to work one hour before the Senate convened on weekdays and helped prepare the U.S. Senate chamber for daily business, distributed documents to senators’ desks, assisted in the cloakrooms, supported chamber staff and – when the body was in session – sat near the dais waiting to aid members delivering remarks or casting votes. 

    “Serving as a Senate Page taught me that even the smallest roles can stand in the shadow of history and still help carry it forward,” Mann said.

    Mann earned his appointment to the position from Senator John Boozman (R-AR), who has long promoted the program for Arkansas youth interested in civics and public service.

    “Sawyer did an excellent job supporting the day-to-day activity of the Senate while observing legislative processes and procedures firsthand. I am confident that serving as a Page will inspire him to continue exploring his interest in public policy and enhance his leadership skills. Our entire state can be proud of how he represented us in this prestigious program,” Boozman said.

    Mann is an active participant in Future Farmers of America and a member of the Camden Harmony Grove High School yearbook staff. He also served on the student council as sophomore and junior class representative, and as captain of the quiz bowl team.

    While in Washington, D.C., he toured the National Archives and visited several Smithsonian museums in addition to attending a showing of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 

    He is the son of Russ Mann and Lauren Franks.

    The Senate Page program started in 1829 when Senator Daniel Webster appointed the first Senate Page. Today, the program is a unique, highly selective opportunity for high school juniors with a strong academic standing to learn firsthand about the institution often referred to as “the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Sanders Calls Out Trump’s ‘Illegal and Unconstitutional’ Withholding of Nearly $7 Billion for Public Schools

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders
    BURLINGTON, Vt., July 3 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today wrote to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to immediately reverse their illegal and unconstitutional decision this week to abruptly withhold nearly $7 billion in funding for public education nationwide, including $26.1 million for Vermont schools.
    This funding supports more than 10,000 summer and afterschool programs for 1.4 million students throughout the country, including nearly 100 afterschool and summer programs in Vermont that serve 11,000 students. Schools expected to receive this critical funding by July 1st, but were informed it was being withheld less than a day in advance.
    “Your decision to withhold $6.88 billion in vital funding that Congress appropriated for our nation’s public schools — including $26.1 million for Vermont — is not only horrific public policy, it is blatantly illegal and unconstitutional. Your unexpected and cruel decision has sent shockwaves, distress and heartbreak in local communities all over America who now may be forced to cancel or substantially delay summer school activities that had been planned for months,” Sanders wrote. “Further, your illegal actions have denied teachers the funding they rely on for professional development. Important services for English learners have been halted. Thousands of school principals, superintendents, and school board members may be forced to lay off dedicated staff. And school district budgets in every State and community have been negatively impacted. That is beyond unacceptable.”
    During her confirmation hearing, Secretary McMahon committed to delivering congressionally-appropriated funds to schools, districts and states as required. These actions not only violate the law passed by Congress and signed by the president, but they also violate her stated commitments.
    “Congress clearly and unambiguously passed this $6.88 billion in education funding. The President signed it into law. The Trump Administration has no right to withhold or impound it,” Sanders concluded. “I urge you to immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold Federal education funding appropriated by Congress and release this funding to the States, school districts, and students as soon as possible.”
    Read the letter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Sobyanin opened an exhibition about Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich at the Museum of Moscow

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    Sergei Sobyanin opened the exhibition “The August Master of Moscow”. It is dedicated to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) – the first and only representative of the imperial house of Romanov, who headed the First Throne (from 1891 to 1905).

    “The current exhibition at the Museum of Moscow, of course, cannot fail to attract attention and touch the hearts of Muscovites. Because the period when Sergei Alexandrovich was the Governor-General of Moscow is one of the best periods of the city’s development. I would call it a revolutionary period in general, because it was during his time that such an impetus was given to the development of Moscow, when it began to transform from a provincial, to put it mildly, not very comfortable and clean city into one of the best European cities. During this period, something was done that had not been done for a whole century before,” said Sergei Sobyanin.

    The exhibition at the Museum of Moscow (Zubovsky Boulevard, Building 2, Block 3) was prepared by the Elisabeth-Sergius Educational Society Foundation with the support of the Moscow Government for the 120th anniversary of the death of the Grand Duke. More than 30 leading museums, archives, libraries, and private collectors are participating in the exhibition.

    Statesman, military leader, manager

    Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was one of the outstanding statesmen of the Russian Empire. He was a skilled military leader and a talented manager.

    While holding the post of Moscow Governor-General, Sergei Alexandrovich made a huge contribution to the development of all spheres of the city economy. Under his rule, water supply and sewerage systems were modernized, street lighting was carried out, the transport network was improved, and new buildings and structures were erected. In addition, the first stage of the city power plant was opened, and electric tram lines were built.

    With the direct participation of Sergei Alexandrovich, the project was developed and construction of the Small Ring of the Moscow Railway began.

    “Thanks to the active development of those times, the historical center of the city was significantly transformed,” wrote Sergei Sobyanin in

    on your telegram channel.

    Source: Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel @mos_sobyanin.

    The Grand Duke headed many scientific societies and institutions, patronized cultural and artistic figures, and supported creative educational institutions. With his personal assistance, a new building for the Moscow Conservatory was built and the Bolshoi Theater was restored. He also took care of students. For example, in 1899, a dormitory for Moscow University was built.

    The Grand Duke, who created for the benefit of the people, was killed by terrorists in the very heart of Russia – at the Nikolsky Gate of the Moscow Kremlin.

    What the exhibition will tell about

    Based on documents and materials from the state archives of Russia, and on numerous studies, the authors of the exhibition tell about the bright personality of the Grand Duke, his devoted service to the Fatherland and fruitful work as the Moscow Governor-General and commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District.

     

    The exhibition presents over 500 items, documents, photographs and other artifacts dedicated to the life, state, military and public service of the august master of Moscow. These are books from his library, letters, photographs, portraits of members of the imperial family and personal belongings, awards of charitable institutions and societies. In addition, rare archival documents on the activities of the Grand Duke as Governor-General and Commander of the Moscow Military District, his correspondence with family members and statesmen, military uniform, weapon models and much more are on display.

    Visitors to the exhibition will also learn about the charitable service of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. They supervised over 100 charitable societies and associations that helped those in need in Moscow and other cities of the empire. The exhibition tells about the activities of the Moscow branch of the Russian Red Cross Society, the Elizabethan Charity Society, and many other areas of charitable work. One of the sections is dedicated to the history of the development of Russian Palestine — the activities of the Grand Duke as the first chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.

    The authors of the project recreated a fragment of the furnishings of Sergei Alexandrovich’s living room in the Governor-General’s house on Tverskaya Street (house 13), where the grand ducal couple lived from 1892.

    “It’s great that we were able to show all the main areas of activity of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich on this platform. Not only to highlight his work as Governor-General of Moscow and Commander-in-Chief of the Moscow Military District, but also to tell a little about his and Elizaveta Feodorovna’s personalities and spiritual appearance. And it seems to me that this Christian image of people who truly lived according to the Gospel, it inspires our contemporaries,” said Anna Gromova, PhD in History, leading researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

    In the cinema hall, guests will be able to watch a documentary about Sergei Alexandrovich and the history of the Chudov Monastery. It was there in 1905 that the Grand Duke was laid to rest by decision of his wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

    In addition, the exhibition tells about the legacy of the Grand Duke, the work of the Elisabeth-Sergius Educational Society Foundation to restore the memorial cross in the Kremlin at the site of the murder of the august martyr, and the revival of the Moscow region residence of the Moscow Governor-General — the imperial estate of Ilyinskoye-Usovo. In addition, visitors to the exhibition will learn about the creation of museums by the foundation in the historic buildings of the estate, the installation of a monument to the Grand Duke’s couple in Klimentovsky Lane in Moscow, and educational work to preserve the memory of them in different regions of Russia.

    The exhibition will also feature an educational program with lectures, overview and author’s excursions. The exhibition will run until September 21, 2025.

    Museum association “Moscow Museum”

    The Museum of Moscow was founded in 1896. It is one of the oldest museums in the capital and one of the largest in Russia. Its collection numbers 891,558 items, including a rich collection of archaeological artefacts.

    The Museum of Moscow is located on the territory and in the premises of the federal cultural heritage site “Provision Stores” (1832–1835, architect V.P. Stasov) on Zubovsky Boulevard (building 2).

    In addition, the museum association includes seven structural divisions, including the Moscow Archaeology Museum, the Lefortovo History Museum, the V.A. Gilyarovsky Center, the Garden Ring Museum, the Zelenograd Museum, the N.A. Dobrolyubov Library, and the Heraldic Hall of the City of Moscow.

    The total area of the territory is 1.76 hectares, and the premises are 31,335 square meters, of which 8,127 square meters are exhibition areas.

    Every year, the Museum of Moscow hosts dozens of exhibitions and events, festivals, seasonal and book fairs, theatrical and musical events. A children’s center, a lecture hall, a school of tour guides “Moskvagid” and a city excursion bureau, as well as a cinema for special screenings, are open on a permanent basis.

    In the first half of 2025, the Museum of Moscow was visited by 600 thousand residents and guests of the capital.

    Moscow Museums to Host International and National Projects — SobyaninBy 2026, all collections of Moscow museums will be digitized — Moscow Mayor

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    https: //vv.mos.ru/mayor/tkhemes/1302505/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: The European Union (EU), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Launch €2.7million Initiative for Forcibly Displaced Persons and their Host Communities in Northern Ghana

    Source: APO


    .

    The European Union (EU), UNICEF and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, launched a €2.7 million multi-donor initiative in northern Ghana to significantly strengthen the resilience and improve the lives of forcibly displaced persons and their host communities.

    The two-year, “Supporting the Resilience of Forcibly Displaced People and Host Communities in Northern Ghana” project, known as the UNITE Project, is implemented by UNICEF Ghana and UNHCR, and co-funded by the EU.

    Implemented in the Tarikom and Zini communities of Ghana’s Upper East and Upper West regions respectively, the project will enhance the inclusion and access to basic services for forcibly displaced populations and host communities (particularly women and children) while also strengthening national systems for inclusive development.

    This collaborative effort, delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, National Identification Authority, and local government and traditional authorities, seeks to improve access to essential services, foster social cohesion for forcibly displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, and promote long-term sustainable development with the objective of aligning with national strategies and complementing existing efforts like the Gulf of Guinea Social Cohesion (SOCO) programme, as well as other EU and UN projects.

    “Prolonged conflict in the Gulf of Guinea has forced thousands to flee their homes with over 17,000 asylum seekers estimated to be living in the Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana. Through the UNITE project and other initiatives, the EU is supporting forcibly displaced people and the communities generously hosting them. The EU will continue to play its role on the global stage and in Ghana to uphold refugees’ rights, in line with EU and international law.” said Irchad Razaaly, EU Ambassador to Ghana.

    “This initiative, profoundly supported by the European Union, is about restoring dignity, strengthening community resilience and building a future where every child and family has equitable access to the services and opportunities they deserve in a dynamic and changing environment” stated Osama Makkawi Khoghali, UNICEF Ghana Representative.

    “UNHCR is committed to ensuring that forcibly displaced persons and their host communities in Northern Ghana have the protection and support to not only survive but thrive. This comprehensive program, with the generous backing of the European Union, allows us to work collaboratively to build sustainable solutions that empower these communities and foster peaceful coexistence,” added Needa Jehu-Mazou, Head of UNHCR Office in Ghana.

    The project is also being replicated in Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin, highlighting a concerted regional approach with a total financing amount of €12million (€10million from the EU and €2 million from four UN agencies: World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNICEF and UNHCR)

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Delegation of the European Union to Ghana.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Eritrea: Halai Technical School Graduates 25 Students

    Source: APO


    .

    Halai Technical School today graduated 25 students who completed two years of theoretical and practical training in computer technology and network installation.

    Mr. Raguel Tekle, Director of the school, stated that the institution—equipped with modern facilities and infrastructure—is contributing to the development of competent youth. He added that the school has also begun offering training in metal and woodwork, and will soon launch programs in cooling and heating systems.

    Mr. Tesfay Seium, Director General of Technical and Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education, highlighted the Government of Eritrea’s substantial investment in the education sector. He urged the youth to fully utilize these opportunities to improve their livelihoods and support national development.

    A representative of the graduates expressed their commitment to contributing meaningfully in their future workplaces, applying the knowledge and skills acquired during their training.

    Since its establishment, Halai Technical School has graduated 652 students.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Transformed $25M Lincoln Park Pool in Albany Completed

    Source: US State of New York

    overnor Kathy Hochul today celebrated the completion of the $25 million rehabilitation of the historic Lincoln Park Pool in Albany, made possible through $10 million in support from the Governor’s innovative New York Statewide Investment In More Swimming (NY SWIMS) initiative that expands access to safe swimming, addresses equity gaps by providing recreational opportunities and supports communities across the state with resources to combat extreme heat. This newly transformed facility restores a vital community asset in Albany’s South End that has served families since 1930, bringing modern amenities and full accessibility to the neighborhood. Governor Hochul’s NY SWIMS initiative awarded $150 million in 2024 to 37 pool projects across New York State, including more than $28 million to five pools in the Capital Region. NY SWIMS is the largest investment in swimming infrastructure since the New Deal.

    “For nearly a century, Lincoln Park Pool has been a cornerstone of summer in Albany’s South End and today, we are giving it new life for the next generation to enjoy,” Governor Hochul said. “Through our NY SWIMS initiative, we’re investing in accessible and affordable places where families and communities can beat the heat and come together. Our NY SWIMS program ensures that all New Yorkers can get offline, get outside and thrive.”

    The Lincoln Park Pool rehabilitation represents a complete transformation of the nearly century-old facility, featuring a zero-entry pool for accessibility, a half Olympic-style lap pool for competitive swimming, a splash pad for family recreation, and upgraded restrooms with modern amenities. Through NY SWIMS the state is specifically targeting underserved communities that have long needed improved recreational facilities. This $10 million investment in Lincoln Park Pool builds on previous support, including a $262,500 Environmental Protection Fund grant awarded by New York State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation in 2018 for the planning and design of the project.

    With today’s ribbon cutting, Albany celebrates the restoration of a beloved community gathering place that will serve families throughout the City. The Lincoln Park pool rehabilitation is among the projects specifically targeting underserved communities that lack access to safe swimming facilities. The project exemplifies the “Get Offline, Get Outside” initiative’s mission to provide healthy outdoor recreation alternatives for young people and families. As communities nationwide grapple with the mental health impacts of excessive screen time, facilities like this rehabilitated pool offer safe spaces for physical activity and social connection.

    Drowning remains the leading cause of death for children ages one to four, making facilities like Lincoln Park Pool crucial for water safety education. The pool will provide space for learn-to-swim programming, helping address swimming disparities while offering a safe place for families to cool off during increasingly hot summers due to climate change

    The ribbon cutting comes as NY SWIMS continues to expand, with an additional $90 million allocated in 2025. The increased funding reflects strong legislative support for expanding swimming access across New York State and demonstrates bipartisan recognition of the program’s success and community impact.

    The NY SWIMS Lifeguard Grant Program offers an additional $5 million for reimbursable grants from the Department of State to eligible municipalities to incentivize lifeguard recruitment and retention and is designed to help counties, cities, towns, and villages to increase swimming access through growing their ranks of lifeguards, providing additional opportunities, and expanding their open hours at municipal swimming locations. Albany is using $50,000 in grant funding to invest in training resources and hire three new lifeguard managers at a higher wage, who will oversee daily operations, manage schedules, and serve as direct mentors and additional support for the lifeguard team. These efforts are expected to help the City handle increased demand and extend the swimming season at Lincoln Park Pool.

    Additional State support for projects improving overall Lincoln Park and Albany infrastructure include a $5 million Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grant provided through the Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) program to implement screening and disinfection of combined sewage from the Beaver Creek Sewer District. The project improved water quality by providing treatment for the Albany Pool’s largest combined sewer overflow and will serve to further reduce bacteria and improve water quality in the Hudson River. DEC also provided $1 million in funding through WQIP in 2021 to the Albany Water Board for the Lincoln Park Reflection and Learning Garden to construct green infrastructure elements in the park, diverse ecological and biohabitat, and implement native plantings to mitigate combined sewer surface discharges and odor issues within Lincoln Park.

    Dormitory Authority of the State of New York President & CEO Robert J. Rodriguez said, “Governor Hochul’s NY SWIMS initiative exemplifies the power of state-local collaboration at its best. Albany’s significant local investment, combined with NY SWIMS funding, has transformed a nearly century-old facility into a modern, accessible community hub that honors its historic roots while meeting today’s needs. This partnership approach is how we maximize public resources and build on existing community assets to create even greater opportunities for families. When state and local governments work together with a shared vision, we can preserve what matters most to neighborhoods while ensuring these vital spaces serve New Yorkers for another generation.”

    New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Pro Tempore Randy Simons said, “The Lincoln Park Pool has long been a cornerstone of summer in Albany, and thanks to Governor Hochul’s NY SWIMS grants, we’re thrilled to bring this vital resource back to life. This historic investment provides a modern, inclusive space for the community to cool off, swim safely, and gather with friends and family this summer. We’re excited to build off this pool’s cherished legacy and continue helping New Yorkers enjoy the outdoors and make lasting memories.”

    New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “The revitalization of the Lincoln Park Pool through the NY SWIMS initiative is a powerful example of how strategic investment can restore cherished public spaces and ensure they serve the next generation. The Department of State is proud to support Governor Hochul’s vision by providing grants to help communities recruit and retain qualified lifeguards for these recreational facilities, an essential part of expanding access to safe swimming. By investing in this critical workforce, we are working to keep our state’s pools and kids safe.”

    Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “As summers continue to get hotter, and the impacts of climate change create ongoing threats to public health, it is important to ensure that critical community resources like the Lincoln Park Pool and surrounding park spaces are fully supported. DEC is proud to continue our partnership with the City of Albany to support Lincoln Park improvements and we thank Governor Hochul and our state agency partners for helping families cool off safely and keep kids offline to enjoy the outdoors this summer.”

    State Senator Pat Fahy said, “Access to pools and swimming opportunities isn’t a luxury reserved for a few, it’s a lifelong skill that opens doors for our young people. That’s why the Lincoln Park Pool was built during the height of the Great Depression; to provide hope, opportunity, and a safe place to swim and recreate outdoors here in the City of Albany for families and New Yorkers. I’m proud to have been able to secure state funding to support the Lincoln Park Pool’s renovation, and I cannot wait to see our community take advantage of it this summer. I want to thank Mayor Sheehan, Governor Hochul, and so many more who made this project and today’s reopening a reality.”

    Assemblymember Gabriella Romero said, “This aquatic center, located in our Lincoln Park community, is an incredible investment and provides state of the art facilities for our youth to enjoy throughout this summer. It is more important than ever for children to spend time outdoors and connect with their local community. Thank you to Governor Hochul, Mayor Sheehan and others who made this project possible.”

    Assemblymember John T. McDonald III, RPh said, “The rehabilitation of Lincoln Park Pool is a perfect example of what happens when we invest in our communities. As a former Mayor, I know all too well the importance of having a safe and modernized space for New Yorkers, especially our youth, to not only cool off, but to learn the importance of water safety. I was proud to support funding for NY SWIMS in the Legislature, and I thank Governor Hochul for her continued commitment to expanding access to safe swimming and outdoor recreation across New York State.”

    Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy said, “The Lincoln Park Pool has been part of our city’s fabric for almost 100 years, and today, it’s finally getting the second life it deserves. I’d like to thank Governor Hochul for her significant contribution to its restoration through the NY SWIMS grant program. This is a win for public health and equity and I can’t wait to see New Yorkers get back to enjoying the water.”

    Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said, “The new Lincoln Park Pool is yet another transformative investment in the South End. Since taking office, my administration has invested more than $65 million in our South End neighborhood. We are preventing raw sewage from percolating in Upper Lincoln Park while also cleaning the Hudson River. We renovated the Lincoln Park Basketball Courts, we revitalized the Lincoln Park Bowl, we built the South End Connector, and we are helping the Albany Housing Authority rebuild Steamboat Square. With the new Lincoln Park Pool, my administration continues to send a message to our South End neighbors that we are working tirelessly to reverse decades of historic disinvestment and we will continue to deliver on the promises we make to this community. I am so proud today has finally arrived, and I am so excited our residents have the opportunity to enjoy this state-of-the-art facility.”

    NY SWIMS builds on Governor Hochul’s broader commitment to youth wellness, including the signing of first-in-the-nation legislation protecting children from addictive social media feeds and shielding their personal data from online platforms. The initiative is a key component of the “Get Offline, Get Outside” campaign, which also includes the $56.5 million Summer Youth Employment Program supporting 21,000 young people from low-income families across the state.

    The New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming (NY SWIMS) initiative represents New York’s largest investment in swimming infrastructure since the New Deal. The program provides grants between $50,000 and $10 million to help municipalities design, construct, rehabilitate, or modernize public swimming facilities, with a focus on supporting disadvantaged and underserved communities that lack access to safe swimming and outdoor recreation opportunities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Secures Agreement Reforming Michigan School District’s Seclusion and Restraint Practices

    Source: US State of Vermont

    Today, the Justice Department announced that it reached an agreement with a Michigan school district to address the discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities, in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the settlement agreement, the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District will end the use of seclusion, reform its restraint practices, and improve special education services for students with disabilities.

    During the period covered by the investigation, with which the school district fully cooperated, students with disabilities were secluded and/or restrained on more than 2,400 occasions. The Department’s investigation also revealed that the district used seclusion and restraint improperly, including using emergency crisis responses as punishment for normal classroom discipline issues.

    “Students with disabilities should never be discriminated against by experiencing the trauma of seclusion or improper restraint,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Parents have the right to expect that the school systems they entrust with educating their children do not instead punish their children for having a disability.”

    “This school district serves the most vulnerable Michigan students, young children with disabilities,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Alexis M. Sanford for the Western District of Michigan. “I commend them for entering into this settlement agreement to provide their students with the care and services they need to get the education they deserve.”   

    Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section’s work to combat disability discrimination including by improper seclusion and restraint is available at www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section.

    Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at www.civilrights.justice.gov/.

    MIL OSI USA News –