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Category: Evening Report

  • MIL-Evening Report: Ageing bridges around the world are at risk of collapse. But there’s a simple way to safeguard them

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Nguyen, Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering, University of Southern Queensland

    The Story Bridge, with its sweeping steel trusses and art deco towers, is a striking sight above the Brisbane River in Queensland. In 2025, it was named the state’s best landmark. But more than an icon, it serves as one of the vital arteries of the state capital, carrying more than 100,000 vehicles daily.

    But a recent report revealed serious structural issues in the 85-year-old bridge. These included the deterioration of concrete, corrosion and overloading on pedestrian footpaths.

    The findings prompted an urgent closure of the footpath for safety reasons. They also highlighted the urgency of Brisbane City Council’s planned bridge restoration project.

    But this example – and far more tragic ones from around the world in recent years – have also sparked a broader conversation about the safety of ageing bridges and other urban infrastructure. A simple, proactive step known as structural health monitoring can help.

    A number of collapses

    In January 2022, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States collapsed and injured several people. This collapse was caused by extensive corrosion and the fracturing of a vital steel component. It stemmed from poor maintenance and failure to act on repeated inspection recommendations. These problems were compounded by inadequate inspections and oversight.

    Three years earlier, Taiwan’s Nanfang’ao Bridge collapsed. Exposure to damp, salty sea air had severely weakened its suspension cables. Six people beneath the bridge died.

    In August 2018, Italy’s Morandi Bridge fell, killing 43 people. The collapse was due to corrosion in pre-stressed concrete and steel tendons. These factors were worsened by inspection and maintenance challenges.

    In August 2007, a bridge in the US city of Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. This collapse was primarily due to previously unnoticed problems with the design of the bridge. But it also demonstrated how ageing infrastructure, coupled with increasing loads and ineffective routine visual inspections, can exacerbate inherent weaknesses.

    A technology-driven solution

    Structural health monitoring is a technology-driven approach to assessing the condition of infrastructure. It can provide near real-time information and enable timely decision-making. This is crucial when it comes to managing ageing structures.

    The approach doesn’t rely solely on occasional periodic inspections. Instead it uses sensors, data loggers and analytics platforms to continuously monitor stress, vibration, displacement, temperature and corrosion on critical components.

    This approach can significantly improve our understanding of bridge performance compared to traditional assessment models. In one case, it updated a bridge’s estimated fatigue life – the remaining life of the structure before fatigue-induced failure is predicted to occur– from just five years to more than 52 years. This ultimately avoided unnecessary and costly restoration.

    Good structural health-monitoring systems can last several decades. They can be integrated with artificial intelligence techniques and bridge information modelling to develop digital twin-based monitoring platforms.

    The cost of structural health monitoring systems varies by bridge size and the extent of monitoring required. Some simple systems can cost just a few thousand dollars, while more advanced ones can cost more than A$300,000.

    These systems require ongoing operational support – typically 10% to 20% of the installation cost annually – for data management, system maintenance, and informed decision-making.

    Additionally, while advanced systems can be costly, scalable structural health monitoring solutions allow authorities to start small and expand over time.

    A model for proactive management

    The design of structural health monitoring systems has been incorporated into new large-scale bridge designs, such as Sutong Bridge in China and Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in the US.

    But perhaps the most compelling example of these systems in action is the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Canada.

    Opened in 1930, it shares design similarities with Brisbane’s Story Bridge. And, like many ageing structures, it faces its own challenges.

    Opened in 1930, the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Canada, shares design similarities with Brisbane’s Story Bridge.
    Pinkcandy/Shutterstock

    However, authorities managing the Jacques Cartier Bridge have embraced a proactive approach through comprehensive structural health monitoring systems. The bridge has been outfitted with more than 300 sensors.

    Acoustic emission monitoring enables early detection of micro-cracking activity, while long-term instrumentation tracks structural deformation and dynamic behaviour across key spans.

    Satellite-based radar imagery adds a remote, non-intrusive layer of deformation monitoring, and advanced data analysis ensures that the vast amounts of sensor data are translated into timely, actionable insights.

    Together, these technologies demonstrate how a well-integrated structural-health monitoring system can support proactive maintenance, extend the life of ageing infrastructure – and ultimately improve public safety.

    A way forward for Brisbane – and beyond

    The Story Bridge’s current challenges are serious, but they also present an opportunity.

    By investing in the right structural health monitoring system, Brisbane can lead the way in modern infrastructure management – protecting lives, restoring public confidence, preserving heritage and setting a precedent for cities around the world.

    As climate change, urban growth, and ageing assets put increasing pressure on our transport networks, smart monitoring is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity.

    Andy Nguyen receives funding from the Queensland government, through the Advance Queensland fellowship. He is on the executive committee of Australian Network of Structural Health Monitoring.

    – ref. Ageing bridges around the world are at risk of collapse. But there’s a simple way to safeguard them – https://theconversation.com/ageing-bridges-around-the-world-are-at-risk-of-collapse-but-theres-a-simple-way-to-safeguard-them-260005

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Rainbow Warrior saga. Part 2: Nuclear refugees in the Pacific – the evacuation of Rongelap

    COMMENTARY:  By Eugene Doyle

    On the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior prior to its sinking by French secret agents in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985 the ship had evacuated the entire population of 320 from Rongelap in the Marshall Islands.

    After conducting dozens of above-ground nuclear explosions, the US government had left the population in conditions that suggested the islanders were being used as guinea pigs to gain knowledge of the effects of radiation.

    Cancers, birth defects, and genetic damage ripped through the population; their former fisheries and land are contaminated to this day.

    Denied adequate support from the US – they turned to Greenpeace with an SOS: help us leave our ancestral homeland; it is killing our people. The Rainbow Warrior answered the call.

    Human lab rats or our brothers and sisters?
     Dr Merrill Eisenbud, a physicist in the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) famously said in 1956 of the Marshall Islanders:  “While it is true that these people do not live, I might say, the way Westerners do, civilised people, it is nevertheless also true that they are more like us than the mice.”

    Dr Eisenbud also opined that exposure “would provide valuable information on the effects of radiation on human beings.”  That research continues to this day.

    A half century of testing nuclear bombs
     Within a year of dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US moved part of its test programme to the central Pacific.  Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was used for atmospheric explosions from 1946 with scant regard for the indigenous population.

    In 1954, the Castle Bravo test exploded a 15-megaton bomb —  one thousand times more deadly than the one dropped on Hiroshima.  As a result, the population of Rongelap were exposed to 200 roentgens of radiation, considered life-threatening without medical intervention. And it was.

    Part of the Marshall Islands, with Bikini Atoll and Rongelap in the top left. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz

    Total US tests equaled more than 7000 Hiroshimas.  The Clinton administration released the aptly-named Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE), report in January 1994 in which it acknowledged:

    “What followed was a program by the US government — initially the Navy and then the AEC and its successor agencies — to provide medical care for the exposed population, while at the same time trying to learn as much as possible about the long-term biological effects of radiation exposure. The dual purpose of what is now a DOE medical program has led to a view by the Marshallese that they were being used as ‘guinea pigs’ in a ‘radiation experiment’.

    This impression was reinforced by the fact that the islanders were deliberately left in place and then evacuated, having been heavily radiated. Three years later they were told it was “safe to return” despite the lead scientist calling Rongelap “by far the most contaminated place in the world”.

    Significant compensation paid by the US to the Marshall Islands has proven inadequate given the scale of the contamination.  To some degree, the US has also used money to achieve capture of elite interest groups and secure ongoing control of the islands.

    Entrusted to the US, the Marshall Islanders were treated like the civilians of Nagasaki
     The US took the Marshall Islands from Japan in 1944.  The only “right” it has to be there was granted by the United Nations which in 1947 established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, to be administered by the United States.

    What followed was an abuse of trust worse than rapists at a state care facility.  Using the very powers entrusted to it to protect the Marshallese, the US instead used the islands as a nuclear laboratory — violating both the letter and spirit of international law.

    Fellow white-dominated countries like Australia and New Zealand couldn’t have cared less and let the indigenous people be irradiated for decades.

    The betrayal of trust by the US was comprehensive and remains so to this day:

    Under Article 76 of the UN Charter, all trusteeship agreements carried obligations. The administering power was required to:

    • Promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the people
    • Protect the rights and well-being of the inhabitants
    • Help them advance toward self-government or independence.

    Under Article VI, the United States solemnly pledged to “Protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources.”  Very similar to sentiments in New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi.  Within a few years the Americans were exploding the biggest nuclear bombs in history over the islands.

    Within a year of the US assuming trusteeship of the islands, another pillar of international law came into effect: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) — which affirms the inherent dignity and equal rights of all humans. Exposing colonised peoples to extreme radiation for weapons testing is a racist affront to this.

    America has a long history of making treaties and fine speeches and then exploiting indigenous peoples.  Last year, I had the sobering experience of reading American military historian Peter Cozzens’ The Earth is Weeping, a history of the “Indian wars” for the American West.

    The past is not dead: the Marshall Islands are a hive of bases, laboratories and missile testing; Americans are also incredibly busy attacking the population in Gaza today.

    Eyes of Fire – the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior
     Had the French not sunk the Rainbow Warrior after it reached Auckland from the Rongelap evacuation, it would have led a flotilla to protest nuclear testing at Moruroa in French Polynesia.  So the bookends of this article are the abuse of defenceless people in the charge of one nuclear power — the US —  and the abuse of New Zealand and the peoples of French Polynesia by another nuclear power — France.

    Senator Jeton Anjain (left) of Rongelap and Greenpeace campaign coordinator Steve Sawyer on board the Rainbow Warrior . . . challenging the abuse of defenceless people under the charge of one nuclear power. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire

    This incredible story, and much more, is the subject of David Robie’s outstanding book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, published by Little Island Press, which has been relaunched to mark the 40th anniversary of the French terrorist attack.

    A new prologue by former prime minister Helen Clark and a preface by Greenpeace’s Bunny McDiarmid, along with an extensive postscript which bring us up to the present day, underline why the past is not dead; it’s with us right now.

    Between them, France and the US have exploded more than 300 nuclear bombs in the Pacific. Few people are told this; few people know this.

    Today, a matrix of issues combine — the ongoing effects of nuclear contamination, sea rise imperilling Pacific nations, colonialism still posing immense challenges to people in the Marshall Islands, Kanaky New Caledonia and in many parts of our region.

    Unsung heroes
     Our media never ceases to share the pronouncements of European leaders and news from the US and Europe but the leaders and issues of the Pacific are seldom heard. The heroes of the antinuclear movement should be household names in Australia and New Zealand.

    Vanuatu’s great leader Father Walter Lini; Oscar Temaru, Mayor, later President of French Polynesia; Senator Jeton Anjain, Darlene Keju-Johnson and so many others.

    Do we know them?  Have we heard their voices?

    Jobod Silk, climate activist, said in a speech welcoming the Rainbow Warrior III to Majuro earlier this year:  “Our crusade for nuclear justice intertwines with our fight against the tides.”

    Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific . . . the Rainbow Warrior taking on board Rongelap islanders ready for their first of four relocation voyages to Mejatto island. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire

    Former Tuvalu PM Enele Sapoaga castigated Australia for the AUKUS submarine deal which he said “was crafted in secret by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison with no public discussion.”

    He challenged the bigger regional powers, particularly Australia and New Zealand, to remember that the existential threat faced by Pacific nations comes first from climate change, and reminded New Zealanders of the commitment to keeping the South Pacific nuclear-free.

    Hinamoeura Cross, a Tahitian anti-nuclear activist and politician, said in a 2019 UN speech: “Today, the damage is done. My people are sick. For 30 years we were the mice in France’s laboratory.”

    Until we learn their stories and know their names as well as we know those of Marco Rubio or Keir Starmer, we will remain strangers in our own lands.

    The Pacific owes them, along with the people of Greenpeace, a huge debt.  They put their bodies on the line to stop the aggressors. Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, killed by the French in 1985, was just one of many victims, one of many heroes.

    A great way to honour the sacrifice of those who stood up for justice, who stood for peace and a nuclear-free Pacific, and who honoured our own national identity would be to buy David Robie’s excellent book.

    You cannot sink a rainbow.

    Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira being welcomed to Rongelap Atoll by a villager in May 1985 barely two months before he was killed by French secret agents during the sabotage of the Rainbow Warrior. Image: David Robie/Eyes of Fire

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Legends of a Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific – Octo Mote

    Pacific Media Watch

    West Papuan independence advocate Octovianus Mote was in Aotearoa New Zealand late last year seeking support for independence for West Papua, which has been ruled by Indonesia for more than six decades.

    Mote is vice-president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and was hosted in New Zealand by the Green Party, which Mote said had always been a “hero” for West Papua.

    He spoke at a West Papua seminar at the Māngere Mountain Education Centre and in this Talanoa TV segment he offers prayers for the West Papuan solidarity movement.

    In a “blessing for peace and justice”, Octo Mote spoke of his hopes for the West Papuan struggle for independence at lunch at the Mount Albert home of New Zealand activist Maire Leadbeater in September 2024.

    He gave a tribute to Leadbeater and the Whānau Community Centre and Hub’s Nik Naidu, saying:

    “We remember those who cannot eat like us, especially those who oppressed . . . The 80,000 people in Papua who have had to flee their homes because of the Indonesian military operations.”

    Video: Nik Naidu, Talanoa TV


    Blessings by Octo Mote.               Video: Talanoa TV

    On Saturday, 12 July 2025 Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford will open the week-long Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) exhibition at the Ellen Melville Centre Women’s Pioneer Hall at 3pm.

    https://www.facebook.com/events/1856900961820487/

    Poster for the Legends of the Pacific: Stories of a Nuclear-Free Moana 1975-1995 exhibition, July 13-18.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 6, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 6, 2025.

    Greenpeace chief recalls New Zealand’s nuclear free exploits, seeks ‘peace’ voice for Gaza
    Asia Pacific Report Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman today recalled New Zealand’s heyday as a Pacific nuclear free champion in the 1980s, and challenged the country to again become a leading voice for “peace and justice”, this time for the Palestinian people. He told the weekly Palestinian solidarity rally in Auckland’s central Te Komititanga

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Greenpeace chief recalls New Zealand’s nuclear free exploits, seeks ‘peace’ voice for Gaza

    Asia Pacific Report

    Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman today recalled New Zealand’s heyday as a Pacific nuclear free champion in the 1980s, and challenged the country to again become a leading voice for “peace and justice”, this time for the Palestinian people.

    He told the weekly Palestinian solidarity rally in Auckland’s central Te Komititanga Square that it was time for New Zealand to take action and recognise the state of Palestine and impose sanctions on Israel over its Gaza atrocities.

    “From 1946 to 1996, over 300 nuclear weapons were exploded across the Pacific and consistently the New Zealand government spoke out against it,” he said.

    “It took cases to the International Court of Justice, supported by Australia and Fiji, against the nuclear testing across the Pacific.

    “Aotearoa New Zealand was a voice for peace, it was a voice for justice, and when the French government bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior here and killed Fernando Pereira, it spoke out and took action against France.”

    He said New Zealand could return to that global leadership as a small and peaceful country.

    New Zealand will this week be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret agents on 10 July 1985 and the killing of Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira.

    Dawn vigil on Greenpeace III
    Greenpeace plans a dawn vigil on board their current flagship Rainbow Warrior III at Halsey Wharf.

    He spoke about the Gaza war crimes, saying it was time for New Zealand to take serious action to help end this 20 months of settler colonial genocide.

    “There are millions of people [around the world] who are trying to end this colonial occupation of Palestinian land,” Norman said.

    “And millions of people who are trying to stop people simply standing to get food who are hungry who are being shelled and killed by the Israeli military simply for the ‘crime’ of being born in the land that Israel wants to occupy.”

    Rocket Lab . . . a target for protests this week against the Gaza genocide. Image: David Robie/APR

    Norman’s message echoed an open letter that he wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters earlier this week criticising the government for its “ongoing failure … to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel”.

    He cited the recent UN Human Rights Office report that said the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by the Israeli military while trying to fetch food from the controversial new “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” aid hubs was a ‘likely war crime”.

    “Israel’s ongoing blockade of aid to Gaza has placed over 2 million people on the precipice of famine. Malnutrition and starvation are rife,” he said.

    Israel ‘weaponising aid’
    “Israel is weaponising aid, using starvation as a tool of genocide and is now shooting at civilians trying to access the scraps of aid that are available.”

    He said this was “catastrophic”, quoting Luxon’s own words, and the human suffering was “unacceptable”.

    Labour MP for Te Atatu and disarmament spokesperson Phil Twyford also spoke at the rally and march today, saying the Labour Party was calling for sanctions and accountability.

    He condemned the failure to hold “the people who have been enabling the genocide in Gaza”.

    “It’s been going on for too long. Not just the last [20 months], but actually the last 77 years.

    “And it is time the Western world snapped out of the spell that the Zionists have had on the Western imagination — at least on the political classes, government MPs, the policy makers in Western countries, who for so long have enabled, have stayed quiet in the face of the US who have armed and funded the genocide”

    For the Palestinian solidarity movement in New Zealand it has been a big week with four politicians — including Prime Minister Luxon — and two business leaders, the chief executives of Rocket Lab and Rakon, who have been referred by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation over allegations of complicity with the Israeli war crimes.

    This unprecedented legal development has been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

    On Friday, protesters picketed a Rocket Lab manufacturing site in Warkworth, the head office in Mount Wellington and the Māhia peninsula where satellites are launched.

    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, leading international scholars and the UN Special Committee to investigate Israel’s practices have all condemned Israel’s actions as genocide.

    Palestinian solidarity protesters in Auckland’s Queen Street march today. Image: David Robie/APR

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Greenpeace chief recalls New Zealand’s nuclear free exploits, seeks ‘peace’ voice for Gaza

    Asia Pacific Report

    Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman today recalled New Zealand’s heyday as a Pacific nuclear free champion in the 1980s, and challenged the country to again become a leading voice for “peace and justice”, this time for the Palestinian people.

    He told the weekly Palestinian solidarity rally in Auckland’s central Te Komititanga Square that it was time for New Zealand to take action and recognise the state of Palestine and impose sanctions on Israel over its Gaza atrocities.

    “From 1946 to 1996, over 300 nuclear weapons were exploded across the Pacific and consistently the New Zealand government spoke out against it,” he said.

    “It took cases to the International Court of Justice, supported by Australia and Fiji, against the nuclear testing across the Pacific.

    “Aotearoa New Zealand was a voice for peace, it was a voice for justice, and when the French government bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior here and killed Fernando Pereira, it spoke out and took action against France.”

    He said New Zealand could return to that global leadership as a small and peaceful country.

    New Zealand will this week be commemorating the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by French secret agents on 10 July 1985 and the killing of Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira.

    Dawn vigil on Greenpeace III
    Greenpeace plans a dawn vigil on board their current flagship Rainbow Warrior III at Halsey Wharf.

    He spoke about the Gaza war crimes, saying it was time for New Zealand to take serious action to help end this 20 months of settler colonial genocide.

    “There are millions of people [around the world] who are trying to end this colonial occupation of Palestinian land,” Norman said.

    “And millions of people who are trying to stop people simply standing to get food who are hungry who are being shelled and killed by the Israeli military simply for the ‘crime’ of being born in the land that Israel wants to occupy.”

    Rocket Lab . . . a target for protests this week against the Gaza genocide. Image: David Robie/APR

    Norman’s message echoed an open letter that he wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters earlier this week criticising the government for its “ongoing failure … to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel”.

    He cited the recent UN Human Rights Office report that said the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by the Israeli military while trying to fetch food from the controversial new “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” aid hubs was a ‘likely war crime”.

    “Israel’s ongoing blockade of aid to Gaza has placed over 2 million people on the precipice of famine. Malnutrition and starvation are rife,” he said.

    Israel ‘weaponising aid’
    “Israel is weaponising aid, using starvation as a tool of genocide and is now shooting at civilians trying to access the scraps of aid that are available.”

    He said this was “catastrophic”, quoting Luxon’s own words, and the human suffering was “unacceptable”.

    Labour MP for Te Atatu and disarmament spokesperson Phil Twyford also spoke at the rally and march today, saying the Labour Party was calling for sanctions and accountability.

    He condemned the failure to hold “the people who have been enabling the genocide in Gaza”.

    “It’s been going on for too long. Not just the last [20 months], but actually the last 77 years.

    “And it is time the Western world snapped out of the spell that the Zionists have had on the Western imagination — at least on the political classes, government MPs, the policy makers in Western countries, who for so long have enabled, have stayed quiet in the face of the US who have armed and funded the genocide”

    For the Palestinian solidarity movement in New Zealand it has been a big week with four politicians — including Prime Minister Luxon — and two business leaders, the chief executives of Rocket Lab and Rakon, who have been referred by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation over allegations of complicity with the Israeli war crimes.

    This unprecedented legal development has been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

    On Friday, protesters picketed a Rocket Lab manufacturing site in Warkworth, the head office in Mount Wellington and the Māhia peninsula where satellites are launched.

    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, leading international scholars and the UN Special Committee to investigate Israel’s practices have all condemned Israel’s actions as genocide.

    Palestinian solidarity protesters in Auckland’s Queen Street march today. Image: David Robie/APR

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 5, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 5, 2025.

    Palestine protesters target NZ businesses ‘complicit’ with Israel’s Gaza genocide
    Asia Pacific Report Protesters against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and occupied West Bank targeted three business sites accused of being “complicit” in Aotearoa New Zealand today. The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s “End Rocket Lab Genocide Complicity” themed protest picketed Rocket Lab’s New Zealand head office in Mt Wellington. Simultaneously, protesters also picketed a site

    Lyssavirus is rare, but deadly. What should you do if a bat bites you?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vinod Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor (Molecular Virology), Monash University Ken Griffiths/Getty Images A man in his 50s has died from lyssavirus in New South Wales after being bitten by a bat several months ago. This is Australia’s fourth human case of bat lyssavirus and the first confirmed case

    Guam nuclear radiation survivors ‘heartbroken’ over exclusion from compensation bill
    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist People on Guam are “disappointed” and “heartbroken” that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, says the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS), Robert Celestial. He said they were disappointed for many reasons. “Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than

    Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney Thomas Yau/Shutterstock The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials. The league is the third major opposition party to disband

    Eyewitness account of Rainbow Warrior voyage – new Eyes of Fire edition
    By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal Author David Robie and Little Island Press are about to publish next week a 40th anniversary edition of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, a first-hand account of the relocation of the Rongelap people by Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior in

    ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 4, 2025
    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 4, 2025.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Palestine protesters target NZ businesses ‘complicit’ with Israel’s Gaza genocide

    Asia Pacific Report

    Protesters against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and occupied West Bank targeted three business sites accused of being “complicit” in Aotearoa New Zealand today.

    The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa’s “End Rocket Lab Genocide Complicity” themed protest picketed Rocket Lab’s New Zealand head office in Mt Wellington.

    Simultaneously, protesters also picketed a site in Warkworth where Rocket Lab equipment is built and Mahia peninsula where satellites are launched.

    In a statement on the PSNA website, it was revealed this week that the advocacy group’s lawyers have prepared a 103-page “indictment” against two business leaders, including the head of Rocket Lab, along with four politicians, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

    They have been referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for investigation on an accusation of complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

    Rocket Lab chief executive Sir Peter Beck is one of the six people named in the legal brief.

    “Rocket Lab has recently launched geospatial intelligence satellites for BlackSky Technology,” said PSNA co-chair John Minto in a statement.

    High resolution images
    “These satellites provide high resolution images to Israel which are very likely used to assist with striking civilians in Gaza. Sir Peter has proceeded with these launches in full knowledge of these circumstances”

    A “Genocide Lab” protest against Rocket Lab in Mt Wellington today. Image: PSNA

    “When governments and business leaders can’t even condemn a genocide then civil society groups must act.”

    The other business leader named is Rakon Limited chief executive officer Dr Sinan Altug.

    “Despite vast weapons transfers from the United States to Israel since the beginning of its war on Gaza, Rakon has continued with its longstanding supply of crystal oscillators to US arms manufacturers for use in guided missiles which are then available to Israel for the bombing of Gaza, as well as Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran with consequential massive loss of life,” Minto said.

    “Rakon’s claims that it has no responsibility over how these ‘dual-use’ technologies are used are not credible.”

    Rocket Lab and Rakon have in the past rejected claims over their responsibility.

    Speakers at Mount Wellington included the Green Party spokesperson for foreign affairs Teanau Tuiono; Dr Arama Rata, a researcher and lecturer from Victoria University; and Sam Vincent, the legal team leader for the ICC referral.

    Law academic Professor Jane Kelsey spoke at the Warkworth picket.

    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, leading international scholars and the UN Special Committee to investigate Israel’s practices have all condemned Israel’s actions as genocide.

    Protesters against Rocket Lab’s alleged complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza today. Image: Del Abcede/APR

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Lyssavirus is rare, but deadly. What should you do if a bat bites you?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vinod Balasubramaniam, Associate Professor (Molecular Virology), Monash University

    Ken Griffiths/Getty Images

    A man in his 50s has died from lyssavirus in New South Wales after being bitten by a bat several months ago.

    This is Australia’s fourth human case of bat lyssavirus and the first confirmed case in NSW since the virus was first identified in 1996 in a black flying fox in Queensland.

    So what is lyssavirus? And how can you protect yourself if you come into contact with a bat?

    A close relative of rabies

    Australian bat lyssavirus belongs to the Rhabdoviridae family, the same group of viruses that causes rabies.

    It primarily infects bats. Active monitoring suggests fewer than 1% of healthy bats carry the virus, though prevalence rises to 5–10% in sick or injured bats.

    In bats, the virus often causes no obvious symptoms, though some show neurological signs such as disorientation, aggression, muscle spasms and paralysis. Some will die.

    The virus has been confirmed in all four mainland flying fox species (Pteropus alecto, P. poliocephalus, P. scapulatus and P. conspicillatus) as well as the yellow-bellied sheathtail bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris), a species of microbat.

    However, serological evidence – where scientists test for antibodies in bats’ blood – suggests other microbats could be susceptible too. So we should be cautious with all Australian bat species when it comes to lyssavirus.

    Rare, but potentially deadly

    Unlike rabies, which causes roughly 59,000 human deaths annually, predominantly in Africa and Asia, human infection with bat lyssavirus is extremely rare.

    Australian bat lyssavirus, as the name suggests, is unique to Australia. But other bat lyssaviruses, such as European bat lyssavirus, have similarly caused rare human infections.

    Human infection with bat lyssavirus occurs through direct contact with infected bat saliva via bites, scratches or open skin. It can also occur if our mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth) are exposed to bat saliva.

    There’s no risk associated with bat faeces, urine, blood, or casual proximity to roosts.

    If someone has been exposed, there’s an incubation period which can range from weeks to more than two years. During this time the virus slowly moves through the body’s nerves to the brain, staying hidden and symptom-free.

    Treating the virus during the incubation period can prevent the illness. But if it’s not treated, symptoms are serious and it’s invariably fatal.

    The nature of the illness in humans mirrors rabies, beginning with flu-like symptoms (fever, headache, fatigue), then quickly progressing to severe neurological disease, including paralysis, delirium, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Death generally occurs within 1–2 weeks of symptom onset.

    All four recorded human cases in Australia – three in Queensland (in 1996, 1998 and 2013) and the recent NSW case – have been fatal.

    There’s no effective treatment once symptoms develop

    If someone is potentially exposed to bat lyssavirus and seeks medical attention, they can be treated with post-exposure prophylaxis, consisting of rabies antibodies and the rabies vaccine.

    This intervention is highly effective if initiated promptly – preferably within 48 hours, and no later than seven days post-exposure – before the virus enters the central nervous system.

    But no effective treatment exists for Australian bat lyssavirus once symptoms develop. Emerging research on monoclonal antibodies offers potential future therapies, however these are not yet available.

    So what’s the best protection? And what if a bat bites you?

    Pre-exposure rabies vaccination, involving three doses over one month, is recommended for high-risk groups. This includes veterinarians, animal handlers, wildlife rehabilitators, and laboratory workers handling lyssaviruses.

    It’s important for members of the public to avoid all direct contact with bats. Only vaccinated, trained professionals, such as wildlife carers or veterinarians, should handle bats.

    Public education campaigns are essential to reduce risky interactions, especially in bat-populated areas.

    If you get bitten or scratched by a bat, it’s vital to act immediately. Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water for at least 15 minutes, apply an antiseptic (such as betadine), and seek urgent medical attention.

    This tragic case in NSW underscores that while extremely rare, bat lyssavirus is an important public health threat. We need to see enhanced public awareness and ensure vaccination for high-risk groups, alongside ongoing bat monitoring and research into new treatments.

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

    – ref. Lyssavirus is rare, but deadly. What should you do if a bat bites you? – https://theconversation.com/lyssavirus-is-rare-but-deadly-what-should-you-do-if-a-bat-bites-you-260495

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Guam nuclear radiation survivors ‘heartbroken’ over exclusion from compensation bill

    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

    People on Guam are “disappointed” and “heartbroken” that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, says the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS), Robert Celestial.

    He said they were disappointed for many reasons.

    “Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than any state,” he told RNZ Pacific.

    “We are human beings, we are affected in the same way they are. We are suffering the same way, we are greatly disappointed, heartbroken,” Celestial said.

    The extension to the United States Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” passed by Congress on Friday (Thursday, Washington time).

    Downwind compensation eligibility would extend to the entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, but Guam – which was included in an earlier version of the bill – was excluded.

    All claimants are eligible for US$100,000.

    Attempt at amendment
    Guam Republican congressman James Moylan attempted to make an amendment to include Guam before the bill reached the House floor earlier in the week.

    “Guam has become a forgotten casualty of the nuclear era,” Moylan told the House Rules Committee.

    “Federal agencies have confirmed that our island received measurable radiation exposure as a result of US nuclear testing in the Pacific and yet, despite this clear evidence, Guam remains excluded from RECA, a program that was designed specifically to address the harm caused by our nation’s own policies.

    “Guam is not asking for special treatment we are asking to be treated with dignity equal to the same recognition afforded to other downwind communities across our nation.”

    Moylan said his constituents are dying from cancers linked to radiation exposure.

    From 1946 to 1962, 67 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Marshall Islands, just under 2000 kilometres from Guam.

    New Mexico Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández supported Moylan, who said it was “sad Guam and other communities were not included”.

    Colorado, Montana excluded
    The RECA extension also excluded Colorado and Montana; Idaho was also for a time but this was amended.

    Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) members at a gathering . . . “heartbroken” that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them. Image: RNZ Pacific/Eleisha Foon

    Celestial said he had heard different rumours about why Guam was not included but nothing concrete.

    “A lot of excuses were saying that it’s going to cost too much. You know, Guam is going to put a burden on finances.”

    But Celestial said the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for Guam to be included was US$560 million while Idaho was $1.4 billion.

    “[Money] can’t be the reason that Guam got kicked out because we’re the lowest on the totem pole for the amount of money it’s going to cost to get us through in the bill.”

    Certain zip codes
    The bill also extends to communities in certain zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska, who were exposed to nuclear waste.

    Celestial said it’s taken those states 30 years to be recognised and expects Guam to be eventually paid.

    He said Moylan would likely now submit a standalone bill with the other states that were not included.

    If that fails, he said Guam could be included in nuclear compensation through the National Defense Authorization Act in December, which is for military financial support.

    The RECA extension includes uranium workers employed from 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1990.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

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

    – ref. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

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

    – ref. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

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

    – ref. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Eyewitness account of Rainbow Warrior voyage – new Eyes of Fire edition

    By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal

    Author David Robie and Little Island Press are about to publish next week a 40th anniversary edition of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, a first-hand account of the relocation of the Rongelap people by Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior in 1985.

    Dr Robie joined what turned out to be the ill-fated voyage of the Rainbow Warrior from Hawai’i across the Pacific, with its first stop in the Marshall Islands and the momentous evacuation of Rongelap Atoll.

    After completing the evacuation of the 320 people of Rongelap from their unsafe nuclear test-affected home islands to Mejatto Island in Kwajalein Atoll, the Rainbow Warrior headed south via Kiribati and Vanuatu.

    After a stop in New Zealand, it was scheduled to head to the French nuclear testing zone at Moruroa in French Polynesia to protest the then-ongoing atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by France for decades.

    But French secret agents attached bombs to the hull of the Rainbow Warrior while it was tied up at a pier in Auckland. The bombs mortally damaged the Warrior and killed Greenpeace photographer Fernando Peirera, preventing the vessel from continuing its Pacific voyage.

    The new edition of Eyes of Fire will be launched on July 10 in New Zealand.

    “This edition has a small change of title, Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, and has an extra 30 pages, with a new prologue by former Prime Minister Helen Clark,” Dr Robie said in an email to the Journal.

    “The core of the book is similar to earlier editions, but bookended by a lot of new material: Helen’s Prologue, Bunny McDiarmid’s updated Preface and a long Postscript 2025 by me with a lot more photographs, some in colour.”

    Dr Robie added: “I hope this edition is doing justice to our humanitarian mission and the Rongelap people that we helped.”

    He said the new edition is published by a small publisher that specialises in Pacific Island books, often in Pacific languages, Little Island Press.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University

    Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI

    Back to Back Theatre is one of Australia’s national treasures. Over 30 years this dynamic Geelong-based company – an ensemble of actors who are perceived to have intellectual disabilities – has built a dynamic body of innovative work renowned for its formal experimentation.

    Led by director Bruce Gladwin, the company is internationally acclaimed, including winning the International Ibsen Award in 2022 and the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre in 2024.

    Commissioned by ACMI, Back to Back’s latest offering is a screen project that reenacts a section of Shakespeare’s Henry V: the battle of Agincourt.

    Back to Back’s Agincourt draws from iconic film performances such as Laurence Olivier’s Henry V, but places the action in a factory in North Geelong. This industrial re-imagining is replete with hi-viz vests, concrete floors, and a very idiosyncratic costume design consisting of coats of armour made entirely out of cardboard.

    Agincourt begins with the desperate English monarch Henry V (Sarah Mainwaring) calling to his exhausted troops to take up arms against the marauding French, who are marching determinedly down the suburban street towards them.

    The English prepare for war, fortifying the factory space and gathering themselves for an inevitable onslaught, and a heinous confrontation ensues.

    Language and time

    More than 100 community members contributed to this work. A key aim was to ensure North Geelong residents and factory workers were given the opportunity to work as an artist, either in front of the camera or behind the scenes. The audition process included the proviso that every person made their own costume.

    Gladwin works closely with cinematographer/editor Rhian Hinkley and the actors to employ the elements of language and time in very specific ways.

    The performers’ natural speech patterns bring a real spaciousness in the vocal delivery to Shakespeare’s lines. There are also subtitles throughout the work.

    At times a split screen is used which repeats action at slightly differing angles, often in extreme closeup.

    These elements crystallise the audience’s focus, bringing a particular attention to the rich language of Shakespeare. We slow down, we read, we listen. We have time to let the words land, and to see the actors in their own unguarded, vulnerable moments.

    We see the actors in their own unguarded, vulnerable moments.
    Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI

    The performances are strong. In particular, Mainwaring as a set-upon Prince Hal is compelling. Her laser stare is juxtaposed with a slightly wavering physicality which brings the first soliloquy into monumental, rousing proportion as she rallies the troops with the ominous pronouncement “We shall be remembered”.

    Do-it-yourself aesthetic

    Design and sound are front and centre in this 23-minute film. The actors worked with local company Boxwars to make their costumes and props, and Agincourt’s factory setting provides the background for the do-it-yourself aesthetic which features an impressive array of ornately decorated cardboard costumes.

    Props are also made from cardboard and we see swirling maces, pointed lances, bows and arrows, and fearfully brandished swords. The detail is brilliant.

    It is hard to describe the satisfaction of viewing a violent battle staged with cardboard – an inherently theatrical material which has the capacity to be firm and resilient but also to disintegrate spectacularly over time.

    (If you aren’t aware of the delightful cardboard community that is Boxwars, I highly recommend checking out their numerous YouTube videos: you won’t be disappointed.)

    A mythic, epic conflict

    The idea of staging an epic conflict in such a playful way seems outrageous, but there is a mythic quality to the work – the call to arms, the messy scrabbling, the physicality – that transcends the silliness. In the end, there is a kind of gravitas to the action.

    Over the course of the film, Agincourt moves from a grand and heroic sensibility to a sweaty, bloody depiction of war.

    Helmeted riders on horses (made from old mattresses) are pushed into the fray amid forklifts, trolleys and pallets of yarn. Beautiful woven fabrics play backdrop to regal pronouncements as the bricked walls of this industrial space are transformed into a chaotic battlefield.

    The actors worked with local company Boxwars to make their costumes and props.
    Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI

    Gladwin uses his cast of thousands (and stunt directors) to great effect, creating phalanxes of archers raising bows in unison, or lines of soldiers in rows, swords at the ready.

    These orderly patterns are juxtaposed with fight scenes which become more and more volatile as soldiers wade through pulped paper-mud and drag bodies across the concrete floor.

    The sound design is suitably battle worn, accompanying the slow motion death scenes and bloodied faces with war cries, horses galloping and whinnying and the squelch of bodily disembowelment.

    Towards the end of the film, the factory becomes, once again, a work space.

    As the workers in this supported employment service go about their tasks – stripping mattresses, recycling materials, packaging kindling, objects deconstructed and re-purposed – a discussion ensues about how the workers want to be treated: as individuals … or as soldiers.

    Agincourt can be read as a contemporary comment on the viciousness and futility of war. But it is also a charge to action for those whose influence has been underestimated.

    Agincourt is at ACMI, Melbourne, until February 1 2026.

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

    – ref. Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props – https://theconversation.com/back-to-back-theatre-tackles-an-epic-shakespearian-conflict-set-in-a-factory-with-cardboard-props-257545

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia

    Henryk Siemiradzki via Wikimedia Commons

    To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives.

    In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the trials of dating and marriage. Sometimes, the person we love doesn’t love us. Sometimes, we don’t love the person who loves us.

    Ancient Greeks and Romans also had a lot to say about this subject. In fact, most of the issues people face today in their search for love are already mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature.

    So, what did they say? And is the advice they put forward still relevant for modern people?

    Advice for finding a lover

    The Roman poet Ovid (43BCE–17CE) wrote a poem called The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria). In it, he offered advice for those who are still single.

    First, Ovid says, you should make an effort to find someone you’re interested in. Your lover “will not come floating down to you through the tenuous air, she must be sought”.

    As suitable places to find a lover, Ovid recommends walking in porticos and gardens, attending the theatre, or (surprisingly enough) lingering near law courts.

    You need to catch someone’s eye and then invent an excuse to talk with them, he says.

    Seek your lover in the daytime, says Ovid. Be careful of the night. You won’t choose the right person if you’re drunk. And you can’t see their face properly if it’s too dark – they might be uglier than you think.

    Second, Ovid says you need to look presentable. Make sure your clothes are clean and you have a good haircut. Moreover, keep yourself groomed properly at all times:

    Do not let your nails project, and let them be free of dirt; nor let any hair be in the hollow of your nostrils. Let not the breath of your mouth be sour and unpleasing.

    Ovid’s The Art of Love may be regarded as a kind of love manual. But aside from making personal efforts to find a lover, people could also use matchmakers.

    However, matchmaking was a difficult process. Sometimes matchmakers didn’t tell the truth about the situations of the parties involved. So the Athenian writer Xenophon (430–353 BCE) says people were sometimes “victims of deception” in the matchmaking process.

    What if you’re not in love?

    The ancients recognised that not being in love can be a problem. They thought it bad for your mental and physical health, but also for society more broadly.

    For example, the Roman writer Claudius Aelian (2nd–3rd century CE) in his Historical Miscellany says soldiers who are in love will fight better than soldiers who are not in love:

    In the heat of battle when war brings men into combat, a man who is not in love could not match one who is. The man untouched by love avoids and runs away from the man who loves, as if he were an outsider uninitiated into the god’s rites, and his bravery depends on his character and physical strength.

    According to Aelian, the Spartans had a punishment for men who did not fall in love:

    Any man of good appearance and character who did not fall in love with someone well-bred was also fined, because despite his excellence he did not love anyone […] lovers’ affection for their beloved has a remarkable power of stimulating the virtues.

    So, when two people are in love, they can inspire each other and bring out the best in one another. Being in love can help a person become better and achieve more.

    Fighting for and keeping a lover

    If we are lucky, the person we love will also love us back, and we won’t have any love rivals.

    But what happens when the person we love is also loved by someone else? We may need to put in more effort to win the affection of that person, but sometimes this brings us into conflicts.

    For example, the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE), in his On the Orator, tells how Gaius Memmius, Roman tribune of the year 111 BCE, apparently took a bite out of his love rival’s arm, “when he had a quarrel with him at Tarracina over a girlfriend”.

    Some ways to keep one’s lover interested that are mentioned in ancient sources include showing off one’s wealth.

    For example, in one of the plays of the poet Alexis (375–275 BCE) a young man who is in love puts on a large banquet to impress his girlfriend with a display of wealth. Engagements were at that time sometimes cancelled if it turned out the husband was too poor.

    Of course, things did not always work out, and people had grievances against former lovers. One particularly famous invective was from the poet Martial (38–104 CE) to a woman called Manneia:

    Manneia, your little dog licks your face and lips. Small wonder that a dog likes eating dung!

    Timeless concerns

    Today, we often see debates about whether it’s better to stay single or get into a relationship.

    The same goes for antiquity. In the 4th-century BCE play Arrephoros or The Pipe Girl by poet Menander, one character says:

    If you’ve got any sense, you won’t get married […] I’m married myself – which is why I’m advising you not to do it.

    Others lamented that they missed their opportunity for love. So the poet Pindar (6th–5th century BCE) wrote a poem regretting that he could not make the much younger Theoxenus his boyfriend:

    You should have picked love’s flowers at the right time, my heart, when you were young. But as for the sparkling rays from Theoxenus’ eyes, whoever looks on them and is not roiled with longing has a black heart forged with cold fire out of steel or iron.

    Clearly, finding a lover was as difficult then as it is now.

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

    – ref. Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love – https://theconversation.com/avoid-bad-breath-dont-pick-partners-when-drunk-ancient-dating-tips-to-find-modern-love-250792

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology

    K Ly / Deep Random Survey

    This week, astronomers spotted the third known interstellar visitor to our Solar System.

    First detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on July 1, the cosmic interloper was given the temporary name A11pl3Z. Experts at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) have confirmed the find, and the object now has an official designation: I3/ATLAS.

    The orbital path of I3/ATLAS through the Solar System.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech, CC BY-NC

    There are a few strong clues that suggest 3I/ATLAS came from outside the Solar System.

    First, it’s moving really fast. Current observations show it speeding through space at around 245,000km per hour. That’s more than enough to escape the Sun’s gravity.

    An object near Earth’s orbit would only need to be travelling at just over 150,000km/h to break free from the Solar System.

    Second, 3I/ATLAS has a wildly eccentric orbit around the Sun. Eccentricity measures how “stretched” an orbit is: 0 eccentricity is a perfect circle, and anything up to 1 is an increasingly strung-out ellipse. Above 1 is an orbit that is not bound to the Sun.

    3I/ATLAS has an estimated eccentricity of 6.3, by far the highest ever recorded for any object in the Solar System.

    Has anything like this happened before?

    An artist’s impression of the first confirmed interstellar object, 1I/‘Oumuamua.
    ESO/M. Kornmesser, CC BY

    The first interstellar object spotted in our Solar System was the cigar-shaped ‘Oumuamua, discovered in 2017 by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. Scientists tracked it for 80 days before eventually confirming it came from interstellar space.

    The interstellar comet I2/Borisov, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.
    NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA), CC BY-NC

    The second interstellar visitor, comet 2I/Borisov, was discovered two years later by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov. This time it only took astronomers a few weeks to confirm it came from outside the Solar System.

    This time, the interstellar origin of I3/ATLAS has been confirmed in a matter of days.

    How did it get here?

    We have only ever seen three interstellar visitors (including I3/ATLAS), so it’s hard to know exactly how they made their way here.

    However, recent research published in The Planetary Science Journal suggests these objects might be more common than we once thought. In particular, they may come from relatively nearby star systems such as Alpha Centauri (our nearest interstellar neighbour, a mere 4.4 light years away).

    Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, from the triple star system Alpha Centauri.
    ESA/Hubble & NASA, CC BY

    Alpha Centauri is slowly moving closer to us, with its closest approach expected in about 28,000 years. If it flings out material in the same way our Solar System does, scientists estimate around a million objects from Alpha Centauri larger than 100 metres in diameter could already be in the outer reaches of our Solar System. That number could increase tenfold as Alpha Centauri gets closer.

    Most of this material would have been ejected at relatively low speeds, less than 2km/s, making it more likely to drift into our cosmic neighbourhood over time and not dramatically zoom in and out of the Solar System like I3/ATLAS appears to be doing. While the chance of one of these objects coming close to the Sun is extremely small, the study suggests a few tiny meteors from Alpha Centauri, likely no bigger than grains of sand, may already hit Earth’s atmosphere every year.

    Why is this interesting?

    Discovering new interstellar visitors like 3I/ATLAS is thrilling, not just because they’re rare, but because each one offers a unique glimpse into the wider galaxy. Every confirmed interstellar object expands our catalogue and helps scientists better understand the nature of these visitors, how they travel through space, and where they might have come from.

    A swarm of new asteroids discovered by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

    Thanks to powerful new observatories such as the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, our ability to detect these elusive objects is rapidly improving. In fact, during its first 10 hours of test imaging, Rubin revealed 2,104 previously unknown asteroids.

    This is an astonishing preview of what’s to come. With its wide field of view and constant sky coverage, Rubin is expected to revolutionise our search for interstellar objects, potentially turning rare discoveries into routine ones.

    What now?

    There’s still plenty left to uncover about 3I/ATLAS. Right now, it’s officially classified as a comet by the IAU Minor Planet Center.

    But some scientists argue it might actually be an asteroid, roughly 20km across, based on the lack of typical comet-like features such as a glowing coma or a tail. More observations will be needed to confirm its nature.

    Currently, 3I/ATLAS is inbound, just inside Jupiter’s orbit. It’s expected to reach its closest point to the Sun, slightly closer than the planet Mars, on October 29. After that, it will swing back out towards deep space, making its closest approach to Earth in December. (It will pose no threat to our planet.)

    Whether it’s a comet or an asteroid, 3I/ATLAS is a messenger from another star system. For now, these sightings are rare – though as next-generation observatories such as Rubin swing into operation, we may discover interstellar companions all around.

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

    – ref. Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System – https://theconversation.com/astronomers-have-spied-an-interstellar-object-zooming-through-the-solar-system-260422

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 4, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 4, 2025.

    Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology K Ly / Deep Random Survey This week, astronomers spotted the third known interstellar visitor to our Solar System. First detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on July 1, the

    Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia Henryk Siemiradzki via Wikimedia Commons To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives. In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the

    Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI Back to Back Theatre is one of Australia’s national treasures. Over 30 years this dynamic Geelong-based company – an ensemble of actors who are perceived to have intellectual disabilities – has built

    Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University Thurtell/Getty Images Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity. It aims to reduce the

    Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Rattenbury, Associate Professor in Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Environmental Defense Fund, CC BY-SA This week’s announcement of the loss of a methane-detecting satellite, just days before New Zealand was meant to take over mission control, is a blow to the country’s space research

    Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bo Li, Professor, Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al. Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out

    I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Health Science, Swinburne University of Technology AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY Concussion in sport continues to make headlines, whether it be class actions, young men flocking to the highly violent “RunIt” activity or debate about whether Australian rules football

    NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis. The government

    Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney Izabela23/Shutterstock The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that

    6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial

    Grattan on Friday: how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political and news cycles often work in a certain and predictable way. Issues flare like bushfires, then rage for weeks or even months, until they are finally extinguished by action or fade by being overtaken by the next big thing.

    How many serious incidents are happening in Australian childcare centres? We don’t really know
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Catherine Delahaye/ Getty Images This week, a Melbourne childcare worker was charged over alleged sexual abuse of young children in his care. Families are justifiably appalled and furious – with 1,200 children urged to be

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    10 steps governments can take now to stamp out child sexual abuse in care settings
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Distinguished Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology Recent cases of prolific alleged child sexual abuse in Melbourne and other Australian early childhood education and care settings have shocked even experienced people who work to prevent child sexual abuse. Parents are right to be

    Tears, trauma and unpaid work: why men in tinnies aren’t the only heroes during a flood disaster
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Rural and Remote Health, University of Sydney Dan Peled/Getty Images When flooding strikes, our screens fill with scenes of devastated victims, and men performing heroic dinghy rescues in swollen rivers. But another story often goes untold: how women step in, and step up,

    The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace McQuilten, Professor of Art and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, School of Art, RMIT University Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts

    The Rainbow Warrior saga: 1. French state terrorism and NZ’s end of innocence
    COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Immediately after killing Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate. Such was the contempt the French had for the Kiwis and the abilities of our police to pursue

    Does eating cheese before bed really give you nightmares? Here’s what the science says
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia Phoenixns/Shutterstock, The Conversation, CC BY Have you heard people say eating cheese before bed will cause you to have vivid dreams or nightmares? It’s a relatively common idea. And this week, a new study

    Experiencing extreme weather and disasters is not enough to change views on climate action, study shows
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omid Ghasemi, Research Associate in Behavioural Science at the Institute for Climate Risk & Response, UNSW Sydney STR / AFP via Getty Images Climate change has made extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods more frequent and more likely in recent years, and the trend is

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 4, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 4, 2025.

    Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology K Ly / Deep Random Survey This week, astronomers spotted the third known interstellar visitor to our Solar System. First detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on July 1, the

    Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia Henryk Siemiradzki via Wikimedia Commons To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives. In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the

    Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI Back to Back Theatre is one of Australia’s national treasures. Over 30 years this dynamic Geelong-based company – an ensemble of actors who are perceived to have intellectual disabilities – has built

    Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University Thurtell/Getty Images Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity. It aims to reduce the

    Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Rattenbury, Associate Professor in Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Environmental Defense Fund, CC BY-SA This week’s announcement of the loss of a methane-detecting satellite, just days before New Zealand was meant to take over mission control, is a blow to the country’s space research

    Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bo Li, Professor, Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al. Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out

    I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Health Science, Swinburne University of Technology AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY Concussion in sport continues to make headlines, whether it be class actions, young men flocking to the highly violent “RunIt” activity or debate about whether Australian rules football

    NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis. The government

    Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney Izabela23/Shutterstock The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that

    6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial

    Grattan on Friday: how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political and news cycles often work in a certain and predictable way. Issues flare like bushfires, then rage for weeks or even months, until they are finally extinguished by action or fade by being overtaken by the next big thing.

    How many serious incidents are happening in Australian childcare centres? We don’t really know
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Catherine Delahaye/ Getty Images This week, a Melbourne childcare worker was charged over alleged sexual abuse of young children in his care. Families are justifiably appalled and furious – with 1,200 children urged to be

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    10 steps governments can take now to stamp out child sexual abuse in care settings
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Distinguished Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology Recent cases of prolific alleged child sexual abuse in Melbourne and other Australian early childhood education and care settings have shocked even experienced people who work to prevent child sexual abuse. Parents are right to be

    Tears, trauma and unpaid work: why men in tinnies aren’t the only heroes during a flood disaster
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Rural and Remote Health, University of Sydney Dan Peled/Getty Images When flooding strikes, our screens fill with scenes of devastated victims, and men performing heroic dinghy rescues in swollen rivers. But another story often goes untold: how women step in, and step up,

    The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace McQuilten, Professor of Art and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, School of Art, RMIT University Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts

    The Rainbow Warrior saga: 1. French state terrorism and NZ’s end of innocence
    COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Immediately after killing Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate. Such was the contempt the French had for the Kiwis and the abilities of our police to pursue

    Does eating cheese before bed really give you nightmares? Here’s what the science says
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia Phoenixns/Shutterstock, The Conversation, CC BY Have you heard people say eating cheese before bed will cause you to have vivid dreams or nightmares? It’s a relatively common idea. And this week, a new study

    Experiencing extreme weather and disasters is not enough to change views on climate action, study shows
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omid Ghasemi, Research Associate in Behavioural Science at the Institute for Climate Risk & Response, UNSW Sydney STR / AFP via Getty Images Climate change has made extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods more frequent and more likely in recent years, and the trend is

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University

    Thurtell/Getty Images

    Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity.

    It aims to reduce the number of people dying from lung cancer by offering regular low-dose CT scans to people who smoke, and those who have quit. The aim is to detect and treat cancer early before it has spread.

    But the program’s design may further disadvantage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who are disproportionately affected by lung cancer.

    So Australia’s first new cancer screening program in almost 20 years risks entrenching health inequities rather than addressing them.

    Lung cancer is a particular burden

    Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are 2.1 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 1.8 times likely to die from it, compared with non-Indigenous Australians.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are also more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer at a younger age than non-Indigenous Australians.

    Understanding the broader context of lung cancer risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is crucial.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been paid in tobacco rations rather than wages up until the 1960s, excluded from economic and health systems, and targeted by tobacco industry marketing.

    Indigenous-led tobacco control and quit-smoking programs, such as the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program, have made significant progress in reducing smoking rates. Indigenous communities are leading the resistance against tobacco industry harms.

    However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face major barriers to lung cancer screening. This is particularly in rural and remote areas where access to GPs, radiology services and culturally safe care is limited.

    Lung cancer screening should account for this

    Initially, the lung cancer screening program was designed with a lower screening age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – 50 years compared with 55 years for non-Indigenous Australians. This made sense in the face of the earlier and higher risk of lung cancer.

    However, the Medical Services Advisory Committee, the body responsible for assessing applications for public funding, removed this risk-based distinction. Now there’s a general age eligibility of 50-70 years.

    This is a shift from equity (fairness) to equality (sameness). In health, treating everyone equally deepens inequities.

    By contrast, many public health programs strive for equity and reflect the differing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For instance, heart health checks and many vaccines are offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at a younger age.

    There are also possible consequences of lowering the screening age for non-Indigenous Australians from 55 (as originally intended) to 50. Cancer Australia’s report warned this would not provide a favourable balance of benefits and harms, nor would it be cost-effective.

    In this lower-risk population, this could increase the likelihood of detecting slow-growing lung nodules unlikely to cause harm. This can lead to unnecessary tests and procedures, anxiety, psychological distress, overtreatment and even harm.

    While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can also experience these potential harms, the higher risk of lung cancer earlier means the potential benefit from early detection outweighs these risks.

    Let’s call it for what it is – structural racism

    So current eligibility criteria expands the eligibility for lower risk groups. Yet it ignores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ higher risk and cumulative impacts of remoteness, limited access to health services and other health conditions.

    This decision significantly increases the number of people accessing the program. While this may appear equal on the surface, it risks a misallocation of limited health system resources, particularly in an already overstretched health system.

    That’s a clear example of structural racism – when policies that seem neutral actually uphold longstanding inequities, and reinforce disadvantages.

    This has parallels with concerns raised in the United States. Screening guidelines there have been criticised for failing to account for higher rates of lung cancer in African Americans.

    What should we do next?

    If we’re serious about a commitment to equity in cancer outcomes – as outlined in the Australian Cancer Plan and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Plan – we must ensure screening policies do not inadvertently widen inequities.

    We must revisit who’s eligible for screening and how eligibility is determined. This may mean not only considering age and smoking history, but other factors such as a family history of cancer.

    It might also mean predicting lung cancer risk using models such as the PLCOm2012 risk prediction model. However, this particular model has not been validated in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which needs to be a priority.

    Instead, the Medical Services Advisory Committee has prioritised the same screening age for all – administrative simplicity over this more sensitive way of assessing risk.

    We must prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on screening waitlists and follow-up, and strengthen the cultural safety of services.

    We must ensure robust data collection and reporting to evaluate the screening program. Evaluation needs to assess if the program delivers equitable access and outcomes, as well as delivering on effectiveness, safety and cost.

    All these actions are essential to address the higher burden of lung cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and uphold equity and the right to health over administrative simplicity.

    This is the final article in our ‘Finding lung cancer’ series, which explores Australia’s first new cancer screening program in almost 20 years. Read other articles in the series.

    More information about the program is available, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. If you need support to quit smoking, see your doctor or call Quitline on 13 78 48.

    Lisa J. Whop has received funding from Australian government National Health and Medical Research Council, Cancer Australia, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Whop is the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group of Cancer Australia and has been an investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia. The views in this article are their own.

    Alison Brown has been a co-investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia.

    Raglan Maddox has received funding from Australian government National Health and Medical Research Council, Cancer Australia, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Maddox has been an investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia. The views in this article are their own.

    – ref. Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned – https://theconversation.com/australias-new-lung-cancer-screening-program-has-chosen-simplicity-over-equity-and-were-concerned-253614

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University

    Thurtell/Getty Images

    Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity.

    It aims to reduce the number of people dying from lung cancer by offering regular low-dose CT scans to people who smoke, and those who have quit. The aim is to detect and treat cancer early before it has spread.

    But the program’s design may further disadvantage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who are disproportionately affected by lung cancer.

    So Australia’s first new cancer screening program in almost 20 years risks entrenching health inequities rather than addressing them.

    Lung cancer is a particular burden

    Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are 2.1 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 1.8 times likely to die from it, compared with non-Indigenous Australians.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are also more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer at a younger age than non-Indigenous Australians.

    Understanding the broader context of lung cancer risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is crucial.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been paid in tobacco rations rather than wages up until the 1960s, excluded from economic and health systems, and targeted by tobacco industry marketing.

    Indigenous-led tobacco control and quit-smoking programs, such as the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program, have made significant progress in reducing smoking rates. Indigenous communities are leading the resistance against tobacco industry harms.

    However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face major barriers to lung cancer screening. This is particularly in rural and remote areas where access to GPs, radiology services and culturally safe care is limited.

    Lung cancer screening should account for this

    Initially, the lung cancer screening program was designed with a lower screening age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – 50 years compared with 55 years for non-Indigenous Australians. This made sense in the face of the earlier and higher risk of lung cancer.

    However, the Medical Services Advisory Committee, the body responsible for assessing applications for public funding, removed this risk-based distinction. Now there’s a general age eligibility of 50-70 years.

    This is a shift from equity (fairness) to equality (sameness). In health, treating everyone equally deepens inequities.

    By contrast, many public health programs strive for equity and reflect the differing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For instance, heart health checks and many vaccines are offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at a younger age.

    There are also possible consequences of lowering the screening age for non-Indigenous Australians from 55 (as originally intended) to 50. Cancer Australia’s report warned this would not provide a favourable balance of benefits and harms, nor would it be cost-effective.

    In this lower-risk population, this could increase the likelihood of detecting slow-growing lung nodules unlikely to cause harm. This can lead to unnecessary tests and procedures, anxiety, psychological distress, overtreatment and even harm.

    While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can also experience these potential harms, the higher risk of lung cancer earlier means the potential benefit from early detection outweighs these risks.

    Let’s call it for what it is – structural racism

    So current eligibility criteria expands the eligibility for lower risk groups. Yet it ignores Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ higher risk and cumulative impacts of remoteness, limited access to health services and other health conditions.

    This decision significantly increases the number of people accessing the program. While this may appear equal on the surface, it risks a misallocation of limited health system resources, particularly in an already overstretched health system.

    That’s a clear example of structural racism – when policies that seem neutral actually uphold longstanding inequities, and reinforce disadvantages.

    This has parallels with concerns raised in the United States. Screening guidelines there have been criticised for failing to account for higher rates of lung cancer in African Americans.

    What should we do next?

    If we’re serious about a commitment to equity in cancer outcomes – as outlined in the Australian Cancer Plan and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Plan – we must ensure screening policies do not inadvertently widen inequities.

    We must revisit who’s eligible for screening and how eligibility is determined. This may mean not only considering age and smoking history, but other factors such as a family history of cancer.

    It might also mean predicting lung cancer risk using models such as the PLCOm2012 risk prediction model. However, this particular model has not been validated in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which needs to be a priority.

    Instead, the Medical Services Advisory Committee has prioritised the same screening age for all – administrative simplicity over this more sensitive way of assessing risk.

    We must prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on screening waitlists and follow-up, and strengthen the cultural safety of services.

    We must ensure robust data collection and reporting to evaluate the screening program. Evaluation needs to assess if the program delivers equitable access and outcomes, as well as delivering on effectiveness, safety and cost.

    All these actions are essential to address the higher burden of lung cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and uphold equity and the right to health over administrative simplicity.

    This is the final article in our ‘Finding lung cancer’ series, which explores Australia’s first new cancer screening program in almost 20 years. Read other articles in the series.

    More information about the program is available, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. If you need support to quit smoking, see your doctor or call Quitline on 13 78 48.

    Lisa J. Whop has received funding from Australian government National Health and Medical Research Council, Cancer Australia, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Whop is the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group of Cancer Australia and has been an investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia. The views in this article are their own.

    Alison Brown has been a co-investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia.

    Raglan Maddox has received funding from Australian government National Health and Medical Research Council, Cancer Australia, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Maddox has been an investigator on lung cancer screening consultation projects funded by Cancer Australia. The views in this article are their own.

    – ref. Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned – https://theconversation.com/australias-new-lung-cancer-screening-program-has-chosen-simplicity-over-equity-and-were-concerned-253614

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Rattenbury, Associate Professor in Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    Environmental Defense Fund, CC BY-SA

    This week’s announcement of the loss of a methane-detecting satellite, just days before New Zealand was meant to take over mission control, is a blow to the country’s space research sector.

    New Zealand invested NZ$29 million in the MethaneSat mission, built and operated by the US nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, with a goal of growing the nation’s space industry.

    This would have been accomplished through gaining experience in operating a satellite at the University of Auckland’s Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute, and through research led by a team at Earth Sciences New Zealand to use the satellite to measure agricultural sources of methane.

    But on June 20, the satellite lost power and contact with the ground, and appears to be irrecoverable. This is disappointing for everyone on the mission development and operations teams.

    Having been in that position personally when my team lost a miniature satellite after a successful launch, I sympathise. But the benefits New Zealand hoped to gain from the MethaneSat mission will now be limited, at best, and questions need to be asked to learn from the failure.

    Early issues and delays

    The MethaneSat satellite launched in March 2024. New Zealand was meant to take over mission control by the end of last year, but problems with the satellite’s thrusters meant this was delayed to June this year.

    The satellite’s main mission was to detect methane leaks from oil and gas production, but it was also used to track methane sources from agriculture.

    New Zealand was not likely involved in the chain of events leading to the under-performance and delays, nor the eventual loss of the satellite. But as investors in the project, we are entitled to an explanation.

    That a spacecraft fails in orbit is not surprising. The space environment is unforgiving. But there is a question about whether New Zealand should have taken a closer look “under the hood” before investing in MethaneSat.

    The principle of caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies to spacecraft as much as to purchasing a car. While we were not involved in the MethaneSat mission design, satellite construction and testing, we were certainly entitled to relevant information to make a fully informed decision on whether or not to invest.

    Questions remain. During the MethaneSat post-mortem, one could reasonably ask to what extent experts were consulted during the decision-making process to invest in the satellite mission, and who was applying due diligence on behalf of New Zealand taxpayers.

    When earlier issues emerged, to what extent should New Zealand taxpayers, as investors, have been happy with explanations veiled in reported obligations of confidentiality or commercial sensitivity?

    Lessons for future space missions

    New Zealand has scientists and engineers working at publicly-funded universities who can contribute to future decision-making processes for the next taxpayer-funded space mission.

    New Zealand scientists working in the space sector do so knowing full well that the nation’s capacity to fund space missions is limited. Apart from being hard, frustrating, rewarding and unforgiving, working in space is expensive – and there are often delays and setbacks.

    Some of us working in New Zealand space research have been trying to work through how best to advise government on where to spend limited public funding. This will not be an easy task.

    The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is an international organisation established in 1958 to promote global cooperation in space research. It provides a forum for the exchange of scientific results, sets standards for space data sharing, and advises on space policy and planetary protection.

    New Zealand participates in COSPAR as a national member and its committee comprises space science researchers from across the country. As chair of the New Zealand COSPAR committee, I sent a letter to Minister of Space Judith Collins last year offering our services:

    I believe closer collaboration between COSPAR’s initiatives and New Zealand’s aerospace goals would enhance our mutual objectives and strengthen our contribution to the global aerospace community. Specifically, we are uniquely placed to advise on the range of scientific endeavours currently underway […] that could be at the heart of a national space mission.

    Close scrutiny needed

    New Zealand has more talent and good research ideas than funding to support them. So there has to be a way of choosing between competing ideas.

    Crucially, that selection process has to be fully transparent so the investors – New Zealand taxpayers – can have confidence their investment is being safely bestowed.

    My vision is for a funding process for future space missions that addresses scientific goals relevant to New Zealand and takes advantage of the talent we have.
    There will be applicants who miss out, as there always are in any competitive process. But I would like to see support given to unsuccessful applicants to improve their chances in subsequent attempts.

    I work towards fostering the New Zealand space sector, especially in the areas where we can push back the boundaries of human knowledge via the safe, peaceful and sustainable use of space. This is the excitement I see reflected in the students I teach.

    For a nation with ambitions to utilise space for science, technological development and commercial gain, we also have to acknowledge that failure is a part of that journey. To make the best use of our very limited resources, we must examine our processes in the fullest light of disclosure – regardless of whether the failure was technological or in our decision-making processes.

    Nicholas James Rattenbury works for The University of Auckland. He has received funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Royal Society Te Apārangi. He is affiliated with Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute. He is the current Chair of the New Zealand Committee of COSPAR.

    None of the viewpoints expressed in this article necessarily reflect those held by any of the abovementioned organisations or any other organisation or entity mentioned in the article.

    – ref. Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now – https://theconversation.com/lost-in-space-methanesat-failed-just-as-nz-was-to-take-over-mission-control-heres-what-we-need-to-know-now-260407

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

    Financial advice rules explained

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

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

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

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

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

    High-risk products

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

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

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

    What to watch on socials

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

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

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

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

    Your finfluencer vetting toolkit

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

    1. is this finfluencer licensed or authorised?

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

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

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

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

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

    Are you being sold a dream?

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

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

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

    Finfluencers are global

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

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

    Spotted unlicensed influencer activity? Report this misconduct to ASIC.

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

    Financial advice rules explained

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

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

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

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

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

    High-risk products

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

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

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

    What to watch on socials

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

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

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

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

    Your finfluencer vetting toolkit

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

    1. is this finfluencer licensed or authorised?

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

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

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

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

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

    Are you being sold a dream?

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

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

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

    Finfluencers are global

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

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

    Spotted unlicensed influencer activity? Report this misconduct to ASIC.

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney

    Izabela23/Shutterstock

    The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896.

    But it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists could definitively detect the effect of human activities on the Earth’s atmosphere.

    In 1956, United States scientist Charles Keeling chose Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano for the site of a new atmospheric measuring station. It was ideal, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at high altitude away from the confounding influence of population centres.

    Data collected by Mauna Loa from 1958 onward let us clearly see the evidence of climate change for the first time. The station samples the air and measures global CO₂ levels. Charles Keeling and his successors used this data to produce the famous Keeling curve – a graph showing carbon dioxide levels increasing year after year.

    But this precious record is in peril. US President Donald Trump has decided to defund the observatory recording the data, as well as the widespread US greenhouse gas monitoring network and other climate measuring sites.

    We can’t solve the existential problem of climate change if we can’t track the changes. Losing Mauna Loa would be a huge loss to climate science. If it shuts, other observatories such as Australia’s Kennaook/Cape Grim will become even more vital.

    The Keeling Curve tracking steadily rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere came from data gathered at Mauna Loa.
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, CC BY-NC-ND

    What did Mauna Loa show us?

    The first year of measurements at Mauna Loa revealed something incredible. For the first time, the clear annual cycle in atmospheric CO₂ was visible. As plants grow in summer, they absorb CO₂ and draw it out of the atmosphere. As they die and decay in winter, the CO₂ returns to the atmosphere. It’s like Earth is breathing.

    Most land on Earth is in the Northern Hemisphere, which means this cycle is largely influenced by the northern summer and winter.

    The annual cycle of carbon dioxide is largely due to plant growth and decay in the northern hemisphere.

    It only took a few years of measurements before an even more profound pattern emerged.

    Year on year, CO₂ levels in the atmosphere were relentlessly rising. The natural in-out cycle continued, but against a steady increase.

    Scientists would later figure out that the ocean and land together were absorbing almost half of the CO₂ produced by humans. But the rest was building up in the atmosphere.

    Crucially, isotopic measurements meant scientists could be crystal clear about the origin of the extra carbon dioxide. It was coming from humans, largely through burning fossil fuels.

    Mauna Loa has now been collecting data for more than 65 years. The resulting Keeling curve graph is the most iconic demonstration of how human activities are collectively affecting the planet.

    When the last of the Baby Boomer generation were being born in the 1960s, CO₂ levels were around 320 parts per million. Now they’re over 420 ppm. That’s a level unseen for at least three million years. The rate of increase far exceeds any natural change in the past 50 million years.

    The reason carbon dioxide is so important is that this molecule has special properties. Its ability to trap heat alongside other greenhouse gases means Earth isn’t a frozen rock. If there were no greenhouse gases, Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C, rather than the balmy 14°C under which human civilisation emerged.

    The greenhouse effect is essential to life. But if there are too many gases, the planet becomes dangerously hot. That’s what’s happening now – a very sharp increase in gases exceptionally good at trapping heat even at low concentrations.

    Greenhouse gases are the reason Earth isn’t an icebox. But the rate humans are emitting them is leading to very rapid changes.
    Reid Wiseman/NASA, CC BY-NC-ND

    Keeping our eyes open

    It’s not enough to know CO₂ is climbing. Monitoring is essential. That’s because as the planet warms, both the ocean and the land are expected to take up less and less of humanity’s emissions, letting still more carbon accumulate in the air.

    Continuous, high-precision monitoring is the only way to spot if and when that happens.

    This monitoring provides the vital means to verify whether new climate policies are genuinely influencing the atmospheric CO₂ curve rather than just being touted as effective. Monitoring will also be vital to capture the moment many have been working towards when government policies and new technologies finally slow and eventually stop the increase in CO₂.

    The US administration’s plans to defund key climate monitoring systems and roll back green energy initiatives presents a global challenge.

    Without these systems, it will be harder to forecast the weather and give seasonal updates. It will also be harder to forecast dangerous extreme weather events.

    Scientists in the US and globally have sounded the alarm about what the closure would do to science. This is understandable. Stopping data climate collection is like breaking a thermometer because you don’t like knowing you’ve got a fever.

    If the US follows through, other countries will need to carefully reconsider their commitments to gathering and sharing climate data.

    Australia has a long record of direct atmospheric CO₂ measurement, which began in 1976 at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in north-west Tasmania. This and other climate observations will only become more valuable if Mauna Loa is lost.

    It remains to be seen how Australia’s leaders respond to the US retreat from climate monitoring. Ideally, Australia would not only maintain but strategically expand its monitoring systems of atmosphere, land and oceans.

    Alex Sen Gupta receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Katrin Meissner receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation and has received funding from the Australian Research Council in the past.

    Timothy Raupach receives funding from QBE Insurance, Guy Carpenter, and the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down – https://theconversation.com/mauna-loa-observatory-captured-the-reality-of-climate-change-the-us-plans-to-shut-it-down-260403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney

    Izabela23/Shutterstock

    The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896.

    But it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists could definitively detect the effect of human activities on the Earth’s atmosphere.

    In 1956, United States scientist Charles Keeling chose Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano for the site of a new atmospheric measuring station. It was ideal, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at high altitude away from the confounding influence of population centres.

    Data collected by Mauna Loa from 1958 onward let us clearly see the evidence of climate change for the first time. The station samples the air and measures global CO₂ levels. Charles Keeling and his successors used this data to produce the famous Keeling curve – a graph showing carbon dioxide levels increasing year after year.

    But this precious record is in peril. US President Donald Trump has decided to defund the observatory recording the data, as well as the widespread US greenhouse gas monitoring network and other climate measuring sites.

    We can’t solve the existential problem of climate change if we can’t track the changes. Losing Mauna Loa would be a huge loss to climate science. If it shuts, other observatories such as Australia’s Kennaook/Cape Grim will become even more vital.

    The Keeling Curve tracking steadily rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere came from data gathered at Mauna Loa.
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, CC BY-NC-ND

    What did Mauna Loa show us?

    The first year of measurements at Mauna Loa revealed something incredible. For the first time, the clear annual cycle in atmospheric CO₂ was visible. As plants grow in summer, they absorb CO₂ and draw it out of the atmosphere. As they die and decay in winter, the CO₂ returns to the atmosphere. It’s like Earth is breathing.

    Most land on Earth is in the Northern Hemisphere, which means this cycle is largely influenced by the northern summer and winter.

    The annual cycle of carbon dioxide is largely due to plant growth and decay in the northern hemisphere.

    It only took a few years of measurements before an even more profound pattern emerged.

    Year on year, CO₂ levels in the atmosphere were relentlessly rising. The natural in-out cycle continued, but against a steady increase.

    Scientists would later figure out that the ocean and land together were absorbing almost half of the CO₂ produced by humans. But the rest was building up in the atmosphere.

    Crucially, isotopic measurements meant scientists could be crystal clear about the origin of the extra carbon dioxide. It was coming from humans, largely through burning fossil fuels.

    Mauna Loa has now been collecting data for more than 65 years. The resulting Keeling curve graph is the most iconic demonstration of how human activities are collectively affecting the planet.

    When the last of the Baby Boomer generation were being born in the 1960s, CO₂ levels were around 320 parts per million. Now they’re over 420 ppm. That’s a level unseen for at least three million years. The rate of increase far exceeds any natural change in the past 50 million years.

    The reason carbon dioxide is so important is that this molecule has special properties. Its ability to trap heat alongside other greenhouse gases means Earth isn’t a frozen rock. If there were no greenhouse gases, Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C, rather than the balmy 14°C under which human civilisation emerged.

    The greenhouse effect is essential to life. But if there are too many gases, the planet becomes dangerously hot. That’s what’s happening now – a very sharp increase in gases exceptionally good at trapping heat even at low concentrations.

    Greenhouse gases are the reason Earth isn’t an icebox. But the rate humans are emitting them is leading to very rapid changes.
    Reid Wiseman/NASA, CC BY-NC-ND

    Keeping our eyes open

    It’s not enough to know CO₂ is climbing. Monitoring is essential. That’s because as the planet warms, both the ocean and the land are expected to take up less and less of humanity’s emissions, letting still more carbon accumulate in the air.

    Continuous, high-precision monitoring is the only way to spot if and when that happens.

    This monitoring provides the vital means to verify whether new climate policies are genuinely influencing the atmospheric CO₂ curve rather than just being touted as effective. Monitoring will also be vital to capture the moment many have been working towards when government policies and new technologies finally slow and eventually stop the increase in CO₂.

    The US administration’s plans to defund key climate monitoring systems and roll back green energy initiatives presents a global challenge.

    Without these systems, it will be harder to forecast the weather and give seasonal updates. It will also be harder to forecast dangerous extreme weather events.

    Scientists in the US and globally have sounded the alarm about what the closure would do to science. This is understandable. Stopping data climate collection is like breaking a thermometer because you don’t like knowing you’ve got a fever.

    If the US follows through, other countries will need to carefully reconsider their commitments to gathering and sharing climate data.

    Australia has a long record of direct atmospheric CO₂ measurement, which began in 1976 at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in north-west Tasmania. This and other climate observations will only become more valuable if Mauna Loa is lost.

    It remains to be seen how Australia’s leaders respond to the US retreat from climate monitoring. Ideally, Australia would not only maintain but strategically expand its monitoring systems of atmosphere, land and oceans.

    Alex Sen Gupta receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Katrin Meissner receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation and has received funding from the Australian Research Council in the past.

    Timothy Raupach receives funding from QBE Insurance, Guy Carpenter, and the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down – https://theconversation.com/mauna-loa-observatory-captured-the-reality-of-climate-change-the-us-plans-to-shut-it-down-260403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

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

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

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

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

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

    Cost blowouts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Unrealistic timelines

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

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

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

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

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

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

    Cost blowouts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Unrealistic timelines

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY

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

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

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

    Remind me again, what is CTE?

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The grey area of concussion, CTE and mental health

    Currently, CTE cannot be diagnosed in living people.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    An uncomfortable conversation

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

    The answer is, unfortunately it is an inconvenient truth.

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

    There is sizeable opposition to this idea.

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

    This continued hesitation only slows the science of CTE further.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

    What more can be done?

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

    Here are five ideas I believe would make a difference.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

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

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

    Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al.

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

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

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

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

    Why ancient wooden tools are so rare

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

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

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

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

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

    What wooden tools were found at Gantangqing?

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

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

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

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

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

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

    How old are the Gantangqing wooden tools?

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

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

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

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

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

    What was the environment like?

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

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

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

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

    What were the Gantangqing wooden tools used for?

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

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

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

    Why the Gantangqing site is important

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

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

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

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

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

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

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –