NewzIntel.com

Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with wounding following Rokeby incident

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Man charged with wounding following Rokeby incident

    Thursday, 3 October 2024 – 8:40 am.

    A 36 year old Howrah man has been arrested and charged with wounding and Assault, following an incident at Rokeby yesterday afternoon.It is alleged the man drove his vehicle through a residential fence and at two occupants of that residence, who were standing on the front lawn.The occupants were forced to jump out of the way of the vehicle. It is also alleged that the man stabbed one of the occupants in the arm when he attempted to gain entry to the vehicle.The man was detained by the occupants until police arrived shortly afterwards.He has been charged and will appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court later today.Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Department of State Daily Press Briefing – October 2, 2024

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

    Department Press Briefing with Spokesperson Matthew Miller, at the Department of State, on October 2, 2024.

    ———-
    Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

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

    Get updates from the U.S. Department of State at http://www.state.gov and on social media!
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statedept
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/StateDept
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/statedept
    Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/statephotos/

    Subscribe to the State Department Blog: https://www.state.gov/blogs
    Watch on-demand State Department videos: https://video.state.gov/
    Subscribe to The Week at State e-newsletter: http://ow.ly/diiN30ro7Cw

    State Department website: https://www.state.gov/
    Careers website: https://careers.state.gov/
    White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/

    #StateDepartment #DepartmentofState #Diplomacy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iRn5C8jJWg

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi Named Trans Equality Champion for 118th Congress

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi was named to the Advocates for Trans Equality’s (A4TE) 118th Congressional Champions List, honoring the Congressman for his work to protect and advance the rights of trans Americans. As a Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, Congressman Krishnamoorthi has been a proud defender of the rights of all LBGTQI+ Americans. Congressman Krishnamoorthi is proud to stand against all attempts at targeting and harassment of trans Americans and has been a fierce advocate for equal access to health care, housing, and other critical needs.

    “I’m proud to be named to the 118th Congressional Champions list by Advocates for Trans Equality,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “Standing up for the transgender community has been a focus of mine as Vice Chair of the House Equality Caucus, and I look forward to continuing that work to ensure all Americans can live their lives freely, openly, and without fear of discrimination or hate.”

    Congressman Krishnamoorthi is one of the 134 allies listed by A4TE and is proud to be a co-sponsor of all six of A4TE’s priority bills, including the Equality Act (H.R. 15/S. 5), the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act (H.R. 3970/S. 1839), and the Safe School Improvement Act (H.R. 6031/S. 3105).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New lunar distress system could safeguard future astronauts

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    A team of international scientists has taken a significant step towards making lunar exploration safer, proposing a distress monitoring and rescue system designed for the Moon’s unique and challenging environment.

    As NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, astronauts will be exposed to high-risk situations in remote areas like the lunar south pole.

    A project led by the University of South Australia (UniSA), addresses the critical need for an emergency system capable of providing safety alerts, incident reporting, and location tracking of astronauts in distress.

    Researchers from Adelaide and the US are designing a satellite constellation that prioritises communication and geolocation on the Moon’s surface. Using this system, astronauts will be able to send distress signals to a network of satellites that will relay the information back to Earth or other lunar bases.

    The system is based on the COSPAS-SARSAT technology already used for search and rescue on Earth, adapted for lunar conditions.

    Dr Mark Rice, a UniSA adjunct researcher and founder of Safety from Space, says the distress system could allow continuous communication with astronauts for up to 10 hours, even in the most challenging terrain, such as craters or mountains.

    “Our team has also developed a waveform that supports low-power emergency beacons, ensuring that communication remains possible with minimal infrastructure and energy consumption,” Dr Rice says.

    “This innovation is a critical advancement for space exploration. As humans venture further into space, the ability to quickly locate and rescue individuals in distress is vital.

    “By creating a robust search and rescue system for the Moon, this research sets the foundation for similar systems on other planets, potentially revolutionising how we approach human safety in space exploration.”

    Safety from Space was founded in 2018 with the support of UniSA’s Innovation and Collaboration Centre. The startup has recently been awarded $100,000 from the SA Government to help drive the Lunar Search and Rescue project, with an anticipated field trial with NASA in 2025.

    Closer to home, the technology – called Beagle – has been described as a “game changer” for two-way emergency communications when applied to Earth-based search and rescue operations. This would enhance emergency response efforts in remote and hazardous locations, potentially saving countless lives, the researchers say.

    The work, supported by the SmartSat CRC and Flinders University, was presented to a recent International Communications and Satellite Systems (ICSSC) conference. For a copy of the conference paper, please email candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au
    Researcher contact:  Dr Mark Rice E: mark@safetyfromspace.com

    Other articles you may be interested in

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Securing our world—together

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Securing our world—together

    As Cybersecurity Awareness Month marks its 21st year, it’s clear that this year stands out. Phishing emails have become more convincing, and fraud has increased, making cyberattackers seem legitimate—as if they were Microsoft support or even the fraud detection services from your bank.1 And threat actors are taking advantage of the rise of AI, using it to enhance and fine-tune their strategies.

    To add to the complexity, dedicated cybersecurity teams are currently resource constrained, especially compared to their cyberattackers. Globally, the cybersecurity workforce gap has widened this year, with four million roles left unfilled in 2023—a nearly 13% year-on-year increase.2

    To help our global defenders, Microsoft has put together the Be Cybersmart Kit, designed to educate everyone on best practices for going passwordless, not falling for sophisticated phishing or fraud, device protection, AI safety, and more.

    Empower everyone to be a cybersecurity champion

    Help educate everyone in your organization with cybersecurity awareness resources and training curated by the security experts at Microsoft.

    In partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) we have focused on four simple best practices:

    • Use strong passwords and consider a password manager. 
    • Turn on multifactor authentication.
    • Learn to recognize and report phishing.
    • Make sure to keep your software updated.

    “Cybersecurity is not a one-time thing, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a hassle. Small changes in our technology habits can be easy, like using multifactor authentication or keeping your devices and software up to date. All the bad news about the latest data breaches can leave us feeling powerless, but adopting simple, repeatable behaviors goes a long way to protecting our families and businesses. It’s important to stay safe online because your data is worth protecting.”

    —Lisa Plaggemie, Executive Director, NCA

    The Be Cybersmart Kit goes further, providing information and infographics that cover six of the most universally important elements of cybersecurity. These areas of focus are AI Safety, Cybersecurity 101, Devices, Fraud, Phishing, and Passwords. For example, the AI Safety infographic delivers new guidance that focuses on the safe use of AI tools within your organization, including making sure you haven’t become overconfident in AI-generated content and search results and that you’re using the AI tools provisioned by your IT organization.

    Empower your security teams with the Be Cybersmart Kit

    The Be Cybersmart Kit is a great starting point, and it’s just one of the many resources Microsoft has put together on its Cybersecurity Awareness site. Those seeking more in-depth resources can access expert-level learning paths, certifications, and technical documentation to continue their cybersecurity education. And for students pursuing the field of cybersecurity, the Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship Program and many more educational opportunities are here to help. The goal of all these programs is to help foster a security-first culture and continuous learning for students and professionals alike.

    “CISA is excited to lead the federal government’s efforts to reduce online risk during this 21st Cybersecurity Awareness month and every month. We work with government and industry to raise cybersecurity awareness and help everyone, from individuals to businesses to all levels of government, stay safe online in our ever-connected world. Protecting ourselves online is about taking a few simple, everyday steps to keep our digital lives safe.”

    —Jen Easterly, Director, CISA

    The cyberthreats we face in the era of AI

    AI-enhanced phishing threats and social engineering are on the rise. These threats are often highly targeted and present fewer of the tell-tale signs of their traditionally generated counterparts. In the FBI’s 2023 Internet Crime Report, the agency states that its Internet Crime Complaint Center fielded more than 800,000 cyber incident complaints. The FBI estimates the total losses associated with these incidents to be greater than USD10 billion.2

    To better understand phishing-related risk factors in the era of AI, Microsoft has collaborated with Fortra to put together the Phishing Benchmark Global Report. The report found that 10.4% of phishing simulation participants clicked the email phishing link they were sent—a 3.4% increase over the previous year.3 Even more worrying, 60% of users who clicked on the email link also ultimately submitted their password to the phishing website.3 These attacks target tens of millions of users annually, and with AI-enhanced features they are more and more likely to evade traditional security layers like firewalls and email security measures. AI can also aid cyberattackers in setting up their phishing sites in locations that internet browsers and security providers are less capable of detecting as high-risk.

    In the era of AI, we are all cyberdefenders. Despite this, 52% of employees still say their job has nothing to do with cybersecurity.3 This couldn’t be further from the truth. Employees are the first and last line of defense—and Microsoft recognized the importance of this when we created the Secure Future Initiative. Our Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has led the charge himself as Microsoft puts “security above all else, before all other features and investments.” This is why educating everyone on staying cybersafe is so important right now. Whether you point your employees to some of the resources linked in this article, highlight your own in-house resources, or bring in outside experts, it’s time to act now.

    We all have a role to play as cyberdefenders both at work and home. Identity and device protection can help protect individuals and their families from malicious cyberthreats—and Microsoft is making it easier than ever to stay safer on unsecure Wi-Fi with the expansion of privacy protection. Consumers can get the added protection of a VPN on their phones and computers when on-the-go in places like coffee shops or airports. And now, device notifications alert users to unsafe Wi-Fi connections guiding them to turn on VPN for a safer connection.

    For informed individuals looking to further broaden their understanding of the landscape, Microsoft invites you to join the Build a Security-First Culture in the Era of AI webinar on October 30, 2024. Let’s all do our part to secure our world—together.

    Get the Be Cybersmart Kit

    To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

    1Bold action against fraud: Disrupting Storm-1152, Microsoft. August 7, 2024.

    2Cybersecurity Workforce Study, ISC2.

    3Phishing Benchmark Global Report, Fortra.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Governor Cooper and President Biden Survey Damage from Hurricane Helene During Aerial Tour, Hold Briefing for Federal Officials at State Emergency Operations Center

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Governor Cooper and President Biden Survey Damage from Hurricane Helene During Aerial Tour, Hold Briefing for Federal Officials at State Emergency Operations Center

    PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Governor Cooper and President Biden Survey Damage from Hurricane Helene During Aerial Tour, Hold Briefing for Federal Officials at State Emergency Operations Center
    mseets

    Today, Governor Roy Cooper and President Joe Biden took an aerial tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Helene before holding a briefing on storm impacts at the State Emergency Operations Center. During the briefing, President Biden announced the approval of 100% FEMA Reimbursement for six months, a significant funding commitment from the federal government. The briefing was attended by President Biden, United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, United States EPA Administrator Michael Regan, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and other top state and federal officials.

    Prior to the visit, President Biden approved Governor Cooper’s request for active-duty military personnel and equipment to support ongoing operations in Western North Carolina. The active-duty military personnel are in addition to more than 1,000 North Carolina National Guard soldiers currently deployed who are surging food, water, supplies and conducting search and rescue operations. The NC National Guard has already performed more than 1,400 rescues and delivered more than 700,000 pounds in supplies.

    “The damage caused by Hurricane Helene to Western North Carolina is immense, and we are continuing our unprecedented efforts to surge resources into affected communities,” said Governor Cooper. “We’re grateful to President Biden, FEMA and all of our federal partners for their support and commitment to helping our state respond, recover and rebuild from this disaster.”

    State, federal and local partners continue to work together to surge resources into Western North Carolina in response to unprecedented damage from Hurricane Helene across the region. Throughout the week, Governor Roy Cooper has traveled to Western North Carolina to assess storm response, meet with those affected and thank volunteers for their hard work.

    Photos of the Governor’s briefing with President Biden can be found here.

    Food, Water and Commodity Points of Distribution

    Efforts are underway to provide food, water and basic necessities to residents in affected communities, utilizing both ground resources and air drops from the NC National Guard. FEMA has delivered 1.89 million meals and 2.5 million liters of water. More than 21,000 people have been registered for assistance.

    • Buncombe County – Biltmore Baptist Church, 35 Clayton Road, Arden, NC 28704
    • McDowell County – Grace Community Church, 5182 Highway 70 West, Marion, NC 28752
    • Watauga County – First Baptist Church, 375 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607

    Points of distribution for commodities have been established in each impacted county. These locations are also providing free public Wi-Fi for area residents. Seek information from local governments for counties not listed below.

    • Ashe County – Westwood Elementary School, Mountain View Elementary School
    • Buncombe County – UNC-Asheville, Asheville Buncombe Tech Ferguson, WNC Ag. Center, Asheville-Buncombe Tech Conference Center, Biltmore Baptist Church, The Greens at Weaverville, Fletcher Nursing and Rehabilitation.
    • Henderson County – First Baptist Church Hendersonville, Greens at Hendersonville
    • Madison County – Madison County Cooperative Extension Service
    • McDowell County – Nebo Crossing Church, Grace Community Church
    • Mitchell County – First Baptist Spruce Pine
    • Polk County – Polk County High School
    • Rowan County – Rowan-Cabarrus YMCA
    • Watauga – Cove Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Zionville VFD, Foscoe Christian Church, Watauga EOC, Holmes Convocation Center, Meat Camp Road, Town of Boone PD, First Baptist Boone. 

    Power Outages

    Across the region, approximately 408,000 customers remain without power, down from a peak of more than one million. Power has been restored to more than 500,000 customers.

    Missing Persons

    To report a missing person or request non-emergency support, please call NC 211 or 1-888-892-1162 if calling from out-of-state.

    Shelters

    A total of 26 shelters have been opened in Western North Carolina, housing 1,244 people. Plans are in place to open additional shelters as needed to accommodate additional needs.

    Search and Rescue Operations

    Search and rescue operations are ongoing in Western North Carolina. A total of 55 search and rescue teams from North Carolina and beyond, consisting of more than 1600 personnel have conducted search and rescue operations during this event. More than 500 people have been rescued by the NC National Guard. More than 150 pets have also been rescued.

    Road Closures

    Travel remains dangerous, with approximately 450 roads closed as of Wednesday afternoon. NCDOT is asking people to refrain from unnecessary travel to or in Western North Carolina. Road access is limited to local and hurricane response traffic as crews work to restore critical routes and access to communities isolated by damage. First responders also want to keep the roads as clear as possible to help ensure they may carry out all response missions. NCDOT has posted at ncdot.gov an interstate detour map for travelers to avoid western N.C. NCDOT has dispatched the following resources to assist with the recovery process:

    • 1,600 employees, plus 68 contract crews
    • 220+ employees in less-impacted areas have been sent to western N.C.
    • 1,500+ trucks, graders & backhoes/loaders
    • 1,000+ chainsaws
    • 8,000+ barricades & signs

    Cellphone Provider Coverage

    Cellphone providers are working to fix the damage and coverage issues caused by the storm and get stopgap solutions, such as temporary cell phone towers, in place and rapid progress is being made. Restoring communications is critical to saving lives, finding where people are and getting in supplies, and Governor Cooper been in constant contact with cellphone companies urging action and offering support. Please turn your cell phone off and restart it periodically to allow it to reconnect when a network is reestablished.

    Fatalities

    Fifty-six storm-related deaths have been confirmed in North Carolina by Office of Chief Medical Examiner. We do expect that these numbers will continue to rise over the coming days. The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will continue to confirm numbers twice daily. If you have an emergency or believe that someone is in danger, please call 911. To report that you have been unable to reach a person in Western North Carolina, please call 211.

    North Carolina National Guard Deployed

    Gov. Cooper has activated more than 1000 North Carolina National Guard soldiers and airmen to both conduct search and rescue operations and deliver critical supplies to Western North Carolina. As of Wednesday, 300 specialized vehicles and aircraft have been deployed in Western North Carolina to facilitate these missions.

    Volunteers and Donations

    As of Wednesday morning, the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund has raised $2.3 million dollars to help those in Western North Carolina.

    Due to dangerous road conditions, and the need to maintain open routes for emergency operations, travel to Western North Carolina is strongly discouraged. Instead, consider the following options for donations and volunteer opportunities:

    Storm Damage Cleanup

    If your home has damages and you need assistance with clean up, please call Crisis Cleanup for access to volunteer organizations that can assist you at 844-965-1386.

    Major Disaster Declaration and FEMA Assistance

    President Biden approved Governor Cooper’s request for an expedited request declaring a Major Disaster for 25 North Carolina counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This declaration paves the way for Public Assistance to help our hard-hit local governments, as well as access to FEMA’s Individual Assistance program.

    FEMA may be able to help with serious needs, displacement, temporary lodging, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs. Homeowners and renters in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians can apply.

    North Carolinians may apply for Individual Assistance by calling 1-800-621-3362 from 7am to 11pm daily or by visiting www.disasterassistance.gov, or by downloading the FEMA app.

    Additional Assistance

    There is no right or wrong way to feel in response to the trauma of a hurricane. If you have been impacted by the storm and need someone to talk to, call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990. Help is also available to anyone, anytime in English or Spanish through a call, text or chat to 988. Learn more at 988Lifeline.org.

    If you are seeking a representative from the North Carolina Joint Information Center, please email ncempio@ncdps.gov or call 919-825-2599.

    If you would like general information, access to resources, or answers to frequently asked questions, please visit ncdps.gov/helene.

    If you are seeking information on resources for recovery help for a resident impacted from the storm, please email IArecovery@ncdps.gov.

    Written Pool Report of Briefing Provided by Adam Wagner, Raleigh News & Observer

    Air Force One landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 4:21 pm.

    President Joe Biden and Gov. Roy Cooper disembarked about 10 minutes later.

    They were joined by U.S. Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, EPA Administrator Michael Regan and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

    They were met on the tarmac by a reception line that included Congresswoman Deborah Ross, NC Attorney General Josh Stein, NC State Auditor Jessica Holmes, Morrisville Mayor TJ Crawley, Raleigh Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan Melton, Durham Mayor Leo Williams and Wake County Commission Chairwoman Shnica Thomas.

    Everyone drove to the N.C. Emergency Operations Center, where a briefing was assembled in the situation room. Biden sat with Cooper on his right and Mayorkas to Cooper’s right. N.C. Emergency Management Director Will Ray on Biden’s left and Regan to the left of Ray. Behind them, screens showed several maps of North Carolina. In front of them were gathered numerous members of North Carolina’s emergency management team, including several members of the National Guard.

    Cooper discussed the damage, saying Hurricane Helene had wiped towns “off the map, bridges damaged or completely destroyed, critical infrastructure and water systems, electrical grids, communications all remain seriously damaged. Countless homes and businesses that are lost.

    He continued, “An entire region of our state is still in a dangerous situation.”

    Cooper then said 92 search and rescue teams have saved “countless” lives before thanking the 18 states that have sent assistance to North Carolina. Cooper also said North Carolina is “grateful” for Biden and FEMA’s aid.

    “This is going to be a long and difficult recovery, but talking with person after person in Western North Carolina, I know that we can come back and that we will come back because the people of Western North Carolina are resilient,” Cooper said.

    Cooper then called on “my friend” before turning it over to Biden.

    Biden also thanked Cooper, a Democrat; South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican; and “all the elected officials who have focused on the task at a hand. In a moment like this, we put politics aside. Or at least we should put it all aside, and we have here. There are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans. And our job is to hep as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can.”

    Wednesday, Biden said, he’d approved a request from Cooper for the federal government to cover all of the costs of debris removal for the next six months. Cooper then led a round of applause.

    Biden said there are 70 dead North Carolinians and a hundred more who are still missing. From the air, Biden said, he could see damaged homes that had clearly been washed downstream. Chimney Rock, he said, was “reduced to piles of wood and debris. As you look down, that’s what you see as we flew over in a circle in the helicopter.”

    Biden also discussed his order that the Department of Defense move up to 1,000 soldiers from Fort Liberty up tp participate in the disaster response. Biden also said 50 StarLink satellites have been deployed, with more on the way. And FEMA is making hotel rooms and temporary housing available to victims of the storm.

    Biden then said that in the car from the airport to the Emergency Operations Center, he’d been discussing how the storm is showing how neighbors can help each other in the wake of disaster.

    “Volunteers, first responders are standing side by side. People lean on each other to pick up the pieces that are left over and that’s the best of America. I firmly believe and I’ve been saying it and saying it and saying it for three years, there’s nothing beyond our capacity to do — nothing, nothing, nothing. This is the United States of America for God’s sake. Whenever we’ve worked together, we’ve never failed to get something done,” Biden said before thanking first responders.

    Ray then welcomed Biden before giving an operational update on Helene’s impacts.

    Ray said “extreme and unrelenting” rain caused the damage to Western North Carolina. There are about 350,000 remaining power outages in Western North Carolina, Ray said. The storm caused flash flood emergencies in 21 different Western North Carolina. Ray said North Carolina is focused on life safety missions, increasing the speed of commodity distribution in Western NC and helping with infrastructure like healthcare, water, power and communications.

    There are 26 open shelters in counties with just over 1,200 occupants.

    There are North Carolina search and rescue teams operating, along with 13 from other states and 18 from the federal government, Ray said. There have been more than 5,000 search and rescue “interactions” which can include rescues, evacuations or shelter assessments.

    “The teams continue to do really incredible work in some pretty austere conditions,” Ray said.

    North Carolina has 26 aircraft in the area that have lifted over 700,000 ponds of cargo into the region.

    Ray also said that more than 33,000 North Carolinians have applied for FEMA Individual Assistance programs.

    The open press section of the meeting lasted about 17 minutes.

    The full briefing ended around 5:50 pm.

    ###

    Oct 2, 2024

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Barrasso Statement on Elk Fire Impacting Sheridan County

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso

    CASPER, WY – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released the following statement offering support for those impacted by the Elk Fire in Sheridan County.

    “My prayers are with all those affected by the unprecedented Elk Fire in northern Wyoming. It’s vital that residents of Sheridan County and the surrounding areas follow the local evacuation guidelines. I encourage everyone to monitor the Sheridan County website (http://sheridancountywy.gov) for emergency updates and information on helpful resources.

    “My office is working with the state to do everything we can to assist those on the ground in relief efforts. Thank you to all our brave firefighters in Wyoming who risk their lives to keep us safe and protect our homes and communities.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Vaccination the best protection against mpox

    Source: New South Wales Health – State Government

    NSW Health is urging men who have sex with men, sex workers and their sexual partners to get two free doses of mpox vaccine now to combat serious illness amid concerns of rising cases and hospitalisations in NSW.
    NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said NSW is now seeing the largest mpox outbreak in the state since the first case was confirmed in May 2022, with 433 notifications since 1 June 2024. 
    Of the NSW cases, 37 per cent were fully vaccinated, 14 per cent had received one dose and 46 per cent were not vaccinated.
    Dr Chant said achieving high levels of vaccination in those at risk will provide individual protection against severe illness and help prevent the spread.
    “The rapidly rising numbers of mpox cases detected across the state are very concerning, with 26 people requiring hospitalisation due to the severity of their symptoms,” Dr Chant said.
    “The majority of cases of hospitalisation have been among people who are unvaccinated or have received only one dose of vaccine. While cases of mpox are occurring in vaccinated people, the cases tend to be milder and for a shorter period.
    “Anyone can get mpox, however the virus is mainly spread by close skin to skin contact and people who are at highest risk of mpox are men who have sex with men and sex workers, so we are urging them to complete their vaccinations as two doses can provide vital protection against severe illness caused by the virus.”
    Dr Chant said while the new strain of the mpox virus, clade 1b, has been circulating in Central and West Africa since January 2023, no cases of this strain have been found in Australia.
    ACON CEO Michael Woodhouse urged those at risk to not hesitate in getting fully vaccinated with two doses.
    “People in our communities are at higher risk of acquiring mpox particularly sexually active gay and bisexual men and their partners. Our communities have a long history of doing what it takes to protect ourselves and our partners. Now is one of those times.
    “Two doses of vaccine are required, so anyone who has only received one dose should get a second dose at least 28 days after the first.
    “The mpox vaccine is free for communities at risk of acquiring mpox. You do not need a Medicare card to receive it.
    “All vaccination appointments are private and confidential.”
    To find clinics offering the vaccination, refer to the Mpox vaccination clinics page or call the Sexual Health Infolink: 1800 451 624.
    Western Sydney Local Health District Sexual Health Specialist Dr Rohan Bopage said mpox spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, and often starts with small pimple-like skin lesions particularly in areas that are hard to see such as the genitals, anus or buttock.
    “Mpox may also spread if you are sharing items, such as bedding, towels or clothes, with someone who has mpox and it can spread to others until the lesions resolve.”
    “Getting diagnosed early helps interrupt the spread so it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of mpox which can include mild fever, headache, fatigue, or swollen lymph nodes and mouth ulcers or rectal pain.
    “Many cases are mild, but people who have any symptoms of mpox, even if they have had the mpox vaccine and even if mild, should immediately contact their GP or sexual health service for an appointment. Ask your doctor if it might be mpox, so testing can be done.”
    For further support, you can also call:

    The Sexual Health Infolink: 1800 451 624
    The Translating and Interpreting Service: 13 14 50 for free help in your language.

    More information on mpox can be found on the NSW Health website here​

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Lineage’s proposed acquisition of Fremantle City Coldstores not opposed

    Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

    The ACCC will not oppose the acquisition of Perth-based cold storage supplier Bigstreet Pty Ltd trading as Fremantle City Coldstores (FCC) by Australian subsidiaries of Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC.

    Lineage and FCC supply cold storage and warehousing services to a range of customers in Perth, including food manufacturers, retailers, and meat and seafood processors.

    The ACCC’s review focused on whether the removal of FCC as a result of the proposed acquisition would substantially lessen competition in the supply of cold storage services in Perth. This included testing the closeness of competition between Lineage and FCC.

    “During our investigation, we engaged with a range of industry participants, including customers of both FCC and Lineage. We ultimately found that the transaction would not be likely to substantially lessen competition,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said.

    The review found that while Lineage and FCC do compete to supply a similar group of customers in Perth, FCC represents a small portion of the total Perth market.

    The combined Lineage-FCC entity will continue to face competition from significant competitors such as Americold, Golden West, and several other smaller suppliers.

    “Our consultation with the market has confirmed that recent expansions by competitors have led to additional capacity for cold storage in Perth. This additional capacity means customers will continue to be able to switch cold storage suppliers to seek better prices or service quality,” Dr Williams said.

    More information can be found on the ACCC’s website at Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC – Fremantle City Coldstores.

    Notes to editor

    In considering the proposed acquisition, the ACCC applies the legal test set out in section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act.

    In general terms, section 50 prohibits acquisitions that would have the effect, or be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in any market.

    Background

    Lineage is a global cold storage and logistics business with cold storage facilities throughout Australia. Lineage currently has two Perth facilities located in Welshpool and Banjup. It provides temperature-controlled storage as well as additional services including blast freezing, picking and packing, container loading and unloading, transport, and export documentation.

    FCC operates a single cold storage facility in Spearwood, near the port of Fremantle. As well as temperature-controlled storage, it supplies services including blast freezing, picking and packing, container loading and unloading, and export documentation.

    In conducting this review, the ACCC has taken into account its findings in an ex-post review of Emergent Cold’s acquisition of AB Oxford Cold Storage in Victoria. This ex post review provided the ACCC with important insights into the market dynamics of cold storage in Victoria post completion of Emergent Cold’s acquisition. The link to the report can be found here: Ex post review of ACCC merger decisions.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police nab haul of illicit weapons

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police have shut down a social media operation selling restricted weapons from an Auckland suburb.

    In the process Police have recovered dozens of stun devices, OC spray, knives and nearly two kilograms of cannabis to boot.

    An investigation has been ongoing into the operation that has allegedly been selling the restricted weapons.

    Auckland City West Area Commander, Inspector Alisse Robertson says Police executed a search warrant at a Blockhouse Bay property on Wednesday.

    “Our investigation staff have been looking into tasers and OC spray being sold on Facebook,” she says.

    “The investigation led us to the address where we located a person of interest in this case.”

    A thorough search uncovered 29 canisters of OC Spray, 27 stun guns, as well as more than 1.6kg of cannabis.

    “Concerningly a large number of these were all set up and ready for sale,” Inspector Robertson says.

    A 28-year-old woman was arrested at the address.

    Police have since charged her with a representative charge of possessing a restricted weapon, as well as possession for supply of cannabis.

    The woman is appearing in the Auckland District Court today and Police are opposing her bail.

    Inspector Robertson says: “This is a really good outcome for the community, with dozens of these dangerous weapons out of circulation and another supply line shut down.

    “I’d like to acknowledge the range of staff who worked on this on Wednesday, from our front-line staff through to Tactical Crime Unit with support from colleagues further afield in Auckland.”

    Police enquiries will continue as a result of Wednesday’s search warrant.

    Inspector Robertson says Police continue to encourage the public to report any illegal activity taking place in their communities, whether that’s in proximity or online.

    Information can be reported through 105 channels or by contacting Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS. 

    Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Australia: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    October 2, 2024

    A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

    The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    • Growth has slowed; while inflation is retreating from its peak, it remains elevated as demand-supply imbalances persist particularly in sectors like rents, new dwellings and insurance. The mission projects a modest economic recovery next year, pushing growth from 1.2 percent for 2024 to 2.1 percent for 2025, bolstered by real income growth and resilient labor markets. The uncertain global environment and geoeconomic fragmentation pose significant external risks.
    • Near-term policies should continue to focus on reducing inflation while nurturing economic growth. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s continued restrictive monetary policy stance aimed at combating persistent inflation is appropriate. Should disinflation stall, policies may need to be further tightened while preserving targeted support to vulnerable households amid rising living costs. Financial sector policies should prioritize preserving stability, while tackling localized vulnerabilities arising from tightened financial conditions. Addressing the housing affordability challenges requires a holistic approach to tackle the continued supply shortfall.
    • Australia’s robust economic institutions and policy frameworks can be further enhanced to underpin stability and foster growth in the long term. Structural policies should focus on enhancing resilience, revitalizing productivity growth through enhancing competition and innovation — including leveraging AI technology responsibly — and strategically navigating the climate transition.

    Washington, DC:

    I. CONTEXT AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

    1. Australia’s resilient economy faces cyclical challenges. Recent decades of strong growth are attributed to effective policies, strong institutions, flexible prices, strong regional trade links, and robust population growth. Post-pandemic stabilization efforts have included a balanced set of macro policy measures to manage demand and bring inflation back to target while preserving the gains in the labor market. Progress in reducing price pressures and bringing inflation back to target has been slower than expected. In this context, significant policy challenges remain in rebalancing the economy while navigating cyclical headwinds.
    2. Economic growth has continued to decelerate. Under tightened policies, growth slowed to 1.0 percent (y/y) in the second quarter of 2024, down from 1.9 percent (y/y) a year ago. Per capita private consumption was down 1.9 percent (y/y) in 2024Q2, as real disposable income per capita declined due to high inflation, elevated interest rates, and tax payments growing faster than incomes prior to recent income tax cuts. Younger Australians, who are more likely to rent or hold mortgages, have seen a greater impact on spending. Despite recent resilience, private business investment has started easing, growing at just 1.6 percent (y/y). Economic activity has been supported by public demand and large state infrastructure projects. The labor market has eased somewhat but remains relatively resilient, with unemployment at 4.2 percent in August 2024, and the vacancies-to-unemployment ratio still above pre-pandemic levels. The current account fell into deficit in early 2024, driven primarily by the normalization of commodity prices.
    3. Inflation has continued to ease from post-pandemic highs, but price pressures remain elevated. Restrictive monetary policy and an easing in supply pressures led to headline inflation falling to 3.8 percent (y/y) in the second quarter of 2024 from a peak of 7.8 percent (y/y) in late 2022. Headline inflation—as measured by the monthly CPI indicator—declined to below 3 percent in August due in part to sizeable temporary electricity subsidies. However, underlying price pressures remain elevated, most notably in non-tradable sectors like rents, new dwellings, and insurance, reflecting ongoing demand-supply imbalances. The mission welcomes the second consecutive Commonwealth Government budget surplus in FY2023/24. This was achieved by saving revenue windfalls from a resilient labor market and higher commodity prices, and identifying expenditure reductions or reprioritizations, while implementing cost-of-living relief measures. While acute demand and supply imbalances in the housing market have begun to ease, national house prices have surpassed pandemic-era peaks and the momentum persists, with rents also rising significantly.

    II. OUTLOOK AND RISKS

    1. The economy is projected to recover gradually. Growth is expected to start picking up in the second half of the year, reaching 1.2 percent for 2024 and 2.1 percent for 2025. Real wage growth is expected to boost private consumption, while public demand is expected to remain solid. Meanwhile, it remains too early to assess to what extent the recent income tax cuts would be saved or spent by households. Starting in 2025, private demand is also expected to benefit from gradual monetary policy easing and a rebound in dwelling construction after the resolution of bottlenecks. However, growth will remain below its potential rate until 2026, when it is forecast to converge to 2.3 percent. Labor market conditions are anticipated to soften gradually, with a modest rise in unemployment to about 4.5 percent. Trimmed mean inflation is expected to sustainably return to the RBA’s target range at end-2025, with underlying price pressures easing only slowly. Upside risks to inflation include a slower than forecast rebalancing in labor market demand and supply, potential larger fiscal impulses, demand impact of recent house price increases, and higher tradable prices due to rising geoeconomic fragmentation.
    2. With large uncertainty surrounding the macroeconomic baseline, the balance of risks is tilted to the downside:
    • External risks: The uncertain external environment, including weakness in major trading partners, poses risks to Australia’s growth. Geoeconomic fragmentation, which could potentially reconfigure global trade, poses risks to external demand, especially given Australia’s sizeable commodity exports and diverse trading partners. Rising shipping costs and volatile energy and food costs stemming from global geopolitical tensions could complicate the fight against inflation. At the same time, Australia’s pivotal role in the Pacific in providing aid and remittances, enhances regional economic stability and development. Additionally, Australia’s economy continues to benefit from positive regional interactions, such as labor migration that addresses domestic capacity constraints and skills shortages.
    • Domestic risks: The disinflation process may stall due to persistent services inflation, a stronger-than-expected fiscal impulse, or spillovers from global trade and supply chain disruptions; this may in turn raise prospects of higher-for-even longer interest rates, with implications for consumption and investment. Conversely, growth may be weaker than forecast, or unemployment may rise faster than projected (for example, if the current labor market tightness proves to be localized), potentially requiring the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates sooner.

    III. NEAR-TERM POLICIES TO BRING DOWN INFLATION WHILE NURTURING GROWTH AND PRESERVING FINANICAL STABILITY

    1. Near-term policies should focus on managing the final phase of returning inflation to target while nurturing growth. The baseline policy mix should be orchestrated carefully to achieve these objectives and ensure price and financial stability. The current restrictive monetary policy stance is essential to address risks of prolonged inflation. Fiscal policy should support disinflation as the economy continues to grapple with supply capacity constraints. Additionally, macroprudential policies should maintain a stringent stance to mitigate the risk of excessive vulnerabilities in household balance sheets, particularly in the context of rising house prices. Should disinflation stall, monetary policy may need to be further tightened, supported by tighter fiscal policy while nurturing growth, and preserving targeted support to vulnerable households amid rising living costs. This contingent policy mix should ensure monetary and fiscal authorities complement each other to avoid overburdening any single policy instrument. In the face of external shocks, Australia’s commitment to a flexible exchange rate, will allow monetary policy to focus on domestic policy objectives.
    2. In this context, the RBA’s decision to maintain its restrictive policy stance in the near-term is appropriate. The still persistent inflation and emerging upside risks emphasize the importance of a tight monetary stance until the inflation outlook sustainably aligns with the target range. This stance is supported by the strong transmission of monetary policy through the Australian housing sector, largely due to a high proportion of variable-rate mortgages, and a possibly slow yet important transmission via non-mining business investment. While inflation expectations have remained anchored, the RBA should continue to build on its recent efforts and explore ways to further strengthen its communications capabilities and effectively guide the general public’s and the market’s understanding of its data dependent decision-making process and their expectations regarding policy shifts in an uncertain global policy environment.
    3. Should disinflation stall, a tighter fiscal stance would be warranted, while better targeting of transfers could more efficiently support vulnerable households. The FY2024/25 Commonwealth budget is projected to deliver a positive fiscal impulse based on the mission’s estimates. A preannounced personal income tax (PIT) cut and new expenditure items including broad-based cost-of-living support, are expected to contribute to moving the budget to a deficit. The mission’s analysis shows that while the cost-of-living support lowers the price level on a temporary basis, it may inject some additional stimulus into the broader economy. The permanent PIT cut increase households’ disposable income, but it remains too early to assess the extent to which they will be saved or spent and therefore the extent and timing of any impulse to demand. State and Territory budgets have proven more expansionary than expected in the near-term, incorporating further cost-of-living support and infrastructure spending. Should disinflation stall, expenditure rationalization at all levels of government could help lower aggregate demand and support a faster return of inflation to target. In particular, infrastructure spending could be carefully prioritized to avoid aggravating construction capacity constraints, by focusing on boosting productivity and facilitating the green transition. In addition, transfers should be made targeted wherever possible.
    4. Financial sector policies should prioritize maintaining stability, while carefully addressing localized vulnerabilities arising from tightened financial conditions. Banks are in a strong position, showcasing high capital levels, solid liquidity, and healthy profits, while also demonstrating resilience in recent stress tests conducted by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). While most households and businesses continue to be resilient, financial pressures are evident in vulnerabilities in low-income households and small-medium enterprises, and challenges to firms’ profitability under tight financial conditions. More generally, concerns about hidden leverage or vulnerabilities, combined with new and emerging global risks, could resurface. Thus, the mission welcomes APRA’s plan for the first system stress test to better understand interconnectedness across the financial system, providing a platform to quantify, assess and respond to identified risks. The mission team also welcomes APRA’s close monitoring of lending standards and regular review of macroprudential policy settings and would reiterate its recommendation that the authorities consider preemptively expanding their toolkit to include additional borrower-based measures, such as Debt-to-Income and Loan-to-Value Ratio, to manage household indebtedness and ensure financial stability amidst the housing market pressures. While financial supervisory and regulatory reforms have been undertaken to enhance resilience, data gaps on Non-Bank Financial Institutions pose challenges to effective risk oversight, including its exposure to commercial real estate (CRE) sector.
    5. A holistic policy package is needed to address housing affordability issues. Australia faces a significant housing supply shortfall, exacerbated by structural challenges such as restrictive planning and zoning regulations, high land costs, infrastructure deficits, and residential dwelling investment around decade lows. These barriers, coupled with high interest rates, elevated building costs, and labor shortages, have led to a substantial backlog in housing development, contributing to escalating prices and affordability concerns. To address these issues, a comprehensive strategy is essential, focusing on increasing construction worker supply, relaxing zoning and planning restrictions, supporting the built-to-rent sector, expanding public and affordable housing, and reevaluating property taxes (including tax concessions to property investors) and stamp duty to promote efficient land use. At the same time, capital flow management (CFM) measures that discriminate between residents and nonresidents are not consistent with the Fund’s Institutional View and should be replaced by non-discriminatory measures.

    IV. Medium-Term Reform Priorities to Strengthen Economic Resilience

    1. Australia’s robust economic institutions and policy frameworks can be further enhanced to underpin stability and foster growth. The establishment of a new Monetary Policy Board and strengthened governance arrangements and decision-making processes, in line with international best practices, would bolster central bank operational autonomy and enhance monetary-fiscal policy synergies. Tax reforms should target system efficiency and fairness, reducing reliance on direct taxes and high capital costs that hinder growth. Tax breaks, including from capital gains tax discount and superannuation concessions, could be phased out to generate a more equitable and efficient tax system. Forthcoming environmental and demographic changes will put structural upwards pressures on government spending. Expenditure reforms should therefore aim to enhance spending efficiency and sustainability, emphasizing improved governance in infrastructure projects and strengthening intergovernmental collaboration. The aged care reforms and NDIS review represent positive forward steps. As long-term spending pressures rise, the authorities can consider bolstering their fiscal policy framework with clearer anchors.
    2. Efforts to rejuvenate Australia’s productivity growth, including through competition policy, should be prioritized, focusing on reforms across capital and labor markets. Initiatives grounded in the five pillar Productivity Agenda—emphasizing innovation, a level playing field for firms, and human capital enhancement—are crucial for resilient medium-term growth. Enhancing innovation through building intangible capital, promoting R&D, creating a supportive environment for swift adoption of technologies, supporting intellectual property rights, and ensuring policy certainty are vital. The work of the authorities to improve the competition landscape, including data-based assessments of the use and impact of worker restraints (non-compete clauses), and reforms of merger rules towards a risk-based system using notification thresholds, together with initiatives to support labor market efficiency including expanding access to quality early childhood education and enhancing skills development to align with market needs, are critical for bolstering productivity.
    3. The advent of AI technologies introduces both opportunities and challenges to the Australian labor market, necessitating proactive labor market policies. With a significant portion of occupations highly exposed to AI, reminiscent of other advanced economies, the focus should be given to public awareness programs, as well as ensuring appropriate access to training and upskilling for workers who may be affected. These measures, coupled with ongoing assessment and policy flexibility, should aim to maximize AI’s productivity benefits, while mitigating the risks of job displacement and worsening inequality. This approach underscores the importance of agility and adaptation in policymaking to keep pace with rapidly evolving technological advancements. Efforts at the country level, must be complemented by multilateral collaboration, to ensure safe and responsible AI use globally.
    4. Australia’s approach to climate change and the global transition presents a multifaceted challenge, balancing risks and opportunities. To ensure an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy, a balanced mix of mitigation and adaptation, combined with transition policies, is crucial. Progress towards ambitious emission reduction goals necessitates addressing construction bottlenecks and community engagement issues, and potential solutions include an economy-wide carbon price or targeted sectoral policies. The domestic and global transition toward renewable energy would likely impact jobs, exports, and revenues, particularly given Australia’s status as a leading coal exporter. Thus, adapting to climate risks and fostering resilience, particularly in the financial sector and vulnerable communities, is of paramount importance. At the same time, emerging opportunities in green metals, green hydrogen and critical minerals mining and processing could mitigate these risks.
    5. Australia’s continued efforts to support multilateral solutions are welcome, including the rules-based international trading system. In this respect, the “Future Made in Australia” program goal of supporting the green transition, should be balanced with efforts for a careful design of the program and keeping it narrowly targeted to where market solutions fall short due to the presence of externalities or other market imperfections. In this context, adherence to core market-based principles, that are essential to minimizing trade and investment distortions in line with WTO obligations, crowding in private investments, while supporting economic resilience and net-zero objectives, would be key. Finally, the mission team would like to commend Australia’s continued voluntary participation in the review of transnational aspects of corruption through which the country is sending a powerful positive signal, which, if followed by other advanced economies, will help address more systematically transnational aspects of corruption and deliver a better governance world.

    The IMF mission team would like to express its deep appreciation to the Australian authorities and other interlocutors for their close engagement and cooperation. Our unstinting gratitude particularly goes to the counterparts at the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia for the substantial time and effort devoted to supporting our work. The team looks forward to maintaining this constructive engagement and policy dialogue.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Rahim Kanani

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokesperson

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/10/02/mcs-australia-staff-concluding-statement-of-the-2024-article-iv-mission

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Australa: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: IMF – News in English

    October 2, 2024

    A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

    The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    Growth has slowed; while inflation is retreating from its peak, it remains elevated as demand-supply imbalances persist particularly in sectors like rents, new dwellings and insurance. The mission projects a modest economic recovery next year, pushing growth from 1.2 percent for 2024 to 2.1 percent for 2025, bolstered by real income growth and resilient labor markets. The uncertain global environment and geoeconomic fragmentation pose significant external risks. Near-term policies should continue to focus on reducing inflation while nurturing economic growth. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s continued restrictive monetary policy stance aimed at combating persistent inflation is appropriate. Should disinflation stall, policies may need to be further tightened while preserving targeted support to vulnerable households amid rising living costs. Financial sector policies should prioritize preserving stability, while tackling localized vulnerabilities arising from tightened financial conditions. Addressing the housing affordability challenges requires a holistic approach to tackle the continued supply shortfall. Australia’s robust economic institutions and policy frameworks can be further enhanced to underpin stability and foster growth in the long term. Structural policies should focus on enhancing resilience, revitalizing productivity growth through enhancing competition and innovation – including leveraging AI technology responsibly – and strategically navigating the climate transition.

    Washington, DC:

    I. CONTEXT AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

    Australia’s resilient economy faces cyclical challenges. Recent decades of strong growth are attributed to effective policies, strong institutions, flexible prices, strong regional trade links, and robust population growth. Post-pandemic stabilization efforts have included a balanced set of macro policy measures to manage demand and bring inflation back to target while preserving the gains in the labor market. Progress in reducing price pressures and bringing inflation back to target has been slower than expected. In this context, significant policy challenges remain in rebalancing the economy while navigating cyclical headwinds. Economic growth has continued to decelerate. Under tightened policies, growth slowed to 1.0 percent (y/y) in the second quarter of 2024, down from 1.9 percent (y/y) a year ago. Per capita private consumption was down 1.9 percent (y/y) in 2024Q2, as real disposable income per capita declined due to high inflation, elevated interest rates, and tax payments growing faster than incomes prior to recent income tax cuts. Younger Australians, who are more likely to rent or hold mortgages, have seen a greater impact on spending. Despite recent resilience, private business investment has started easing, growing at just 1.6 percent (y/y). Economic activity has been supported by public demand and large state infrastructure projects. The labor market has eased somewhat but remains relatively resilient, with unemployment at 4.2 percent in August 2024, and the vacancies-to-unemployment ratio still above pre-pandemic levels. The current account fell into deficit in early 2024, driven primarily by the normalization of commodity prices. Inflation has continued to ease from post-pandemic highs, but price pressures remain elevated. Restrictive monetary policy and an easing in supply pressures led to headline inflation falling to 3.8 percent (y/y) in the second quarter of 2024 from a peak of 7.8 percent (y/y) in late 2022. Headline inflation—as measured by the monthly CPI indicator—declined to below 3 percent in August due in part to sizeable temporary electricity subsidies. However, underlying price pressures remain elevated, most notably in non-tradable sectors like rents, new dwellings, and insurance, reflecting ongoing demand-supply imbalances. The mission welcomes the second consecutive Commonwealth Government budget surplus in FY2023/24. This was achieved by saving revenue windfalls from a resilient labor market and higher commodity prices, and identifying expenditure reductions or reprioritizations, while implementing cost-of-living relief measures. While acute demand and supply imbalances in the housing market have begun to ease, national house prices have surpassed pandemic-era peaks and the momentum persists, with rents also rising significantly.

    I. OUTLOOK AND RISK

    The economy is designed to recover gradually. Growth is expected to start picking up in the second half of the year, reaching 1.2 percent for 2024 and 2.1 percent for 2025. Real wage growth is expected to boost private consumption, while public demand is expected to remain solid. Meanwhile, it remains too early to assess to what extent the recent income tax cuts would be saved or spent by households. Starting in 2025, private demand is also expected to benefit from gradual monetary policy easing and a rebound in dwelling construction after the resolution of bottlenecks. However, growth will remain below its potential rate until 2026, when it is forecast to converge to 2.3 percent. Labor market conditions are anticipated to soften gradually, with a modest rise in unemployment to about 4.5 percent. Trimmed mean inflation is expected to sustainably return to the RBA’s target range at end-2025, with underlying price pressures easing only slowly. Upside risks to inflation include a slower than forecast rebalancing in labor market demand and supply, potential larger fiscal impulses, demand impact of recent house price increases, and higher tradable prices due to rising geoeconomic fragmentation. With large uncertainty surrounding the macroeconomic baseline, the balance of risks is tilted to the downside: External risks: The uncertain external environment, including weakness in major trading partners, poses risks to Australia’s growth. Geoeconomic fragmentation, which could potentially reconfigure global trade, poses risks to external demand, especially given Australia’s sizeable commodity exports and diverse trading partners. Rising shipping costs and volatile energy and food costs stemming from global geopolitical tensions could complicate the fight against inflation. At the same time, Australia’s pivotal role in the Pacific in providing aid and remittances, enhances regional economic stability and development. Additionally, Australia’s economy continues to benefit from positive regional interactions, such as labor migration that addresses domestic capacity constraints and skill shortages. Domestic risks: The disinflation process may stall due to persistent services inflation, a stronger-than-expected fiscal impulse, or spillovers from global trade and supply chain disruptions; this may in turn raise prospects of higher-for-even longer interest rates, with implications for consumption and investment. Conversely, growth may be weaker than forecast, or unemployment may rise faster than projected (for example, if the current labor market tightness proves to be localized), potentially requiring the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates sooner.

    III. NEAR-TERM POLICIES TO BRING DOWN INFLATION WHILE NURTURING GROWTH AND PRESERVING FINANCIAL STABILITY

    Near-term policies should focus on managing the final phase of returning inflation to target while nurturing growth. The baseline policy mix should be orchestrated carefully to achieve these objectives and ensure price and financial stability. The current restrictive monetary policy stance is essential to address the risks of prolonged inflation. Fiscal policy should support disinflation as the economy continues to grapple with supply capacity constraints. Additionally, macroprudential policies should maintain a stringent stance to mitigate the risk of excessive vulnerabilities in household balance sheets, particularly in the context of rising house prices. Should disinflation stall, monetary policy may need to be further tightened, supported by tighter fiscal policy while nurturing growth, and preserving targeted support to vulnerable households amid rising living costs. This contingent policy mix should ensure monetary and fiscal authorities complement each other to avoid overburdening any single policy instrument. In the face of external shocks, Australia’s commitment to a flexible exchange rate, will allow monetary policy to focus on domestic policy objectives.
    In this context, the RBA’s decision to maintain its restrictive policy stance in the near-term is appropriate. The still persistent inflation and emerging upside risks emphasizing the importance of a tight monetary stance until the inflation outlook sustainably aligns with the target range. This stance is supported by the strong transmission of monetary policy through the Australian housing sector, largely due to a high proportion of variable-rate mortgages, and a possibly slow yet important transmission via non-mining business investment. While inflation expectations have remained anchored, the RBA should continue to build on its recent efforts and explore ways to further strengthen its communications capabilities and effectively guide the general public’s and the market’s understanding of its data dependent decision-making process and their expectations regarding policy shifts in an uncertain global policy environment.
    Should disinflation stall, a tighter fiscal stance would be warranted, while better targeting of transfers could more efficiently support vulnerable households. The FY2024/25 Commonwealth budget is projected to deliver a positive fiscal impulse based on the mission’s estimates. A preannounced personal income tax (PIT) cut and new expenditure items including broad-based cost-of-living support, are expected to contribute to moving the budget to a deficit. The mission’s analysis shows that while the cost-of-living support lowers the price level on a temporary basis, it may inject some additional stimulus into the broader economy. The permanent PIT cut increase households’ disposable income, but it remains too early to assess the extent to which they will be saved or spent and therefore the extent and timing of any impulse to demand. State and Territory budgets have proven more expansionary than expected in the near-term, including further cost-of-living support and infrastructure spending. Should disinflation stall, expenditure rationalization at all levels of government could help lower aggregate demand and support a faster return of inflation to target. In particular, infrastructure spending could be carefully prioritized to avoid aggravating construction capacity constraints, by focusing on boosting productivity and facilitating the green transition. In addition, transfers should be made targeted wherever possible.
    Financial sector policies should prioritize maintaining stability, while carefully addressing localized vulnerabilities arising from tightened financial conditions. Banks are in a strong position, showing high capital levels, solid liquidity, and healthy profits, while also demonstrating resilience in recent stress tests conducted by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). While most households and businesses continue to be resilient, financial pressures are evident in vulnerabilities in low-income households and small-medium enterprises, and challenges to firms’ profitability under tight financial conditions. More generally, concerns about hidden leverage or vulnerabilities, combined with new and emerging global risks, could resurface. The mission welcomes APRA’s plan for the first system stress test to better understand interconnectedness across the financial system Thus, providing a platform to quantify, assess and respond to identified risks. The mission team also welcomes APRA’s close monitoring of lending standards and regular review of macroprudential policy settings and would reiterate its recommendation that the authorities consider preemptively expanding their toolkit to include additional borrower-based measures, such as Debt-to-Income and Loan-to -Value Ratio, to manage household indebtedness and ensure financial stability amidst the housing market pressures. While financial supervisory and regulatory reforms have been undertaken to enhance resilience, data gaps on Non-Bank Financial Institutions pose challenges to effective risk oversight, including its exposure to commercial real estate (CRE) sector.
    A holistic policy package is needed to address housing affordability issues. Australia faces a significant housing supply shortfall, exacerbated by structural challenges such as restrictive planning and zoning regulations, high land costs, infrastructure deficits, and residential housing investment around decade lows. These barriers, coupled with high interest rates, elevated building costs, and labor shortages, have led to a substantial backlog in housing development, contributing to escalating prices and affordability concerns. To address these issues, a comprehensive strategy is essential, focusing on increasing construction worker supply, relaxing zoning and planning restrictions, supporting the built-to-rent sector, expanding public and affordable housing, and reevaluating property taxes (including tax concessions to property investors ) and stamp duty to promote efficient land use. At the same time, capital flow management (CFM) measures that discriminate between residents and nonresidents are not consistent with the Fund’s Institutional View and should be replaced by non-discriminatory measures.

    IV. Medium-Term Reform Prioritize then Strangthen Economics Resilinke

    Australia’s robust economic institutions and policy frameworks can be further enhanced to underpin stability and foster growth. The establishment of a new Monetary Policy Board and strengthened governance arrangements and decision-making processes, in line with international best practices, would bolster central bank operational autonomy and enhance monetary-fiscal policy synergies. Tax reforms should target system efficiency and fairness, reducing reliance on direct taxes and high capital costs that hinder growth. Tax breaks, including from capital gains tax discount and superannuation concessions, could be phased out to generate a more equitable and efficient tax system. Forthcoming environmental and demographic changes will put structural upward pressures on government spending. Expenditure reforms should therefore aim to enhance spending efficiency and sustainability, emphasizing improved governance in infrastructure projects and strengthening intergovernmental collaboration. The aged care reforms and NDIS review represent positive forward steps. As long-term spending pressures rise, the authorities can consider bolstering their fiscal policy framework with clearer anchors. Efforts to rejuvenate Australia’s productivity growth, including through competition policy, should be prioritized, focusing on reforms across capital and labor markets. Initiatives grounded in the five pillar Productivity Agenda—emphasizing innovation, a level playing field for firms, and human capital enhancement—are crucial for resilient medium-term growth. Enhancing innovation through building intrinsic capital, promoting R

    The IMF mission team would like to express its deep appreciation to the Australian authorities and other interlocutors for their close engagement and cooperation. Our unstinting gratitude particularly goes to the counterparts at the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia for the substantial time and effort devoted to supporting our work. The team looks forward to maintaining this constructive engagement and policy dialogue.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATED

    PRESS OFFICER: Rahim Kanani

    Phone: 1 202 623-7100 Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokeperson

    https://www.imf.org/en/Nevs/Articles/2024/10/02/MCS-australa-staff-concluding-statement-of-the-2024-article-iv-mission

    AXLE MILES

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Kilne Cookware, Founded by Former Endy CEO, Retains Westmount Capital Partners as Exclusive Financial Advisor

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Oct. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Westmount Capital Partners (“WMC” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Kilne Cookware Inc., a premium direct-to-consumer cookware brand founded by Mike Gettis, former CEO of Endy, has retained Westmount as its exclusive financial advisor. Westmount will assist Kilne in its efforts to fuel market expansion and product development.

    This partnership opens an exciting opportunity for investors to join Kilne in its next phase of growth as it expands into new markets and continues to introduce innovative products that resonate with consumers. Kilne is strategically positioned to emerge as a leading premium cookware brand, setting itself apart with its commitment to exceptional quality, innovative design, and sustainable manufacturing. With a focus on empowering home cooks, Kilne aims to redefine the cooking experience by providing high-performance products that not only enhance culinary creativity but also elevate the kitchen aesthetic.

    Kilne is set to capitalize on the growing $27 billion North American cookware market, with a total addressable market (TAM) for premium cookware estimated at $7 billion. This promising landscape reflects the increasing consumer demand for high-quality, non-toxic cookware. Gettis, who successfully exited Endy in 2018 when Sleep Country acquired the company for $88.7 million, is now leading Kilne’s dedicated team as they embark on this ambitious journey.

    Westmount Capital Partners will support Kilne’s ambitious expansion plans, enhance marketing efforts, and assist in the launch of new products that reflect its premium quality ethos. These products include the ‘Mini Everything Pan,’ a new line of cast iron cookware, and additional color options for Kilne’s best-selling pieces. Kilne has already made a significant impact in the Canadian market, winning prestigious awards such as the Red Dot Product Design Award and Good Housekeeping’s Kitchen Gear Award in 2023. As the brand prepares for its U.S. market entry, Kilne will continue to leverage its direct-to-consumer model, offering professional-grade cookware without the retail markups, ensuring high-quality products at accessible prices.

    Alex Camus, Managing Partner at Westmount Capital Partners, stated: “Mike’s success with Endy speaks for itself. We are proud to partner with him and Kilne as they prepare for this exciting phase of growth. Kilne is perfectly positioned to capture the attention of both investors and consumers with its innovative approach to cookware.”

    Mike Gettis, Co-Founder and CEO of Kilne, added: “As we prepare to expand into the U.S. and other markets, having the right financial partner is crucial. Westmount Capital Partners brings the expertise we need to efficiently raise capital and accelerate our growth. I believe this will be my biggest venture yet, and with their support, we’re poised to scale Kilne into a household name while empowering home cooks with exceptional, affordable kitchen products.”

    About Westmount Capital Partners
    Westmount Capital Partners Inc. is a premier financial advisory firm specializing in capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance solutions. With a commitment to operational excellence and strategic growth, Westmount Capital Partners provides exceptional advisory services tailored to meet the evolving needs of its clients across various industries.

    About Kilne Cookware

    Founded in 2020, Kilne Cookware is a premium direct-to-consumer brand dedicated to becoming a leading name in premium kitchenware. Kilne offers professional-grade tools designed for home cooks who value quality and performance. By collaborating with top chefs and eliminating traditional retail markups, Kilne delivers high-quality, non-toxic cookware at accessible prices. With a mission to transform the home cooking experience, Kilne ensures every product is crafted to meet the highest standards, making healthy and enjoyable cooking attainable for all.

    For further information contact:

    Westmount Capital Partners Inc.
    c/o Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l.
    Constitution Square, 340 Albert St #1400,
    Ottawa, ON, K1R 7Y6
    Attention: Nino Silvestri, President
    E-mail: nino@westmount.ventures     

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle: 5 key health priorities for future disaster response

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Gender, University of Waikato

    Getty Images

    “The climate crisis is a health crisis.” So says World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.

    The World Economic Forum agrees. Its report this year highlighted how climate change is taking a toll on global health due to increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

    These issues are on the official agenda here too, especially since severe tropical cyclone Gabrielle caused extensive damage in the South-west Pacific and northern New Zealand in early 2023.

    Between February 13 and 14 it slammed into Te Tairāwhiti/East Coast and Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes Bay, with disastrous results for the land and its inhabitants. Communities were displaced, homes destroyed, power and telecommunications cut, water systems compromised, and many roads and bridges badly damaged.

    Shortly after Gabrielle hit, Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health commissioned us to investigate the impacts of adverse weather events on health systems and community health and wellbeing.

    Our community research teams interviewed 143 residents in the two affected regions. They included first responders, heath workers, council staff and members of the public. Their stories were emotional, powerful and insightful.

    Our recently published report amplifies these community voices and local knowledge, and offers recommendations about planning for future, inevitable events. Here we offer five key messages.

    1. Prioritise vulnerable people

    Many older people and those with disabilities or existing health conditions were deprioritised or simply forgotten during evacuations and in the days and weeks after the cyclone. As one community responder in Tairāwhiti recalled:

    Some of them couldn’t move out because they were so old and frail. The water was so powerful, they couldn’t move anywhere. Some just stayed in their room until somebody turned up. For instance, there was a lady [who] was stuck in her wheelchair, and by the time people found her, the water was at her neck.

    Our report identified the need for health and social services to work more closely to ensure at-risk, vulnerable older people and those with disabilities or complex needs are prioritised during evacuations, so their medical and physical needs are met during and after an extreme weather event.

    2. Invest in mental health support and trauma recovery

    Those in the most affected communities had high levels of stress, grief and trauma during and after emergencies and evacuations.

    Staff and volunteers in front-line roles during the state of emergency experienced similar mental health effects. Many felt mental health support was not there when they needed it most.

    Almost everyone we spoke to had some negative mental health impacts. These included sleep disruption, rain anxiety and stress from road closures, insurance claims and land instability.

    Māori participants also told of their grief over environmental damage and destruction, highlighting the links between whenua (land) and hauora (health). They described drawing on cultural practices to support whānau recovery. For example, a leader of local volunteer efforts spoke about the personal impact of the cyclone:

    I was not good […] it was seeing the impact on how it was for your own community whānau. I think it hit me quite a bit later on. I fell into depression […] It just built up over time. I’m still in healing therapy for the last probably six to seven months since Gabrielle, just trying to get my wairua [spirit] and my tinana [body] and everything back in place.

    Overall, the research shows a need for greater awareness and investment in weather-related trauma recovery and mental health support.

    3. Ensure medical supplies can reach remote areas

    Rural and isolated communities had heightened health challenges, particularly due to road and communication failures.

    Transporting medical staff into these communities often required creative solutions (driving, using helicopters or hiking through bush and across farmland when roads were damaged, for example).

    Access to medicines was a major concern. It took co-ordinated effort to get pharmaceuticals to such communities. Helicopters were crucial in getting supplies and patients in and out of remote areas. Not everyone who needed attention received it, however.

    The most effective responses involved organisations (such as the NZ Police and Civil Defence) working together with communities. As one police officer told us:

    Our whānau up the coast needed medicine, prescriptions. Getting access from the helicopter to the home was a challenge. So, the police leant in and helped out. We used [an all-terrain vehicle] to get to places and spaces to get medicine in.

    People need to be prepared for power and telcommunications failures.
    Getty Images

    4. Resource and co-ordinate local support networks

    Fiscally challenged health systems were stretched during the emergency and struggled with power and telecommunications outages. But we heard of many health workers going “above and beyond” to care for patients and communities.

    Many continued working even when their own families, homes and communities were directly under threat. Anticipating this and supporting these workers will be important as adverse weather becomes more frequent with climate change.

    We also found marae, schools, local social services and non-profit organisations played key roles after the cyclone, but were often outside the direct ambit of the health system.

    Often the people working in these organisations have strong community relationships and knowledge that is essential to supporting emergency and recovery processes. These connections should be mapped and integrated for future events.

    5. Shift resources and build common will

    Local communities are full of knowledge. Many have learnt from recent events to better prepare their families, workplaces and organisations.

    Whānau told us about the importance of having cash in case of power outages and telecommunications failure. Others identified battery-powered radio as a critical source of information when systems were down. Pharmacists and doctors told of the importance of hard-copy evidence of prescriptions, to be able to dispense when electronic systems are out.

    Checking in on neighbours, sharing resources and making time for a cup of tea were all important for people in the recovery and rebuilding phases. A key lesson is to harness the power of community connections, trust and relationships in climate change resilience and recovery.

    Although knowledge, experience and wisdom lie in the hands of communities, our research highlights how financial resources mostly sit with central government. The challenge is to shift resources and build common will for climate action, before the inevitable next event.

    The report is receiving attention in parliament. We hope local experience can be central to planning around the health impacts of climate change and decision-making at all levels.

    We acknowledge the important contributions of our wider research team and community partners, particularly Manu Caddie (Te Weu Charitable Trust), Josie McClutchie (project lead), Dayna Chaffey, Haley Maxwell and Hiria Philip-Barbara (community researchers) in Tairāwhiti, and Emma Horgan and John Bell (Sustainable HB Centre for Climate & Resilience) in Hawkes Bay.

    Holly Thorpe received support from the Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health funding secured to conduct this research.

    Fiona Langridge received support from the Ministry of Health funding secured to conduct this research.

    George Laking received funding from The Ministry of Health to conduct the research. He is an Executive Board member of OraTaiao, the New Zealand Climate and Health Council.

    Judith McCool receives funding from the Ministry of Health (Polynesia Health Corridors) and the Health Research Council.

    – ref. Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle: 5 key health priorities for future disaster response – https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-cyclone-gabrielle-5-key-health-priorities-for-future-disaster-response-239392

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Digital roadmap drives innovation and delivers for communities

    Source: New South Wales Government 2

    Headline: Digital roadmap drives innovation and delivers for communities

    Published: 3 October 2024

    Released by: Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government

    Greater accessibility, upskilling communities and building resilience for the future are at the heart of the Minns Labor Government’s new digital roadmap for New South Wales.

    The NSW Digital Strategy launched today sets out how the state will deliver innovative, inclusive and secure digital services to improve the lives of residents. For the first time, the new strategy includes a way to track progress on digital as a state.

    The NSW Digital Strategy is built around five key missions:

    • Accessibility: Make digital services accessible, inclusive and connected for all people in NSW
    • Productivity: Use digital to advance service delivery, support the local economy and drive productivity
    • Trust: Build trust through reliable, stable government services and sustainable digital infrastructure
    • Resilience: Keep NSW safe and resilient for emergencies online and in-person
    • Digital Skills: Uplift digital capability in our public sector workforce​.

    This provides a roadmap for how NSW will harness digital transformation to support economic growth, improve service delivery and create more connected communities.

    NSW is home to 32 per cent of Australia’s population and is one of the most diverse states in the world, with the Government committed to making digital services inclusive by supporting all NSW communities on their digital journey.

    People responding to a NSW Government survey to understand the challenges faced when engaging with digital technologies and services found 1 in 5 people (22 per cent) feel they lack the necessary skills to perform important online tasks such as job searching, working, studying or accessing government services.

    The feedback also found those aged 65+, from low-income households or whose highest education level is high school are less likely to feel confident in performing these tasks.

    The strategy leverages leading technology and builds on large-scale projects already underway, including ongoing work to deliver a secure and privacy-preserving NSW digital identity and verifiable credentials system for use across the public and private sectors.

    Key initiatives under the strategy include:

    • Delivery of the NSW Digital ID and NSW Digital Wallet to enable a safer, more inclusive digital economy by streamlining services and providing a secure way to prove who you are.
    • The state’s first Digital Inclusion Strategy, informed by community input which shows that key barriers to inclusion include not just location, physical challenges and economic factors, but also confidence in digital skills and trust in digitalisation.
    • Better coordination of information and communications technology spending across government to reduce duplication and an enhanced approach to cyber security coordination, governance and investment.
    • Supporting housing delivery by improving the NSW Planning Portal and developing the Digital Housing Pipeline, an initiative that offers access to information on the delivery of new homes, facilitating improved collaboration among developers, government agencies and homeowners to streamline the process from planning to occupancy.
    • Delivering secure and resilient critical communications for emergency services and supporting communities during disasters by building on projects like the Hazards Near Me app which includes fire, storm, tsunami and flood information.
    • Updating strategies to leverage data and use artificial intelligence to enhance the response to natural disasters and emergencies through tools like RFS Athena which predicts fire behaviour.

    The NSW Digital Strategy puts people at its heart by targeting practical benefits, powered by community insights and formulated through extensive collaboration with industry and academic partners. For more information, read the strategy at http://www.digital.nsw.gov.au/strategy

    Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:

    “The NSW Digital Strategy lays the foundation for a future for digital services that are more secure, inclusive and accessible, and is a commitment to improving people’s daily lives.”

    “This strategy is about more than just technology— it’s about people and how we build world-class digital services that strengthen our communities while supporting economic growth.”

    “Our key missions of accessibility, productivity, trust, resilience and skills will help ensure we deliver with purpose on the things people need, like increasing access to government services.”

    “We are already bringing our strategy to life, through initiatives like our new EasyRead hub and updated AI frameworks, by ensuring digital infrastructure is front of mind for government projects, and by improving cyber security coordination and investment.”

    “From Western Sydney to regional and remote NSW, our vision is for a more connected state and a government that embraces new technologies and brings everyone on the journey.”

    “The NSW Digital Strategy will help ensure we continue to innovate and build digital services that are both forward-thinking and responsive to the needs of the community we serve.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: South Pacific defence meeting fosters collaboration

    Source: New Zealand Government

    This week’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) has concluded with a renewed commitment to regional security of all types, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.

    Defence Ministers and senior civilian and military officials from Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga gathered in Auckland to discuss defence and security cooperation in the South Pacific. 

    “We all want to see regional security, and that means protecting our maritime areas, improving the effectiveness of our Defence Forces and adapting to the impacts of climate change,” Ms Collins says.

    “The South Pacific is our home. We all benefit from working together and sharing knowledge to support a secure, stable and prosperous region.

    “This year’s meeting further fostered the spirit of collaboration among trusted partners.

    “Members shared their views on security challenges, as well as the role of emerging technology, in responding to these challenges, and collective approaches to improving the effectiveness of the region’s Defence Forces.”

    “Members agreed on the importance of working with civilian agencies when it comes to supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, and in the areas of combating maritime security threats such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and transnational organised crime. 

    “These are issues that have significant impact on many South Pacific nations which, like New Zealand, have large Exclusive Economics Zones.”

    SPDMM member countries discussed approaches to non-traditional security challenges, where South Pacific militaries have come together in response to regional security challenges, and co-deploying to help communities recover from cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, bushfire and floods. 

    “SPDMM is a unique dialogue and coordination platform that enables collective action and leadership among South Pacific Nations. In a region this size it is vital we work together on our shared challenges with our shared values,” Ms Collins says.

    “It has been an absolute honour to host SPDMM 2024 in Auckland and I wish Chile all the best for SPDMM 2025.”

    A full summary of key outcomes from the 2024 South Pacific Defence Ministers meeting can be found in the Joint Communique. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Panasonic’s coming Auto framing application for PTZ cameras achieves high-quality video for broadcasting and video production

    Source: Panasonic

    Headline: Panasonic’s coming Auto framing application for PTZ cameras achieves high-quality video for broadcasting and video production

    Osaka, Japan, October 3, 2024 – Panasonic Entertainment & Communication today announced the upcoming launch of a new auto framing application for Panasonic PTZ cameras that achieves natural, high-quality, automated video shooting suitable for broadcasting and video production. The application will be offered as an Advanced Auto Framing plug-in for Panasonic’s Media Production Suite software platform from the second quarter of CY2025. In addition, selected auto framing features are set to be offered for Panasonic’s top-of-the-line AW-UE160W/K PTZ camera via firmware and Media Production Suite updates from the first quarter of CY2025. The latest information including release dates will be announced on the Panasonic website (https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/software/mps/).
    Panasonic expects to exhibit the auto framing feature of the AW-UE160W/K at its booth during the 2024 NAB Show New York on October 9 to 10, 2024.
    In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the consumption of video content via streaming platforms and web-based broadcasts is rapidly increasing, which has dramatically increased the need to optimize human resources and technical systems to ensure the stable production and delivery of high-quality content across broadcast networks, production houses and live event coverage.
    Panasonic’s new auto framing solution leverages the company’s extensive experience with broadcasting and video production, supported with valuable feedback from diverse industry professionals, and incorporates advanced technologies such as auto tracking, image recognition and natural auto framing. It achieves camera framing exactly as defined by the user for enhanced on-site efficiency and high-quality content.
    The paid Advanced Auto Framing plug-in for the Media Production Suite, which can be activated with a software key in the Media Production Suite, will enable auto framing for Panasonic PTZ cameras including the AW-UE160W/K, AW-UE150W/K, AW-UE100W/K and AW-UE80W/K. The plug-in is set to support multi-camera setup for auto framing to enhance subject-detection accuracy and operability. Additionally, facial recognition technology will enable optimal framing for specified individuals.
    The new auto framing feature for the AW-UE160W/K will be offered free of charge via camera firmware and Media Production Suite updates. Subject detection is handled by the camera’s internal processor, and framing commands are managed with the Media Production Suite. A GPU is not required for the operating PC, so the feature can be used on any PC that meets the Media Production Suite’s basic operating requirements.
    The Advanced Auto Framing plug-in and auto framing feature of the AW-UE160W/K enable professional-level automatic high-quality framing in real time, thanks to framing presets that accurately replicate user-defined framing settings. Framing presets can be combined, including multi-subject group shots. Additionally, advanced human body detection ensures consistent subject headroom. These feature sets make it easy for users to shoot and produce high-quality video content.
    The graphical user interfaces (GUI) design and operation are consistent with those of the Media Production Suite for intuitive setup and operation via a user-friendly control panel. The Advanced Auto Framing plug-in’s GUI includes a multi-camera display option for easy management of multiple PTZ cameras. Multiple feeds can be monitored and controlled from a single screen to facilitate multi-camera shooting even in environments with limited staff to ensure high content quality.
    The auto framing application can be used in conjunction with the AW-RP150GJ and AW-RP60GJ remote camera controllers, making it easy to fine-tune the camera angle during auto framing. In addition, synchronizing camera selection with auto framing in the Media Production Suite simplifies switching between auto and manual framing operations.
    Panasonic’s auto framing application aims to deliver high-quality framing for advanced content production in broadcast studios and live event shooting with PTZ cameras, contributing to more efficient on-site workflows.

    Advanced Auto Framing plug-in features

    Auto framing with multiple Panasonic PTZ cameras
    Register multiple user-created framing presets to accurately reproduce user-defined framing
    Group shots for framing multiple subjects, such as two- and three-shots
    Stable framing of moving subjects based on advanced human body detection and camera control for professional-level camera work, including consistent headroom
    Privacy-conscious shooting since body detection does not require personal information
    Facial recognition with registered faces allows specification of individuals for framing
    Multi-camera coordination for stable subject detection and seamless switching between framing targets
    GUI accepts PTZ camera listing for multi-camera viewing and operation
    Subject-tracking autofocus using phase detection auto focus (AW-UE160W/K only)
    Seamless integration with Panasonic AW-RP150GJ & AW-RP60GJ remote camera controllers
    Tablet-ready GUI for touch-panel operation
    For more details, please visit the Advanced Auto Framing plug-in and Media Production Suite website:https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/software/mps/aaf/https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/software/mps/

    AW-UE160W/K Auto Framing features

    Available via free firmware and Media Production Suite updates
    Register up to three framing presets to accurately reproduce user-defined framings
    Group shots for framing multiple subjects, such as two- and three-shots
    Stable framing of moving subjects based on advanced human body detection and camera control for professional-level camera work, including consistent headroom
    Privacy-conscious shooting since body detection does not require personal information
    Subject-tracking autofocus using phase detection auto focus
    Seamless integration with Panasonic AW-RP150GJ & AW-RP60GJ remote camera controllers
    Tablet-ready GUI for touch-panel operation
    For more details, please visit the AW-UE160W/K website:https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/products/aw-ue160/

    * Product specifications are under development and subject to change at time of release.

    About Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co., Ltd.
    Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co., Ltd. established in April 2022 as part of the Panasonic Group’s switch to an operating company system, is strengthening the bonds among people and enriching our customers’ lives by providing consumer electronics, including AVC products such as OLED TVs, Lumix digital cameras, headphones, phones, intercoms, and more, as well as business products and solutions including for broadcast, professional AV, and sound systems globally. Our mission is to offer people new emotion and relaxation through our entertainment and communication solutions. To fulfill this mission, we strive to act with professionalism to continuously recreate the future by connecting people. For more details, please visit https://www.panasonic.com/global/peac.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNISFA Peacekeepers assist Flood-Affected Communities in Abyei

    Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping

    In the wake of heavy rainfall that has resulted in flooding in Abyei, and left communities in urgent need of assistance, UNISFA peacekeepers are stepping up to provided much needed support. The relentless heavy rains in the southern and northern parts of Abyei have displaced many people, forcing some to move to higher ground as communities struggle for basic supplies.

    Mrs. Aluel Maroab Chan, a mother of four from Manyiel Rou, says: “We were forced to leave our home and build a temporary shelter in an area without any amenities. My children are suffering from infections due to the humidity. I urge the government to assist those affected.”

    To mitigate the impact of the floods, the Vietnamese Engineers have constructed four channels in Abyei town. This is facilitating the flow of water and assisting people who are trapped by the flood waters to move to safety.  This initiative has also helped many people who were forced to relocate to move back to their homes.

    In Malual and Athony, the Vietnamese Engineers are assisting to facilitate movement by rehabilitating roads, making it easier for people to access areas that had been made impassable by flooding and enabling assistance to reach affected communities.  The Abyei Physical Infrastructure Ministry has acknowledged these timely construction efforts as essential as rains continue to impact the area.

    On September 9, Ghanaian peacekeepers reached out to communities in Abathok, Mijak County, distributing essential supplies such as mosquito nets, clothing, and sanitary pads to vulnerable families. In addition to delivering goods, the peacekeepers engaged with local women, fostering dialogue to improve their living conditions.

    Meanwhile, on 11 September, Lt. Col. Altaf, Commander of the PakBatt-2 contingent, led his team in a similar effort, visiting flood-hit areas in Dari Market and surrounding regions. Some 150 individuals were provided with food, medical supplies, and other essential items.

    According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 735,000 people across South Sudan and Abyei have been affected by the floods, with Abyei facing a critical situation compounded by food insecurity and disease outbreaks. The newly formed Abyei Flood Task Force is coordinating efforts among various agencies to address these challenges.

    As the floods persist, local leaders are calling for more assistance for the affected areas.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Forestry Centre of Excellence launched in Mount Gambier

    Source: University of South Australia

    03 October 2024

    An artist’s impression of the Forestry Centre of Excellence, due to be built on UniSA’s Mount Gambier campus in 2025.

    The State Government has today released new artist impressions of the Forestry Centre of Excellence (FCoE) being built in Mount Gambier and officially launched today.

    The Centre is a collaborative project between the State Government, the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the forest industry. It will be built on the same site as the UniSA Mount Gambier campus, the new Mount Gambier Technical College and the Mount Gambier TAFE, providing a unique opportunity to create an education, training and research precinct.

    The design for the facility is due to be finalised in November 2024 with building construction due to commence in April 2025 and an expected completion in January 2026.

    Vital research underway in temporary facilities was showcased at a special launch on site today and includes projects on:

    • structural timber market access
    • improving safety
    • fire detection from cameras and satellites
    • suppression, recovery and analysis of digital forestry data using artificial intelligence
    • immersive data analytics using VR and AR to understand the implications of climate change on plantation growth yield and water use.

    Following a global search, Professor Jeff Morrell has been appointed as the Forestry Centre of Excellence’s inaugural director due to commence in mid-January 2025. Previously, he was Director for the Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life based at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

    The FCoE links to the forest industry and its key attribute of collaboration, connection and partnerships through its research, training education, development, and extension activities, has been reflected in the new FCoE brand of interlocking abstract trees also unveiled today.

    In launching the FCoE, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas described the Green Triangle plantation forest region as “one of the powerhouses of the Australian forest industry”.

    “The South Australian portion of the region contributes more than $860 million to the state’s gross product annually – making it one of our most productive primary industry sectors,” Premier Malinauskas said.

    “We are delivering on our election commitment to establish a world-leading Forestry Centre of Excellence to strengthen this already thriving industry.”

    UniSA Chancellor John Hill, who attended the launch, said the University was honoured to host the new Forestry Centre of Excellence, which has evolved from Forest Research Mount Gambier, established in 2018 by the State and Federal Government, UniSA and the forestry industry.

    “The model of recruiting UniSA researchers into the forestry industry has resulted in a more efficient, safer, progressive, and profitable industry, establishing standards for best practice,” Chancellor Hill said.

    “Together with the State Government, we are proud to continue this partnership and help advance research and development projects to ensure the industry’s economic prosperity committing more than $6 million towards the Centre’s operations and building along with significant in-kind support.”

    For further information on the Forestry Centre of Excellence visit: Forestry Centre of Excellence – PIRSA

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    Media contact: Candy Gibson M: +61 434 605 142 E: candy.gibson@unisa.edu.au

    Other articles you may be interested in

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: When even fringe festival venues exclude people with disability, cities need to act on access

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shane Clifton, Associate Professor of Practice, School of Health Sciences and the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney

    Sanit Fuangnakhon/Shutterstock

    It’s about time city councils did more to make our cities accessible. I recently tried to buy tickets to two Sydney Fringe Festival events, only to be told by the box office that the venues were not wheelchair-accessible.

    Sydney remains a place where people with disability feel like they don’t belong. The same is true of other Australian cities. But local councils don’t bear all the blame.

    Event organisers are responsible for selecting venues. In the case of the Fringe Festival, they chose locations inaccessible to wheelchair users and others with mobility challenges. It’s a bitter irony that a fringe festival, which ostensibly empowers artists and creatives on the margins, would exclude people with disability.

    If event organisers (and every one of us) decided never to hire inaccessible venues, then the market might solve the issue. But those of us with disability are realistic enough to know most people don’t care – or don’t give us a thought. The market hasn’t solved the problem, so it’s up to governments.

    The problems go beyond arts venues

    Inaccessible venues are only the tip of the iceberg. Countless restaurants, shops and offices are inaccessible, with steps on entry, inaccessible bathrooms and narrow and cluttered aisles.

    “Spend the day in my wheelchair” programs are sometimes criticised for trivialising the challenge of disability. However, they do unmask how frustrating and alienating our cities and towns can be.

    Google Maps now indicates whether premises are accessible. Those that are bear the universal symbol of disability access – the stylised blue wheelchair. Even then, a person with a disability is just as likely as not to turn up and discover a lift has broken down, a doorway has been blocked off, a bathroom has been used for storage, or a venue is only partially accessible (it’s always the cool spaces that are out of reach).

    The Commonwealth and states brought in disability discrimination laws in the 1990s. These have made some difference, but their many exemptions let businesses off the hook. (See the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations to amend the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.)

    More than 30 years down the track, our cities and towns remain bastions of exclusion.

    Newtown Hotel is marked as accessible on Google Maps, but the upstairs room used for a Sydney Fringe Festival event was not.
    Slow Walker/Shutterstock



    Read more:
    What does a building need to call itself ‘accessible’ – and is that enough?

    Better access benefits everyone

    Landowners and businesses typically complain providing access for the few affected people is too costly. In reality, making our public spaces accessible often requires little more than determined creative design. The costs are a mere fraction of what we spend on other things we judge as more important.

    We also underestimate the value added by accessible design.

    The Kerb-Cut Effect, for example, describes how designing for people with disability often benefits everyone. The term refers to the impact of activist action in California in the 1970s. Disability advocates in the city of Berkeley poured concrete onto road kerbs to create ramps giving wheelchair users access to footpaths.

    These ramps also proved valuable to parents pushing children in strollers, older people and cyclists. Refined into kerb cuts, they spread rapidly around the world.

    There are many other examples. Television captioning, developed for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, is now widely used by non-disabled people. Audiobooks, developed for people who are blind, are now a common way that many other people enjoy books.

    Accessible venues will not just benefit wheelchair users. Older people, those with impaired mobility and people who push prams and tow suitcases all benefit. Indeed, if we make venues accessible to those on the margins, no one is excluded.

    The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlights the importance of universal design. The convention insists on

    the design of products, environments, programs and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design.

    Why use steps that exclude some people when everyone can use a ramp or a lift?

    Kerb cuts are now common since it became obvious how many people benefited from designing ramps into road-crossing points.
    John Robert McPherson/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Why councils must lead the way

    Accessibility in cities is about more than just wheelchairs; it requires a comprehensive approach to urban planning to meet the varied needs of all citizens. This includes providing sensory aids like audio signals, braille signage and visual measures for people who are blind, deaf or hard of hearing. It’s also crucial that information on public services and events is easily available to everyone in formats they can access and understand.

    My focus has been on access to public spaces, but we also need to turn our attention to private homes. Wheelchair users and people with other mobility impairments can’t access most private houses in Australia. There is a drastic lack of accessible housing for people with disability and the cost of retrofitting access is exorbitant.

    New South Wales is yet to follow the lead of other states and territories by signing up to the Silver Liveable Housing Design Standards. These standards are part of the revised National Construction Code. They require new housing developments to offer basic accessibility for all people.

    We can and must do better. Every level of government can contribute to change.

    However, new builds and renovations are often decided upon at the regional level. This means local councils should bear much of the responsibility.

    A determined effort by our mayors and councillors to insist premises are accessible will be better for everyone. From a selfish perspective, it might mean I could go out to dinner or a festival without worrying if I can get in the door.

    Shane Clifton is affiliated with the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the University of Sydney.

    – ref. When even fringe festival venues exclude people with disability, cities need to act on access – https://theconversation.com/when-even-fringe-festival-venues-exclude-people-with-disability-cities-need-to-act-on-access-239937

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: English rendering of PM’s address in the 114th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 29.09.2024

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 29 SEP 2024 12:09PM by PIB Delhi

    My dear countrymen, Namaskar. Once again we have the opportunity to connect in Mann Ki Baat. This episode today is going to make me emotional. It’s flooding me with a lot of old memories… The reason is that this journey of ours in Mann Ki Baat is completing 10 years. 10 years ago Mann Ki Baat started on the day of Vijayadashami on the 3rd of October. And what a divine coincidence it is that this year on the 3rd of October when 10 years of Mann Ki Baat are completed, it will be the first day of Navratri. There are many phases in this long journey of Mann Ki Baat that I can never forget. Crores of listeners of Mann Ki Baat have been our companions in this journey, whose continuous support I have kept receiving. They provided information from every corner of the country.

    The listeners of Mann Ki Baat are the real anchors of this show. A commonly held belief has become so ingrained that as long as there are no spicy or negative conversations, it does not receive much attention. But Mann Ki Baat has proved that how hungry the people of the country are, for positive information. People like positive stories, inspiring examples, encouraging stories very much. Just as there is a bird called Chakor about which it is said that it drinks only raindrops. In Mann Ki Baat we saw that like the Chakor bird, people too listen with great pride to the achievements of the country, the collective achievements of the people. The 10 year long journey of Mann Ki Baat has created a garland of sorts, in which, every episode encompasses new sagas, new records; new personalities get added. Whatever work is taking place in our society with a sense of collectiveness, it gets recognition through ‘Mann Ki Baat’. My heart also swells with pride when I read the letters that come for ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

    There are so many talented people in our country… How much passion they have, to serve the country and society. They dedicate their entire life to serving people selflessly. Knowing about them fills me up with energy. This whole process of Mann Ki Baat for me is like, going to the temple to have a Darshan of The Almighty. When I remember each and every thing, each and every incident, each and every letter connected with Mann Ki Baat, I feel as if I am having a Darshan of the Janata Janaardan, the people, who are like the Almighty to me.

    Friends, today I will appreciate all people associated with Doordarshan, Prasar Bharati and All India Radio. On account of their tireless efforts, ‘Mann Ki Baat’ has reached this important milestone. I am also thankful to various TV channels, regional TV channels who have consistently broadcast it. Many media houses also ran campaigns on the issues that we raised through Mann Ki Baat. I also thank the Print media for taking it to every home. I would also like to thank those Youtubers who did many programs on Mann Ki Baat. This program can be heard in the country’s 22 languages, besides 12 foreign languages ​​as well. I love it when people say that they, listened to the Mann Ki Baat program in their local language. Many of you might know that, a quiz competition based on the Mann Ki Baat program is also going on, in which any person can take part. By visiting MyGov.in and win prizes too. Today, at this important juncture, I once again seek your blessings – With a pure heart and complete dedication… May I continue singing songs of the greatness of the people of India… May we all continue to celebrate the collective power of the nation in this way… This is my prayer to God, this is my prayer to the people.

    My dear countrymen, for the last few weeks it has been raining heavily in different parts of the country. This rainy season reminds us how important ‘water conservation’ is… how important it is to save water.

    Water saved during rainy days helps a lot during water scarcity months, and that’s the spirit of campaigns like ‘Catch The Rain’. I am happy that many people are taking new initiatives to conserve water. One such effort has been witnessed in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

    You know that ‘Jhansi’ is in Bundelkhand, whose identity is linked with water scarcity. Here, in Jhansi, some women have given a new lease of life to the Ghurari river. These women are associated with a Self Help Group and they have led this campaign by becoming ‘Jal Saheli’. No one would have ever imagined the way these women have saved the dying Ghurari river. These Jal Saheli created a check dam by filling sand in sacks, stopped the rain water from getting wasted and filled the river to the brim with water. These women have enthusiastically contributed to the construction of hundreds of reservoirs and their revival. This has not only solved the water problem of the people of this area; Happiness too has returned to their faces.

    Friends, at some places woman power enhances water power whereas at other places water power also strengthens woman power. I have come to know about two very inspiring efforts from Madhya Pradesh. Here in Raipura Village of Dindori, construction of a large pond has raised the groundwater level considerably. The women of this village benefited from this. Here the women associated with ‘Sharada Aajeevika Self Help Group’ have also entered into a new occupation of fish farming. These women have also started a Fish Parlour where their income is also enhancing through the sale of the fish. The efforts of women in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh are also commendable. When the big pond of Khomp village started drying up, the women took the initiative to rejuvenate it. The women of ‘Hari Bagiya Self Help Group’ removed a large amount of silt from the pond… they used the silt removed from the pond on barren land to set up a fruit forest.

    Due to the hard work of these women, not only has the pond been filled with water, but the crop yield has also increased substantially. Such efforts of water conservation being done in every nook & corner of the country will prove very helpful in dealing with the water crisis. I fully trust that you too will definitely join such efforts happening around you.

    My dear countrymen, there is a border village ‘Jhala’ in Uttarkashi of Uttarakhand. The youth here have started a special initiative to keep their village clean. They are running a campaign, ‘Dhanyvaad Prakriti’ or ‘Thank you nature’ in their village. As part of this, the village is cleaned for two hours every day. The garbage scattered in the streets of the village is collected and dumped at a designated place outside the village. Due to this, Jhala village is also turning clean and people are becoming aware as well. Just imagine, if every village, every street, every locality in your area starts a similar ‘Thank You’ campaign, how much change can come about!

    Friends, a cleanliness drive is being promoted aggressively on the beach of Puducherry too. Here, a woman named Ramya ji is leading a team of youth from Mahe Municipality & its surrounding area. The people of this team, through their efforts, are cleaning the Mahe Area, especially the beaches in the vicinity.

    Friends, I have discussed only two efforts here. But if we look around, we will find that in every part of the country, some unique effort or the other is definitely going on, associated with ‘cleanliness’. Just a few days later, on the 2nd of October, the Swachh Bharat Mission is completing 10 years. This is an occassion to commend those who turned it into such a big mass movement in Indian history. It is also a befitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who dedicated his entire life to this cause.

    Friends, today it is the success of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ that the Waste to Wealth’ mantra is becoming popular among people. People have started talking about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, citing their examples as well. Like I just came to know about a great effort in Kozhikode, Kerala. Here, Seventy four (74) years old Subramanian ji has repaired more than 23 thousand chairs and thus made them re-usable again. People also call him ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’, that is, RRR, (Triple R) Champion. His unique efforts can also be seen at the offices of Kozhikode Civil Station, PWD & LIC.

    Friends, we have to connect as many people as possible with the ongoing campaign for cleanliness. And this is not a campaign for one day or one year; it is a task to be undertaken continuously for ages. This is work to be done until ‘cleanliness’ becomes our nature. I request all of you to take part in the cleanliness campaign along with your family, friends, neighbors or colleagues. I once again congratulate all of you on the success of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.

    My dear countrymen, we are all very proud of our heritage. And I always say ‘Development as well as Heritage’. That is why I am getting a lot of messages about a particular aspect of my recent visit to the US. Once again, there is a lot of discussion about the return of our ancient artefacts. I can understand your feelings about this and I would also like to tell the listeners of Mann Ki Baat about it.

    Friends, during my visit to the US, the US government has returned around… 300 Ancient Artefacts to India. US President Biden, very affectionately, showed me some of these artefacts in his private residence at Delaware. Returned Artefacts are made of materials such as Terracotta, Stone, ivory, wood, copper and bronze. Many of these are four thousand years old. The US has returned artefacts dating back to 4000 years… those from the 19th century as well.

    These include vases, terracotta plaques of gods and goddesses, statues of Jain Tirthankaras, as well as statues of Bhagwan Buddha and Bhagwan Shri Krishna are among the returned artefacts. Several animal statuettes are also among the returned items. From Jammu and Kashmir, terracotta tiles bearing male and female figures are very interesting. These include bronze idols of Bhagwan Ganesha from Southern India as well. A large number of images of Bhagwan Vishnu are also among the returned artefacts. These are mainly from Northern and Southern India. Looking at these artefacts, one realises how much attention our ancestors paid to intricate detailing. They had a great understanding of art. Many of these artefacts were taken out of the country through smuggling and other illegal means – this is a serious crime… in a way it is like destroying our heritage, but I am very happy that in the last decade, many such artefacts and many elements of our ancient heritage have been brought back home. Today, India is also working with many countries as well in this direction. I believe that when we are proud of our heritage, the world also respects it, and as a result of that, today many countries of the world are returning to us such artefacts that were taken away from here.

    My dear friends, if I ask you which language a child learns most easily and quickly – your answer will be ‘mother tongue’. In our country almost twenty thousand languages ​​and dialects are there and each one of them is surely a  mother tongue of someone or the other. There are some languages ​​which are used by very few people, but you will be happy to know that today, unique efforts are being made to preserve those languages. One such language is our ‘Santhali’ language. A campaign has been started to give a new identity to Santhali with the help of digital innovation. ‘Santhali’ is spoken by the people of the Santhal tribal community residing in many states of our country.

    Apart from India, tribal communities speaking Santhali are also present in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Shriman Ramjeet Tudu, resident of Mayurbhanj, Odisha is running a campaign to create an online identity of the Santhali language. Ramjeet ji has prepared a digital platform where literature related to the Santhali language can be read and written in Santhali language. Actually, a few years ago when Ramjit ji started using the mobile phone, he was saddened by the fact that he could not send messages in his mother tongue. After that, he started exploring the possibilities of typing ‘Ol Chiki’, script of the Santhali language. With the help of some of his friends, he developed the technique of typing in ‘Ol Chiki’. Today, due to his efforts, articles written in Santhali language are reaching millions of people.

    Friends, when there’s a confluence of our strong resolve and collective participation, it leads to amazing results for the entire society. Its most recent example is ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ – this was an amazing campaign; such an example of public participation is truly inspiring. People in every nook & corner of the country have done wonders in this campaign which was started for conservation of the environment. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have created a new record by planting more saplings than the set target. Under this campaign, more than 26 crore saplings have been planted in Uttar Pradesh. The people of Gujarat planted more than 15 crore saplings. More than 6 crore saplings were planted in Rajasthan in the month of August alone. Thousands of schools in the country are also participating in this campaign with great enthusiasm.

    Friends, many examples related to tree planting campaigns keep coming to the fore in our country. One such example is that of K.N. Rajasekhar ji of Telangana. His commitment to planting trees amazes us all. About four years ago, he started a tree planting campaign. He decided that he would certainly plant a tree every day.

    He followed this campaign like a strict vow. He has planted more than 1500 saplings. The most remarkable point is that even after becoming a victim of a mishap this year, he did not waver from his resolve. I heartily appreciate all such efforts. I also request you to join this sacred campaign ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’.

    My dear friends, you must have seen… there are some people around us who do not lose patience in any adversity, rather they learn from it. Subhashri, one such lady, with her efforts, has created a wonderful garden of rare and very useful herbs. She is a resident of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Though she is a teacher by profession, she also has great affinity towards medicinal herbs. This affection of hers started in the eighties when her father was bitten by a poisonous snake. At that time, traditional herbs helped her father recover to quite an extent. After this incident, she started exploring traditional medicines and herbs. Today, she has a unique herbal garden in Verichiyur village of Madurai, in which there are more than 500 rare medicinal plants. She has worked very hard to prepare this garden… In search of every plant, she travelled far and wide, gathered information and many a time asked for help from other people. During Covid, she made available to the people immunity boosting herbs. Today people come from far and wide to see her herbal garden. She imparts information about herbal plants and their uses to everyone. Subashree is carrying forward our traditional heritage, which has been a part of our culture for hundreds of years. Her herbal garden connects our past to the future. Our best wishes to her.

              Friends, in these changing times, the nature of jobs is changing and new sectors are emerging… Such as gaming, animation, reel making, film making or poster making. If you can perform well in any of these skills… your talent can get a very big platform… if you are a part of a band or working for a community radio, then also there is a huge opportunity for you.

    In order to promote your talent and creativity, The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India has started 25 challenges under the theme, ‘Create in India’. You will surely find these challenges interesting. Some challenges even focus on music, education and even on anti-piracy. There are many professional organisations associated with this objective and are providing full support to these challenges. In order to participate, you can log in to wavesindia.org. I specially urge the creators in the country to ensure participation and bring their creativity to the fore.

              My dear countrymen, this month marks the culmination of 10 years of another important campaign. The success of this campaign includes the contribution of the country’s big industries as well as small shopkeepers. I am talking about ‘Make in India’. Today, it gives me immense joy to see that the poor, the middle class and MSMEs are getting a lot of benefit from this campaign. This campaign has provided an opportunity to people of every class to showcase their talent. Today, India has become a manufacturing powerhouse and it is because of the youth power of the country that the whole world is looking up to us. Be it automobiles, textiles, aviation, electronics or defence… every sector in the country’s exports are constantly on the rise. The continual rise of FDI in the country is narrating the success saga of Make In India. Now we are mainly focussing on two things… The first is ‘Quality’, that is, goods made in our country should be of global standards… and the other is ‘Vocal for Local. That means, local products should get maximum promotion. In ‘Mann Ki Baat’ we’ve also discussed #MyProductMyPride’. How the people of the country can benefit from promoting local products can be understood through an example.

    In Bhandara district of Maharashtra, there is an old textile tradition of, ‘Bhandara Tussar Silk Handloom’. Tussar Silk, is known for its colour, design and strength. In some areas of Bhandara, more than 50 ‘Self Help Groups are working to preserve it. Women have a huge participation in that. This silk is fast becoming popular and empowering local communities… and that is the spirit of ‘Make in India’.

              Friends, in this festive season you can once again reiterate your old resolves. Anything you buy, should necessarily be ‘Made in India’… Anything you gift that too should be Made In India. Merely buying earthen lamps is not ‘Vocal for Local’. You should promote local products made in your area more and more. Any such product, that has been made with the sweat of an Indian artisan, that is made on Indian soil, is our pride – we always have to lend glory to this pride.

              Friends, in this episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’ I really enjoyed connecting with you. Please send us your thoughts and suggestions related to this program. I am waiting for your letters and messages. Just a few days later, the festival season is about to begin. It will begin with Navratri and then for the next two months, this atmosphere of worshipping, fasting, festivals, joy and happiness will prevail all around. I extend my greetings to all of you on the upcoming festivals. Enjoy the festivals with your family and your loved ones and include others too in your joy. Next month ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will connect with you bringing in some new topics. I thank, all of you.

    *****

    MJPS/RT/NM

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Prime Minister Modi Dedicates Bidkin Industrial Area to the Nation

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Prime Minister Modi Dedicates Bidkin Industrial Area to the Nation

    A new era of industrial growth begins in Marathwada Maharashtra

    Bidkin Industrial Area: A catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness

    Set to attract over ₹56,200 crore in investments, creating 30,000+ jobs and sparking industrial excellence

    Posted On: 29 SEP 2024 4:14PM by PIB Delhi

    Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today dedicated the Bidkin Industrial Area (BIA) in Maharashtra to the nation, marking a significant milestone in India’s industrial development. The Prime Minister joined the event virtually, while the main ceremony in Pune was attended by Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan, Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and other dignitaries. The event was webcast from Auric Hall, where Shri Atul Save, Minister of Housing & OBC Welfare, Government of Maharashtra, Dr. Bhagwat Karad, MP Rajya Sabha, and many others were present.

    The Bidkin Industrial Area, a transformative project spanning 7,855 acres, has been developed under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Situated 20 km south of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra, this industrial hub holds immense potential to catalyze economic growth in the Marathwada region.

    Key Highlights of the Project:

    Strategic Location: Bidkin Industrial Area boasts excellent connectivity, located adjacent to NH-752E and just 35 km from the Samruddhi Mahamarg, connecting Nagpur to Mumbai. With Aurangabad railway station (20 km), Aurangabad Airport (30 km), and Jalna Dry Port (65 km) nearby, BIA is designed to offer seamless multi-modal connectivity, in line with the principles of PM GatiShakti.

    Phased Development: The Government of India approved the project with a total cost of Rs. 6,414 crore, to be developed in three phases. Phase A, covering 2,511 acres, has been prioritized with an investment of Rs. 2,427 crore. The Maharashtra Industrial Township Limited (MITL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) formed with a 51:49 partnership between Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), has driven this ambitious project.

    Infrastructure Readiness: Bidkin Industrial Area is now equipped with wide roads, quality water and power supply, and advanced sewage and common effluent treatment plants. These key infrastructure works are ready for the allotment of industrial and mixed-use plots.

    Major Investments and Economic Impact

    Bidkin has already attracted significant investment interest, with notable companies like Ather Energy (100 acres), Lubrizol (120 acres), Toyota-Kirloskar (MoU for 850 acres), and JSW Green Mobility (500 acres) committing to the area. Together, these four projects alone represent a total investment of Rs. 56,200 crore, with an employment potential of over 30,000 jobs.

    In just three years since construction, a total of 1,822 acres (38 plots) have been allotted across industrial and mixed-use zones. The development of Bidkin Industrial Area is expected to have a domino effect on the socio-economic growth of the region, drawing skilled human resources and spurring rapid industrialization.

    A Step Towards Industrial Excellence

    The dedication of the Bidkin Industrial Area to the nation marks a dynamic leap in India’s journey toward becoming a global manufacturing powerhouse. The project is aligned with the Government’s vision of “Make in India, Make for the World,” fostering industrial growth, economic prosperity, and sustainable development in the region.

    Prime Minister Modi emphasized that Bidkin will become a beacon of industrial excellence, generating employment, boosting exports, and contributing to the region’s overall development.

    ***

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Commerce Minister urges industry to promote Brand India through focus on quality

    Source: Government of India

    Commerce Minister urges industry to promote Brand India through focus on quality

    Shri Goyal interacted with CEOs of PLI Beneficiary Companies as part of Make in India campaign

    Shri Goyal lauded PLI beneficiaries for bringing innovation, making India self reliant in vital sectors and generating employment

    PLI scheme has been a great success in terms of attracting investments and increasing exports: Shri Goyal

    Posted On: 29 SEP 2024 5:34PM by PIB Delhi

    Marking a decade of the transformative “Make in India” initiative, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, today urged the Indian industry to  focus on prioritizing the production of high-quality goods to promote Brand India through sustainable practices in line with Prime Minister’s vision of Make in India with “Zero Effect; Zero Defect”.

    Shri Goyal said this while engaging with the CEOs of over 140 PLI beneficiary companies in an interactive session, celebrating their achievements under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.

    Addressing the gathering, Shri Piyush Goyal applauded the efforts of PLI beneficiary companies which have been instrumental in driving growth across vital sectors, creating jobs, and positioning India as a global leader in manufacturing. Shri Goyal also expressed gratitude to global champions for their dedication, significant investment in producing innovative products and contribution in generating employment through the PLI Schemes.

    Shri Goyal further urged CEOs to focus on increasing domestic value addition in their products to make India self-reliant. He also urged the industry to support domestic manufacturers in this regard.

    During the three hour long interaction, CEOs of beneficiary companies shared their perspectives on the PLI Schemes, offering valuable insights into their experiences, success stories, and suggestions for improving the schemes’ effectiveness and streamlining implementation. The discussion provided a productive platform for open communication between industry stakeholders and the Government. He also sought feedback from industry leaders on decriminalization/ liberalization of laws to promote ease of doing business.

    Shri Goyal encouraged continued dialogue between industry leaders and the government through implementing Ministries/ Departments & respective PMAs in coordination with DPIIT, emphasizing the importance of policy support and creating an enabling environment for future growth. He mentioned that the industry stakeholders may approach Invest India, National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, to facilitate technology transfer & foreign collaborations.

    Shri Goyal thanked global champions for their hard work, massive investment & generating employment under PLI Schemes. He further stated that the Government is committed in fast tracking all the necessary approvals related to PLI industry and also providing handholding support in achieving greater market access.

    Senior officials from implementing Ministries/ Departments and Project Management Agencies (PMAs) were also present. The interaction focused on the tangible outcomes delivered by PLI Scheme across 14 sectors, which has led to a manufacturing surge and transcended India’s global competitiveness.

    Mann ki Baat

    As a part of the interaction, all the participants tuned in to the 114th edition of Prime Minister’s Mann ki Baat broadcast wherein Hon’ble Prime Minister reflected on how “Make in India” campaign has contributed in making India a manufacturing powerhouse resulting in increased exports in electronics, defence, textiles, aviation, automobiles among other sectors along with continuous rise in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Hon’ble Prime Minister emphasized that the country is now focussing on “Quality: Products of Global Standards” and “Vocal for Local: Promotion of Local Products”.

    PLI Impact

    Overall achievement of PLI Schemes was also discussed during the meeting. Actual investment of Rs. 1.46 lakh crore has been realized (till August’24) and is likely to reach Rs. 2 lakh crore in the next year or so. This has resulted in production/ sales worth Rs. 12.50 lakh crore and employment generation of around 9.5 lakhs (direct & indirect) which is expected to reach 12 lakhs soon. Exports have exceeded Rs. 4 lakh crore, with substantial contribution from key sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals & food processing.

    In the electronics sector, mobile phone manufacturing now accounts for half of India’s total output, with a 3x increase in exports since FY 2020-21. The pharmaceutical industry has revitalized domestic production of bulk drugs and complex generics, reducing import dependence. In the automobile sector, global champions have rolled out electric vehicles, with substantial investment in the country. The medical devices industry has seen technology transfers for critical equipment like CT scanners, fostering local production. Similarly, the food processing sector contributed to sustainable agricultural practices and production of millet and organic products. Emerging sectors like drones have experienced a sevenfold increase in turnover, driven by MSEMs & Startups. Solar PV Module and specialty steel industries are also witnessing robust growth, with significant investments and localized production.

    *****

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  • MIL-OSI USA: Cartwright Announces $375,000 in Federal Funds to Hire Additional Police Officers in Wilkes-Barre Township

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Matt Cartwright (17th District of Pennsylvania)

    “This grant is a significant step forward for our Township and Police Department,” said Chief Will Clark, Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department. “It allows us to enhance our police force without placing additional financial strain on our residents. We are committed to ensuring that Wilkes-Barre Township remains a safe and welcoming place for all. We would like to thank Congressman Cartwright for assisting us in making application for this vital source of much needed funding.”

    Today, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee, announced $375,000 in federal funds have been awarded to the Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department to hire additional police officers.

    The funding is the result of a grant through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program. The grant will cover up to 75% of the entry-level salaries and benefits for newly hired officers over a three-year period, significantly reducing the financial burden on the township.

    “As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I’ll always stand with our police and support their work to keep our communities safe,” said Rep. Cartwright, who oversees more than $70 billion in annual federal spending, including the budget for the Department of Justice. “In Congress, I’ll continue fighting to bring these federal resources home to support local law enforcement and all emergency first responders.”

    “This grant is a significant step forward for our Township and Police Department,” said Chief Will Clark, Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department. “It allows us to enhance our police force without placing additional financial strain on our residents. We are committed to ensuring that Wilkes-Barre Township remains a safe and welcoming place for all. We would like to thank Congressman Cartwright for assisting us in making application for this vital source of much needed funding.”

    The COPS Hiring Program (CHP) is a competitive award program intended to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. The community policing approach focuses on forging trust between law enforcement and the members of the communities they serve.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Takahē on Motutapu have best breeding season ever

    Source: Department of Conservation

    Date:  30 September 2024

    Five pairs have each successfully raised a juvenile bird on the Hauraki Gulf island, which is a sanctuary site for the threatened bird. On 1 October the five juveniles will officially be counted in the total national population for the species of just over 500 birds.

    Takahē only breed once a year, raising 1–2 chicks. These five hatched in November to December 2023.

    Department of Conservation (DOC) and Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki play active roles on pest-free Motutapu with staff regularly observing the birds and undertaking a range of conservation work to support takahē and other native species.

    “Years of work by many different people on Motutapu, from intensive biosecurity and pest responses, to planting native species, observing and health management, support the takahē to live and breed in a stable environment,” says Kat Lane, DOC Hauraki Gulf Inner Islands Operations Manager.

    Auckland Zoo staff bring their specialised skills to the field, supporting the takahē population on island with regular health checks, veterinary support, banding and sexing the juveniles, as part of their mahi for the wider North Island meta-population.

    Motutapu is the largest of New Zealand’s 17 sanctuary sites in terms of land area and takahē population. It’s home to 28 takahē including these juveniles, who will remain on island and join the breeding population as they mature.

    “You can see the takahē during a trip to Motutapu – they’re often spotted around the causeway between the two islands or at Home Bay. We ask the public to keep a good distance away and not feed them,” adds Kat.

    DOC Takahē Recovery Programme Senior Ranger Glen Greaves says the local success is heartening news.

    “After a decade of ups and downs, it’s fantastic to see the takahē population on Motutapu flourishing. Five juveniles being raised from five breeding pairs, along with several years of good adult survival, is comparable with the top tier of takahē sanctuary sites and bodes well for the future.”

    “Although we know weather can play a big part in the success, we think fewer transfers of takahē to Motutapu has resulted in better population stability, and habitat restoration through years of planting is likely having a positive impact on bird health. This coming breeding season will build on our understanding,” says Glen.

    Motutapu has plenty of grasses and sedges for the birds to feed on and areas of native bush provide edge habitat while supporting the overall ground moisture. The island is free from mammal pests – in particular stoats, ferrets and feral cats which pose a risk to the eggs and juveniles.

    Glen Greaves says DOC will be working closely with Ngāi Tahu in the South Island and Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki as kaitiaki for Te Motutapu a Taikehu to make the most of the success and align local strategy with wider recovery goals.

    “The overarching goal for the Takahē Recovery Programme is to create multiple self-sustaining wild populations, within the historic range of the species. We hope that the success continues so that Motutapu can join other sites in contributing birds to our wild populations, particularly as we look to build on the return of takahē to the Whakatipu in the Greenstone Valley.”

    DOC Takahē Recovery is privileged to have the ongoing financial support from our national partner, Fulton Hogan Ltd.

    Background information

    Takahē chicks are dependent on their parents for at least a year. They’re included in the takahe population figure when they reach a year old. Their peak breeding age is five to 14 and they can live up to 20 years.

    Takahē begin breeding in September and continue breeding through the summer months.

    DOC and Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki have been responding to a rat incursion on Motutapu. Rats are not a known threat to takahē.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Rubio Joins NBC’s Meet the Press

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
    U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined NBC’s Meet the Press to discuss the impact of Hurricane Helene and the latest with Hezbollah, Iran, Russia, and more. See below for highlights, and watch the full interview on YouTube and Rumble.

    On destruction caused by Hurricane Helene and what comes next:

    “The number one thing you want is to have power back up and the roads open, and the state is doing a great job of getting the roads cleared and open. Power obviously is more difficult. We were at a million people without power, and that number has dramatically dropped. 
    “There are some parts of our state, I think about Cedar Key, for example. Beautiful place. People love going there. It’s tough to get there right now, but from all reports, it’s unfortunately been pretty much wiped out. So there are some coastal areas, some of which are now facing their third storm in the last 12 months. 
    “As far as the resources look, it’s primarily a state obligation. The state steps forward if the state needs anything to give to local communities. That’s where FEMA comes in. And then we’re hoping to get a major declaration here today from the White House that will open up individual assistance to more counties, for people who have been displaced and have nowhere to live will qualify at the individual level for assistance in the short term while they get their lives back together.
    “Our thoughts are also with people in Georgia and across the southeast who have also been impacted by the storm as it made its way through those states as well.”

    On the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah:

    “I think if Nasrallah was still alive, the threat of a broader conflict is even higher. This is a guy who cheerfully said, ‘Death to America, death to Israel.’ Now, when you’re a country and someone runs an organization that exists for the specific and defined purpose of destroying you, you have no choice but to treat that person as an enemy and to confront them. This is the guy that spent years cheering on suicide bombings that killed innocents, the kidnapping of Israelis.
    “There are 60,000 Israelis right now who, for almost a year, have had to leave their homes in northern Israel and are living in hotels in Tel Aviv. Their kids are going to school online in conference rooms because the group that Nasrallah headed, which is Hezbollah, was using anti-tank weapons, not guided long-range missiles, anti-tank weapons, to target them and civilian infrastructure. So people had to leave. What country can have 60,000 people permanently displaced? That’s what this issue with Hezbollah is all about. 
    “Israel wants a six to 10-mile buffer between itself and Hezbollah so they can’t be using these shoulder-fired rockets to target cities and civilian communities, so people can move back to their homes. Hezbollah refuses to pull back and continues with those attacks. So Israel has no choice but to defend itself. Wiping out not just Nasrallah, but the senior leadership of this evil organization, I think, is a service to humanity.” 

    On whether Iran will retaliate against Israel:

    “Iran is constantly looking to hurt Israel, and they seem to be willing to fight to the last Shia militia member. Ultimately, that will be Iran’s decision to make. Their goal is to dominate that region. They seek to drive America out of the region and then destroy Israel. Any time the Iranian regime is on defense, it’s good for the world, good for America, and good for Israel. It’ll be up to the Iranians to decide what they’re going to do. But I believe that they will find themselves in a very precarious situation if, in fact, they do escalate this on their part.”

    On whether peaceful relations with Iran are possible:

    “If the Iranian regime tomorrow said, ‘We’re going to stop trying to become the regional power, we’re going to stop our nuclear weapons, we’re going to stop sponsoring terrorism, we’re going to stop trying to kill you [which is what they’re trying to do with Donald Trump], we’re going to stop all of these things,’ theoretically, yes. Of course, you could work something like that out. That’s just unlikely because that’s the very driving mission and purpose of the regime…. 
    “The Iranian people are nothing like the regime. I know of few countries in the world whose leaders and people are more different. The Iranian people are not seeking to be a regional hegemonic power. They’re not seeking to sponsor terrorism. In fact, there’s a lot of pressure inside of Iran among people arguing, with all the problems they have at home, why are they spending all this money on Shia militias and terrorists and Hezbollah and helping Hamas and building terrorist networks in the West Bank? 
    “Ideally, that’s the world we’d love to live in. If that opportunity presents itself, who wouldn’t take it? What we can’t have is a world in which Iran has unlimited resources to continue to sponsor terrorism, build towards nuclear capability, and build these long-range rockets and missiles that they have developed in the last few years, which threaten not just Israel and the entire region, but ultimately the United States.”

    On the inevitability of a negotiated settlement in Ukraine: 

    “I’m not on Russia’s side, but, unfortunately, the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement. I want, we want, and I believe Donald Trump wants, for Ukraine to have more leverage in that negotiation. But in order to be in a position to be a broker who can bring about that agreement, I think he’s going to preserve what he says. He approaches these things not as someone in politics or diplomacy, but as someone with a background in business. It’s not going to be easy to do, but at least there’s a defined goal. 
    “The Biden Administration has not defined what victory means in Ukraine. They have not defined, ‘This is what victory looks like,’ and if you press them, they will tell you what I have just said to you, which is the way this conflict ultimately ends, with a negotiation. I don’t know why we can’t just say that. We hope that when that time comes, there is more leverage on the Ukrainian side than on the Russian side. That really is the goal here in my mind. I think that’s what Donald Trump is trying to say, but he’s going to say it like a businessman. But Biden won’t even tell us what victory is.
    “I think what the deal looks like will be up to the parties when they negotiate it. Obviously, Zelensky is not going to come out there and say it. From a negotiating standpoint, he’s not going to go out there and predetermine what it looks like. I understand why he wouldn’t want to go out there and define what it looks like at the front end. But the reality of it is that we, as Americans, are investing billions of dollars into this effort. It’s important that as we invest this money into this effort, we tell the American taxpayer, ‘This is what the money is going towards.’ Ultimately, it’s not an endless war. 
    “I would be comfortable with a deal that ends these hostilities, and that I think is favorable to Ukraine, meaning that they have their own sovereignty, that they don’t become a satellite state or a puppet state that is constantly held hostage by the Russians. I’m not going to prejudge any agreement. 
    “The Ukrainians don’t want to live in a country where the Russians dominate their territory. What’s the future of Crimea? The Russians claim it. Obviously, they stole it back in 2014, in the first invasion. You have to ask the Obama Administration why that happened under their watch. But at the end of the day, the most important thing here is that these hostilities end, Ukraine can go back to rebuilding its economy, and its people can move back. They’ve lost millions of people as refugees. It’s been devastating to them. But that negotiation is going to be up to them. I just want them to have more leverage than Putin.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hurricane Helene update #2 from Congressman Edwards

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11)

    Dear Friend,

    Two days post-disaster and the country is showing up for us. More than 30 swift water and helicopter rescue crews from across North Carolina and seven nearby states have rescued more than 200 people since Thursday. Thousands of linemen from across North America, including crews from Canada, have been deployed to our community to restore power, and we’ve seen the state come together to transport dozens of trucks filled with potable water and food to our shelters.

    While resources are certainly on the top of many communities’ minds, I have heard from numerous families that are still trying to connect with their loved ones who may be in areas with limited cell service. Residents trying to connect with family members may call NC 211 (or 1-888-892-1162 if calling from out-of-state) to report missing loved ones.

    Additionally, people in the impacted areas can indicate that they are safe by reporting themselves safe through Red Cross Reunification by calling 1-800-ED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Please only use 911 for life-threatening emergencies so the lines remain open for critical situations.

    Lastly, North Carolina has officially received a Major Disaster Declaration, making individuals in Buncombe, Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, and Yancey Counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians eligible for Individual Assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    Individual Assistance provides financial aid and services to eligible individuals and households that have been affected by a disaster to assist with the recovery process. Individuals can officially begin applying for Individual Assistance online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by calling the application phone number at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. EST.

    Just a reminder that today is update number two of many, with more information to follow in the coming days. Please make sure to read everything and share it with your friends and family.

    Food and Water

    • Supplying drinkable water remains a top priority for emergency crews.
      • Water plants in Haywood, Jackson, Rutherford and Yancey counties are closed, impacting tens of thousands of households.
      • A total of 17 water plants have reported having no power and an additional 23 are operating on backup power.
    • A total of 50 water systems are on a system-wide boil water advisory.
    • Dozens of trucks with potable water and meals have successfully been delivered to western NC, including to the WNC Agricultural Center, and many more are en route.
      • Air operations for food and water deliveries began Saturday afternoon in areas without roadway access.
    • Walmart, Sam’s Club, and the Walmart Foundation have committed up to $6 million in support of hurricane relief efforts, including donations of food, water, essential supplies and grants to organizations providing relief.
    • My office continues to work with additional private companies to get much needed food and water delivered across our district.

    Power and Gas

    • Power outages remain widespread in Western North Carolina, but NCDOT is working diligently to clear roadways and increase accessibility for repairs.
      • Currently, there is still no established timeline for restorations, but Duke Energy hopes to publish restoration power timelines in the coming days.
      • I will keep you posted when we learn of those timelines.
    • Energy providers are working around the clock to restore power and have successfully restored power for over 544,000 customers across the state, but here is the lay of the land in NC-11:
      • 630,000 customer accounts remained without power Saturday afternoon.
        • The bulk of the outages are in Buncombe County.
      • 3,400 critical customer accounts are out – critical accounts include hospitals, fire stations, police, EMS, water treatment facilities, etc.
        • 1,600 are healthcare accounts
        • 200 are nursing facilities
          • As of Saturday evening, power has been restored to AdventHealth in Fletcher and my office has been assured that power at Pardee Hospital should be restored later this afternoon, Sunday, September 29.
        • 360 substations are out
          • A substation is responsible for transmitting electricity throughout Western North Carolina.
            • Many of these substations were completely flooded and Duke Energy is unable to assess the damage until the flooding has lowered, the water has been pumped out and the equipment is thoroughly dried.
          • The flooding provides a unique challenge not previously faced by substations in Western North Carolina.
            • There is a high likelihood that the substations are not reparable, and replacement of the substation equipment will be necessary.
            • Duke Energy is prepared to both repair or replace damaged equipment once the equipment has been dried and assessments are complete.
        • Duke Energy continues to warn that Western North Carolinians should be prepared for multi-day outages.
          • Over 11,000 linemen are continuing to work quickly and safely on repairs, including additional crews from 19 states and Canada.
        • Fuel planning continues to be ongoing for both rescue operations and communications resources.
          • Fuel contracts have been activated.
            • A fuel contract provides a steady fuel reserve during an emergency.
          • Air deliveries have already begun in hard-to-reach areas.

    Roads

    • A “DO NOT DRIVE” message remains in place from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for Western North Carolina.
      • Unless it is an emergency, please do not travel.
    • As of 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, 385 roads remain closed in Western North Carolina, with the majority being in Henderson (48), Buncombe (25) and Jackson (20) counties.
      • Over 15 closed roads have been cleared of debris and reopened since Saturday morning.
        • 59 of these are on primary routes including I-40 at mile marker three near the Tennessee-North Carolina border and dozens of U.S. and N.C. routes.
        • A previously closed section of I-26 south of Asheville has reopened.
      • Crews have opened a path through the rock/landslide on I-40 near Old Fort to allow stranded vehicles and emergency responders to pass through with assistance from Highway Patrol.
        • The remaining closures remain due to high water, land/rockslides, downed power lines, pipe failures and fallen trees.
      • More than 100 additional NCDOT employees have been deployed from across the state to assist Western North Carolina in clearing debris and addressing storm-related road closures, bringing the total number of deployed NCDOT personnel to 1,600 employees.

    Asheville Regional Airport

    • Asheville Regional Airport closed mid-day on Friday, September 27, due to risk of flooding.
    • The airport was expected to reopen by mid-day Saturday, September 28, but was unable to do so.
      • The airport was unable to reopen for commercial flights due to a lack of internet service, preventing commercial airlines from processing their passengers for boarding.
      • No commercial flights are permitted in or out of Asheville Regional Airport at this time.
    • Asheville Regional Airport has reopened for non-commercial air traffic, including planes delivering National Guard supplies for in-need counties.

    Cell Service

    • Western North Carolina continues to see severe cell service outages due to the flooding.
    • Service providers have deployed additional Compact Rapid Deployables since Friday, with more on the way.
      • Current on-air network recovery equipment include:
        • Buncombe County – 1 Compact Rapid Deployable
        • Henderson County – 1 SatCOLT
      • Network recovery equipment en route to in-need counties include:
        • Buncombe County – 4 SatCOLTs
        • Cherokee County – 1 SatCOLT, 1 Compact Rapid Deployable
        • Clay County – 1 Compact Rapid Deployable
        • Haywood County – 2 SatCOLTs, 3 Compact Rapid Deployables
        • Henderson County – 3 SatCOLTs, 1 Compact Rapid Deployable
        • Macon County – 1 SatCOLT
        • Madison County – SatCOLT
        • McDowell County – 1 SatCOLT
        • Transylvania County – 1 SatCOLT
        • Rutherford County – 1 SatCOLT, 1 Compact Rapid Deployable
      • Compact Rapid Deployables are a transportable cell tower and internet access point that can generate wired internet and wi-fi coverage anytime and anywhere.
      • SatCOLT stands for “Satellite Cells on Light Trucks” and are vehicles with mobile cell sites that connect via satellite and do not rely on commercial power supply.

    North Carolina National Guard

    • 410 North Carolina National Guard soldiers and airmen have been deployed to provide support to Western North Carolina so far.
      • This includes the deployment of 76 High Water Vehicles, 12 Palletized Load Systems for commodity distribution and six Forestry Support Teams for debris clearance.
    • The National Guard currently has 10 operating aircraft.
      • The National Guard is actively awaiting 2 additional CH-47 aircraft from New York and two to four additional hoist-equipped aircraft from other states.
    • The Asheville National Guard Armory remains relocated in East Flat Rock due to lost power.
      • Despite the relocation, the Asheville National Guard Armory has continued operations and is providing support to Western North Carolina.
    • The National Guard has Readiness Centers actively monitoring and serving Western North Carolina in the following locations:
      • Asheville
      • Morganton
      • Charlotte
      • Greensboro
      • Rockingham
      • Raleigh – aviation assets only
        • Readiness Centers can serve as Joint Operation Centers when disasters exceed local capabilities.
        • The above-mentioned Readiness Centers work with North Carolina’s Office of Emergency Management to respond to western NC as military first responders.

    For Local Government Resource Requests

    • For county leaders: This is a reminder to make sure your Emergency Operation Center has submitted the request for gasoline, food, water, cell service deployables, etc. with North Carolina Emergency Management to have your request processed and resources delivered.
      • My office stands ready to assist with checking the status of your request if the county or municipality has not heard back from NC Emergency Management within 24 hours.

    Shelters

    • For those unable to evacuate to a safe location or in need of a place to go, the following shelters are currently open and available as of September 29:
      • Buncombe
        • A-B Technical Community College
          • 340 Victoria Rd., Asheville, NC 28801
        • First Baptist Church Swannanoa
          • 503 Park St., Swannanoa, NC 28778
        • WNC Agricultural Center
          • 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher, NC 28732
      • Haywood
        • Haywood County Government Armory
          • 285 Armory Dr., Clyde, NC 28781
      • Henderson
        • Edneyville Elementary School
          • 2875 Pace Rd., Hendersonville, NC 28792
        • Henderson County Recreation Center
          • 708 S. Grove St., Hendersonville, NC 28792
      • Jackson
        • Cashiers Recreation Center
          • 355 Frank Allen Rd., Cashiers, NC 28717
        • Jackson County Department of Aging
          • 100 County Services Pk., Sylva, NC 28779
      • Madison
        • Madison County Wellness Center
          • 5734 US 25-70 Hwy., Marshall, NC 28752
      • McDowell
        • First Baptist Church of Old Fort
          • 203 E. Main St., Old Fort, NC 28762
        • Glenwood Baptist Church
          • 1550 Old US 221 S., Marion, NC 28752
        • McDowell County Senior Center
          • 100 Spaulding Rd., Marion, NC 28752
      • Polk
        • Polk County High School
          • 1681 NC 108 Highway E., Columbus, NC 28722
      • Rutherford
        • Rutherfordton/Spindale Central High School
          • 641 US 221 Hwy. N., Rutherfordton, NC 28139
      • Swain
        • Swain Community College
          • 125 Brendle St., Bryson City, NC 28713
      • Transylvania
        • Pisgah Forest Baptist Church
          • 494 Hendersonville Hwy., Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
      • Yancey
        • South Toe Elementary School
          • 139 South Toe School Rd., Burnsville, NC 28714
        • West Yancey Volunteer Fire Department
          • 6557 US Hwy. 19, Burnsville, NC 28714

    With my warmest regards,


    Chuck Edwards
    Member of Congress

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Lebanon: the killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Hezbollah leaderless and vulnerable

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ori Wertman, Research fellow, Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales

    The assassination of Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike on September 28 is a decisive blow – not only to Hezbollah, but also to Iran, which has lost its greatest ally in the Middle East.

    In recent days, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has risen to its most intense level since the end of the second Lebanon war in the summer of 2006. The day after Hamas’ brutal October 7 terror attack, in which 1,200 Israelis were massacred – many of them civilians murdered in their homes in towns near the Gaza border or at the nearby Nova music festival – Hezbollah opened another front against Israel.

    Hezbollah, which has been designated by the US and UK governments as a terror organisation, was quick to express support and solidarity with Hamas and immediately began launching rockets at civilian and military targets in northern Israel.

    Fearing that Hezbollah might carry out a similar incursion in Galilee, resulting in a massacre of the Jewish civilian population, the Israeli government evacuated roughly 100,000 citizens living near the Lebanese border. These people have now been displaced from their homes for a year.

    Until recently, the fighting between the parties was characterised by a relatively low intensity. Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli civilian and military targets. These have mainly been in the north of the country, killing dozens of Israelis since October 2023. The IDF has responded with airstrikes and artillery fire against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including rocket depots and other military infrastructure. But to an extent, the exchanges were seen as being below the level that might escalate into all-out war betweeen Israel and Hezbollah.

    In July, a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 children in a football field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. In response, three days later, Israel assassinated Hezbollah’s most senior commander, the head of its strategic unit, Fuad Shukr, in an airstrike in Beirut.

    The violence has steadily escalated since. On August 25, as Hezbollah was preparing a major rocket attack on the north and centre of Israel, the IDF launched a preemptive strike against Hezbollah missile launchers that were poised to strike at targets within Israel. In mid-September, the Israeli security cabinet announced it had added the return of displaced residents from the cuntry’s north to its war goals.

    Days later, in a highly complex operation thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded, killing dozens and wounding thousands of Hezbollah militants. The following day Hezbollah’s network of walkie talkies was targeted in the same way. Israel has not claimed responsibility for either of these incidents, but what cannot be denied is that they caused considerable damage to Hezbollah’s command and control.

    Two days after that, on September 20, Shukr’s successor, Ibrahim Akil, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, along with dozens of senior commanders of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

    Operation Northen Arrows

    Yet all these moves were only the prelude to Operation Northern Arrows, which began on September 23. The Israeli air force attacked 1,600 Hezbollah targets, including thousands of rocket and missile launchers that had been stored among the civilian population throughout Lebanon.

    Hezbollah has responded by firing rockets at Israel, most of which were intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems. It is estimated that Hezbollah had an arsenal of 150,000 rockets, including medium and long-range missiles. Many of these have now been eliminated by Israeli airstrikes. Hezbollah still has precision-guided munitions and drones, but recent Israeli strikes have eliminated much of Hezbollah’s chain of command and severely disrupted its operational equilibrium. The assassination of many of Hezbollah’s senior leadership – and now Nasrallah himself – has all but destroyed the group’s military chain of command.

    So far there has been no sign from Tehran that Iran intends to intervene militarily to help Hezbollah. This must call into question the advantage of acting as one of the country’s most important proxies in the region. In this context, many in Beirut, Damascus, Sana’a and Gaza are surely asking themselves now what is the advantage of being Iran’s emissaries, if the latter leaves them alone to face Israel.

    Ceasefire unlikely?

    As a result, the main hope for Hezbollah – and Lebanon itself, into whose economic and political structures Hezbollah has become so firmly embedded – is that the international community will impose a ceasefire on both sides in an effort to avoid this becoming a wider regional conflict. The US and France have pushed for a 21-day ceasefire. But it seems that, like its fight against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is determined to continue the military operation against Hezbollah.

    Now the world is waiting to see whether Israel will send troops into in Lebanon. Already thousands of citizens in the south of the country have fled north. But despite a statement from IDF chief of staff, Maj Gen Herzi Halevi, that the IDF is preparing to launch a ground operation in Lebanon, it is not at all certain that Israel wants to return to Lebanese soil.

    In May 2000 the IDF pulled back from southern Lebanon to the international border after 18 years of occupation and in 2006 it did the same in compliance with UN security council resolution 1701.

    There’s also a good chance that, given the success of its campaign of airstrikes in neutralising the military threat from Hezbollah, an actual ground invasion may be postponed for now.

    The US and other countries, including the UK, have urged Israel to put a hold on any invasion plans and agree a ceasefire. It presents the Biden administration, which is keenly aware of the need to keep both Jewish and Arab voters onside, with a tough choice. But it is hard to believe that Biden, especially during an election campaign and in light of the special relationship between the countries, will put pressure on Jerusalem to stop its fight against Iranian proxy terrorism.

    Ori Wertman 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. Lebanon: the killing of Hassan Nasrallah leaves Hezbollah leaderless and vulnerable – https://theconversation.com/lebanon-the-killing-of-hassan-nasrallah-leaves-hezbollah-leaderless-and-vulnerable-239992

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: ASIA/LEBANON – Maronite Patriarch Raï: Nasrallah’s assassination “has opened a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese”

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –

    Source: The Holy See in Italian

    Beirut (Agenzia Fides) – «The assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has opened a wound in the hearts of the Lebanese». But «The incessant martyrdom of Christian and Muslim leaders who believed in the causes of truth, justice and the defense of the weak strengthens unity among the Lebanese, a unity of blood, belonging and destiny». With these words the Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros Raï expressed his first public considerations on the end of the Head of the Shiite Hezbollah movement, killed on Friday evening by penetrating bombs launched on Beirut by the Israeli army. He did so during the homily delivered during the Sunday mass celebrated today, September 29, in the summer patriarchal residence of Dimane. A mass – said the Lebanese Cardinal – celebrated to ask for the repose of the souls of the victims of these days, and to ask for peace. That for the common homeland – continued the Maronite Patriarch – «is the martyrdom chosen by believers of all the Lebanese components who have united in it, leaving us an invitation to fidelity and loyalty towards their sacrifice for a homeland they loved, even if their vision of how to manage it and how to practice politics differed». The blood shed by those who sacrificed themselves for the Lebanese homeland – continued Cardinal Raï, referring to the political-institutional crisis that has paralyzed the country for years «cries out to us to defend Lebanon against any aggression and to elect a President of the Republic who will restore Lebanon to its place among the nations». The role of Head of State, which in the Lebanese institutional system belongs to a Maronite Christian, has been vacant for almost two years due to the crossed vetoes of Parties and factions. In his omeiia, the Lebanese Cardinal – also critical in the recent past of the strategies of Hezbollah militias that opened the flank to Israeli reprisals – reiterated that “the international community is called to act seriously to stop the cycle of war, death and destruction here with us, preparing the ground for a just peace that guarantees the rights of all peoples and components of the region. The time has come – added the Maronite Patriarch that all Lebanese understand that they have no one to help and support them except themselves, united and in solidarity with each other, committed to managing the affairs of the Lebanese house with the spirit of the National Pact, in a state of law and institutions”. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 29/9/2024) Share:

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

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: We are in a safe place, for now

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    On Friday, the 27th of September, we heard and felt a huge series of blasts while we were in meetings at the office. We wrapped up work and got stuck in heavy traffic. I had just relocated to a safer place since the bombing around Beirut and across the country intensified on Monday. When I reached my new home around 10 p.m., my relatives had already joined us – leaving their homes, thinking it would be safer where we were.

    From my balcony, I saw dozens and dozens of people walking in the streets carrying what they could, plastic bags, backpacks, or nothing. People in the southern suburbs around ours had received evacuation orders from the Israeli armed forces. We saw people fleeing on foot, some walking with sticks, young and elderly. Some people were in cars. We were not in the neighborhood that was targeted but we heard drones and planes. We felt them close by. Suddenly, there was darkness all around and bombing started everywhere. There was heavy smoke and people in the streets were coughing. I was with my mum, brother and sister, and trying to figure out what to do next. Are the roads safe? Where do we go?

    I had just left my house in Dahieh—the southern suburb of Beirut—a few days ago because of the heavy bombardments and moved to this one’s. We thought we would be safer here. Now we had to leave again. I grabbed a bag of essential items I had at hand. We were told that it’s better to bring mattresses, so we stuffed two in our car and took a pack of water bottles. I didn’t know what to do. There were fires everywhere following the airstrikes, and I heard a huge blast. We heard, felt and saw the strikes. Our building was shaking. There was a huge blast in a place with no advance warning for evacuation.

    Surrounded by fire and smoke, I was repeating to myself, “all we need is a plan and to take action, a plan and take action; do not wait here.” We just left the place as fast as we could. I don’t know what happened to my own house, or the new house. We kept calling around and drove for a couple of hours before we figured out where to go. Around 5 a.m, we found a place on the other side of the mountains.

    We were very lucky that we left when we did because the fires after the airstrikes were still raging where we had been. We just needed a place to rest a little, to see where to go next, and we still haven’t slept. Some people are still in cars. Now we’re watching the news and shocking footage of what is happening. I know that my colleagues, MSF teams, are in the field, supplying water by trucks to shelters and schools in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, where displaced families are staying. Some people are lying down on the sidewalks. MSF managed to provide 86,000 liters of water in 24 hours, and is also distributing kits containing basic hygiene and relief items, as well as mattresses to the displaced people. Our mental health teams are on the streets providing psychological first aid to people who are traumatized and to people seeking refuge in schools. I am used to being a humanitarian worker, but now I am also a person displaced by air strikes in my own country. We are in a safe place, for now.

    MIL OSI NGO –