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  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK trade mission visits Kyiv to deepen industry ties

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Trade mission agrees key requirements for Ukraine’s future equipment and capability needs.

    A UK trade mission, formed of representatives from the Ministry of Defence, Department for Business and Trade, and the defence trade association ADS, visited Ukraine to hold meetings with Ukrainian Government and industry representatives.

    It is the latest step in the growing relationship between the UK’s defence industrial sector and Ukraine’s, following the signing of a major agreement in July which will enable Ukraine to harness the power of UK industry by drawing on £3.5 billion worth of export finance to purchase further military capabilities.

    The cross-government group, led by the Minister for the Armed Forces, travelled to Kyiv, where the trade mission visited the Ukraine Defence Industrial Forum to take part in a series of meetings and forum discussions.

    Whilst there the minister discussed the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine as long as it takes, the ever-growing relationship between the UK and Ukraine’s defence industry and the government’s pledge to continue to boost investment into our own industry which will in turn support Ukraine’s fight.

    Agreements were made with Ukrainian officials on their requirements for complex weapons and land systems support during the event, which provides a signal to UK industry as to the types of equipment they most need and for which the MOD will now contract with UK industry on Ukraine’s behalf.

    Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard MP said:

    The UK’s support for Ukraine is ironclad. We continue to lead the way in providing military aid, but our support is much broader than simply providing equipment. Our flourishing defence industrial relationship symbolises the work happening across Government and the private sector to ramp up and speed up our support.

    By deepening our ties with Ukraine’s defence industry, we are expanding own industrial capacity, while boosting Ukraine’s own capabilities. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, and we will provide support for as long as it takes.

    The MOD already placed contracts with Thales for air defence missiles and Sheffield Forgemasters for artillery gun barrels forgings, in order to warm up industry in preparation for further orders.  Future orders are in the pipeline and will be funded by Ukraine, drawing on their own reserves and the £3.5 billion of United Kingdom export finance made available by the UK to support Ukraine’s war effort.

    Task Force HIRST is the UK cross-government team incorporating MOD, DBT and UK Export Finance to stimulate UK industrial production and international collaboration in support of Ukraine, including collaboration with Ukrainian companies.

    Last week, the Defence Secretary confirmed the Government is delivering on its commitment to speed up and ramp up deliveries of support for Ukraine, surpassing its pledge to deliver 12 AS90 artillery guns within 100 days of taking office.

    A total of 16 units are now on course to be delivered, with 10 already provided, and six more to follow in the coming weeks.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Assistance for Hurricane Helene Survivors Surpasses $137 Million as Biden-Harris Administration Continues Response and Recovery Efforts in Southeast and Closely Monitors Storm in the Gulf

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Federal Assistance for Hurricane Helene Survivors Surpasses $137 Million as Biden-Harris Administration Continues Response and Recovery Efforts in Southeast and Closely Monitors Storm in the Gulf

    Federal Assistance for Hurricane Helene Survivors Surpasses $137 Million as Biden-Harris Administration Continues Response and Recovery Efforts in Southeast and Closely Monitors Storm in the Gulf

    WASHINGTON — FEMA continues its robust response and recovery efforts in the Southeast following the devastation caused by Helene. Federal assistance for survivors has now surpassed $137 million, with FEMA’s mission remaining steadfast in helping communities recover and rebuild. 

    FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is leading one of the largest mobilizations of federal personnel, partners and resources in recent history to heed the call of helping survivors and bolstering efforts across all levels of government. The agency is actively working alongside state, local and tribal partners to assess damage and support those affected by the disaster. Nearly 7,000 personnel from across the federal workforce are deployed, including FEMA staff. To date, FEMA has shipped over 14.9 million meals, more than 13.9 million liters of water, 157 generators and more than 505,000 tarps to the region. 

    As response and recovery efforts continue in the Southeast, FEMA is closely monitoring Tropical Storm Milton, which has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. FEMA has the resources and capacity to address multiple disasters simultaneously and is fully prepared to support affected communities wherever and whenever needed. Preparedness efforts are underway and FEMA stands ready to respond to any potential impacts on communities in the storm’s path while also prioritizing search and rescue, response and recovery efforts in in the affected areas. People in Milton’s path should take the storm seriously and prepare now.

    Disaster survivors in certain areas of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia can begin their recovery process by applying for federal assistance through FEMA. People with damage to their homes or personal property who live in the designated areas should apply for assistance, which may include upfront funds to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies and other emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay. Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for Helene.   

    There are three ways to apply for FEMA assistance:  

    Support for North Carolina

    Financial Support: FEMA has approved more than $30 million in housing and other types of assistance for over 27,000 households.

    Staffing: As response efforts continue in North Carolina, more than 700 FEMA staff are on the ground, with more arriving daily. Over 1,200 Urban Search and Rescue personnel remain in the field helping people. These teamshave rescued or supported over 3,200 survivors to date. Dozens of Disaster Survivor Assistance staff are on the ground in affected areas to help survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connect them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources. Over 1,000 National Guard Bureau troops have deployed to North Carolina to support response and recovery efforts. To date, troops have delivered nearly one million pounds of food, water and other supplies. Experienced FEMA leaders from around the country are in the field to bolster response efforts. 

    Sheltering: Over 800 people who cannot return home are staying in safe and clean lodging through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. Transitional Sheltering Assistance is available for North Carolinians displaced by Helene. Residents in declared counties who have applied for disaster assistance may be eligible to stay temporarily in a hotel or motel paid for by FEMA while they work on their long-term housing plan. People do not need to request this assistance. FEMA will notify them of their eligibility through an automated phone call, text message and/or email, depending upon the method of communication they selected at the time of application for disaster assistance. 

    Shelter numbers continue to decline, with 22 shelters housing just under 1,000 occupants. Mobile feeding operations continue to help survivors in heavily impacted areas, including three mass feeding sites in Buncombe, McDowell and Watauga counties.  

    Power and Cellular Restoration: As of today, more than 86% of originally reported power outages have been restored. Cellular restoration continues to improve, with less than 20% of cellular sites down. FEMA is boosting response coordination by providing Starlink units to ensure first responders can communicate with each other. 

    Commodities: Commodity distribution, mass feeding and hydration operations are underway in areas of western North Carolina. FEMA commodity shipments are enroute to support operations. The agency is on track to meet requested delivery timelines for meals and water. Voluntary organizations are supporting feeding operations with bulk food and water deliveries coming via truck and aircraft. The Salvation Army has nine mobile feeding units supporting the massive operation and has provided emotional and spiritual care to more than 900 people. To date, The Salvation Army has served over 12,600 meals, 9,600 drinks and 5,600 snacks. The American Red Cross is engaging in targeted distribution of emergency supplies in low-income communities with high levels of minor or affected residential damage. 

    Resources

    • Residents can visit: ncdps.gov/helene to get information and additional assistance.  
    • Residents can get in touch with loved ones by calling 2-1-1 or visiting unitedwaync.org to add them to search and rescue efforts.  

    Support for Florida  

    As recovery efforts continue in Florida, FEMA has approved more than $71 million for over 11,000 households. FEMA specialists are canvassing Florida communities affected by Helene to help survivors apply for assistance. Additionally, FEMA inspectors are visiting applicants’ homes to verify disaster-caused damage.

    Residents in need of information or resources should call the State Assistance Information Line (SAIL) at 1-800-342-3557. English, Spanish and Creole speakers are available to answer questions.  

    Support for South Carolina 

    As recovery efforts continue in South Carolina, FEMA has approved over $5.7 million for more than 5,500 households. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are on the ground in neighborhoods across the affected counties continuing to help survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connect them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources.  

    Residents with questions on Helene can call the state’s toll-free hotline, open 24 hours a day, at 1-866-246-0133. 

    Residents who are dependent on medical equipment at home and who are without power due to Helene may be eligible for a medical needs shelter. Call the state’s Department of Public Health Care Line at 1-855-472-3432 for more information. 

    Support for Georgia 

    FEMA has approved over $30 million for more than 38,000 households. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are on the ground in neighborhoods across the affected counties helping survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources. 

    Resources: Residents can find resources like shelters and feeding sites at gema.georgia.gov/hurricane-helene. 

    Support for Virginia  

    To date, FEMA has approved more than $330,000 for over 60 households. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are on the ground in neighborhoods across the affected counties helping survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources.

    Residents can find resources like shelters and feeding sites at: Recover – Hurricane Helene | VDEM (vaemergency.gov)

    Support for Tennessee 

    FEMA has approved more than $175,000 for disaster assistance. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are on the ground in neighborhoods across the affected counties helping survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources.

    • Residents can call 1-800-824-3463 to report a missing person. Callers should be prepared to provide as much information as possible including names, phone numbers, vehicle identification and last known whereabouts. 

    Counties have started establishing donation centers. For the evolving list, visit TEMA’s website. 

    Voluntary Organizations

    Voluntary organizations are also providing personnel and resources to the hardest hit areas. The American Red Cross has hundreds of trained disaster workers providing comfort and operating shelters. Additionally, they are helping find loved ones through their helpline 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or by the Red Cross Hurricane Helene Reunification page where people can enter pertinent information about the person they’re  looking for. If someone is missing a child related to this disaster or any other incident, they need to call 9-1-1 and then 1-800-THE-LOST to receive assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

    People can receive free services like cutting fallen trees, tarping roofs and mold mitigation with the help of Crisis Cleanup by calling 844-965-1386. The hotline is open through October 11 and can connect people with volunteers from local relief organizations, community groups and the faith-based community who may be able to assist.  

    amy.ashbridge

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Government of Canada announces support for Indigenous-led climate solutions in remote Indigenous communities

    MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –

    Source: Government of Canada – in French

    Press release

    October 6, 2024 Thunder Bay, Ontario Natural Resources Canada

    First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada are at the forefront of efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its environmental and economic impacts. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting self-determined action on Indigenous climate priorities to create a healthy and resilient future for all.

    The Government of Canada is pleased to announce today the second phase of the Indigenous Initiative to Reduce Dependence on Diesel (IARDD) – Cohort 2. During this phase, the ten Energy Champion teams listed below, who are from remote Indigenous Nations and communities, will receive up to $500,000 to engage in community engagement, complete the training program, and develop their community energy plan.

    Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government, British Columbia Tahltan Band Council, British Columbia Uchucklesaht Tribe Government, British Columbia Ḵwiḵwa̱sut’inux̱w Ha̱xwa’mis First Nation, British Columbia Hamlet of Paulatuk, Northwest Territories Fort Chipewyan, Alberta Mountain Cree Camp, Alberta Pangnirtung, Nunavut Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek – Gull Bay First Nation, Ontario Kangirsuk, Nunavik, Quebec

    Comprised of clean energy leaders, the ten teams completed the 20/20 Catalysts program delivered by the Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise (ICE SE), the federal government’s implementing partner for the Initiative. Each team pairs an energy champion with mentors and receives tailored support in areas such as technical knowledge, community engagement and project management.

    Once Phase 2 is completed, all ten teams may be eligible for additional funding to advance the design and development of their project based on their community energy plan in Phase 3, scheduled for 2025.

    Quotes

    “Indigenous peoples are facing unprecedented and severe climate challenges that threaten their lives, livelihoods, cultures and knowledge systems. In the face of these threats, Indigenous communities across the country are taking remarkable action to combat climate change and adapt to its impacts. Indigenous-led climate solutions are more resilient, deliver better outcomes and better integrate expert input as we move together toward a clean and prosperous future. I am thrilled to see these ten projects enter a new phase and look forward to seeing what innovations come next.”

    The Honourable Jonathan WilkinsonMinister of Energy and Natural Resources

    “Indigenous peoples are on the front lines of climate change in Canada and, as the original stewards of our lands and waters, are uniquely positioned to find solutions that will ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come. Clean energy projects in Indigenous communities are a constant source of inspiration for me, and I congratulate the Energy Champions on this exciting new phase of community engagement, training and planning to create a more resilient future where everyone can benefit from a strong and sustainable economy.”

    The Honourable Patty HajduMinister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario

    “As climate change continues to challenge the way of life of Indigenous communities, particularly in the North and Arctic, it is more important than ever that Indigenous peoples play a leading role in how we adapt to these changes. The launch of Phase 2 of this clean energy initiative demonstrates our shared commitment to reconciliation and the importance of building meaningful relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to determine how we can meaningfully adapt our actions to build a cleaner future for the next seven generations.”

    The Honourable Dan VandalMinister of Northern Affairs

    “The transition to clean energy remains important to Indigenous communities and the Government of Canada in our shared efforts to advance reconciliation. The projects announced today under the Indigenous Initiative to Reduce Dependence on Diesel are a great example of how we can advance self-determined priorities by helping communities take greater control of their energy futures and well-being.”

    Michael V. McLeod Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories

    Quick Facts

    The second cohort of IARDD is part of the $300 million envelope announced in Canada’s strengthened climate plan for clean energy projects in Indigenous, rural and remote communities.

    IARDD is a clean energy training and financing program that supports Indigenous-led climate solutions in Indigenous communities that rely on diesel or other fossil fuels for heating and electricity generation.

    Launched in 2019, the IARDD is the result of 18 months of consultations with Indigenous communities, rights holders and organizations. It is administered in collaboration with ICE SE and the Government of Canada.

    Applicants who were not selected for the second cohort of IARDD were invited to meet with a member of the federal Wah-ila-toos team and the ICE SE team to discuss their priorities and other possible funding options. They were also invited to join the networkICE Networkand to participate in future activities of this network, which is an online collaboration space open to anyone working on indigenous clean energy projects.

    The IARDD is delivered through Wah-ila-toos – a single window for Indigenous, rural and remote communities to access funding and resources from the Government of Canada for clean energy projects. Through this window, the Government of Canada will continue to foster constructive relationships with Indigenous communities to promote reconciliation and self-determination, advance clean energy projects, and help unlock new economic opportunities through strong Indigenous climate leadership.

    The Wah-ila-toos platform is administered by Natural Resources Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Infrastructure Canada. Its name, given to it by three grandmothers who were Elders, embodies the idea that everything is connected and that it is our responsibility to maintain good relationships with all.

    Related links

    Contact persons

    Media RelationsNatural Resources Canada Ottawa 343-292-6100 nrcan.media.rncan@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

    Cindy CaturaoPress SecretaryOffice of the Minister of Energy and Natural ResourcesCindy.Caturao@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

    Follow us on LinkedIn  

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

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: 403rd Army Field Support Brigade Unit Spotlight: Logistics Readiness Center-Honshu

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    CAMP ZAMA, Japan  –  

    Located near the cities of Zama and Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, Camp Zama is about 25 miles southwest of Tokyo on the main island of Honshu.

    Camp Zama is home to U.S. Army Japan, I Corps (Forward), U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan, 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 78th Signal Battalion, 765th Terminal Transportation Battalion, Japan Engineer District (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), and the Bilateral Coordination Department and 4th Engineer Group of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

    USARJ facilitates multilateral cooperation with regional partners and allies through engagements, training, and exercises; partnering with the JGSDF to enhance interoperability, capability and capacity while coordinating through United States Forces Japan for forces, footprints and agreements between the U.S. Government and the Government of Japan to set conditions for successful deterrence and execution of contingency operations.

    USARJ is not structured as a conventional command, as it is resourced as an economy of force operation, forward positioned in Japan for contingency purposes should circumstances require a larger U.S. Army presence within the region.

    Under the Status of Forces Agreement, the Government of Japan contributes a portion of the resources necessary for the sustainment of U.S. Forces within Japan in the form of facilities, personnel, and utilities. U.S. Army Sustainment Command benefits from this agreement in the form of significantly reduced operating costs. LRC-Honshu’s workforce primarily consists of host nation Master Labor Contract employees fully funded by the Government of Japan.

    LRC-Honshu provides maintenance, supply, transportation, and logistical support to USARJ, I Corps (Forward), U.S. Army Garrison-Japan, installation partner units, and Department of Defense activities within its area of responsibility to ensure mission readiness and quality of life for Soldiers, civilians, and families within mainland Japan.

    LRC-Honshu reports to the 403d Army Field Support Brigade, headquartered at Camp Henry, South Korea, which is a subordinate unit of ASC whose higher headquarters is the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

    The LRC-Honshu, Transportation Division, Area Transportation Office in Kure, near Hiroshima, Japan, 485 miles away from Camp Zama, provides area specific installation transportation through the utilization of non-tactical vehicles in several different fleet configurations coordinated by the Fleet Management Operations Office, including traffic management, general freight, oversized freight, intra-depot ammunition movement, and retail fuel points for Kure Ammunition Depot, an AMC special installation. On average, ATO Kure supports more than 220 intra-depot ammunition movements and 140 general cargo shipments per year.

    Prior to August 2024, LRC-Honshu experienced challenges in executing its Installation Logistics Base Line Services in support of USAG-Japan at Kure Ammunition Depot. The Maintenance Division provides base operations maintenance support to Army-owned NTVs, tactical vehicles and non-standard equipment in support of installation services, as well as organic maintenance capability for units’ tactical equipment lacking organic authorizations.

    The 10th Support Group performed these duties in Kure by overseeing 14 authorized host nation employees assigned to the 10th SG AD Equipment Branch but authorized on the Host Nation Table of Distribution and Allowances, facilities, and maintenance management functions for its assigned vehicles and equipment, as well as equipment for USAG-Japan and LRC-Honshu at Kure’s Akizuki, Kawakami, and Hiro Ammunition Depots.

    Over the past two years, LRC-Honshu worked closely with 10th SG and USARJ G4, while keeping 403d AFSB staff informed, to initiate efforts to appropriately restructure maintenance support operations under LRC-Honshu in Kure in alignment with Army Regulation 750-1 and the ILBLS program guidance. LRC-Honshu coordinated with 10th SG to establish a series of working groups, developed and provided a final decision brief to the 403rd AFSB and 10th SG commanders, and conducted an on-site visit to Kure AD involving all stakeholders, culminating in in a briefing to the USARJ Steering Committee.

    “Taking full responsibility for maintenance in Kure will greatly enhance our oversight of maintenance operations, ensuring that we can effectively meet the needs of USAG-Japan while enabling our partners to focus on their primary mission,” said Michael J. Moore, Maintenance Division Chief.

    On Aug. 1, 2024, LRC-Honshu assumed overall responsibility of maintenance operations in Kure following the transfer of 14 authorized host nation positions from 10th SG to LRC-Honshu to and meet 403rd AFSB’s requirement of maintaining USAG-Japan and LRC-Honshu vehicles and equipment.

    In September 2024, LRC-Honshu leadership from Camp Zama visited Kure to speak to the new employees, conduct a joint inventory of all associated tools and equipment, and coordinated with the USAG-Japan Department of Public Works to assign three major facilities and several sub-facilities used by mechanics in Kure’s Akizuki, Kawakami, and Hiro Ammunition Depots. By October 2024, LRC-Honshu will successfully achieve full operational capability of maintenance operations in Kure.

    “By assuming full responsibility of maintenance operations in Kure, LRC-Honshu will improve oversight of maintenance procedures, increase overall equipment readiness rates, and streamline processes to better support USAG Japan,” said Sean B. Mager, director, LRC-Honshu. “This transition will allow the 10th Support Group to focus on their core mission, enhancing overall operational effectiveness in the region.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government of Canada Announces Support for Indigenous-led Climate Solutions in Remote Indigenous Communities

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    News release

    October 6, 2024            Thunder Bay, Ontario                 Natural Resources Canada 

     First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in Canada are at the forefront of efforts to address climate change and adapt to the environmental and economic impacts of our changing climate. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting self-determined action in addressing Indigenous Peoples’ climate priorities to create a healthy and resilient future for all.

    Today, the Government of Canada is pleased to announce Phase 2 of the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (IODI) Cohort 2. During this phase, the following 10 Energy Champion teams from remote Indigenous communities and Nations will receive up to $500,000 to conduct community engagement, complete training and develop their Community Energy Plan.

    •  Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government, British Columbia 
    • Tahltan Band Council, British Columbia 
    • Uchucklesaht Tribe Government, British Columbia 
    • Ḵwiḵwa̱sut’inux̱w Ha̱xwa’mis First Nation, British Columbia 
    • Hamlet of Paulatuk, Northwest Territories 
    • Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 
    • Mountain Cree Camp, Alberta 
    • Pangnirtung, Nunavut 
    • Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek – Gull Bay First Nation, Ontario 
    • Kangirsuk, Nunavik, Quebec 

    Comprising clean energy leaders, the 10 Energy Champion teams completed the 20/20 Catalysts program delivered by the Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise, the federal government’s delivery partner on the Initiative. An Energy Champion from each team has also been paired with mentors to receive tailored support in areas including technical knowledge, community engagement and project management.

    Following the successful completion of Phase 2, these 10 Energy Champion teams may be eligible to receive additional funding to advance project design and development, guided by their Community Energy Plan, as part of Phase 3 in 2025.

    Quotes

    “Indigenous Peoples face significant and unique climate challenges that threaten livelihoods, cultures, knowledge systems and lives. In the face of these threats, Indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast are taking remarkable action to fight climate change and adapt to its impacts. Indigenous-led climate solutions offer better resiliency, better outcomes and more space for expert voices as we move together along the path to a clean and prosperous future. I am pleased to see these 10 projects enter a new phase and look forward to seeing the innovations to come.” 

    The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
    Minister of Energy and Natural Resources 

    “Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of climate change in Canada, and as the original stewards of our lands and waters, they are uniquely positioned to lead solutions to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for generations to come. I am consistently inspired by the clean energy projects carried out in Indigenous communities, and I applaud the Energy Champions for entering this exciting new phase of community engagement, training and planning for a more resilient future where all can benefit from a sustainable and strong economy.”

    The Honourable Patty Hajdu 
    Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister Responsible for the
    Federal Economic Development Agency of Northern Ontario

    “As the way of life of Indigenous communities continues to be impacted due to our changing climate, especially in the North and Arctic, it is more important than ever that they be a driving force in how we adapt to these changes. Starting Phase 2 of this clean-energy initiative is a testament to our shared commitment to reconciliation and the power of meaningful relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities in tackling how we can actively adjust our actions to support a cleaner future for the next seven generations.” 

    The Honourable Dan Vandal
    Minister of Northern Affairs

    “The transition to clean energy continues to be important to Indigenous communities and the Government of Canada as we work together toward reconciliation. The Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative projects announced today are a great example of the way we can encourage self-determined priorities by supporting communities in increasing their control over their energy future and well-being.” 

    Michael V. McLeod
    Member of Parliament for Northwest Territories

    Quick facts

    • Cohort 2 of the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (IODI) is part of the $300 million announced in Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan to support clean energy projects in Indigenous, rural and remote communities.

    • IODI is a clean energy training and funding program that supports Indigenous-led climate solutions in remote Indigenous communities that currently use diesel or fossil fuels for heat and power. 

    • IODI was first launched in 2019 and was designed based on 18 months of engagement with Indigenous communities, rights holders and organizations. It is delivered in collaboration with the Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise (ICE SE) and the Government of Canada. 

    • Applicants who were not selected to participate in Cohort 2 of IODI were invited to meet directly with a member of the Wah-ila-toos federal team and the team at the Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise to discuss their priorities and other possible funding options. They were also invited to join the ICE Network, an online collaborative space for everyone working on Indigenous Clean Energy projects, and to attend future ICE Network events. 

    • The IODI is delivered through Wah-ila-toos, a single-window access point for Indigenous, rural and remote communities to obtain Government of Canada funding and resources for clean energy initiatives. The Government of Canada will continue to develop meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities to advance reconciliation and self-determination, advance clean energy projects and help ensure new economic opportunities through strong Indigenous climate leadership.

    • Wah-ila-toos is administered by Natural Resources Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Infrastructure Canada. The name Wah-ila-toos was gifted by three Grandmothers and Elders. It represents kinship with all and our duty to be in good relations with all.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    Media Relations 
    Natural Resources Canada 
    Ottawa 
    343-292-6100 
    nrcan.media.rncan@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca   

    Cindy Caturao
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
    Cindy.Caturao@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

    Follow us on LinkedIn  

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: FACT SHEET: UPDATE: Biden-⁠ Harris Administration Sparing No Resource to Support Communities Impacted by Hurricane  Helene

    Source: The White House

    President Biden ordered 500 additional active-duty troops to support on-the-ground efforts; 1,500 troops now mobilized to assist National Guard and Federal personnel

    Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s direction, the Administration continues to mobilize a robust, intensive, and whole-of-government response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene. As life-saving response efforts continue in heavily impacted areas, the Administration is also working to ensure communities across the Southeast have prompt access to Federal resources that will enable them to both purchase essential items and begin their road to recovery and rebuilding.

    Today, in response to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s request for additional support, President Biden ordered that another 500 active-duty troops move into Western North Carolina. With a total of 1,500 troops now supplementing a robust on-the-ground effort – including more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and more than 7,000 Federal personnel – the Biden-Harris Administration is mobilizing all relevant resources to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding.

    The Administration has already helped thousands of Hurricane Helene survivors jumpstart their recoveries with more than $137 million in Federal assistance – with more to come. Over the last several days, the Administration has contacted nearly 450 state, city, and county officials in impacted states to ensure they have the support and resources they need. 

    The Administration is committed to ensuring that all communities receive accurate information that is essential to their recovery. The Administration, including FEMA, has been tracking and combatting the significant amount of false information circulating online related to the Federal response – which can discourage people from seeking critical and life-saving assistance. The Administration is actively working to identify and combat this misinformation and disinformation and support survivors in every possible way. 

    President Biden and Vice President Harris have traveled throughout the Southeast this week to meet with impacted communities and, during their travels, have reaffirmed that the Administration will be with impacted communities every step of the way, no matter how long it takes, to ensure they have the support and resources they need to recover and rebuild. While there is a long way to go on the road to full recovery and rebuilding, Republican and Democratic leaders from across the country have praised the Administration’s well-coordinated response and surge of resources in the aftermath of Helene’s landfall – including South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer.

    Additionally, the Federal government is closely monitoring Tropical Storm Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, which has the potential to have significant impacts along the West coast of the Florida Peninsula by mid-next week. Residents in Florida should remain alert, listen to local officials, and make additional preparations as needed.

    Additional updates on the Federal response include: 

    Active-Duty Service Members Delivering Life-Saving Supplies to North Carolinians

    In response to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s request for additional support, today President Biden directed another 500 troops move into Western North Carolina. These troops have advanced technological assets to provide greater situational awareness on the ground and will assist with future resource planning across the region. These additional 500 troops supplement the nearly 1,000 soldiers from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who have already been mobilized through the Department of Defense and in coordination with FEMA to support the residents and affected counties in Western North Carolina.

    In support of the state and North Carolina National Guard, these active-duty troops are focusing their efforts on moving valuable commodities—like food and water—to distribution sites, getting those commodities to survivors in areas that are hard to reach. They are also working on road stabilization and route clearance activities. 

    In addition, the Department of Defense is providing rotary wing assets from the Army and Navy for personnel movement and commodity distribution across the affected region. Fixed and rotary wing assets from the Air Force are conducting search and rescue activities.  

    The US Army Corps of Engineers has established 12 Emergency Operations Centers across the southeast, with three in North Carolina. The Army Corps of Engineers also has emergency power teams conducting assessments in North Carolina and Georgia as well as water/wastewater assessments, bridge and road inspections, and debris removal efforts in North Carolina and Florida.

    Over 6,000 National Guard personnel from 18 States are spearheading the response effort across the impacted region, providing critical life-saving and life-sustaining support to the victims of this unprecedented natural disaster.  

    Supporting On-The-Ground Response Efforts

    The Biden-Harris Administration is actively working alongside state, local and Tribal partners to assess damage and support those affected by the disaster. 

    The Federal government has already helped thousands of Hurricane Helene survivors jumpstart their recoveries with more than $137 million in federal assistance. More than 7,000 personnel from across the Federal workforce are deployed, including U.S. Forest Service Saw Teams to help clear debris in remote areas. To date, FEMA has shipped over 14.9 million meals, more than 13.9 million liters of water, more than 505,000 tarps to the region, and installed 157 generators at critical facilities such as hospitals and water treatment plants.

    President Biden has approved 100 percent Federal cost share for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This means that the Federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs associated with things like debris removal, first responders, search and rescue, shelters, and mass feeding.

    Disaster survivors in certain areas of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia can begin their recovery process by applying for federal assistance through FEMA. People with damage to their homes or personal property who live in the designated areas should apply for assistance, which may include upfront funds to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies and other emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay. Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for Hurricane Helene.   


    Repairing Roads and Re-Establishing Critical Routes 

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the immediate availability of $100 million in Emergency Relief funds for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help pay for the costs of immediate emergency work resulting from Hurricane Helene flood damage. The Department also announced $32 million for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. This is in addition to the $2 million announced for use by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

    These funds will allow the states to act more quickly to fund eligible repairs to their damaged facilities. FHWA’s Emergency Relief program provides funding to states, territories, Tribes, and Federal Land Management Agencies for highways and bridges damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. These Emergency Relief funds, provided through the “quick release” process, are an initial installment of funds toward restoring this essential transportation link. Additional funds needed to repair damage will be supported by the Emergency Relief program through nationwide funding allocations.

    Restoring Power and Critical Communications 

    As of this morning, approximately 384,000 customers are without power, down more than 91 percent from the region-wide peak of 4.6 million on September 27. At least 50,000 personnel from 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada are responding to power outages in the Southeast and Appalachia.

    Additionally, FirstNet, an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, has been instrumental in providing critical communication support during Hurricane Helene. The FirstNet Response Operations Group deployed 19 SatCOLTs (light trucks with mounted cellular towers) and numerous portable cellular sites to the hardest-hit areas, including North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. So far, FirstNet has provided cell service and internet access to over 75,000 first responders and survivors affected by the storm, while power and connectivity is being restored.

    Calling on Congress to Provide More Disaster Assistance to Communities 

    President Biden wrote a letter to Congressional leaders calling on them to provide more funding for disaster relief efforts. President Biden warned that most urgently, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene. Small businesses and individuals in affected areas depend on disaster loans as a critical lifeline during difficult times. In fact, for individual disaster survivors, SBA loans are often the largest source of Federal disaster recovery funds. Renters and homeowners use these loans to repair and rebuild their homes as well as replace or repair damaged property including their personal vehicles, while businesses use them to cover basic operating expenses. President Biden urged the Congress to restore this funding immediately. SBA is already receiving over 3,000 loan applications a day from people affected by Hurricane Helene.

    The President also warned that, while FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has the resources it requires right now to meet immediate needs, the fund does face a shortfall at the end of the year. Without additional funding, FEMA would be required to forego longer-term recovery activities in favor of meeting urgent needs. He called on the Congress to provide FEMA additional resources to avoid forcing that kind of unnecessary trade-off and to give the communities we serve the certainty of knowing that help will be ongoing, both for the short- and long-term.

    Administration’s Ongoing Response Efforts Supplement Significant Pre-Landfall Preparations

    The Biden-Harris Administration took significant steps and made extensive preparations prior to Helene making landfall. Two days in advance of Helene making landfall on September 26, the Administration began preparations in coordination with State and local partners. 

    On September 24, FEMA stood up their National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., charged with monitoring the storm’s track and coordinating national-level emergency response teams. FEMA Region V also activated its Regional Response Coordination Center in Atlanta on September 24, gathering personnel to monitor the storm on the ground close to the anticipated impact and begin planning a response and deployed Incident Management Teams to state Emergency Operations Centers in the storm’s path to coordinate and speed Federal support to response operations.

    At the President’s direction, 1,500 Federal personnel were deployed to the region, including 14 Urban Search and Rescue teams (940 personnel) to potentially affected states, including eight teams to Florida; two teams to Georgia; and four teams to North Carolina and FEMA setup up an incident support base in coordination with the 42d Air Base Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. 

    The Federal government pre-staged in the region:

    • More than 2.7 million meals, 1.6 million liters of water, 50,000 tarps, 10,000 cots, and 20,000 blankets to support sheltering needs in impacted communities;
    • Tanker trucks with 70,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 40,000 gallons of gasoline to surge to impacted communities once the storm passed to help alleviate any fuel shortages; and;
    • Hundreds of ambulances to assist with the movement of any patients out of impacted hospitals or other facilities.

    In advance of landfall, President Biden approved five Governors’ Emergency Declaration requests for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina prior to Helene’s landfall. He also immediately approved Emergency Declaration requests that the Governors of Tennessee and Virginia submitted shortly after landfall. These declarations authorized FEMA to reimburse State and local jurisdictions for costs incurred for pre-storm emergency measures including: evacuating and sheltering residents, search and rescue operations, sandbagging, covering costs associated with Emergency Operation Centers, and first responder activation.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Statement from President Joe  Biden on Hurricane Helene  Response

    Source: The White House

    Since before Hurricane Helene made landfall, my Administration has mobilized an intensive Federal response to ensure impacted communities have the resources and support they need. As part of that ongoing commitment, and in response to Governor Cooper’s request for additional support, today I ordered another 500 active-duty troops with advanced technological assets to move into Western North Carolina and assist with the response and recovery efforts. With a total of 1,500 troops now supplementing a robust on-the-ground effort – including more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and more than 7,000 Federal personnel – my Administration is sparing no resource to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding.
     
    Additionally, I have been briefed on Tropical Storm Milton as it strengthens across the Gulf of Mexico and the work my Administration is doing to preposition life-saving resources in advance of the storm. I urge all residents in Florida to listen to local officials and make preparations as needed.
     
    As these communities brace for potentially yet another catastrophic storm, and as part of my Administration’s solemn obligation to stand with impacted communities as they rebuild their lives, we will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders – regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Gen Z knowledge about the Holocaust matters for ongoing reconciliation with a troubled history

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Regan Lipes, Extended Sessional Instructor, English and Comparative Literature, MacEwan University

    Since last Oct. 7, the world has seen mass death catalyzed by terrorist attacks in Israel, Israel’s mission to recover hostages still being detained and retaliation in Gaza — and now a long-dreaded war erupting through the Middle East.

    As a scholar of Jewish and Holocaust literature, in the past year following Oct. 7, I have been aware that how students engage with the history of the Holocaust has been impacted.

    Eighty thousand Israelis remain displaced from their homes in the north. Over 40,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza, and and following a United Nations expert accusing Israel of acts of genocide, UN delegates have amplified calls for an immediate ceasefire.

    Others assert Israel’s actions are a defensive response. While all Israeli citizens have been affected by violence in Israel, Israel is a Jewish state, and the kind of violence and hate directed at Israel is being felt by Jews globally. For many Jews the Oct. 7 attacks themselves resonated hauntingly of Kristallnacht, with the Jewish people again put in a position of needing to defend their right to exist.



    Read more:
    Holocaust comparisons are overused — but in the case of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel they may reflect more than just the emotional response of a traumatized people

    The definition of genocide acknowledged in the international Genocide Convention drew on the term coined by Polish-born lawyer Raphael Lemkin who fled persecution of the meticulously orchestrated genocide against European Jewry during the Second World War.

    Globally, we are seeing a time of re-aligning geopolitics, including both the Global South and West becoming increasingly aware of pro-Palestinian perspectives. Many Gen Zs have been quick to rally against Zionism.

    At the same time, Holocaust denialism, antisemitic hate acts and terrorist threats have accompanied a rise in anti-Israel sentiment — with frightening effects on Jews globally, sometimes fanned by propagandists seeking to exploit and augment conflict and polarization.

    Even before events of the past year, as the 1940s recede in time, fewer and fewer Gen Zs have identified themselves as feeling knowledgeable about the Holocaust. The way knowledge is transmitted must adapt with the times.

    Memory through time

    In 2019 I was the faculty fellow for a partnership between the Auschwitz Jewish Center and the Museum of Jewish Heritage (MJH). As a scholar I have had the benefit of meeting with Holocaust survivors to learn about their experiences.

    During my fellowship, the ongoing question rattling in my brain was how to safeguard the lived testimonies of survivors as their numbers dwindle.

    When I teach literature of the Holocaust and second-generation efforts to preserve memory, I have noticed students’ limited knowledge of the Holocaust when I do an informal poll of what they know already. Many students admit an awareness limited exclusively to Hollywood films.

    Six-part documentary

    Director Joe Berlinger’s recent documentary Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial is conscious of deficits in Gen Z education and seeks to remedy this.

    ‘Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial,’ documentary by Joe Berlinger.

    Berlinger’s six-part Netflix documentary takes a unique approach to examining and exploring Hitler’s rise to power and the lasting global impact.

    He frames this analysis by using the writings and broadcasts of journalist and foreign corespondent William L. Shirer, who authored the iconic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960), in concert with narration from Shirer’s granddaughter, Deirdre van Dyk.

    Within the context of her grandfather’s historically significant coverage of the European political landscape throughout the 1930s and 40s, van Dyk is able to offer insights regarding how Shirer spoke about this period going beyond his public writings.

    Preserving history

    On an online discussion panel organized by the MJH in July 2024, Berlinger acknowledged the plethora of documentaries examining the Second World War, but explained that this work is a targeted effort to preserve history while connecting and resonating with Gen Z viewers.

    Van Dyk’s participation plays a key role in bridging the present with the lived experience of Shirer, a witness of Nazi corruption and totalitarianism.

    Similarly second- and third-generation Holocaust survivors are instrumental in ensuring that their parents and grandparents’ suffering and trauma can be used to caution current learners who will be the politicians, jurists and educators of the future about dangers of antisemitism.

    Online discussion with director Joe Berlinger with Museum of Jewish Heritage.

    Alberta initiative

    An initiative in Alberta, the Second Voices Project is working to help Gen Z students understand the Holocaust in a way that feels authentic and less like distant history.

    The initiative, with the support of the Government of Alberta, uses video testimony given by survivors, and pairs this with discussion, commentary and observations provided by their children and grandchildren.

    Robert Jackson, chief counsel of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, noted in his opening statement at the Nuremberg Trial in 1945:

    “The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated.”

    Jackson’s remarks now seem prophetic as society reexamines how best to impart this vital knowledge.

    Increased consciousness

    When the Second Voices Project travels to secondary and post-secondary institutions it is with the hope that seeds for increased tolerance and social consciousness be planted.

    ‘The Pages In Between’ by Erin Einhorn.
    (Simon and Schuster)

    During the winter 2024 semester, in a Jewish literature course I taught, I saw the Second Voices Project in action. The course sees students examine the search for resolution in untenable situations, with reporter Erin Einhorn’s The Pages In Between.

    They grapple with depictions of trauma and extreme loss in Cynthia Ozick’s short story The Shawl and examine how American-born Jews negotiated feelings of misplaced guilt following learning about the extent of the Holocaust.

    Accompanied by a Holocaust education specialist from the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, my students met second-generation survivor and retired physician Dr. Francie Cyngiser.

    Cyngiser’s parents survived the Nazi concentration camps, and she brought her father, Sidney Cyngiser’s, recorded Shoah Foundation testimony, narrated by her son and nephew, to my class.

    Sidney Cyngiser was dedicated to combating Holocaust denial by sharing his story. Instead of simply watching a video of Cyngiser testifying, the documentary was contextualized for students by inter-generational survivors not much younger than their parents.

    Addressing trauma fatigue

    Although Berlinger’s viewers cannot speak directly with van Dyk the way my students did with Dr. Cyngiser, his documentary is an important innovation to engage Gen Z learners.

    To appeal to this targeted viewership, the Shirer family consented to use AI voice approximations of William Shirer’s writings to help narrate Berlinger’s documentary. Although original recordings from his news broadcasts also feature prominently, many of his diaries, smuggled out of Nazi Germany at great risk, needed vocalization for the film.

    By adapting, Holocaust educators can also combat trauma fatigue which can impair capacity for awareness, recognition and response. In Germany, where Holocaust education is mandatory, feelings of frustration over inherited guilt for the Holocaust can breed apathy and resentment.

    Both pro-Zionist and Zionist-critical Jews have highlighted that such sentiments are dangerous in the current global climate.

    Apathy fails to serve any humanitarian function and dangerously anaesthetises all sides to the pain of others.



    Read more:
    Middle East student dialogue: As an expert in deep conflict, what I’ve learned about making conversation possible

    The German term Vergangenheitsbewältigung describes the process of ongoing reconciliation with a troubled history. The past is a reality that humanity as whole must contend with, but a lack of understanding is fertile ground for denial, revisionism and antisemitism.

    I cannot help but wonder if greater awareness of Holocaust history, and political and cultural histories of how to safeguard human rights, would promote more tolerance and compassion universally.

    Regan Lipes 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. Gen Z knowledge about the Holocaust matters for ongoing reconciliation with a troubled history – https://theconversation.com/gen-z-knowledge-about-the-holocaust-matters-for-ongoing-reconciliation-with-a-troubled-history-235296

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Echoes of the past: U.S. and Korea commemorate POW/MIA Recognition Day

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    SEOUL, South Korea  –  

    The candle flickered briefly at the solemn table that, despite being set, remained empty. A red rose stood alone in a vase with a yellow ribbon tied firmly. Service members are all too familiar with the “missing man table,” in which each element carries meaning, but none so prevalent as the empty chair, the absence of someone not present, held as prisoner of war or missing in action.

    While the Eighth Army Band played, the crowd of nearly 300 Korean citizens, U.S. service members, and veterans stood vigil for the first Republic of Korea-U.S. POW/MIA Recognition Day Ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea on Sept. 21, 2024. Meanwhile, the lone table was next to the podium, serving as a reminder of those not in attendance.

    Each element of the table holds significance, as explained by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which were echoed during the event.
    – The table is round, to show everlasting concern.
    – The tablecloth is white to symbolize the purity of the missing and their motives.
    – The glass is inverted to symbolize their inability to share in today’s toast.
    – The candle symbolizes everlasting hope.
    – The single red rose as a reminder of their families and loved ones.
    – The slice of lemon as a reminder of their bitter fate.
    – The salt symbolizes the tears of their families.
    – The chair is empty … they are missing.

    More than 81,000 service members remain missing. However, in the last decade, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified remains of more than 1,500 U.S. service members, including more than 300 from the Korean War.

    “Events like this and the support that you bring to the recovery mission in general will move the mission forward and help find the answer we all hope for,” wrote Richard Downes, president and executive director of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs, in a letter read aloud during the ceremony. “Thank you again for what each of you are doing to bring closure to many families who have waited so long.”

    Although there were many agencies involved, the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys Religious Support Office helped put the event together.

    “All Americans should never forget the brave men and women who answered our nation’s call to serve the cause of freedom,” said Chaplain Chan Ham, deputy garrison chaplain, USAG Humphreys, who was the principal narrator during the event. “Our motto is no man left behind, which is core to our principles and values.”

    Many of the U.S. Soldiers who attended the event also serve as chaplains assistants across Camp Humphreys.

    “Not all of our brothers and sisters get to come home,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Mateo D. Boldt, chaplain assistant with the 8th Army Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion. “By participating in this event, we can ensure their legacy is not forgotten.”

    Boldt’s words are echoed on the POW/MIA flags that waved in the wind, “You are not forgotten.”

    The ceremony included a reading of each of the names of the missing, which echoed through the exterior of the memorial. Once complete, the bugle played Taps.

    Afterward, guests placed flowers at the foot of the exterior wall, which has the words inscribed, “Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.” Those same words are at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    Service members saluted their missing comrades, while civilians bowed in recognition as if in silent promise to never forget.

    POW/MIA Recognition Day, established in 1979, serves as a solemn reminder of the thousands of service members who remain unaccounted for. It is observed annually on the third Friday in September.

    “During National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we recognize the absolute bravery of our nation’s service members who are missing and unaccounted for, and we recommit to bringing them home,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a White House proclamation. “We offer our gratitude and steadfast support for their families, who have given so much to our Nation.”

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A year of devastation: with hope and trust shattered, what can bring an end to the violence in Israel-Palestine?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eyal Mayroz, Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney

    On October 7 2023, Hamas launched a savage attack on southern Israel, massacring around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 240 people. The following day, I wrote in an analysis for The Conversation:

    For many Palestinians, this weekend’s events offered Israelis a small taste of what their own lives have been like under decades of occupation. However, the early celebrations will likely soon turn into anger and frustration as the numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties will continue to rise. Violence begets violence.

    As the Israeli retaliation had only just begun, no one could have imagined how devastating it would end up being for the people of Gaza. There are now well over 40,000 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, and countless wounded. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced within the coastal strip.

    The ferociousness of the Israel Defence Forces’ aerial bombings – and its subsequent ground invasion of Gaza – triggered intense global pressure to stop the violence. This was coupled with a worldwide campaign to end Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.

    This popular movement was able to place its agenda at the forefront of the international media’s attention and sustain it there for many months.

    A year later, however, concern for the people of Gaza – and for the dozens of Israeli hostages still locked up in Hamas’ tunnels – has begun to wane. The world’s focus is shifting to the fast-expanding misery along the Israel–Lebanon border, and to a possible full-scale war between Israel and Iran.

    As the fighting in Gaza grinds on with no end in sight, the prospects for resolving the most intractable conflict in the world between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians seem ever dimmer. But is it so?

    One conflict, two peoples and many onlookers

    In a century-long struggle between two societies over the same small parcel of land, the cycle of violence has barely stopped.

    The challenges today remain frustratingly robust – entrenched territorial claims, grave errors by leaders on both sides and many missed opportunities. Years of polarising narratives have also bred mistrust, competing accounts of victimisation, debilitating fears and animosity — to the point of mutual dehumanisation.

    On the Israeli-Jewish side, there’s a strong sense of an existential security threat, compounded by the inter-generational trauma of the Holocaust and ongoing fears of terrorist attacks. This sharply contrasts with Palestinians’ experiences of decades of dispossession, humiliation, continuous rights violations and feelings of abandonment by the world.

    To further undermine a solution to the conflict, religious and radical nationalist influences – on both sides – have turned an already complex, asymmetric conflict into an unyielding impasse.

    Over the years, international failures to help resolve the conflict drove many states to recalibrate their foreign policies away from constructive engagement. Arguably, this was to avoid harmful impacts to their reputations over future failures, or accusations of bias, from one or both sides.

    Fear, victimhood and tit-for-tat revenge

    The 1948 Nakba, or “catastrophe”, followed by decades of oppressive Israeli occupation, have inflicted immeasurable suffering on Palestinians. In turn, this occupation has also inflicted significant and often unappreciated damage to Israel’s social fabric, cohesion, economy, international standing, security and moral stature.

    Hamas’ brutal massacres and Israel’s vicious retaliations have only exacerbated these effects, for both sides. And they are now threatening to extinguish what tiny hope may have existed before October 2023 for a path towards a liveable future for both people.

    Should the tit-for-tat cycle of violence continue, the blowback will hurt not only Israel’s efforts to attain safety and security for its citizens, but the prospects for a political future for the Palestinians, as well.

    Arguably, existential fear may be the most underappreciated and damaging element behind the conflict’s intractability.

    Outside observers tend to view security concerns rationally, and as a national concern, based on the threat to the state or to the people as a whole.

    But in the Israel-Palestine conflict, people react to such fears emotionally, focusing first on their own safety. And the fear is ever-present – a rocket exploding in my house, or my child being shot at by a sniper on the way to school.

    These worries and experiences have been etched in the minds of generations of Palestinians and Israelis. We need to appreciate this fact to make sense of how both sides have dehumanised one another and excluded the “other” from their spheres of moral concern, particularly following the October 7 attack and in the weeks and months after.

    The late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist for engaging in peace efforts, once said you don’t make peace with friends, but with enemies.

    However, absent a minimum sense of safety and trust – if not in the other side, than at least in the mediators and future outside guarantors – the security arrangements required to sustain a peace agreement would be difficult, if not impossible, for both sides to agree on.



    Read more:
    10 books to help you understand Israel and Palestine, recommended by experts

    Entrenched views and dangerous simplifications

    As the war in Gaza has not yet ended, a detailed assessment of the successes and failures of the campaign for a Palestinian state is still ahead of us.

    During the fighting, misinformation and disinformation have been rife. With both sides waging a propaganda war, the manipulation of facts ratcheted up divisions and increased polarisation between “pro-Israel” and “pro-Palestine” groups across the globe.

    Selectively embracing information that could validate one’s own position and omitting or rejecting everything else have become the norm.

    Once we choose a side, we can go to great lengths to defend its actions. Our conditioned responses challenge or cast doubt on any claim or information put forth by the other side. And the more emotionally invested we become, the harder it is for us to empathise with the suffering of the “other”.

    Simplistic misconceptions, for example, that an aggressor cannot also be a victim or vice versa, have added fuel to the fire and to the conflict’s polarisation. This has had negative consequences for empathy, reconciliation, trust and peace-building.

    We could debate without end who has suffered more. But how useful would that be, at this stage, for the prospects of a future peace?

    Despite the strong emphasis in the global debate on the “pro-Palestinian” versus “pro-Israeli” dichotomy, an important reality is that meeting the basic needs of one side could never be achieved without addressing those of the other.

    These needs for peace, safety, security and dignity are mutual. As such, they should be promoted in the public debate over the incompatible needs ramped up by minorities in the two camps.

    Rather than taking sides, efforts should focus on reconciling both parties’ objectives: a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the unjust occupation, self-determination for Palestinians, and safety and security for Israelis.

    As the future welfare of one side is inextricably linked to the security needs of the other, zero-sum solutions won’t achieve anything. Rather, they will only fan the suspicions, animosities and victimhood grievances on both sides, and lead to more violence.



    Read more:
    Why is the Gaza war tearing us apart?

    It’s the world’s turn

    Most Palestinians and Israelis have lost what little desire or capacity they had prior to October 7 for trusting or empathising with the misery of the other. The anger, fear and suffering today are too overwhelming.

    In the short term, meaningful solutions must come from the outside.

    In addition to a critically needed change of leadership on both sides, it is time for more sincere collaborative efforts by key states in the international community.

    It is time to replace years of empty condemnations with more meaningful and sustained commitments.

    It is time to help both societies, through carrots but also strong sticks, to free themselves from the chokeholds of illusory, all-or-nothing radical ideologies that have brought so much suffering and devastation to all.

    It is time for a better future for both Palestinian and Israeli children, even at the price of painful concessions. And concessions will have to be made on both sides for the promise of a lasting peace.

    To pressure governments to do more, protests should continue, but their voices should call for peace for all and against harming innocents on all sides, regardless of who they are.

    Peace, or at this stage an end to violence, has to come first – even if this would slow down (not prevent!) accountability and justice for all victims.

    Hate comes easily in the face of injustices. It is hard to empathise with the misfortunes of “others” who may or may not have brought their miseries upon themselves. But selective denunciation of crimes perpetrated by the other side, based on one’s support or rejection of a cause, is not only morally flawed, but counterproductive.

    Those who have been severely aggrieved by this human tragedy may struggle to apply the same yardstick to others, certainly in the near future. But the rest of us can, and should, do better.

    Eyal Mayroz 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. A year of devastation: with hope and trust shattered, what can bring an end to the violence in Israel-Palestine? – https://theconversation.com/a-year-of-devastation-with-hope-and-trust-shattered-what-can-bring-an-end-to-the-violence-in-israel-palestine-239204

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Our Administration is doing whatever it takes to support those affected by Hurricane Helene.

    Source: United States of America – The White House (video statements)

    With thousands of federal personnel on the ground, millions of meals distributed, and more than $137 million in Individual Assistance delivered, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to doing whatever it takes to support those affected by Hurricane Helene.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbf2MKEJU2U

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Getting antivirals for COVID too often depends on where you live and how wealthy you are

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute

    CGN089/Shutterstock

    Medical experts recommend antivirals for people aged 70 and older who get COVID, and for other groups at risk of severe illness and hospitalisation from COVID.

    But many older Australians have missed out on antivirals after getting sick with COVID. It is yet another way the health system is failing the most vulnerable.

    Who missed out?

    We analysed COVID antiviral uptake between March 2022 and September 2023. We found some groups were more likely to miss out on antivirals including Indigenous people, people from disadvantaged areas, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

    Some of the differences will be due to different rates of infection. But across this 18-month period, many older Australians were infected at least once, and rates of infection were higher in some disadvantaged communities.

    How stark are the differences?

    Compared to the national average, Indigenous Australians were nearly 25% less likely to get antivirals, older people living in disadvantaged areas were 20% less likely to get them, and people with a culturally or linguistically diverse background were 13% less likely to get a script.

    People in remote areas were 37% less likely to get antivirals than people living in major cities. People in outer regional areas were 25% less likely.

    Dispensing rates by group.
    Grattan Institute

    Even within the same city, the differences are stark. In Sydney, people older than 70 in the affluent eastern suburbs (including Vaucluse, Point Piper and Bondi) were nearly twice as likely to have had an antiviral as those in Fairfield, in Sydney’s south-west.

    Older people in leafy inner-eastern Melbourne (including Canterbury, Hawthorn and Kew) were 1.8 times more likely to have had an antiviral as those in Brimbank (which includes Sunshine) in the city’s west.

    Why are people missing out?

    COVID antivirals should be taken when symptoms first appear. While awareness of COVID antivirals is generally strong, people often don’t realise they would benefit from the medication. They wait until symptoms get worse and it is too late.

    Frequent GP visits make a big difference. Our analysis found people 70 and older who see a GP more frequently were much more likely to be dispensed a COVID antiviral.

    Regular visits give an opportunity for preventive care and patient education. For example, GPs can provide high-risk patients with “COVID treatment plans” as a reminder to get tested and seek treatment as soon as they are unwell.

    Difficulty seeing a GP could help explain low antiviral use in rural areas. Compared to people in major cities, people in small rural towns have about 35% fewer GPs, see their GP about half as often, and are 30% more likely to report waiting too long for an appointment.

    Just like for vaccination, a GP’s focus on antivirals probably matters, as does providing care that is accessible to people from different cultural backgrounds.

    Care should go those who need it

    Since the period we looked at, evidence has emerged that raises doubts about how effective antivirals are, particularly for people at lower risk of severe illness. That means getting vaccinated is more important than getting antivirals.

    But all Australians who are eligible for antivirals should have the same chance of getting them.

    These drugs have cost more than A$1.7 billion, with the vast majority of that money coming from the federal government. While dispensing rates have fallen, more than 30,000 packs of COVID antivirals were dispensed in August, costing about $35 million.

    Such a huge investment shouldn’t be leaving so many people behind. Getting treatment shouldn’t depend on your income, cultural background or where you live. Instead, care should go to those who need it the most.

    Getting antivirals shouldn’t depend on who your GP is.
    National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

    People born overseas have been 40% more likely to die from COVID than those born here. Indigenous Australians have been 60% more likely to die from COVID than non-Indigenous people. And the most disadvantaged people have been 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID than those in the wealthiest areas.

    All those at-risk groups have been more likely to miss out on antivirals.

    It’s not just a problem with antivirals. The same groups are also disproportionately missing out on COVID vaccination, compounding their risk of severe illness. The pattern is repeated for other important preventive health care, such as cancer screening.

    A 3-step plan to meet patients’ needs

    The federal government should do three things to close these gaps in preventive care.

    First, the government should make Primary Health Networks (PHNs) responsible for reducing them. PHNs, the regional bodies responsible for improving primary care, should share data with GPs and step in to boost uptake in communities that are missing out.

    Second, the government should extend its MyMedicare reforms. MyMedicare gives general practices flexible funding to care for patients who live in residential aged care or who visit hospital frequently. That approach should be expanded to all patients, with more funding for poorer and sicker patients. That will give GP clinics time to advise patients about preventive health, including COVID vaccines and antivirals, before they get sick.

    Third, team-based pharmacist prescribing should be introduced. Then pharmacists could quickly dispense antivirals for patients if they have a prior agreement with the patient’s GP. It’s an approach that would also work for medications for chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.

    COVID antivirals, unlike vaccines, have been keeping up with new variants without the need for updates. If a new and more harmful variant emerges, or when a new pandemic hits, governments should have these systems in place to make sure everyone who needs treatment can get it fast.

    In the meantime, fairer access to care will help close the big and persistent gaps in health between different groups of Australians.

    Grattan Institute has been supported in its work by government, corporates, and philanthropic gifts.

    A full list of supporting organisations is published at http://www.grattan.edu.au.

    – ref. Getting antivirals for COVID too often depends on where you live and how wealthy you are – https://theconversation.com/getting-antivirals-for-covid-too-often-depends-on-where-you-live-and-how-wealthy-you-are-239497

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia has an extraordinary 13 million spare bedrooms. Here’s how to use at least some of them to ease the housing crisis

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lyndall Bryant, Lecturer in Property Economics, Queensland University of Technology

    While there’s little relief in sight for Australia’s housing crisis, with new projects years away from completion, there appear to be as many as 13 million unused spare bedrooms across the country.

    In a new briefing paper for the QUT Centre for Justice I suggest that, at least in the interim, these spare rooms ought to be part of the solution.

    Here’s where you find them. The census says about 3.2 million Australian homes have one spare bedroom, another 3 million have two spare rooms and 1.2 million have three spare bedrooms or more.

    They are more common in the homes of older than younger Australians.

    A survey by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute found that more than three-quarters of homeowners aged 74 and older had spare rooms compared to less than two-thirds of homeowners aged 55 and younger.

    These older owners are often “asset rich and income poor”. Most rely at least in part on the age pension and could do with the income that would come from renting out a room, so long as it didn’t cut into their pension or present them with a capital gains tax bill when their home is eventually sold.

    My work suggests these fears are largely unfounded, even though it’s hard to convince many older Australians of that.

    Rent needn’t mean income tax

    The Tax Office has long provided for “domestic arrangements” and other arrangements where board and lodging provided at non-commercial rates is not considered assessable income for taxation purposes.

    The downside is that expenses are not tax deductible.

    These arrangements are said to occur when all residents including the owner bear an appropriate proportion of the costs actually incurred on food, electricity, heating and other costs of running the home.

    “Homestay” for international students is an example. Homestay hosts can receive about $350 per week for providing a fully furnished room, main meals and utilities in an arrangement the Tax Office has ruled need not be taxable.

    Rent needn’t cut off the pension

    All pensioners are currently eligible for the work bonus scheme that allows additional earnings of up to $504 a fortnight for singles and $660 per fortnight for couples without loss of any pension.

    It ought to be easy enough to apply the scheme to rent as well as income from work, as it arguably already does given that renting out spare bedrooms is a form of self-employment and hence “work”.

    As important would be making pensioners aware of any changes or clarifications to the rules in a way that normalised “taking in boarders”.

    Rent needn’t mean capital gains tax

    Anecdotal evidence suggests homeowners fear that renting out a spare bedroom will make their home liable for the capital gains tax that applies to rented properties when they are eventually sold.

    While this may be true in some situations, it is somewhat of an urban myth, and the amounts of tax involved can be small.

    According to the Tax Office

    • capital gains tax only applies to properties bought after September 20 1985

    • any gain is taxed only at the marginal rate in the year the property is sold

    • only half of each gain is taxed

    • gains can be offset against capital losses

    • only the net gain is taxed after costs.

    And capital gains tax only applies for the portion of the home that is rented out, and for the portion of time it is rented out.

    In my paper I explain how an apparent capital gain of $100,000 is taxed less where a room is only let for one year in five and is one of three bedrooms in the home, cutting the taxable capital gain to just $3,333.

    If the very concept of the calculation remains a barrier, it might be possible to offer homeowners who let out rooms a short-term “capital gains tax holiday” for the next three to five years while new housing stock is being built.

    Rules for safety and boarder matching essential

    Another barrier is concern about safety, both personal and financial for older homeowners. Surprisingly, there are few rules governing boarding, with tenancy legislation saying little, forcing homeowners and tenants to rely on common law.

    Australians letting out rooms need legislated protections from elder abuse and spurious claims of cohabitation and other rights.

    Tenant matching and management systems could make the process simpler.

    Imagine being able to walk into your local real estate agency and list your spare room to rent. If the agency offered boarder management services you could outline your preferences and ask it to put forward a list of candidates to interview.

    Good matches would provide benefits for both older Australians and younger companions. Boarder management could become a new business model for real estate agents as well as non-profits.

    Please note: This article does not provide tax or financial advice. It is general in nature and should not be relied on for taxation or financial purposes.

    Lyndall Bryant 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. Australia has an extraordinary 13 million spare bedrooms. Here’s how to use at least some of them to ease the housing crisis – https://theconversation.com/australia-has-an-extraordinary-13-million-spare-bedrooms-heres-how-to-use-at-least-some-of-them-to-ease-the-housing-crisis-239490

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Australia is hosting the world’s first ‘nature positive’ summit. What is it, and why does it matter?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Lowe, Director, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide

    MPIX, Shutterstock

    This week, Australia hosts the inaugural Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney. It comes at a crucial time: biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is one of the biggest risks the world faces in the next decade.

    The event, which begins tomorrow, brings together leaders from government, business, academia, environment groups and Indigenous Peoples. Together, they will seek ways to drive investment in nature and improve its protection and repair.

    More than half the world’s economy directly depends on nature. Biodiversity loss threatens global financial stability, putting at least US$44 trillion (A$64 trillion) of economic value at risk.

    Industries such as agriculture, fishing, forestry, tourism, water and resources rely heavily on nature. But ultimately, all of humanity depends on the natural world – for clean air, water, food, and a liveable climate.

    In Australia significant investment is needed to reverse the decline in our natural environment. It will require action from governments, landholders and the private sector.

    That’s why this week’s summit is so important. Nature conservation and restoration is expensive and often difficult. The task is beyond the capacity of governments alone.

    What’s going on at the summit?

    According to the World Economic Forum, “nature positive” is an economic worldview that goes beyond limiting environmental damage and aims to actually improve ecosystems.

    Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to which almost 200 countries have signed up, at least 30% of land and waters must be protected or restored by 2030. The summit is exploring ways to realise this global commitment, which is also known as the 30×30 target.

    The federal and New South Wales governments are co-hosting the event.

    Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will address the summit on day one, outlining her government’s Nature Positive Plan. It commits to the 30×30 target as well as “zero new extinctions”. Achieving these commitments involves environmental law reform, setting up a Nature Repair Market and establishing a national Environment Protection Agency.

    Delegates are expected to demonstrate their commitment and progress towards the 30×30 goal. They will then turn to the main point of the summit: building consensus on the economic settings needed to increase private investment in nature.

    Finance models and corporate partnerships are on the agenda, along with how to make this work, including how to measure, monitor and report on progress and manage risk.

    Sessions will focus on specific sectors of the environment such as agriculture and farming, cities, oceans and forests. On Thursday, delegates will visit nature sites around Sydney.

    Creating a market to incentivise biodiversity investment | 7.30.

    Investing in a market for nature repair

    Substantial co-investment from the private sector, including landholders, will be required to repair and protect nature at the scale required.

    Market-based approaches can drive private investment in natural resources. But most existing environmental markets focus on water and carbon. A more holistic approach, including nature repair, is needed.

    Australia’s Nature Positive Plan includes building a nature repair market. This world-first measure is a legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market in which individuals and organisations undertake nature repair projects to generate a tradeable certificate. The certificate can be sold to generate income. Demand for certificates is expected to grow over time.

    But the role the government will take remains unclear. For example, will the government both regulate market prices and decide what, in a scientific sense, amounts to repairing nature?

    On day two, the summit explores how nature markets can unlock new sources of finance. We can expect this discussion to include ways carbon and biodiversity markets can work together: so-called “carbon-plus” outcomes.

    For example, when landholders conserve vegetation, the plants can both draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide habitat for animals, preventing biodiversity loss. Markets could be designed so landholders are rewarded for achieving these dual results.

    Significant economic returns

    Under optimistic estimates, the global nature-positive transition will unlock business opportunities worth an estimated US$10 trillion (almost A$15 trillion) a year and create 395 million jobs by 2030.

    The potential benefits for Australia are also substantial. They include benefits to nature such as restoring habitat for wildlife, while storing carbon. It can also provide returns for agriculture, by improving land value, yield and quality.

    A strong nature-positive stance from Australia will also help safeguard our access to global markets. For example, the European Union has already established trade barriers to imports that damage forests. This could have serious consequences for the Australian beef industry.

    So the potential benefits have to be weighed against the risks of not doing anything. The summit is a chance to get a wide range of people on board, working towards a shared vision of a more positive future.

    It’s time for a nature-positive mindset

    The Albanese Labor government came to power promising to overhaul Australia’s national environment laws, following a scathing independent review.

    When the summit was conceived, the government may have envisaged having cause for celebration by now. But some proposed reforms stalled in the Senate.

    Nonetheless, the Nature Repair Market, a significant government win, is taking shape.

    This week’s summit offers Australia an opportunity to show the world we have embraced the nature-positive mindset. There really is no time to waste.

    Australia, the sixth most biodiverse country in the world, has listed 2,224 species and ecological communities as threatened with extinction. These losses are predicted to escalate if we continue business as usual and allow continued decline of ecosystems.

    Despite having pledged to end deforestation by 2030, Australia is the only deforestation hotspot among developed nations. Land clearing continues apace in northern Australia, often without being assessed under national environmental laws.

    We desperately need to reverse the decline in nature, once and for all.

    Andrew Lowe receives funding from a range of national and international funding sources including the Australian Research Council, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, The International Tropical Timber Organization.

    This article was crafted following conversations with the Advisory Committee of the Nature Positive Economy CRC bid, including Daisy Mallett – Lawyer / International Abitrator; Ian Overton – Principal, Natural Economy Consulting; Professor Hugh Possingham – University of Queensland; Nicki Hutley – Climate Council; Cheryl Hayman – Beston Global Food Company; Robert Waterworth – FLINTPro; Kate Andrews – NRM Regions Australia; Tim King – Melior Investment Management; Peter Boyd – Rozetta Institute; David Shelmerdine – ClimateWorks; Wendy Mackay – Pollination Group; Tim Jarvis – Fauna & Flora International; Jody Gunn – Australian Land Conservation Alliance; Joshua Bishop – University of Sydney; Phil Duncan – University of Canberra; Dr Paul Dalby – Rozetta Project Director.

    – ref. Australia is hosting the world’s first ‘nature positive’ summit. What is it, and why does it matter? – https://theconversation.com/australia-is-hosting-the-worlds-first-nature-positive-summit-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter-236236

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PHILADELPHIA – Governor Shapiro to Visit the Weitzman Museum’s Exhibition Memorializing the October 7 Anniversary

    Source: US State of Pennsylvania

    October 07, 2024 – Philadelphia, PA

    ADVISORY – PHILADELPHIA – Governor Shapiro to Visit the Weitzman Museum’s Exhibition Memorializing the October 7 Anniversary

    Governor Josh Shapiro, Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, and Senator Bob Casey will visit the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to privately tour the Nova Exhibition – which the Governor worked with the museum to bring to Philadelphia in recognition of the first anniversary of the October 7th massacre.

    The week-long interior and exterior pop-up exhibition will be open to the public and free of charge as the Weitzman Museum works to share these stories with communities across our Commonwealth.

    After the Governor privately tours the exhibition alongside business leaders, elected officials, and leaders from various faith communities, he will hold a media availability at the Weitzman Museum.

    WHO:
    Governor Josh Shapiro
    Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis
    Senator Bob Casey

    WHEN:
    Monday, October 7, 2024 at 10:00AM

    WHERE:
    Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
    101 S Independence Mall E
    Philadelphia, PA

    LIVE STREAM:
    pacast.com/live/gov
    governor.pa.gov/live/

    RSVP:
    Press who are interested in attending must RSVP with the names and phone numbers for each member of their team to ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: News 10/4/2024 Blackburn on McGhee Tyson ANG Base’s Advancement in Competition to Become Main Operating Base for KC-46 Aircraft

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after the 134th Air Refueling Wing at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard (ANG) Base outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, was selected for the final phase of competition to house the U.S. Department of the Air Force’s next generation of air refueling aircraft, the KC-46 Pegasus:

    “With decades of proven experience and service, McGhee Tyson ANG Base would be the perfect fit to receive and employ the KC-46, and I applaud the Air Force’s decision to keep Tennessee in the running,” said Senator Blackburn.

    Earlier this year, Senator Blackburn led the entire Tennessee congressional delegation in sending a letter urging U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III to make McGhee Tyson ANG Base the seventh main operating base for the KC-46. Senator Blackburn recently spoke with Air Force officials, who informed her of the Department’s decision to keep Tennessee in the running between seven possible locations. 

     

    Click here to download this photo of Senator Blackburn with Airmen of Tennessee’s 134th Air Refueling Wing. 

    BACKGROUND:
    • McGhee Tyson ANG Base boasts over 68 years of volunteer excellence and service to the Air Force. The unit has received a remarkable 16 Air Force Outstanding Unit awards and is one of the most decorated air refueling units in Air Force history. 
    • KC-46 acquisition is the Tennessee Air National Guard’s number one short-term priority. Securing KC-46 aircraft for McGhee Tyson ANG Base will preserve over 1,500 jobs and $203 million annually for decades to come. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Fast track list reveals Govt’s backroom deals

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    The coalition Government’s backroom deals with coal and ironsands mining companies have finally been revealed – and it’s not pretty.

    “The coalition Government has just confirmed a line-up of projects that could wreak havoc on our natural environment,” Labour’s acting environment spokesperson David Parker said.

    “The list includes previously rejected projects like Trans-Tasman Resources’ seabed mining and the Waitaha Hydro Project – both rejected for their adverse effects on the environment. 

    “It’s now clear why the Government has hidden this list for so long.

    “We’ve seen worrying cases like the Ōhinemuri River turning orange due to arsenic from an old mine. Dozens of other contaminated sites, many from mining, are still waiting to be cleaned up at the cost of New Zealanders, not the polluters.

    “More than 100 projects were approved under Labour’s version of fast track without overriding environmental laws. This included projects for renewable energy, transmission, housing, roads and retirement villages.

    “This time it is different – environmental protections under the Resource Management Act, the Conservation Act, the Wildlife Act and the Mining Act can and will be overridden. There is no credible explanation for conferring those wide powers to override those Acts.  

    “This backwards move is irresponsible, and will undermine our clean-green reputation, which underlies the premium price New Zealand gets for our milk and meat exports.

    “The tens of thousands of New Zealanders who marched in protest against the Fast Track Bill are right to be disappointed,” David Parker said.

    Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI: Disclosure of Voting Rights in IDEX Biometrics to Chair, Morten Opstad – 06 Oct 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    At the close of business on 04 October 2024, Morten Opstad, chair of the board of IDEX Biometrics, held the following voting rights in IDEX, for the extraordinary general meeting on 09 October 2024.

    Total 96,929,296 shares or 22.01% of the share capital and votes, including shares held by Mr. Opstad and close relations.

    Some of the proxies may include voting instructions.

    Contact person
    Marianne Bøe, Head of Investor Relations
    E-mail: ir@idexbiometrics.com
    Tel: +47 67 83 91 19

    About IDEX Biometrics
    IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX) is a global technology leader in fingerprint biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control, and digital identity.  Our solutions bring convenience, security, peace of mind and seamless user experiences to the world. Built on patented and proprietary sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, our biometric solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital authentication. As an industry-enabler we partner with leading card manufacturers and technology companies to bring our solutions to market.

    For more information, visit http://www.idexbiometrics.com (http://www.idexbiometrics.com)

    About this notice
    This notice was issued by Marianne Bøe, Head of Investor Relations, on 06 October 2024 at 22:45 CET on behalf of IDEX Biometrics ASA. The information shall be disclosed according to section 4‑2 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act (STA) and published in accordance with section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Hawke’s Bay man charged for indecent communication with young person

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    A 46-year-old man has been arrested and charged by Police, after allegedly attempting to meet a young teenage girl for sex.

    The man was arrested on Friday 4 October following an investigation by Hawke’s Bay Police and the OCEANZ (Online Child Exploitation Across NZ) unit. 

    He is facing three charges of indecent communication with a young person under 16, and one charge of travelling to meet a young person-sex grooming.

    Detective Sergeant Alex MacDonald says OCEANZ had received information that the man was allegedly attempting to contact young girls for the purposes of sexual abuse.

    “This kind of offending in our communities is incredibly alarming and serves as an excellent reminder of the need to be vigilant around online safety for children and young people,” says Detective Sergeant MacDonald.

    “The school holidays would be a great time to sit down with your kids and have a conversation about how to stay safe online. You can find information on the Police website to help with those conversations.”

    The man charged with this offending is scheduled to appear in Hastings District Court today (Monday 7 October).

    Detective Senior Sergeant John McCarthy from Hawke’s Bay Police’s Child Protection Team says the investigation into this matter is ongoing and is not ruling out identifying further victims.

    “We will continue to work with OCEANZ to ensure that offenders targeting young people in our community in this way are held to account for their actions,” says Detective Senior Sergeant McCarthy.

    “We urge anyone with concerns about potential criminal behaviour targeting children or young people to get in touch with Police so that we can investigate.”
     

    ENDS
     

    Issued by Police Media Centre. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Nicole McKee unfit for firearms portfolio

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    Fresh questions have been raised about the conduct of the Firearms Minister after revelations she misled New Zealanders about her role in stopping gun reforms prior to the mosque shootings.

    Despite previously claiming on TVNZ Q+A that she urged the Government to close the loopholes around high capacity magazines – it’s now been revealed that did not happen.

    In fact, it was her suggestion to the then Minister Paula Bennett that she reject select committee recommendations around semi-automatic firearms, which would’ve closed the loopholes later exploited by the March 15 terrorist.

    “It’s the latest in a list of concerns about conflicts of interest for the Minister, who is still closely linked to the gun lobby while trying to roll back legal safeguards put in place after the terror attacks,” Labour’s Police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

    “This reporting is even more concerning as the next phase in the coronial inquiry into the terror attack gets underway this coming week. It will explicitly address the history of firearms reforms and make recommendations to stop such an attack happening again.

    “The Firearms Minister also has authority over Coronial matters in her role as Courts Minister. The conflicts and questions are now too great for the public to have any confidence that she is the right person to be in charge of gun laws.

    “The Prime Minister must strip her of the firearms portfolio. The Coalition Agreement never required her to hold that position and it would be a display of leadership if he took action,” Ginny Andersen said.

    Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why heart patients have trouble sticking to a healthy diet, and 3 things that help them eat better

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Gabriela Ghisi, Affiliate Scientist, KITE Research Institute, Adjunct Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto

    Following nutritional recommendations is vital for managing cardiovascular disease, but it’s not always easy, especially for those with limited resources. (Shutterstock)

    Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide, and managing it effectively requires more than just medical intervention: what you eat plays a crucial role in your heart’s health.

    For cardiac patients, following nutritional recommendations isn’t just a suggestion; it’s a lifeline. A heart-healthy diet can help control risk factors like high blood pressure, cholesterol levels and obesity, all of which are key contributors to heart disease.

    For cardiac patients, following nutritional recommendations isn’t just a suggestion; it’s a lifeline.
    (Shutterstock)

    A healthy diet will help you prevent new heart problems, which is called secondary prevention, and it will help improve functional capacity and quality of life, giving you more independence for daily activities. But for many patients, adhering to these dietary guidelines can be a significant challenge even while they are in a cardiac rehabilitation program. This is especially challenging for those who live in low-resourced settings (areas or communities with few resources and little support for health and wellness).



    Read more:
    Cardiac rehab is a proven but underused therapy in women, but tailored resources aim to change that

    Cardiac rehab is an interdisciplinary approach focused on interventions for secondary prevention and improving cardiovascular prognosis, to reduce the global impact of cardiovascular disease. We recently conducted a study aimed at understanding the barriers and facilitators that low-resourced patients face when trying to follow nutritional recommendations in cardiac rehab.

    The findings underscore how critical, yet complex, it is for patients to maintain a heart-healthy diet. The results of this study are not just informative — they are a call to action for health-care providers, policymakers and communities alike.

    The cost of healthy eating

    Many heart-healthy foods — like fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins — can be expensive, especially for individuals or families living on a tight budget.
    (Shutterstock)

    One of the primary barriers we identified is the cost of healthy foods. Many heart-healthy foods — like fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins — can be expensive, especially for individuals or families living on a tight budget. In low-income areas, access to these foods is often limited, with more affordable but less healthy options readily available.



    Read more:
    Why are grocery bills so high? A new study looks at the science behind food price reporting

    This economic reality makes it difficult for patients to consistently choose foods that support their heart health. In the last few years the cost of healthy food in Canada, a high-income setting, has been rising due to high food inflation. Despite that, the current Canada’s Food Guide is less expensive for adults to follow compared to the previous ones.

    Another significant barrier is the complexity of nutritional information. Patients are often bombarded with a wealth of dietary guidelines, which can be confusing and overwhelming. Without proper guidance, including education and individualization, it’s easy for someone to feel lost or discouraged, particularly if they lack basic nutritional knowledge. This can lead to frustration and, ultimately, poor adherence to dietary recommendations.

    Cultural factors also play a role. In many cases, traditional diets may not align with the standard dietary guidelines recommended for heart health. Patients may find it challenging to adapt their eating habits without feeling like they are losing an important part of their cultural identity. This disconnect can make it even harder for patients to stick to a heart-healthy diet.

    Empowering patients to eat better

    Despite these challenges, our study also highlighted several facilitators that can make a significant difference. One of the most effective is community support. Programs that provide affordable access to healthy foods, like food banks or community gardens, can help alleviate some of the financial pressures.

    Additionally, accessible information sources that break down complex nutritional advice into simple, actionable steps can empower patients to make healthier choices.

    Programs that provide affordable access to healthy foods, like food banks or community gardens, can help alleviate some of the financial pressures of healthy eating.
    (Shutterstock)

    Importantly, incorporating culturally relevant foods into dietary plans can make the transition to a heart-healthy diet more manageable and acceptable. When patients see that their traditional foods can be part of their diet, they are more likely to embrace and maintain the recommended changes.

    Our findings emphasize the importance of a tailored approach to nutritional guidance in cardiac rehab, especially for low-resourced patients. It’s not enough to simply tell patients what to eat — health-care providers need to listen and understand the unique challenges patients face and provide practical, sustainable solutions. This means working closely with patients, offering personalized advice that considers their financial situation, providing access to resources and considering cultural preferences.

    Making heart-healthy diets accessible

    The implications of our research extend beyond individual patient care. They highlight the need for systemic changes that make healthy eating more accessible for everyone. This could include policies that subsidize healthy foods, increase the availability of fresh produce in underserved areas or create educational programs that are accessible to all.

    Following nutritional recommendations is vital for managing cardiovascular disease, but it’s not always easy, especially for those with limited resources. Identifying and addressing the specific barriers these patients face can help them make lasting, positive changes to their diet and, ultimately, their heart health.

    This research underscores the need for a more equitable approach to health care, one that ensures all patients have the support they need to live healthier, longer lives.

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

    – ref. Why heart patients have trouble sticking to a healthy diet, and 3 things that help them eat better – https://theconversation.com/why-heart-patients-have-trouble-sticking-to-a-healthy-diet-and-3-things-that-help-them-eat-better-239172

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The chemistry behind beer brewing is still shrouded in mystery, but tiny microfluidic chips could change that

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Katherine Elvira, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria

    As the brewing industry expands and new beer styles, such as hazy pale ales, emerge, brewers are constantly looking for new ways to analyze the composition of their beers to preserve the carefully crafted sensory quality of their products.

    However, analyzing how the molecules in beer affect its flavour is challenging because of the sheer amount of different types of molecules present in the beverage. To address this issue, our research team at the University of Victoria has developed a user-friendly lab-on-a-chip device to investigate how we can add more hop flavours to beer by making oil-in-beer emulsions.

    Lab-on-a-chip, or microfluidic, technologies are tiny devices usually made from a transparent, rubbery material that can be used to transport and analyze liquids in pipes the size of a human hair.

    While these technologies are not commonly used in the food sciences, they are perfectly suited for the creation of emulsions, which are widely used in the food industry. Emulsions are formed by creating tiny drops of one liquid in another immiscible liquid.



    Read more:
    Microfluidics: The tiny, beautiful tech hidden all around you

    For example, salad dressing is usually made by mixing oil and vinegar, a water-like liquid. Oil and water do not mix, so to create an oil-in-vinegar emulsion, a stabilizer like mustard or egg is added. This allows tiny oil drops to be suspended in the vinegar, giving a pleasant texture to the salad dressing.

    Similarly, in beer, hop oils (essential oils from hops) are stabilized in the water-like beer. Understanding the type of molecule responsible for this stabilization could help brewers create more highly hop-flavoured beers.

    Katherine Elvira explains how her lab makes and uses microfluidic devices. Video by Julian Sketchley.

    Creating a new method

    Brewing beer requires a precise understanding of four main ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and yeast. Each of these ingredients contains a complex mixture of components, and their interactions, while used by humans for thousands of years, are still not well-understood chemically.

    The wealth of ingredients in beer makes it hard to tease out the behaviour and interactions of specific molecules, and how these relate to the flavour and composition of the beverage. Each ingredient interacts with others in complex ways, influencing the brewing process and the final product.



    Read more:
    Brewing Mesopotamian beer brings a sip of this vibrant ancient drinking culture back to life

    This is where our lab-on-a-chip device comes in. Our research, conducted in lead author Katherine Elvira’s laboratory at the University of Victoria’s Department of Chemistry, was done in collaboration with local microbrewery Phillips Brewing and Malting Co.

    The new method for making oil-in-beer emulsions was developed by undergraduate students Danielle Hanke, Jaling Kersen, Alexandra Schauman, Caitland Stagg and Nicole York, and graduate students Alex McDonald, Jaime Korner and Kaitlyn Ramsay.

    Together, they created a simple microfluidic platform designed to be usable by non-experts in the academic and industrial sectors, making it a valuable tool for advancing the science of brewing.

    Unlocking new possibilities

    Our research explored the role of gluten, a protein present in beer, in stablizing hop oil emulsions. By gaining a better understanding of this, brewers can fine-tune the composition of their ingredients to influence the final visual and sensory quality of beer.

    We tested two different hop oils, alpha-terpene and linalool, that are commonly present in hoppy beers. The two hop oils differed in droplet stability with protein and enzyme treatment, suggesting this effect may also be dependent on the type of hop oils present.

    This research could help brewers decide which types of grains and hops to include in their hazy beers — a style characterized by their cloudy appearance and strong hop flavour — to create the most shelf-stable and flavoursome beers.

    The future of brewing

    Our beer-on-a-chip platform can be used to generate experimental conditions that reflect full-scale brewing operations on a smaller, more manageable scale. By doing this, we can gain better insight into the brewing process, which still contains many chemical mysteries.

    Traditionally, these technologies have not been widely used in the brewing industry, but our research shows how microfluidic platforms can be more widely used in the food sciences to study emulsions.

    Whether it’s developing new beer styles, improving the shelf life of existing ones or enhancing flavour profiles, this technology could become an invaluable tool for brewers worldwide. Future work on microfluidic brewing may yet reveal more interesting and delicious insights into brewing.

    Alex McDonald, a graduate of the Master of Science in Chemistry program from the University of Victoria, co-authored this story.

    Katherine Elvira received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Engage program to fund this research.

    – ref. The chemistry behind beer brewing is still shrouded in mystery, but tiny microfluidic chips could change that – https://theconversation.com/the-chemistry-behind-beer-brewing-is-still-shrouded-in-mystery-but-tiny-microfluidic-chips-could-change-that-238182

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: YORK – Commission on Crime and Delinquency Joins Victim Service Agencies to Highlight Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence and 2024-25 Shapiro-Davis Budget Investment for Victims Compensation

    Source: US State of Pennsylvania

    October 07, 2024 – York, PA

    ADVISORY – YORK – Commission on Crime and Delinquency Joins Victim Service Agencies to Highlight Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence and 2024-25 Shapiro-Davis Budget Investment for Victims Compensation

    In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) will visit the York County Victim/Witness Unit to highlight the support and services offered to survivors of domestic violence and importance of the $5 million investment in the Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP) in the Shapiro-Davis 2024-25 state budget.

    WHO:
    Kathy Buckley, Director of Victims’ Services, PCCD
    Faith I. Uhler-Myers, Deputy Administrator, York County DA’s Office Victim/Witness Unit
    Paula Copeland, Chief Services Officer, YWCA York
    Sarah Harvey, Director, YWCA Hanover Safe Home

    WHEN:
    October 7, 2024 at 1:30 PM.

    WHERE:
    York County Administrative Center
    28 E Market Street
    Commissioners’ Meeting Room, 2nd floor
    York, PA 17401

    RSVP: Please email algantz@pa.gov to share the reporter’s name and media outlet who wishes to attend.

    Photos and video will be available on

      • Full Advisory

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Canada has always had a ‘tap on, tap off’ immigration policy aimed primarily at filling jobs

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Thomas Klassen, Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University, Canada

    The federal government will soon announce its immigration plan and immigration levels for the next three years. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have already signalled, however, that the number of immigrants will decline from the levels of the past several years.

    The government has been under fire for its immigration policy and must move carefully with a federal election likely next year. The increase in housing costs is cited by critics as consequence of too many immigrants arriving in Canada over a short period of time.



    Read more:
    What’s behind the dramatic shift in Canadian public opinion about immigration levels?

    Sharp increases and decreases in the number of immigrants are nothing new in Canada’s history. Historically, immigration policy has been “tap on, tap off,” with immigration levels increased when the unemployment rate falls and reduced when unemployment rises. Immigration has always been thinly veiled labour market policy; that is, a way to fill jobs.

    Influx of immigrants

    In 1913, an estimated 400,900 immigrants arrived in Canada, accounting for five per cent of the country’s population. At that time, the government sought farmers to settle the Prairies and allow the western expansion of Canada.

    It took more than a century — until 2021 under Trudeau — before a larger number of immigrants was accepted in a single year; 406,000 were admitted.

    But those who came in 2021 accounted for only one per cent of the nation’s much larger population, rather than five per cent in 1913.

    When the Liberals came to power in late 2015, the national unemployment rate was seven per cent and dropping. By 2019, it was under six per cent, a level not experienced for nearly half a century.

    The economy was humming with low unemployment and inflation, allowing the immigration tap to be turned on. From 2017-19, 300,000 immigrants were accepted each year, but from 2021 to 2023, that increased to a record high of about 430,000 annually.

    In the past decade, employers have benefited from high levels of immigration and voiced few complaints. Businesses know that labour costs are kept low when immigrants flood into the job market.

    International students

    What has made the nation’s immigration policy distinct under Trudeau is that the tap has also been turned on for international students. These students are not immigrants, but rather are allowed to enter Canada and, initially, remain only during the time they are studying.

    In the past several decades Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have become extraordinarily attractive for college and university students.

    Middle-class families in China, India, Brazil and other countries are willing to spend what is required to send their children to study abroad.

    Universities and colleges covet international students as a source of income since they pay twice or more what local students pay in tuition.

    The additional income earned by post-secondary institutions from international students has allowed provincial governments to limit tuition fee increases for Canadian students. For example, the Ontario government reduced tuition fees by 10 per cent in 2019 and has kept tuition frozen for local students ever since.

    Permanent citizenship pathways

    When the Liberals came to power, there were about 300,000 international students in Canada. Last year, that number reached one million. Immigration rules were tweaked in the past decade to open paths to permanent citizenship for some international students and their families.

    Some believe the combination of high immigration rates and a large number of international students has created an unsustainable situation as housing costs in many parts of Canada increase significantly over the past several years.



    Read more:
    International students are not to blame for Canada’s housing crisis

    Suddenly, earlier this year, the federal government placed limits on the number of student visas it would issue annually to reduce the flow of students coming from abroad. Provinces and educational institutions were furious, especially by the lack of advance notice and the loss of expected revenues.

    However, rapid swings in immigration policy are a feature of Canada’s history. After welcoming 400,000 immigrants in 1913, only 10 per cent of that number were granted entry five years later.

    Sharp U-turns

    The causes that necessitated the recent sharp U-turn in the number of international student visas — and limiting the pathways to students and their dependants to become immigrants — are instructive.

    The federal government ignored the fact that colleges and universities were not equipped for the massive ramp-up of foreign student enrolment. Some post-secondary institutions, particularly those operated for profit, took advantage of incoming students by providing sub-standard education.

    A closer monitoring of the impact of high numbers of international students would have allowed the federal government to more gradually adjust the visa tap. More consultation between all levels of government would have permitted problems to quickly reach the appropriate decision-makers.

    Moving forward, the federal government would do well to better monitor the impacts of immigration levels. More consultation with other levels of government, employers and stakeholders will result in more gradual adjustments to the number of newcomers who are — and always have been — critical to Canada’s economic and cultural successes.

    Thomas Klassen 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. Canada has always had a ‘tap on, tap off’ immigration policy aimed primarily at filling jobs – https://theconversation.com/canada-has-always-had-a-tap-on-tap-off-immigration-policy-aimed-primarily-at-filling-jobs-239896

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: The Government of New Caledonia at the 19th Francophonie Summit

    MIL OSI Translation. French Polynesian to English –

    Source: Government of New Caledonia

    Yoann Lecourieux, member of the government responsible for the Francophonie in conjunction with President Louis Mapou, participated in the 19th Francophonie Summit in Villers-Cotterêts, France, on October 3, 4 and 5. Chaired by Emmanuel Macron, the event was held on the theme of “Creating, innovating and undertaking in French”.

    During this summit, the 88 member and observer states and governments of the Francophonie adopted the Villers-Cotterêts Declaration, a text formulating commitments and intentions in favour of employability, innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly among young people, but also a resolution on crisis situations, crisis recovery and peacebuilding in the French-speaking world.

     

    In light of the violence that occurred in May 2024 in our territory, the members of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) wished to include in this resolution a paragraph devoted to New Caledonia. It welcomes “the desire for appeasement led by the national and local authorities”, also calling for “dialogue between the different parties in the spirit of the Matignon (1988) and Noumea (1998) Accords, for a common destiny”.

    An honest and inclusive digital space

    This Summit was also an opportunity for its participants to launch an appeal for “an honest and trustworthy French-speaking digital space”, “inclusive, respectful of democracy and human rights, promoting cultural and linguistic diversity”. A way to challenge digital platforms for, in particular, greater responsibility in terms of content moderation by fighting against disinformation and hate speech or calls for violence, but also to contribute to the fair remuneration of artistic creation.

     

    These three days of work will have been a source of opportunities for New Caledonia, also allowing the promotion of innovative Caledonian entrepreneurs on the occasion of Francotech, a trade fair dedicated to French-speaking innovation, organized as part of the Summit.

    The Francophone friendship ties were finally able to be renewed with Vanuatu, also present, French Polynesia, whose membership in the OIF was confirmed, and Cambodia, which will host the next Francophonie Summit in 2026.

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

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Update – serious crash, Canvastown

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police can confirm one person died following a serious single-vehicle crash on SH6 near Canvastown on Friday.

    Emergency services had been called to the scene about 3.20pm.

    Sadly the sole occupant died at the scene.

    Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: News story: PM statement on one-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks

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

    Words from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on the one-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks.

    7 October 2023 was the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. One year on, we stand together to remember the lives so cruelly taken. 

    Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families. 

    Young people massacred at a music festival. 

    People abducted from their homes.

    Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later. 

    As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land. 

    A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.

    Yet their strength and determination to cherish the memories of those they had lost continues, and our determination to bring those still captive home endures. I stand firm in our commitment to bring the hostages home, and we will not give up until they are returned.

    One year on from these horrific attacks we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country. We must never look the other way in the face of hate. 

    We must also not look the other way as civilians bear the ongoing dire consequences of this conflict in the Middle East. I reiterate my call for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, and for the removal of all restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza.

    We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East.

    Updates to this page

    Published 6 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Unlocking the potential of ethnic businesses

    Source: New Zealand Government

    This week’s inaugural Ethnic Xchange Symposium will explore the role that ethnic communities and businesses can play in rebuilding New Zealand’s economy, Ethnic Communities Minister Melissa Lee says.

    “One of my top priorities as Minister is unlocking the economic potential of New Zealand’s ethnic businesses,” says Ms Lee.

    “Ethnic communities contributed an estimated $64 billion to New Zealand’s economy in 2021. Ethnic communities are also the fastest-growing population group in New Zealand, tripling in size since 1996, and our country’s migrant employment rate is the highest within the OECD.

    “It’s clear that there’s vibrant potential within our ethnic communities. This symposium focuses on unleashing that potential.”

    The symposium, delivered by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, brings together Government and business, community, and industry experts to discuss how we can supercharge the economy through boosting trade, investment, and innovation.

    In addition to Ms Lee, ministers speaking at the symposium include Finance Minister Nicola Willis; Regulation Minister David Seymour; and Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins KC.

    “Given this Government’s goal of doubling the value of our exports within 10 years, it is fitting that one of the symposium’s core themes is how ethnic businesses may support New Zealand’s trading aspirations, as they bring expertise in navigating overseas markets and international business environments,” says Ms Lee.

    “While their contributions are significant, many ethnic businesses still face challenges such as policy and regulatory barriers, access to finance, and cultural differences. This means they often cannot fully contribute to our economy, although they have the ambition and aspirations to do so.

    “I’m looking forward to the discussions at the symposium as we find solutions to unlock the full potential of ethnic businesses for the benefit of New Zealand.”

    The Ethnic Xchange Symposium is on this Friday, 11 October in Auckland. More information, and tickets, are available at https://ethnicxchange.org.nz/

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: Telephone interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

    MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –

    The President of the Republic spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel, this Sunday, October 6.

    On this occasion, the President of the Republic and the Israeli Prime Minister discussed the situation in the Middle East at length, in complete frankness and with respect for the friendship between France and Israel. The two leaders acknowledge their differences of view as well as their desire to be well understood by each other.

    The President of the Republic reiterated to the Israeli Prime Minister that France’s commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering and reminded him of the mobilization of French military resources to defend it during the attacks carried out by Iran in recent months. On the eve of the first anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist offensive against Israel, he expressed the solidarity of the French people with the Israeli people, particularly the victims, the hostages and their loved ones. Like everyone, Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism. Attacks against Israel and its citizens must cease, whether they are carried out by Iran or its proxies in the region.

    The President of the Republic also told the Israeli Prime Minister of his conviction that the time for a ceasefire has now come. The arms deliveries, the prolongation of the war in Gaza and its extension to Lebanon cannot produce the security expected by the Israelis and by everyone in the region. We must immediately produce the decisive effort that will allow us to develop the political solutions necessary for the security of Israel and everyone in the Middle East.

    The President of the Republic and the Israeli Prime Minister have agreed to remain in contact. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, will meet with Israeli officials tomorrow and will report to the President of the Republic in the coming days. France will continue to act in trust with Israel and all of its regional and international partners interested in building a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

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

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Serious crash, State Highway 2, Waipawa

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Emergency services are responding to a serious crash on State Highway 2 near Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay.

    The single vehicle crash occurred near Argyll Road and was reported to Police at 10.15am.

    Initial information from the scene indicates at least one person is seriously injured.

    The road is closed and motorists are asked to take alternative routes.

    ENDS
     

    Issued by Police Media Centre. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –