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Category: Fisheries

  • MIL-OSI Global: 25 years of Everglades restoration has improved drinking water for millions in Florida, but a new risk is rising

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Kominoski, Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International University

    The Everglades has often been referred to as a vast river of grass. National Park Service/B.Call via Flickr

    Do you know where your drinking water comes from?

    In South Florida, drinking water comes from the Everglades, a vast landscape of wetlands that has long filtered the water relied on by millions of people.

    But as the Everglades has shrunk over the past century, the region’s water supply and water quality have become increasingly threatened, including by harmful algal blooms fueled by agriculture runoff. Now, the water supply faces another rising challenge: saltwater intrusion.

    Waterways cut through the Everglades.
    South Florida Water Management District/Flickr, CC BY-ND

    Protecting South Florida’s water hinges on restoring the Everglades. That’s why, 25 years ago, the federal government and universities launched the world’s largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted.

    I’m involved in this work as an ecosystem ecologist. The risks I see suggest continuing to restore the Everglades is more crucial today than ever.

    What happened to the Everglades?

    The Florida Everglades is a broad mosaic of fresh water, sawgrass marshes, cypress domes and tree islands, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows all connected by water.

    But it is half its original size. In the early 1900s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began installing canals and levees to control flooding in the Everglades, which allowed people to build farms and communities along its edges. The Tamiami Trail became the first road across the Everglades in 1928. It connected Tampa to Miami, but the road and canals cut off or diverted some of the natural water flow in South Florida.

    Maps show how the Everglades changed over time. Source: USGS.

    Since then, Florida’s economy, agriculture and population have exploded – and with them has come a nutrient pollution problem in the Everglades.

    The major crop, sugarcane, is grown in a region south of Lake Okeechobee covering 1,100 square miles that’s known as the Everglades Agricultural Area. Nearly 80 tons of phosphorus fertilizer from federally subsidized farm fields runs off into the Everglades wetlands each year. And that has become a water quality concern. Drinking water with elevated nitrogen is linked to human health problems, and elevated phosphorus and associated algal blooms can cause microbes to accumulate toxins such as mercury.

    Healthy wetlands can filter out those nutrients and other pollutants, cleaning the water.

    Some of the ways the Everglades filters water contaminated with phosphorus.
    South Florida Water Management District

    Rain falling in the Everglades percolates through the porous limestone and recharges the Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for 1 in 3 Floridians.

    But wetlands need time and space to function properly, and the damage from farm pollution has harmed that natural filtering system.

    By the 1990s, Everglades wetlands and the wildlife they support hit a critical stress level from elevated concentrations of phosphorus, a nutrient in fertilizer that washes off farm fields and fuels the growth of toxic algal blooms and invasive species that can choke out native plant populations.

    The changes led to seagrass die-offs and widespread invasion of sawgrass marshes by cattail and harmful algal blooms. Degraded wetlands can themselves become pollution sources that can contaminate surface water and groundwater quality by decreasing oxygen in the water, which can harm aquatic life, and releasing chemicals and nutrients as they decay.

    A vast restoration campaign

    Congress approved the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan in 2000 to support reducing phosphorus concentrations by recreating large wetlands areas to remove excess nutrients and reestablishing more of the natural water depth to bolster native populations.

    That restoration effort is making progress in reconnecting wetlands to natural water flows by rehydrating large areas that were cut off. Phosphorus levels are lower in many wetlands that now remain hydrated longer, and in these wetlands fresh water is recharging the aquifer, helping sustain the drinking water supply.

    However, delays in critically important components of that work have left some wetlands in degraded conditions for longer than expected, especially in regions near and downstream of the Everglades Agricultural Area, where phosphorus concentrations remain stubbornly high.

    An algal bloom spreads in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, at the heart of the Everglades.
    Nicholas Aumen/USGS

    South Florida continues to experience harmful algal blooms from phosphorus reaching rivers and the coast, resulting in fish kills and the deaths of manatees. Red tide can shut down fishing and keep beach-going tourists away, harming local economies. This pollution is estimated to have cost Florida’s economy US$2.7 billion in 2018.

    The unexpected risk: Saltwater

    An unforeseen threat has also started to creep into the Everglades: saltwater.

    As sea level rises, saltwater reaches further inland, both in rivers and underground through the porous limestone beneath South Florida. Saltwater intrusion also occurs when wells draw down aquifers to provide water for drinking or irrigation. That saltwater is causing parts of the Everglades marshes, often referred to as a river of grass, to collapse into open water.

    Saltwater intrusion into South Miami and how Everglades restoration can help. Source: Emily Northrop and Rachael Johnson, University of Miami.
    The red line shows how far saltwater had intruded into aquifers beneath Fort Lauderdale as of 2019.
    South Florida Water Management District

    The loss of these freshwater marshes reduces the capacity of the Everglades to remove phosphorus from the water. And that means more nutrients flowing downstream, contaminating aquifers and causing harmful algal blooms to form in coastal waters.

    Scientists have learned that marsh plants need freshwater pulses during the wet season, from April to November, to avoid saltwater intrusion.

    For example, saltwater intruded about one mile inland between 2009 and 2019 in parts of the Fort Lauderdale area. More fresh water is needed to push the saltwater back out to sea.

    However, the restoration effort was never intended to combat saltwater intrusion.

    Reasons for optimism

    Despite the continuing challenges, I am optimistic because of how scientists, policymakers and communities are working together to protect the Everglades and drinking water.

    I lead part of that restoration work through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research program. The effort started at Florida International University on May 1, 2000, the same year the Everglades restoration plan was authorized by Congress.

    Our research was used to set the levels of nutrients allowable to still protect the region’s water supplies, and we have been working for 25 years to reduce saltwater intrusion and phosphorus pollution to ensure drinking water for South Florida remains both fresh and clean. We continually use our research to inform water managers and policymakers of the best practices to reduce saltwater intrusion and pollution.

    A roseate spoonbill hunts for dinner in Everglades National Park.
    National Park Service, R. Cammauf, via Flickr

    As saltwater intrusion continues to threaten South Florida’s freshwater aquifer, Everglades restoration and protection will be increasingly important.

    Everyone in the region can help.

    By rehabilitating degraded wetlands, allowing for more fresh water to flow throughout the Everglades ecosystems, reducing the use of fresh water on lawns and crops, and reusing municipal water for outdoor needs, South Florida can keep its drinking water safe for generations of future residents and visitors. This is something that everyone can contribute to.

    Mangroves along Turner River in the Everglades.
    Chauncey Davis/Flickr, CC BY

    Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Miami’s renowned conservationist who helped establish the Everglades National Park, often said, “The Everglades is a test. If we pass it, we may get to keep the planet.”

    John Kominoski works for Florida International University. He receives funding from federal agencies, such as the National Park Service and the National Science Foundation.

    – ref. 25 years of Everglades restoration has improved drinking water for millions in Florida, but a new risk is rising – https://theconversation.com/25-years-of-everglades-restoration-has-improved-drinking-water-for-millions-in-florida-but-a-new-risk-is-rising-253167

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Does Russia have military interest in Indonesia? Here’s what we know – and why Australia would be concerned

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Associate Professor (Adj), Griffith Asia Institute; and Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

    A news report that Russia has sought to base long-range aircraft in Indonesia caught Australia’s political leaders by surprise during an already hectic election campaign.

    The military publication Janes reported on Tuesday that Russia had requested permission for its aircraft to be based at the Manuhua Air Force Base in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua.

    The base is just 1,300 kilometres away from Darwin.

    Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles issued a statement denying the report, saying his Indonesian counterpart assured him there would be no Russian planes based in Indonesia. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was seeking “further clarification” with Jakarta about the Janes report.

    Janes is a respected outlet when it comes to defence news, so it’s likely the Russians did float the idea, even if it might have been done at lower levels.

    Why would Russia be cosying up to Indonesia?

    Since Prabowo Subianto came to power as Indonesia’s new president last October, Moscow and Jakarta have sought to deepen their military ties. In fact, the two countries conducted their first-ever joint naval exercises a month after Prabowo took office.

    But this isn’t a totally new strategy by Moscow, which has tried on numerous occasions to pivot to Asia to give itself more economic heft and leverage in the region.

    The Kremlin is also cognisant that Europe won’t be a friend for the foreseeable future. As such, it’s even more pressing for Russia to establish itself as a player in the Indo-Pacific region – and with that comes a miltary and security presence.

    About ten years ago, for instance, the Russian regime secured an agreement with Vietnam to allow its air force to refuel their aircraft at a former US base in the country. Russia also had interest in reestablishing a submarine base in Vietnam and has sold submarines to the country.

    In addition, Moscow has sought to sell defence technology and fighter jets to Indonesia for some time, seeing it as a potentially lucrative market for Russian arms. Beyond defence, the bilateral relationship has also focused on energy and education.

    These attempts to deepen Moscow-Jakarta ties form part of a targeted Russian campaign to boost its relationships with a number of Southeast Asian nations.

    What about the timing?

    If the Janes report is accurate, the timing of the purported approach from Russia would be interesting. The report said it came after a meeting between Sergei Shoigu (recently demoted from Russia’s defence minister to an inferior role as secretary of the Russian Security Council) and Indonesia’s defence minister in February of this year.

    At the time, the United States was distracted by the first chaotic weeks of US President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

    So, if Russia did make such a request, it would be highly opportunistic, especially given Jakarta has been keen to deepen ties with Moscow.

    It is also noteworthy that Indonesia recently joined the BRICS, the group of rapidly emerging economies that also includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Russia, among others.



    Read more:
    Indonesia’s BRICS agenda: 2 reasons Prabowo’s foreign policy contrasts with Jokowi’s

    How concerned should Australia be?

    Even though both Canberra and Jakarta dismissed the report, there was good reason for Australia to be concerned.

    Russia’s long-range aviation assets, notably the venerable Tu-95, which is used for reconnaissance as well as strategic bombing, can easily travel over 10,000 kilometres.

    From a base in Indonesia, this would give the Russian air force the ability to conduct ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance) missions during Australian military exercises, gather data on military installations in the Northern Territory (which also host US Marines), and even conduct surveillance on US military activities in Guam.

    Equally, given the closeness of ties between Beijing and Moscow, any Russian intelligence that was gathered could be shared with China.

    The reported Russian military interest in Indonesia will also have irritated Australian foreign policy makers, especially since Canberra has invested significant diplomatic capital in boosting Australia-Indonesia ties.

    Fortunately, the closeness of the relationship, which includes recently upgraded defence ties, will also have allowed for some plain speaking from Australian interlocutors.

    They will doubtless have pointed out that agreeing to any such Kremlin request would cast significant doubt on Indonesian claims about non-alignment. It would also be viewed unfavourably by other regional actors, who have no interest in seeing an enhanced Russian military presence in the region.

    The assurance from Jakarta that no Russian planes would be based in Indonesia is therefore a positive development.

    But ultimately the reported Russian request is another example of the messy and fragmented world we now live in.

    It highlights the reality that Australia will sometimes have to do business with partners who have friends we don’t like. Under those conditions, being firm on issues that threaten our national interests – like the prospective basing of military assets by a hostile power close to our shores – becomes all the more important.

    Matthew Sussex has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Atlantic Council, the Fulbright Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Lowy Institute and various Australian government departments and agencies.

    – ref. Does Russia have military interest in Indonesia? Here’s what we know – and why Australia would be concerned – https://theconversation.com/does-russia-have-military-interest-in-indonesia-heres-what-we-know-and-why-australia-would-be-concerned-254601

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: Canton Fair kicks off with record number of export exhibitors

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

    GUANGZHOU, April 15 — The 137th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, kicked off on Tuesday, with the number of export exhibitors exceeding 30,000 for the first time in the history of this famous event.

    Scheduled to take place from April 15 to May 5 in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou, this edition of the fair has attracted about 31,000 participating firms, up by nearly 900 compared with the previous fair.

    More than 200,000 overseas buyers from 215 countries and regions have preregistered, with the lineup featuring the likes of retail giants Walmart and Target from the United States, Carrefour from France, Tesco and Kingfisher from Britain, and Germany’s Metro.

    This edition of the fair is divided into three phases. The first will focus on advanced manufacturing, the second on quality home furnishings, and the third on products that promote a better quality of life.

    The event will involve 172 product zones, including, for the first time, a special zone for service robots focused on showcasing the latest achievements of China’s AI development efforts.

    Xinhua reporters at the fair witnessed an exhibition hall becoming packed with participants just after 9 a.m. Notably, the exhibition area focusing on service robots was especially busy. Many overseas buyers used their mobile phones to capture images of robotic dogs, industrial exoskeleton equipment, automatic cruise robots, coffee-making robots and other products, while asking exhibitors for more details about their functions.

    “This Canton Fair is held in the year when China’s ’14th Five-Year Plan’ nears completion — which is of great significance in promoting the innovative development of trade, thus ensuring stable foreign trade volume and improving foreign trade quality,” said Zhang Sihong, deputy director of the China Foreign Trade Center.

    He noted that the large gathering of global buyers at the fair underlined the trust of the international business community in made-in-China products.

    Guo Yanhu with Gree, a leading home appliances enterprise, said that through green technology innovation and AI intelligent upgrading, the company provides users with efficient and low-carbon solutions, having sold products to more than 190 countries and regions in 2024.

    The Canton Fair has always been an important driver of global trade, said Andre Rocha, president of the Federation of Industries of the State of Goias, Brazil. Here, people can learn about the major global development trends and cutting-edge technologies, as well as solutions that can actually boost industrial development, he added.

    Established in 1957, the Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou. It is the longest-running of several comprehensive international trade events in China and has been hailed as the barometer of China’s foreign trade.

    Despite the weak momentum of global economic growth, intensified trade protectionism and geopolitical tensions, China’s foreign trade has maintained stable growth.

    According to the General Administration of Customs, China’s total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms expanded 1.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025. China’s exports rose 6.9 percent to 6.13 trillion yuan (about 850.1 billion U.S. dollars) during this period, while imports fell 6 percent to 4.17 trillion yuan.

    In addition, the fifth China International Consumer Products Expo, being held on the tropical island province of Hainan in south China this week, has also reaffirmed China’s position as a vital marketplace for global enterprises. It has drawn record participation from over 4,100 brands across 71 countries and regions, reflecting the expanding international appetite for engagement with China’s vast consumer market and its evolving landscape.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Masterpieces of vocal music and architectural plein air: what the capital’s cultural venues have prepared for the Days of Historical and Cultural Heritage

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    More than 55 venues in the capital have prepared over 280 eventsDays of Historical and Cultural Heritage. On April 20, concerts, lectures, excursions and master classes await guests. Entrance to museums and exhibition halls will be free. To attend events within the framework of the campaign, you must first purchase free tickets on the website Ticket.Mos.ru.

    Learn all about ceramics and the secrets of cinema

    At 12:00 and 14:00, the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve will host a mediator tour, “Form of Thought,” around the exhibition “To Be in the Material. Contemporary Ceramic Art.” https://bilet.mos.ru/?spheres=[“442299”] The exhibition tells, among other things, about the connection between ceramic art and industrial design. You can discuss the work with an art mediator and understand what emotions it evokes.

    A lecture will be held at 16:00 in the gallery “Na Shabolovke” of the association “Exhibition halls of Moscow” “Cinema through the eyes of an artist”. It will be read by Nikita Bestuzhev, a film artist, graphic artist, illustrator, member of the Moscow Union of Artists, teacher and curator of the Moscow Film School. Participants will learn how films are created, see storyboards of famous Russian and foreign films, learn about what was not included in the final versions, and discuss interesting and unknown to the general public stories of the creation of films. During the lecture, guests will be asked to draw a storyboard.

    Listen to music and learn to dance

    The Alfred Mirek Museum of Russian Accordion invites you to a concert by Elena Filippova and Pavel Korbankov at 15:00. They are participants in folklore festivals, concerts and creative evenings, laureates of the XXI Moscow International Festival “Accordion – the Soul of Russia”, the Interregional Folklore and Ethnographic Festival “Russian Sound”, the Moscow annual festival in honor of the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. The musicians play ancient traditional instruments – Yelets piano and Tula seven-valve accordions, balalaikas and gusli, as well as on objects of peasant life, sometimes the most unusual and unexpected.

    Concert “Masterpieces of Russian Vocal Music” will be held at the Yesenin Center of the Moscow State S.A. Yesenin Museum. It will begin at 17:00. The performance will feature works by composers from different eras, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Varlamov, Boris Fomin, Sergei Banevich, Isaak Dunaevsky, Valery Gavrilin, as well as Russian folk songs.

    At the Museum of the Estates of Russia, at 13:00 and 16:00 you can take part in an interactive program “Salon of noble leisure”. It is dedicated to the leisure time of nobles in pre-revolutionary Russia of different eras. The host will show household items, such as a gramophone with pre-revolutionary records and an old camera, and will tell about ballroom etiquette and the language of the fan. Artists in historical costumes will perform several classical dances. Under the guidance of the host, participants will be able to learn the basics of salon dancing. And all this – to the accompaniment of a piano.

    A folk music concert will begin at 12:00 at the Kuskovo estate “Cultural Bridges: Music of the Times”. It will take place in the Big Stone Greenhouse. Guests will see a performance by students and teachers of the Russian State Social University. Romances, spiritual poems, spring chants, songs of residents of various regions of Russia, as well as original musical works, arrangements and instrumental tunes will be performed.

    Learn about the fates of writers and their work

    A lecture will be held at the scientific and educational center of the Mikhail Bulgakov Museum on Arbat at 15:00 “…Where will you live? Mikhail Bulgakov’s Moscow addresses”. The writer found himself in Moscow in the autumn of 1921. Over the course of more than 18 years in the city, he changed his address several times. Elena Mikhailova, head of the scientific and educational center, will tell us about the writer’s life in Moscow and whether he found the apartment of his dreams.

    The Mikhail Bulgakov Museum has also prepared a walking tour “Once upon a time at Patriarch’s”. It will be conducted by accredited tour guide Elena Primorskaya. Participants will go on a journey in the footsteps of the heroes of the novel “The Master and Margarita”, starting from the garden where an attempt was made on the life of the administrator of the Variety Theatre Varenukha. Gathering at 14:00, 16:00 and 17:45 at the entrance to the Aquarium Garden (near the Mossovet Theatre).

    A literary and musical evening in memory of Yuri Kuznetsov will be held at 16:00 in the concert hall of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad “I will set my soul free…”. Guests will hear the poet’s poems and songs written to his works, performed by his students, contemporary Russian poets and artists. Among the participants of the evening are music critic Denis Stupnikov, poet and musician Dmitry Cherny (Echelon group), poetess Vasilisa Spogreyeva, poetess and singer-songwriter Irma Molochnaya, singer Ekaterina Kadik and musician Artemy Kadik, literary scholar Evgeny Bogachkov.

    Yuri Kuznetsov’s father died at the front, so the war became one of the main themes of his work. The poet graduated from the A.M. Gorky Literary Institute, was its professor, worked in publishing houses, magazines, taught, and led a poetry seminar. In addition, he translated the works of outstanding poets, including Friedrich Schiller, John Keats, and Arthur Rimbaud. Due to the emotionality and vivid imagery of his work, Yuri Kuznetsov is called the “twilight angel of Russian poetry.”

    Excursion-conversation “Heart, Imagination and Reason, or Where Does Culture Originate?” prepared at the K. G. Paustovsky Museum. It will take place at 11:00 and 12:00. Participants will learn about the history of the museum building, which is a cultural heritage site of federal significance, a monument of Moscow architecture of the late 18th century. In addition, they will be shown the main exhibition, which tells about the most important creative mission of the writer Konstantin Paustovsky.

    The tour will be held in an interactive format of dialogue with visitors. The main topic of the conversation is the understanding of the famous statement by Konstantin Paustovsky: “Heart, imagination and mind – this is the environment where what we call culture is born.” During the tour, guests will learn about the most important pages of the writer’s biography, his creative method, social activities and main books.

    Try your hand at painting

    Master class “Microcopies of works by Russian artists” will begin at 13:20 in the Peresvetov Pereulok gallery of the Moscow Exhibition Halls association. Participants will feel like master miniaturists, creating their own copies of famous works by Russian artists: landscapes by Isaac Levitan, portraits by Ilya Repin, marine paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky.

    At 16:30 in the Izmailovo Gallery of the Moscow Exhibition Halls Association architectural plein air, dedicated to the beauty of the houses of the district of the same name. In Izmailovo there are buildings designed by brilliant architects, including Georgy Chaltykyan, Johann Gokhar-Harmandaryan, Mikhail Moshinsky. In the open air, guests will be offered to be inspired by their creations and paint their own picture. All necessary materials will be provided by the gallery.

    Dive into the past and touch nature

    At the Timiryazev State Biological Museum, a special program dedicated to the Days of Historical and Cultural Heritage will be held at three sites at once. At 12:00 and 14:00 in the museum building on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street (building 15), you can join an excursion “The Estate in Gruziny: History and Architecture”. Guests will learn about the history of the former estate of the collector and philanthropist Pyotr Shchukin, the creator of the Museum of Russian Antiquities. Its building is an architectural monument of the 19th century.

    At 13:00 and 15:00, a tour will begin in pavilion No. 31 “Geology” at VDNKh “Geology in “Geology””. Participants will be able to touch the fossil remains of extinct creatures and learn what sciences geology unites and how paleontology relates to it. The guide will tell what the building has in common with geological sciences, what the structure looked like in the second half of the 20th century. Using the museum collection as an example, you can get to know a number of rocks and minerals better and learn about their use.

    At 13:00 and 15:00 in pavilion No. 28 “Beekeeping” at VDNKh there will be a tour “About bees and not only”. The exhibition is dedicated to the honey bee, one of two domesticated species of insects. Visitors will learn the differences between worker bees, drones, and queens. They will be told about the role of drones in a bee colony, who likes to eat bees and who likes to eat bee products, how people collect honey, and what a bee dance is. A research assistant will introduce visitors to bee breeds and the main honey plants.

    In addition, the guides of the Museum of Moscow will conduct excursions to the Petrovsky Travel Palace, the building of the Moscow City Duma, as well as the house of the Governor-General, which now houses the Moscow City Hall.

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

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

    https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/152615073/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Pronounced spike in low-level crimes in Singapore Straits 

    Source: International Chamber of Commerce

    Headline: Pronounced spike in low-level crimes in Singapore Straits 

    A total of 45 cases of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first three months of 2025 – an almost 35 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.   

    Of the incidents reported, 37 vessels were boarded, four were hijacked and four had attempted attacks. The threat to crew safety remains high with 37 crew members taken hostage, 13 kidnapped, two threatened and one injured. 

    Rise of incidents in Singapore Straits 

    The Q1 report highlights a spike in recorded incidents in the Singapore Straits as 27 incidents were reported from vessels transiting these waters compared to seven for the same period in 2024.  

    While most incidents were considered low-level opportunistic crimes, crew members were at great risk with guns reported in 14 incidents. For the whole of 2024, guns were reported in 26 incidents globally. Ten crew members were taken hostage in six separate incidents, two were threatened and one was reported injured.  

    Ninety-two percent of all vessels targeted in the Singapore Straits were successfully boarded, including nine bulk carriers and tankers over 100,000 deadweight tonnage in size.  

    IMB Director Michael Howlett said:

    “The reported rise of incidents in the Singapore Straits is concerning, highlighting the urgent need to protect the safety of seafarers navigating these waters.  Ensuring the security of these vital routes is essential and all necessary measures must be taken to safeguard crew members.” 

    Caution advised in the Gulf of Guinea  

    Although the number of reported incidents within the Gulf of Guinea waters and adjoining littoral states continues to be at its lowest in nearly two decades, the IMB urges continued caution as crew members remain at risk.   

    All 13 kidnapped crew were reported in these waters in two separate attacks – with a total of six incidents reported in the first quarter of the year. In March, pirates hijacked a bitumen tanker southeast of Santo Antonio, in Sao Tome and Principe, kidnapping 10 crew members – while a fishing vessel south of Accra, Ghana, was boarded by armed pirates who kidnapped three crew members. 

    “While we welcome the reduction of incidents, the safety of crew members in the Gulf of Guinea remains at greater risk. It is essential to maintain a strong regional and international naval presence to address these incidents and ensure the protection of seafarers,”

    Mr Howlett said. 

    Somali piracy threat remains 

    Between 7 February and 16 March 2025, two fishing vessels and a dhow were hijacked off the coast of Somalia. In these incidents, 26 crew members were taken hostage, demonstrating the continued capabilities of Somali pirates. Reports indicate all crew have been released along with the vessels. 

    The IMB advises ships navigating these waters to exercise caution and to strictly follow the latest version of the Industry Best Management Practice (BMP). 

    Download your copy of the 2025 Jan – Mar Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships report here. 

    About the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre 

    Since its founding in 1991, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre has served as a crucial, 24-hour point of contact to report crimes of piracy and lend support to ships under threat. Quick reactions and a focus on coordinating with response agencies, sending out warning broadcasts and email alerts to ships have all helped bolster security on the high seas. The data gathered by the Centre also provides key insights on the nature and state of modern piracy. 

    IMB encourages all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspected global piracy and armed robbery incidents to the Piracy Reporting Centre as a vital first step to ensuring adequate resources are allocated by authorities to tackle maritime piracy.   

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Universities – Inaugural Oceania Seabird Symposium underway at University of Auckland – UoA

    Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

    Inaugural Oceania Seabird Symposium is underway at Waipapa Taumata Rau,University of Auckland bringing experts from across Pacific region to learn more about protecting Oceania seabirds.

    The inaugural Oceania Seabird Symposium 2025 got underway at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, bringing experts from across the Pacific region and the world to learn more about protecting Oceania seabirds.

    The three-day symposium organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) runs from 14-17 April. Karen Baird, SPREP Threatened and Migratory Species Adviser, says the event is an invaluable opportunity to bring Western science, traditional culture, and knowledge together.

    Keynote speakers will cover topics that include traditional knowledge and valuing relationships with Oceania seabirds, improving conservation, threats to seabirds, se
    abird bycatch in fisheries and the health of the ocean environment.

    “This is so important because there’s so much to do. You heard already from a session this afternoon with discussions around traditional knowledge and culture about seabirds, says Baird.

    “We’re really just starting out in some ways across the Pacific. This is a great opportunity to ensure we work together, bringing Western science and traditional culture and knowledge together, to protect seabirds much more effectively than if we were to try and do that separately.”

    Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau and SPREP Deputy Director General Easter Catherine Chu Shing opened the symposium.

    “Our goal is to conserve seabirds and their habitats, recognising the traditions and aspirations of the peoples of the Pacific Ocean and islands,” says Ms Chu Shing.

    Professor Tiatia-Siau spoke of the significance of hosting an event dedicated to one of the guardians of our oceans—our seabirds.

    “It is an honour to give an opening address at this important gathering, dedicated to one of the guardians of our oceans.

    “Across the vast Pacific, seabirds have long been more than just creatures of the sea and sky. They are carriers of ancestral knowledge, navigators of weather and ocean currents, and messengers that connect our islands to one another and to the wider world… We have employed the frigatebird, or manumanu ne caqi in na vosa vaka Viti (the Fijian language), as the metaphor to ground our university’s inaugural Pacific strategy entitled – Ala o le Moana (or pathways through the ocean)…

    “Seabirds are part of our identity as peoples of the Pacific,” says Professor Tiatia-Siau.

    Associate Professor Brendon Dunphy from the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences says the symposium is timely, given the need for greater investment and research across the Pacific region. Ninety percent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s seabird species are under threat, warmer oceans and reduced food sources, and fishing nets and lines are all having an impact.
     
    “This is a very important symposium because it’s bringing together scientists. We’re in the seabird capital of the world. Seabirds are just messengers of what’s going on over the horizon and out at sea. They tell us about tuna stocks, fisheries, and all these impacts.

    “They live on land and feed out at sea. They bridge the important gap between land and sea; they integrate so many different stresses.”

    Associate Professor Dunphy says just by observing seabirds, there was so much information that could be gained.

    “Simply by looking at seabirds, from looking at their feathers, how they live, their chicks, there is so much we can gain from it. We see the Pacific as an area needing a lot of work. We need to put in a lot of research and investment, as there is so much change happening.”

    Esteemed Tohunga Tohorā (whale expert) Dr Ramari Stewart (Ngāti Awa) received an Honorary Doctor of Science from Waipapa Taumata Rau three years ago and was a keynote speaker on day one; she talked about the importance of relationships, seabirds and people.

    Renowned internationally for her commitment to mātauranga Māori (Indigenous knowledge) and science practices surrounding whales, she has extensive knowledge of the ngahere (forest) and the moana (ocean) as well as being a leading practitioner of rongoa (Māori medicine) and a trained nurse.

    Stewart told the audience about passing on stories and walking backwards into the future, of the need for stories to be perfect when passed on from one generation to the next, to avoid crucial information being lost.

    “Because stories are passed from one generation to another, it’s so important when they’re retold by the next generation, they need to be perfect… there is a whole lot of the tale that gets dropped out. Those details are so important.”

    As well as an esteemed programme of keynote experts still to present, the three-day symposium will also include a number of workshops around seabird identification, colony surveying and monitoring, restoration, and a necropsy (autopsy of seabirds) workshop.

    Symposium guests also have the opportunity to attend a number of field trips: a boat trip for seabird watching to the Poor Knights Islands and beyond, Tawharanui Open Sanctuary – a model for seabird restoration, Motuora Island, restoration island, and also a visit to Auckland’s west coast, working to save remnant colonies in Te Henga (Bethells Beach) and Muriwai.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Happy ‘Bird’-day! Taipower’s ‘Waterbird Hotel’ at the Yong’an Wetland earns environmental education certification; officially unveiled today

    Source: Republic of China Taiwan

    For over a decade, Taipower has been dedicated to conserving Kaohsiung’s Yong’an Wetland and creating a haven for black-faced spoonbills there. Through scientific management and water level control technology, the wetland has been transformed into a welcoming ‘Waterbird Hotel’ – an ideal migratory bird habitat and feeding ground. Since autumn last year (2024), the site has hosted hundreds of migratory birds, including globally endangered species such as the black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor), northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata), and Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope).

    Integrating the wetland’s unique features into its operations, Hsinta Power Plant developed an environmental education program that has been certified by the Ministry of Environment. This makes it the first thermal power plant in Taiwan to be officially designated as an environmental education site. The unveiling ceremony was held today (January 3). A Taipower representative stated that while Taipower remains committed to its mission of ensuring stable power supply, it will also continue promoting environmental education and preserving the biodiversity of the Yong’an Wetland, so that these feathered guests can enjoy a cozy winter and make every visit a happy ‘Bird-Day’.

    Taipower held the Yong’an Wetland Migratory Bird Season and Environmental Education Site Unveiling Ceremony today at the Yong’an Wetland Ecological Education Center in Kaohsiung. The event was attended by distinguished guests, including Taipower Chairman Tseng Wen-Sheng; Kaohsiung City Government Public Works Bureau Director Yang Chin-Fu; Kaohsiung City Government Environmental Protection Bureau Deputy Director Huang Shih-Hung; and former Kaohsiung City Government Advisor Tsan-Cheng Lin. Together, they jointly unveiled the plaque. Students and teachers from Yong’an Elementary School and Xingang Elementary School were also invited to participate in birdwatching activities, enthusiastically welcoming the start of the migratory bird season at Yong’an Wetland.

    Ecological restoration success – black-faced spoonbill population quadruples in 10 years

    A Taipower representative stated that in 2010, the Company established an ecological survey team and launched ecological conservation research. Since then, they have collected over 500,000 waterbird and water depth observations. Through scientific management and water level control technology, the number of waterbirds at Yong’an Wetland has increased significantly, with the black-faced spoonbill population growing fourfold over the past decade. Today, Yong’an Wetland has become a winter sanctuary for migratory birds. As early as last October, black-faced spoonbills had already been spotted, and recently, charming visitors such as black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus), northern shovelers, and Eurasian wigeons have also been seen.

    A Taipower representative explained that Yong’an Wetland was originally developed as the Wushulin Salt Fields during the Japanese colonial period. In 1984, with the transformation of the salt industry, the land ownership was transferred to Taipower for power development purposes. However, Taipower not only preserved the Wushulin Salt Manufacturing Company Office – a County-designated historic site – but also made efforts to minimize the scope of development. Taipower retained two-thirds of the site as environmental conservation land, deliberately avoiding key bird habitats. The overall plan designates 41.25 hectares as wetland conservation area and 15 hectares as an ecological buffer zone with greenbelts and protected areas. Statistics show that over 160 species of birds have been recorded visiting the site. The notable phenomenon of “migratory birds becoming resident birds” has also been observed, with species such as the Kentish plover (Anarhynchus alexandrines) and black-winged stilt now settling and breeding in the area.

    Taipower also collaborated with internationally-acclaimed, award-winning director Hsu Hung-Lung to produce the documentary film “Flying Bird Power Plant”. The film records Taipower’s efforts and achievements in ecological conservation. The film has earned multiple honors, including a Platinum Remi Award at the 2024 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, a Document Special Award at the Accolade Global Film Competition, and an Award of Excellence for Nature/Environment/Wildlife at the All-American Short Film Competition.

    Integrating wetland wonders with energy exploration – three different courses to have fun in!

    Hsinta Power Plant is the only power plant in Taiwan with a wetland onsite. Taipower has integrated ecological conservation with energy education to develop three courses: Wonders of Hsinta; Eco Task Force; and Chasing the Spark. Led by a team of expert instructors, participants can explore the saltwater wetland ecosystem, observing mangrove plants and aquatic fish, shrimp, and shellfish, while also learning about power generation principles. The courses include hands-on creative activities using byproducts from the power generation process, offering a fun and educational experience.

    A Taipower representative stated that Hsinta Power Plant received official certification from the Ministry of Environment as an Environmental Education Facility in September last year. The unveiling ceremony was held today, and the site will be open for reservations starting January 10. (For details, please visit the Hsinta Power Plant Environmental Education website: https://www.hsinta-ee.com.tw/ .) Schools and organizations are welcome to get in touch and schedule visits.

    Balancing a stable power supply with ecological conservation: Hsinta’s new Unit 1 undergoing trial operation

    To meet growing electricity demand and achieve the net-zero emission goals, Taipower is currently constructing new gas-fired combined cycle units at Hsinta Power Plant. The three new units will have a total installed capacity of 3.9 GW. Construction began in December 2020, and by the end of last year, the project was more than 80% complete. A Taipower representative pointed out that the new Unit 1 first began generating power last September, and is currently undergoing trial operation. The goal is for the unit to be ready for grid dispatch by the end of February, followed by commercial operation. Once officially online, it is expected to generate over 7 TWh of low-carbon electricity per year. Meanwhile, new Units 2 and 3 are currently undergoing mechanical, instrumentation, and electrical installation. They are projected to be gradually connected to the grid starting this year.

    Spokesperson: Vice President Tsai Chih-Meng
    Phone: (02) 2366-6271/0958-749-333
    Email: u910707@taipower.com.tw
    Contact Person: Department of Environmental Protection Director Wu Cheng-Hung
    Phone: (02) 2366-7200/0927-291-156
    Email: u015279@taipower.com.tw

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: ‘Obscene’ amount of dog faeces spoils popular Bluff walking track

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  15 April 2025

    One of Bluff’s signature tracks, Foveaux Walkway is an easy, well paved track following the Motupōhue/Bluff coastline to a lookout point.

    The track is part of the Te Araroa Trail and is a huge drawcard for both locals and tourists. Hundreds of people visit daily to take in views over Foveaux Strait, Dog Island Lighthouse, Ruapuke Island and Rakiura/Stewart Island.

    DOC acting Operations Manager Murihiku Jono Airey says it’s a special track.

    “It’s visually stunning with native flora and fauna and is rich with Māori and European history. We’re talking about nature and heritage unique to New Zealand, these are things you can’t find anywhere else.

    “Dogs are allowed on the track as long as they are on lead. Dogs are doing what dogs do, but unfortunately their owners are leaving their dogs’ faeces behind in this precious place. It’s a long-term issue, and it’s getting worse.

    “It’s not good enough, track maintenance is now a dangerous, disgusting job for our rangers. They return covered from head to toe in dog excrement thrown about by scrub-cutters. They even wear face shields to protect themselves. You wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

    Dog faeces contain germs which can harm humans and wildlife and should always be picked up and disposed of responsibly.

    Along with marine mammals kekeno/fur seals and pakake/sea lions, the area is frequented by marine sea birds including tītī, shag, tawaki/Fiordland crested penguin, mottled petrel, kororā/little penguin and numerous forest bird species. In winter tohorā/southern right whales can be spotted in the strait.

    “Unless things improve, we will have to exclude dogs from our track network in Bluff to ensure the health and safety of our rangers, visitors, and wildlife,” says Jono.

    “Dog poo bins aren’t an option for us, they encourage fly tipping and illegal dumping and require a level of maintenance we can’t resource.

    “People tramping in our backcountry carry out human rubbish and waste to protect our natural environments, so we’re sure visitors to the urban Foveaux Walkway can manage the much easier job of cleaning up after their dogs.”

    New signs will soon remind dog walkers of their obligation to remove dog poo from the Foveaux Walkway, and DOC will monitor the situation to inform decisions on future dog access to the track.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: The NPR, PBS Grift Has Ripped Us Off for Too Long

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    For years, American taxpayers have been on the hook for subsidizing National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as “news.”
    As President Trump has stated, taxpayer funding of NPR’s and PBS’s biased content is a waste.
    Here are some examples of the trash that passes for “news” at NPR and PBS:
    In 2024, NPR ran a Valentine’s Day feature around “queer animals,” in which it suggested the make-believe clownfish in Finding Nemo would’ve been better off as a female, that “banana slugs are hermaphrodites,” and that “some deer are nonbinary.”
    In 2024, PBS produced a documentary making the case for reparations.
    In 2023, PBS’s Washington Week roundtable covered up Joe Biden’s clear mental decline, with far-left “journalist” Jeff Goldberg claiming Biden is actually “quite acute.”
    In 2022, NPR educated the nation on the “whole community of genderqueer dinosaur enthusiasts” and “trans-ceratops.”
    In 2021, a PBS station aired a “children’s program” that featured a drag queen named “Lil’ Miss Hot Mess.”
    In 2021, NPR reported on the “cousin of diet culture” known as “healthism, which is the idea that we have to be healthy” — as if that was a bad thing.
    In 2021, NPR suggested doorway sizes are based on “latent fatphobia.”
    In 2021, NPR lamented that “animals deserve pronouns, too.”
    In 2022, NPR ran a feature titled “What ‘Queer Ducks’ can teach teenagers about sexuality in the animal kingdom.”
    In 2020, PBS show Sesame Street partnered with CNN for a town hall aimed presenting children with a one-sided narrative to “address racism” amid the Black Lives Matter riots.
    In 2020, NPR explored “the racial origins of fat phobia.”
    In 2017, NPR ran a story titled “Cannibalism: It’s ‘Perfectly Natural,’” in which an author describes eating another human’s placenta: “It was really the prep that made it taste good. Granted, the [husband] was a chef and so he knew how to prepare it osso bucco style and used a really nice wine I had brought. It smelled great. It didn’t taste bad.”
    In 2017, PBS aired a panel devoted to what it “mean[s] to be woke” and “white privilege.”
    In 2017, PBS produced an entire movie celebrating a transgender teenager’s so-called “changing gender identity.”
    In 2015, NPR dedicated an entire segment to the “population of anthropomorphic animal enthusiasts known as ‘furries.’” 
    NPR and PBS have zero tolerance for non-leftist viewpoints:
    In 2020, NPR refused to cover the explosive Hunter Biden laptop scandal in the runup to the election, baselessly claiming there were “many, many red flags” and its “assertions don’t amount to much.”
    NPR wrote: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”

    When a 25-year veteran NPR reporter and editor spoke out about the network’s refusal to report on the Hunter Biden laptop — and their obsession with liberal causes — they suspended him.
    The editor found that registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans 87 to zero in their newsroom.
    NPR prolifically reported on the Russian collusion hoax, with the editor describing “[Adam] Schiff talking points” as “the drumbeat of NPR news reports.”
    NPR management asked its editors to avoid the term “biological sex” when discussing transgender issues.

    NPR CEO Katherine Maher once called President Trump “racist,” shared a photo of herself wearing a “Biden for President” campaign hat, serves on the board of a Soros-funded activist group, and described the “reverence for the truth” as a “distraction.”
    In 2023, a study found that congressional Republicans saw 85% negative coverage while congressional Democrats saw 54% positive coverage on PBS’s flagship news program.
    According to a 2024 study, PBS news staff used 162 variations of the term “far-right,” but only six variations of “far-left.”
    Media bias rating agency AllBias — which surveyed nearly 24,000 readers — found NPR’s bias aligns with “liberal, progressive or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas.”
    In 2010, NPR terminated journalist Juan Williams, who said it was because he was not a “predictable, black liberal.”
    NPR repeatedly dismissed the theory that COVID-19 originated in a lab — a conclusion now deemed likely by the FBI, CIA, and Department of Energy.
    April 2020: “Scientists Debunk Lab Accident Theory Of Pandemic Emergence”
    May 2020: “As Trump Pushes Theory Of Virus Origins, Some See Parallels In Lead-Up To Iraq War”
    May 2021: “Many Scientists Still Think The Coronavirus Came From Nature”
    March 2023: “Virologist says COVID origin report could make it harder to study dangerous diseases”
    September 2024: “New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger. It’s controversial”

    A 2024 Media Research Center study found that PBS’s coverage of the Republican National Convention was 72% negative, while coverage of the Democratic National Convention was 88% positive.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: MATSUI AND SCHNEIDER LEAD EFFORT TO PROTECT ESSENTIAL MEDICAL SUPPLY CHAINS FROM TRUMP TARIFFS

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA-07) and Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) led a group of 26 lawmakers in sending a letter toUnited States Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer and U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Howard Lutnick. The letter raises serious concerns that the Trump Administration’s tariffs may jeopardize the fragile supply chains of generic drugs and medical devices, risking dangerous shortages of these essential medical supplies. 

    “We write with deep concern over your Administration’s tariff actions affecting medical supply chains,” wrote the lawmakers. “Reckless tariffs, retaliatory measures, and an escalating trade war threaten the supply of essential medicines and medical goods, risking severe shortages that could harm U.S. patients.” 

    The vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients used for generic drugs come from overseas. The same is true of crucial medical devices. Imposing tariffs on these products will lead to shortages given the low tolerability of manufacturers to take on additional economic risk. These same factors could force manufacturers overseas where critical inputs are less expensive. 

    “The supply disruptions of critical medical products will unavoidably hurt U.S. patients, force providers to make impossible rationing decisions, and potentially even result in death as treatments are delayed and more effective medicines and products are swapped for less effective alternatives,” the lawmakers continued. 

    Congresswoman Matsui has been a leader in Congress to secure medical supply chains. Last Congress, she authored the Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply (MAPS) Act, a bill to help the federal government prepare for and mitigate future drug shortages by identifying pharmaceutical supply chain vulnerabilities.

    Full text of the letter can be found below or HERE. 

    Dear Ambassador Greer and Secretary Lutnick,

    We write with deep concern over your Administration’s tariff actions affecting medical supply chains. Reckless tariffs, retaliatory measures, and an escalating trade war threaten the supply of essential medicines and medical goods, risking severe shortages that could harm U.S. patients.

    Critical drug supply chains are already fragile, with 271 drugs currently in shortage, down from a record 323 in early 2024 but still alarmingly high.  Many of these are low-margin generic sterile injectable drugs (GSI) crucial in hospital settings, including IV saline, chemotherapy, antibiotics, and anesthetics. Often priced at $2 or less per unit, these drugs are highly vulnerable to economic disruptions.

    These economic conditions discourage manufacturers from investing in reliable supply chains, leaving these drugs heavily reliant on foreign active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), particularly from China and India, which together account for 80% of registered API manufacturing sites.  The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response estimates that 90-95% of GSI for acute critical care depend on API from these countries.  This reliance threatens military readiness as well as general public health; in 2019, a Defense Health Agency official warned that disruption of Chinese supply could cause “severe shortages.” 

    Similarly, nearly 70% of U.S.-marketed medical devices are produced solely overseas.  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlights the complexity of global medical device supply chains, where disruptions lead to prolonged shortages.  These supply chains are characterized by varying access to inputs across the globe, specialized regional economies and production capabilities, and an incoherent international regulatory landscape. If tariffs are implemented on medical products, it would be extremely difficult to coordinate a response such that the number and duration of shortages in the U.S. does not increase. 

    The supply disruptions of critical medical products will unavoidably hurt U.S. patients, force providers to make impossible rationing decisions, and potentially even result in death as treatments are delayed and more effective medicines and products are swapped for less effective alternatives. We have already seen these harmful effects during chemotherapy drug shortages in the U.S. in 2023. If tariffs are implemented, clinicians would be forced to make similar decisions on a much larger scale, having devastating impacts on patient care and resource allocation across the healthcare system.

    Tariffs may also backfire by driving manufacturers to cheaper foreign markets, undermining efforts to strengthen domestic and allied-country production. With generic drugmakers already operating on thin margins, cost spikes could force them to cut product lines, exacerbating shortages. For example, we aware of one large generics manufacturer that has identified 60 products that would immediately be at risk of being discontinued if the administration moved forward with tariffs as proposed. Onshoring production requires deliberate policy incentives, not blunt economic penalties.

    The shared goal of bringing more of our critical medical supply chains to the U.S. and allied countries requires the deliberate attention of the Executive Branch and Congress to incentivize manufacturing. Unfortunately, without additional policy changes, the blunt instrument of tariffs will likely result in more shortages of essential medicines and medical goods, threatening public health and inadvertently increasing reliance on foreign countries for our supply of critical medical products.

    To avoid devastating consequences to patients and our public health infrastructure, we urge you to consider the following in tariff decisions:

    • Assess the impact of tariffs on essential medicines and medical goods and seek input from manufacturers and experts.
    • Exempt or provide waivers for API, generic drugs, essential medicines, and critical medical supplies.
    • If tariffs are implemented, coordinate with the FDA to expedite approval of alternative sources.
    • Issue timely and clear guidance to manufacturers on tariffs, exemptions, and exclusions.
    • Collaborate with Congress and international allies to build resilient medical supply chains.

    Congress stands ready to work toward securing our medical product supply chains. We implore you to carefully weigh tariff decisions with respect to essential medicines and medical goods.

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chinese FM spokesperson briefs on coordination between China, EU on additional US tariffs

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China stands ready to work with the international community, including the EU, to defend international trade rules, fairness and justice, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

    Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to share more information on the communication and coordination between China and the EU on additional U.S. tariffs.

    The U.S. uses tariff as a weapon to exert maximum pressure and seek selfish gains, and puts its own interests over the public good of the international community, Lin said, noting that this is a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying, which severely hurts the interests of China, the EU and the rest of the world.

    Lin said that as the second and third largest economies, China and the EU collectively account for over one third of the global economy and more than a quarter of global trade, adding that both sides are advocates of economic globalization and trade liberalization, and firm defenders and supporters of the WTO.

    “The head of the EU underscored the vital importance of stability and certainty for a sound global economy. China and the EU are committed to a fair, free and WTO-centered multilateral trading system, and the sound and steady development of global trade and economic relations, which is in the interest of both sides and the rest of the world,” Lin said.

    As a responsible major country, China has already taken resolute measures and will continue to do so to safeguard its legitimate interests, Lin said.

    “China stands ready to work with the international community, including the EU, to step up communication and coordination, share development opportunities, expand opening up and cooperation, and achieve mutual benefits. We will not only safeguard respective interests, but also defend international trade rules, fairness and justice,” Lin said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Food prices increase 3.5 percent annually – Stats NZ media and information release: Selected price indexes: March 2025

    Source: Statistics New Zealand

    Food prices increase 3.5 percent annually – 15 April 2025 – Food prices increased 3.5 percent in the 12 months to March 2025, following a 2.4 percent increase in the 12 months to February 2025, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

    Higher prices for the grocery food group and the meat, poultry, and fish group contributed most to the annual increase in food prices, up 5.1 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

    Partly offsetting the increase in food prices was lower prices for the fruit and vegetables group, with prices down 2.7 percent in the 12 months to March 2025, following a 6.2 percent decrease in the 12 months to February 2025.

    Files:

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Food prices increase 3.5 percent annually – Stats NZ media and information release: Selected price indexes: March 2025

    Source: Statistics New Zealand

    Food prices increase 3.5 percent annually – 15 April 2025 – Food prices increased 3.5 percent in the 12 months to March 2025, following a 2.4 percent increase in the 12 months to February 2025, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

    Higher prices for the grocery food group and the meat, poultry, and fish group contributed most to the annual increase in food prices, up 5.1 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

    Partly offsetting the increase in food prices was lower prices for the fruit and vegetables group, with prices down 2.7 percent in the 12 months to March 2025, following a 6.2 percent decrease in the 12 months to February 2025.

    Files:

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Regional Infrastructure Summit for Chathams

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones will take one of the largest delegations in recent years to the Chatham Islands tomorrow for his next regional summit.
    “It is important, given the relative isolation of the islands, to take the summit to the people who live there. The Chathams has an infrastructure deficit and I am going there in person to share with the locals the criteria of the Regional Infrastructure Fund and how they can apply for project funding,” Mr Jones says.
    “I expect a big turnout from the locals for this summit. Previously, the Crown funded projects through the Provincial Growth Fund. I’m keen to see how they have contributed to the local economy. Boosting resilience is critical.
    “ I am taking a large delegation including government ministers and MPs, experts in a range of fields, business leaders and officials. Energy, fishing, tourism and alternative land use are all areas which could benefit from the connections made at the summit tomorrow and I hope to hear some ambitious plans from the islanders.”
    Mr Jones will also be accompanied by the Rātana Band, a rare visit, and an acknowledgement of the historical ties between the Rātana Church and the Chathams.
    The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $580 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects.
    “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund has received more than 260 applications. Approved investments align with the Government’s focus areas of enabling growth and water storage, supporting energy generation and Māori economic development, and increasing resilience,” Mr Jones says.
    Mr Jones has so far held 11 summits around the country, with more than 1300 stakeholders attending. 
    Summits will be held for Wairarapa and Kāpiti on 9 May, and Otago on 16 May.
    The Regional Infrastructure Fund is a capital fund with the primary purpose of accelerating infrastructure projects, particularly with a focus on water storage, energy, Māori economic development, growth, and resilience.
    Committed funding includes approved funding and funding ring-fenced for specific purposes but is yet to be approved for release.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Better data reveals growing pressures on NZ marine mammals

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  15 April 2025

    The number of marine mammal species in New Zealand classified as Threatened or At Risk has increased from 10 in 2019 to 14 today, with the sperm whale, pygmy blue whale, southern right whale dolphin, goose-beaked whale, and pygmy sperm whale added to the list. Leopard seals were moved from at-risk to migrant.

    A ‘Threatened’ species status is given to animals in serious trouble. New Zealand has the highest proportion of threatened indigenous species in the world – more than 4000 native species are currently threatened or at risk of extinction.

    Panel lead and DOC Senior Science Advisor, Dr Dave Lundquist, says several species have been shifted to a more threatened conservation status. This includes sperm whales, which were moved from Data Deficient to At Risk – Declining.

    “Research published by the University of Otago in 2022 shows a long-term decline in the number of sperm whales seen off Kaikōura during summer,” says Dave Lundquist.

    “We don’t yet know if this reflects a broader drop in sperm whale numbers across New Zealand, but the panel has taken a precautionary approach and assumed it could be.”

    Thanks to improved population data, eight other marine mammal species previously considered Data Deficient now have updated conservation statuses. This includes pygmy blue whales, now listed as Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable.

    The New Zealand sea lion has also been moved to a higher risk category – from Nationally Vulnerable to Threatened – Nationally Endangered. This is due to a smaller estimated number of breeding adults and a faster rate of population decline than previously thought.

    “Estimates suggest sea lion numbers could decline by 30–70% over the next 30 years, which is about three generations. Multiple human-caused threats are likely to be contributing to this decline,” says Dave Lundquist.

    Bottlenose dolphins are the only species whose status has improved – from Threatened – Nationally Endangered to Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable. However, Dave Lundquist says this change is due to better information, not an actual increase in numbers.

    “We previously estimated fewer than 1000 coastal bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand, plus an unknown number of oceanic ones. We now know there are over 1000 oceanic dolphins, which improved the overall status. But coastal populations are still at risk and depend on local conservation efforts to survive.”

    Dave Lundquist says the positive takeaway is that when people act to reduce threats and protect nature, it makes a real difference.

    “This information is valuable for everyone involved in marine mammal conservation – including iwi, community groups, businesses, fishers, councils and government.

    “When we understand the conservation status of marine mammals, we’re all better equipped to make informed decisions to help protect them and their habitats.”

    The conservation status of 57 marine mammal types found in New Zealand waters was reviewed by an independent panel of national and international experts. They used the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – a tool that assesses the extinction risk of native species.

    NZTCS assessments are reviewed roughly every five years and are based on factors such as population size, trends, and distribution. DOC uses these results to prioritise conservation work, guide resource allocation, and shape policy decisions. The assessments also support collaboration with iwi, researchers, community groups, and others working to protect native species.

    Visit the New Zealand Threat Classification System’s website for the latest marine mammal conservation status data and background notes.

    Background information

    Explanation of Conservation Status.

    The NZTCS is a rule-based system for experts to assess the risk of extinction faced by organisms in Aotearoa New Zealand. The NZTCS is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and complements the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Independent panels of experts assess groups of taxa (for examples, birds, reptiles or marine mammals. Species, subspecies, varieties and forms are collectively known as taxa, singular = taxon), approximately every five years, using criteria of population state, size and trend.

    Knowing a species’ risk of extinction provides a basis for setting priorities and making decisions, planning recovery programmes and research, monitoring the effectiveness of management and gaining support for habitat protection. Taxa assessed as ‘Threatened’ face greater risk of extinction because they have small population with greatest rate of decline. Taxa assessed as ‘At Risk’ are not considered Threatened, but they could quickly become so if conservation management reduces, if a new threat arises, or if the declines continue.

    Published assessments and manuals can be found on the New Zealand Threat Classification System Lists. Data supporting these publications can be accessed from the NZTCS database.

    The expert panel assessed the conservation status of 57 taxa of whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, fur seals and sea lions.

    Thirteen species have changed status since last assessed in 2019. One has a more threatened status, one has a less threatened status, and the remainder are neutral status changes (into and out of the category Data Deficient).

    The published research on sperm whale decline in Kaikōura can be found here: Long‐term decline in abundance of male sperm whales visiting Kaikōura, New Zealand.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner, Virginia Colleagues Push DHS to Reverse Cancellation of Crucial Infrastructure Funding

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), joined by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) and Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), wrote to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem urging the Department to reverse its decision canceling the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) program, which included funding for two major projects in Richmond and Portsmouth, as well as tens of millions in funding for other communities across the Commonwealth.
    BRIC was established by Congress through the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to support state and local governments in reducing risks posed by natural hazards and future disasters. The bipartisan infrastructure law, which Sens. Warner and Kaine supported and saw through final passage, included $1 billion in funding for BRIC projects over five years, including $133 million that has already been provided to applicants. 
    Through the BRIC program, Virginia had been set to receive tens of millions in funding for critical projects, including $12 million to make improvements to the Richmond Water Treatment Facility and $24 million to enhance the Lake Meade Dam in Portsmouth. However, DHS recently notified applicants that it was terminating the BRIC program and canceling all applications for funding through the BRIC program – including projects that had already been awarded funding.
    “We strongly urge you to reverse this decision that will impact vulnerable residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure in Virginia,” the lawmakers wrote to Sec. Noem.
    They continued, “BRIC projects support Virginia localities as they work to reduce immediate hazard risks that threaten community safety. For example, the city of Richmond was awarded $11.99 million in FY2022 to address design flaws and degradation at the Richmond Water Treatment Facility. This facility serves 4,721 businesses, 360 public properties, and 780 essential community facilities. The project is intended to protect water treatment and distribution services for those within the facility’s service area, making the plant more resilient to 100-year flood events. Unfortunately, the necessity of this award was made clear earlier this year when the facility experienced a power failure that resulted in loss of water service for residents across the region. If this award is revoked, the region will be more susceptible to future water contaminations and disruptions in water delivery.
    The lawmakers highlighted how the cancelation of this funding will impact vulnerable residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure in Virginia, specifically underscoring that these projects are already underway.
    Added the members, “The potential revocation of existing BRIC awards is an unanticipated shock to Virginia localities that have budgeted, planned, and in some cases begun work on these crucial projects. The city of Portsmouth received a $24.21 million BRIC award in FY2022 to protect the community’s drinking water supply by enhancing the Lake Meade Dam. The dam, which serves as a critical reservoir for drinking water and supplies residential, commercial, and industrial users in the Hampton Roads area, is at risk of instability and potential overtopping during heavy precipitation events. The project involves strengthening the dam, upgrading spillways, and improving flood protection, all of which serves to protect the more than 80 occupied residential properties and almost 30 businesses within the dam break inundation zone.”
    “The mission of the BRIC program is to build more resilient communities to prevent the need for reactive and more costly disaster spending. Terminating this program – and many of the awards made in recent years – will make communities in Virginia less resilient and more vulnerable to disaster events. We urge you to maintain this critical funding for localities in Virginia,” they concluded.
    A copy of letter is available here and text is below.
    Dear Secretary Noem:
    We write regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) recent decision to end the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and cancel BRIC applications from Fiscal Years (FY) 2020 – 2023. We strongly urge you to reverse this decision that will impact vulnerable residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure in Virginia.
    BRIC projects support Virginia localities as they work to reduce immediate hazard risks that threaten community safety. For example, the city of Richmond was awarded $11.99 million in FY2022 to address design flaws and degradation at the Richmond Water Treatment Facility. This facility serves 4,721 businesses, 360 public properties, and 780 essential community facilities. The project is intended to protect water treatment and distribution services for those within the facility’s service area, making the plant more resilient to 100-year flood events. Unfortunately, the necessity of this award was made clear earlier this year when the facility experienced a power failure that resulted in loss of water service for residents across the region. If this award is revoked, the region will be more susceptible to future water contaminations and disruptions in water delivery.
    The potential revocation of existing BRIC awards is an unanticipated shock to Virginia localities that have budgeted, planned, and in some cases begun work on these crucial projects. The city of Portsmouth received a $24.21 million BRIC award in FY2022 to protect the community’s drinking water supply by enhancing the Lake Meade Dam. The dam, which serves as a critical reservoir for drinking water and supplies residential, commercial, and industrial users in the Hampton Roads area, is at risk of instability and potential overtopping during heavy precipitation events. The project involves strengthening the dam, upgrading spillways, and improving flood protection, all of which serves to protect the more than 80 occupied residential properties and almost 30 businesses within the dam break inundation zone.
    The mission of the BRIC program is to build more resilient communities to prevent the need for reactive and more costly disaster spending. Terminating this program – and many of the awards made in recent years – will make communities in Virginia less resilient and more vulnerable to disaster events. We urge you to maintain this critical funding for localities in Virginia.
    Thank you for your attention to this letter. We look forward to your response.
     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Winter electricity prices are rising – how do we know we’re getting value for money?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Meade, Adjunct Associate Professor, Griffith University, Centre for Applied Energy Economics and Policy Research, Griffith University

    Shutterstock

    Winter is coming to New Zealand and Australia, and with it come those inevitably higher power bills from heating our homes.

    But even without that seasonal spike, household power bills were already set to rise by NZ$10 to $25 a month in New Zealand and up to A$9 a month in parts of Australia.

    This is not, as some might assume, because electricity suppliers are acting uncompetitively. It’s because regulators are increasing charges for long-distance electricity transmission (pylons and substations) and short-distance distribution (poles and wires).

    Those charges together make up around 40% of power bills on average, so the price increases matter. In New Zealand, an average 15% of household budgets is spent on electricity. The proportion going towards those infrastructure costs is higher for low-income, regional and rural households.

    To put this another way, these fixed parts of our power bills can equal what a typical household spends on mobile phones, public transport or water services.

    Transmission and distribution services are regulated because they are provided by monopolies. Regulators such as the Commerce Commission in New Zealand and the Australian Energy Regulator in eastern Australia try to set reasonable prices while still allowing those firms enough money to provide reliable services.

    However, this old regulatory model is being challenged by changing consumer behaviour. Households are increasingly electrifying, switching to heat pumps for space and water heating, and electric vehicles (EVs) for personal transport.

    Regulators want to ensure the reliability of electricity supply doesn’t significantly decline. But households that rely on electricity want greater reliability – especially with growing demand for “smart” appliances that can be damaged by outages.

    Quality versus quantity

    Unfortunately, history is a poor guide to how regulation should ensure these future reliability needs are met. Furthermore, electricity is an unusual “product” – the quantity we consume is often an afterthought, while the affordability and quality of supply are more top of mind.

    Importantly, quality means much more to consumers than just reliability. It includes how well outages are planned and communicated, how easy it is to get help and updates when things go wrong, new connection times, and the voltage stability modern appliances require.

    What constitutes good service might also include customer charters or other guarantees of minimum acceptable expectations, as well as compensation schemes.

    Beyond these options, however, the very basis for regulation is being upturned as households invest in rooftop solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles (EVs). The competition offered by these new technologies means distribution companies are no longer monopoly providers because households can get electricity in new ways.

    This also means households expect new services from those providers – such as being able to sell electricity to others (including to distribution companies themselves to help them maintain reliable supply).

    Smart appliances, solar power and EVs are all changing consumer expectations of the electricity market.
    Shutterstock

    What customers really want

    Historically, electricity regulation has responded to emerging challenges like these with “bolt-on” solutions. Each one tries to address a specific issue individually, but not in a coherent and joined-up way.

    Overall, how and why we regulate electricity transmission and distribution need rethinking from the ground up, not more rounds of regulatory whack-a-mole. Consumer preferences need to be more than a vague overriding objective. They need to be at the heart of regulation.

    New Zealand’s Commerce Commission already exempts many distribution firms from much regulation because they are owned and governed by customers. And regulators in other English-speaking countries, including Australia, increasingly rely on consumer forums and other channels to indirectly and only partially identify consumer preferences.

    But neither model obtains directly usable information about what consumers want – from those consumers themselves. Unsurprisingly, customer preferences are not widely or systematically reflected in regulation.

    Besides, asking customers about quality and reliability of service assumes they can clearly articulate what they care about and what value they attach to them in ways regulators can use.

    Value for money

    One solution is to use a direct measure of consumer satisfaction. We developed and applied a version of this in recent research involving a survey of Swedish electricity customers.

    We measured satisfaction by asking consumers to rate the “value for money” they perceived from their distribution firm, ranging from zero (lowest) to five (highest).

    Perceptions of quality can vary and are inherently subjective. But value for money can be interpreted as a ratio of quality to price: higher quality means higher value for money, higher price means lower value for money. From this, we obtained an objective measure of overall customer satisfaction levels.

    As might be expected, we found value for money tended to be higher for customers of distribution firms owned and controlled by those customers. But directly measuring customer satisfaction in this way could be a good basis for regulation reform in general.

    We still need to better understand how customer satisfaction is affected by regulatory decisions. This has always been the case, but it is especially true now that fundamental changes are happening in the sector.

    Electricity customers heading into winter might be happier with rising transmission and distribution prices if they were confident regulation genuinely improved their overall value for money.

    Business as usual, on the other hand, may offer them only cold comfort.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Winter electricity prices are rising – how do we know we’re getting value for money? – https://theconversation.com/winter-electricity-prices-are-rising-how-do-we-know-were-getting-value-for-money-254198

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister’s statement on Tsunami Preparedness Week

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Kelly Greene, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, has released the following statement on Tsunami Preparedness Week, April 13-19, 2025:

    “British Columbia’s landscape was shaped over millions of years by powerful geological forces. The constant movement of Earth’s tectonic plates has not only created our stunning mountains and coastlines but also makes B.C. one of the most seismically active regions in Canada.

    “Each year, approximately 4,000 earthquakes are recorded in B.C., most of which are too small to be noticed. In recent months, earthquakes were strong enough to be felt by thousands of people along the coast.

    “Fortunately, those recent earthquakes didn’t present a tsunami risk. They were, however, a reminder of the incredible power earthquakes can possess and the importance of being prepared.

    “Tsunamis are large waves, most often caused by large undersea earthquakes. Tsunami waves can reach the shore in a matter of minutes, or they can take hours. So, knowing what to do ahead of time can make all the difference.

    “If you’re near the coast and feel an earthquake, drop, cover and hold on. Then, immediately move to high ground when the shaking stops. The shaking is your warning sign that a tsunami may be coming.  

    “The Province, through the BC Emergency Alert system, will issue emergency alerts to cellphones and through radio and television if a tsunami risk is identified. You can also find up-to-date emergency information 24/7 at https://EmergencyInfoBC.ca and on X at @EmergencyInfoBC.

    “Tsunami Preparedness Week, which runs from April 13-19, is an opportunity for everyone living in or visiting coastal areas to learn more about tsunamis, review emergency plans and make sure they have a grab-and-go bag ready.

    “Many coastal communities host High Ground Hikes during Tsunami Preparedness Week. These events are great opportunities to come together and practice evacuation routes to a tsunami-safe location. Visit https://PreparedBC.ca/HighGroundHike to find an event near you and https://PreparedBC.ca/Tsunamis to learn more about tsunami risks and how to get prepared.

    “I encourage everyone living along the coast to take time this week to review your emergency plans and make sure you and your loved ones know what to do should a tsunami risk be identified.”

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Fitzgerald Statement on Wisconsin Teen Accused of Murder and Plotting to Assassinate President Trump

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05)

    Oconomowoc, WI – Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) issued the following statement in response to a Wisconsin teen accused of murdering his parents and plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump.

    “I want to thank the FBI and local law enforcement for their quick, coordinated response to stop another plot to assassinate the President. We grieve for the two innocent individuals who were killed in connection with this plot. My prayers are with their loved ones as they endure this unimaginable loss,” said Congressman Fitzgerald.

    “Unfortunately, this incident reflects a dangerous trend. Reckless political rhetoric—especially from the Left—continues to inflame tensions and, in some cases, encourage violence against our elected officials. I will continue to stand with law enforcement and support efforts to ensure the safety of our communities and elected officials,” Fitzgerald concluded.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australian honeybees are under attack by mites and beetles. Here’s how to keep your backyard hive safe

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cornelia Sattler, Research Fellow in Ecology & Videographer, Macquarie University

    Varroa mites on a male bee larva. Theotime Colin

    Australia’s honeybees are facing an exceptional crisis. The tiny but devastating foreign pest Varroa destructor is steadily spreading across the country.

    The mite feeds on baby bees (larvae), weakening them. It can also spread viruses that eventually destroy entire bee colonies.

    Efforts to contain its spread have failed, so it looks like Australia must learn to live
    with this parasite.

    What’s worse, Varroa destructor isn’t acting alone. In many parts of New South Wales, the mite’s arrival appears to have triggered a surge in another destructive pest: the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida).

    A wet summer in the east has created ideal conditions for beetle outbreaks. This combination is putting enormous pressure on bees and beekeepers alike. Here’s how to help support the bee industry and, if you’re a backyard beekeeper, defend your hives against attack.

    The parasitic mite Varroa destructor can hitch a ride on the back of a honeybee.
    Cornelia Sattler

    Know your enemy

    Varroa was first detected in Australia at the NSW Port of Newcastle in June 2022.

    The mite is now widely established in NSW and in Queensland between Toowoomba and Brisbane.

    It was detected in Victoria, North-West of Melbourne in February and the ACT earlier this month.

    In September 2023, Australian authorities acknowledged eradication was no longer possible. The focus shifted to long-term management.

    A slimy accomplice

    The varroa invasion appears to be making hives more susceptible to the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida). This species arrived in 2002.

    The beetle thrives in warm, humid conditions and lays its eggs inside hives. The larvae feed on honey and wax, turning once-thriving hives into a foul, fermented mess. Beekeepers call this a “slime-out” — and it’s just as bad as it sounds.

    The deadly one-two punch

    A healthy bee colony can usually defend itself against beetles. But when bees are weakened by varroa mites, they’re far less capable of resisting a beetle invasion.

    This deadly one-two punch has already devastated many beekeepers in NSW. One commercial beekeeper reported:

    I had large infestations of mites. And then following the mite, I got the boom of the hive beetles. I probably lost 30 hives to beetles.

    As varroa mites weaken a bee colony, other parasites — like the small hive beetle seen here — can invade and cause further damage.
    Cornelia Sattler

    What to do if you suspect an infestation?

    The number of registered recreational beekeepers in Australia is growing. In 2019, there were around 27,800 registered hobbyists. By 2023, that number had jumped to over 47,000. Backyard beekeepers also contribute A$260 million to the economy.

    Varroa represents a major threat to every Australian honey producer, so here’s a few tips.

    Inspect your hives at least once a month. If larvae appear to be tunnelling through honeycomb, or the honey appears fermented, these are signs beetles may be present.

    It’s difficult to detect mites visually, especially when there are few mites present. That’s where monitoring techniques come in. Typically, 300 bees are placed in ethanol or icing sugar and shaken until mites fall off. This allows beekeepers to not only detect the mites but also to count them.

    Report mites to the relevant state authorities. Failure to do so can result in fines.

    Immediately treat the infested hive and move it at least ten metres away from any others.

    Chemicals called miticides can kill varroa mites and knock the population down. But some beekeepers report side effects, including queen loss, so be prepared to replace queens.

    Mites may develop resistance to these treatments over time, as one commercial beekeeper from NSW said:

    We’ve experienced a lot of queenless hives. I don’t know whether that’s from treatments […] it might be just coincidence, but I’m hearing a lot of other beekeepers having the same problem.

    Varroa mites feed on bee larvae, so caging the queen and taking a short break from brood production can reduce the mite population. Mites prefer male bee larvae, so removing these can help.

    These control methods are effective, though labour-intensive, and potentially suitable for backyard beekeepers. They can lessen the need for chemical treatments — slowing the evolution of resistance to miticides.

    Protection against mites and beetles

    To prevent your backyard hives being infested by mites or beetles:

    • keep colonies well fed, so they don’t rob other colonies and catch their parasites

    • help bees recognise hives, so they don’t enter the wrong colony with varroa mites on their back (paint hives, space them apart by a few meters, ideally 10m)

    • reduce the size of hive entrances to help bees block access to intruders

    • regularly check that your beetle traps are still working, as bees often block the holes that let the beetles into the traps with tree resin

    • fill the cracks where beetles hide.

    How consumers can help

    Australians can support the nation’s beekeepers in a few simple ways. Buy 100% Australian honey and hive products from trusted, local sources.

    Sugar can easily be swapped for honey in most recipes and honey is a great way to sweeten tea.

    When substituting sugar for honey, it’s worth noting honey tastes sweeter so you might want to use less. Honey also contains 18% water, so you may need to reduce the amounts of other liquids in cake recipes accordingly.

    Avoid imported honey and bee products to reduce the chance of bringing bee viruses into the country. Not all imported bee products are treated to kill bee viruses.

    Finally, planting pollinator-friendly gardens helps to feed local bees.

    Safeguarding an industry and a popular hobby

    As well as backyard hobbyists, Australia’s beekeeping community includes 1,872 large-scale commercial beekeepers.

    Many fear mites will push beekeepers out of business. Protecting the industry requires a shift in mindset, from emergency response to long-term pest management.

    With good science, community support and adaptive management, beekeepers — both commercial and backyard — can weather the storm.

    Cornelia Sattler receives funding from the Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation to develop non-chemical varroa control methods.

    Théotime Colin receives funding from the Australian Research Council, through an Early Career Industry Fellowship to develop non-chemical varroa control methods. He also receives funding from the Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation.

    – ref. Australian honeybees are under attack by mites and beetles. Here’s how to keep your backyard hive safe – https://theconversation.com/australian-honeybees-are-under-attack-by-mites-and-beetles-heres-how-to-keep-your-backyard-hive-safe-253947

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Owners are officially no longer responsible for tourism accidents on their land – but they never really were

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Peace, Lecturer in Occupational Health and Safety, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

    EyesWideOpen/Getty Images

    Newly announced reforms to the Health and Safety at Work Act mean landowners will no longer be responsible for tourism-related injuries on their properties. But it’s not clear this has ever really been a problem.

    Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says there was an “inadvertent climate of fear” affecting councils, farmers and landowners who allowed access to their land for hunting, fishing, mountain biking and horse trekking. The fear was that they would be held responsible if someone was hurt or killed on their land.

    The reforms targeting landowners are part of wider changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act, which was passed in 2015. Under section 37 of the act, a person who controls a workplace is responsible for ensuring that

    the workplace, the means of entering and exiting the workplace, and anything arising from the workplace are without risks to the health and safety of any person.

    But we found just one instance of landowners being taken to court for adventure activities going wrong on their properties. This was the case against Whakaari Management Ltd, the owners of Whakaari/White Island after the 2019 eruption that claimed 22 lives and injured 25 others.

    In 2024, Whakaari Management was found guilty of failing to protect visitors to the island, but that decision was overturned in February this year.

    Adventure activities in New Zealand have been relatively safe, with just over 50 deaths in 35 years.
    Judith Lienert/Shutterstock

    Responsibilities under the law

    Under the current rules, responsibility for something going wrong rests with the “person conducting a business or undertaking”.

    A farmer, for example, is conducting business because they own or have control of their land. This does not apply if they are renting out the land but not involved in the activity’s management or control.

    In the Whakaari Management Ltd appeal the judge wrote:

    To be caught by [section] 37, a [a person conducting a business or undertaking] must in fact be exercising active control or management of the workplace in a practical sense. Owning it is not enough. Making money from it is not enough. Merely being able to manage or control a workplace, but not doing so, is not enough.

    Active control might include an agreement between the landowner and the activity operator to monitor conditions.

    While the Whakaari case is the only one we found where a landowner has been prosecuted under the current rules, there have been a number of court cases involving adventure activity companies.

    The key difference between successful and unsuccessful cases seems to be whether the business owners had the ability to influence or change what went wrong.

    For example, in cases where customers of diving businesses drowned, the courts have decided the businesses did not have control of the workplace, including the sea, a lake or river.

    In one case the judge wrote the business

    does not and cannot control flow or conditions nor can it control who uses or goes through the rapid […] It cannot give directions in relation to it, nor exercise any authority over it.

    A business owner operating a kayaking business did have control of the operational conditions and should have had a safe system of work, including checking the weather forecast.

    Similar failings were found after a school trip resulted in drownings and after the poor condition of tour buses and uncontrolled driving during a sand-surfing trip resulted in deaths.

    Making adventure activities relatively safe

    Even under the Adventure Activities Regulations – industry specific rule passed in 2010 and updated since – the responsibility for safety in the tourism industry fell on tourism operators, not landowners.

    And, from a safety perspective, the rules have been relatively successful. In the past 35 years, there have been about 52 deaths in adventure activities due to natural hazards (including the Whakaari/White Island tragedy). During the same period more than 30,000 workers died at or because of work.

    But this relative safety in adventure activities has come at a cost for small businesses. Under the 2010 regulations, the average cost of mandatory audits has been around NZ$5,000 – a cost borne by the small adventure activity businesses.

    If the government wants to further improve the safety of the outdoor tourism industry, then it needs to focus on making it easier and cheaper for businesses to comply with the regulations, rather than focusing on protecting landowners from a risk they never really faced.

    Danaë Anderson receives funding from the New Zealand Industrial Relations Trust

    Joanne Crawford receives funding from the Health Research Council and the New Zealand Industrial Relations Trust

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

    – ref. Owners are officially no longer responsible for tourism accidents on their land – but they never really were – https://theconversation.com/owners-are-officially-no-longer-responsible-for-tourism-accidents-on-their-land-but-they-never-really-were-253622

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 04.14.2025 Sen. Cruz Resolution Rescinding Biden-Harris Appliance Regulation Passes Senate, Proceeds to President Trump

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued a statement after the Senate passed his Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to rescind an appliance regulation on water heaters, which was imposed by the Biden-Harris administration in December 2024, and which if left in place would have increased costs and limited the consumer choice of everyday Texans and Americans across the country.
    Sen. Cruz said, “The Biden-Harris administration knew they were increasing costs on Americans and they didn’t care. Their rule would have forced Americans to either pay hundreds of dollars more for efficient water heaters or purchase less efficient models. I applaud Congress for passing my resolution rescinding this rule, and when the President signs it in the coming days it will restore fairness, consumer choice, and affordability to the American people.”
    This bill is endorsed by National Federation of Independent Business and the American Public Gas Association.
    Adam Temple, NFIB Senior Vice President for Advocacy said, “Small businesses believe that consumers and business owners should have the freedom to decide which product works best for their specific needs, no matter what fuel source the product uses. Unfortunately, DOE finalized a rule that would set new arbitrary energy efficiency standards for natural gas-fired water heaters that would effectively ban more affordable appliance options for consumers and small businesses, such as tankless water heaters. As small businesses continue to list inflation as a significant problem, regulations restricting or banning common household appliances will only increase costs for small businesses.”
    Dave Schryver, President and CEO for the American Public Gas Association said, “The American Public Gas Association (APGA) commends Senator Cruz and colleagues for taking decisive action to challenge a deeply flawed rulemaking dating back to the Biden Administration, which imposes new minimum efficiency standards for Gas Instantaneous Water Heaters. This rule would have effectively eliminated an entire class of affordable, reliable, and efficient appliances from the market, driving unnecessary and costly fuel switching. APGA believes that Americans should have the freedom to choose the appliances that best meet their household needs and budgets.” 
    BACKGROUND
    Industry experts estimate that the Biden-Harris rule would have added $450-$665 to the cost of each affected water heater, and that beyond the initial increased cost, forty percent of Americans directly affected by the rule would have also seen a net cost increase over the life of the appliance. Sen. Cruz introduced this CRA to repeal the rule in January.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Oregon Delegation Urges Fishery Disaster Declaration

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
    April 14, 2025
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led his Democratic colleagues in the Oregon delegation—Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)—in urging the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resource disaster for the 2024 Oregon troll salmon fishery.
    “This declaration is critical to provide economic relief to Oregon’s fisheries and coastal communities in addition to protecting the sustainability of wild salmon populations,” said the lawmakers.
    In 2024, Oregon’s troll salmon fishery struggled amid worsening effects of climate change, increased drought, shifting ocean conditions, and other impacts leading to poor salmon returns. Facing these significant challenges, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) estimates that 2024 Chinook salmon population levels were below forecasts, with 2025 Chinook salmon populations likely “not high enough to allow for target summer Chinook fisheries.”
    The impact salmon loss has on Oregon’s economy cannot be understated, as the state’s?commercial?fishing industry generates more than $640 million in economic activity each year, equivalent to 9,200 jobs.
    “Despite best efforts from our local fishermen and state and local partners, the economic consequences of this crisis threaten both salmon fishermen and the broader economy of Oregon’s coastal communities which rely on the fishery,” continued the lawmakers.
    As the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) undergoes the process to finalize its 2025 salmon season management recommendations, the Oregon delegation is pushing for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to quickly grant Governor Tina Kotek’s request for a federal fishery disaster under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The action is critical to access federal funding needed to ease the economic uncertainty for Oregon’s commercial troll salmon fishery, while recognizing the immense role salmon hold in the cultural heritage of Pacific Northwest Tribes, recreation, and as a treasured natural resource across the state.
    The Oregon delegation has been essential in securing past federal fishery disaster declarations in the state through a series of actions, which led to the Commerce Department sending Oregon?a total of $7,050,722 for the fishery disaster declared for 2018, 2019, and 2020?Oregon?Chinook salmon?ocean commercial?fisheries. The lawmakers will keep pushing for federal support for this critical industry while local, state, and federal partners continue work on long-term solutions.
    “We urge you to direct your attention to Governor Kotek’s request for a fishery resource disaster declaration. We look forward to your timely response, and our offices stand ready to work with you to recover and sustain Oregon’s commercial fisheries,” the Oregon delegation closed.
    Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Prepares Second Asteroid Encounter

    Source: NASA

    NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is 6 days and less than 50 million miles (80 million km) away from its second close encounter with an asteroid; this time, the small main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson.

    [embedded content]
    Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.NASA/Dan Gallagher

    This upcoming event represents a comprehensive “dress rehearsal” for Lucy’s main mission over the next decade: the exploration of multiple Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun. Lucy’s first asteroid encounter – a flyby of the tiny main belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its satellite, Selam, on Nov. 1, 2023 – provided the team with an opportunity for a systems test that they will be building on during the upcoming flyby.
    Lucy’s closest approach to Donaldjohanson will occur at 1:51pm EDT on April 20, at a distance of 596 miles (960 km). About 30 minutes before closest approach, Lucy will orient itself to track the asteroid, during which its high-gain antenna will turn away from Earth, suspending communication. Guided by its terminal tracking system, Lucy will autonomously rotate to keep Donaldjohanson in view. As it does this, Lucy will carry out a more complicated observing sequence than was used at Dinkinesh. All three science instruments – the high-resolution greyscale imager called L’LORRI, the color imager and infrared spectrometer called L’Ralph, and the far infrared spectrometer called L’TES – will carry out observation sequences very similar to the ones that will occur at the Trojan asteroids.
    However, unlike with Dinkinesh, Lucy will stop tracking Donaldjohanson 40 seconds before the closest approach to protect its sensitive instruments from intense sunlight.
    “If you were sitting on the asteroid watching the Lucy spacecraft approaching, you would have to shield your eyes staring at the Sun while waiting for Lucy to emerge from the glare. After Lucy passes the asteroid, the positions will be reversed, so we have to shield the instruments in the same way,” said encounter phase lead Michael Vincent of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “These instruments are designed to photograph objects illuminated by sunlight 25 times dimmer than at Earth, so looking toward the Sun could damage our cameras.” 
    Fortunately, this is the only one of Lucy’s seven asteroid encounters with this challenging geometry. During the Trojan encounters, as with Dinkinesh, the spacecraft will be able to collect data throughout the entire encounter.
    After closest approach, the spacecraft will “pitch back,” reorienting its solar arrays back toward the Sun. Approximately an hour later, the spacecraft will re-establish communication with Earth.
    “One of the weird things to wrap your brain around with these deep space missions is how slow the speed of light is,” continued Vincent. “Lucy is 12.5 light minutes away from Earth, meaning it takes that long for any signal we send to reach the spacecraft. Then it takes another 12.5 minutes before we get Lucy’s response telling us we were heard. So, when we command the data playback after closest approach, it takes 25 minutes from when we ask to see the pictures before we get any of them to the ground.”
    Once the spacecraft’s health is confirmed, engineers will command Lucy to transmit the science data from the encounter back to Earth, which is a process that will take several days.
    Donaldjohanson is a fragment from a collision 150 million years ago, making it one of the youngest main belt asteroids ever visited by a spacecraft. 
    “Every asteroid has a different story to tell, and these stories weave together to paint the history of our solar system,” said Tom Statler, Lucy mission program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The fact that each new asteroid we visit knocks our socks off means we’re only beginning to understand the depth and richness of that history. Telescopic observations are hinting that Donaldjohanson is going to have an interesting story, and I’m fully expecting to be surprised – again.”
    NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, designed and built the L’Ralph instrument and provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for Lucy. Hal Levison of SwRI’s office in Boulder, Colorado, is the principal investigator. SwRI, headquartered in San Antonio, also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft, designed the original orbital trajectory and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the Lucy spacecraft. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed and built the L’LORRI (Lucy Long Range Reconnaissance Imager) instrument. Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, designed and build the L’TES (Lucy Thermal Emission Spectrometer) instrument. Lucy is the thirteenth mission in NASA’s Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
    By Katherine Kretke, Southwest Research Institute
    Media Contact:Karen Fox / Molly WasserHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
    Nancy N. JonesNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Musquodoboit Harbour — Man arrested for obstructing and assaulting a fishery officer

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    A man has been arrested for obstructing fishery officers in the lawful execution of their duties, as well as assaulting a peace officer.

    Late on April 11, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) was attempting to conduct an inspection on the Tangier River in Tangier when a man attempted to take elver fishing nets held by fishery officers. A struggle ensued, when the man resisted arrest. He suffered minor injuries.

    DFO transported the man to the Musquodoboit Harbour RCMP detachment, where he was transferred into the custody of RCMP officers and assessed by EHS.

    The 46-year-old man from Millbrook was later released. He will appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court on May 21, at 9:30 a.m., to face charges of Assaulting a Peace Officer and Obstructing a Peace Officer.

    File #: 25-49879

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study looking at the effect of global warming on persistence and intensity of marine heatwaves

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in PNAS looks at global warming and the intensity of marine heatwaves. 

    Dr Caroline Rowland, Scientific Strategic Head for Ocean Cryosphere and Climate, Met Office, said:

    “We should all care about marine heatwaves because societies around the world depend on the ocean; changes to ocean temperatures can have wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems and fisheries. There is growing evidence that the intensity and frequency of marine heatwaves – driven by climate change – can contribute to impactful weather events both around the UK and globally with obvious impacts for human health.

    “The record-breaking UK land temperatures in June 2023 were amplified by an unprecedented marine heatwave in UK waters that occurred simultaneously with the land heatwave. The increasing intensity and frequency of marine heatwaves due to climate change can increase the severity of storms – including tropical cyclones – and heatwaves on land.

    What are the key points readers should take from the study?

    “Anthropogenic climate change is the major cause of observed increases in intensity, frequency and duration of marine heatwaves (MHW) both globally and regionally

    “Natural year-to-year climate variability does contribute to extreme Marine temperatures, however, MHW are longer and more intense due to the long-term warming of the seas due to anthropogenic climate change.

    “MHWs are shown to increase in length in the tropics and in intensity and length in the mid-latitudes. The North and Baltic Seas have seen a larger increase relative to other regions (likely because of their shallow nature and their lower salinity: their excess heat is less likely exported to the deeper ocean).

    “The results of this paper are largely consistent with the assessment of MHWs in IPCC AR6 WG1 Box 9.2.

    Why are marine heatwaves important for people – why should they care?

    “The public should care about Marine Heatwaves because humans depend on the ocean; changes to ocean temperatures can have wide ranging impacts including to ecosystems and fisheries. There is growing evidence that MHWs contribute to weather events both around the UK and globally which can have significant impacts to human and animal health. Record-breaking UK land temperatures in June 2023 were amplified by an unprecedented Marine Heatwave in UK waters that occurred simultaneously with the land heatwave [1]. The intensity of cyclones in tropical regions has also been shown to be magnified by MHW. The increasing intensity and frequency of MHW due to climate change has the potential to increase the severity of storms and heatwaves on land.

    Are there any important caveats that we should be aware of?

    “Although we know that there are wide ranging impacts to ecosystems and fisheries from global MHW, there are large gaps in our knowledge of MHW impacts to ecosystems in UK waters, particularly coastal regions.

     “This paper also further strengthens the need for evidence to quantify the role of anthropogenic climate change on the frequency and duration of MHWs.”

    1- https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01413-8

     

    Dr Jeffrey Kargel, Senior Scientists, Planetary Science Institute, said:

    “The work by Marta Marcos and colleagues is richly informative about global warming’s oceanic influences. The authors computed sea surface temperatures under the observed atmospheric conditions with global warming included, and then re-doing the sea surface computation by removing the long-term influence of the warming atmosphere and just leaving in the hot spells and cold spells.

    “Interestingly, the authors found that most–but not all–of the observed intensity of extreme hot ocean surface episodes, and about half of the number of days of extreme ocean warmth are explained directly by global warming. This relationship is readily understood. However, when I read this, I zeroed in on the fact that there have been more days and greater intensities of extreme ocean surface warmth than global warming alone accounts for. I suspect that the excess over predictions could be related to the controversial but much-reported slow-down of the jet streams and the frequent “stuck” jet streams. Instead of continuing on their usual eastward migration, jet streams and associated high- and low-pressure systems have frequently become “stuck” in place, leaving parts of the ocean surface (land surface as well) subjected to blistering hot conditions. This is a likely indirect influence of global warming. Global climate change is not only about warming, but about the disruption of all parts of the climate system, including jet streams. That influence, in turn, affects the sea surface temperature in extreme ways, which then affects hurricanes and weather systems that extend into continental interiors.   

    “The weakening and stagnating jet streams in relationship to global warming and melting sea ice was first discovered and explained by Jennifer Francis. If her model is correct, as seems increasingly likely as observations accrue, then combined with this new paper by Marcos and colleagues, it could suggest that the stuck jet streams may impose a multiplier effect on global warming’s influence on sea surface temperatures and extreme weather on land, too.”

    Dr Zoe Jacobs, Ocean and Climate Modeler, UK National Oceanography Centre, said:

    What are the key points readers should take from the study?

    “Human-induced global warming is responsible for nearly half of global marine heatwave (MHW) events since 1940.

    “Human-induced global warming has caused a 3-fold increase in the number of days per year experiencing MHW conditions. Globally, this means that, on average, we are experiencing 34 extra MHW days per year in recent years compared with the early period. This reaches 80 additional MHW days per year in some regions, including the equatorial Western Pacific and Atlantic, and parts of the tropical Indian Ocean.

    “It has also led to a global mean increase in MHW maximum intensity of 1oC, with the greatest increases observed outside the tropics.

    “Overall, their work reveals the dominant contribution of anthropogenic forcing to MHW increases, especially since the year 2000.

    “It is important to note that there will be high variability between individual events. For example, the MHW in the Tasman Sea in 2015-16 is found to almost entirely be due to global warming, whereas the Pacific Blob (2014-15) is found to be due to a mixture of global warming and natural climate variability.

    Why are marine heatwaves important for people – frankly, why should they care?

    “Wide ranging impacts have been documented for marine heatwave events worldwide. They have decimated coral reefs, seagrass meadows and kelp forests as well as fisheries and seabird colonies and even impacted larger species like seals and whales.

    “Because of this they pose significant risks to society, with some individual events causing millions of dollars of losses due to impacts on the fishing, aquaculture, and tourism industries. They have also been found to exacerbate heatwaves on land and have amplified extreme weather like hurricanes and storms.”

    Are there any important caveats that we should be aware of?

    “Using sea surface temperature (SST) data before the satellite record (pre-1980s) will have considerable uncertainties. Using a. 0.25o grid will have led to a lot of interpolation between actual observations due to incomplete spatial coverage.

    “The study focuses on summer MHW events only but MHWs can occur year-round, with seasonal differences in persistence and intensity likely.”

    ‘Global warming drives a threefold increase in persistence and 1 ◦C rise in intensity of marine heatwaves’ by Marcos et al. was published in PNAS at 20:00 UK time on Monday 14th April 2025. 

    DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2413505122

    Declared interests

    Dr Jeffrey Kargel “I have no conflicts of interest related to this article or my commentary.”

    For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Taxation of big digital tech companies – E-001409/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001409/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Bruno Gonçalves (S&D), Aurore Lalucq (S&D), Carla Tavares (S&D), Jonás Fernández (S&D), Matthias Ecke (S&D), Lara Wolters (S&D), David Cormand (Verts/ALE), Kim Van Sparrentak (Verts/ALE), André Rodrigues (S&D), Elisabeth Grossmann (S&D), Rasmus Andresen (Verts/ALE), Sandra Gómez López (S&D), Vivien Costanzo (S&D), Sérgio Gonçalves (S&D), Bruno Tobback (S&D), Arash Saeidi (The Left), Francisco Assis (S&D), Brando Benifei (S&D), Marta Temido (S&D), Manon Aubry (The Left), Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew), Elio Di Rupo (S&D), Pasquale Tridico (The Left), Catarina Vieira (Verts/ALE), Virginijus Sinkevičius (Verts/ALE), Ana Catarina Mendes (S&D), Alex Agius Saliba (S&D), Claire Fita (S&D), Catarina Martins (The Left), Rudi Kennes (The Left), Maria Ohisalo (Verts/ALE), Chloé Ridel (S&D), Evelyn Regner (S&D), Isilda Gomes (S&D), Irena Joveva (Renew), Daniel Attard (S&D), Li Andersson (The Left), Sara Matthieu (Verts/ALE), Aura Salla (PPE)

    As mentioned in the interinstitutional agreement of 16 December 2020, the EU has agreed to establish a digital levy as a new EU own resource. This initiative was delayed in favour of the multilateral approach via the G20/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy.

    Unfortunately, a recent executive order by US President Donald Trump not only undermines the agreement reached for Pillar Two – establishing a global minimum level of corporate taxation – but also jeopardises a positive outcome in the negotiations of Pillar One, which deals with a fairer tax framework for large digital companies.

    As stated by Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra in his confirmation hearing: ‘It cannot be that we’re not going to tax these [digital] companies because we cannot come to a global agreement’. In light of this, the Commission should be prepared to propose a common digital services tax in the EU.

    Is the Commission prepared to make such a proposal? Can we expect it to do so in the context of the aggressive ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, and/or the recent exchange between EU Heads of State and Government regarding new EU own resources, as mentioned in the most recent European Council conclusions?

    Supporter[1]

    Submitted: 7.4.2025

    • [1] This question is supported by a Member other than the authors: Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE)

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Ongoing threats and persecution of Christians and other religious and ethnic communities in Syria – E-001399/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001399/2025
    to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
    Rule 144
    Nikolas Farantouris (The Left)

    In the last twenty-four hours, images of the continued targeting of Christian and other religious communities in Syria by forces and extremists close to the al-Jolani regime have come to light. By way of illustration, on Sunday 6 April, Islamists invaded the Church of St George in the Greek Orthodox town of Budan [sic], doused the seats with petrol and planted explosive devices, which fortunately did not detonate. Other reports state that high-ranking Government officials from the Ministry of Interior – ‘former’ members of extremist organisations and Al-Qaeda – support terrorist attacks, such as the plan circulating online to bomb the Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary in Tartus. It is clear that Alawites, Christians and other communities in Syria are under threat from the regime in Damascus. In these circumstances, the EU must urgently intervene to do what Jolani refuses to do, to protect the lives of all Syrians, regardless of religion.

    Given the above:

    • 1.Why is the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy not intervening decisively with the Government in Damascus, demanding the protection of Christian and other threatened communities?
    • 2.Why is the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy not finally sending a team of observers to document the massacres and incidents of violence?
    • 3.Why is the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy not coordinating a humanitarian aid mission to the threatened coastal areas, with the participation of Member States such as Greece, Cyprus, France and others, as requested by the representatives of the affected and terror-stricken areas?

    Submitted: 7.4.2025

    Last updated: 14 April 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Recreate Minecraft movie moments in your game worlds

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Recreate Minecraft movie moments in your game worlds

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Bipartisan Delegation Introduces Legislation To Boost Hiring Of Military Spouses

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative John R Carter (R-TX-31)

    Today, U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), John Carter (R-TX), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) led a bipartisan delegation in introducing the Military Spouse Hiring Act, legislation to amend the tax code to incentivize businesses to hire military spouses.

    Today, U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), John Carter (R-TX), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) led a bipartisan delegation in introducing the Military Spouse Hiring Act, legislation to amend the tax code to incentivize businesses to hire military spouses. Beyer, Kelly, and Panetta serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, with Kelly chairing the Tax Subcommittee. Carter chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, and is co-chair of the Army Caucus.

    “My mother was a military spouse, and I am keenly aware of challenges facing partners of active-duty servicemembers, who often have to relocate their families long distances,” said Rep. Beyer. “Our legislation would make important changes to the tax code to overcome hurdles to employment that disproportionately affect military spouses and show military families that ther service to the nation is valued.”

    “America’s soldiers and military families who support them on the frontlines deserve our nation’s support.” said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Chairman of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Tax.  “Unfortunately, military spouses have a higher rate of unemployment and are often underemployed due to frequent relocations and service member deployments.  Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation aims to help active-duty families get a leg up financially by encouraging local businesses to hire more military spouses in their communities.  It’s a win-win for America.”

    “Military spouses do so much to support our servicemembers, but too often, they struggle to find steady jobs because of the unique challenges that face military families,” said Rep. Carter. “The Military Spouse Hiring Act is a simple, commonsense way to help—giving businesses an incentive to hire these hardworking men and women. At the end of the day, supporting military spouses means supporting military families, and that’s something we should all get behind.”

    “Military spouses face high unemployment rates and career instability due to the frequent relocations required by military service,” said Rep. Panetta. “The Military Spouse Hiring Act directly addresses this challenge by making military spouses eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, encouraging businesses to hire them and providing these families with greater economic stability.  This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is a commonsense step to support our military families and ensure that they have some stability through economic opportunity.”

    A Senate companion is being introduced by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Boozman (R-AR), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

    According to a survey by Blue Star Families, military spouse employment is the top issue impacting active-duty families, and the top contributor to financial stress among military families. Military spouses consistently experience unemployment rates substantially higher than the national rate, and two thirds of employed active duty military spouses report underemployment. Frequent moves often stall military spouses’ upward career progression and force them to find new jobs. This hurts military families and military readiness.

    Today’s legislation would address the issue by expanding the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program—which incentivizes employers to hire individuals who experience unique employment barriers—to include military spouses.

    The Military Spouse Hiring Act is supported by: Air & Space Forces Association (AFA), Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA), Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS), Chief Warrant Officers Association of the US Coast Guard (CWOA), Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS), Fleet Reserve Association (FRA), Jewish War Veterans (JWV), Marine Corps League (MCL), Military Chaplains Association (MCA), Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), Military Spouse Advocacy network (MSAN), National Defense Committee (NDC), National Military Family Association (NMFA), National Military Spouse Network (NMSN), Non Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA), Reserve Organization of America (ROA), Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), The American Legion (TAL), The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA), Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), United States Army Warrant Officers Association (USA WOA), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)

    “Military spouse unemployment continues to hover at a very troubling 21%, and expanding the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) would help bring that number down by incentivizing employers to hire our nation’s military spouses,” said Sue Hoppin, founder and president of the National Military Spouse Network. “Our mission is to support the efforts of spouses to secure viable careers within the military lifestyle and then help them pave the way for a successful transition post military life. This expansion would go a long way. We extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to Congressman Beyer, who has been a tireless champion of the Military Spouse Hiring Act.”

    “Employing military spouses is a strategic issue with direct ties to force readiness and the retention of experienced warfighters.  And in 2025, having two household incomes is a baseline requirement.  This bill eases an employer’s path to hiring from this talented pool of dedicated workers to invest in both military families and the viability of the all-volunteer force,” Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, USAF (Ret), president and CEO of the Military Officers Association of America, said. “MOAA wants to thank Sens. Kaine, Boozman, Hassan and Rounds and Reps. Beyer, Kelly, Panetta and Carter for their ongoing work to support military spouses and families.”

    “Hiring a military spouse isn’t just good for a business, it’s good for America,” said Besa Pinchotti, CEO of the National Military Family Association. “Expanding the Work Opportunity tax Credit to include military spouses incentivizes businesses to employ military spouses, a highly qualified talent pool. It also supports military family financial security—ensuring our military is always ready. We’re grateful to Senators Boozman and Kaine and Representatives Kelly and Beyer for introducing this important legislation.”

    The bill has a history of robust bipartisan support in both chambers. Full text of the legislation is available here, with a summary here.

    MIL OSI USA News –