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  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: Leaders’ Summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug  Threats

    Source: The White House

    Today, President Biden hosted a Summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, which the President directed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to launch in June 2023, in order to mobilize international action to tackle the synthetic drug crisis.  In just over a year, the Global Coalition has grown to include 159 countries and 15 international organizations working together to disrupt the supply chain for fentanyl and other synthetic drugs; detect emerging drug threats; and prevent and treat through effective public health interventions.
     
    With the Summit as a motivating force, 11 core Coalition countries announced new initiatives that will advance the work of the Coalition, including efforts to disrupt the supply chain of fentanyl and enhance public health interventions.  These international commitments complement intensive work being done domestically, including an increased focus on coordinated disruption of drug trafficking networks and concerted efforts to make the opioid overdose reversal medication, naloxone, widely available over-the-counter.
     
    As a result of these efforts, we are starting to see the largest drop in overdose deaths in recorded history.  When President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office, the number of drug overdose deaths was increasing by more than 30% year over year.  Now, the latest provisional data released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics show an unprecedented decline in overdose deaths of 10% in the 12 months ending April 2024. 
     
    These aren’t just numbers – these are lives.
     
    Background on the Global Coalition
     
    The 159 countries and 15 international organizations that are now part of the Coalition are working together on three key lines of effort:

    1. Disrupt the supply chain for fentanyl and other synthetic drugs;
    2. Detect emerging drug threats; and
    3. Prevent and treat through effective public health interventions. 

    For the past year, three working groups and seven sub-working groups have met monthly to create detailed plans of action.  These working groups have made tangible progress, including implementing new efforts to increase seizures of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals at ports of entry, sharing best practices with respect to the identification of emerging drug threats, and taking actions to schedule an increasing number of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, thus subjecting these drugs and chemicals to increased controls. 

    New Initiatives Being Announced

    At today’s Summit, 11 core countries announced new initiatives that will move the work of each of the Coalition’s core lines of effort even further:

    1. Australia, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom will lead new efforts to disrupt the supply of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.  These efforts include the development of regional coalitions to disrupt the transit routes for illicit drugs, precursor chemicals, and associated equipment, protect against the diversion of chemicals for illicit use, and improve the detection and disruption of production sites.
    2. Italy and Ghana will lead new initiatives to detect emerging drug trends, to include Italy helping other Coalition countries to develop early warning systems to identify emerging drug patterns.
    3. Canada and the United Arab Emirates will work to prevent and treat the overdose epidemic, including by expanding public health interventions and making life-saving medications widely available.

    Core Coalition countries also signed a Coalition Pledge agreeing to take additional actions to regulate all relevant drugs and precursor chemicals, take needed steps to fill gaps in their own domestic authorities, expand public-private partnerships to more effectively combat the supply chain for illicit fentanyl, develop mechanisms to monitor real-time data on trends in illicit drug use, and expand access to treatment.  At the Summit, President Biden called on all other Coalition countries to likewise sign this pledge.

    Domestic Actions to Fight Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids

    Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has made disrupting the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a core priority.  As part of their Unity Agenda for the Nation, President Biden and Vice President Harris have made it a priority to invest in public health and to tackle both the supply and demand for drugs.  And those efforts have paid off:

    1. Border officials have stopped more illicit fentanyl at ports of entry in the past two fiscal years than in the previous five fiscal years combined.  In the past 11 months, over 974 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl were seized at U.S. ports of entry.
    2. The Biden-Harris Administration deployed cutting-edge drug detection technology across our southwest border, adding dozens of new inspection systems, with dozens more coming online in the next few years.
    3. The Biden-Harris Administration has made naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication, widely available over the counter, and has invested over $82 billion in treatment – 40 percent more than the previous Administration.
    4. In 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order targeting foreign persons engaged in the global illicit drug trade, and the Administration has since sanctioned over 300 persons and entities under this authority, thereby cutting them off from the United States’ financial system.
    5. The Biden-Harris Administration has prosecuted dozens of high-level Mexican cartel leaders, drug traffickers, and money launderers, including Chapitos leader Nestor Isidro “El Nini” Perez Salas, and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s top chemical brokers—placing dangerous drug traffickers behind bars.  Just last week, the son of a fugitive Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación boss, Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera, was convicted for his violent acts, including the deadly downing of a military helicopter in Mexico, in support of his father’s drug trafficking organization.

     
    In July, President Biden issued a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) calling on all relevant Federal departments and agencies to do even more to stop the supply of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in our country.  The NSM directs increased intelligence collection, more intensive coordination and cooperation across departments and agencies, and additional actions to disrupt the production and distribution of illicit fentanyl.  And the Biden-Harris Administration has called on Congress to pass the Administration’s “Detect and Defeat” counter-fentanyl legislative proposal to increase penalties on those who bring deadly drugs into our communities and to close loopholes that drug traffickers exploit.
     
    As stated above, these measures are having an effect.
     
    Provisional CDC data show a 10% drop in overdose deaths in the 12 months leading up to April 2024 – the largest drop in overdose deaths in recorded history.
     
    Other International Engagements
     
    Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, the United States has engaged around the world – both as part of the Coalition and in numerous bilateral and multilateral engagements – to spur global action in the fight against synthetic opioids.
     
    In early 2023, President Biden, together with the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada, directed the establishment a Trilateral Fentanyl Committee, and the Biden-Harris Administration engages regularly with both countries to tackle the supply chain for fentanyl.
     
    In November 2023, President Biden negotiated the resumption of counternarcotics cooperation with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), spurring the creation of a U.S. – PRC Counternarcotics Working Group that has led to increased cooperation on law enforcement actions and ongoing efforts to shut down companies that fuel illicit fentanyl and synthetic drug trafficking and cause deaths in the United States.  
     
    The United States and India have worked together to increase counternarcotics cooperation, including by signing a new Memorandum of Understanding and Framework for ongoing work to disrupt the supply of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs just this past week. 
     
    The Biden-Harris Administration has worked extensively with law enforcement partners across the globe to hold drug traffickers to account.  These partnerships pay dividends – including by generating support for extraditions that have enabled the United States to put dozens of cartel leaders, drug traffickers, and money launderers behind bars.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Carter successfully urges FEMA to assist GA-01’s Hurricane Debby recovery with major disaster declaration

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Earl L Buddy Carter (GA-01)

    Headline: Carter successfully urges FEMA to assist GA-01’s Hurricane Debby recovery with major disaster declaration

    WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) gave the following statement after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today issued a major disaster declaration for counties impacted by Hurricane Debby, including several in Georgia’s First Congressional District (GA-01):


    “I am glad FEMA approved this necessary funding for Georgia counties impacted by Hurricane Debby. After touring flooding in Richmond Hill, it became clear that these funds were urgently needed to help residents rebuild their homes and businesses. Today’s major disaster declaration officially puts GA-01 on the road to recovery,”     said Rep. Carter.


    This announcement comes after Rep. Carter led the entire Georgia Congressional Delegation in a     letter to the White House, in which the members expressed “full support of Governor Brian Kemp’s request for a major disaster declaration for the counties in the state of Georgia significantly impacted by Hurricane Debby, which caused severe damages beyond the combined capabilities of our state and local governments’ ability to respond.”


    The Major Disaster Declaration releases federal funds for:

    • Individual Assistance for Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Long, and Screven Counties.
    • Public Assistance for Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Echols, Effingham, Evans, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Lanier, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Ware, and Wayne Counties.


    Individuals in Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty, Long, and Screven Counties can apply with FEMA the following ways:

    1. Apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov. 

          2. Constituents may call the application phone number at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585).

    In light of Tropical Storm Helene’s potential landfall in GA-01 this week, Rep. Carter urges residents to stay safe and vigilant:


    “Hurricane season is not over. We must continue to prepare for every weather emergency. My website has links to emergency readiness resources, and I encourage all residents to follow updates from GEMA. Stay safe, Georgia,”     said Rep. Carter.

    Apply for disaster assistance here.

    Hurricane resources available here.

    Read the full letter here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Haley Stevens’ Statement on the Biden Harris Administration’s Proposed Connected Vehicle Rule

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11)

    “Our vehicles are smarter and more connected than ever,” said Rep. Haley Stevens. “While these innovations are improving safety, reliability, and consumer comfort, they also increase the risk of bad actors, like Russia and China, targeting our infrastructure and transportation networks. I welcome the Biden Harris Administration’s commonsense rule, announced yesterday, which would limit the use of sensitive software and hardware in connected vehicles, protecting our national security and American competitiveness as more and more of these exciting auto innovations come online.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Construction cost data for electric generators

    Source: US Energy Information Administration

    Skip to sub-navigation

    Presented below are graphs and tables of the cost data for generators installed in 2022 based on data collected by the 2022 Annual Electric Generator Report, Form EIA-860. The cost data for certain generation technologies were omitted to avoid disclosure of individual company data.

    EIA expects to publish construction cost data for generators installed in 2023 in September 2025.

    Read EIA’s

    Generators installed in 2022 by major energy source

    1,588 1,451 820 1,205 2,084

    All plants by major energy source capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    solar 1,588
    wind 1,451
    natural gas 820
    battery storage 1,205
    petroleum liquids 2,084

    10,285 424 7,455 197 3,941 1,478 2,945 557 15 38

    Total capacity (MW) at new plants at existing plants
    solar 10,285 424
    wind 7,455 197
    natural gas 3,941 1,478
    battery storage 2,945 557
    petroleum liquids 15 38

    381 8 33 1 18 12 80 17 4 18

    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    solar 381 8
    wind 33 1
    natural gas 18 12
    battery storage 80 17
    petroleum liquids 4 18
    All plants by major energy source total cost (billion $)
    solar 17.0
    wind 11.1
    natural gas 4.4
    battery storage 4.2
    petroleum liquids 0.1
    Number of generators by major energy source at new plants at existing plants
    solar 392 13
    wind 36 1
    natural gas 55 21
    battery storage 84 20
    petroleum liquids 6 26
    Average new plants capacity or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    solar 27 53
    wind 226 197
    natural gas 219 123
    battery storage 37 33
    petroleum liquids 4 2

    Generators installed in 2022 by prime mover

    Capacity-weighted average cost per kilowatt of installed namepate capacity ($/kW) capacity weighted-average cost ($/kW)
    combustion turbine 864
    combustion turbine (as part of combined cycle) 764
    steam turbine (as part of combined cycle) 802
    internal combustion engine 1,788
    onshore wind turbine 1,451
    photovoltaic 1,588
    energy storage, battery 1,205
    Total included capacity(MW) at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 924 259
    combustion turbine (as part of combined cycle) 1,889 774
    steam turbine (as part of combined cycle) 1,031 401
    internal combustion engine 112 82
    onshore wind turbine 7,455 197
    photovoltaic 10,285 424
    energy storage, battery 2,945 557
    number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 18 7
    combustion turbine (as part of combined cycle) 6 2
    steam turbine (as part of combined cycle) 3 1
    internal combustion engine 34 37
    onshore wind turbine 36 1
    photovoltaic 392 13
    energy storage, battery 84 20
    Average generator capacity at new or existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 51 37
    combustion turbine (as part of combined cycle) 315 387
    steam turbine (as part of combined cycle) 344 401
    internal combustion engine 3 2
    onshore wind turbine 207 197
    photovoltaic 26 33
    energy storage, battery 35 28
    Total construction cost total cost (billion $)
    combustion turbine 1.0
    combustion turbine (as part of combined cycle) 2.0
    steam turbine (as part of combined cycle) 1.1
    internal combustion engine 0.3
    onshore wind turbine 11.1
    photovoltaic 17.0
    energy storage, battery 4.2

    Generators installed in 2022 by Census region

    Census regions capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    South 1,273
    West 1,444
    Midwest 1,290
    Northeast 2,430
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    South 14,257 153
    West 5,984 1,091
    Midwest 3,745 1,429
    Northeast 656 22
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 167 3
    West 119 30
    Midwest 93 12
    Northeast 137 11
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    South 201 3
    West 124 47
    Midwest 105 19
    Northeast 143 12
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 85 51
    West 50 36
    Midwest 40 119
    Northeast 5 2
    Census region total cost (billion $)
    South 18.4
    West 10.2
    Midwest 6.7
    Northeast 1.6

    Generators installed in 2022 by top five states in capacity additions

    State capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    Texas 1,224
    California 1,460
    Michigan 986
    Florida 970
    Virginia 1,778
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 8,831 78
    California 3,910 658
    Michigan 1,759 1,203
    Florida 2,607 74
    Virginia 656 0
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 54 1
    California 69 9
    Michigan 9 2
    Florida 21 1
    Virginia 11 0
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 83 1
    California 73 16
    Michigan 14 6
    Florida 25 1
    Virginia 11 0
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 164 78
    California 57 73
    Michigan 195 601
    Florida 124 74
    Virginia 60 0
    State total cost (billion $)
    Texas 10.9
    California 6.7
    Michigan 2.9
    Florida 2.6
    Virginia 1.2

    Natural gas generators installed in 2022 by technology

    Natural gas plants by type capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    combined cycle 722
    combustion turbine 1,006
    internal combustion engine 1,677
    Total included capacity (MW) at new plants at existing plants
    combined cycle 2,715 1,174
    combustion turbine 1,129 259
    internal combustion engine 97 45
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    combined cycle 2 1
    combustion turbine 6 4
    internal combustion engine 10 7
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    combined cycle 9 3
    combustion turbine 18 7
    internal combustion engine 28 11
    Average new plants capacity or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    combined cycle 1,358 1,174
    combustion turbine 188 65
    internal combustion engine 10 6
    Total construction cost total cost (billion $)
    combined cycle 2.8
    combustion turbine 1.4
    internal combustion engine 0.2

    Natural gas generators installed in 2022 at combined-cycle plants by prime mover

    Natural gas combined cycle plants by component capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    combustion turbine 764
    steam turbine 802
    Total capacity at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 1,889 774
    steam turbine 1,031 401
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 6 2
    steam turbine 3 1
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    combustion turbine 315 387
    steam turbine 344 401
    Natural gas generators at combined-cycle plants by prime mover total cost (billion $)
    combustion turbine 2.0
    steam turbine 1.1

    Solar PV generators installed in 2022 by Census region

    Census regions capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    South 1,505
    West 1,549
    Midwest 1,784
    Northeast 2,409
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    South 5,742 74
    West 3,097 348
    Midwest 908 0
    Northeast 539 1
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 112 1
    West 84 6
    Midwest 73 0
    Northeast 112 1
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    South 117 1
    West 85 11
    Midwest 74 0
    Northeast 116 1
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 51 74
    West 37 58
    Midwest 12 0
    Northeast 5 1
    Region total cost (billion $)
    South 8.8
    West 5.3
    Midwest 1.6
    Northeast 1.3

    Solar PV generators installed in 2022 by top five states in capacity additions

    Census regions capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    Texas 1,310
    California 1,627
    Florida 1,377
    Virginia 1,795
    Georgia 1,975
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 2,278 0
    California 1,848 250
    Florida 1,140 74
    Virginia 646 0
    Georgia 545 0
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 15 0
    California 43 1
    Florida 17 1
    Virginia 10 0
    Georgia 7 0
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 17 0
    California 44 4
    Florida 19 1
    Virginia 10 0
    Georgia 7 0
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    Texas 152 0
    California 43 250
    Florida 67 74
    Virginia 65 0
    Georgia 78 0
    State total cost (billion $)
    Texas 3.0
    California 3.4
    Florida 1.7
    Virginia 1.2
    Georgia 1.1

    Solar PV generators installed in 2022 by PV panel type and tracking system

    Solar PV plants by tracking system capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 1,788
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 1,605
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 1,249
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 1,561
    other 1,386
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 1,056 6
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 5,068 418
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 385 0
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 3,349 0
    other 427 0
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 121 2
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 190 6
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 10 0
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 40 0
    other 20 0
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 128 4
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 192 9
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 10 0
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 42 0
    other 20 0
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 9 3
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 27 70
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 38 0
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 84 0
    other 21 0
    Solar PV plants by tracking system total cost (billion $)
    crystalline silicon,
    fixed tilt    		 1.9
    crystalline silicon,
    axis-based tracking    		 8.8
    thin-film CdTe,
    fixed tilt    		 0.5
    thin-film CdTe, axis-based tracking 5.2
    other 0.6

    Solar PV generators installed in 2022 by total added capacity at plant

    Plant size capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    1–5 MW 2,555
    5–10 MW 2,000
    10–100 MW 1,544
    100–500 MW 1,483
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    1–5 MW 707 10
    5–10 MW 193 0
    10–100 MW 3,962 164
    100–500 MW 5,423 250
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    1–5 MW 250 4
    5–10 MW 26 0
    10–100 MW 74 3
    100–500 MW 31 1
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    1–5 MW 255 6
    5–10 MW 29 0
    10–100 MW 76 3
    100–500 MW 32 4
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    1–5 MW 3 3
    5–10 MW 7 0
    10–100 MW 54 54
    100–500 MW 175 250
    Plant size total cost (billion $)
    1–5 MW 1.8
    5–10 MW 0.4
    10–100 MW 6.4
    100–500 MW 8.4

    Wind generators installed in 2022 by Census region

    Census region capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    South 1,395
    Midwest and Northeast 1,686
    West 1,407
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    South 5,496 0
    Midwest and Northeast 1,234 197
    West 725 0
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 16 0
    Midwest and Northeast 12 1
    West 5 0
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    South 17 0
    Midwest and Northeast 13 1
    West 6 0
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    South 343 0
    Midwest and Northeast 103 197
    West 145 0
    Census region total cost (billion $)
    South 7.7
    Midwest and Northeast 2.4
    West 1.0

    Wind generators installed in 2022 by plant size

    Plant size capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    1–100 MW 1,806
    100–200 MW 1,614
    >200 MW 1,402
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    1–100 MW 210 0
    100–200 MW 1,153 197
    >200 MW 6,092 0
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    1–100 MW 8 0
    100–200 MW 8 1
    >200 MW 17 0
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    1–100 MW 10 0
    100–200 MW 8 1
    >200 MW 18 0
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    1–100 MW 26 0
    100–200 MW 144 197
    >200 MW 358 0
    Plant size total cost (billion $)
    1–100 MW 0.4
    100–200 MW 2.2
    >200 MW 8.5

    Wind generators installed in 2022 by wind class

    Class capacity-weighted average cost ($/kW)
    Class 1 1,463
    Class 2 1,463
    Class 3 and 4 1,424
    Total included capacity at new plants at existing plants
    Class 1 950 0
    Class 2 4,298 0
    Class 3 and 4 2,208 197
    Number of plants at new plants at existing plants
    Class 1 5 0
    Class 2 17 0
    Class 3 and 4 11 1
    Number of generators at new plants at existing plants
    Class 1 5 0
    Class 2 19 0
    Class 3 and 4 12 1
    Average new plant or additional capacity at existing plants at new plants at existing plants
    Class 1 190 0
    Class 2 253 0
    Class 3 and 4 201 197
    Plant size total cost (billion $)
    Class 1 1.4
    Class 2 6.3
    Class 3 and 4 3.4
    Notes:

    • Data includes facilities with a total generator nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt (MW) or more. Solar data does not include distributed generation capacity.
    • Government grants, tax benefits, or other incentives are excluded from these costs.
    • Solar photovoltaic (PV) data are based on reported alternating current (AC) capacity and may differ from other cost and capacity estimates that use direct current (DC) ratings of PV panels.
    • Petroleum liquids includes distillate fuel oil, jet fuel, kerosene, residual fuel oil, and waste oil.
    • Biomass includes both liquid and gaseous biomass fuels.
    • Some generation technologies were excluded from this analysis to avoid disclosure of individual company data.
    • Average construction cost is based on the nameplate capacity weighted average cost per kilowatt of installed nameplate capacity.
    • Total capacity is the sum of the nameplate capacity of generators included in each group.
    • Average new capacity is based on the nameplate capacity of new plants or new additions of nameplate capacity to existing plants. New plants did not previously have operable units and are typically recently constructed. Existing plants have at least one previously operable generator and are not newly constructed.
    • Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding.

    Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860, Annual Electric Generator Report

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: “Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is in his interest alone – to expand his mafia state into a mafia empire”: UK statement at the UN Security Council

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    Statement by Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the UN Security Council meeting on the maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine.

    Location:
    United Nations, New York
    Delivered on:
    (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

    President Zelenskyy, the UK commends you not only for standing up for your people but for standing up for democracy.

    Seeing you in Kyiv a few weeks ago with Secretary Blinken I saw ordinary people from all walks of life. The soldiers and the civilians. The firefighters and the first responders.

    The mothers and the fathers working together in defence of freedom. Your bravery and courage is an inspiration to us all.

    But Mr. President, I also want to speak directly to the Kremlin and its representative here today. And Vladimir Putin. 

    Russia sits on this Council. But its actions tear up the UN Charter.

    Russia sits on this Council. But over the weekend we saw it put forward amendments designed to wreck the UN’s future.

    Russia claims to stand for the Global South. But it runs roughshod over international law.

    Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals. We know who you are. 

    When you send mercenaries into African countries. We know who you are.

    When you murder opponents in European cities. We know who you are.

    Your invasion is in your own interests. Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption.

    Robbing from the Russian people as well as Ukraine. An empire built on crushing dissent. Courageous opponents like Navalny. 

    An empire built on lies. Spreading disinformation at home and abroad to sow disorder.

    Mr President, I speak not only as a Briton, as a Londoner, and as a Foreign Secretary.

    But I say to the Russian representative, on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa, at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved. 

    Imperialism. I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is.

    In this week, when I’m here talking to other partners around the world about our shared futures, and the future of the UN, Russia is trying to return us to a world of the past.

    A world of imperialism. A world of redrawing borders by force. A world without the UN Charter. 

    We cannot allow this to happen. Ukraine’s fight matters to all of us. The UK will remain Ukraine’s staunchest supporter.

    Because Mr. President these are the stakes. 

    If we let an imperialist redraw borders by force those will not be the last borders to be redrawn.

    If we let an imperialist deny a nation its path Ukraine will not be the last state to be subjected. Maduro will take encouragement and go for Guyana next.

    So let me be clear. We want peace in Ukraine. We want it for the Ukrainian people.

    As President Zelenskyy has said, it must be a peace that respects the fundamental principles that underpin the United Nations.

    The principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in this UN Charter. The Charter of the United Nations.  Putin’s Russia wants to unravel it. We want to uphold it. And we will.

    As President Zelenskyy said, the UN Charter will prevail.

    Slava Ukraini!

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H.E. Mr. Daniel Risch, Prime Minister of the Principality of Liechtenstein

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General met with H.E. Mr. Daniel Risch, Prime Minister of the Principality of Liechtenstein.    

    The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister discussed the situation in the Middle East, the implementation of the Pact for the Future as well as United Nations reform.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General met with H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye. The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation for Türkiye’s support to the United Nations and multilateralism.

    The Secretary-General and the President discussed the way forward on the Cyprus issue as well as developments in the Middle East and Ukraine.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sullivan: Biden Downplays Failed Iran Policies & Global Chaos in Final UN Speech

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan

    09.24.24

    President mentions climate change three times more than Iran in remarks

    WASHINGTON—In an interview this morning with Harris Faulkner on Fox News Channel, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), the Republican Senate representative to the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, condemned the misguided foreign policy priorities highlighted in President Biden’s final speech to the UN on Tuesday. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last weekend, Sen. Sullivan urged President Biden to use the speech as an opportunity to course correct on the administration’s failed appeasement policies toward Iran, which have emboldened the terrorist regime and its proxies and spread chaos throughout the world.

    “President Biden mentioned climate change six times and Iran just twice in his speech to the UN. If that’s not indicative of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities, I don’t know what is,” said Sen. Sullivan. “What we’ve seen is chaos throughout the world. This is his last foreign policy speech. Americans and people around the world need to ask this question: Are Americans and our allies safer today than we were four years ago? The answer is absolutely not. One of the biggest areas in which this has been true, and is a failure of this administration, is the appeasement of Iran. Iran is the agent of chaos everywhere—and this administration has appeased Iran in every sphere.”

    Senator Sullivan has frequently criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s weakness exhibited toward Iran and pushed for a return to Trump-era sanctions aimed at re-establishing deterrence against Iran and its terrorist proxies.

    [embedded content]

    Click here or the image above to watch Sen. Sullivan’s interview.

    SULLIVAN: The Biden-Harris Administration has Appeased Iran in Every Sphere

    HARRIS FAULKNER: We don’t know what Kamala Harris’ foreign policy is going to be. We just saw the last speech by the sitting president, and it was not strong considering the breaking news right now. There is a war now across that line between Lebanon and Israel. If this is what we get under President Biden, what in the world would we get under Vice President Kamala Harris if she wins the White House?

    SENATOR SULLIVAN: It’s such an important question. You just saw the speech, right? Biden mentions climate change six times and Iran twice. If that’s not indicative of this administration’s priorities—Biden-Harris—I don’t know what is. What we’ve seen is chaos throughout the world. This is his last foreign policy speech. I think Americans and people around the world need to ask this question: Is America and our allies safer today than we was four years ago? The answer is absolutely not. And one of the biggest areas in which that has been true, and a failure of this administration, is the appeasement of Iran—that Iran is the agent of chaos everywhere. Your reporting right now is just showing that. They have appeased Iran in every sphere.

    As you mentioned, I think with Kamala Harris, it would be way worse. You have to compare the record of the Trump administration with regard to Iran where we reestablished deterrence, put them in a box, crushed them economically, killed their terrorist leaders, and launched a peace initiative with the Abraham Accords. It’s such a contrast in terms of records.

    …

    SULLIVAN: Trump-Era Sanctions Against Iran are the Most Effective Tools in Re-Establishing Deterrence

    FAULKNER: All right. I want to get to two things. First of all, Major General Ryder told us yesterday, and then filled in the blanks a little bit, saying, “Well, it’s a small number that they’re sending to the Middle East to shore up the 40,000 who are there.” Well, that’s anything less than 40,000. What is happening—you’re on Armed Services—what is happening that you can tell us that’s next for the United States in that region? And keeping in mind we have to back Israel.

    SULLIVAN: We 100 percent have to back Israel. One of the things that’s been so frustrating with this administration is that some of the most effective tools that we have in terms of backing Israel and in re-establishing deterrence with regard to Iran, aren’t necessarily military tools. Let me give you the best example. The Trump administration undertook maximum sanctions against the Iranian oil and gas industry.

    By the end of the Trump administration, Iran’s economy was in free-fall. They were exporting only about 200,000 barrels a day. They had about $4 billion in foreign reserves, which was nothing. The Biden-Harris administration comes in, day one, they stop enforcing these sanctions. What does that do? Iran is exporting almost 3 million barrels a day, has close to $100 billion in foreign reserves. What are they doing with that? They’re funding and equipping and training Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas.

    So a lot of this appeasement has been just reversing what the Trump administration did so well and you’re seeing the chaos all over the Middle East. Biden and Harris should at least reimpose these sanctions.

    SULLIVAN: Russian-Chinese Incursions into Alaska are a Sign of Weakness of Biden-Harris Administration

    FAULKNER: You broke some news with me in the hallway as we were coming to set. I want to just take a moment. Russia. We cannot take our eyes off Russia. You said a fourth incursion. What’s happening in Alaska?

    SULLIVAN: It’s actually 5. In the last two weeks, we’ve had five Russian bear bomber incursions into our ADIZ—our airspace. Our great men and women in the military have gone up and intercepted these aircraft. By the way, Harris, just about a month and a half ago, we had a joint Russian Chinese bear bomber incursion into the Alaska airspace. Strategic bombers with fighters. We had to go turn them around.

    But, again, this is showing the weakness of the Biden-Harris administration. This level of aggressiveness from the two biggest adversaries in my part of the world, Alaska, the Arctic, the North Pacific, is unprecedented. They’ve never done these kind of joint patrols. They’re doing it with regard to the Navy too in Alaska waters. We have a lot going on in terms of aggressiveness of our adversaries. The best way to address that is to regrow our military. This administration won’t do that.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairman McCaul Issues Statement in Response to President Biden’s UNGA Speech

    Source: US House Committee on Foreign Affairs

    Media Contact 202-226-8467

    Washington, D.C. — Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting today.

    “With the world on fire, President Biden visited UNGA today to tout his administration’s foreign policy ‘success.’ The truth is that President Biden will leave office with the world far more dangerous than when he entered. Under his watch, Putin launched a war in Ukraine; the CCP has increasingly threatened the Philippines and Taiwan; and Iran and its proxies have dramatically escalated their attacks, including Hamas’ massacre of more than 1,200 innocent people in Israel in the largest mass-killing of Jews since the Holocaust.

    “This global chaos all points back to President Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, which he has the audacity to call ‘the right decision.’ His withdrawal left a thousand Americans stranded under Taliban rule, emboldened America’s adversaries, and led to the deaths of 13 valiant servicemembers. Today, thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, Afghan women and girls live under one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. Let’s be clear: The Biden-Harris administration’s weakness enabled this catastrophe and left us with two hot wars and a hot zone. The United States must return to projecting strength to ensure peace prevails.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Minister Joly to meet with Yulia Navalnaya in Ottawa

    MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –

    Source: Government of Canada – in French

    Press release

    September 16, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

    The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that she will welcome Yulia Navalnaya, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and widow of former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, to Ottawa, Ontario, on September 17, 2024.

    Minister Joly will take part in a high-level meeting with Ms. Navalnaya to discuss human rights in Russia and the challenges and risks facing political dissidents.

    Minister Joly and Ms. Navalnaya will participate in an informal meeting to discuss the role of Canada and the international community in supporting democracy, justice, and the defense of human rights, as well as Ms. Navalnaya’s resilience in the face of immense personal and political adversity, which has made her a powerful voice in the fight for freedom and justice.

    During her visit to Ottawa, Ms. Navalnaya will also meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

    Quotes

    “Yulia Navalnaya is a strong and inspiring voice for the Russian people and those fighting for their right to live in a free and democratic society without fear of reprisal and oppression. I look forward to welcoming Ms. Navalnaya to Ottawa and hearing in person about her experience of continuing her late husband’s legacy in the fight for justice.”

    – Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs

    Quick Facts

    On February 16, 2024, after numerous failed assassination attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s henchmen and years of brutal imprisonment, Alexei Navalny died after months of deteriorating health due to poor prison conditions. A symbol of hope in the fight against abuse and tyranny, the news of his death devastated millions around the world.

    On March 21, 2021, in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Mr. Navalny, Canada sanctioned several individuals involved in gross and systematic human rights violations in Russia. In November 2022, August 2023, and June 2024, Canada announced sanctions against members of the Russian justice and security sectors, including police officers and investigators, prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials, as well as senior Russian government officials. These individuals have been implicated in gross and systematic human rights violations in Russia against opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and other Russian citizens.

    Ms. Navalnaya has traveled around the world to meet with world leaders and deliver speeches from major platforms denouncing President Putin’s cruel regime and human rights abuses.

    Related links

    Contact persons

    Media Relations OfficeGlobal Affairs Canadamedia@international.gc.caFollow us on X (Twitter): @CanadaPELike us on Facebook: Canada’s foreign policy – Global Affairs Canada

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Britain’s return to responsible global leadership will help drive growth at home, Prime Minister to tell United Nations

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Britain will return to responsible global leadership under my watch, the Prime Minister will tell the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

    • Prime Minister will travel to New York today to participate in United General Assembly meetings with important international partners. 

    • He will contribute to sessions on major global challenges such as the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East and climate change. 

    • PM will pledge to return the UK to responsible global leadership to tackle the issues that rebound on British people at home.

    Britain will return to responsible global leadership under my watch, the Prime Minister will tell the UN General Assembly in New York this week.  

    He will use several interventions across his two-day visit to argue that our participation and reputation abroad is directly linked to our security, stability and prosperity at home. 

    In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, he will say that it is only by being a reliable and trusted international partner, working together to solve global problems such as war, poverty and climate change – that we can build a safer and more prosperous UK. 

    The Prime Minister will say: 

    We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership. This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law. 

    Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.  

    The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects. So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.

    He will use his speech to set out how the UK will step up to play its part, guided by the rule of law, in tackling these challenges in a world that is increasingly dominated by conflicts – including those in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan.

    It follows a major drive by the Prime Minister in his first few months in office to reset the UK’s relationship with its key allies and prove that Britain is back as a major player on the world stage – a key part of his ambition to drive growth and improve the lives of hardworking British people.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Norfolk Drug Dealer Sentenced for His Role in Tidewater Drug Trafficking Organization

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Norfolk man was sentenced today to two years and nine months in prison for distribution of cocaine.

    According to court documents, Deton Dodson, 46, was a street level drug dealer in a larger drug trafficking organization centered in the Tidewater area of Virginia. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Virginia Beach Police Department, and Norfolk Police Department initiated an investigation of the organization in 2020. Multiple sources, including some in California, were supplying the organization with kilogram-level quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin.

    On Nov. 5, 2021, Dodson met co-defendant Edward Fonville for a hand-to-hand drug transaction. Afterward, law enforcement approached Dodson, who was in possession of a handgun. Dodson admitted that he traded cocaine to Fonville for the firearm. After his arrest, Dodson informed Fonville that law enforcement was investigating him. Fonville remains a fugitive.

    Thirteen other defendants have been convicted and sentenced in this case.

    Milton Artis, 41, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Jan. 23, 2023, Artis was sentenced to one year in prison.

    Levell Batts Sr., 60, pleaded guilty on Sept. 12, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Jan. 12, 2023, Batts was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.

    Emerson Brodie, 32, pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2023, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On May 30, 2023, Brodie was sentenced to six years and three months in prison.

    Charlie Chapman, 46, pleaded guilty on June 29, 2023, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Oct. 30, 2023, Chapman was sentenced to seven years in prison.

    James Ford, 40, pleaded guilty on April 12, 2023, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Aug. 15, 2023, Ford was sentenced to three years and one month in prison.

    Donald Gray, 48, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2023, to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. On Oct. 4, 2023, Gray was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

    James Hill, 41, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Feb. 13, 2023, Hill was sentenced to five years in prison.

    Michael Robinson, 41, pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Feb. 7, 2023, Robinson was sentenced to seven years and 11 months in prison.

    Michael Seay, 40, pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Jan. 23, 2023, Seay was sentenced to seven years in prison.

    Rondell Spain, 33, pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, 2023, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On May 30, 2023, Spain was sentenced to five years in prison.

    Mervin Walton, 39, pleaded guilty on Sept. 22, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Jan. 30, 2023, Walton was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.

    Lavon Williams, 33, pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2022, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On Feb. 8, 2023, Williams was sentenced to seven years in prison.

    Terrell Williams, 37, pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2023, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. On June 27, 2023, Williams was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

    Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge for the DEA’s Washington Division; Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Washington, D.C.; Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police; and Mark Talbot, Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Hurt prosecuted the case.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:22-cr-18.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Historic Vote, Arctic Caucus Co-Chair Senator King Welcomes First Ambassador to the Arctic

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), co-chair of the Senate Arctic Caucus, today cast his vote for Michael Sfraga — currently serving as U.S. Arctic Research Commission Chair — to become the country’s first Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs, in a Senate vote of 55-36. Until Sfraga’s confirmation, the U.S. has been the only Arctic Nation that did not have a high-level official to represent the county in Arctic negotiations. With America now having formal diplomatic representation, it sends a clear signal to Arctic partners and foes that the country is fully invested in the High North as a strategic hotspot. The region is especially critical with regard to national security and deterrence efforts against known adversaries like China and Russia.

    “The Arctic is emerging as a region of enormous potential, and for far too long America has been on the sidelines — not demonstrating the level of commitment and attention shown by the other Arctic nations. That ends today,” said Senator King. “Not only is the High North drawing additional attention and investment by nations like Norway, Canada, and Russia, but China and India are also making moves in the region — investing millions in icebreakers and critical mineral research, laughably passing themselves off as ‘near Arctic nations.’ While the Arctic has long been considered a ‘zone of peace,’ America has not been represented by a Senate confirmed official bearing the title of ‘Ambassador.’ From now on, when there are conversations had about Arctic affairs, America finally will participate among equals. I thank my Arctic Caucus Co-Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for her tireless work on this nomination, and now it’s time to truly get to work to advance and defend our Arctic interests.”

    Sfraga brings over 30 years of experience in Arctic issues, and was the founding director of the Polar Institute and served as the Director of the Global Risk and Resilience program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. As an Alaskan and trained geographer, his work has focused the changing geography of Arctic and Antarctic landscapes, as well as the rapidly changing economic, social, environmental and security implications of the region.

    As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and as Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus, Senator King is an advocate for Maine and America’s interests in the North Atlantic and Arctic region. Along with Caucus co-chair Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), King introduced the Arctic Commitment Act earlier last year to improve America’s posture and opportunities in the Arctic. He’s been calling for the appointment of an Arctic Ambassador since 2015, and has continued to press the Administration on the effort this year. King also recently laid out the challenges and opportunities of a warming arctic in an article in the Wilson Quarterly, and in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, he successfully secured the inclusion of provisions to increase America’s activity and opportunities in the Far North.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murkowski Welcomes Historic Confirmation for United States Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski

    09.24.24

    Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), co-chair of the Senate Arctic Caucus, welcomed the historic confirmation of the United States’ first Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs, Dr. Michael Sfraga. Senator Murkowski was the chief advocate for the creation of the position, which the State Department initiated in 2022. The Senate confirmed Dr. Sfraga’s nomination today.

    “Finally, we have officially joined the rest of the Arctic nations at the table after the Senate confirmed the United States’ first Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs. The need for this leadership in the Arctic has become even more urgent as we saw last night the fifth publicly reported incursion by Russian military aircraft in Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone in the last two weeks,” said Senator Murkowski. “Our new Ambassador will not only help America push back against our adversaries heightened aggression in the Arctic, but will be a critical resource in advocating for economic expansion in this increasingly vital region, committing to do everything in his power to protect American economic and security interests in the Arctic. I congratulate Dr. Michael Sfraga on his confirmation and look forward to the progress he will usher in.”

    Prior to today’s vote, Senator Murkowski spoke on the Senate floor regarding the importance of confirming Dr. Sfraga. A video of her remarks can also be found here.

    Read the full speech below:

    “Mr. President, I have come to the Floor to speak to the nomination of Dr. Mike Sfraga, an Alaskan, to be our nation’s very first Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs. 

    As the person who recommended Dr. Sfraga, I’ve come to the Floor to reiterate my strong support for his nomination, and to urge the Senate to ensure we are no longer the only Arctic nation that does not have an Arctic ambassador. 

    I want to speak to two specific considerations: why we need to focus on the Arctic, and why Dr. Sfraga is the right person for this important role. 

    First, the Arctic.  I won’t detail the entire history; I would just ask you to think about the past couple months alone. 

    On July 24, Russian and Chinese bombers flew a joint patrol for the first time off the coast of Alaska.  While the Russians regularly fly into our Air Defense Identification Zone, our “ADIZ” – I don’t ever recall hearing of the Chinese flying into the area, let alone on a joint mission.

    The day after Russia and China’s joint exercise, I would have told you that this escalation was the most disturbing thing we’d see this year.  But unfortunately, our adversaries quickly found a way to top that – upping the ante even further.

    On September 10, Russia began its massive, weeklong, worldwide Ocean-24 exercise with hundreds of warships, more than a hundred aircraft, and nearly 100,000 troops.  The exercise, the largest since the fall of the Soviet Union, also saw Chinese participation.  Between its start and end, NORAD and the Air Forces stationed in Alaska detected, tracked, and intercepted four different Russian incursions into the Alaska ADIZ. 

    In previous years, we’ve come to expect six or seven incursions a year.  So think about that: in just five days, our air defenses were tested almost as much as they tend to be tested in any given year.  We are now way ahead on publicly-reported intercepts this year—up to 10, with three months left.

    There has also been an unprecedented level of naval activity off the coast of Alaska.  During that same Russian exercise, the U.S. Coast Guard detected four Russian naval vessels 50 miles to the northwest of Point Hope in Alaska.  The vessels moved to avoid sea ice in the area during their exercise—which is accepted under international law–but that brought them 50 miles into the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

    Hearing that, I can’t help but think back to when Russian warships chased Alaska fishermen out of an area within our EEZ back in August 2020.  And these are hardly isolated incidents.  Last August, the Coast Guard detected and shadowed a Russian intelligence ship operating off the Aleutians.  This past July, the Coast Guard detected and shadowed a Chinese Surface Action Group within our EEZ in the Bering Sea.

    I could also remind the Senate of the Chinese surveillance balloons that transited above Alaska and the Arctic last year. 

    I could remind the Senate of a lot more events and incidents that warrant greater attention, policy, and resources for the Arctic.  

    What I hope we can agree is that this an unprecedented time for the region.  Normally we think of the Arctic as “High North, Low Tension.”  But right now, it’s “High North, Rising Tension.”  And one thing that is absolutely missing is a Senate-confirmed diplomat, who will spend his or her time focused on Arctic issues, working with our allies, and engaging our adversaries. 

    The United States is alone in having inadequate diplomatic representation in the Arctic.  It’s not that no one at State Department is thinking about the region; it’s that no one, at a high level, is specifically tasked with and responsible for and empowered to lead the way. 

    So, we need an Arctic Ambassador.  When we established this position in August 2022, I hoped it would mark a more serious effort to lead and maintain a rules-based order in the region.  But it’s been two years, and only now are we able to confirm a highly capable, well-qualified individual to actually do that work. 

    Which brings me to Dr. Sfraga.  He was nominated in February 2023.  His nomination was favorably reported by the Foreign Relations Committee in March 2024.  And today, we have the chance to confirm him. 

    I would contend that there is no one better suited to be the first person in this role than Dr. Sfraga.  For all of the questions that some have raised about him, I would argue that we know exactly what we are getting. 

    Dr. Sfraga has dedicated himself to a career of service to the Arctic and our nation. 

    He is an accomplished geographer, researcher, and teacher, with a PhD from the University of Alaska.

    He helped establish the University of the Arctic, and co-created and co-led the State Department’s Fulbright Arctic Initiative. 

    He established the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center, which has become the “Arctic Public Square” for high-level conversations about the Far North. 

    And, he Chairs the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, which advises Congress and the President on international Arctic research.

    Dr. Sfraga has decades of experience, deep expertise, and strong relationships with Arctic leaders.  Our allies support him, our Arctic partners support him, Alaskans support him, and I support him.  He is clear-eyed about the strategic realities of the Arctic and the intentions of our adversaries.  He understands how to position the United States to lead in the Arctic and to protect our national security interests.  His vast experience means he knows how to handle Russia and China – across the interagency process and with allies and partners – through a position of strength.

    Some have argued that Dr. Sfraga’s past interactions with regional players disqualify him from serving in this role.  But remember: he’s an Alaskan.  We share a maritime border with Russia.  We used to have regular nonstop air service to Russia.  That’s our part of the world, and when relations were better, it wasn’t uncommon for Alaskans to visit and work with and know people who lived there.

    Dr. Sfraga has been criticized for attending international forums, but remember: he was hardly the only American or U.S. government official in attendance at these events.  He’s just the only one being criticized for it, even though his participation helped give us a voice at those events.

    I also find it fascinating that some have criticized Dr. Sfraga’s past language as advocating for a “competition-free” Arctic.  I can tell you: that is how we spoke about the region for a long time.  We strived to establish a rules-based order that would protect our people and maintain low tensions.  Even former President Trump called for a “competition-free” Arctic.

    The criticisms that Dr. Sfraga has faced are a great way to ensure that the United States never has an Arctic ambassador – or that we ultimately confirm an individual who has never been there, knows little about it, and won’t do anything to protect or advance our strategic interests. 

    To me, that would be a loss.  The Arctic is no longer an isolated, distant region.  It is a place of strategic importance, economic potential, and growing competition.  The United States must be prepared to lead – and that starts with representation.  Personnel is policy, and Dr. Sfraga is ready to take on this important role. 

    I urge the Senate to see through the attacks on Dr. Sfraga.  There is nothing in his past or in his file that is disqualifying.  We know exactly what we are getting; he has been a public figure, sharing his views of the Arctic, for years. 

    I thank those who have already offered their support for Dr. Sfraga, and would encourage the rest of my colleagues to be happy that we aren’t confirming yet another judge—but instead, a qualified Alaskan who can lead on Arctic matters from day one, at a time when that matters more than it has in decades. 

    I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting yes to confirm Dr. Sfraga and yield the Floor.”

    Background: Senator Murkowski is an internationally recognized leader on Arctic issues and is dedicated to strengthening America’s position as an Arctic nation. In October 2021, she and Senator Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Arctic Diplomacy Act to establish an Assistant Secretary of State for Arctic Affairs.

    Following Senator Murkowski’s persistent advocacy, the State Department announced in August 2022 that “the President plans to elevate the Arctic Coordinator position by appointing an Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic Region, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic Region will advance U.S. policy in the Arctic, engage with counterparts in Arctic and non-Arctic nations as well as Indigenous groups, and work closely with domestic stakeholders, including state, local, and Tribal governments, businesses, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, other federal government agencies and Congress.”

    Dr. Mike Sfraga is the first nominee for the new Ambassador-At-Large position. His official biography from the U.S. Arctic Research Commission appears below.

    “Dr. Michael Sfraga was the founding director of the Polar Institute and served as the director of the Global Risk and Resilience Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. He currently serves as chair and distinguished fellow in the Polar Institute, where his scholarship and public speaking focus on Arctic policy.

    “An Alaskan and a geographer by training, his work focuses on the changing geography of the Arctic and Antarctic landscapes, Arctic policy, and the impacts and implications of a changing climate on political, social, economic, environmental, and security regimes in the Arctic.

    “Sfraga served as distinguished co-lead scholar for the U.S. Department of State’s inaugural Fulbright Arctic Initiative from 2015 to 2017, a complementary program to the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council; he held the same position from 2017 to 2019. He served as chair of the 2020 Committee of Visitors Review of the Section for Arctic Science (ARC), Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, and currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute for International Affairs. Sfraga previously served in several academic, administrative, and executive positions at the University of Alaska, including vice chancellor, associate vice president, faculty member, department chair, and associate dean. Sfraga earned the first PhD in geography and northern studies from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: British nationals should leave Lebanon, as UK bolsters contingency teams in region

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    British nationals should leave Lebanon immediately, Ministers have warned, as the Government bolsters its presence in the region.

    • Brits warned to act now, and leave Lebanon as soon as possible .
    • Military teams move to Cyprus as contingency planning is rolled out to support British nationals in Lebanon and the region
    • Ministers continue to call for a ceasefire immediately to end the cycle of violence, as more than 500 people killed in Lebanon in the past 24 hours

    British nationals should leave Lebanon immediately, Ministers have warned, as the Government bolsters its presence in the region.

    Around 700 UK troops will move to Cyprus in the coming hours, as the Government continues to prepare its contingency plans following significant escalation between Israel and Lebanon in recent days.

    The military teams will be supported by Border Force and FCDO officials.

    The Government continues to advise against all travel to Lebanon, as the situation continues to deteriorate rapidly, with devastating consequences.

    Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

    Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now.

    We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life. Our government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British Nationals should the situation deteriorate. I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.

    The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military footprint in the region, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and Royal Navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan, which have remained in the eastern Mediterranean to support British nationals and allies over the summer.

    The Royal Air Force also have aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.

    The call comes after the Defence Secretary held a meeting with Ministers, intelligence chiefs and diplomats on Tuesday afternoon to test government planning.

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press release: Britain’s return to responsible global leadership will help drive growth at home, Prime Minister to tell United Nations

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    Britain will return to responsible global leadership under my watch, the Prime Minister will tell the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

    • Prime Minister will travel to New York today to participate in United General Assembly meetings with important international partners. 

    • He will contribute to sessions on major global challenges such as the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East and climate change. 

    • PM will pledge to return the UK to responsible global leadership to tackle the issues that rebound on British people at home.

    Britain will return to responsible global leadership under my watch, the Prime Minister will tell the UN General Assembly in New York this week.  

    He will use several interventions across his two-day visit to argue that our participation and reputation abroad is directly linked to our security, stability and prosperity at home. 

    In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, he will say that it is only by being a reliable and trusted international partner, working together to solve global problems such as war, poverty and climate change – that we can build a safer and more prosperous UK. 

    The Prime Minister will say: 

    We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership. This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law. 

    Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.  

    The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects. So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.

    He will use his speech to set out how the UK will step up to play its part, guided by the rule of law, in tackling these challenges in a world that is increasingly dominated by conflicts – including those in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan.

    It follows a major drive by the Prime Minister in his first few months in office to reset the UK’s relationship with its key allies and prove that Britain is back as a major player on the world stage – a key part of his ambition to drive growth and improve the lives of hardworking British people.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Global Bodies – IPU Assembly to focus on AI, science and technology

    Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

    Geneva, 24 September 2024 – Hundreds of parliamentarians from around the world will gather in Geneva for the 149th IPU Assembly, taking place from 13-17 October 2024.

    Under the overarching theme: Harnessing science, technology, and innovation for a more peaceful and sustainable future, legislators will consider parliamentary action to maximize the benefits, but also mitigate the risks, of new technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI).  

    Bertrand Picard, Swiss psychiatrist, explorer and technology pioneer, will address the Assembly on the importance of placing humanity back at the centre of science and innovation.

    IPU Charter on the Ethics of Science and Technology

    The Assembly is set to adopt a new Charter on the Ethics of Science and Technology, drafted by the IPU’s Working Group on Science and Technology.

    The Charter aims to create a regulatory framework of principles to guide legislation and decision-making, ensuring that science and technology serve to benefit humanity, society and the environment.

    Addressing the impact of AI on democracy

    Parliamentarians are also expected to adopt an IPU resolution entitled The impact of artificial intelligence on democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    The resolution urges parliaments “to develop strong legal frameworks and policies for the responsible creation, deployment and use of AI technology”.

    It seeks to address the vulnerabilities of democratic institutions to AI and mitigate harmful impacts such as the spread of misinformation, hate speech, or incitement of violence through AI-generated content.

    Marking the 25th anniversary of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention

    The Assembly will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) and its role in reducing the harm caused by anti-personnel mines.

    H.R.H. Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, Special Envoy for the APMBC, will participate, encouraging parliaments that have not yet ratified the Convention to do so.

    2024 Cremer-Passy Prize

    The winner of the 2024 Cremer-Passy Prize will be announced during the Assembly. This prestigious award, now in its third edition, will recognize an outstanding parliamentarian who has made an exceptional contribution to supporting peace efforts.

    A full programme of parliamentary meetings

    Throughout the Assembly, various IPU bodies will convene, including the four thematic Standing Committees, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, and the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.

    Additionally, IPU bodies dedicated to parliamentary diplomacy and maintaining dialogue between countries at war will meet, including the IPU Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine and the IPU Committee on Middle East Questions.

    Practical details

    Date: 13-17 October 2024.

    Venue: The International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG), 7 rue de Varembé, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.

    Media attendance: All UN-accredited media representatives will be able to access the Assembly venue. For international media travelling to Geneva, please register here https://registration.ipu.org/event/149Assembly/regProcessStep1

    The Assembly will be livestreamed at ipu.org/149

    The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 180 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments develop into stronger, younger, greener, more gender-balanced and more innovative institutions. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Cohen Calls for Allowing Ukrainian Use of NATO-Supplied Weapons in Russia

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

    WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the House Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today called for allowing NATO-supplied weapons to be used by Ukraine within Russia during a commission hearing on “Russia’s Shadow War on NATO.”

    In his opening remarks, Congressman Cohen said that, now more than ever, Vladimir Putin “wants to weaken and destabilize the West,” including through the use of disinformation campaigns aimed at interfering in our elections to help Donald Trump.

    Congressman Cohen also noted that Ukraine is asking to use offensive weapons inside Russia, adding: “and I support their request.”

    He continued: “I think they need to go forward with offensive weapons and strike into Russia and bring the war home to the Russian people. This is ludicrous – to allow Russia to attack and kill Ukrainians, destroy cultural objects, destroy cities with reckless disregard for life. Hit schools, hit hospitals and senior facilities – and Ukraine is not supposed to go into Russia? That’s crazy. I mean both your arms are tied behind your back and tied behind it, unfortunately, by my government, our government, which is supporting Ukraine — and we’ve done a lot — but we’ve been slow in doing it…This war would have been much closer to ending – on Ukraine’s terms, but ending – if we’d have given them those weapons earlier.”

    See his entire opening statement here.

    See his questions to the witnesses here.

    Witnesses at today’s hearing were:

    • Mr. Erkki Tori, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Estonia;
    • Dr. Benjamin L. Schmitt, Senior Fellow, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, University of Pennsylvania; and
    • Mr. Michael Weiss, Investigative Journalist and Author

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: UNICEF – Leading global businesses and organisations join UNICEF to demand increased investment and action on child and youth mental health

    Source: UNICEF Aotearoa NZ

    An open letter, signed by more than 40 entities and published at the UN General Assembly, calls for a multi-sectoral approach to tackle the mental health funding gap.
    Today, (overnight NZ time) at an innovative financing for mental health event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health launched an open letter, signed by more than 40 businesses and organisations, calling for greater investment and action on child and youth mental health globally.
    Supported by UNICEF Coalition members, including Jo Malone London, lululemon, Pinterest, Spotify, Zurich Insurance Company Ltd and Z Zurich Foundation, and joined by global businesses and organizations, such as Capgemini, Dove, Kleenex, LEGO Foundation, Les Mills, Movember, Pandora, Tim Bergling Foundation, and United for Global Mental Health, the letter urges a coordinated multi-sectoral response to address the global mental health funding gap of at least US$200 billion.
    Increased funding is critical to supporting child and youth mental health, especially in the face of continued challenges that existed long before the pandemic, including climate change, global humanitarian crises, online risks and historic underinvestment in its promotion, prevention and care.
    One in seven adolescents worldwide are living with a mental health condition – with most cases going undetected and untreated. This is exacerbated by limited resources. On average less than 2 per cent of global government health expenditures is spent on mental health for the general population, while only a very small proportion of these funds goes towards children’s mental health services.
    “The private sector has a unique capacity to foster mental health and wellbeing, through their substantial influence within their workforces, through their services and customers, and globally. By leveraging their resources, expertise and influence, UNICEF and partners can contribute to comprehensive, accessible, and effective solutions that address the diverse needs of children, young people, caregivers and communities at large to promote mental health and wellbeing on a global scale,” said UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships Carla Haddad Mardini.
    UNICEF’s Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health and its members are calling for wider recognition, investment and responsibility from the business community, and private and public sectors to drive forward progress.
    Jo Dancey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Jo Malone London said: “Too many children and young people are living with mental health conditions, but don’t have access to support or treatment. As a global brand and a UNICEF Coalition member, we care deeply about this issue and the need for change. By signing this letter alongside over 40 businesses and organizations, we are highlighting the need for global leaders to act early to support the mental health of children, young people and caregivers globally.”
    Katarina Berg, General Manager Sweden + CHRO, Sustainability, Global Workplace Services at Spotify, said: “We are proud of our ongoing partnership with UNICEF and we remain committed to making a meaningful impact on improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes for our listeners, artists, and creators.”
    Wanji Walcott, Chief Legal and Business Affairs Officer at Pinterest, said “At Pinterest, we’re creating an inspirational and positive online experience for young people everywhere. Supporting youth mental health and wellbeing is foundational to our mission and this work requires everyone coming together. We’re proud to partner with UNICEF and other coalition members to leverage our collective resources and help tackle the mental health funding gap.”
    Gary Shaughnessy, Chair of the Z Zurich Foundation, said: “We are dedicated to relentlessly contributing to mental wellbeing programmes which can best support youth to thrive in all aspects of their life. It’s encouraging to witness the positive response from various sectors to our call for increased investment in mental health globally. Although there is still much work to be done, these efforts will significantly help to address the mental health needs of all young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable.”
    Other supporting signatories of the letter include Orange and the Solterre Foundation, as well as key global mental health actors, such as the MHPSS Collaborative, the Healthy Brains Global Initiative, Prospira Global and Vertentes, among others.
    This is a critical year for addressing child and youth mental health as a global issue, with actions taken now paving the way to the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health in September 2025, which will culminate in the publication of an outcome document with commitments across member states.
    The Open Letter to global leaders gathering for UNGA 79 and the Summit for the Future says:
    ‘As you gather for the United Nations General Assembly High Level Week and the Summit of the Future, we, over 40 businesses, organizations and supporters from over 20 countries, together with the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health led by UNICEF – are calling for increased investment in and action on child and youth mental health globally. Historic underinvestment in mental health promotion, prevention and care and ongoing stigma and discrimination, accompanied by the impact of COVID-19 and persisting global challenges, are affecting child and youth mental health in every country. While demand for support is increasing, global investment is not even meeting the current levels of need.
    Mental health determines emotional, intellectual, physical and social well-being. It shapes how we think, feel and act and confers our ability to handle stress, build and manage relationships, and make choices that affect not only our own lives, but also those of the
    people around us. Mental health is important at every stage of life, especially for children and young people. When child and youth mental health is prioritized the impact on young lives both now and for the future is significant, including improved quality of life, increased likelihood of completing education, long-term economic returns, and lower rates of premature mortality [1]. However, the consequences of failing to address child and youth mental health conditions extend into adulthood. Fifty per cent of mental health conditions develop before the age of 14 and have the potential of impairing both physical and mental health and limiting children’s opportunities to lead fulfilling lives.[2] Additionally, suicide is the 4th leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds globally.[3]
    The global annual mental health finance gap is estimated to be at least $200 billion.[4] Most countries around the world allocate relatively small budgets to support health systems, and within those budgets an even smaller proportion, just 2 per cent on average [5], is directed towards mental health support – including much-needed child and youth mental health services. This critical funding gap must be addressed so we can collectively meet the urgent mental health needs of future generations.
    It is estimated that, due to mental health conditions, we lose nearly US$390 billion worth of human capital that could go towards national economies each year.[6] We must promote a multi-sectoral response to achieve change. Both the private and the public sectors have a key role to play through investment and influence, to break this cycle and shape our collective future.
    The Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health calls for increased investment in mental health across all countries and in all sectors and settings, including in humanitarian crises, that meets the mental health needs of all young people, especially those most in need. We urge governments to increase their domestic spending on mental health within relevant budgets including health, education and social services, as well as scale funding for mental health and psychosocial support within international development assistance. This should include targeted financing for children and youth.
    Acting early to support children, youth and caregivers is the best investment we can make to promote good mental health, prevent poor mental health, and respond to the complex mental health issues children face today. We urge you to prioritize child and youth mental health now.
    We are calling for global leaders across the public and private sectors to invest in:
    – Ensuring every child, youth and caregiver globally can access support for their mental health: This means increasing access to quality and holistic mental health support provided across sectors, by investing in promotion, prevention and care for children, youth and caregivers, with a focus on community-based care that is effective, sustainable, age sensitive and culturally appropriate.
    – Filling the evidence gaps on child and youth mental health: This means improving data and increasing research to better understand who is affected in each context and what works for specific at-risk groups, and to further expand our ability to respond across age groups, with a focus on promotion and prevention. This investment should aim to future-proof our response, ensuring resilience during pressing global challenges such as in humanitarian emergencies and climate and ecological crises.
    – Developing internal strategies and practices: This includes fostering employees’ mental health and well-being by encompassing mental health support within the workplace and developing and adapting products or services offered by the company and in the wider community. This includes initiatives tailored for youth and caregivers employed in the organizations.
    Though our inner worlds are often unseen, our actions should not be. Child and youth mental health is ‘On Our Minds’.’
    Full list of signatories:
    UNICEF Coalition Member signatories:
    Jo Malone London, lululemon, Pinterest, Spotify, Z Zurich Foundation, Zurich Insurance Company Ltd
    Supported by:
    Cape Mental Health, Capgemini, ChildFund International, Darbar Sahitya Sansada, Dove, Family first nurseries, Global Mental Health Lab, Columbia University, Health Brains Global Initiative, Health Poverty Action, Instituto Vita Alere de Prevencao e Posvencao do Suicidio, Kleenex, League for Mental Health in Slovakia, LEGO Foundation, Les Mills International Ltd, Little Lions Child Coaching NPC, Mental Wealth Initiative, The University of Sydney, MLAC institute for Psychosocial Services, Movember, Northern Cape Mental Health Society, Orange, Pandora, Partnership for Children, Professionals for Humanity (PROFOH), Prospira Global, Sehat Jiwa Bahagia, Soleterre Foundation, SoulBeeGood, Tanzania Community Health Information and Support (TaCHIS), The MHPSS Collaborative, Tim Bergling Foundation, Trusts Motion, United for Global Mental Health, Vertentes, War Child Alliance, Youth Association for Development Pakistan, YouthConnektAfrica.
    About the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health
    The Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health was established by UNICEF, with the support of the Z Zurich Foundation, to address the increasing global burden of mental health in young people by calling for investment and action on mental health. Current Coalition members include Jo Malone London, Pinterest, Sony, Spotify, Zurich Insurance Group and Z Zurich Foundation.
    Since its launch, the Coalition members have collectively invested over US$30 million in child and youth mental health, catalyzing significant impact in numerous countries. Its direct investment has globally empowered children and young people with tools, training, and awareness initiatives. This means that young people worldwide are equipped with the necessary resources to navigate their mental health and wellbeing, enabling them to face life’s challenges with resilience and confidence.
    About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
    UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Parliament Hansard Report – Education and Training Amendment Bill — Third Reading – 001411

    Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard

    TUESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2024

    (continued on Wednesday, 25 September 2024)

    EDUCATION AND TRAINING AMENDMENT BILL

    Third Reading

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: The House is resumed. Good morning, members. Yesterday when we finished, the Education and Training Amendment Bill had been set down for third reading. I call the Hon David Seymour.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR (Associate Minister of Education): I present a legislative statement on the Education and Training Amendment Bill.

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliamentary website.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: I move, That the Education and Training Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

    I want to thank all of the people who have contributed to this legislation. I want to thank my colleague, the Hon Erica Stanford, Minister of Education—and I see Katie Nimon, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, along with other members of that committee, who shepherded the bill through the committee stage faster than usual but with no less care and attention, and made valuable improvements to this legislation. It has been a very good example of what Parliament can do when people are committed to a cause.

    I don’t believe that there’s any greater cause for this country’s long-term future than the simple equation of how much knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next. Because a knowledgeable and educated population can overcome whatever challenges we may face with the economy or foreign affairs or climate change or public health. An educated population will be able to solve those problems, but an uneducated population that hasn’t learnt the best knowledge from generations before them will be able to squander even great prosperity that this country currently has. That’s why it matters so much and that’s why I think we saw so much commitment from those people involved in this legislation, and perhaps more than any for the enormous detail that has been meticulously put together. I thank the employees at the Ministry of Education, the policy team, particularly Andy and Jen and all those who support them; they have done an absolutely outstanding job.

    What is the cause in this bill? Well, this bill has three parts; two of them, relatively simple, and one of them, more complex and, I would argue, ultimately more important. The first is that we are removing the network management requirement for early childhood education centres. This comes from many complaints from early childhood educators that it is absolutely insane that in order to open up a business that people in your community want, you have to go and ask the Government if the people in your community want it as much as you know they want it because you’re risking your money to do it. And yet somehow the people at the Government are supposed to have a better idea than you do.

    Members on the other side, we’re going to have a bit of a history lesson later in this speech, so don’t worry, that’s coming. But actually there’s a country called Russia where they tried this approach to economic management for about 70 years; it didn’t work. Even they’ve abandoned it. It’s only the Labour Party and the Greens that persist with trying to centrally plan economies with these kinds of decisions.

    So now you don’t have to do network management. If you want to expand or open a new early childhood education (ECE) centre, then you can just do it. But the real judge is the parents. And do you know what the parents say to me? When I go and visit ECE centres and I ask the parents, they say I want my child to be happy, I want them to be safe—

    Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan: Will they be?

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: I want them to be growing. I think parents of New Zealand are better—the Opposition is asking: is that what the parents say? Yes. And if the member would like to visit some of these centres or, you know, venture out of academia or out of this House, he might find that is what the parents say. And actually, I think the parents are better to judge it than the Government.

    The second thing we’re doing is we’re updating the attendance records. It’s interesting, Madam Speaker. The attendance records actually are set under 1951 regulation, which was made under 1914 legislation. So you could almost argue—not quite, but almost—that our attendance regulations predate World War I, and this is a Government of the future. So we are going to update the way that attendance regulations are made. Every day from next year, every school student management system will be pushing rich data about student attendance into the Ministry of Education’s data warehouse so we can understand who’s not attending and we can start to dig into why, and we can start to work out if the things the Government and schools are doing to improve attendance—and parents, for that matter—are working so that we can do more of the things that work and less of the things that don’t. It sounds simple. To most New Zealanders, to most people in business or running a farm or their household, it is simple; it’s how you do business every day. And it’s actually how this Government is going to start getting stuck into the business of getting children back to school.

    But coming to charter schools, we’re introducing the simple idea that not every insight into how to engage children in learning and pass that knowledge from one generation to the next can be found in the Ministry of Education or Wellington, or even amongst the wise members of Parliament in this House. Sometimes the best knowledge exists out in the community.

    Mariameno Kapa-Kingi: Most times.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: Sometimes those—”most times”, the Māori party say, and I actually for once think Te Pāti Māori are right. You’ll notice when I talked about communist adherence, I talked about Labour and the Greens, not the free-market Te Pāti Māori for whom I have great hope. If they could just get over themselves, I think they could contribute a lot to this House and life in New Zealand.

    It’s not surprising, because the iwi leaders forum have written to me in strong support of charter schools, because they know that communities know more about how to engage their children than the people in Wellington most of the time. So we’re going to invite people in communities to start up schools and they’re going to get the money the State would have spent on the same child at a State school. It’s going to go to the school they choose to go to if—and this is important—high standards are met. If high standards of attendance are contracted in, if high standards of achievement are contracted in, if they show that they’re using their money wisely with financial probity, then they will continue to get their money and they will be able to use that money for the best effect, to get those children at school engaged, achieving, and learning, so that they can actually learn skills that turn into qualifications, that turn into jobs, that turn into careers, that turn into a sense of achievement and feeling good about yourself. That’s why we’re doing it.

    I heard last night from the Labour Party that they would like to shut these schools down. Now, their bark’s worse than their bite. They didn’t do it last time. All the schools carried on, but with one change; that they don’t want them to operate without union contracts. You see, that’s the thing about these charter schools; teachers get paid, like most New Zealanders, on individual employment agreements, and if they’re good they can get paid more, and if they’re not good they can get fired.

    Here’s why that matters. We run education for the children. You see, the thing is—I was looking at some statistics the other day—we spent $20 billion a year on education; 60,000 kids are born in this country every year. If you do the maths—it can be challenging on the other side, but that is $330,000 per citizen, lifetime education spending. And yet what do we get for that? I look at the UE, the university entrance achievement, and for the most prosperous, wealthy and advantaged students, 82 percent get UE, but for the most disadvantaged students 30 percent get UE.

    Now, I said there was a lecture coming. There’s an old book called The God That Failed, and the God that fails is the stories of former adherents of the Communist Party who realised it didn’t work and left. They wrote this book and it’s a wonderful set of essays. Now, I would put it to the Labour Party that when you spend $330,000 per citizen and the most disadvantaged students are nearly three times less likely to get university entrance than the most advantaged students, your God has failed. Sorry Labour, your God has failed, because you spent all the money but the wealthy kids from the good backgrounds are still doing pretty good and the poor kids you were supposed to help are still failing.

    That’s why I’m proud to be here in this Government, standing as an ACT MP, setting up schools that allow people to choose their own destiny. Tino rangatiratanga, we might call it—the ability of people to use the knowledge in their society, in their community, to take the funding that the Government would have funded and use it—you’d have provided for those children—for better effect: to make sure that children have that opportunity to feel good about themselves, to learn, to engage, to have it done their way, not to feel unsafe or bullied, but to actually go along and build their own future, not only for themselves, each in their own way, but for the future of this great country of ours. That is what this policy of charter schools really means for the future of our country.

    I challenge the Opposition. Where are your ideas other than more money for our union mates? Not for teachers but for the unions, because that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. Charter schools don’t have to use the unions’ contracts. That is what we are here to end, to give freedom and choice to New Zealanders to make their own future. I’m sorry, Labour, your God’s failed.

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Parliament Hansard Report – Tuesday, 24 September 2024 (continued on Wednesday, 25 September 2024) – Volume 778 – 001412

    Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard

    TUESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2024

    (continued on Wednesday, 25 September 2024)

    EDUCATION AND TRAINING AMENDMENT BILL

    Third Reading

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: The House is resumed. Good morning, members. Yesterday when we finished, the Education and Training Amendment Bill had been set down for third reading. I call the Hon David Seymour.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR (Associate Minister of Education): I present a legislative statement on the Education and Training Amendment Bill.

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliamentary website.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: I move, That the Education and Training Amendment Bill be now read a third time.

    I want to thank all of the people who have contributed to this legislation. I want to thank my colleague, the Hon Erica Stanford, Minister of Education—and I see Katie Nimon, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, along with other members of that committee, who shepherded the bill through the committee stage faster than usual but with no less care and attention, and made valuable improvements to this legislation. It has been a very good example of what Parliament can do when people are committed to a cause.

    I don’t believe that there’s any greater cause for this country’s long-term future than the simple equation of how much knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next. Because a knowledgeable and educated population can overcome whatever challenges we may face with the economy or foreign affairs or climate change or public health. An educated population will be able to solve those problems, but an uneducated population that hasn’t learnt the best knowledge from generations before them will be able to squander even great prosperity that this country currently has. That’s why it matters so much and that’s why I think we saw so much commitment from those people involved in this legislation, and perhaps more than any for the enormous detail that has been meticulously put together. I thank the employees at the Ministry of Education, the policy team, particularly Andy and Jen and all those who support them; they have done an absolutely outstanding job.

    What is the cause in this bill? Well, this bill has three parts; two of them, relatively simple, and one of them, more complex and, I would argue, ultimately more important. The first is that we are removing the network management requirement for early childhood education centres. This comes from many complaints from early childhood educators that it is absolutely insane that in order to open up a business that people in your community want, you have to go and ask the Government if the people in your community want it as much as you know they want it because you’re risking your money to do it. And yet somehow the people at the Government are supposed to have a better idea than you do.

    Members on the other side, we’re going to have a bit of a history lesson later in this speech, so don’t worry, that’s coming. But actually there’s a country called Russia where they tried this approach to economic management for about 70 years; it didn’t work. Even they’ve abandoned it. It’s only the Labour Party and the Greens that persist with trying to centrally plan economies with these kinds of decisions.

    So now you don’t have to do network management. If you want to expand or open a new early childhood education (ECE) centre, then you can just do it. But the real judge is the parents. And do you know what the parents say to me? When I go and visit ECE centres and I ask the parents, they say I want my child to be happy, I want them to be safe—

    Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan: Will they be?

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: I want them to be growing. I think parents of New Zealand are better—the Opposition is asking: is that what the parents say? Yes. And if the member would like to visit some of these centres or, you know, venture out of academia or out of this House, he might find that is what the parents say. And actually, I think the parents are better to judge it than the Government.

    The second thing we’re doing is we’re updating the attendance records. It’s interesting, Madam Speaker. The attendance records actually are set under 1951 regulation, which was made under 1914 legislation. So you could almost argue—not quite, but almost—that our attendance regulations predate World War I, and this is a Government of the future. So we are going to update the way that attendance regulations are made. Every day from next year, every school student management system will be pushing rich data about student attendance into the Ministry of Education’s data warehouse so we can understand who’s not attending and we can start to dig into why, and we can start to work out if the things the Government and schools are doing to improve attendance—and parents, for that matter—are working so that we can do more of the things that work and less of the things that don’t. It sounds simple. To most New Zealanders, to most people in business or running a farm or their household, it is simple; it’s how you do business every day. And it’s actually how this Government is going to start getting stuck into the business of getting children back to school.

    But coming to charter schools, we’re introducing the simple idea that not every insight into how to engage children in learning and pass that knowledge from one generation to the next can be found in the Ministry of Education or Wellington, or even amongst the wise members of Parliament in this House. Sometimes the best knowledge exists out in the community.

    Mariameno Kapa-Kingi: Most times.

    Hon DAVID SEYMOUR: Sometimes those—”most times”, the Māori party say, and I actually for once think Te Pāti Māori are right. You’ll notice when I talked about communist adherence, I talked about Labour and the Greens, not the free-market Te Pāti Māori for whom I have great hope. If they could just get over themselves, I think they could contribute a lot to this House and life in New Zealand.

    It’s not surprising, because the iwi leaders forum have written to me in strong support of charter schools, because they know that communities know more about how to engage their children than the people in Wellington most of the time. So we’re going to invite people in communities to start up schools and they’re going to get the money the State would have spent on the same child at a State school. It’s going to go to the school they choose to go to if—and this is important—high standards are met. If high standards of attendance are contracted in, if high standards of achievement are contracted in, if they show that they’re using their money wisely with financial probity, then they will continue to get their money and they will be able to use that money for the best effect, to get those children at school engaged, achieving, and learning, so that they can actually learn skills that turn into qualifications, that turn into jobs, that turn into careers, that turn into a sense of achievement and feeling good about yourself. That’s why we’re doing it.

    I heard last night from the Labour Party that they would like to shut these schools down. Now, their bark’s worse than their bite. They didn’t do it last time. All the schools carried on, but with one change; that they don’t want them to operate without union contracts. You see, that’s the thing about these charter schools; teachers get paid, like most New Zealanders, on individual employment agreements, and if they’re good they can get paid more, and if they’re not good they can get fired.

    Here’s why that matters. We run education for the children. You see, the thing is—I was looking at some statistics the other day—we spent $20 billion a year on education; 60,000 kids are born in this country every year. If you do the maths—it can be challenging on the other side, but that is $330,000 per citizen, lifetime education spending. And yet what do we get for that? I look at the UE, the university entrance achievement, and for the most prosperous, wealthy and advantaged students, 82 percent get UE, but for the most disadvantaged students 30 percent get UE.

    Now, I said there was a lecture coming. There’s an old book called The God That Failed, and the God that fails is the stories of former adherents of the Communist Party who realised it didn’t work and left. They wrote this book and it’s a wonderful set of essays. Now, I would put it to the Labour Party that when you spend $330,000 per citizen and the most disadvantaged students are nearly three times less likely to get university entrance than the most advantaged students, your God has failed. Sorry Labour, your God has failed, because you spent all the money but the wealthy kids from the good backgrounds are still doing pretty good and the poor kids you were supposed to help are still failing.

    That’s why I’m proud to be here in this Government, standing as an ACT MP, setting up schools that allow people to choose their own destiny. Tino rangatiratanga, we might call it—the ability of people to use the knowledge in their society, in their community, to take the funding that the Government would have funded and use it—you’d have provided for those children—for better effect: to make sure that children have that opportunity to feel good about themselves, to learn, to engage, to have it done their way, not to feel unsafe or bullied, but to actually go along and build their own future, not only for themselves, each in their own way, but for the future of this great country of ours. That is what this policy of charter schools really means for the future of our country.

    I challenge the Opposition. Where are your ideas other than more money for our union mates? Not for teachers but for the unions, because that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. Charter schools don’t have to use the unions’ contracts. That is what we are here to end, to give freedom and choice to New Zealanders to make their own future. I’m sorry, Labour, your God’s failed.

    DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: At Historic Hearing on Project 2025, Pressley Spotlights Deadly Impact of Abortion Bans

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Hearing Underscored Devastating Harm of Project 2025 on Democracy, Reproductive Freedom, Workers, Seniors, and More

    “Every single woman who has died because of Trump abortion bans should be alive today. But what do we have instead? No compassion. No care. No justice. That’s not the America we should be.”

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), co-founder of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force and Region 12 Representative for the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, joined House Democratic Leadership and her colleagues on the Steering and Policy Committee to hold a historic hearing on Trump’s Project 2025 and its devastating impact on families across America.

    Congresswoman Pressley, who also chairs the Pro-Choice Caucus’ Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, highlighted the harmful and deadly impact of abortion bans in America to date, and discussed the national abortion ban proposed by Trump’s Project 2025. Rep. Pressley also outlined in detail the shameful circumstances under which Amber Nicole Thurman died after being denied necessary abortion care in Georgia.

    Featuring testimony from everyday people who know firsthand how the policies of Trump’s Project 2025 have or will hurt them and their families, the hearing explored the impact of proposals to criminalize abortion nationwide, hurt the middle class with higher costs and tax reform that advantages the wealthiest, and end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.

    A full transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s testimony is available below and full video is available here.

    Transcript: At Historic Hearing on Project 2025, Pressley Spotlights Deadly Impact of Abortion Bans
    September 24, 2024
    U.S. Capitol

    PART ONE

    REP. PRESSLEY: For half a century, Roe v. Wade was the law of the land. Roe protected the right of people in this country to make their own reproductive health care decisions, including the right to get an abortion.

    Abortion care is routine medical care, but then Donald J. Trump became president. He campaigned on banning abortion care and even called to punish women for having abortions.

    When Donald J. Trump took office, he appointed three extreme right-wing justices to the Supreme Court, and in June of 2022, just as Donald J. Trump promised they would, those three justices banded together with other Republican-appointed justices and overturned Roe.

    They gave a green light for Republicans to criminalize abortion, to criminalize doctors and nurses in states across the country.

    Today, one in three women in America lives under a Trump abortion ban. The consequences are being felt by people across this country who are denied the care they need and by providers who can no longer care for their patients, and we will hear from some of them today.

    Donald J. Trump’s campaign to end Roe was a devastating, decisive step in a decades long Republican effort to make it impossible for women to get reproductive health care.

    And while Republicans are now trying to run away from the consequences of their extreme agenda, they were jubilant the day that Roe was overturned and even promised to take it much further.

    [VIDEO BEGINS]

    SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: There’s no right to abortion in the Constitution, and thankfully, the Supreme Court finally said that decisively, thanks be to God.

    REP. JIM JORDAN: Mr. Speaker, let me first, first say God bless the United States Supreme

    Court, and God bless President Trump for the people he selected for our highest court.

    REP. ANDREW CLYDE: Thank you to the Supreme Court for removing the curse of abortion.

    REP. ANN WAGNER: I am so incredibly grateful and gratified that the Supreme Court has finally overturned Roe versus Wade.

    REP. ELISE STEFANIK: Today’s historic Supreme Court decision is a victory for the sanctity of life.

    REP. STEVE SCALISE: But the work just begins now to go and protect life even more because the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade, correcting that flawed decision, finally allows states and Congress to protect life in ways that we never were able to for the last 50 years.

    [VIDEO ENDS]

    REP. PRESSLEY: Republicans will not stop until abortion is criminalized nationwide. After all, just six pages into the more than 900 pages of Trump’s Project 2025 it says, “The Dobbs decision is just the beginning,” and we just saw how they celebrated the Dobbs decision.

    PART TWO

    [Gracie Ladd of Pennsylvania shares her story]

    REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you for your courage, for sharing your story, for sharing Connor’s story.

    I look forward to the day when people do not have to publicly uplift their trauma in order to compel action. And I’m deeply sorry for your loss. I’m devastated that your family and families across this nation have borne the burden of Trump’s abortion bans.

    No one, no one in America should go through what you went through. You should be able to get the safe and necessary medical care you need in your own community.

    We must restore reproductive freedom so what happened to you never, ever happens again. Women have already lost their lives. It is heartbreaking.

    The last few days, I’ve been thinking of one woman: Amber Nicole Thurman.

    A 28-year-old mom from Georgia, Amber was a dedicated mom to her six-year-old son. Every chance she got, she took her son to petting zoos, to pop up museums and on planned trips like one to a Florida beach.

    ‘The talks I have with my son are everything,’ she posted on social media. She loved her family deeply.

    Trump-appointed justices overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. Georgia began enforcing its abortion ban that very same day.

    In August, Amber had a medication abortion in another state. She then went back home to Georgia.

    Abortion pills are very safe. On rare occasions they require a follow up, surgical abortion if the body has not expelled the tissue fully. That is what happened in Amber’s case. She developed an infection, one that could have easily been treated with a routine procedure called a D and C.

    But under George’s abortion ban, a doctor performing that procedure could go to prison for 10 years.

    So when Amber shows up at the hospital, the question on doctors minds isn’t just how they can best care for Amber. It’s also what they have to do to comply with Georgia’s draconian law and to stay out of jail.

    That’s never a choice that doctors should be faced with, but that’s exactly what happened in the case of Amber Thurman.

    On August 18, Amber’s infection reaches a boiling point. She’s vomiting blood. Amber arrives at Piedmont Henry hospital in the city of Stockbridge at 6:51pm.

    She suffers all night. She suffers all night.

    By 5:14am, her vitals are dire, and Amber runs the risk of bleeding out.

    At 6:45am – 12 hours from when she first arrived at the hospital – Amber is moved to the ICU. Her doctors look on as her condition worsens. They’ve now given her five liters of IV fluid to no avail.

    7:14am. Amber’s doctors discuss initiating a D and C, the routine procedure to treat infections like hers. Nothing happens.

    At noon, now five hours after Amber was moved to the ICU, a specialist reports that her condition is deteriorating. We are now 17 hours from when she was first admitted.

    2pm. Amber is wheeled into the operating room as her vitals crash and blood pressure bottoms out.

    Her mother is right there with her. As she heads into surgery, Amber turns to her and says, ‘Promise me you’ll take care of my son.’ That afternoon, Amber dies on the operating table.

    Amber should be alive today. Every single woman who has died because of Trump abortion bans should be alive today.

    But what do we have instead? No compassion, no care, and no justice. That’s not the America we should be.

    —

    In March 2024, Rep. Pressley was elected by acclamation to represent members of the New England Congressional delegation on the powerful House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which is responsible for appointing members of the House Democratic Caucus to committee seats and shaping caucus priorities.

    Rep. Pressley is a founding member of a Congressional Task Force designed to stop Project 2025, a thousand-page blueprint for Donald Trump to seize “supreme” powers and radically undermine reproductive rights, LGBTQIA+ equality, racial justice, free speech, and other democratic institutions and freedoms. The Task Force was announced by Rep. Huffman in June and its members are leaders on many of the issues currently under attack by Project 2025.

    As a member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Pressley has repeatedly sounded the alarm on Project 2025, a bucket list extremist policies that would uproot every government agency and disrupt the lives of every person who calls America home.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Secretary Blinken participates in a UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Ukraine

    Source: United States of America – Department of State (video statements)

    Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken participates in a UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Ukraine in New York City, New York, on September 24, 2024.

    Transcript: https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-un-security-council-ministerial-meeting-on-ukraine/
    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

    The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department, which includes the Foreign Service, Civil Service and U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at www.state.gov and on social media!
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statedept
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    Subscribe to the State Department Blog: https://www.state.gov/blogs
    Watch on-demand State Department videos: https://video.state.gov/
    Subscribe to The Week at State e-newsletter: http://ow.ly/diiN30ro7Cw

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    Terms of Use: https://state.gov/tou

    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkG8Y6FlYSM

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Prime Minister advances progress and prosperity at the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    Progressive leadership is driven by a shared belief that we cannot falter – on rights, on equality, and on an economy that works for everyone. We must keep moving forward.

    That’s the message the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, delivered as he concluded his participation in the 79th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA) and the Summit of the Future, in New York City, United States of America. During UNGA, the Prime Minister reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to advancing progress, prosperity, and fairness for every generation.

    Prime Minister Trudeau joined global leaders at the Summit of the Future, which concluded with the adoption of the Pact for the Future – an ambitious pact that will see countries work together to tackle shared challenges. At the Summit, the Prime Minister delivered a statement affirming Canada’s support for the Summit of the Future, its call for nations to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and its commitment to investing in our workers, our communities, and our future.

    Building on the progress made at the Summit of the Future, Prime Minister Trudeau joined world leaders and prominent advocates at UNGA to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He emphasized Canada’s commitment to unlocking increased financing to achieve the SDGs globally, particularly through his role as Co-Chair of the SDG Stimulus Leaders group. He also underscored the central role of gender equality as a pathway to achieving sustainable development, and made clear that women and girls must be able to make choices about their bodies, their lives, and their own futures. Canada announced over $112 million to help protect the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls worldwide. We will also invest $58 million in projects that empower women and promote gender equality, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. With this funding, Canada will fulfill its $100 million commitment to address issues in unpaid and paid care work in low- and middle-income countries.

    For tens of millions of people across the globe, including in Canada, climate change is not an abstraction. It is real, it is costly, and it does not stop at our borders. To successfully tackle climate change, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of global, collective climate action. He highlighted industrial decarbonization as one such approach to fight climate change, including through innovative tools such as carbon pricing. He also welcomed six new members to Canada’s Global Carbon Pricing Challenge, which calls on countries to put a price on carbon to cover 60 per cent of global emissions by 2030. The Prime Minister also announced $3.9 million to be delivered through Canada’s Global Forest Leadership Program so we can more effectively respond to wildfires and advance international leadership on sustainable forest management.

    Prime Minister Trudeau, alongside the Prime Minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, convened a High-Level Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti to strengthen efforts to restore democracy, security, and stability in Haiti. The Prime Minister highlighted ongoing work to respond to the humanitarian needs of the Haitian people and Canada’s continued support of the Multinational Security Support mission in the country. He emphasized the criticality of Haitian-led solutions to the conflict. He announced over $16 million to support the transitional government’s election preparedness, increase humanitarian aid, reduce gang violence, and expand access to justice for women and youth detainees while supporting their reintegration into society. These measures will make a meaningful difference in helping Haiti address its immediate needs and create a better, more prosperous future for its people.

    At UNGA, the Prime Minister also announced $3.6 million in new wide-ranging investments to strengthen global peace and security, including on land mine clearance, and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly women affected by conflict. He emphasized the role of UN agencies in accomplishing this important work, announcing a $9 million investment to support the UN’s efforts to strengthen development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding assistance in countries across the globe.

    The Prime Minister participated in a leaders’ roundtable titled In Defense of Democracy: Fighting Against Extremism, where he engaged with world leaders on challenges facing democracies, such as inequality, polarization, disinformation, and violent extremism, including online. He reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to strengthening the rules-based international order and multilateral institutions, like the UN.

    Throughout his visit, Prime Minister Trudeau met with international counterparts to discuss pressing geopolitical challenges, including Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine and its global impacts, as well as the evolving situation in the Middle East. He emphasized the importance of protecting democratic institutions from emerging threats, including misinformation and election interference, and safeguarding peace and security around the world.

    At UNGA, the Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Kishida Fumio, among others. 

    In the face of global economic and social insecurity, Canada chooses to invest in our country. Whether it’s national $10-a-day child care, an ambitious housing plan, a national dental care program, or an industrial strategy that creates good-paying jobs while fighting climate change – these are choices that will make a positive difference in the lives of Canadians and help solve global challenges.

    Quote

    “Canada chooses to invest in our people, in our future, and in progress. That was my message at UNGA and at the Summit of the Future. Our government is taking action to fight climate change, break down barriers, solve the world’s most pressing challenges, and deliver fairness for every generation.”

    — The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

    Quick Facts

    • While in New York City, Prime Minister Trudeau had bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, the Prime Minister of Japan, Kishida Fumio, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, the Mayor of Kitchener, Berry Vrbanovic, the Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, the President of Kenya, William Ruto, and Malala Yousafzai.
    • The Prime Minister also had interactions with other leaders, including the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, the Taoiseach of Ireland, Simon Harris, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, the President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and the President of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.
    • As a founding member of the UN since its creation in 1945, Canada has actively contributed to the organization, playing a key role in drafting the UN Charter, the treaty that is the cornerstone of the rules-based international order.
    • Canada is the sixth-largest donor to the UN, including voluntary and assessed contributions totalling over US$2 billion in 2022.
    • In 2015, Canada joined all UN Member States in adopting ambitious goals for sustainable development, as outlined in Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda centres on a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), encompassing the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Taken together, the SDGs aim to improve the lives of all people, while protecting the planet.
    • Released in 2021, Moving Forward Together: Canada’s 2030 Agenda National Strategy builds upon 30 actions and five core principles to create and foster an enabling environment for ongoing dialogue and participation to encourage Canadians to take action to realize the SDGs.
    • In 2022, Prime Minister Trudeau was named Co-Chair of the UN SDG Advocates group by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, alongside the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. SDG Advocates work to raise global awareness of the SDGs and of the need for accelerated action by using their respective platforms.
    • Prime Minister Trudeau is also Co-Chair of the SDG Stimulus Leaders group alongside the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness. The group advocates for equipping developing countries with the financial resources to invest in the 17 SDGs and secure a more just and equitable future for all people.
    • At the Summit for the Future, global leaders enhanced co-operation on critical challenges and addressed gaps in global governance. They reaffirmed existing commitments – including to the SDGs and the UN Charter – and moved toward a modernized UN system that can effectively tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.
    • At the Summit, leaders adopted the Pact for the Future  and its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations. The Pact is a global framework to bolster global co-operation and address critical challenges facing the world, such as climate change, global inequality, and the need for stronger multilateral co-operation, for the benefit of all and for future generations.
    • In 2021, Canada launched the Global Carbon Pricing Challenge. This partnership aims to expand the use of pollution pricing by strengthening existing systems and supporting emerging ones. The Challenge, which has a collective goal of covering 60 per cent of global emissions by 2030, also serves as a forum for dialogue and co-ordination to make pricing systems more effective and compatible while supporting other countries in adopting carbon pricing and cutting emissions on the path to net-zero by 2050.

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    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ryan Wesley Routh Indicted for Attempted Assassination of Former President Trump

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

    Note: View the indictment here.

    A federal grand jury in Miami late this afternoon returned an indictment charging Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii, with attempting to kill former President Donald J. Trump at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15.

    “Violence targeting public officials endangers everything our country stands for, and the Department of Justice will use every available tool to hold Ryan Routh accountable for the attempted assassination of former President Trump charged in the indictment,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop.”

    “This alleged attempted assassination of the former President at his golf course was a direct attack on our democracy. Political violence has no place in this country — not then, not now, not ever,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The charges today reflect the Department’s continued resolve to deploy every available resource to ensure public officials remain safe and to hold accountable those who target public officials to the fullest extent of the law.”

    “Routh is charged with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, which strikes at the very heart of our democratic system,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI is continuing our investigation into this alleged plot and will use the full weight and resources of the FBI to uncover and provide as much information as possible about what led to the events in West Palm Beach. In our country, we have to hold accountable people who resort to violence.”

    According to allegations in a complaint affidavit and a factual proffer filed with the court, former President Trump was golfing at Trump International on Sept. 15, and a Secret Service agent conducting a perimeter security sweep saw the partially obscured face of a man — later identified as Routh — in the brush along the fence line near the sixth hole. The agent observed the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at him. As the agent began backing away, he saw the rifle barrel move, and the agent fired at Routh.

    A witness saw Routh running across the road from the golf course and getting into a black Nissan Xterra. Based on information provided by the witness, Routh was later apprehended heading northbound on I-95 by officers from the Martin County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

    Court documents allege that in the area where Routh had been hiding in the tree line, FBI agents located an SKS semiautomatic rifle with a scope attached and an extended magazine. The serial number on the rifle was obliterated and unreadable. Hanging from the fence was a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that each contained a plate capable of stopping small arms fire.

    According to the allegations filed with the court, FBI agents found documents that contained a handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October and venues where the former President had appeared or was expected to be present. Cell records for two of the cell phones found in the Nissan Xterra showed that on multiple days and times from Aug. 18 to Sept. 15, Routh’s cell phone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former President’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.

    According to the factual proffer filed with the court, a civilian witness contacted law enforcement stating that Routh had dropped off a box at his residence several months ago. Included in the box was a handwritten letter from Routh addressed “Dear World,” which stated, among other things, “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.”

    Routh was charged with attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer (a Secret Service Agent), felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. At a detention hearing on Sept. 23, Routh was ordered to remain in federal custody pending trial. If convicted, Routh faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

    According to court records, Routh was convicted of felonies in North Carolina in December 2002 and March 2010.

    The FBI is investigating the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Secret Service.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H.E. Ms. Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation [scroll down for French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The Secretary-General met with H.E. Ms. Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation. The Secretary-General and the President discussed Switzerland’s role on the Security Council. They also exchanged views on the war in Ukraine and the situation in Afghanistan.

    The Secretary-General also expressed support for Switzerland’s engagement in the field of Women Peace and Security.  

    *****

    Le Secrétaire général a rencontré S.E. Mme Viola Amherd, Présidente de la Confédération suisse. Le Secrétaire général et la Présidente ont discuté du rôle de la Suisse au sein du Conseil de sécurité. Ils ont également échangé des points de vue sur la guerre en Ukraine et la situation en Afghanistan.

    Le Secrétaire général a également exprimé son soutien à l’engagement de la Suisse dans le domaine des femmes, de la paix et de la sécurité.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to WHO data on adolescent social media use and gaming

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Data published by the World Health Organisation looks at adolescent social media use and gaming.

    Prof Ben Carter, Professor of Medical Statistics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, said:

    “The authors provide a useful snapshot of the evidence and whilst again the study includes cross sectional data- it is large and has collected very pertinent data throughout Europe. 

    “However, they offer an unvalidated tool for problematic social media use. Whilst better than merely ‘screentime’, it isn’t entirely based on the DSM-V criteria for defining a behavioural addiction. Again, this is a useful starting point for measuring potential harm.

    “Their findings suggest approximately 1 in 10 are at risk of problematic use and are consistent with other studies (Carter et al, 2024) which state problematic smartphone usage slightly higher, but when focusing on social media alone offer utility in understanding the problem. 

    “Including Social media and gaming together is not a convincing argument as they are not the only forms of harm adolescents are at risk from- but the findings showing the difference between genders are well established. However, this is a very new and emerging field. 

    “The authors draw distinctions to the long periods of time spent gaming and the risk of harm is at odds with the incredibly helpful quote from the boy highlighting that the time spent isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The boy clearly shows insight highlighting the need to understand the underlying use (e.g. when and what) rather than just the time. This is consistent with the literature 

    “I welcome these finding and thank the authors for the valid contribution to the evidence base.”

    ‘A focus on adolescent social media use and gaming in Europe, central Asia and Canada’ by the World Health Organisation was published at 00:01 UK time on Wednesday 25th September.

    Declared interests

    Prof Ben Carter: No declarations.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Prime Minister advocates progress and prosperity at UN General Assembly and Future Summit

    MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –

    Source: Prime Minister of Canada – in French

    Progressive leadership is driven by the belief that we cannot turn back the clock on rights, equality, and an economy that works for everyone. We must keep moving forward.

    This was the message delivered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the conclusion of his participation in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Future Summit in New York, United States of America. At the UNGA, the Prime Minister reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to progress, prosperity and equity for all generations.

    Prime Minister Trudeau joined world leaders at the Future Summit, which concluded with the adoption of the Compact for the Future, an ambitious agreement that will inspire countries to work together to address shared challenges. At the Summit, the Prime Minister issued a statement indicating Canada’s support for the Future Summit, calling on countries to deliver on the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmentand intended to invest in its workers, in its communities and in its future.

    Building on the progress made at the Future Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau joined world leaders and prominent human rights advocates at the UNGA to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He signalled Canada’s commitment to finding new sources of financing to achieve the SDGs globally, particularly as co-chair of the SDG Stimulus Leaders Group. He highlighted the fundamental role of gender equality as a means to achieve sustainable development and made clear that women and girls must be able to make choices about their bodies, their lives and their futures. To this end, Canada announced more than $112 million in support to protect access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights services for women and girls around the world. Canada will also invest $58 million in projects that empower women and promote gender equality, particularly in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. With this funding, Canada will deliver on its $100 million commitment to address issues related to paid and unpaid care work in low- and middle-income countries.

    For tens of millions of people around the world, including in Canada, climate change is not an illusion: it is real, it is costly and it knows no borders. To effectively combat this threat, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of collective action on a global scale. He highlighted decarbonizing the industrial sector as one solution to combat climate change, including through innovative tools such as carbon pricing. He also welcomed six new members of theGlobal Carbon Pricing Challenge launched by Canada, which calls on countries to set a price on carbon to cover 60% of global emissions by 2030. The Prime Minister also announced $3.9 million through Canada’s Global Forest Leadership Program, so we can better fight wildfires and advance international expertise in sustainable forest management.

    Prime Minister Trudeau, together with the Prime Minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, convened a High-level Meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti to strengthen efforts to restore democracy, security and stability in Haiti. The Prime Minister highlighted the work being done to address the humanitarian needs of the Haitian people and Canada’s continued support for the Multinational Security Support Mission in the country. He emphasized the critical importance of Haitian-led solutions to the conflict. In this regard, he announced more than $16 million to support the transitional government’s electoral preparations, increase humanitarian assistance, reduce gang-related violence, and increase access to justice for women and youth detainees, while supporting their reintegration into society. These measures will go a long way to helping Haiti address its immediate needs and create a brighter, more prosperous future for its people.

    At the UNGA, the Prime Minister also announced $3.6 million in major new investments to strengthen global peace and security, including mine clearance, and to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly women affected by conflict. He highlighted the role of the United Nations in this important work, and announced an investment of $9 million to support United Nations initiatives to increase the effectiveness of development, humanitarian and peacebuilding assistance in countries around the world.

    The Prime Minister participated in a leaders’ roundtable entitled “Defending Democracy: Combating Extremism,” where he spoke with world leaders about the challenges facing democracies, such as inequality, polarization, disinformation and violent extremism, including online. He reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to strengthening the rules-based international order and multilateral institutions, such as the United Nations.

    During his visit, Prime Minister Trudeau met with his international counterparts to discuss priority geopolitical challenges, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its global implications, as well as developments in the Middle East. He also stressed the need to protect democratic institutions from emerging threats, including disinformation and election interference, and to preserve peace and security around the world.

    At the UNGA, the Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister of Japan Kishida Fumio, among others.

    In the face of economic and social insecurity around the world, the Government of Canada is choosing to invest in our country. From a $10-a-day national child care program to an ambitious housing plan, a national dental care plan, and an industrial sector strategy that creates well-paying jobs – not to mention fighting climate change – these choices will have a positive impact on the lives of Canadians and help address global challenges.

    Quote

    “Canada is choosing to invest in its people, its future and progress. This is the message I wanted to bring to the UNGA and the Future Summit. Our government is taking action to fight climate change, break down barriers, address the world’s most pressing challenges and give every generation a fair chance.”

    Highlights

    During his trip to New York, Prime Minister Trudeau held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Garry Conille of Haiti, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Mayor Berry Vrbanovic of Kitchener, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, Senior Advisor to Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus, President William Ruto of Kenya, and Malala Yousafzai. The Prime Minister also held discussions with other leaders, including North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, International Monetary Fund President and Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, and Spanish President Pedro Sánchez. As a founding member of the United Nations since its creation in 1945, Canada has actively contributed to the organization, including playing a key role in drafting the UN Charter, the cornerstone treaty of the rules-based international order. Canada is the sixth largest donor to the United Nations, with voluntary contributions and assessed contributions totaling more than US$2 billion in 2022. In 2015, Canada joined all UN Member States in adopting ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, as outlined in theTransforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda focuses on a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that address the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Together, the SDGs aim to improve people’s lives, but also protect the planet. Released in 2021, theCanada’s National Strategy for the 2030 Agenda: Moving Forward Togetheris based on 30 actions and 5 core principles to create and foster an environment for ongoing dialogue and engagement to encourage Canadians to take action to implement the SDGs. In 2022, Prime Minister Trudeau was appointed Co-Chair of the SDG Advocates Group by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, alongside Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados. Through their respective platforms, the members of the SDG Advocates Group aim to raise global awareness of the SDGs and the need to accelerate action to achieve them. Prime Minister Trudeau also serves as Co-Chair of the SDG Stimulus Leaders Group, alongside Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica. The Group advocates for developing countries to have the financial resources they need to invest in the 17 SDGs to ensure a just and equitable future for all people. At the Future Summit, world leaders strengthened cooperation on major challenges and addressed gaps in global governance. They renewed existing commitments, including to the SDGs and the Charter of the United Nations, and undertook to modernize the United Nations system to effectively address the challenges of today and tomorrow. Also at the Summit, leaders adopted the Deal for the Future and its annexes, the Global Digital Deal and the Declaration on Future Generations. The Deal for the Future is a comprehensive framework to promote global cooperation and address critical challenges facing the world, such as climate change, inequality, and the need for strong multilateral cooperation, for the benefit of all and future generations. In 2021, Canada launched the Global Carbon Pricing Challenge. This partnership aims to scale up the use of pollution pricing by strengthening existing systems and supporting new ones. The Challenge, which collectively aims to cover 60% of global emissions by 2030, also serves as a forum for dialogue and coordination to improve the effectiveness and compatibility of pricing regimes, while helping other countries adopt carbon pricing and reduce emissions towards the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Casar, Williams, Adams, Carter, McClellan, & Raskin Introduce Resolution Declaring Abortion as a Human Right

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05), Alma Adams (NC-12), Troy Carter (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) announced the introduction of a Congressional Resolution affirming reproductive freedom as a human right.

    “Texas is ground zero in the fight for abortion rights, with many of my constituents now traveling hundreds of miles to get the health care they need,” said Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas). “Let me be clear: Reproductive rights are human rights. We won’t stop fighting until abortion rights are restored and protected across the U.S.”

    “We are seeing the deadly result of abortion bans in Georgia and around the country. Just last week, ProPublica reported on the deaths of two Georgia women, Candi Miller and Amber Thurman, who died because they could not receive the abortion care they desperately needed,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05). “That is why this resolution is important: it affirms that reproductive freedom is a fundamental human right according to the United States’ own law and that state abortion bans are violating federal law and endangering the lives of women.”

    “Too many women have already died from Donald Trump’s abortion bans, and even one more is too many,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12). “Abortions are healthcare, and reproductive justice is a human right. I will continue to stand up for women’s rights until they are restored nationwide.”

    “Access to safe, legal abortion is healthcare. It’s as fundamental as any other medical service,” said Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02). “I’m proud to support this resolution because it sends a message that no matter where you live in this country, your rights to make decisions about your body and your health should not be up for debate. That’s a matter for you, your doctor, and your family. Not the government.”

    “After Trump-appointed Justices on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, conservative legislatures and judges across the nation have unleashed extreme abortion bans and restrictions to comprehensive reproductive health care,” said Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04). “Reproductive health care is a public health, social justice, economic, civil rights, and human rights issue. I thank Congresswoman Williams for her leadership on this resolution, as we affirm that reproductive rights are part of our obligations under international human rights treaties.”

    State and Local Actions

    • Alexandria, VA enacted a resolution to expand access to abortion on June 28th, 2022.
    • In Louisiana, House Bills 56, 63, 164, and 293 were introduced in February 2024 to counter the state’s restrictions on reproductive freedom and underscore the human rights concerns with those restrictions.
    • Mt. Rainier, MD issued a Mayoral Proclamation declaring June 24, 2024, as “Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Day.” 
    • Montgomery County, MD passed a resolution to address the Dobbs decision and introduced a new resolution with unanimous support in 2024 to increase abortion access in the county.
    • Austin, TX has invested over $400,000 in support for abortion access and introduced a resolution declaring abortion as a human right.

    This bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Colin Allred (TX-32), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Nannette Barragán (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Bennie Thompson (MI-02), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Shontel Brown (OH-11), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Cori Bush (MO-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), André Carson (IN-07), Sean Casten (IL-06), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Angie Craig (MN-02), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jim Himes (CT-04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Tim Kennedy (NY-26), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), Ted Lieu CA-36), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Wiley Nickel (NC-13), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mary Peltola (AK-AL), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Delila C. Ramirez (IL-03), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Darren Soto (FL-09), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Norma Torres (CA-35), Lori Trahan (MA-03), David Trone (MD-06), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Susan Wild (PA-07), and FredericaS. Wilson (FL-24).

    The resolution text can be found here.

    ###

    Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New undergraduate course for optometrists

    Source: Scottish Government

    UK-leading course to support delivery of wider range of services.

    A new Master’s undergraduate degree has been launched to increase the skills, knowledge and experience that optometry students will have when they graduate.

    The course at Glasgow Caledonian University, which has just accepted its first cohort of students, is the first in the UK to offer an integrated optometry with independent prescribing qualification.

    Among other things, graduates will be able to prescribe medications for eye conditions previously referred to the GP or hospital ophthalmologists. This will support more patients to be managed in the community closer to home without further referral, helping to get patients treated quicker and ease pressures on NHS waiting lists.

    Higher Education Minister Graeme Dey and Public Health Minister Jenni Minto met the new cohort of students and representatives from the university at its Vision Centre facilities.

    Mr Dey said:

    “It’s exciting to see Scotland is ahead of the game when it comes to upskilling our optometry workforce and this new course will ensure they will have the right skills, knowledge and experience to meet future challenges.

    “Graduates of this groundbreaking course will play an important role in establishing a wider range of community-based ophthalmic care. Patients will be able to be treated closer to home, helping to reduce the pressures on GPs and hospital waiting lists.

    “I’m delighted that we’re able to support Glasgow Caledonian University’s new course. The Scottish Government continues to invest over £1 billion in university teaching and research.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –