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Category: Farming

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes the Make America Healthy Again Commission

    Source: The White House

    MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission.

    • Chaired by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Commission is tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases.
    • Within 100 days, the Commission will produce an assessment that summarizes what is known and what questions remain regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, and include international comparisons.
    • Within 180 days, the Commission will produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children.
    • The Commission has four main policy directives to reverse chronic disease:
      • Empower Americans through transparency and open-source data and avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research.
      • Prioritize gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government.
      • Work with farmers to ensure that U.S. food is the healthy, abundant and affordable.
      • Ensure expanded treatment options and health coverage flexibility for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.
    • The Commission aims to restore trust in medical and scientific institutions and hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, and similar events to receive expert input from leaders in public health.

    ADDRESSING THE RISE OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES: President Trump understands that America’s healthcare system is largely focused on treating chronic illnesses rather than preventing them, leading to a growing health crisis with serious economic and national security consequences.

    • Based on all health indicators and global comparisons, Americans are becoming sicker, beset by illnesses that our medical system isn’t addressing effectively.
      • In the United States, six in 10 adults have at least one chronic condition, and four in 10 have two or more.
      • Prior to COVID, American life expectancy averaged 78.8 years, while comparable countries averaged 82.6 years, creating a gap that equates to 1.25 billion fewer life years for Americans.
      • The United States has the highest age-standardized cancer incidence rate across 204 countries, nearly double the next-highest rate.
        • From 1990 to 2021, the United States saw an 88% increase in cancer.
      • Asthma is far more common in the United States than in other parts of the world, including most of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
    • The rise in chronic conditions is not limited to adults.
      • Childhood is usually the healthiest period of life, yet as of 2022, 30 million (40.7%) United States children had at least one health condition like allergies, asthma, or autoimmune diseases.
      • Autism now affects one in 36 children, a staggering increase from rates of one to four out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s.
      • 18% of teens suffer from fatty liver disease, nearly 30% are prediabetic, and more than 40% are overweight or obese – these conditions were virtually unheard of in prior generations.
      • The incidence of childhood cancer, while still rare, increased 0.8% per year since 1975—an over 40% increase over 45 years.
      • Overmedication, particularly among children, is a growing concern. More than 3.4 million children are currently taking medication for ADD/ADHD and diagnoses continue to rise.
    • Chronic disease has widespread effects, including on our military and our economy.
      • 77% of young adults do not qualify for military service without a waiver, primary due to being overweight, drug use, or mental and physical health issues.
      • 90% of America’s $4.5 trillion healthcare expenditure is directed at managing chronic and mental health conditions.
      • The United States spends almost twice per capita what other wealthy countries spend on healthcare.
    • Americans have lost trust in our health system, skeptical as to whether they are receiving honest answers about the causes of the country’s health crisis and how to improve it.
      • Only a third of Americans trust the U.S. health system, a near-record low.

    TAKING ON THE HEALTH CRISIS: President Trump is fulfilling his promise to tackle the health crisis facing America.

    • President Trump pledged that upon returning to the White House he would establish a special Presidential Commission that’s “not bought and paid for by Big Pharma, and I will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses […] And then, I will ask them to publish recommendations for how every American child can have a safe and healthy childhood.”
    • In his first term, President Trump lowered healthcare costs, provided more healthcare options, and ensured better care for the American people.
    • President Trump has consistently championed initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of Americans. Select actions from the prior Trump Administration include:
      • Passed Right To Try to give terminally ill patients access to lifesaving cures.
      • Signed an executive order to fight kidney disease with more transplants and better treatment.
      • Accelerated medical breakthroughs in genetic treatments for Sickle Cell disease.
      • Declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency and signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest-ever legislative effort to address a drug crisis in our Nation’s history.
      • Expanded access to telehealth, especially in rural and underserved communities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission

    Source: The White House

    class=”has-text-align-left”>By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

    Section 1.  Purpose.  American life expectancy significantly lags behind other developed countries, with pre‑COVID-19 United States life expectancy averaging 78.8 years and comparable countries averaging 82.6 years.  This equates to 1.25 billion fewer life years for the United States population.  Six in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more chronic diseases.  An estimated one in five United States adults lives with a mental illness.

    These realities become even more painful when contrasted with nations around the globe.  Across 204 countries and territories, the United States had the highest age-standardized incidence rate of cancer in 2021, nearly double the next-highest rate.  Further, from 1990-2021, the United States experienced an 88 percent increase in cancer, the largest percentage increase of any country evaluated.  In 2021, asthma was more than twice as common in the United States than most of Europe, Asia, or Africa.  Autism spectrum disorders had the highest prevalence in high-income countries, including the United States, in 2021.  Similarly, autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis are more commonly diagnosed in high-income areas such as Europe and North America.  Overall, the global comparison data demonstrates that the health of Americans is on an alarming trajectory that requires immediate action.

    This concern applies urgently to America’s children.  In 2022, an estimated 30 million children (40.7 percent) had at least one health condition, such as allergies, asthma, or an autoimmune disease.  Autism spectrum disorder now affects 1 in 36 children in the United States — a staggering increase from rates of 1 to 4 out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s.  Eighteen percent of late adolescents and young adults have fatty liver disease, close to 30 percent of adolescents are prediabetic, and more than 40 percent of adolescents are overweight or obese.

    These health burdens have continued to increase alongside the increased prescription of medication.  For example, in the case of Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, over 3.4 million children are now on medication for the disorder — up from 3.2 million children in 2019-2020 — and the number of children being diagnosed with the condition continues to rise.  

    This poses a dire threat to the American people and our way of life.  Seventy-seven percent of young adults do not qualify for the military based in large part on their health scores.  Ninety percent of the Nation’s $4.5 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures is for people with chronic and mental health conditions.  In short, Americans of all ages are becoming sicker, beset by illnesses that our medical system is not addressing effectively.  These trends harm us, our economy, and our security.

    To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must re-direct our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease.  This includes fresh thinking on nutrition, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, over-reliance on medication and treatments, the effects of new technological habits, environmental impacts, and food and drug quality and safety.  We must restore the integrity of the scientific process by protecting expert recommendations from inappropriate influence and increasing transparency regarding existing data.  We must ensure our healthcare system promotes health rather than just managing disease.

    Sec. 2.  Policy.  It shall be the policy of the Federal Government to aggressively combat the critical health challenges facing our citizens, including the rising rates of mental health disorders, obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.  To do so, executive departments and agencies (agencies) that address health or healthcare must focus on reversing chronic disease.  Under this policy:

    (a)  all federally funded health research should empower Americans through transparency and open-source data, and should avoid or eliminate conflicts of interest that skew outcomes and perpetuate distrust;

    (b)  the National Institutes of Health and other health-related research funded by the Federal Government should prioritize gold-standard research on the root causes of why Americans are getting sick;

    (c)  agencies shall work with farmers to ensure that United States food is the healthiest, most abundant, and most affordable in the world; and

    (d)  agencies shall ensure the availability of expanded treatment options and the flexibility for health insurance coverage to provide benefits that support beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.

    Sec. 3.  Establishment and Composition of the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission.  (a)  There is hereby established the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission (Commission), chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Chair), with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy serving as Executive Director (Executive Director).

    (b)  In addition to the Chair and the Executive Director, the Commission shall include the following officials, or their designees:

    (i)     the Secretary of Agriculture;

    (ii)    the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

    (iii)   the Secretary of Education;

    (iv)    the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;

    (v)     the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

    (vi)    the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

    (vii)   the Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy;

    (viii)  the Director of the National Economic Council;

    (ix)    the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers;

    (x)     the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

    (xi)    the Commissioner of Food and Drugs;

    (xii)   the Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

    (xiii)  the Director of the National Institutes of Health; and

    (xiv)   other members of my Administration invited to participate, at the discretion of the Chair and the Executive Director.

    Sec. 4.  Fighting Childhood Chronic Disease.  The initial mission of the Commission shall be to advise and assist the President on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis.  Therefore, the Commission shall:

    (a)  study the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes, including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism;  

    (b)  advise and assist the President on informing the American people regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, using transparent and clear facts; and

    (c)  provide to the President Government-wide recommendations on policy and strategy related to addressing the identified contributing causes of and ending the childhood chronic disease crisis.

    Sec. 5.  Initial Assessment and Strategy from the Make America Healthy Again Commission.  (a)  Make our Children Healthy Again Assessment.  Within 100 days of the date of this order, the Commission shall submit to the President, through the Chair and the Executive Director, the Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment, which shall:

    (i)     identify and describe childhood chronic disease in America compared to other countries;

    (ii)    assess the threat that potential over-utilization of medication, certain food ingredients, certain chemicals, and certain other exposures pose to children with respect to chronic inflammation or other established mechanisms of disease, using rigorous and transparent data, including international comparisons;

    (iii)   assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs;

    (iv)    identify and report on best practices for preventing childhood health issues, including through proper nutrition and the promotion of healthy lifestyles;

    (v)     evaluate the effectiveness of existing educational programs with regard to nutrition, physical activity, and mental health for children;

    (vi)    identify and evaluate existing Federal programs and funding intended to prevent and treat childhood health issues for their scope and effectiveness;

    (vii)   ensure transparency of all current data and unpublished analyses related to the childhood chronic disease crisis, consistent with applicable law;

    (viii)  evaluate the effectiveness of current Federal Government childhood health data and metrics, including those from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics and the National Survey of Children’s Health;

    (ix)    restore the integrity of science, including by eliminating undue industry influence, releasing findings and underlying data to the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, and increasing methodological rigor; and

    (x)     establish a framework for transparency and ethics review in industry-funded projects.

    (b)  Make our Children Healthy Again Strategy.  Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Commission shall submit to the President, through the Chair and the Executive Director, a Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy (Strategy), based on the findings from the Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment described in subsection (a) of this section.  The Strategy shall address appropriately restructuring the Federal Government’s response to the childhood chronic disease crisis, including by ending Federal practices that exacerbate the health crisis or unsuccessfully attempt to address it, and by adding powerful new solutions that will end childhood chronic disease.

    (c)  The Chair may hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, and similar events, as appropriate, and may receive expert input from leaders in public health and Government accountability. 

    Sec. 6.  Additional Reports.  (a)  Following the submission to the President of the Strategy, and any final strategy reports thereafter, the Chair and the Executive Director shall recommend to the President updates to the Commission’s mission, including desired reports.

    (b)  The Commission shall not reconvene, following submission of the Strategy, until an updated mission is submitted to the President through the Executive Director.

    Sec. 7.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

    (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

    (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

    (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

    THE WHITE HOUSE,

        February 13, 2025.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs

    Source: The White House

    MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

    THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

    THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

    THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

    THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

    THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR ECONOMIC POLICY

    THE SENIOR COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING

    SUBJECT: Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs

    Section 1.  Background.  The United States has one of the most open economies and has among the lowest average weighted tariff rates in the world.  The United States imposes fewer barriers to imports than other major world economies, including those with similar political and economic systems.  For many years, the United States has been treated unfairly by trading partners, both friend and foe.  This lack of reciprocity is one source of our country’s large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods — closed markets abroad reduce United States exports and open markets at home result in significant imports.  

         Our workers and industries bear the brunt of unfair practices and limited access to foreign markets.  As noted in the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 (America First Trade Policy Memorandum), this situation is untenable.  The trade deficit of the United States threatens our economic and national security, has hollowed out our industrial base, has reduced our overall national competitiveness, and has made our Nation dependent on other countries to meet our key security needs.  By making trade more reciprocal and balanced, we can reduce the trade deficit; grow the United States economy; and improve our trade relationships with trading partners to the benefit of American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.  

         Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States to reduce our large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods and to address other unfair and unbalanced aspects of our trade with foreign trading partners.  In pursuit of this policy, I will introduce the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan”(Plan).  Under the Plan, my Administration will work strenuously to counter non-reciprocal trading arrangements with trading partners by determining the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner.  This approach will be of comprehensive scope, examining non-reciprocal trade relationships with all United States trading partners, including any: 

         (a)  tariffs imposed on United States products; 

         (b)  unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes imposed by our trading partners on United States businesses, workers, and consumers, including a value-added tax; 

         (c)  costs to United States businesses, workers, and consumers arising from nontariff barriers or measures and unfair or harmful acts, policies, or practices, including subsidies, and burdensome regulatory requirements on United States businesses operating in other countries; 

         (d)  policies and practices that cause exchange rates to deviate from their market value, to the detriment of Americans; wage suppression; and other mercantilist policies that make United States businesses and workers less competitive; and  

         (e)  any other practice that, in the judgment of the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing, imposes any unfair limitation on market access or any structural impediment to fair competition with the market economy of the United States. 

         The Plan shall ensure comprehensive fairness and balance across the international trading system by factoring in losses as a result of measures that disadvantage the United States as applied, regardless of what they are called or whether they are written or unwritten.  

         Sec. 3.  Taking Action.  (a)  After the submission of the specified agency reports due under the America First Trade Policy Memorandum, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing, and the heads of such other executive departments and agencies as the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative deem relevant, shall initiate, pursuant to their respective legal authorities, all necessary actions to investigate the harm to the United States from any non-reciprocal trade arrangements adopted by any trading partners.  Upon completion of such necessary actions, they shall submit to me a report detailing proposed remedies in pursuit of reciprocal trade relations with each trading partner.

         (b)  Within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall assess all fiscal impacts on the Federal Government and the impacts of any information collection requests on the public, and shall deliver an assessment in writing to the President.

         Sec. 4.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this memorandum:

        (a)  “Value-added tax” means a type of consumption tax that is levied on the incremental increase in value of a good or service at each stage of the supply chain.

         (b)  “Nontariff barrier” or “measure” means any government-imposed measure or policy or nonmonetary barrier that restricts, prevents, or impedes international trade in goods, including import policies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, export subsidies, lack of intellectual property protection, digital trade barriers, and government-tolerated anticompetitive conduct of state-owned or private firms.

         Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

              (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

              (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

         (b)  This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

         (c)  This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

         (d)  The United States Trade Representative is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Northland News – $600,000 of Climate Resilient Communities Funding allocated

    Source: Northland Regional Council

    Twenty-two projects around Te Taitokerau are to share $600,000 of Northland Regional Council funding designed to help build climate resilience.
    Council Deputy Chair Tui Shortland says during the council’s Long-Term Plan 2024-2034 consultation, the region’s communities had emphasised the importance they placed on council taking a leading role in helping to build that resilience.
    That had resulted in the council establishing a $600,000 fund to support communities to prepare for the growing effects of climate change and the natural hazard risks our region faces.
    Councillor Shortland says the council had received a huge level of interest from communities across Northland, expressing their ideas and aspirations for a climate resilient future for Te Taitokerau.
    “In this first round we had an overwhelming response, with 96 applications requesting $3.2 million.”
    Councillor Shortland says deciding how to allocate the $600,000 available had been extremely difficult, but 22 projects that met the fund criteria and aimed to build community capacity and strengthen connections to build community resilience would receive a portion of this pūtea.
    “Six of the projects directly focus on building kai resilience for the region.”
    “These include on the ground community-led mahi that aims to educate and empower communities to grow their own kai and projects that identify and strengthen food support networks and develop a strategy for how the region can become self-sufficient in food production and distribution.”
    Four projects supported water supply investigations to future proof water resilience and water tanks in vulnerable communities. “This extends the water resilience mahi NRC previously supported through the Water Resilience Fund which has now been replaced with this Climate Resilient Communities Fund.”
    Three rural marae will receive funding to support the installation of solar panels, improving energy resilience and benefiting the wider community in times of need. Investing in energy security not only keeps the power on when energy infrastructure goes down, but reduces energy costs for our people and importantly helps reduce Te Taitokerau’s greenhouse gas emissions.
    Funding will support four projects that look to nature-based solutions to build resilience to the changing climate, recognising how restoring wetlands, river margins and coastal dune systems can enhance protection from weather events, increase carbon sequestration and support our indigenous biodiversity.
    Three other projects aim to build resilience across multiple impact areas looking holistically at how our resilience could be improved as the climate changes.
    Two planning projects have been funded that will help the respective communities understand how climate change could impact them and to formulate specific plans to reduce these impacts.
    Successful applicants and their projects are:
    • Bream Bay Coastal Care Trust – Bream Bay Coastal Restoration Project ($23,000)
    • Climate Change Taitokerau Northland Trust – Kai Sovereignty Strategy ($20,000)
    • Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand- Te Taitokerau branch – Te Taitokerau How to restore dunes video ($30,708)
    • Community Business Environment Centre – Hokinganui a Kai ($40,000)
    • Hokianga Community Educational Trust – He Kete Kai o Hokianga -Future Proofing our Hokianga Food Systems ($36,786.39)
    • Matatina Marae Trust – Matatina Kai Whenua – community garden at marae for self sufficiency ($22,476)
    • Maungarongo Whenua Trust on behalf of Ricco Tito -Taiao Kaitiaki Oranga ō te Waīma ($30,000)
    • Morehu Marae Committee – Water tank replacement at marae ($7127.66)
    • Ngaitupoto Trustees Marae – Solar system ($35,000)
    • Opuawhanga Community Hall Trust – Resilience Network ($10,500)
    • Oromahoe 18R2B2B2 Trust – Te Wai Ora, Te Whenua Ora: Oromahoe Water Feasibility Study ($25,000)
    • Pakanae 5A Trust – Cultural and Nature-Based Resilience Programme ($30,000)
    • Puketawa Marae – Solar Energy for marae resilience ($26,037.49)
    • Roma Marae – Te Ngao ki te Marae o Roma (Energy Resilience at Roma Marae) ($25,000)
    • Rural Support Trust Northland – Rural Support Climate Resilience ($40,000)
    • Te Hapua Sports and Recreation Club – Water Resilience ($6956.52)
    • Te Kōhanga Reo O Manaakitia – Kia manawaroa Te Kōhanga Reo o Manaakitia ($7200)
    • Te Maire Whanau Trust – Whānau-Led Fruit Orchard Development ($30,000)
    • Te Paatu ki Kauhanga Trust Board – Kāmehameha ($40,000)
    • Te Pokapu Tiaki Taiao O Te Tai Tokerau Trust -Tuituia Te Kahunuku & Food Resiliency ($32,325)
    • Te Runanga o Ngati Hine Trust – Tanks a lot ($40,000)
    • Whakapara Marae Trust – Te Taiao o nga Waipukehia” The environment of the flooded waters ($30,000) .

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Rob Hewett appointed new AgriZeroNZ board Chair

    Source: New Zealand Government

    A new Government appointment of agricultural industry leader Rob Hewett to chair AgriZeroNZ will help boost the public-private joint venture’s efforts to get new tools, technology, and practices to lower on-farm emissions to farmers faster.

    Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay today announced Mr Hewett’s appointment to the Chair position for a three-year term until 3 February 2028.

    “We’re delighted to have appointed Mr Hewett to the board, following the recommendation of the joint venture’s private sector partners,” Ms Willis says.

    “As an experienced chair of several energy and agri-related entities, as well as a farmer, Mr Hewett’s strategic insights will make a significant contribution to driving forward AgriZeroNZ’s work to help farmers reduce emissions while maintaining their competitive edge.”

    “Kiwi farmers are some of the most innovative in the world and AgriZeroNZ is accelerating the development and deployment of practical tools and solutions to support our farmers increase productivity without closing down farms or sending jobs overseas,” Mr McClay says.

    “There’s currently $46.2 million committed across AgriZero’s investment portfolio, with 13 investments to date and a further 81 on the radar.”

    Projects include:

    • research into methane vaccines and methane inhibitors 
    • innovative probiotics 
    • pasture treatments.

    Ms Willis says the new tools and technologies developed through AgriZeroNZ investment will contribute to New Zealand’s economic growth. 

    “Our agricultural sector makes a substantial contribution to our economy and it’s essential that New Zealand remains productive while continuing to meet market expectations. The outcomes from these investments will help maintain New Zealand’s excellent reputation as a premium low-emissions producer of food and fibre.”

    Rob Hewett commenced his role as Chair on 3 February 2025. The previous AgriZeroNZ Chair, Sir Brian Roche, finished his term on 31 October to take up the role of Public Services Commissioner, with Fraser Whineray taking on the role as interim Chair.

    “Ms Willis and I would like to thank Sir Brian and Mr Whineray for their contributions, and we look forward to working with Mr Hewett as his term begins,” says Mr McClay.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Support for Farmers to Reduce Post-Harvest Losses and Enhance Cold Chain Infrastructure

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 6:14PM by PIB Delhi

    Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) is implementing a central sector umbrella scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). Under component schemes of PMKSY, Ministry provides financial assistance up to ₹15 crore, @ 35% of eligible project cost for projects in general areas & @50% of eligible project cost for projects in Difficult Areas as well as for projects of SC/ST, FPOs & SHG, for setting up food processing industries. PMKSY is a comprehensive package of component schemes, viz. (i) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (Cold Chain scheme), (ii) Operation Greens (OG scheme)- Long term intervention, (iii) Creation of Infrastructure for Agro Processing Cluster (APC scheme), (iv) Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC scheme), (v) Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages (CBFL scheme) -discontinued w.e.f. 01.04.2021 and (vi) Mega Food Park scheme (MFP scheme) – discontinued w.e.f. 01.04.2021, which aims at creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It provides a boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country, helps in providing better prices to farmers, creates employment opportunities especially in the rural areas, reduces wastage of agricultural produce, increases the processing levels and enhances the export of processed foods. The details of number of projects approved in component schemes of PMKSY are given at Annexure-I.

    Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing the Central Sector Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure as one of the component of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana with the objective of reducing post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce. The scheme provides for financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid @ 35% of eligible project cost for projects in General Areas and @ 50% of eligible project cost for projects in Difficult areas as well as for the projects of SC/ST, FPOs and SHGs, subject to the maximum of Rs.10 Crore per project for setting up integrated cold chain projects, including irradiation facilities, without any break from the farm gate to the consumer. The details of number of projects approved, completed and capacity created under Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure are at Annexure-II.

    The food processing infrastructure adds to the income of the farmers by significantly reducing the wastage, better price realization, and by providing better forward and backward linkages. Cold Chain scheme is demand driven and proposals are invited by the Ministry from across the country through floating Expression of Interests (EoIs) from time to time based on availability of funds under the scheme.

    ANNEXURE-I

     

    Details of number of projects approved in component schemes of PMKSY

    Sr.No.

    Scheme

    Approved Projects

    Approved GIA (Rs in Crore)

    1

    Agro Processing Cluster

    75

    194.04

    2

    Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages

    61

    143.31

    3

    Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure

    397

    2108.02

    4

    Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities

    526

    1083.84

    5

    Mega Food Park

    41

    1175.27

    6

    Operation Greens

    45

    42.41

     

    Total

    1145

    4746.89

     

    ANNEXURE-II

     

    Details of projects approved, completed and capacity created under Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure component of PMKSY

    Sr. No.

    Scheme

    Approved Projects

    Completed Projects

    Processing Capacity  (Lakh MT per annum)

    Preservation Capacity

    (Lakh MT per annum)

    1

    Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure

    397

    286

    112.35

    25.39

    Total

    397

    286

    112.35

    25.39

     

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Shri Ravneet Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Cold Storage and Supply Chain Infrastructure Under PMKSY

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 6:13PM by PIB Delhi

    The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been implementing Central Sector Umbrella Scheme – PMKSY since 2016-17 to create post-harvest infrastructure and processing facilities to boost the overall development of the food processing sector including reduction in post-harvest losses. The component schemes under PMKSY provide credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing/preservation infrastructure which, inter-alia, includes cold storages and refrigerated vehicles to minimize post-harvest losses.

    The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing schemes to boost food processing industries through infrastructure creation, grant of sales based incentives, capacity expansion, and other supporting measures. Under component schemes of PMKSY, as per the Scheme guidelines, consent to operate (CTO) issued by the concerned state Pollution board/Agency in respect of Water and Air, is mandatory for release of instalment of Grant-In-Aid/Subsidy to the approved projects. Further, Project Implementation Agency (PIA) has to comply with the requirements of Cold Chain infrastructure as per the directions of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate change, Government of India with respect to use of Non-ODS (Non- Ozone depleting Substances) and low GWP (Low Global Warming Potential) refrigerants-based energy efficient cooling systems.  

    Under PMKSY component schemes, assistance can also be availed for Renewable/alternate energy technologies (solar, bio-mass, wind, etc.) for the project (Max. eligible permissible cost is Rs. 35 Lakh per project). Eligible entities from across the country may apply and avail the benefits.

    National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship & Management -Thanjavur under Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has made efforts to promote and develop sustainable packaging technology through development of biodegradable plastics, safe and environmental friendly packaging solutions from biopolymers such as poly lactic acid (PLA), starch, nano fibres etc

    The Ministry of Food Processing Industries through implementation of PMKSY, helps in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet across the country. The scheme not only provide a boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also helps in, interalia, reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level and enhancing the export of the processed foods.

    MoFPI is also implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme- PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) for providing technical, financial and business support for setting up/upgradation of 2 lakh Micro Food Processing Enterprises. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been launched by MoFPI for the period 2021-22 to 2026-27 to create global food champions and improving the visibility of Indian food brands abroad.

    Besides above, the allied Ministries/Departments and their Agencies such as Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, APEDA, MPEDA, etc. also extend enabling support through their respective schemes like Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Agriculture Export Promotion Plan Scheme, National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility, etc.

    Steps to help the agri-products and the processed foods export sector include inter- alia financial assistance to exporters by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Scheme of quality control, setting up of in house quality control laboratory and implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) in processing units, conducting awareness programme on quality assurance and quality management system and training programme on food safety norms, developing packaging for export of various food products and setting up of agri export zones in geographically contiguous areas in different states. In addition. Ministry of Food Processing Industries, under its Plan Scheme, also provides financial assistance to food processing industries for implementation of total quality management including ISO 9000, HACCP etc. and to establish Quality Control Laboratories in the Country

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Shri Ravneet Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Promotion of Food Processing in Rural and Backward Regions

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 6:12PM by PIB Delhi

    In order to promote and ensure overall development of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been incentivizing setting up/expansion of related infrastructure through its Central Sector Scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and Centrally sponsored PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme across the country including rural and backward regions. These schemes are not region or state specific but demand driven.

    Under PMKSY, credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) is provided to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing industries with total outlay of Rs 5520 Cr for 15th Finance Commission Cycle.

    Under PMFME scheme, financial, technical and business support is provided for setting up / upgradation of micro food processing enterprises. The scheme is operational for a period of upto 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs.10,000 Crore.

    PLISFPI is, inter alia, intended to support creation of global food manufacturing champions and support Indian brands of food products in international market. The Scheme is operational for a period from 2021-22 to 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs. 10,900 crores.

    Ministry of Food Processing Industries, under its schemes, does not provide financial assistance for establishment of standalone cold storages facilities. However, it incentivizes creation of cold chain, preservation and value addition infrastructure as part of food processing projects under relevant component schemes of PMKSY.

    These schemes aim towards creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet which includes storage, transportation, value addition, etc., thereby help in providing better returns to farmers and creating huge employment opportunities, reducing wastage of agricultural produce and increasing the processing level.

    Ministry extends financial support to prospective entrepreneurs for setting up of different kinds of food processing industries including bananas processing, as per respective scheme guidelines.

    Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which capital assistance is provided for various horticulture activities including Construction/Expansion/ Modernization of cold storages of capacity up to 5000 MT in the country on the basis of Annual Action Plan (AAP) received from States/UTs. AAPs are prepared by the States/UTs based on their requirement, capacity and availability of resources. The component of Cold Storage is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Missions. Under the scheme, assistance is available to individuals, Groups of farmers/ growers/ consumers, Partnership/ Proprietary firms, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Farmers Producer Organization (FPOs), Companies, Corporations, Cooperatives, Cooperative Marketing Federations, Local bodies, Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) & Marketing Boards and State Governments.

    Scheme also provides assistance for setting up of food processing units in North East and Himalayan States only;. For Food Processing Units credit linked back ended assistance @ 50% of eligible project cost, in North Eastern and Himalayan States of the maximum project cost of Rs. 800.00 lakh/unit is available.”

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Shri Ravneet Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Welcome Peru’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, Ask about the High Percentage of the Workforce in the Informal Sector and Sexual Violence against Children in the Condorcanq

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today concluded its review of the fifth periodic report of Peru, with Committee Experts welcoming the State’s adoption of a national action plan on business and human rights, while asking about the high percentage of the workforce in the informal sector and sexual violence against children in the Condorcanqui region.

    Michael Windfuhr, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Peru, welcomed the State’s adoption of a national action plan on business and human rights, and the training it had provided for officials on business and human rights. 

    Karla Vanessa Lemus De Vásquez, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, said the Committee was concerned that more than 70 per cent of the workforce, including 85 per cent of migrant workers, worked in the informal sector. The taxation system discouraged companies and workers from transitioning into the formal sector.  Would the State party amend tax provisions and promote the transition into the formal sector? 

    Santiago Manuel Fiorio Vaesken, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, said it was concerning to receive reports of cases of systemic sexual abuse of children and adolescents by teachers, particularly in the Condorcanqui region, including more than 600 reported cases of sexual abuse.  What was being done to eliminate the systemic sexual abuse in this region and punish the perpetrators?  What was the State doing to guarantee access to justice for victims? What mechanisms were being developed to prevent such crimes and their recurrence?  What was the State doing to ensure oversight in schools? 

    Concerning the informal sector, the delegation said Peru had conducted awareness raising campaigns and provided training to public officials on migrants’ labour rights.  In addition, it had conducted activities to promote trade union rights, with a particular emphasis on the agricultural sector. There had been improvements in levels of formal employment between 2021 and 2023, thanks to a new law promoting the transition to the formal sector. 

    The delegation said the State wanted to ensure the cases in Condorcanqui were being appropriately investigated and punished.  The intersectoral plan of action for Condorcanqui was a guide to monitor progress to prevent and deal with sexual violence against children in the province. Teachers had been trained on sexual and reproductive health rights and health professionals had been recruited. A multisectoral roundtable had been held to tackle sexual violence against children in the Condorcanqui province. Teachers who had restraining orders could not teach in 2025.  Intercultural mediators had also been recruited to deal with the issue.  There was an investigation relating to the proceedings and cases submitted. 

    Luis Fernando Domínguez Vera, Director-General for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Peru and head of the delegation, introducing the report, said Peru was a democratic, social, independent and sovereign State committed to upholding human rights and democratic principles.  To advance the fight against poverty, the National Policy for Development and Social Inclusion 2030 was approved in 2022.  At the end of 2024, the “pension 65” programme granted protection to over 830,000 older adults in extreme poverty.  The draft national policy on indigenous peoples included regulations on prior consultation processes.  Designed in a participatory manner with national indigenous organizations, the policy promoted public services that would reduce inequality and generate social and economic development for the indigenous population.  The State reaffirmed its commitment to building a more just, inclusive, and equitable society. 

    In concluding remarks, Mr. Windfuhr thanked the delegation for the effort made during the dialogue.  The Committee would appreciate if the outcome of the constructive dialogue would be published in Peru and made available to all stakeholders.

    In his concluding remarks Mr. Domínguez Vera thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue.  Peru had full respect for economic, social and cultural rights, particularly for those in vulnerable situations, and would aim to strengthen national efforts to achieve these rights under the Covenant. 

    The delegation of Peru was comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, and the Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Committee’s seventy-seventh session is being held until 28 February 2025.  All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage.  Webcasts of the meetings of the session can be found here, and meetings summaries can be found here.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Friday, 14 February to conclude its consideration of the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom (E/C.12/GBR/7).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the fifth periodic report of Peru (E/C.12/PER/5).

    Presentation of Report

    LUIS FERNANDO DOMÍNGUEZ VERA, Director-General for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Peru and head of the delegation, said Peru was a democratic, social, independent and sovereign State committed to upholding human rights and democratic principles.  Approximately 99.8 per cent of inhabitants were currently covered by health insurance.  Non-resident foreigners diagnosed with HIV or tuberculosis were authorised to enrol for insurance. 

    To advance the fight against poverty, the National Policy for Development and Social Inclusion 2030 was approved in 2022.  At the end of 2024, the “pension 65” programme granted protection to over 830,000 older adults in extreme poverty.  The Cooperation Fund for Social Development had intervened in 573 population centres, financing development projects, and there were also other programmes providing monetary incentives to vulnerable households.  One programme benefited 1.5 million people in poverty in rural areas from 2019 to 2024, promoting access to health services, justice and development, financial inclusion, and education.

    To ensure the prevention of forced labour, a new protocol against forced labour was approved in 2023, which committed public institutions to a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to cases of forced labour with a victim-centred approach.  Since 2003, the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour had been working with public and private non-profit institutions on activities to prevent child labour.  The national policy for the prevention and eradication of child labour was also being formulated.  The child labour rate had been reduced by 5.8 percentage points from 2012 to 2023.

    To prevent gender-based violence, the Ministry of Health had carried out training workshops and counselling sessions to promote healthy cohabitation for couples, and as of 2024, had trained 155,600 health professionals on the subject.  As part of State nutritional programmes for pregnant women and children, half a million children aged up to 12 months and over 94,000 pregnant women were supported and around seven million home visits were made from February to November 2024.

    To reduce gaps in educational performance, a sectoral policy to strengthen intercultural and bilingual education was being drawn up. To address school dropouts, since 2012, bicycle kits had been distributed to the poorest educational institutions in rural areas, and an intervention was created in 2018 to support river transport in the Amazon area.  Both interventions benefitted more than 90,000 students.

    With regard to drinking water and sanitation services, the Government had implemented various strategies to reduce issues related to access, quality and sustainability of drinking water and sanitation services in the country.  The Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation was developing two important drinking water, sewerage and wastewater treatment projects that would support access to these services for more than 83,000 people in Lima and Callo.  In July 2024, the State approved a roadmap towards a circular economy in drinking water and sanitation, which would promote the efficient use of drinking water and the reuse of wastewater.

    Peru remained firmly committed to becoming more sustainable. In 2024, environmentally friendly investment projects were launched in sectors such as mining, transportation, electricity, hydrocarbons, agriculture, sanitation and health. 

    The draft national policy on indigenous peoples included regulations on prior consultation processes.  Designed in a participatory manner with national indigenous organizations, the policy promoted public services that would reduce inequality and generate social and economic development for the indigenous population. Further, the “alert service against racism” guided citizens on actions to be taken in the face of discrimination and the recently approved “Peru without racism 2030” strategy aimed to improve procedures to guarantee citizens timely attention to cases of ethnic or racial discrimination.

    The State reaffirmed its commitment to building a more just, inclusive, and equitable society.  It had approved the National Multisectoral Human Rights Policy 2040, which aimed to achieve substantial progress in social inclusion and respect for human rights. The State would continue to work for the full exercise of economic, social and cultural rights for all people, with the national multisectoral human rights policy 2040 as a guide.  The State’s multisectoral efforts to eradicate inequality and discrimination and the dialogue with the Committee would allow Peru to continue to implement the Covenant efficiently.

    Questions by a Committee Expert

    MICHAEL WINDFUHR, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Peru, said Peru’s Constitution covered economic, social and cultural rights in a comprehensive manner.  How often was the Covenant used in court rulings?  Were judges trained in Covenant rights?  How did economic, social and cultural rights inform policy making? How was the national human rights institution dealing with economic, social and cultural rights and related complaints?  Were rules regarding the election of the Ombudsman in line with the Paris Principles? Did the State party plan to ratify the individual complaints procedure for the Covenant and to revisit ratification of the Escazú Agreement?

    The Committee was concerned by repeated declarations of states of emergency by Peru, including in connection with social protests.  Also of concern was the frequent deployment of the armed forces during states of emergency and for domestic law and order tasks.  There were multiple reports of violent suppression of protesters and other human rights violations occurring at protests in 2020 and 2023.  What was the State party doing to prevent violence against and intimidation of protestors?  The State had been criticised for describing protests as “terrorist activities”, a severe step given Peru’s strict anti-terrorism legislation.  How did the State party plan to change discourse around protests?  What was the intention of the new law on the control of the finances of civil society organizations?

    Human rights defenders in Peru reportedly faced threats to their life and family, as well as intimidation and sanctions, particularly for activists protesting mining, oil, and agricultural projects.  There had been an increase in murders of indigenous community leaders defending their territories.  The Committee welcomed the State’s decision to finance an office to investigate abuse of human rights defenders.  How many attacks against human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, had the State party recorded?  How would the State party prevent attacks against human rights defenders and delays in justice for victims?

    How did the State party ensure free, prior and informed consent from indigenous communities for development projects and protection for indigenous territories? Mr. Windfuhr welcomed the State’s adoption of a national action plan on business and human rights and the training it had provided for officials on business and human rights.  What were the sectors with the highest risks of human rights violations?  How did the State party monitor human rights impacts in the extractive and agricultural sectors?  What measures were in place to support small-scale indigenous farmers and indigenous peoples?

    The Committee welcomed the State party’s national climate change adaptation plan and disaster preparedness activities.  What progress had been made in meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets? Why had 38 new licences for the exploitation of hydrocarbons been granted?  How did the State party control the impact of deforestation activities and hydrocarbon spillages?  How did it assess its climate change adaptation projects?  Several legislative decrees from 2013 to 2015 had weakened environmental regulation and oversight, preventing the imposition of fines on polluting companies.  Were there plans to revise these?

    Public spending in health, education and sport had increased up to 2018.  How had spending progressed since then? Twenty-seven per cent of the population lived in poverty and five per cent in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to 20 and three per cent respectively in 2019.  The tax system reportedly did little to alleviate poverty.  How would the State party reform tax policies to reduce inequality and address poverty?  Around one per cent of the population held one-third of the State’s income.  How would the State party promote income equality and prevent corruption?

    The Committee welcomed efforts to promote respect for the rights of women, children, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons through national action plans. Several plans had terminated in 2021; had they been renewed?  Was the State party planning new policies to sanction non-State actors that violated the rights of vulnerable groups?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said Peru was a democratic State that respected human rights, and rejected allegations to the contrary.  It did not persecute persons who expressed their opinions freely.  The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had in 2024 noted the efforts that Peru had exerted to implement its recommendations related to the protection of the rights of protesters.  In December 2022, a multi-sectoral commission was set up to address the needs of wounded persons and the family members of persons who had died in protests.  An investigation had been carried out into incidents occurring during the 2022 and 2023 protests, and a directive had been developed to ensure appropriate human rights-based responses from the police to protests.  A human rights office had also been established in the police force.

    The procedure for electing the Ombudsman had not changed; it was determined by the Constitution.  The Constitution stipulated that all international instruments ratified by Peru could be applied directly by the justice system.  Peru was considering ratification of the Escazú Agreement.

    Peru had established an intersectoral mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders and a platform through which human rights defenders could make complaints.  Eight regional roundtables had been established on the protection of human rights defenders in areas in which they were active.

    As part of actions under the national action plan on business and human rights, the State had trained 197 public and private sector workers on business and human rights and had developed a training programme for trade unions.  Awareness raising campaigns on due diligence had also been developed.

    The COVID-19 pandemic had increased poverty rates in Peru.  The State party was collecting data to inform targeted policies to support vulnerable households.  A multi-sectoral committee and strategy aiming to reduce urban poverty had been established.  The Government was working to increase access to State services for low-income households. There were State benefits for early childhood, students, and households living in poverty.  The State had also implemented a programme promoting access to school feeding programmes.

    The “CONACOT” National Council on Discrimination was working to promote human rights and peaceful coexistence and assessing individual complaints related to discrimination.  Awareness raising campaigns had been carried out to eliminate discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.  The Council had developed a platform for reporting discrimination and monitoring follow-up to cases.

    Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on plans to address threats against human rights defenders from private actors; plans to develop a general anti-discrimination law; whether the State party had a system for monitoring recommendations from the treaty bodies; the contributions that civil society had made to the State party’s report; the standards in place to guarantee the right to free, prior and informed consent for indigenous peoples; steps taken by the Government to combat illegal mining, which had allegedly destroyed 30,000 hectares of forest and leaked large volumes of mercury into the Amazon River; measures to regularise the mining sector and ensure that legislative reforms did not promote impunity for illegal miners; progress made in implementing the national policy for persons with disabilities; reasons why the budget for supporting persons with disabilities had been reduced; barriers to promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons; and plans to close down the Ministry for Women.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said Peru had a law against acts of discrimination, which imposed punishments for perpetrators of such acts. All public policies and programmes promoted inclusion and the redistribution of wealth.  The Ministry for Justice and Human Rights included a body that followed up on recommendations from human rights protection bodies, and a national digital platform had been set up to manage and monitor responses to these recommendations.  There were national standards for free, prior and informed consent and judicial remedies were available in cases of violations of citizens’ rights.

    Job centres matched job seekers’ skills to employers’ needs.  Economic incentives and a range of other policies were in place to promote access to employment, including self-employment, for young persons living in poverty.

    The Government had yet to decide whether to merge the Ministry of Women with other ministries.  Whether or not the merger took place, the State would continue to implement this ministry’s mandate.

    Questions by a Committee Expert

    KARLA VANESSA LEMUS DE VÁSQUEZ, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, asked whether the State party had updated the national action plan on forced labour and related strategies.  What measures were in place to strengthen the capacity of the National Commission on Forced Labour?  Current measures were reportedly not sufficient for promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities into formal employment.  There were no sanctions for companies that did not respect disability quotas.  What measures were in place to provide training on reasonable accommodation and ensure that workplaces were accessible?

    The Committee was concerned that more than 70 per cent of the workforce, including 85 per cent of migrant workers, worked in the informal sector.  The taxation system discouraged companies and workers from transitioning into the formal sector.  Would the State party amend tax provisions and promote the transition into the formal sector?  Temporary contracts could be renewed for up to five years for an unlimited number of times. Were there plans to reform legislation on temporary contracts to limit their use?

    What criteria were used to establish and update the minimum wage?  What measures had the State party taken to ensure appropriate oversight of the informal sector to prevent adolescents from engaging in dangerous work?  How was the Government promoting trade union representation and informing workers about trade union rights?  What sectors were restricted from engaging in strikes?  How did the State party ensure effective protection from reprisals for strikers?

    How did the State party ensure that social services had sufficient resources?  The International Labour Organization had called for a comprehensive protection system for the unemployed.  What progress had been made on its implementation?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said reports on the implementation of annual disability policies had been published by the State, including in Easy Read format.  There were State programmes in place promoting persons with disabilities’ access to employment.  A forum had been set up that displayed job information tailored to persons with disabilities, and job fairs for persons with disabilities were also held in various regions.  The State party provided training to public officials and private sector employers on promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in workplaces and providing reasonable accommodation.

    The State party had conducted awareness raising campaigns and provided training to public officials on migrants’ labour rights.  In addition, it had conducted activities to promote trade union rights, with a particular emphasis on the agricultural sector.  There had been improvements in levels of formal employment between 2021 and 2023, thanks to a new law promoting the transition to the formal sector.  Since 2021, the Directorate for the Settlement of Labour Disputes had conducted 213 interventions to settle disputes between employers and employees. There had been 17 trade unions established in the agricultural sector since 2021.  Around 540,000 workers in Peru were affiliated with a union; affiliation with unions was voluntary.

    The State party was drafting a new policy aimed at the eradication of forced labour and it hoped to conclude these efforts in coming weeks.  Peru had developed three national action plans on combatting forced labour, the most recent of which ended in 2022.  This plan had had a positive impact, with over 70 per cent of its measures having been effectively implemented.  A national day for the eradication of forced labour had been established, and data collection on forced labour had been strengthened. Outreach on preventing forced labour was conducted nationally.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on the number of people benefitting from programmes promoting employment of persons with disabilities; measures to resolve wage disputes involving persons with disabilities; disaggregated data on access to social services in the State party; plans to reform the pension system to make it more sustainable and to guarantee a minimum income for all older persons; measures to protect workers in the mining industry from acts of violence and intimidation; measures to ensure the traceability of illegally mined gold, prevent illegal mining, and provide remedies for harms caused; how the labour inspection system addressed the situation in remote areas; and protections for workers in the illegal mining sector.

    LUDOVIC HENNEBEL, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, asked about measures to guarantee access to protection and justice services for women victims of violence.  To what extent had protective legislation been implemented?  Why were acts of femicide and domestic violence still prevalent in the State party despite legislative developments?  What measures were in place to tackle systemic sexual violence in schools, particularly in rural areas?

    How would the State party effectively implement the prohibition of child marriage and make all such unions void?  How would it tackle de-facto unions?  What measures were in place to combat child labour in agricultural and mining sectors?

    Was the State party planning to bolster protections against forced evictions?  There was a clear disparity between social classes in terms of access to housing.  How would the State party address this?  How was it supporting access to water infrastructure in rural areas and preventing the contamination of water sources by extractive industries? Around 31 per cent of the population was exposed to heavy metal pollution in water sources.  What measures were in place to combat overexploitation of natural resources by extractive industries?

    What programmes were in place to combat malnutrition?  How did the State ensure that indigenous communities could benefit from food distribution programmes?  How was the Government tackling child malnutrition and anaemia? What measures were in place to bolster the national healthcare system, particularly in rural areas, and to combat the shortage of pharmaceutical products?  How was the State party supporting access to quality mental health services in rural areas and preventing suicides, tackling HIV infections in indigenous communities, and combatting discrimination against persons suffering from HIV?  How was it supporting access to contraception and abortions and preventing obstetric violence?  What support systems were available for girls who were victims of rape and incest?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said in 2024, the Congress presented a bill to adapt the scope of Peruvian sign language and ensure public and private entities would provide for it. This was being carried out to enhance the implementation of Peruvian sign language. 

    Persons who were self-employed were included in the informal economy.  The Ministry of Labour undertook different activities to ensure the self-employed could transit to a formal economy.  Guidelines had been adopted to strengthen the production of formal and decent self-employment to guide actions to promote self-employment at all levels of Government. 

    The General Directorate of Employment had been looking at adolescents who worked for others to ensure decent working conditions for them and avoid the worst forms of child labour.  The State had a model to identify and eradicate child labour.  Peru dealt with cases identified in different authority areas. When it came to monitoring and oversight of children engaged in dangerous jobs, the National Labour Inspectorate had a special unit for child and forced labour.  This meant there was detailed supervision by this unit that carried out investigations and checks to determine if any children or adolescents were involved in dangerous jobs. 

    Educational programmes were being implemented in rural areas, including a programme for secondary education with only part-time attendance.  Another part-time educational programme was in place to promote the development of communities through different learning models. National legislation on union rights was in line with what was established with international fora, including the International Labour Organization.  The Labour Inspection Unit had the ability and resources to ensure the existence of the right to strike, pursuant to Peruvian law and international standards.  The Labour Inspectorate Service carried out monitoring and oversight activities to protect the rights of workers.  The unit had made a significant step in putting in place the Trade Union Rights Unit. This team included inspectors who had specific training on cases relating to the right to strike. 

    Around 2,331 persons with disabilities were registered in the job centre of the Ministry of Labour in 2024 and 1,724 persons obtained an employment certificate. In 2024, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities investigated 105 public entities and 103 sanctions were issued due to non-compliance with the employment quotas.  Around 90.7 per cent of the population had reported as having some kind of health insurance, with the figures being higher in rural areas. 

    It was difficult to access some of the most remote areas in the country.  In these cases, a system of documentary checks was used to allow inspections to be carried out without physical visits. There was a database of indigenous communities, including qualitative and geographical information.  This allowed different levels of Government to implement public policies for indigenous peoples and guarantee their rights. 

    Between 2017 and 2018, Peru changed its approach to combat corruption.  Instead of doing this retroactively, it was now part of the comprehensive policy for integrity and combatting corruption.  There were specialised prosecutors to deal with the scourge of corruption, and these cases were conducted independently, including in the cases of public officials.   

    A specialised justice system had been created in 2018 to punish any acts of violence against women by members of their families.  Violence against women and girls had reached its most acute stage, which meant the need to adopt differentiated approaches.  During the pandemic, a legislative decree was passed to guarantee protection measures to victims of gender-based violence.  Several instruments had been passed to support women victims of violence.  The Peruvian State would continue to try and tackle violence against women head on.

    There were 60 services under the public prosecutor’s service, 25 of which were connected to legal aid under the specialised justice system.  Numerous steps had been implemented to address the issue of femicides.  One of the main leaps forward was the implementation of the national system of justice for protection.  Furthermore, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations had a direct link to victims of femicide and their family members through the support centres which had been created to tackle emergency situations. Steps had been taken to try and establish support campaigns for victims of femicide within these centres.  A mobile application provided information on services for gender-based violence and could be used to privately contact a platform for help and share location to trusted contacts.  Medical and psychological assistance was provided to child victims of femicide on an individual and monthly basis. 

    The Peruvian State was committed to reducing the levels of social tolerance to victims of violence in Peru. The high levels of violence against children in the Amazonas region was a priority for the State, and there were multiple challenges in this regard.  Since August 2024, the State had adopted the plan to address sexual abuse against children and adolescents in the Condorcanqui in the Amazonas area; 607 teachers had reports of sexual violence levied against them.  In 2022, a pact was introduced for indigenous youth, which included specific activities for implementation in the Amazonas area. In 2024, training was carried out for indigenous women to enhance their leadership and organizational skills. 

    The State had adopted a law to prohibit the marriage of children.  Any minor had the ability to request the annulment of a marriage contracted prior to the law entering into force.  There were no registered cases of child marriage. 

    A decree had been approved promulgating a social housing rule.  The law on buildings in rural areas had been amended, and the building of social housing was promoted to make up for the housing shortages.  Progress had been made in recent years, in water and sanitation, including decreasing the gap between rural and urban areas. 

    Questions by Committee Experts

    LUDOVIC HENNEBEL, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, asked for more information about activities relating to illegal mining and deforestation.  Corruption could have a significant impact relating to the implementation of all public policies.  What challenges did the State face when combatting corruption?  What measures were being taken to combat corruption? 

    MICHAEL WINDFUHR, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Peru, said corruption was a major issue when it came to land transfers.  How was the State able to control corruption in these cases?  How could labour rights be controlled everywhere if officials could not travel there? How did the written submissions work? 

    SANTIAGO MANUEL FIORIO VAESKEN, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, said more than 300 persons of Peruvian nationality were being detained in the United States, awaiting deportation.  A growing number of Peruvian nationals had been deported already and others were leaving the country.  What measures had the Government put in place to receive these persons and re-include them in society? 

    An Expert asked how the system was monitored to ensure the water supply complied with national standards, considering the difficult geographic conditions mentioned? 

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said there was a legislative framework which had been harmful to economic, cultural and social rights.  Peru was a sovereign State which respected international human rights law. Standards and rules were approved via a legislative process befitting of a democratic State.  If there were any rules which ran counter to any treaty or agreement, they could be called into question.  There was a national oversight mechanism. 

    The Government was fighting corruption head on.  There had been a change of approach in the State to a preventive approach, and there was now a special unit on corruption which guided national policy in this area.  The geography of Peru meant that the State was dealing with certain idiosyncrasies.

    Illegal mining was a crime defined in Peru’s Legal Code.  Small-scale mining was being formalised and there was an associated extraordinary process and specific decrees which defined this activity as one taken in a non-prohibited area.  Peru currently had a health directive and multisectoral plan to deal with people who had been exposed to heavy metals and other toxins.  Steps had been taken to identify the early steps of lead poisoning within the community.  Peru guaranteed the exercise of consultation and there was a technical body specialised in this area; 98 prior consultation processes applying these provisions had been held. 

    There had been a significant increase in cases of mental health since 2018.  Steps had been taken to ensure harmonious cohabitation and avoid inter-family violence.  In Peru, domestic violence was a major problem, and as such psychological support was being provided to victims of violence.  Steps were also being taken to create safe environments to prevent risk, and roll out campaigns for girls and women in the field of mental health.  The State rolled out a multisectoral plan to prevent teenage pregnancy, which had yielded significant results.  A technical guide had been developed for therapeutic abortion before 22 weeks. 

    There was a group that contacted nationals who had been deported under the migration policy of the United States to ensure they were provided with basic services. 

    Questions by a Committee Expert

    SANTIAGO MANUEL FIORIO VAESKEN, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, asked for details on public spending in 2024 and plans for 2025 earmarked for education?  There had been reports of a drop in the quality of education in Peru.  What measures had the State taken to reverse the deterioration in levels of reading among primary school students?  Recently, the Ministry of Education through its website revealed more than 19,000 cases of violence reported in schools.  What specific measures was the State planning to take in this regard?  Were there protocols or procedures in place to respond to these cases? 

    It was concerning to receive reports of cases of systemic sexual abuse of children and adolescents by teachers, particularly in the Condorcanqui region, including more than 600 reported cases of sexual abuse.  What was being done to eliminate the systemic sexual abuse in this region and to punish the perpetrators?  What was the State doing to guarantee access to justice for victims?  What mechanisms were being developed to prevent such crimes and their recurrence?  What was the State doing to ensure oversight in schools? 

    The Committee was aware of the prohibition of using pupils in the education system to promote any political beliefs and aims.  How was it guaranteed that teachers did not politically manipulate pupils? Were teacher salaries in Peru competitive?  How did they compare to the minimum or average wage in Peru?  There had been public criticism about the school meal programme, Qalia Warma, including that children did not receive enough nutrients. There had been cases of using horse meat instead of meat, offal, and food which was mouldy or contained vermin faeces.  Would there be changes made to this service?  How was the distribution of these foods monitored?  Had the State identified the companies which provided the substandard foods?  Did they still hold contracts with them?  What steps had been taken to ensure accountability of the State authorities responsible?  What would be done to ensure that this did not happen in the future?   

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the State of Peru rejected all forms of violence, particularly against children.  The State wanted to ensure the cases in Condorcanqui were being appropriately investigated and punished.  The intersectoral plan of action for Condorcanqui was a guide to monitor progress, to prevent and deal with sexual violence against children in the province. Teachers had been trained on sexual and reproductive health rights and health professionals had been recruited. Sampling of HIV and syphilis had been carried out in more than 30 indigenous communities.  There were 18 local authority protection networks in place. 

    The feeding programme provided food to 18 residential facilities and more than 30,000 students benefitted in the Condorcanqui province.  The State provided technical assistance to operators working in rural areas.  Care had been provided to 100 communities that benefitted from a mobile justice system. A multisectoral roundtable had been held to tackle sexual violence against children in the Condorcanqui province. Teachers who had restraining orders could not teach in 2025.  Intercultural mediators had also been recruited to deal with the issue.  There was an investigation relating to the proceedings and cases submitted. 

    In 2025, there was a planned budget for education for over 49 billion Solis.  In 2022, steps had been taken to close the digital gap in rural and urban areas in primary and secondary schools.  Mobile educational material and digital content gave teachers and students the opportunity to learn in different contexts. 

    Punishment had been issued for workers who had allegedly been involved in corruption in the Qali Warma school food programme.  Reports had been lodged with the prosecution service to ensure legal steps were taken against workers and providers.  Those who had breached agreements were to be held to account. There was a focus to prevent corruption and there were channels to report this. 

    Questions by a Committee Expert

    SANTIAGO MANUEL FIORIO VAESKEN, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Peru, asked if justice settings provided translation in the original languages of Peru?  To what extent could parents have influence in the drafting of the school curriculum? What measures was the State offering to provide comprehensive sexual reproductive education? 

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said there were hubs where culturally sensitive advice was provided free of charge.  There were more than 600 cultural hubs throughout the country.  Programmes had been launched at schools to prevent teenage pregnancies. 

    Closing Remarks

    MICHAEL WINDFUHR, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Peru, thanked the delegation for the effort made during the dialogue.  The Committee’s concluding observations aimed to provide constructive feedback.  The Committee would appreciate if the outcome of the constructive dialogue would be published in Peru and made available to all stakeholders.  It was important for the State to reduce fear and complications around civil society to improve the outcome on economic, social and cultural rights. 

    LUIS FERNANDO DOMÍNGUEZ VERA, Director-General for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Peru and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue.  Peru was a democratic State that respected the rule of law and allowed anyone to express their beliefs.  Peru had full respect for economic, social and cultural rights, particularly for those in vulnerable situations, and would aim to strengthen national efforts to achieve these rights under the Covenant.

     

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

     

    CESCR25.003E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Public attack on the Ombudsman by the Greek government – E-000530/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000530/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Konstantinos Arvanitis (The Left)

    Following the refusal of a disciplinary investigation by the Coast Guard[1], the Greek Ombudsman (a constitutionally guaranteed independent authority) issued a report on the multi-fatality Pylos[2] shipwreck, highlighting “a series of serious and reprehensible omissions in search and rescue duties on the part of senior officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard […] which constitute clear indications for documenting the fatal exposure, and to the risk of danger to the life, health and physical integrity of those on board the trawler, the Adriana”. Furthermore, he stated that “the transparency of administrative action and the attribution of responsibilities, where they exist, for the multi-fatality Pylos shipwreck is an elementary constitutional demand, inextricably linked to respect for the rule of law, as is the thorough investigation by the administration of any other incident related to a violation of the right to life, health and physical integrity[3]”.

    The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, in its immediate announcement, strongly attacked the Ombudsman, stating for example: “objectively, he is attempting to shift the discussion away from the criminal trafficking networks onto officers of the Coast Guard”, “he systematically supports those claims that question the proper exercise of the powers of the Coast Guard, without any reliable documentation”, and “he comes to arbitrary conclusions that risk prejudicing the judicial assessment”.[4]

    In view of this:

    • 1.Does the Commission view the content of the Ministry’s announcement as being in line with EU constitutional principles?
    • 2.Does the Commission consider that the assessment of an independent authority affects the impartiality of justice?

    Submitted: 5.2.2025

    • [1] https://www.synigoros.gr/el/category/e8nikos-mhxanismos-diereynhshs-peristatikwnay8airesias/post/deltio-typoy-or-o-synhgoros-toy-polith-ereyna-to-nayagio-ths-pyloy
    • [2] https://www.synigoros.gr/el/category/default/post/deltio-typoy-or-porisma-toy-synhgoroy-toy-polith-gia-to-nayagio-ths-pyloy
    • [3] see ECtHR SAFI and Others v. Greece, 07.07.2022 regarding the Farmakonisi shipwreck of 2014.
    • [4] https://www.kathimerini.gr/politics/government/563452327/nayagio-stin-pylo-i-apantisi-toy-ypoyrgeioy-naytilias-ston-synigoro-toy-politi/
    Last updated: 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McConnell Proud to Confirm Rollins as Ag Secretary

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding the confirmation of Brooke Rollins as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture:
    “America’s farmers and ranchers will have a strong voice with Secretary Rollins leading the Department of Agriculture. She’s demonstrated a thorough understanding of the challenges facing farm families, producers, and rural communities today, particularly the urgent need for the predictability and certainty of a long-term Farm Bill. As Congress takes up this important legislation, I look forward to working with Secretary Rollins to develop smart agricultural policies that support both Kentucky and our country.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Enough for a feed | Conservation blog

    Source: Department of Conservation

    By Helen Ough Dealy

    Whitebaiting can be competitive. Some fishers will go to great lengths to protect their fishing spot, particularly if the whitebait are running well.

    Fisher conversations tend to disguise the true nature of their haul, “How much you got today?” “Not much, just a cupful – enough for a feed, maybe a fritter or two.”  All the while trying to carry a 10 kilogram bucketful as if it weighs less than 500 grams!

    Checking the whitebait catch on the banks of the Rangitaiki River | DOC

    So, imagine the challenge DOC, as the whitebait fishery manager, faces. How do you count all the whitebait caught in a whitebaiting season? How big is the fishery?

    These silvery delicacies are fished from streams, creeks, rivers and the surfline all over the country from Te Tai Tokerau, the Far North to Rakiura Stewart Island and Rēkohu/Wharekauri, the Chatham Islands.

    The Whitebait Regulations don’t require fishers to report their catch. And, even if DOC had enough data collectors to cover every fishing spot, there’s only two months (between 1 September and 30 October) to count the white gold.

    New Zealand Whitebaiting rivers based on rivers identified in Kelly 1988, sampled for whitebait by Yungnickel 2017 and identified for survey by DOC operations staff in 2021-22.1

    Fortunately, some fishers keep catch diaries for their own interest. Some diaries stretch back over 60 years, others just cover the previous season. These small, battered, often overlooked books are amazing repositories of weather, tide, gear, and catch data – some even record whitebaiter dances and get-togethers on the riverbank!

    “Some whitebaiters have already shared this valuable resource with DOC,” says Emily Funnell, Freshwater Species Manager. “Their data is helping us better understand how much whitebait was caught, the weather conditions, river state, and fishing gear used.”

    Page from a whitebait catch diary. Aperima River, Southland (2021-2024) | DOC
    Page from a whitebait catch diary. Karangarua and Saltwater Rivers, West Coast (1984-2024) | DOC
    Page from a whitebait catch diary. Punakaiki River, West Coast (2006)
    | DOC

    DOC is currently doing a call-out for more whitebait catch diaries.

    “It doesn’t matter what state the data or diary is in. We’ve seen pocket-sized farming diaries covered in mildew. Others are computer-based spreadsheet printouts,” says Emily.

    “All data is useful, whether you’ve been whitebaiting for a short time or for decades. The more data about the whitebait catch we have, the better we can understand and protect the fishery and its species into the future.”

    “And even if you aren’t a whitebaiter, check the family archives as this valuable information can be passed down the generations.”

    Emily says privacy is important, so information in the diaries will be kept completely anonymous and combined with data from other whitebaiters’ diaries.

    Once the diaries have been collected, they will be analysed by NIWA freshwater scientists. The research results are expected later in 2025.

    Whitebait compliance monitoring
    | DOC
    Bucket full of whitebait – enough for a few fritters! | DOC
    Scoop netting for whitebait on the Rangitaiki River | DOC

    How can you help with research into the whitebait fishery?

    Email whitebait@doc.govt.nz if you’d like to:

    • Share your whitebait catch diaries
    • Request a catch diary template to record the 2025 whitebaiting season
    • Find out more about this research and the results.

    [1] Kelly GR. 1988. An inventory of whitebaiting rivers of the South Island. Christchurch: New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. New Zealand Freshwater Fisheries Report No.: 101.
    Yungnickel M. 2017. New Zealand’s whitebait fishery: Spatial and Temporal Variation in Species Composition and Morphology [MSc]. Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Kashi Tamil Sangamam 3.0 to be inaugurated on 15th February

    Source: Government of India

    Kashi Tamil Sangamam 3.0 to be inaugurated on 15th February

    The first team of delegates flagged off at Chennai

    Theme of KTS 3.0 will be Sage Agasthyar

    1st time the participants of KTS 3.0 to experience Mahakumbh and visit Ram Mandir at Ayodhya

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 7:24PM by PIB Delhi

    The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Thiru R.N. Ravi, flagged off the train carrying the first batch of Kashi Tamil Sangamam 3.0 delegates—including students, teachers, and writers—today at Dr. MGR Central Railway Station, Chennai. This 10-day-long event is scheduled to take place from 15th to 24th February 2025. Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Prof. V. Kamakoti and other dignitaries were also present at the event.

    The Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, in a social media message, welcomed everyone to embrace the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ at Kashi Tamil Sangamam 3.0. He emphasized that the event serves to cherish, celebrate, and strengthen the deep-rooted bonds between Kashi and Tamil Nadu—two enduring centers of culture, civilization, and knowledge.

     

     

     

    The central theme of this edition of KTS will be Maharishi Agasthyar and Mahakumbh and Shri Ayodhya Dham will be the backdrop. The event will offer a divine experience and bring Tamil Nadu and Kashi—the two timeless centres of our civilisation and culture, more closer.

    An exhibition on the different facets of Sage Agasthyar and his contributions to world of Health, Philosophy, Science, Linguistics, Literature, Polity, Culture, Art, particularly to Tamil and Tamil Nadu, etc. and seminars, workshops, book release, etc. will be organised at Kashi during KTS 3.0.

    This year, the government has decided to bring around 1000 delegates from Tamil Nadu under five categories/groups: (i) Students, Teachers, and Writers; (ii) Farmers and Artisans (Vishwakarma Categories); (iii) Professionals and Small Entrepreneurs; (iv) Women (SHG, Mudra Loan beneficiaries, DBHPS Pracharaks); and (v) Start-up, Innovation, Edu-Tech, Research. This year, an additional group of around 200 students of Tamil origin studying in various CUs will be a part of this event to enliven the bond between Kashi and Tamil Nadu. Participation of youth in all categories has been encouraged this year. The duration of the tour for the delegates will be 8 days (4 for travel, 4 at site). The first group left Tamil Nadu today and the last group will return to Tamil Nadu on 26th February 2025.

    The objective of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam is to rediscover, reaffirm, and celebrate the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi—two of the country’s most important and ancient seats of learning.

    Kashi Tamil Sangamam is being organized by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India in collaboration with other ministries including Culture, Textiles, Railways, Tourism, Food Processing, I&B etc. and the Govt. of UP. The programme aims to provide an opportunity for scholars, students, philosophers, traders, artisans, artists and people from other walks of life from the two regions to come together, share their knowledge, culture and best practices and learn from each other’s experience. It also aims to make the youth aware and experience cultural oneness. The endeavour is in sync with NEP 2020’s emphasis on integrating the wealth of Indian Knowledge Systems with modern systems of knowledge. IIT Madras and BHU are the two implementing agencies for the programme.

    The Government has so far celebrated the Kashi Tamil Sangamam on two occasions earlier; i.e., for one month in 2022 and for a fortnight in 2023 and around 4000 delegates from Tamil Nadu have been a part of this event. In both the editions of KTS, there were overwhelming responses from people of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. IIT Madras will be the sender institution and BHU the receiving institution, as in the earlier editions.

    Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, launched the registration portal for KTS 3.0 on 15thJanuary 2025. The portal for registration was open till 1st February 2025.

    KTS 2.0 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at Varanasi on 17th December, 2023, with the first-ever real-time, app-based translation of a part of the Prime Minister’s speech in Tamil for the benefit of visiting Tamil delegates.

    *****

    MV/AK

    MOE/KTS/13 February 2025/2

    (Release ID: 2102893) Visitor Counter : 59

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: India Strengthens Global Energy Partnerships at India Energy Week 2025

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 7:00PM by PIB Delhi

    At the India Energy Week 2025, India signed multiple strategic agreements and MoUs aimed at enhancing energy security, diversifying supply sources, and fostering innovation in the oil and gas sector. Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the event, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas highlighted these agreements as crucial steps toward a more resilient and sustainable energy future for the country. 

    As part of efforts to diversify crude oil imports, BPCL signed an optional term contract with Petrobras, Brazil, to import up to 6 million barrels of crude. Strengthening India’s transition to a natural gas-based economy, IOCL and ADNOC (UAE) signed a USD 7 billion contract to source 1.2 MMTPA LNG for 14 years starting in 2026, while BPCL and ADNOC entered into a five-year LNG offtake agreement for 2.4 MMT, extendable by another five years. Expanding India’s role as a regional energy supplier, IOCL signed its first LNG export agreement with Nepal’s Yogya Holdings, ensuring the delivery of 1,000 metric tons (TMT) annually via cryogenic trucks through Odisha’s Dhamra Terminal. 

    On the technical front, ONGC selected BP as the Technical Services Provider for the Mumbai High field, India’s largest offshore oilfield. BP will conduct a comprehensive review of field performance, implement technological improvements, and work to stabilize and enhance production. Additionally, EIL signed an MoU with BP Business Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. To collaborate on refining, pipeline operations, and emission reduction technologies. 

    In offshore exploration, ONGC Videsh Ltd. And Petrobras signed an MoU to jointly participate in upstream oil and gas projects in Brazil, India, and third countries, exploring opportunities in trading, low-carbon solutions, and digitalization. Oil India Limited and Petrobras also signed an MoU for hydrocarbon exploration in India’s deep and ultra-deep offshore basins, aligning with the government’s Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy. 

    India also took steps toward clean energy with BPCL partnering with Eco Wave Power, Israel, to establish the country’s first wave energy pilot project in Mumbai using wave energy converter technology. In the biofuel sector, BPCL signed an MoU with the National Sugar Institute, Kanpur, to scale up sweet sorghum-based bioethanol production and build capacity for farmers and industry partners. 

    Further enhancing hydrocarbon trade, BPCL entered into an agreement with Equinor India Pvt. Ltd. for the purchase of LPG (propane and butane).

    The Minister emphasized that these agreements reaffirm India’s commitment to securing affordable, sustainable, and diversified energy supplies while fostering global collaborations in cutting-edge energy solutions. These partnerships will help us achieve our energy transition goals and ensure a robust and resilient energy ecosystem for India. 

    ***

    MONIKA

    (Release ID: 2102887) Visitor Counter : 75

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Full transparency on the green non-governmental organisation lobbying scandal in the Parliament – E-000529/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000529/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Sander Smit (PPE), Alexander Bernhuber (PPE)

    Recent reports have revealed that non-governmental organisations, funded and instructed by the Commission, have engaged in lobbying activities targeting Members of the European Parliament[1]. Such practices, combined with previous incidents – involving lobbying[2], selective information sharing[3], intimidation[4] and targeted campaigns directed at EU citizens in strategic Member States[5] – raise serious concerns about the separation of powers, institutional balance, transparency, potential Treaty violations[6] and the adequacy of internal codes of conduct[7] as well as impartiality of staff[8]. These developments fuel public distrust in the Commission – in particular in its efforts to combat political interference and disinformation.

    • 1.Will the Commission disclose a full breakdown of expenditures related to legislative proposals and promotional activities, both before and after adoption, including those channelled through third parties?
    • 2.Does the Commission acknowledge that its actions may not only be ‘inappropriate’[9] but could also constitute a violation of the trias politica, EU Treaties and codes of conduct and commit to an independent investigation?
    • 3.Is the Commission considering updating the codes of conduct or introducing an oath of impartiality for all Commission staff or other measures to restore public trust?

    Supporter[10]

    Submitted: 5.2.2025

    • [1] Telegraaf. (22 January 2025). Lobbyschandaal in Brussel: EU betaalde milieuclubs in het geheim voor promotie van groene plannen Timmermans.
    • [2] Telegraaf. (7 June 2023). Europarlementariërs woest om lobby natuurplan Frans Timmermans: Riekt naar manipulatie.
    • [3] EPP Group. (18 October 2021). Timmermans, stop hiding information about Farm to Fork Strategy!
    • [4] Brusselse Nieuwe. (8 June 2023). Christendemocraten (EVP): ‘Timmermans bedreigt en chanteert Europarlementariërs’.
    • [5] noyb. (16 November 2023). noyb files complaint against EU Commission over targeted chat control ads.
    • [6] Article 17 Treaty on European Union, Article 245 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
    • [7] European Commission. (2018). Code of conduct for the Members of the European Commission.
    • [8] European Union. (2016). Staff regulations of officials of the European Union and conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union.
    • [9] European Parliament (2025). Verbatim report of proceedings 22 January 2025 – Strasbourg.
    • [10] This question is supported by a Member other than the authors: Jessika Van Leeuwen (PPE)
    Last updated: 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What we learned from Trump and Putin’s phone call – editor’s briefing

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor

    Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, spoke for much of the European diplomatic community when she reacted to news of Donald Trump’s phone chat with Vladimir Putin: “This is the way the Trump administration operates,” she declared. “This is not how others do foreign policy, but this is now the reality.”

    The resigned tone of Baerbock’s words was not matched by her colleague, defence minister Boris Pistorius, whose criticism that “the Trump administration has already made public concessions to Putin before negotiations have even begun” was rather more direct.

    Their sentiments were echoed, not only by European leaders, but in the US itself: “Putin Scores a Big Victory, and Not on the Battlefield” read a headline in the New York Times. The newspaper opined that Trump’s call had succeeded in bringing Putin back in from the cold after three years in which Russia had become increasingly isolated both politically and economically.

    This was not lost on the Russian media, where commentators boasted that the phone call “broke the west’s blockade”. The stock market gained 5% and the rouble strengthened against the dollar as a result.

    Reflecting on the call, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, continued with operation flatter Donald Trump by comparing his attitude favourably with that of his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden. “The previous US administration held the view that everything needed to be done to keep the war going. The current administration, as far as we understand, adheres to the point of view that everything must be done to stop the war and for peace to prevail.

    “We are more impressed with the position of the current administration, and we are open to dialogue.”

    Trump’s conversation with Putin roughly coincided with a meeting of senior European defence officials in Brussels which heard the new US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, outline America’s radical new outlook when it comes to European security. Namely that it’s not really America’s problem any more.

    Hegseth also told the meeting in Brussels yesterday that the Trump administration’s position is that Nato membership for Ukraine has been taken off the table, that the idea it would get its 2014 borders back was unrealistic and that if Europe wanted to guarantee Ukraine’s security as part of any peace deal, that would be its business. Any peacekeeping force would not involve American troops and would not be a Nato operation, so it would not involve collective defence.

    Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

    International security expert David Dunn believes that the fact that Trump considers himself a consummate deal maker makes the fact that his administration is willing to concede so much ground before negotiations proper have even got underway is remarkable. And not in a good way.

    Dunn, who specialises in US foreign and security policy at the University of Birmingham, finds it significant that Trump spoke with Putin first and then called Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky to fill him in on the call. This order of priority, says Dunn, is a sign of the subordination of Ukraine’s role in the talks.

    He concludes that “for the present at least, it appears that negotiations will be less about pressuring Putin to bring a just end to the war he started than forcing Ukraine to give in to the Russian leader’s demands”.



    Read more:
    Trump phone call with Putin leaves Ukraine reeling and European leaders stunned

    Hegseth’s briefing to European defence officials, meanwhile, came as little surprise to David Galbreath. Writing here, Galbreath – who specialises in defence and security at the University of Bath – says the US pivot away from a focus on Europe has been years in the making – “since the very end of the cold war”.

    There has long been a feeling in Washington that the US has borne too much of the financial burden for European security. This is not just a Donald Trump thing, he believes, but an attitude percolating in US security circles for some decades. Once the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated, the focus for Nato become not so much collective defence as collective security, where “conflict would be managed on Nato’s borders”.

    But it was then the US which invoked article 5 of the Nato treaty, which establishes that “an armed attack against one or more [member states] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all”. The Bush government invoked Article 5 the day after the 9/11 attacks and Nato responded by patrolling US skies to provide security.

    Pete Hegseth dashes Ukraine’s hopes of a future guaranteed by Nato.

    Galbreath notes that many European countries, particularly the newer ones such as Estonia and Latvia, sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. “The persistent justification I heard in the Baltic states was “we need to be there when the US needs us so that they will be there when we need them”.

    That looks set to change.



    Read more:
    US says European security no longer its primary focus – the shift has been years in the making

    The prospect of a profound shift in the world order are daunting after 80 years in which security – in Europe certainly – was guaranteed by successive US administrations and underpinned, not just by Nato but by a whole set of international agreements.

    Now, instead of the US acting as the “world’s policeman”, we have a president talking seriously about taking control of Greenland, one way or another, who won’t rule out using force to seize the Panama Canal and who dreams of turning Gaza into a coastal “riviera” development.

    Meanwhile Russia is engaged in a brutal war of conquest in Ukraine and is actively meddling in the affairs of several other countries. And in China, Xi Jinping regularly talks up the idea of reunifying with Taiwan, by force if necessary, and is fortifying islands in the South China Sea with a view to aggressively pursuing territorial claims there as well.

    And we thought the age of empires was in the rear view mirror, writes historian Eric Storm of Leiden University. Storm, whose speciality is the rise of nation states, has discerned a resurgence of imperial tendencies around the world and fears that the rules-based order that has dominated the decades since the second world war now appears increasingly tenuous.



    Read more:
    How Putin, Xi and now Trump are ushering in a new imperial age

    Gaza: the horror continues

    In any given week, you’d expect the imminent prospect of the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire to be the big international story. And certainly, while Trump and Putin were “flooding the zone” (see last week’s round-up for the origins of this phrase) the prospects of the deal lasting beyond its first phase have become more and more uncertain.

    Hamas has recently pulled back from its threat not to release any more hostages. Earlier in the week it threatened to call a halt to the hostage-prisoner exchange, claiming that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had breached the terms of the ceasefire deal. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded – with Trump’s backing – saying that unless all hostages were released on Saturday, all bets were off and the IDF would resume its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Trump added that “all hell is going to break out”.

    The US president has also doubled down on his idea for a redeveloped Gaza and has continued to pressure Jordan and Egypt to accept millions of Palestinian refugees. This, as you would expect, has not made the population of Gaza feel any more secure.

    Nils Mallock and Jeremy Ginges, behavioural psychologists at the London School of Economics, were in the region last month and conducted a survey of Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to get a feel for how the two populations regard each other. It makes for depressing reading.

    The number of Israelis who reject the idea of a two-state solution has risen sharply since the October 7 2023 attacks by Hamas, from 46% to 62%. And roughly the same proportion of people in Gaza can now no longer envisage living side by side with Israelis. Both sides think that the other side is motivated by hatred, something which is known to make any diplomatic solution less feasible.



    Read more:
    We interviewed hundreds of Israelis and Gazans – here’s why we fear for the ceasefire

    We also asked Scott Lucas, a Middle East specialist at University College Dublin, to assess the likelihood of the ceasefire lasting into phase two, which is when the IDF is supposed to pull out of Gaza, allowing the people there room to being to rebuild, both physically and in terms of governance.

    He responded with a hollow laugh and a shake of the head, before sending us this digest of the key developments in the Middle East crisis this week.



    Read more:
    Will the Gaza ceasefire hold? Where does Trump’s takeover proposal stand? Expert Q&A

    We’ve become very used to seeing apocalyptic photos of the devastation of Gaza: the pulverised streets, choked with rubble, that make the idea of rebuilding seem so remote. But the people of Gaza also cultivated a huge amount of crops – about half the food they ate was grown there. Gazan farmers grew tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries in open fields as well as cultivating olive and citrus trees.

    Geographers Lina Eklund, He Yin and Jamon Van Den Hoek have analysed satellite images across the Gaza Strip over the past 17 months to work out the scale of agricultural destruction. It makes for terrifying reading.



    Read more:
    Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction

    World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get our updates directly in your inbox.

    – ref. What we learned from Trump and Putin’s phone call – editor’s briefing – https://theconversation.com/what-we-learned-from-trump-and-putins-phone-call-editors-briefing-249902

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: David Seymour – Speech to Auckland Chamber of Commerce

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Good morning to you all. Thank you to Simon and his team at the Business Chamber for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

    I especially want to thank members of the business community for being here this morning. I can imagine it’s been a heavy workload listening to speeches about the economy. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to raise productivity right there, but I hope today I can share ideas that are good for all of us. We know this country cannot change its size or distance to market, and better public policy is our best collective hope.

    I’m going to talk mostly about the economic challenges we face, the Government’s policy prescriptions for fixing them, and report on our progress. However, there is one of those proverbial elephants in the room.

    The Elephant

    This elephant is the breakdown of political consensus on liberal democracy and economic orthodoxy. It is particularly strong across generational lines. If you doubt that, think about Helen Clark’s Government, and how it contrasts with the opposition today.

    There will be some who, at the time, believed Clark’s Labour Government was turning New Zealand into Helengrad. But if we’re objective, Helen Clark’s Government was well to the right of the current opposition. It’s not National that’s changed; they have been consistent. It is Labour who’ve moved radically to the left.

    A broad based, low-rate tax system without any capital gains tax. A pragmatic approach to government ownership, with occasional interventions in rail and banks. A commitment to liberal democracy above all, with one person, one vote, regardless of background.

    In some ways, Helen Clark was even to the right of John Key. She refused to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Key’s Government did. The Māori Party was formed due to her legislating over the Ngati Apa court case with the foreshore and seabed legislation, a position that the Key Government partially reversed.

    The debates at the time were really about the parameters of the social insurance scheme that is the welfare state. The premiums, being taxes, could be higher or lower. The payouts, being benefits and services, could be more or less generous, but the big debates of the day were still about the parameters of a giant insurance scheme.

    Fast forward to today, and we can no longer rely on a cross-party commitment to liberal democracy and economic orthodoxy. Were the Government to change, we would face a Government where one party seriously suggests an appointed Treaty Commissioner should have a veto on the elected Parliament.

    The same party openly opposes the concept of democracy, frequently shouts racial abuse across the debating chamber, where it even gets up to do war dances in people’s faces. Their website even claimed racial genetic supremacy but has few practical policy solutions for the most disadvantaged group in the country.

    The Labour Party constitution is clear that political power should be wielded only by those elected in frequent, free and fair elections conducted by secret ballot. Helen Clark lived it; Chris Hipkins has taken two positions on the Treaty Commissioner in one week.

    Chris Hipkins is a politician we have to admire. Slipperier than an eel fed on sausage rolls, no politician has glided over failure like Chris Hipkins.

    In a multi-year crime wave he was Minister of Police.

    In the biggest attendance and achievement slump in the history of our country he was Minister of Education.

    When the public service added 30 per cent more workers for no better output, he was the Minister for the Public Service.

    In many ways those problems were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government’s response to it. He was also the Minister for COVID-19, where his responsibilities included testing, tracing, making logical rules, and ordering the vaccines on time.

    Now you see why he wants to campaign on the record of the current Government, instead of his own. He is running what political campaigners call a ‘small target’ strategy, which should come naturally.

    Except, nature abhors a vacuum. Besides Te Pati Māori, you have the Greens. Like the other two, they are very different from their forebears, when liberal democrats like Jeanette Fitzsimmons and Rod Donald campaigned on the environment.

    It you take the time to listen to Chlöe Swarbrick she says things like “Parliament isn’t the system we’d design today,” and “if you think you’re crazy you’re not, it’s the whole system.” She promises taxes on assets, not just gains in asset values.

    The underlying message is that your problems are caused by others’ success, but their gains are ill-gotten so they and the system that enabled them must be torn down. It is a revolutionary, rather than evolutionary, message.

    Stability

    Now, there will be some people here wondering when I’m going to talk about the Government and my role in it. I will, but I think the changes in the political landscape are important and material enough to discuss.

    What’s more, the Government has signed up to a number of policies designed to increase policy stability. One of them I’d like to talk about more than the others, but there’s three in the ‘quasi-constitutional’ space that I think are worth mentioning.

    The four-year term is an old chestnut. It’s been defeated twice before in New Zealand, and we’re a global outlier as a result. We’re one of nine Parliaments in the world beside around 170 that have four or five-year terms.

    The Government is committed to introducing legislation that would put a four-year term to referendum, and make the select committees opposition controlled. Lawmaking would be slower, and would face tough scrutiny at committees where the public can submit. At the moment, select committees have Government-aligned majorities. It is one of the most powerful things we can do to improve the quality of policy making and debate in New Zealand.

    The Treaty Principles Bill also seeks to enhance the role of liberal democracy. Even those who say they vehemently disagree with the Bill are showing up to Parliament and submitting. In fact, there have never been so many submissions to Parliament on one Bill.

    It is not only the contents of the Bill that reinforce liberal democracy, it is the inherent effect of taking the debate back to Parliament that is important. We need to be a country where, as the Labour Party constitution says, important decisions should be made by people subject to frequent, free and fair elections with a secret ballot. In other words, democracy.

    The Regulatory Standards Bill

    The policy stabilising initiative I’d most like to talk about, though, is the Regulatory Standards Bill. It is crucial that we improve the quality and stability of our regulatory environment. The reason is our woeful productivity growth.

    The Government inherited an economy that, on an individual basis, was in recession. Economic output per person has been falling since the September 2022 quarter. In the year to June 2024, GDP per capita fell 2.7 percent.

    Behind those short-term numbers there’s an even bleaker story. While productivity growth averaged 1.4 per cent a year between 1993 and 2013, it only averaged 0.2 per cent over the last decade.

    If productivity growth had continued to grow at 1.4 per cent a year since 2013, productivity, and therefore wages, would today be about 14 per cent higher. New Zealanders would have been much better placed to endure a cost of living crisis if their wages were 14 per cent higher. In a sense, the cost of living crisis is really a productivity crisis.

    Higher productivity means a pay rise and help with the groceries for parents struggling to get by. It means the ability to pay for a doctor’s visit for a sick child. It’s the difference between owning your own home and continuing to rent.

    In short, it’s the difference between a good life and scraping by. Despite what you will hear from the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, we have an obligation to future generations to ensure productivity grows much faster.

    Access to skills and capital really matter for productivity. Skillful people, working with good technology, can produce more than people with less of those things. It’s critical that we do better in education, and this Government can point to a content-rich curriculum, a massive effort to reverse the COVID-19 slump in attendance, and education meeting entrepreneurship in the form of charter schools.

    Charter Schools

    Actually, let’s have a small diversion into charter schools. They are also designed to slow down the political turbulence that prevents people getting their job done. So many times I’ve asked state school teachers, “what if you could sign a contract that stopped the Government of the day introducing new policies, often diametrically opposed to the ones you’ve just got used to, for ten years?”

    That’s what a ten-by-ten-by-ten charter school contract does. It gives educators space to innovate, because innovation is what we need.

    The first school that opened this year, Mastery School in Christchurch, is a partner school to Mastery in Australia. What’s really interesting about Mastery is their use of interns. I believe the last twenty years of degrees for everyone has been a failure. On-the-job learning is coming back into vogue.

    Meanwhile, schools everywhere are desperate for extra teaching assistants, and Bachelor of Education students are working part-time minimum wage jobs completely unrelated to their long-term career. There’s an obvious solution to this, and Mastery are doing it. Because they are bulk funded, they can employ more teaching assistants. It is a win-win.

    The real winners are the students, some of whose families have visited Australia to investigate the schools and moved to Christchurch to attend. They are proven for raising educational achievement. Last year their achievement data showed students achieving at much higher levels than state schools in core areas of reading, mathematics and spelling.

    • Reading: 1.6 years progress in 1 year.
    • Mathematics: 1.5 years progress in 1 year.
    • Spelling: Average of 1.5 years growth after 1 year.
    • Average of 82% attendance across all campuses.

    New funding provided in Budget 24 allows up to around fifteen new charter schools and the conversion of 35 state schools to charter schools this year and the following year. Applications from sponsors who want to open charter schools opened mid-last year.

    Preparation for an expressions of interest process for current state schools to convert into charter schools is underway. The next round of applications to establish new charter schools will also run over the next few months.

    The independent Authorisation Board received 78 applications in its first application round from sponsors wanting to establish charter schools. The country is thirsting for options and innovation.

    Overseas Investment

    While we’re on diversions, it is not only the skills where we need better policy, but also the investment in capital.

    Attracting more overseas investment is a vital part of the Government’s economic strategy. But our overseas investment laws are among the worst in the developed world and they are seriously holding back economic growth and wages.

    Nearly every other developed country has less obstructive laws than New Zealand. They benefit from the flow of money and the ideas that come with overseas investment. The truth is that, in the overseas investment game, New Zealand has been benched by international investors. Being 38th out of 38 countries for openness to investment means we’re simply not in the game.

    International investors report that our rules impose significant compliance costs, delays, and uncertain outcomes. The timeframe for a general benefit test is 70 working days and costs $68,000.

    That’s not to mention the potential investors who are discouraged from even considering New Zealand as an opportunity and simply go elsewhere.

    We are 26th out of 38 for foreign investment as a percentage of GDP, which doesn’t sound so bad until you consider the size of our economy. United States, with its massive internal market, could afford to close itself off, but it is more open than us and gets more investment as a percentage of GDP than us.

    It would be bad enough if the world was standing still, but our partners, such as Australia’s Labor Government, are moving to liberalise their overseas investment settings further.

    There’s a simple equation that is holding back wage growth: workers with more capital get paid more. They work with better tools and technologies and, as a result, they are more productive. Other countries have more capital than us because we have one of the most obstructive overseas investment laws in the world. New Zealand workers have less capital to work with so they get paid less than they could.

    I’ve seen the difference that overseas investment can make. I once visited two businesses in the same industry on the same afternoon. Both had skilled and passionate people with good ideas. One had overseas investment, though, and benefited in two ways. They had more money for machinery, and they had more know-how for manufacturing and marketing their product by receiving knowledge from their partners offshore.

    Growth in the capital that workers have available to use has not kept pace with strong labour force participation. As a result, our capital-to-labour ratio has been flat for the last ten years or so. It’s probably not a coincidence that our productivity growth has also be flat over the past decade.

    If we are going to raise wages, we can’t afford to ignore the simple fact that our competitors gain money and know-how from outside their borders.

    The Government intends to simplify our overseas investment rules and I will be making an announcement about this very shortly.

    Back to Regulation

    So, yes, skills and investment are important, and I’m proud to be lending a hand to the Government’s efforts to bring entrepreneurship into education and investment into the country, but it’s the regulatory environment where I believe we can make the most progress.

    New Zealand’s low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation. Bad regulation is killing our prosperity in three ways.

    1. It adds costs to the things we do. It’s the delays, the paperwork, and the fees that make too many activities cost more than they ought to. It’s the builder saying it takes longer to get the consent than it took to build the thing. It’s the anti-money laundering palaver that ties people in knots doing basic things but somehow doesn’t stop criminals bringing in half a billion dollars of P each year. It’s the daycare centre that took four years to open because different departments couldn’t agree about the road noise outside. I could go on.
    2. There’s the things that just don’t happen because people decide the costs don’t add up once the red tape is factored in.
    3. There’s the big one that goes to the heart of our identity and culture. It’s all the kids who grow up in a country where people gave up or weren’t allowed to try. It’s the climbing wall at Sir Edmund Hillary’s old school with signs saying don’t climb. It’s the lack of nightlife because it’s too hard to get a license. It’s the fear that comes from worrying WorkSafe or some other regulator will come and shut you down. You can’t measure it, but we all know it’s there.

    The Kiwi spirit we are so proud of is being chipped away and killing our vibe. Nobody migrated here to be compliant, but compliance is infantilising our culture, and I haven’t even mentioned orange cones yet.

    It’s clear that now is the time for a significant reset. Many governments over the years have paid lip-service to cutting red tape. This Government is committed to doing something about it.

    Perhaps the biggest single policy problem New Zealand faces is the Resource Management Act. Someone once said you can fill a town hall to stop anything in this country, but you can’t fill a telephone box to get something started.

    Chris Bishop and ACT’s Simon Court are designing new resource management laws starting with the principle of private property rights. The result will be a law that makes it easier to get stuff done in this country.

    My colleague, Brooke van Velden, as Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, has repealed Fair Pay Agreements and reintroduced 90-day trials. She’s now set her sights on simplifying our health and safety laws, tackling the problems being caused by the Holidays Act, and providing certainty in the law around contractors and personal grievances.

    Another of my colleagues, Nicole McKee, is determined to bring some sanity to our anti-money laundering laws and provide regulatory relief for individuals and businesses who have to use that law. It begins with bringing all AML under the DIA as a single supervisor instead of three, as well as exempting some activities as a start.

    Chris Penk is opening up the building products market to foreign competition to get prices down, and Andrew Bayly is making various reforms to the CCCFA.

    Red Tape Tipline

    In November last year, we launched a new Red Tape Tipline. This is an online tool on the Ministry’s website where people can make submissions about red tape that affects them.

    So far, over 500 tips have been sent in. I am not at all surprised to see such an outpouring of discontent from Kiwis who are sick of red tape.

    The Tipline has quickly become a key tool helping the Ministry to find and deal to the red tape preventing people from getting things done.

    Some of the biggest themes coming through the Tipline are about traffic management and anti-money laundering. The Ministry is working with other government agencies to identify and cut red tape.

    My message to all the tradies, farmers, teachers, chefs, and engineers out there – every person doing productive work – is this: If there’s red tape in your industry that needs to go, we want to know about it.

    Sector reviews

    We also have three sector reviews underway – Early Childhood Education, Agricultural and Horticultural Products, and Hairdressing and Barbering.

    The ECE report was delivered at the end of last year with fifteen recommendations. They will reduce compliance costs and headaches for ECE providers and help encourage more providers into the market, so parents have more affordable options. I’m taking all fifteen recommendations to Cabinet.

    The Agricultural and Horticultural products review has been widely welcomed by farmers, growers and industry. They say that delays in getting access to these products are too long and the process is too complex. They are put at a disadvantage because they cannot get products that have been approved by other OECD countries. I look forward to receiving the final report and progressing changes soon.

    At the end of last year we launched a short, sharp review into outdated rules around the hairdressing and barbering industry. Hairdressers and barbers are a billion-dollar industry of more than 5,000 mostly small businesses employing 13,000 people. They are trying to work with outdated rules from the 1980s which include specifying the amount of space between seats and exactly how bright the lights have to be. The Ministry is engaged with the industry now and will deliver findings by end of March.

    I anticipate announcing the Ministry’s fourth regulatory review in the next few months.

    Regulatory Standards Bill

    I am looking forward to the introduction of the Regulatory Standards Bill later this year.

    The Bill is a long-term solution to ensuring quality of regulation. It seeks to bring the same level of discipline to regulation that the Public Finance Act brings to public spending.

    The Bill will codify principles of good regulatory practice for existing and future regulations. If we want to remain first world, we need to change how we regulate. No law should be passed without showing what problem is being solved, whether the benefits outweigh the costs, and who pays the costs and gets the benefits. These are the basic principles of the Bill.

    Some regulations operate differently in practice than they do in theory. To make regulators accountable to the New Zealanders they regulate, the Bill contains a recourse mechanism by establishing a Regulatory Standards Board. The Board will assess complaints and challenges to regulations, issuing non-binding recommendations and public reports.

    This is about raising the political cost of making bad laws by allowing New Zealanders to hold regulators accountable. The outcome will be better law-making, higher productivity, and higher wages. Because New Zealanders will be able to spend more time doing useful work, and less time complying for little reason.

    Conclusion

    The Government is committed to a goal of delivering more economic growth for New Zealanders. And the way we get that is clear: we need to get government spending down and cut through regulation.

    We don’t unlock growth by transferring significant resources from the private to the public sector. We don’t get richer by taxing you to pay your competitors. And we won’t stay a first world country by just nipping and tucking at the regulatory thicket that’s grown in recent decades. We unleash growth by letting the business community free to invest, create jobs, adopt new technology, innovate, and sell to the world.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Crush death triggers on-farm traffic alert

    Source: Worksafe New Zealand

    WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for an horrific death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.

    Louis van Heerden was crushed to death by an hydraulic tailgate on a trailer at Turley Farms Limited near Temuka in March 2022. The 45-year-old had been standing at the back of a dark, narrow shed as a spotter while grass seed was being tipped off the trailer.

    WorkSafe investigators found Turley Farms had no specific plan in place for managing farm traffic indoors. In addition, workers should not have been permitted in such a restricted space.

    Turley Farms has now been sentenced for its health and safety failings.

    “Farmers are tempting fate if they think traffic only needs to be managed outdoors. Without a clear plan for how vehicles and people move around indoor barns and sheds, it’s only a matter of time before something goes terribly wrong,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Steve Kelly.

    “This is a good reminder to take a critical look at how tractors and other vehicles move around inside farm buildings. Clear separation of vehicles and pedestrians is the key component. Signage and designated safe areas are also simple and inexpensive ways to boost safety – especially when compared to a conviction and a fine.”

    Following the fatality, Turley Farms has introduced reversing cameras, closing alarms, and isolation valves to the back of its trailers.

    Vehicles are a leading cause of death and injury on New Zealand farms, which is why agriculture is a priority sector under WorkSafe’s new strategy. Agriculture accounts for around 25 percent of serious acute harm in Aotearoa while having only six percent of employment.

    Businesses must manage their risks, and WorkSafe’s role is to influence businesses to meet their responsibilities and keep people healthy and safe. When they do not, we will take action.

    Read WorkSafe’s guidance on safe reversing and spotting practices
    Read WorkSafe’s guidelines on managing workplace traffic

    Background: 

    • Turley Farms Limited was sentenced at Timaru District Court on 13 February 2025
    • A fine of $247,500 was imposed, and reparations of $201,477 were ordered
    • Turley Farms was charged under sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
      • Being a PCBU, having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU, including Louis Frederick van Heerden, while at work in the business or undertaking, namely acting as a spotter while plant was being unloaded into a drying shed, did fail to comply with that duty and that failure exposed workers, namely Louis Frederick van Heerden, to a risk of death or serious injury arising from exposure to the risk of being struck or crushed by plant.
    • The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.

    Media contact details

    For more information you can contact our Media Team using our media request form. Alternatively, you can:

    Phone: 021 823 007 or

    Email: media@worksafe.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Coons, Wicker introduce bill to better financially protect poultry growers against avian flu outbreaks

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) yesterday introduced the Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act (HPAI ACT) to ensure that all poultry growers and laying operations in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) control areas whose operations are affected receive compensation. This bill was
    “As avian flu cases rise in Delaware, it’s vital that we have smart policies in place that protect Delaware’s independent family farmers and poultry growers both medically and financially. As it stands, blind spots in our HPAI compensation program punish growers for culling flu-free flocks,” said Senator Coons. “As co-Chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus, I hope that including this bipartisan solution in the next Farm Bill will provide a lifeline to all hardworking farmers who do their part in helping us contain disease outbreaks by offering them fair and immediate financial relief, allowing them to recover quickly and assisting them in maintaining the strength of our essential poultry supply chains.”
    “Farmers play a significant role in providing our nation with food and protecting our national security,” said Senator Wicker. “Unexpected avian flu outbreaks harm the poultry industry, put farmers at risk for financial hardship, and drive up the cost of chicken and eggs at the grocery store. Since the initial outbreak in 2022, HPAI has led to the loss of a record 156 million birds across the United States. This bipartisan legislation would ensure farmers are compensated for their work to contain these outbreaks.”
    “The current wave of Bird Flu outbreaks is leaving our farming communities twisting in the wind,” said Congressman Mark Alford. “When poultry operations test positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the federal government makes growers whole for lost revenue. The Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act will level the playing field by ensuring poultry growers and layer operations—who are impacted by USDA control zones put in place even though their own birds never tested positive—also qualify for indemnity payments. I’m proud to once again co-lead this critical bipartisan legislation to support Missouri’s agriculture community.”
    “The San Joaquin Valley is the heart of California agriculture, and our poultry farmers are on the front lines of the avian flu crisis. When they face challenges, we all pay the price—from farms to grocery stores. That’s why I’m leading the charge with the HPAI Act to provide real relief, protect our food supply, and ensure the farmers who feed America get the support they deserve,” said Congressman Jim Costa.
    Under the current policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), when an HPAI case is discovered, all poultry farms located within a 10-kilometer radius of the case are banned from placing flocks until the virus is contained. Afterward, all growers who have positive tests in their flocks receive compensation from the USDA, but not those within the control area whose flocks don’t contract HPAI. This creates a perverse incentive: once a control area is established, it is preferable for poultry operations within the area to have HPAI cases, as otherwise they will not receive compensation afterward despite undergoing many of the same financial struggles. This bill would rectify that so all growers in the control area are duly compensated. 
    Since the start of the HPAI outbreak in 2022, bird flu has affected 153 million birds in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to poultry growers and layer operations, driving food inflation even higher for Americans’ most cost-effective animal protein sources. 
    In addition to Senators Coons and Wicker, this legislation is cosponsored by Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
    Specifically, the HPAI Act would:
    Expand USDA-APHIS compensation to all poultry farmers in an HPAI control area. The program currently only compensates farmers whose flocks test positive, not those in the control area who are disallowed from placing flocks until the virus is contained, which sometimes takes months. 
    Simplify the calculation of indemnity. The payments to farmers will be calculated based on the average income they earned from the last five flocks. This method is more transparent and ensures that farmers will not face a cash shortfall in the face of an HPAI outbreak in their area.
    This legislation is endorsed by the Delaware Department of Agriculture, the Delmarva Chicken Association, the National Chicken Council, the United Egg Producers, the Delta Council, and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
    The full bill text is available here.
    A one-pager is available here. 
    Senator Coons and Senator Wicker are the co-Chairs of the Senate Chicken Caucus.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Crapo Statement on Rollins Confirmation to USDA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Idaho Mike Crapo

    Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed, by a vote of 72-28, Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):
    “Brooke Rollins has had a distinguished career in the Trump Administration, serving as Domestic Policy Chief during the President’s first term.  Her previous work in the Administration will serve her well as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as Congress and the Administration work to pass a new Farm Bill.  Her commitment to America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities will benefit Idahoans and strengthen our agricultural industry.  I congratulate her on her confirmation.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Capito Votes to Confirm Rollins as Agriculture Secretary

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) issued the following statement after voting to confirm Brooke Rollins to serve as the next Secretary of Agriculture:
    “Brooke Rollins understands firsthand the challenges facing rural America and will work day in and day out to support our West Virginia farmers, ranchers, and growers. That’s one of the many reasons I was proud to vote to confirm her to serve as our next Agriculture Secretary. I look forward to working with Secretary Rollins and the Trump administration to protect our family farms, grow our rural communities, and put American agriculture first,” Senator Capito said.
    Senator Capito previously met with Rollins in December 2024 to discuss her nomination and learn more about her vision to lead the department.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What we learned from Trump and Putin’s phone call

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor

    Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, spoke for much of the European diplomatic community when she reacted to news of Donald Trump’s phone chat with Vladimir Putin: “This is the way the Trump administration operates,” she declared. “This is not how others do foreign policy, but this is now the reality.”

    The resigned tone of Baerbock’s words was not matched by her colleague, defence minister Boris Pistorius, whose criticism that “the Trump administration has already made public concessions to Putin before negotiations have even begun” was rather more direct.

    Their sentiments were echoed, not only by European leaders, but in the US itself: “Putin Scores a Big Victory, and Not on the Battlefield” read a headline in the New York Times. The newspaper opined that Trump’s call had succeeded in bringing Putin back in from the cold after three years in which Russia had become increasingly isolated both politically and economically.

    This was not lost on the Russian media, where commentators boasted that the phone call “broke the west’s blockade”. The stock market gained 5% and the rouble strengthened against the dollar as a result.

    Reflecting on the call, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, continued with operation flatter Donald Trump by comparing his attitude favourably with that of his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden. “The previous US administration held the view that everything needed to be done to keep the war going. The current administration, as far as we understand, adheres to the point of view that everything must be done to stop the war and for peace to prevail.

    “We are more impressed with the position of the current administration, and we are open to dialogue.”

    Trump’s conversation with Putin roughly coincided with a meeting of senior European defence officials in Brussels which heard the new US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, outline America’s radical new outlook when it comes to European security. Namely that it’s not really America’s problem any more.

    Hegseth also told the meeting in Brussels yesterday that the Trump administration’s position is that Nato membership for Ukraine has been taken off the table, that the idea it would get its 2014 borders back was unrealistic and that if Europe wanted to guarantee Ukraine’s security as part of any peace deal, that would be its business. Any peacekeeping force would not involve American troops and would not be a Nato operation, so it would not involve collective defence.

    Sign up to receive our weekly World Affairs Briefing newsletter from The Conversation UK. Every Thursday we’ll bring you expert analysis of the big stories in international relations.

    International security expert David Dunn believes that the fact that Trump considers himself a consummate deal maker makes the fact that his administration is willing to concede so much ground before negotiations proper have even got underway is remarkable. And not in a good way.

    Dunn, who specialises in US foreign and security policy at the University of Birmingham, finds it significant that Trump spoke with Putin first and then called Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky to fill him in on the call. This order of priority, says Dunn, is a sign of the subordination of Ukraine’s role in the talks.

    He concludes that “for the present at least, it appears that negotiations will be less about pressuring Putin to bring a just end to the war he started than forcing Ukraine to give in to the Russian leader’s demands”.



    Read more:
    Trump phone call with Putin leaves Ukraine reeling and European leaders stunned

    Hegseth’s briefing to European defence officials, meanwhile, came as little surprise to David Galbreath. Writing here, Galbreath – who specialises in defence and security at the University of Bath – says the US pivot away from a focus on Europe has been years in the making – “since the very end of the cold war”.

    There has long been a feeling in Washington that the US has borne too much of the financial burden for European security. This is not just a Donald Trump thing, he believes, but an attitude percolating in US security circles for some decades. Once the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated, the focus for Nato become not so much collective defence as collective security, where “conflict would be managed on Nato’s borders”.

    But it was then the US which invoked article 5 of the Nato treaty, which establishes that “an armed attack against one or more [member states] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all”. The Bush government invoked Article 5 the day after the 9/11 attacks and Nato responded by patrolling US skies to provide security.

    Pete Hegseth dashes Ukraine’s hopes of a future guaranteed by Nato.

    Galbreath notes that many European countries, particularly the newer ones such as Estonia and Latvia, sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. “The persistent justification I heard in the Baltic states was “we need to be there when the US needs us so that they will be there when we need them”.

    That looks set to change.



    Read more:
    US says European security no longer its primary focus – the shift has been years in the making

    The prospect of a profound shift in the world order are daunting after 80 years in which security – in Europe certainly – was guaranteed by successive US administrations and underpinned, not just by Nato but by a whole set of international agreements.

    Now, instead of the US acting as the “world’s policeman”, we have a president talking seriously about taking control of Greenland, one way or another, who won’t rule out using force to seize the Panama Canal and who dreams of turning Gaza into a coastal “riviera” development.

    Meanwhile Russia is engaged in a brutal war of conquest in Ukraine and is actively meddling in the affairs of several other countries. And in China, Xi Jinping regularly talks up the idea of reunifying with Taiwan, by force if necessary, and is fortifying islands in the South China Sea with a view to aggressively pursuing territorial claims there as well.

    And we thought the age of empires was in the rear view mirror, writes historian Eric Storm of Leiden University. Storm, whose speciality is the rise of nation states, has discerned a resurgence of imperial tendencies around the world and fears that the rules-based order that has dominated the decades since the second world war now appears increasingly tenuous.



    Read more:
    How Putin, Xi and now Trump are ushering in a new imperial age

    Gaza: the horror continues

    In any given week, you’d expect the imminent prospect of the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire to be the big international story. And certainly, while Trump and Putin were “flooding the zone” (see last week’s round-up for the origins of this phrase) the prospects of the deal lasting beyond its first phase have become more and more uncertain.

    Hamas has recently pulled back from its threat not to release any more hostages. Earlier in the week it threatened to call a halt to the hostage-prisoner exchange, claiming that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had breached the terms of the ceasefire deal. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, responded – with Trump’s backing – saying that unless all hostages were released on Saturday, all bets were off and the IDF would resume its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Trump added that “all hell is going to break out”.

    The US president has also doubled down on his idea for a redeveloped Gaza and has continued to pressure Jordan and Egypt to accept millions of Palestinian refugees. This, as you would expect, has not made the population of Gaza feel any more secure.

    Nils Mallock and Jeremy Ginges, behavioural psychologists at the London School of Economics, were in the region last month and conducted a survey of Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to get a feel for how the two populations regard each other. It makes for depressing reading.

    The number of Israelis who reject the idea of a two-state solution has risen sharply since the October 7 2023 attacks by Hamas, from 46% to 62%. And roughly the same proportion of people in Gaza can now no longer envisage living side by side with Israelis. Both sides think that the other side is motivated by hatred, something which is known to make any diplomatic solution less feasible.



    Read more:
    We interviewed hundreds of Israelis and Gazans – here’s why we fear for the ceasefire

    We also asked Scott Lucas, a Middle East specialist at University College Dublin, to assess the likelihood of the ceasefire lasting into phase two, which is when the IDF is supposed to pull out of Gaza, allowing the people there room to being to rebuild, both physically and in terms of governance.

    He responded with a hollow laugh and a shake of the head, before sending us this digest of the key developments in the Middle East crisis this week.



    Read more:
    Will the Gaza ceasefire hold? Where does Trump’s takeover proposal stand? Expert Q&A

    We’ve become very used to seeing apocalyptic photos of the devastation of Gaza: the pulverised streets, choked with rubble, that make the idea of rebuilding seem so remote. But the people of Gaza also cultivated a huge amount of crops – about half the food they ate was grown there. Gazan farmers grew tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries in open fields as well as cultivating olive and citrus trees.

    Geographers Lina Eklund, He Yin and Jamon Van Den Hoek have analysed satellite images across the Gaza Strip over the past 17 months to work out the scale of agricultural destruction. It makes for terrifying reading.



    Read more:
    Gaza: we analysed a year of satellite images to map the scale of agricultural destruction

    World Affairs Briefing from The Conversation UK is available as a weekly email newsletter. Click here to get our updates directly in your inbox.

    – ref. What we learned from Trump and Putin’s phone call – https://theconversation.com/what-we-learned-from-trump-and-putins-phone-call-249902

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Crack Down on Deadly Fentanyl Additive Xylazine

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), alongside his colleagues, introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. This bill would list xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance while protecting the drug’s legal use by veterinarians, farmers, and ranchers.
    Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” is an easily accessible veterinary tranquilizer that is being used as a low-cost cutting agent for fentanyl. The bipartisan Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would regulate xylazine and give law enforcement the tools they need to go after those traffickers the drug for illicit use. The bill is endorsed by 39 state attorneys general—including Virginia’s—major law enforcement organizations, and veterinary organizations.
    “I’m fully committed to addressing the fentanyl crisis. I’m glad that bipartisan legislation I’ve led in the Senate to help keep Virginians safe from fentanyl was signed into law by President Biden, but there’s more work to do,” said Kaine. “That includes protecting our communities from the illicit use of xylazine, which is often mixed with fentanyl to create an even more lethal drug. I’m glad to partner with my colleagues on this bipartisan, commonsense approach to do that, while making sure the veterinarians who need xylazine to treat animals can still access it.”
    The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would:
    Schedule xylazine as Schedule III substance under the Controlled Substances Act; 
    Ensure veterinarians, farmers, and ranchers can still use the drug for its intended purpose by creating a clear definition of “ultimate user” – someone lawfully permitted to possess a controlled substance for legitimate use;
    Enable the DEA to track its manufacturing to ensure it is not diverted to the illicit market; and
    Require a report on prevalence, risks, and recommendations regarding xylazine.
    Kaine has long advocated for more resources to combat the fentanyl crisis. Kaine introduced and Congress passed the bipartisan Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act to direct increased federal attention to fentanyl trafficking by declaring fentanyl trafficking a national security threat, utilizing Pentagon resources like counter-drug intelligence, and involving Mexico as an active partner to combat the crisis. Kaine also helped pass a supplemental national security funding package that included the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Kaine, to require the President to sanction drug rings involved in international drug trafficking. Last July, Kaine traveled to Brownsville and McAllen, Texas to discuss fentanyl interdiction at the southern border with various law enforcement agencies and international partners from Mexico. Last year, Kaine also introduced the bipartisan Strengthening Tracking Of Poisonous Tranq Requiring Analyzed National Quantification Act, or the STOP TRANQ Act to require the State Department to include reporting on xylazine, or “tranq,” in its annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR).
    This legislation is led by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Katie Britt (R-AL), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Shelly Moore Capitol (R-WV), James Risch (R-ID), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Rick Scott (R-FL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Todd Young (R-IN). It is led in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19) and August Pfluger (R-TX-11).  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz: RFK Jr., Whose Dangerous Lies Fueled Measles Outbreak in Samoa & Caused Preventable Deaths, Unqualified To Lead HHS

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    WASHINGTON – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) underscored the troubling record of President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose efforts in Samoa to deceive families about measles vaccines led to a deadly outbreak that killed more than 80 people, many of whom were young children. Schatz urged his colleagues to vote against RFK Jr. in tomorrow’s confirmation vote.

    “It’s not often that the stakes of a vote to confirm a cabinet nominee are this high. But tomorrow, when we vote on the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the stakes will be life or death,” said Senator Schatz. “ Mr. Kennedy, in his words, but more importantly in his actions, has proven over and over that he is a unique danger to society. But he’s on the edge of becoming the country’s top health leader with the power to unleash bygone diseases and undermine trust in science for generations to come.”

    “For the first time ever, we will have a Health Secretary who has actively helped cause outbreak instead of to contain them,” he continued. “We’ll have someone in charge of medical research who’s taken every opportunity to undermine science instead of promoting it. We’ll have someone who’s never come across a wacky idea that he didn’t like, whether it’s that antidepressants are causing mass shootings or that chemicals in the water are turning kids gay… Those two things should be immediately disqualifying.”

    Schatz recounted the story of how Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine which ultimately led to an outbreak in which thousands of people were infected and 83, mostly children, died.

    “It is so chilling to contemplate the idea that someone as recognizable as a Kennedy would fly across an ocean to a small, developing country and basically tell everybody, ‘Be afraid of this lifesaving medicine’,” Schatz concluded. “If you think it’s a good idea to leave all of these diseases in the rearview mirror, then this is a very bad person to have running the Department of Health and Human Services.”

    Video of Senator Schatz’s remarks is available here.

    The full text of Senator Schatz’s remarks, as delivered, is below.

    It is not often that the stakes of a vote to confirm a cabinet nominee are this high. But tomorrow, when we vote on the nomination of RFK Jr. to be the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the stakes will be life and death. Mr. Kennedy, in his words, but more importantly in his actions, has proven over and over again that he is a unique danger to society.

    But he is on the edge of becoming the country’s top health leader, with the power to unleash bygone diseases and undermine trust in science for generations to come. For the first time ever, we will have a Health Secretary who has actively helped to cause outbreak instead of to contain them. We’ll have someone in charge of medical research who has taken every opportunity to undermine science, instead of promoting it.

    We’ll have someone who’s never come across a crazy idea that he didn’t like, whether it’s that antidepressants are the cause of mass shootings or chemicals in the water are turning children gay.

    This is the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Those two things right there should be immediately disqualifying. This should be 100 to 0. This guy used to be a Democrat. This guy was pro-choice. This guy was for clean energy. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue except to say for HHS, you need somebody who has devoted their life and hopefully has some expertise in the area of public health.

    And it’s not just that we didn’t get someone who has expertise in public health. We have someone who has caused disease and death. And I say those words with precision. I understand that both sides of the aisle are prone to exaggerating their case, and being apocalyptic. When we describe a pending vote, I’ve been here for a while, and everything is always the most important vote that we will ever cast.

    And I don’t know if this is the most important vote we’ll ever cast. I do think, gosh, I hope I’m wrong. I really do hope I’m wrong. But I do think this is likely the Cabinet Secretary vote that is likely to age the most poorly, because this person has the potential to actually cause diseases like rubella, like mumps, like measles, like polio, that have been gone for many generations because we have a vaccine regime.

    And I want to tell you what he did in Samoa. In 2019, he flew to Samoa to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine. And the reason was that he wanted to run a quote, natural experiment to see how people would fare against the disease without protections. Now, some of you may know this. My father was the first whistleblower against the Tuskegee experiments in which the United States Public Health Service did a similar thing.

    They knew that penicillin cured syphilis, and they knew that for the most part, untreated syphilis caused death. But the US Public Health Service decided to divide a cohort of African-American men into two parts. One would receive the medicine and be safe and be cured, and another cohort would receive a placebo and not get the lifesaving cure for syphilis.

    And why did they do that? To quote, “observe the disease process”.

    To observe the disease process. So when you when you investigate whether or not a medicine works, there’s a whole process to it, right? The FDA double blind studies all the rest of it. But the basic idea is you’re trying to get to some level of reliability and statistical significance so that you can project out into the population what’s going to work and what’s not.

    Now, the second way to do this is say you can achieve statistical significance until you just let a bunch of people get sick and figure out what happens. The United States Congress, led by someone with whom I served for a couple of years, Tom Harkin, when they found out about the Tuskegee experiments, made a law against the U.S. Public Health Service ever doing that again because it’s immoral.

    It’s bad science. Sure. But more than that, it treated these African-American men as if they were worth experimenting on, as if this this category of human beings in the United States were expendable for scientific research purposes. And that’s exactly what happened in Samoa. And it’s exactly what happened in Samoa.

    6000 people got the measles. 83 people died. 79 of them were kids. It is so chilling to contemplate the idea that someone as recognizable as a Kennedy would fly across an ocean to a small, developing country and basically tell everybody, be afraid of this lifesaving medicine. And it’s saw he did that once and said, I’m sorry I misunderstood or I’m being misunderstood.

    This dude actually sells onesies on his website saying, I think it’s like “unvaxxed and unafraid” for a little baby. This guy has views that are out of the mainstream of, I would guess, 99 out of 100 United States senators. And I do understand the pressure that some of my colleagues are facing. They’re being told if you vote against one Trump nominee, you will be primaried.

    So that’s not a small amount of pressure. But this one, I just promise you, it’s not going to age well.

    Some of my colleagues are expressing reservations in private. And I think that’s better than not expressing any reservations at all. And some of them are getting private assurances from Mr. Kennedy that he does not, in fact, hate all vaccines. He just wants to answer questions and all the rest of it. I am not reassured. I think this person has demonstrated over a pretty long career that he says whatever is convenient in the moment, right?

    This is like an unreconstructed, he’s a Kennedy. He was running for president in the Democratic primary, and now he’s a Trump guy, like ten months later. What does that mean? It means he’s got no core values, right? Like there’s just no way to go from over here to over here politically in such a short period of time, except that he was offered something, and he was offered this job.

    And why does he want this job? Because he’s got a very specific view about public health.

    And I just want to make one other point. The problem of our food system. Right. The problem of the extent to which we subsidize ultra-processed foods that are coming from commodities that are subsidizing the farm bill and causing people to get increasingly diabetic, and all the related health problems that happen related to that. Like, that’s a really legitimate place to do some good bipartisan work.

    And I would love to do that. It’s also not what the HHS secretary does, what the United States Department of Agriculture does, for the most part, and it’s what the Congress does. The problem is the farm bill. The problem is you get what you subsidize. And we are subsidizing all the corn products and all the soy products and all the sugar products that go into the lab tested extra delicious, extra bad for you, extra addictive stuff that is making us all.

    Even though we’re the wealthiest country in human history, a very unhealthy country. And so if that’s all this guy we’re working on, you can count me in. But if your idea of public health has to do with healthy food, has to do with prevention, has to do with understanding that our food system and our agricultural system and our USDA and our farm bill process is essentially broken.

    You don’t actually have to purchase this kind of crazy, evil stuff. You just don’t you don’t have to do it. There’s lots of good people on the food system side. You can work with, work for, cheer on, organize with. But this man is going around… he’s not talking about the COVID vaccine.

    He’s not talking about whether or not it’s appropriate to require masks in public, where Democrats and Republicans are, like, still arguing about stuff like that. He’s talking about stuff that like, if you’re a parent and now you don’t know whether when your kid goes to school, they’ve reached herd immunity for stuff that is like way, way, way generations back in the rearview mirror.

    And so I don’t know if this is going to mark one of the most important public health moments in American history, but I can’t think of another time where we actually have the technology, we have the medicine, we have the science, we have the distribution system, we have the public infrastructure to keep people safe. And we just decide by a vote of 53 to 47 to make people unsafe.

    So Secretary of Defense, DNI, all these are important. Treasury. Every cabinet position is important. It’s going to be a little more challenging to know whether your vote is vindicated in the sweep of history. I think this guy is going to age very poorly in the job, because I think we are going to see bad public health outcomes very, very shortly.

    This really is a matter of life and death. And I understand what I have learned over the last ten days is if Republicans are going to display courage, it’s not going to be on the cabinet. There are a few that have voted, you know, not with their party, but for the most part, like they’re in line, and Trump is going to get his cabinet.

    But let this be a marker for everybody. Let today be a marker for everybody. If you even if you voted for Trump, if you didn’t vote for Trump, if you’re not a voter, it doesn’t matter. If you think it’s a good idea to leave all of these diseases in the rearview mirror, then this is a very, very bad person to have running the Department of Health and Human Services.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján Votes Against Agriculture Secretary Nominee Following Funding Freeze for Farmers, Ranchers, and Acequias

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

    WaPo Report: Farmers on the hook for millions after Trump freezes USDA funds

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, issued the following statement after voting against the nomination of Brooke Rollins to serve as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture:  

    “New Mexico’s agriculture industry is the backbone of our rural economies and helps feed both our state and the world. It is unacceptable that our farmers, ranchers, and acequia parciantes are now caught in the crosshairs of Elon Musk’s political agenda – left on the hook for millions of dollars that the federal government promised them. This isn’t about politics – it’s about real people who are being abandoned by the administration despite their critical role in providing for all Americans.

    “The administration must uphold its commitment to our farmers, ranchers, and producers. Until there is a commitment to do so, I cannot support a nominee who prioritizes a political agenda over the needs of our agriculture industries and all Americans.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Tuberville Joins “America’s Newsroom” to Discuss Kash Patel, Linda McMahon Confirmation Hearings

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville

    “Kash Patel is the Democrats’ worst nightmare”

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” to discuss the importance of confirming President Trump’s nominees. Senator Tuberville specifically mentioned Kash Patel’s nomination for Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Linda McMahon’s nomination for Secretary of Education (ED)—who both have hearings today.

    Read excerpts from the interview below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.

    ON LINDA MCMAHON FOR EDUCATION SECRETARY

    HEMMER: “Sir, we could have thrown a dart and picked any one of a number of topics on this. We’ll start with education. You’re close to this. What happens?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Well, I was with President Trump going to the Super Bowl the other day, and he’s adamant that we get our education back because that’s the future for our country. Our young people are our number one commodity, Bill. […] But at the end of the day, we have got to get back to reading, writing, math, civics—teaching our history to our kids, not indoctrinating our kids. And we’re having a hearing today. I was named the Chairman of the Education and the American Family [sub]committee in the HELP [Committee] this past week. I’m looking forward to having hearings and getting our parents back involved in education. My God, we have turned it over to the teachers and the teachers’ unions. It is out of control. We’ve gotta start teaching again.”

    PERINO: “One of your colleagues, Senator Bernie Sanders—there was a rally against Linda McMahon, the nominee to run the Department. He had this to say. [clip from Sen. Sanders at rally] 

    Why don’t they ever have a rally about the dismal test scores that we see across our nation?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Exactly, Dana. And to go back on this, Bernie Sanders has been the chairman of the HELP, the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, for the past [two] years. I think we’ve had one education hearing. They care nothing about education. They wanna indoctrinate. So, again, we’ve got to get back to doing commonsense things where we all understand that our kids are so important, more important than anything else that we do.”

    ON DOGE SHRINKING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    HEMMER: “Sir, this is moving all very quickly. And there might be, you know what Democrats are saying about the cuts, etcetera, and how it’s gonna hurt people in the end. Can you understand how there could be a measure of uncertainty for people watching this? And if you do, how would you reassure them that the government will still be there for them when needed and necessary?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Well, all you gotta do is look at what President Trump said during his campaign. Everything’s gonna be about the American people, about America First, about everything within our borders, not outside our borders. And it all, again, goes back to education, crime, all the things that are going on in our country that we gotta get better. So yes, there’s gonna be some cuts. But one thing about it, Bill and Dana, if we don’t cut federal spending, we will not have the country that you and I had a chance to grow up in because we will go bankrupt, which we almost already are. It will get worse and we will become a socialist country that will depend on handouts that we don’t have money for.”

    ON KASH PATEL FOR FBI DIRECTOR

    PERINO: “Kash Patel is the President’s nominee to lead the FBI. There’s another hearing that’s happening as we speak—that’s just getting started. He should be confirmed by the end of this week for sure. […] This is what he said about the FBI back on January 30th. [clip of Patel] 

    What time this week do you believe he will get confirmed after this hearing today?”

    TUBERVILLE: “Well, it’ll probably be next week—we’ll have his first vote to get him out of out of cloture and go into the debate. […] He’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare because he knows what we all know up here—that it’s been all corrupt. You know, we have to take back our country in terms of the weaponized criminal justice system. We made a good start with Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbard, all these people that have been put in place. But at the end of the day, it’s got to be Kash Patel who’s over the country’s head police office. And again, Kash has been involved in all of it. He knows where the bodies are buried. The Democrats are scared to death because when he gets in, which he will, he’s gonna start shaking it all up. We’ve got some good people, but he’s got to take politics out of the FBI, and he’s got to put trust back in the FBI for the American people because right now, it is a total disaster up here on the hill and especially in my state of Alabama.”

    HEMMER: “Senator, we’ll let you get back to work. And apparently, there’s a lot of work to be done. So, thank you for your time, Senator Tommy Tuberville. Thank you.”

    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Booker Opposes RFK, Jr., Nomination to be HHS Secretary

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement:

    “There’s no question that America’s food system is painfully broken. It drives historic levels of suffering and illness. It’s broken for farmers and rural communities; it’s broken for workers; it poisons our environment; it subsidizes unhealthy foods and hurts consumers. It’s a system that seems to hurt everyone except the multinational food companies that control it.

    “It’s also true that our country faces a huge nutrition crisis. In recent decades, we’ve seen an explosion of diet-related diseases, fueled by the world’s biggest food companies that rigged the rules in their favor to maximize profits at the expense of public health. These companies have blocked my efforts to regulate things like toxic pesticides, food chemicals, and ultra-processed foods.

    “I’m always hopeful that we can make progress on these challenges and I will work with whomever wants to join with me and the millions of Americans who are demanding change.

    “However, I will not be voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy. He has championed views on a number of issues that are deeply concerning to me. Furthermore, the Trump administration is flagrantly ignoring the law in its efforts to dismantle vital government programs, from health care to education to national security, while ignoring the burden of rising costs on American families.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Charges Isleta Pueblo Man with Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Bosque Farms man has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person as part of an ongoing effort to combat violent crime and protect families in tribal communities through community-focused initiatives.

    According to court documents, on or about July 14, 2024, Warren Chewiwi, 51, an enrolled member of the Isleta Pueblo, possessed a 12-gauge shotgun. Chewiwi is prohibited by law from possessing any firearm because he has two prior felony convictions and four prior convictions for misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. Chewiwi’s prior convictions span three different New Mexico sovereigns—the federal government, the State of New Mexico, and the Isleta Pueblo.

    Chewiwi will remain in custody pending trial. At sentencing, Chewiwi faces up to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez made the announcement today.

    The Isleta Pueblo Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Trump Making Valentine’s Day More Expensive This Year

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – There are many ways to show one’s love on Valentine’s Day, but unfortunately, due to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and refusal to help lower food prices, Americans will likely shell out record amounts this year for things like flowers, chocolate, or a dinner date at their favorite local restaurant. 

    U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says it’s time President Trump follow through on his campaign promise to actually do something to help lower prices instead of making moves to increase costs on consumers and American businesses.

    “Donald Trump pledged to fix the economy, but so far he’s made things worse.  He’s fixated on tax cuts for the wealthy and tariffs that economic experts say will only drive up prices for American consumers.  Since Trump took office, inflation is accelerating and groceries, gas, and rents rose over the last month.  His chaotic, destabilizing approach is sending prices in the wrong direction for families,” said Senator Reed.

    During Trump’s second term in office, the consumer price index rose 3 percent in January from a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. It has increased from a 3-and-a-half year low of 2.4 percent in September.

    Those planning to wine and dine their sweetheart this Valentine’s Day will likely face higher costs than last year for everything from flowers to food to fuel.  In fact, Trump’s focus on everything but the economy might leave Americans a little lighter in their wallet for things like:

    Flowers: A majority of florists import their bouquet flowers from countries like Colombia and Mexico. Recent tariff threats by President Trump are already creating supply chain pressures and impacting prices on products coming into the U.S.  In order to stay afloat, some mom and pop flower shops are estimating they could have to raise prices as much as 10 percent on bouquets compared to last year’s Valentine’s Day.

    Chocolate: It will be harder to find a sweet deal on chocolate this Valentine’s Day because chocolate prices are up about twenty percent as cocoa prices hit new heights.  Several factors contribute to the price hike, and not all are within Trump’s direct control. For instance, key cocoa-producing regions of West Africa have been impacted by severe weather, exacerbated by climate change. But Trump’s inaction and climate denial only exacerbates environmental and health hazards that don’t respect borders. The chocolate industry in the U.S. is also impacted by consolidation.  Trump has allowed anti-competitive industry consolidation in the past which leads to higher prices in the long run and allows huge companies to stomp out upstarts. 

    Restaurant Dining: Not only are menu prices rising under the Trump Administration, but due to Trump ignoring his pledge to take action on day one to address food prices, staples like eggs and entrée items like steak have shot up in the last month.

    “Americans want the federal government to work effectively and they want action to lower prices and strengthen the economy.  Donald Trump needs to stop with the culture war sideshows and focus on the things he pledged to do — like lowering food, housing, and health costs.  Giving away massive tax windfalls for the wealthy and slashing Medicaid doesn’t lower prices.  So far, Trump’s policies have made things worse for many Americans.  He needs to change course,” concluded Reed.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Colombian Woman Charged with Identity Theft Offenses and Stealing Federal Benefits

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A Colombian woman residing in Boston was arrested for identity theft offenses and stealing housing benefits.

    Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, 58, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of misuse of a Social Security number, one count of making a false statement in an application for a United States passport and one count of theft of government money. Orovio-Hernandez appeared in federal court in Boston yesterday.

    According to court documents, Orovio-Hernandez, a citizen of Colombia, applied for a United States passport and a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Real ID using the name and other biographical information of another individual. Additionally, Orovio-Hernandez is alleged to have stolen approximately $259,589 in Section 8 housing assistance benefits from October 2011 through January 2025.

    The charge of misuse of a Social Security number provides for a sentence of up to five years of in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of making a false statement in an application for a United States passport provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of theft of government money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. If convicted, the defendant will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of any sentenced imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Matthew O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office; Amy Connelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division; Vicky Vazquez, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Regional Office; and Charmeka Parker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations – Northeast Region made the announcement. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case. 

    The details contained in the Indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
     

    MIL Security OSI –