Category: Natural Disasters

MIL-OSI Security: Criminal Illegal Alien Arrested during Los Angeles ICE Operation Committed Notorious Gang-Affiliated Murder of Two Teenagers at a Graduation Party

Source: US Department of Homeland Security

This criminal illegal alien is who Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass and the rioters in Los Angeles are trying to protect over U.S. citizens

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is revealing further details of Cuong Chanh Phan’s, one of the criminal illegal aliens arrested in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) operation in Los Angeles, criminal past.

According to local reports in 1994, Phan and his gang member associates were asked to leave a high school graduation party following a dispute. They returned with semiautomatic weapons and fired shots at 30 partygoers. Dennis Buan, 18, of South Pasadena and David Hang, 15, of San Marino, California were killed, and seven others were wounded.

Following the shooting, more than 120 sheriff’s deputies and police officers launched a manhunt that resulted in the arrests of Phan and eight other alleged gang members linked to the murders and shootout.

“It is sickening that Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass continue to protect violent criminal illegal aliens at the expense of the safety of American citizens and communities. This cold-blooded killer is who the rioters are trying to protect over U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “The brave men and women of ICE put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminals like this and protect the lives of American citizens.”

On June 7, ICE arrested Cuong Chanh Phan, a 49-year-old illegal alien from Vietnam. His criminal history includes a conviction for second degree murder.

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MIL Security OSI –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI: Enserva hosts discussion with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to discuss North American energy security

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CALGARY, Alberta, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

PHOTO OP:	Photo opportunities with Premier Danielle Smith, Premier Scott Moe and Gurpreet Lail, CEO, Enserva.

WHAT:	Media are invited to attend an energy leadership event hosted by Enserva, featuring a joint conversation with the Honourable Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta and the Honourable Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan to discuss the provinces’ roles in advancing Canadian energy growth and long-term economic security.

	Drawing on conversations from the recent First Ministers’ Meeting and ongoing national energy policy discussions, the event will address how Alberta and Saskatchewan are working to align their policy and infrastructure agendas with national interests—including LNG development, egress solutions, trade diversification, and energy security.

	Gurpreet Lail, President & CEO, Enserva, will host a fireside chat with the premiers outlining their provinces’ commitments to growing energy production in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB).

	This candid conversation will highlight how collaboration with federal and provincial governments can support Canadian and North American energy security in a time of political and market uncertainty.

WHO:	Gurpreet Lail, President & CEO of Enserva
	Honourable Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan
	Honourable Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta

WHEN:	Monday, June 16, 2025
	11:15 a.m. Media registration opens
	12:20 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Presentation

WHERE:	Exhibition Hall E, Telus Convention Centre
	136 8 Ave SE
	Calgary, AB
	T2P 0K6

RSVP:	Media are asked to RSVP no later than Thursday, June 12, 2025

Media RSVP Contact:
Shauna MacDonald
Brookline Public Relations, Inc.
403-585-4570; smacdonald@brooklinepr.com

The MIL Network –

June 10, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Air Quality Alert Issued for the Southwest Coast of Maine Amid Canadian Wildfires
Source: US State of Maine

June 9, 2025

CONTACT:

Ground-level particle pollution concentrations are expected to be in the ‘Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups’ (USG) level according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Sunday, USG levels of particle pollution were recorded in the Southwest Coastal area. This morning, levels continue in the USG range. While levels may drop during the day, another plume of wildfire smoke is expected to move in from the east. This is a portion of the plume from the western Canadian wildfires that broke off over Newfoundland and Labrador. It has now moved south of Nova Scotia. Easterly winds are expected to push this plume toward the Maine & New Hampshire coast with the leading edge reaching the shoreline this afternoon.

Currently, smoke is expected to move out on Tuesday. DEP will continue to monitor the situation and update Tuesdays forecast this afternoon.

Smoke may return in the coming days as wildfires continue to burn across Canada.

At elevated levels of particle pollution, children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory or heart diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, or COPD can experience reduced lung function and irritation. In addition, healthy adults who exert themselves outdoors may also notice these health effects. Affected individuals may notice symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation, and/or experience mild chest pain.

Some actions you can take to protect your health during periods of elevated particle pollution levels include:
- Avoid strenuous outdoor activity
- Close windows and circulate indoor air with a fan or air conditioner
- If you have asthma, keep your quick-relief medications and action plan handy
Additional health information may be found on the following websites:

In addition to those in a sensitive group, others who are responsible for the welfare of people impacted by poor air quality are urged to use one of the listed tools to follow the Air Quality Forecast:

For more information go to Maine DEPs air quality web site.

For additional information, contact: David R. Madore, Deputy Commissioner david.madore@maine.gov

MIL OSI USA News –
June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Michigan City Fentanyl Trafficking Conspirators Sentenced

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

SOUTH BEND – Four men have been sentenced by United States District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to various fentanyl drug and gun related charges, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

Tyler Wood, 23 years old, of Michigan City, Indiana was sentenced to 160 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl, and illegal use of a communications facility.

Clinton Rouse, 24 years old, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced to 188 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl.

Justin Hervey, 27 years old, of Michigan City, Indiana, was sentenced to 125 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Raquan Perry, 23 years old, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced to 72 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and unlawful possession of a firearm.

According to documents in the case, Wood, Rouse, Hervey, and Perry worked together to distribute fentanyl pills throughout Michigan City over a period of approximately 10 months, between October 2023 and July 2024. During the spring of 2024, Wood and Rouse lived with a supplier from Michigan who obtained tens of thousands of pills from the Detroit area that were transported to Michigan City to be sold to buyers with the assistance of sub-distributors such as Hervey and Perry. Law enforcement seized approximately 10,000 of these fentanyl pills during its investigation.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Michigan City Police Department, the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office, the LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office, and the DEA North Central Laboratory. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lydia T. Lucius and Katelan McKenzie Doyle.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

MIL Security OSI –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Lafayette helped Americans turn the tide in their fight for independence – and 50 years later, he helped forge the growing nation’s sense of identity

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Matthew Smith, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Miami University

Jean Marie Joseph Bove’s depiction of Lafayette returning to the U.S. The caption says, ‘A great man belongs to the whole universe.’ Blancheteau Collection/Cornell University Library via Wikimedia Commons

America is nearing the 250th anniversary of its revolutionary birth, the Declaration of Independence. July 4, 2026, will mark a milestone – and a time for reflection.

Yet as fascination with America’s founding endures, controversy colors how the revolution is taught across the United States. From contested efforts by The New York Times “1619 Project” to put slavery at the center of America’s story, to attempts to limit teaching about race and racism, partisanship surrounds the teaching of American history. Anniversaries can inspire public passion, but they can also open old wounds.

As an American historian and a naturalized citizen of the United States, I regard the American Revolution with both personal and professional interest. The fact that I grew up in the United Kingdom amuses my students to no end whenever we discuss the Revolutionary War. Sometimes, in my British-accented English, I remind them I did not personally grow up with King George. Teaching history is encouraging students to think critically about the past without dictating what emotions they should feel – patriotic or otherwise.

Sadly, in the U.S., the sort of objective historical knowledge once taken for granted now appears to be waning. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, just 13% of eighth graders in 2023 ranked “proficient” in American history. A 2010 survey found that 26% of adults could not identify from whom America declared its independence, with China, Mexico and France among the responses.

America divorcing France would have been news to Gilbert du Motier, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette. His commitment to the new country not only helped secure its independence, but it also helped solidify American identity decades later.

Key alliance

A privileged aristocrat who served in both the American and French revolutions, Lafayette went to war at age 19. Commissioning and equipping his own expedition across the Atlantic in 1777, he fought in many battles against the British, including decisive action at Yorktown. Earning George Washington’s confidence, Lafayette attained the rank of major general in the Continental Army.

‘The reception of Lafayette at Mount Vernon, home of Washington,’ painted by Herman Bencke around 1875.
Bencke & Scott/Library of Congress

Lafayette’s enrollment in the U.S. military predated the 1778 alliance between his home country and the United States. Eventually, France’s alliance turned the tide against Great Britain on land and at sea. By the war’s end, the French had supplied some 12,000 soldiers, 22,000 sailors and dozens of warships to the American cause, plus huge financial resources. When Lafayette volunteered, however, he was one of just a few foreign volunteers – and the most acclaimed.

“Nowadays,” as historian Sarah Vowell conceded, Americans think of Lafayette as “a place, not a person.” But an abundance of cities, counties and thoroughfares named after the revolutionary hero attest to his former celebrity. During World War I, U.S. troops sailed to France under the slogan “Lafayette here we come,” promising to repay America’s debt of gratitude to France.

A growing country

Older Americans may recall the U.S. bicentennial of 1976, marked with much pageantry and even a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II. America’s semicentennial, however – the 50th anniversary of independence – played a far greater role shaping the idea of America in the minds of its citizens.

Lafayette starred in the buildup to this 1826 commemoration, the first of its kind at the national level. President James Monroe, a fellow veteran of the War of Independence, invited Lafayette to be “the guest of America,” honored as the last living major general of the Continental Army. Beginning in July 1824, at the age of 66, Lafayette embarked on a triumphal tour of all 24 states then comprising the union – nearly double the original 13.

Lafayette greeting members of the National Guard upon his arrival in New York in 1825, painted by Ken Riley.
The National Guard/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons

As Lafayette headed west, borne by horse-drawn carriage, steamboat and canal barge, he journeyed across a changing America. Nowhere was America’s economic and demographic growth more evident than Cincinnati, where a crowd of 50,000 welcomed Lafayette in May 1825. Once a small frontier town, Cincinnati was growing faster than any comparably sized city in the nation: Its population increased from around 15,000 to roughly 115,000 in the quarter century following Lafayette’s visit.

He addressed his audience with emotion: “The highest reward that can be bestowed on a revolutionary veteran is to welcome him with a sight of the blessings which have issued from our struggle for independence, freedom and equal rights.”

Lafayette gave human face to America’s national commemoration. He granted citizens of frontier states like Ohio – hitherto excluded from the revolutionary narrative – license to celebrate themselves. High turnouts in western stops such as Cincinnati reflected enthusiasm for grand spectacles. They also reflected the growth of America’s print media, which had advertised his visit, and improved transportation in formerly remote regions of the country.

Lafayette’s tour culminated with a September 1825 state banquet in Washington, D.C., hosted by the new president, John Quincy Adams. Adams – the son of America’s second president, John Adams – praised “that tie of love, stronger than death,” connecting Lafayette “for the endless ages of time, with the name of Washington.”

Rose-colored glasses

The enthusiasm that welcomed Lafayette 200 years ago was authentic. But like all good history lessons, Lafayette’s legacy is open to interpretation.

‘Portrait of Lafayette as an Old Man,’ painted by Louise-Adéone Drölling around 1830.
Musée de l’Armée via Wikimedia Commons

His grand tour cemented the myth of “the Era of Good Feelings”: a golden age of American political harmony. In reality, the seeds of America’s civil war were already evident. Missouri’s 1820 admission to the union threatened the country’s precarious balance between states that opposed slavery and states that allowed it – a crisis Thomas Jefferson warned was “a fire bell in the night.”

Likewise, Lafayette’s lionization in the western United States coincided with the ongoing forced removal of Indigenous people. Ohio, for example, forcibly removed its last Native American tribe in 1843.

Despite the uses and abuses of historical memory and the aversion of modern historians toward hero-worship, Lafayette remains a charismatic figure – a “citizen of two worlds” who championed both abolitionism and women’s rights. I believe his fading public memory indicates a troubling amnesia. America’s anniversary offers the opportunity to reconsider his legacy, alongside revolutionary stories of Americans from all walks of life.

As Lafayette wrote home following the British army’s surrender in 1781: “Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.”

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

– ref. Lafayette helped Americans turn the tide in their fight for independence – and 50 years later, he helped forge the growing nation’s sense of identity – https://theconversation.com/lafayette-helped-americans-turn-the-tide-in-their-fight-for-independence-and-50-years-later-he-helped-forge-the-growing-nations-sense-of-identity-249455

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Foster Portsmouth takes ‘Pride’ of place at nationwide event

Source: City of Portsmouth

Foster Portsmouth braved the thunderstorms alongside Fostering South East cluster partners Fostering Southampton and Hampshire County Council at UK Pride on Saturday 7 June.

Of the 260+ community-run Pride organisations across the UK, Portsmouth Pride won the bid to host UK Pride in 2025.

Taking ‘Pride’ of place at the event is part of a campaign being run throughout June by Foster Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council‘s fostering service. Their team were also part of UK Pride and The Family Network’s LGBTQ+ Routes to Parenting event on 3 June, and they will be celebrating their foster carers from the LGBTQ+ community and taking action to bust myths around who can foster throughout Pride Month.

Foster Portsmouth, Fostering Southampton and Hampshire County Council’s fostering service joined forces at UK Pride with the aim to raise awareness of the national crisis in foster care and the need for more foster carers in the area.

They also engaged with event goers to tackle any perceptions that may prevent some from the LGBTQ+ community from exploring fostering to build a family life.

Anyone aged over 21 with a spare bedroom could foster – regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, faith, ethnicity, marital or work status, or whether they rent or own their own home.

Councillor Nick Dorrington, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at Portsmouth City Council, said:

“Foster Portsmouth celebrates the diversity of our committed team of foster carers, and we are all proud to work with many individuals and couples from the LGBTQ+ community.”

Foster Portsmouth’s presentation at the Parenting Network and UK Pride’s ‘LGBTQ+ Routes to Parenthood’ event helped identify pathways to parenthood within the LGBTQ+ community. Attendees were also offered expert insights, lived experiences and an opportunity to connect with community members and support networks.

This Pride Month, Foster Portsmouth also aims to shine a light on the incredible efforts of our existing LGBTQ+ foster carers and thank them for their contribution to the care of vulnerable children and young people in the city and the immediate surrounding areas. Foster carers like sole carer Michael.

Michael, a full-time IT project manager, fosters teens with Foster Portsmouth. He shared:

“Because I was fostered myself, I chose to become a foster carer rather than adopt. I had the same wonderful long-term carers who gave me amazing opportunities. I want to give something back to children who need care and stability in their lives.”

Michael has fostered a number of teenagers, including providing respite care for a sibling pair and an emergency placement, and three longer-term arrangements for teenage boys, one of whom was a child seeking safety and asylum.

“There have been many touching moments which makes it all worthwhile and lets me know that I’ve been a positive chapter in their story.”

Foster Portsmouth are in need of additional foster carers with the skills and experience to help children develop a positive sense of their own identity, so they are asking individuals and couples in the LGBTQ+ community to consider the impact they could have on a child or young person’s life through fostering.

There are many types of fostering and everyone will be able to find one that will work for them and their family or commitments. This could be a short or long-term arrangement for a child or siblings until they’re ready to live independently or be reunited with family, support for children with a disability or children seeking safety and asylum, supported lodgings to develop their independent living skills, a parent and baby placement, or respite care.

Our Foster carers receive local round the clock support and ongoing quality training such as therapeutic care, including through our mentoring scheme and our innovative award-winning Mockingbird programme which provides a support network of other foster carers similar to that of an extended family. They also receive competitive fees, discounts, benefits and allowances, social activities, and free membership to The Fostering Network.

Our foster carers come from Portsmouth or the immediate surrounding areas, from Emsworth and Rowlands Castle to Gosport and Fareham, and the Isle of Wight and Hayling Island to Petersfield and Havant.

They would welcome the opportunity to explore if their close-knit fostering community at Foster Portsmouth would be the right fit for them.

To enquire or to arrange a 1:1 with Foster Portsmouth’s experienced team or existing foster carers, visit: www.foster.portsmouth.gov.uk, call 0300 1312797 or email info@lafosteringse.org.uk.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 10, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Why Israel’s ‘humane’ propaganda is such a sinister facade

COMMENTARY: By Cole Martin in Occupied Bethlehem

Many people have been closely following the journey this week of the Madleen, a small humanitarian yacht seeking to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza with a crew of 12 on board, including humanitarian activists and journalists.

This morning we woke to the harrowing, yet not unexpected, news that the vessel had been illegally hijacked by Israeli forces, who boarded and took the crew captive into Israeli territories, in contravention of international law.

Yet another on the long list of war crimes Israel has committed over the last 20 months of genocide, and decades of illegal occupation.

Communication with the crew was lost after the final moments of tense onboard footage as they donned lifejackets, threw phones and other sensitive data overboard, and raised their arms in preparation for whatever might come next.

Israel has a detailed history of attacking all previous freedom flotillas — including the 2010 mission aboard the Mavi Marmara in which 10 crew were killed and dozens more injured when Israeli forces hijacked the humanitarian vessel.

Another mission earlier this year was cut short when it was targeted by an airstrike in international waters, injuring crew.

The next updates were scenes filmed by Israeli forces which appear to show them calmly handing bread rolls and water to the detained crew, painting a picture which immediately recalled my own experience last year being unlawfully arrested in the southern West Bank.

Detained while documenting
I was detained while documenting armed settler violence, taken illegally to a military base where myself and three other internationals were given a bathroom stop, bread and water.

While we ate, they filmed us, saying “You are unharmed, yes? We are looking after you well?”

We were then loaded into a police van where a Palestinian farmer sat blindfolded, in silence, with his hands zip-tied behind him.

Eleven of the 12 crew members on board the humanitarian yacht Madleen before being arrested by Israeli forces today. Image: FFC screenshot APR

Israel loves to put on a show of their “humane treatment” when internationals are present and cameras are rolling, but it’s a shallow and sinister facade for their abusive racism and cruelty towards Palestinians.

It appears their response to the Madleen’s crew over the next few days will be exactly that. Don’t buy into it; this is no more than deeply sinister propaganda to cover state-backed racism, supremacy, and cruelty.

Families in Gaza are still facing indiscriminate airstrikes, continuous displacement, forced starvation, and the phony Israel/US “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” which has led to more than 100 civilians being shot while desperately seeking food.

Thousands of trucks still wait at the border to Gaza, barred entry by Israeli forces, while Palestinians face severe malnutrition and a man-made famine.

The New Zealand government has still not placed a single sanction on the Israeli state.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the Middle East and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 10, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Canadian Wildfire Smoke to Impact Maine’s Air Quality on June 7 & 8
Source: US State of Maine

June 7, 2025

CONTACT:

Ground-level particle pollution concentrations are expected to continue in the ‘Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups’ (USG) level according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to move into the Northern Maine region with hourly monitored values of particle pollution in the USG range for the remainder of Saturday. With light winds forecasted, these higher values are expected to linger throughout the day. The remainder of Maine is projected to remain in the Moderate range. Meanwhile, ozone is expected to reach the Moderate range for the Southwest and Mid-Coastal regions and Good for the remainder of the state.

On Sunday, weather conditions are expected to remain consistent, and currently, air quality forecasters are not expecting wildfire smoke to move out of the Maine area. The Northern & Western Mountains regions are expected to be in the USG range. While the remainder of the state is expected to remain in the Moderate range for particle pollution since smoke can be slow to clean out. Ozone is expected to be in the Good range statewide.

On Monday easterly winds may push smoke westward and out of Maine. However, another plume may move down from Labrador and could impact Maine. Currently the forecast is Moderate statewide for particle pollution. The public is urged to check the DEP website later in the day as the forecast is expected to be revised late Sunday afternoon.

At elevated levels of particle pollution, children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory or heart diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, or COPD can experience reduced lung function and irritation. In addition, healthy adults who exert themselves outdoors may also notice these health effects. Affected individuals may notice symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation, and/or experience mild chest pain.

Some actions you can take to protect your health during periods of elevated particle pollution levels include:
- Avoid strenuous outdoor activity
- Close windows and circulate indoor air with a fan or air conditioner
- If you have asthma, keep your quick-relief medications and action plan handy
Additional health information may be found on the following websites:

In addition to those in a sensitive group, others who are responsible for the welfare of people impacted by poor air quality are urged to use one of the listed tools to follow the Air Quality Forecast:

For more information go to Maine DEPs air quality web site.

For additional information, contact: David R. Madore, Deputy Commissioner david.madore@maine.gov

MIL OSI USA News –
June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Soliciting external support for “Taiwan independence” will only fail: Defense Spokesperson 2025-06-09 “The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, and is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” said Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, at a press briefing on Monday.
Source: People’s Republic of China – Ministry of National Defense
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MIL OSI China News –
June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICE Captures Worst of the Worst Illegal Alien Criminals in Los Angeles Including Murderers, Sex Offenders, and Other Violent Criminals

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: ICE Captures Worst of the Worst Illegal Alien Criminals in Los Angeles Including Murderers, Sex Offenders, and Other Violent Criminals

Image

Rolando Veneracion-Enriquez
ICE arrested Rolando Veneracion-Enriquez, a 55-year-old illegal alien from the Philippines

His criminal history includes burglary in Ontario, CA with a sentence of four years in prison, sexual penetration with a foreign object with force and assault with intent to commit rape in Pomona, CA with a sentence of 37 years in prison

Image

Lionel Sanchez-Laguna
ICE Los Angeles Lionel Sanchez-Laguna, a 55-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

Sanchez-Laguna’s criminal history includes discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling and vehicle in Orange, CA with a sentence of 365 days in jail, battery on spouse or cohabitant in Orange, CA with a sentence of four years of probation, willful cruelty to child in Orange, CA with a sentence of four years of probation, driving under the influence in Orange, CA with a sentence of ten days in jail, assault with semi-automatic firearm in Orange, CA with a sentence of three years in prison, and personal use of a firearm in Orange, CA with a sentence of three years in prison

Image

Armando Ordaz
ICE arrested Armando Ordaz, a 44-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

Ordaz’s criminal history includes sexual battery in Los Angeles, CA with a sentence of 135 days of jail and five years of probation, receiving known or stolen property in Norwalk, CA with a sentence of 90 days in jail and three years of probation, and petty theft in Los Angeles, CA with a sentence of 365 days in jail and four years of probation

Image

Francisco Sanchez-Arguello
ICE arrested Francisco Sanchez-Arguello, a 38-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

Sanchez-Arguello’s criminal history that includes arrests for grand theft larceny and possession of a prohibited weapon

Image

Jose Gregorio Medranda Ortiz
ICE arrested Jose Gregorio Medranda Ortiz, a 42-year-old illegal alien from Ecuador

Medranda Ortiz’s criminal history includes conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more cocaine while on board a vessel in Tampa, FL with a sentence of 135 months in prison

Image

Victor Mendoza-Aguilar
ICE arrested Victor Mendoza-Aguilar, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

His criminal history includes a conviction for possessing unlawful paraphernalia in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 112 days jail, possessing controlled substances in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 16 months in jail, assault with a deadly weapon: not firearm in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of four years in prison; obstructing a public officer in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 364 days in jail

Image

Delfino Aguilar-Martinez
ICE arrested Delfino Aguilar-Martinez, a 51-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

Aguilar-Martinez’s criminal history includes assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury in Los Angeles, CA with a sentence of 365 days in jail

Image

Jose Cristobal Hernandez-Buitron
ICE arrested Jose Cristobal Hernandez-Buitron, 43-year-old illegal alien from Peru

Hernandez-Buitron’s criminal history that includes a conviction for robbery that resulted in a 10-year sentence

Image

Jordan Mauricio Meza-Esquibel
ICE arrested Jordan Mauricio Meza-Esquibel, 32-year-old illegal alien from Honduras

Meza-Esquibel’s criminal history that includes arrests for distribution of heroin and cocaine and domestic violence

Image

Jesus Alan Hernandez-Morales
ICE arrested Jesus Alan Hernandez-Morales, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Mexico

His criminal history includes conspiracy to transport an illegal alien in Las Cruces, NM with a sentence of 239 days in jail

Image

# # #

MIL OSI USA News –

June 9, 2025
Political Parties Must Lower Temperatures; Dialogue Cannot Be Confrontation: Vice-President

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (2)

lign=”center”>Federal Polity Requires Centre-State Sync, Nationalism Must Prevail Over Partisanship, highlights VP
Emergence Of Greenfield Projects Is Not Taking Place At The Pace It Should, cautions VP
Farmers Have To Be Hand-Held; Agripreneurs Cannot Emerge On Their Own, says VP
Time Has Come For Corporates To Share Their Profits With The Farm Sector, says VP
Peace Comes From Strength; Research Is Critical For Ensuring Security, says VP
Vice-President Interacts With Industry Leaders And Entrepreneurs In Bengaluru

The Vice-President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today said, “Political parties in the country will have to bring down the political temperature. The dialogue between political parties cannot be a confrontation — the dialogue has to be soothing. Democracy is defined, friends, by dialogue and discourse.”

He further added, “India is a thriving federal society where there has to be sync between the Centre and the States. Dialogue between leaders and political parties is vital — absence of dialogue will not be good for our national mindset.”

Interacting with industry leaders and entrepreneurs in Bengaluru today, he stated, “Issues of national security, issues connected with our nationalism, and issues connected to our development must be viewed from a national prism, not a partisan one. I do not doubt the political sagacity of people across the spectrum — they are available in all political parties.”

Invoking the Vedantic principle of freedom of expression, the Vice-President remarked, “Democratic values cannot be described without freedom of expression and debate. If someone attacks, frustrates or regulates your right to expression, then there is a deficiency in democracy.”

Commenting on industrial trends, he made a sharp observation, “People in industry, unlike politics, are satisfied by balance sheets. But greenfield projects are not emerging at the pace they should. Please think, converge in clusters to ensure equitable employment and growth.”

https://twitter.com/VPIndia/status/1931364104855531846

Calling on the corporate sector to share their profits with the farm sector, Shri Dhankhar said,“Time has come for corporates to share their profits with the farm sector. Your investment in research or farmland is not charity — it is a gainful investment.”

Speaking on farm-sector integration with industry, the Vice-President, drawing from his own background, said, “I come from a farming community. The farm sector plays a critical role in the nation’s growth trajectory. But at the moment, it is only producing agro-products — it is not part of the marketing chain.”

https://twitter.com/VPIndia/status/1931364367016267894

Calling for industry-farm convergence, he added, “Industry must brainstorm to bring greater synergy with the farm sector. Farmers need to be hand-held; agripreneurs must emerge, but they cannot do so without support.”

On the future of India’s growth, Shri Dhankhar underscored the role of research and innovation, “We must engage in research of the highest order. Our research capacity will define Bharat’s global standing. Our technological innovation will define how secure we are.”

https://twitter.com/VPIndia/status/1931346050591178991

Touching upon strategic peace, he observed, “Peace is fundamental to business and people’s harmony. But peace is never bargained — it comes from strength. The greatest peace is secured when we are ever prepared for war.”

Highlighting the evolution of industry’s role in national security, he noted, “There was a time when industry only manufactured armoury. Now, it must lead in technology. Research is the spine of long-term growth.”

Declaring that Bharat is on an unstoppable rise, the Vice-President stated, “Bharat is no longer a country of potential — it is a country on the rise. ‘Viksit Bharat’ is no longer our dream — it is our objective. But we must take a quantum leap by increasing per capita income manyfold.”

https://twitter.com/VPIndia/status/1931354355657331041

Urging a practical outlook, he added, “We must juxtapose our economic status with our demographic size — 1.4 billion people. On empirical estimates, there must be an eightfold increase in per capita income.”

Governor of Karnataka, Shri Thawarchand Gehlot, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri D.K. Shivakumar, MP Shri Lahar Singh, Minister, Govt of Karnataka, Dr M.C. Sudhakar, and other dignitaries were also present.

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ‘Our Living Soils’ by Emma Rosen and Rhiannon Thomas out now
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

‘Our Living Soils’ by Emma Rosen and Rhiannon Thomas out now

Natural England has commissioned a children’s illustrated book to teach young children about soil.

‘Our Living Soils’ written by Emma Rosen and illustrated by Rhiannon Thomas was commissioned by Natural England to teach children about soil.

Young children love to jump in muddy puddles and roll on grass, but are unlikely to think about what is going on in the earth underneath them. Now a new illustrated book aims to dig into just what is happening in the soil beneath their feet.

‘Our Living Soils’ was commissioned by Natural England to explore soil health in a way that appeals to four to seven-year-old children. It highlights just how much is going on in our soil and focuses on the creatures that make it their home. It was written by author and schoolteacher Emma Rosen, and illustrated by fine artist and illustrator, Rhiannon Thomas.

The team behind ‘Our Living Soils’. From left: Jonny Griffiths, Matthew Shepherd and Eleanor Reed of Natural England, author Emma Rosen and illustrator Rhiannon Thomas.

The book was launched during the weekend at the sold out Open Farm Sunday event at Springwater Farm in Exeter, with both Emma and Rhiannon in attendance, along with Natural England’s soils team. The team hosted a series of activities including round the campfire storytelling; soil minibeast drawing and writing activities; and the very popular exploration of soil dwelling organisms through the microscope.

Eleanor Reed, Natural England principal soil specialist, said:

From soil formation to soil function, this visually engaging book aims to raise the awareness of soils to young children and their parents alike.

We hope it engages young children and develops their curiosity about the fascinating, but hidden, world beneath their feet.

‘Our Living Soils’ was launched at Open Farm Sunday in Exeter where children could look at soil-based organisms under the microscope.

Neal Layton, author and illustrator of some of the Eco Explorer series of children’s books, endorsed ‘Our Living Soils’, saying it is ‘a brilliant book for muddy boot wearers big and small’.

Alongside the paperback, which is available to buy at Our Living Soils – Emma Rosen, or from Waterstones and Amazon, there will be a PDF edition which can be distributed by Natural England. A Kindle version will also be produced and put on the Kindle Unlimited subscription service so subscribers can read it for free.

A narrated video of ‘Our Living Soils’ is available on YouTube.

Our Living Soils, written by Emma Rosen and illustrated by Rhiannon Thomas

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Published 9 June 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Three people have been killed in two separate incidents in the Indian city of Delhi.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

NEW DELHI, June 9 (Xinhua) — Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed in two separate incidents in Delhi on Monday and several others were injured, a senior Delhi Fire Service official has confirmed.

Two people were killed in a fire that broke out at an electric charging station in Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area. The station, located inside a house, was meant for e-rickshaws, small vehicles used to ferry people over short distances.

Both of them suffered burns and were rushed to a local government hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Two more people injured in the incident were taken to a local hospital.

In a separate incident, an 8-year-old boy was killed and a 60-year-old man was injured when a two-storey house collapsed in West Delhi’s Kamruddin Nagar on Monday.

The victim was taken to a local hospital. –0–

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 9, 2025
11 years of PM Modi: A milestone in clean cooking fuel access under PM Modi’s leadership

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

India marked the ninth anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), a flagship welfare initiative that has revolutionized access to clean cooking fuel across the country. Launched on May 1, 2016, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who now completes 11 years in office, the scheme has grown into the world’s largest clean energy program for households, transforming the lives of millions—particularly women—in rural and economically weaker sections.

PMUY was initially conceived to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women from poor households. Over the past nine years, it has reached 10.33 crore beneficiaries as of March 1, 2025, enabling a major shift from traditional fuels like firewood and cow dung to cleaner alternatives. Data shows that out of 8.99 crore connections released by April 2022, 8.34 crore beneficiaries refilled their cylinders at least once between April 2022 and March 2024—signaling consistent and sustained usage.

To bring the remaining unserved households under the LPG umbrella, the government launched Ujjwala 2.0 in August 2021. Initially targeting the release of one crore new connections, the scheme surpassed its goal by January 2022. Subsequently, an additional 60 lakh connections were provided by December 2022.

In a further push, 75 lakh more connections were sanctioned for distribution between FY 2023–24 and FY 2025–26, a target achieved ahead of schedule in July 2024. Ujjwala 2.0 also introduced simplified norms for migrant families, allowing them to apply using a self-declaration, bypassing the need for standard documents like ration cards or proof of address.

The expansion of the LPG network has accompanied the program’s success. India now has 32.94 crore active domestic LPG consumers, with PMUY users accounting for nearly one-third. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have played a critical role, setting up 7,959 new LPG distributorships between April 2016 and October 2024—93% of them in rural areas.

The total number of distributors has jumped from 13,896 in 2014 to 25,481 in 2024, an 83% increase, while rural distributors alone have seen a 161% surge, reinforcing the government’s commitment to last-mile delivery.

Affordability has been central to PMUY’s success. As of January 2025, PMUY beneficiaries in Delhi pay an effective price of ₹503 for a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder, compared to ₹803 for non-beneficiaries. This price stands in stark contrast to neighboring countries, where the same LPG cylinder costs ₹1,094.83 in Pakistan, ₹1,231.53 in Sri Lanka, and ₹1,206.65 in Nepal, according to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) data.

Thanks to such efforts, per capita LPG consumption among PMUY beneficiaries has steadily climbed—from 3.01 cylinders in FY 2019–20 to 4.43 cylinders in FY 2024–25 (as of March 2025), reflecting increased adoption and changing cooking habits.

Numerous studies have highlighted PMUY’s tangible impact on public health, economic empowerment, and environmental sustainability. By reducing reliance on biomass and firewood, the scheme has helped lower indoor air pollution, significantly improving the respiratory health of women and children. It has also freed up time previously spent on collecting fuel, allowing women to engage in income-generating activities and improve nutritional outcomes through more efficient cooking.

The shift to LPG has also curbed deforestation, contributing to broader environmental conservation goals.

Among the states making the greatest strides in PMUY implementation are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, all of which have contributed significantly to the scheme’s national footprint.

The initiative has also received global acclaim. The International Energy Agency (IEA) described PMUY as a “major achievement” that goes beyond energy access, emphasizing its economic and social impact. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the program in a 2018 report for its role in addressing the global challenge of household air pollution.

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: YVO’s plan for responding to future geological hazards in Yellowstone National Park

Source: US Geological Survey

Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Cover of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory response plan for geological hazards in the Yellowstone region. The report can be accessed at https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1351/. Cover features a photograph by Mike Poland and frame captures from a video by Juliet Su.

As Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” This is why the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) has a plan to guide the observatory’s actions during a response to earthquakes, hydrothermal explosions, or any geological activity that could lead to a volcanic eruption.

The first YVO response plan was published in 2010 and explained how observatory scientists would collect data, communicate with one another and the public, and interact with emergency managers as part of any incident command system that was organized to deal with a crisis—for example, a major earthquake or volcanic eruption.

A second version of the YVO response plan was published in 2014 and incorporated changes in the YVO consortium, which expanded in 2013 to include more institutions, as well as lessons learned from a readiness, or “table-top,” exercise that was held in 2011. Table-top exercises are discussions that simulate a crisis and that are used by emergency responders to practice and evaluate procedures.

The newest version of the YVO response plan was just published (https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1351/). This update contains several significant modifications compared to the previous versions.

First and foremost, the YVO response plan now aligns with a procedures established by the USGS Volcano Science Center—particularly the “OVERT,” or Observatory Volcano Event Response Team, concept. OVERT defines critical functions, like data management, communications, monitoring, science, and logistical support, that can be staffed up during a crisis. The OVERT team can be implemented in stages to follow the nature of whatever volcanic unrest or eruption may be unfolding and is intended to be flexible and modular. The concept also establishes clear lines of communication and reporting so that no one person has too many responsibilities, and information is shared quickly and openly.

As an example, if a major seismic swarm were to begin in Yellowstone National Park, YVO might establish an OVERT organizational structure that has staffing for the monitoring and communications teams. If that seismicity intensified and led to hydrothermal explosions, those teams would be expanded to take on additional responsibilities, and other branches would also be staffed—like those dealing with data documentation and logistics to support field operations.

Organization chart giving the structure of a response by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory to a significant episode of unrest or eruption at the Yellowstone volcanic system. The strategy is scalable (elements are activated as they are needed and deactivated when they are no longer needed) and can be adapted to meet the needs of the event response. Chart follows the Observatory Volcanic Event Response Team structure in the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center Response Plan for Significant Volcanic Events (Moran and others, 2024—https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1518). EOC=Emergency Operations Center; UAS=Unoccupied Aircraft Systems; YVO=Yellowstone Volcano Observatory; YVOCOMS=YVO communications group.

YVO’s updated response plan also defines two different cases: “events” and “activity with potential.” An “event” is a single and sudden hazardous occurrence, like the 1959 M7.3 Hebgen Lake earthquake or the July 23, 2024, hydrothermal explosion at Biscuit Basin, that would prompt YVO to immediately initiate additional monitoring and to communicate hazards information to emergency managers and the public. Because some geologic hazards evolve slowly, however, YVO’s response plan also defines “activity with potential” that could eventually build towards a hazard that requires intense monitoring. The 2003 thermal event at Norris Geyser Basin, when ground heated to boiling temperatures in places and caused some boardwalks to be closed and eventually rerouted, is a good example.

Also included in the response plan are communications protocols and call-down lists that establish robust methods for ensuring that information is passed along to emergency managers at various institutions, like the area land managers and, in the event of an explosive volcanic eruption, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Weather Service. Additional guidelines describe how YVO consortium members would collaborate to ensure that the public—especially local residents—are informed of hazards that may develop, and steps that can be taken to lessen the impacts of those hazards.

By developing this response plan, and also putting it into practice—for instance, as part of a table-top exercise that was held for YVO consortium members in 2022—YVO scientists will be better prepared to deal with any future geologic hazards in the Yellowstone region. Hopefully there will never need to be put the YVO response protocols into practice in response to a serious geologic hazard. But we must not fail to plan.

Scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory meet in Mammoth Hot Springs in May 2022 to discuss the protocols for responding to a geological event in Yellowstone National Park.

MIL OSI USA News –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI: FrontFundr Marks 10 Years of Democratizing Private Markets, Surpasses $285M in Capital Raised
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FrontFundr, Canada’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, is celebrating a decade of impact, innovation, and community-driven capital. Since launching on May 29, 2015, the platform has processed over $285 million in investments from over 19,000 investors into 269 private market campaigns, transforming how Canadians invest—and who gets to participate.

In just ten years, FrontFundr has grown from a bold idea into a powerful engine for innovation, access, and financial inclusion. The platform now boasts a community of 56,000+ users, 30,000+ investments, and a track record that includes record-setting raises and high-profile exits.

“What started as an experiment in opening up capital markets has grown into a movement,” said Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, Founder and CEO of FrontFundr. “Our journey reflects the evolution of private investing in Canada—more inclusive, more accessible, more transparent, and more aligned with the values of today’s investors.”

A Decade of Deal-Making and Milestones
- Blossom Social, a social network for investors, broke the Canadian equity crowdfunding record in 2025 with a $1.93M raise in under 6 hours—surpassing its own 2024 record of $1.34M.
- Sheringham Distillery, the award-winning spirits company behind Seaside Gin, raised $1.2M from over 800 investors, turning loyal fans into shareholders and expanding distribution across North America.
- HEMPALTA, a Calgary-based cleantech company, closed a successful raise in 2022 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2024, providing a liquidity event for early investors.
- tiptap, the company behind touchless giving technology, raised on FrontFundr in both 2020 and 2023—scaling nationally and powering donation campaigns with organizations like the Salvation Army.
These standout campaigns represent a broader surge in momentum. In 2024 alone, FrontFundr facilitated $68.3M in capital across 66 campaigns, marking its strongest year to date.

A Broader Movement Toward Inclusive Investing
FrontFundr has seen meaningful shifts in investor demographics, with women now representing 26% of all investors and individuals in their 30s emerging as the most active group. This growing diversity reflects the platform’s mission to make private investing more accessible, inclusive, and representative of the wider population.

That same commitment extends to the companies raising capital on the platform. Thirty-four percent of the businesses in FrontFundr’s portfolio are led by underrepresented groups—including 19% founded or led by women.

Importantly, the model is delivering results: 87% of companies funded through FrontFundr remain active, with 13.7% having already achieved liquidity events—including notable 2024 exits from Hempalta and Liquid Wind.

Innovation That Scales With the Market
Over the past year, FrontFundr introduced a redesigned investment workflow, launched the FrontFundr Elite Circle for experienced investors, and partnered with leading U.S.-based platforms StartEngine, Republic, and WeFundr to give Canadians access to top-tier AI and tech opportunities south of the border. These improvements helped drive a 17% increase in average investment size and a 97% jump in new investors last year alone.

Celebrating a Decade—and Looking Ahead
To mark its 10-year milestone, FrontFundr will host a community celebration on Tuesday, June 10th at OneEleven in Toronto, featuring a fireside chat with CEO Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, investor panels, and a showcase of standout campaigns. The event brings together investors, founders, and ecosystem partners to reflect on the last decade—and toast to the next one.

“We’ve seen what’s possible when everyday people are invited to invest in the ideas they believe in,” said Trieste Reading, VP of Growth at FrontFundr. “Over the past decade, we’ve built more than a platform—we’ve built a movement. Now we’re scaling that vision across Canada and beyond, proving that inclusive capital is the future of investing.”

About FrontFundr
FrontFundr is Canada’s leading private markets investing platform, empowering startups and growth-stage companies to raise capital from their biggest supporters—everyday Canadians. Since 2015, FrontFundr has enabled thousands of investors to access vetted investment opportunities in private companies, reshaping who gets to participate in building the future. Learn more at www.frontfundr.com.

Media Contact:
Trieste Reading
VP of Growth, FrontFundr
trieste@frontfundr.com
+1 (604) 910-5074

The MIL Network –
June 9, 2025
NATO needs 400% increase in air and missile defence, Rutte will say in London

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will use a speech in London on Monday to say the military alliance needs a 400% increase in air and missile defence, one of the priorities for a summit of members in the Hague later this month.

Rutte is pushing for members to boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for a 5% target. Last month, he said he assumed that target would be agreed at the summit on June 24-25.

Rutte will argue in a speech at London’s Chatham House think tank that for NATO to maintain credible deterrence and defence, it needs “a 400% increase in air and missile defence”.

“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” he will say, according to extracts of his speech provided by his office.

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

With little let up in fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine despite ceasefire calls, European countries are under pressure to raise defence spending after Trump signalled a shift in policy, pushing for the region to better protect itself.

Several countries say they are doing so, with Britain pledging an increase from 2.3% to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and 3% of GDP at a later date. Germany has said it will need roughly 50,000 to 60,000 additional active soldiers under new NATO targets.

(Reuters)

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: #iubilaeum2025 – Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost

Source: The Holy See

At 10.30 this morning, Solemnity of Pentecost, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Movements, Associations and New Communities, the Holy Father Leo XIV presided over Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Square.
The following is the homily delivered by the Pope during the course of the Eucharistic Celebration, after the proclamation of the Gospel:

Homily of the Holy Father
Dear brothers and sisters,
“The day has dawned upon us when…, glorified by his ascension into heaven following his resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit” (Saint Augustine, Serm. 271, 1). Today, too, what took place in the Upper Room takes place anew in our midst. Like a mighty wind that overtakes us, like a crash that startles us, like a fire that illuminates us, the gift of the Holy Spirit descends upon us (cf. Acts 2:1-11).
As we heard in the first reading, the Spirit accomplished something extraordinary in the lives of the Apostles. Following Jesus’ death, they had retreated behind closed doors, in fear and sadness. Now they receive a new way of seeing things, an interior understanding that helps them to interpret the events that occurred and to experience intimately the presence of the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit overcomes their fear, shatters their inner chains, heals their wounds, anoints them with strength and grants them the courage to go out to all and to proclaim God’s mighty works.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that in Jerusalem at that time there was a multitude of people from various backgrounds, yet “each one heard them speaking in his own native tongue” (v. 6). In a word, at Pentecost, the doors of the Upper Room were opened because the Spirit opens borders. As Benedict XVI explained: “The Holy Spirit bestows understanding. The Spirit overcomes the ‘breach’ that began in Babel, the confusion of mind and heart that sets us one against the other. The Spirit opens borders… The Church must always become anew what she already is. She must open the borders between peoples and break down the barriers between class and race. In her, there cannot be those who are neglected or disdained. In the Church there are only free men and women, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ” (Homily for Pentecost, 15 May 2005).
Here we have an eloquent image of Pentecost, one that I would like to pause for a moment and reflect upon with you.
The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts. He is the Gift that opens our lives to love. His presence breaks down our hardness of heart, our narrowness of mind, our selfishness, the fears that enchain us and the narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves. The Holy Spirit comes to challenge us, to make us confront the possibility that our lives are shrivelling up, trapped in the vortex of individualism. Sadly, oddly enough, in a world of burgeoning “social” media, we risk being ever more alone. Constantly connected, yet incapable of “networking”. Always immersed in a crowd, yet confused and solitary travellers.
The Spirit of God allows us to find a new way of approaching and experiencing life. He puts us in touch with our inmost self, beneath all the masks we wear. He leads us to an encounter with the Lord by teaching us to experience the joy that is his gift. He convinces us, as we just heard in Jesus’ words, that only by abiding in love, will we receive the strength to remain faithful to his word and to let it transform us. The Spirit opens our interior borders, so that our lives can become places of welcome and refreshment.
The Spirit also opens borders in our relationship with others. Jesus tells us that this Gift is the love between him and the Father that comes to dwell within us. We then become capable of opening our hearts to our brothers and sisters, overcoming our rigidity, moving beyond our fear of those who are different, and mastering the passions that stir within. The Spirit also transforms those deeper, hidden dangers that disturb our relationships, like suspicion, prejudice or the desire to manipulate others. I think too, with great pain, of those cases where relationships are marked by an unhealthy desire for domination, an attitude that often leads to violence, as is shown, tragically, by numerous recent cases of femicide.
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, brings to maturity within us the fruits that enable us to cultivate good and healthy relationships: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22). In this way, the Spirit broadens the borders of our relationships and opens us to the joy of fraternity. This is also a critical yardstick for the Church. For we are truly the Church of the Risen Lord and disciples of Pentecost if there are no borders or divisions among us; if we are able to dialogue and accept one another in the Church, and to reconcile our diversities; and if, as Church, we become a welcoming and hospitable place for all.
Finally, the Spirit also opens borders between peoples. At Pentecost, the Apostles spoke the languages of those they met, and the confusion of Babel was finally resolved by the harmony brought about by the Spirit. Whenever God’s “breath” unites our hearts and makes us view others as our brothers and sisters, differences no longer become an occasion for division and conflict but rather a shared patrimony from which we can all draw, and which sets us all on journey together, in fraternity.
The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred because he “teaches us all things” and “reminds us of Jesus’ words” (cf. Jn 14:26). He teaches us, reminds us, and writes in our hearts before all else the commandment of love that the Lord has made the center and summit of everything. Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for “security” zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.
It was on the feast of Pentecost that Pope Francis observed: “In our world today, there is so much discord, such great division. We are all ‘connected’, yet find ourselves disconnected from one another, anesthetized by indifference and overwhelmed by solitude” (Homily, 28 May 2023). The wars plaguing our world are a tragic sign of this. Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven.
Brothers and sisters, Pentecost renews the Church and the world! May the strong wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the borders of our hearts, grant us the grace of encounter with God, enlarge the horizons of our love and sustain our efforts to build a world in which peace reigns.
May Mary Most Holy, Woman of Pentecost, Virgin visited by the Spirit, Mother full of grace, accompany us and intercede for us.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Slams Trump Administration for Terrorizing Los Angeles Communities Through ICE Raids, Deploying National Guard
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

WATCH: Padilla Slams Trump Administration for Terrorizing Los Angeles Communities Through ICE Raids, Deploying National Guard

Padilla: California is “the fourth-largest economy in the world, not despite our immigrant population, but because of our immigrant population, who contribute so much as [a] workforce, as consumers, as entrepreneurs. That’s something to be respected, not insulted.”

“Our nation is better than this. Look to California as a way forward.”

Watch the full interview here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined MSNBC’s “The Weekend: Primetime” to condemn the Trump Administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across Los Angeles and President Trump’s ensuing unprecedented deployment of nearly 2,000 members of California’s National Guard to the region.

Senator Padilla slammed President Trump for manufacturing a cruel crisis to scapegoat immigrants and distract from Republicans’ harmful budget bill that will cut critical services that millions of Americans depend on to give tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy. He also blasted the Trump Administration for their hypocrisy in calling the largely peaceful Los Angeles protests an “insurrection” as President Trump and Republicans refuse to use that word to describe the January 6th Capitol insurrection. Padilla encouraged Californians to continue peacefully protesting the Trump Administration’s inhumane immigration enforcement.

Key Excerpts:

On Trump demonizing immigrants to distract from Republicans’ harmful budget bill:

“The Senate Republicans are on the verge of passing what House Republicans just passed in this bill that threatens to cut Medicaid, cut the social safety net for so many, and underwrite tax breaks for billionaires. So to distract from that, it never fails. This is [Trump’s] classic playbook. He’s not brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine. His tariff war has gone horribly wrong. So when all else fails, he demonizes immigrants again.”

“If we were having a serious, substantive policy conversation, I think there is room to discuss increased funding for our immigration system, not just smarter enforcement at the border, utilizing technology, focusing on ports of entry, but also for all the people who have pending cases, whether it’s an asylum case, whether it’s anything else, there is a need for more immigration judges and hearing officers and counsel, those sorts of things. And let’s reduce the backlog. But what the Trump Administration is doing is exactly the opposite, shifting it to complete enforcement and aggressive, extreme, cruel enforcement for that matter, while the backlogs continue to grow because they’ve shifted resources away from those services and those programs.”

“By and large, this supposedly Big Beautiful Bill, which is anything but, is nothing but increasing funding for … immigration enforcement, gutting so many other critical areas of the budget that working families across the country depend on, all to underwrite tax breaks for the most wealthy in America, including somebody like Elon Musk. You know, Donald Trump didn’t like the headlines he was getting because of his fallout with Elon Musk, and so again, what happens? He stages a crisis, manufactures a cruel crisis to try to change the news of the day.”

On Trump’s hypocrisy in his response compared to January 6:

“The other thing he wants is for people to, yes, maybe get out of hand, so that he has the justification to escalate and increase the use of force. Look what happened in his first term. Look what happened on January 6. You’ve got to call out the hypocrisy. He did not once say “insurrectionist” for the people who stormed the Capitol and attacked police officers, but one protester who gets a little bit out of hand in Los Angeles and all of a sudden, he’s going to bring in the Marines? That’s beyond hypocritical.”

“If it’s one thing that the Team Trump does have going for it, is they are masters of misinformation and disinformation. What’s happening in Los Angeles is not an insurrection. What happened on January 6 at the nation’s Capitol was an insurrection. So intellectual dishonesty is nothing new for J.D. Vance, or Donald Trump, or anybody in the White House right now. They should know better.”

On the cruelty of Trump’s ICE raids and the importance of peaceful protests:

“These raids are not new. Obviously, we’ve been seeing them around the country for a few months, but increasingly with extremism and cruelty. And that’s what people in Los Angeles are responding to. Again, as others have said, you want to focus on violent and dangerous criminals? Great, there’s no disagreement there. But when you’re going after kids that are depending on lifesaving treatment, when you’re going after people in the workplace, in houses of worship, children in schools — that’s a whole thing altogether. So in a diverse community like Los Angeles, there’s going to be a lot of people who are passionate about defending fundamental rights and due process and to speak up when they see that not being respected.”

“So for all the people in Los Angeles, I do say protest. Protest peacefully, but protest because Donald Trump wants one of two things. He wants people … to be quiet, to suck it up, and ignore what’s happening, let him do whatever he wants. That’s not in our DNA.”

On immigrants’ integral role in driving California’s economic success:

“We are not just the most populous state in the nation, we’re the most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation, both mostly documented, some undocumented. But remember, folks, this is also the largest economy of any state in the nation, by far. The fourth-largest economy in the world, not despite our immigrant population, but because of our immigrant population, who contribute so much as [a] workforce, as consumers, as entrepreneurs. That’s something to be respected, not insulted.”

On his personal story growing up as the son of immigrants from Mexico and fighting against anti-immigrant actions:

“You can’t help but take this personal because you can relate to the story, because you can relate to the sacrifice, because you can relate to that journey — not just me, my brother, my sister, my parents, and our family, but everybody, frankly, in the community where and how I grew up, which is indicative of millions of families across the country. You know, my parents came in pursuit of the American Dream, as so many have over generations, and my parents found it. My dad as a short order cook for 40 years, my mom cleaning houses. And to think that in one generation, someone like me can grow up in public schools in Los Angeles, go on to college, and one day represent our state in the United States Senate.”

“But there’s a reason why I left my engineering degree behind in 1994. It’s because of the rhetoric I saw back then in California, very different than the California we see today. Governor Pete Wilson, at the time, standing for re-election, down in the polls, turns to anti-immigrant rhetoric to try to seek re-election and divide the people. And it was because of … that Proposition 187 that people like my parents, finally took the steps to become citizens, as opposed to just being long-term permanent residents, but also my generation choosing to get involved in government and politics and change the trajectory of our state. California is very different today, but it is just so heartbreaking and offensive that the rhetoric continues to this day, even more so, because it’s not just coming out of the governor’s office in California back then, not now, but out of the Oval Office. Our nation is better than this. Look to California as a way forward.”

On Trump’s mismanagement of the protests in Los Angeles:

“Law enforcement on the ground knows the community, and the community knows LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department. This is just a reminder that what happens when you don’t know what you’re doing as President United States, when you send in DHS, when you send in the National Guard, and they don’t know the community, they don’t have the rapport and the trust of the community, things get out of hand. And then the federal officials are in the position of having to call in LAPD to help them bring the temperature down in a situation, or the sheriff’s office in parts of the county outside the city of Los Angeles. It’s pointing out the weaknesses and the inability, the inexperience, and irresponsibility, frankly, of the Trump Administration.”

Video of the full interview is available here.

Senator Padilla also joined Los Angeles outlets KTLA and KNX tonight to discuss the fear and chaos the Trump Administration is stoking in Los Angeles and across California. On Friday, Padilla issued a statement condemning the Los Angeles ICE raids.
MIL OSI USA News –
June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Injuries reported following explosion at US Kadena Air Base in Japan’s Okinawa

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

An explosion occurred Monday at an ammunition storage area within the U.S. military’s Kadena Air Base in Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, resulting in injuries, local media reported.

The blast went off at a facility that belongs to Japan’s Self Defense Forces (SDF) and is used to temporarily store unexploded ammunition, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing SDF sources.

At around 11:20 a.m. local time, the fire department received a report about the explosion at the SDF-managed facility and that people were injured but remained conscious.

Several SDF personnel were taken to hospital after the incident, Kyodo News said.

MIL OSI China News –

June 9, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Palestinian supporters in NZ accuse Israel of ‘state piracy’ and condemn silence

Asia Pacific Report

Israel’s military attack and boarding of the humanitarian boat Madleen attempting to deliver food and medical aid to the besieged people of Gaza has been condemned by New Zealand Palestinian advocacy groups as a “staggering act of state piracy”.

The vessel was in international waters, carrying aid workers, doctors, journalists, and supplies desperately needed by the 2 million population that Israel has systematically bombed, starved, and displaced.

“This was not a military confrontation. It was the assault of an unarmed civilian aid ship by a state acting with total impunity,” said the group Thyme4Action.

“This is piracy, it is state terror, and it is a genocidal act of war.

Half of the 12 crew and passengers on board are French citizens and the volunteer group includes French-Palestinian European parliamentarian Rima Hassan and Swedish climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg and two journalists.

They all made pre-recorded messages calling for international pressure on their governments against the Israeli state. The messages were posted on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition X page.

The group Thyme4Action said in a media release that a regime engaged in genocide would send sends drones and armed commandos to detain civilians in international waters.

Israel’s ‘total moral collapse’
“We are witnessing the total moral collapse of a state, supported for years by Western governments to act with utter impunity, violate our global legal system, morality and principles.

“No amount of spin or military propaganda can hide the cruelty of deliberately starving a population, targeting children, bombing hospitals and bakeries, and then violently stopping others from bringing aid.”

Thyme4Action said the attack on the Madleen was not a separate incident — “it is part of the same campaign to eliminate Palestinian life, hope, and survival. It is why the International Court of Justice has already ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide.”

“This is not complicated,” said the statement.

French journalist Yanis Mhandi on board the Madleen . . . “I’ve been detained by Israeli forces while doing my job as a journalist.” Image: FFC screenshot APR

“Israel has no legal authority in international waters. Under the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Israel’s boarding of a civilian aid ship beyond its territorial waters is an act of piracy, unlawful kidnapping, forcible abduction and armed
aggression.

Under international humanitarian law, deliberately blocking aid to a population facing
starvation is a war crime.

Under the Genocide Convention, when a state intentionally denies food, water, and
medicine to a population it is bombing and displacing, this constitutes part of a genocidal
campaign.”

NZ silence condemned
The advocacy group condemned the silence of the New Zealand government as being “no longer neutral”.

The moment that the Freedom Flotilla Coalition lost communications with the Madleen as Israeli forces attacked the vessel. Image: FFC

It demonstrated a shocking lack of respect for international law, for human rights, and for the safety of global humanitarian workers.

“It reflects a broader decay in foreign policy — where selective outrage and Israeli
exceptionalism undermine the credibility of everything New Zealand claims to stand for.”

Thyme4Action called on the New Zealand government to:

• Publicly condemn Israel’s illegal assault on the Madleen and its passengers;
• Demand the immediate release of all aid workers, journalists, and civilians
abducted by Israeli forces;
• Suspend all diplomatic, military, and trade cooperation with Israel until it complies
with international law; and
• Support international accountability mechanisms, including referring Israel’s crimes
to the International Criminal Court and backing enforcement of the ICJ’s provisional
measures on genocide.

“This has to stop. This is not just a crisis in Gaza,” said the statement.

‘Crisis of global morality’
“It is a crisis of global morality, of international law, and of our basic shared humanity.

“We stand with the people of Gaza. We stand with the brave souls aboard the Madleen, and
we demand an end to this madness before the world forgets what it means to be human.

“We need a government that stands for all that is right, not all that is wrong.

“Aid is not terrorism. International waters are not Israel’s territory. And silence in the face of evil is complicity.”

Pro-Palestinian supporters in New Zealand have held protests against the genocide and demanding a ceasefire right across the country at multiple locations for the past 87 weeks.

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The blow-up between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been entertaining, but how did things go so bad, so fast?

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Henry Maher, Lecturer in Politics, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

A no-holds-barred and very public blow-up between the world’s richest man and the president of the United States has had social media agog in recent days, with each making serious accusations against the other.

And while tech billionaire Elon Musk appears to have cooled the spat somewhat – deleting some of his more incendiary social media posts about Donald Trump – the president still appears to be in no mood to make up, warning Musk of “very serious consequences” if he backs Democrats at the mid-term elections in 2026.

Tensions erupted over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB). The OBBB proposes extensive tax cuts which could add roughly US$3 trillion (A$4.62 trillion) to the US national debt.

After stepping down from his role as advisor to Trump, Musk criticised the OBBB as “disgusting abomination” that would “burden America [sic] citizens with crushing unsustainable debt”. Trump returned fire, suggesting “Elon was ‘wearing thin’, I asked him to leave […] and he just went CRAZY!”.

In a dramatic escalation, Musk responded by calling for Trump’s impeachment. Musk also tweeted allegations that Trump was implicated in the Epstein files related to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has since deleted those tweets.

Why has the much-hyped “bromance” between Musk and Trump suddenly ended? And what was the basis of their alliance in the first place?

Musk in politics

Like many billionaires, Musk had previously been hesitant to get involved in frontline politics. He says he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020, but claimed in 2021 “I would prefer to stay out of politics”.

In early 2024, Musk was still claiming to be politically non-aligned, suggesting he would not donate to either presidential campaign.

This apparent neutrality ended following the attempted assassination of Trump at a July 2024 campaign rally, with Musk immediately endorsing Trump.

In reality, Musk’s conversion to the MAGA movement long predated the assassination attempt. Musk’s hyperactive Twitter/X account shows a steady radicalisation.

Across 2020-2024, Musk engaged with accounts sharing MAGA and far-right conspiracy theories. These include the antisemitic Great Replacement Theory, and the related South African white genocide conspiracy. Musk’s posts also show the obsession with opposing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies characteristic of the MAGA movement.

After endorsing Trump, Musk spent US$288 million (A$444 million) supporting Trump’s election and appeared at campaign events around the country.

Musk’s support for Trump was both ideological and pragmatic.

From tax cuts to immigration restrictions to opposing DEI, there were clearly many ideological commonalities between Musk and Trump.

There were also clear practical benefits for both men. Trump gained the financial backing of the world’s wealthiest man. Musk gained not only unparalleled access to the US president, but also a role leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE: success and failure

Early reporting on the second Trump presidency noted the omnipresence of Musk, who at one point moved into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to be close to the president.

However, observers were sceptical about the potential effectiveness of DOGE, and Musk’s claim it would save the government US$2 trillion (A$3.02 trillion).

In the early months of the Trump administration, Musk cut government programs and employees at a remarkable rate. The USAID program was particularly hard hit, as were the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

As the spending cuts picked up pace, Musk began to attract more controversy. Critics questioned the apparent power wielded by the unelected billionaire. Musk’s ties to the far right were also in the spotlight after he appeared to perform two “Roman salutes”, which many observers believed to be a Nazi salute.

Trump clips Musk’s wings

Musk’s apparent rampage through government did not last long. As Trump’s executive appointees assumed control of their departments, Musk and DOGE experienced increasing resistance. After a series of fractious cabinet meetings, Trump reportedly reduced the power of DOGE in March.

Political attention was also clearly affecting Musk’s businesses. The negative publicity has significantly damaged the Tesla brand, leading to declining sales around the world and repeated falls in Telsa’s share price.

On May 1, Musk announced he would be leaving DOGE, claiming the department had saved the government US$180 billion (A$277 billion) in spending. This number is likely an exaggeration, but still falls well short of his original target.

Musk has learned a harsh lesson in politics – that the complexities of government resist simple reform and cannot be easily rolled back in the way a CEO might slim down a company.

For Trump, his manoeuvring of Musk appears to be another smart political move. As the public face of DOGE, Musk bore the negative rap for early government cuts and chaos. Having used his money and reputation, Trump dispensed with Musk as he has with so many advisers and appointees before.

The falling out

Musk departed his role in a muted White House ceremony, where Trump thanked him for his service and presented him with a ceremonial “golden key” to the White House.

However, behind the public show of civility, tension was brewing over Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

Trump and Musk had originally claimed that the US$2 trillion (A$3.02 trillion) in DOGE savings could be used to fund a substantial tax cut. With the efficiency savings not eventuating, Musk worried the OBBB would significantly increase US public debt.

Unable to convince Trump or other Republican legislators, Musk took to X, launching a “Kill the Bill” campaign that ultimately led to his incendiary showdown with Trump.

For his part, Trump has belittled Musk, suggesting Musk only opposed the OBBB because it cut subsidies for electric vehicles.

Though the subsidy cuts will affect Tesla, Musk has previously supported eliminating subsidies. Musk’s anger at the OBBB is more likely driven by the realisation he has been played by Trump.

What now?

Trump has used and discarded many other powerful figures in his chaotic political career. Musk has more power than most, and might be able to strike back at Trump.

Yet, with his public reputation and brands already tarnished, Musk would be ill-advised to pick further fights with Trump and his adoring MAGA movement.

Accordingly, Musk has indicated over the weekend he is open to a détente. Tesla investors will no doubt be relieved if Musk makes good on his pledge to step back from politics and return to his businesses.

More concerning are the prospects for democracy. With wealth and power continuing to concentrate in a handful of billionaires, voters appear reduced to the role of viewers forced to watch the reality TV drama unfold.

Though Trump appears to have won this round of billionaire battle royale, whatever happens next, democracy is the real loser.

Henry Maher 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. The blow-up between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been entertaining, but how did things go so bad, so fast? – https://theconversation.com/the-blow-up-between-elon-musk-and-donald-trump-has-been-entertaining-but-how-did-things-go-so-bad-so-fast-258394

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Immortality at a price: how the promise of delaying death has become a consumer marketing bonanza

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amy Errmann, Senior Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, Auckland University of Technology

Living forever has become the wellness and marketing trend of the 2020s. But cheating death – or at least delaying it – will come at a price.

What was once the domain of scientists and the uber rich is increasingly becoming a consumer product. Those pushing the idea, spearheaded by tech billionaire Bryan Johnson’s “Don’t Die” movement, believe death isn’t inevitable, but is a solvable problem.

The global longevity market – spanning gene therapies, anti-ageing drugs, diagnostics and wellness plans – is projected to hit US$610 billion this year. At its core, the marketing of these products feeds off the age-old fear of mortality and the desire to stay young.

But while the marketing is reaching the masses, this is still very much a luxury product. Immortality is being sold as exclusive, aspirational and symbolic. It’s not just about living longer – it’s about signalling status, controlling biology and being your “best future self”.

Tapping into long-held fears

What’s known as “terror management theory” puts forward the idea that humans and other animals have an instinctive drive for self-preservation. But humans are not only self-aware, they are also able to anticipate future outcomes – including the inevitability of death.

The messaging behind the push to extend life taps into this internal tension between knowledge of our own mortality and the self-preservation instinct. And to be fair, it is not a new phenomenon.

Cryonics – the preservation of bodies and brains at extremely low temperatures with the hope medical advancements will allow for their revival at some point in the future – was first popularised in Robert Ettinger’s 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality.

Since then, the super-rich have invested in various companies promising to preserve their bodies for some unknown future date. It now costs US$200,000 to freeze your body, or $80,000 for just your brain.

What’s truly new is how death is being marketed – not as fate, but as a flaw. Longevity isn’t just about living longer; it’s about turning mortality into a design problem, something to delay, manage and eventually solve.

“Biohacking” sells the idea that with the right data, tools and discipline, you can upgrade your biology – and become your best, most future-proof self.

This pitch targets high-income consumers aged 30 to 60, people already fluent in the language of optimisation – a mindset focused on maximising performance, productivity and longevity through data.

The brands behind the living forever movement sell control, optimisation and elite identity. Ageing becomes a personal failure. Anti-ageing is self-discipline. Consumers are cast as CEOs of their own health – tracking sleep, fixing their gut and taking supplements.

From biohacks to consumer branding

There are now more than 700 companies working in the longevity market. Startups such as Elysium Health and Human Longevity Inc. offer DNA testing, supplements and personalised health plans.

These aren’t medical treatments – they’re sold as tools to age “smarter” or “slower” and are pitched with the language of control over what once might have seemed uncontrollable.

Don’t Die’s Bryan Johnson spends over US$2 million annually on his personal anti-ageing experiment.

But the real pitch is to consumers: buy back time, one premium subscription at a time. Johnson’s company Blueprint offers diagnostics, supplements and exercise routines bundled into monthly plans starting at $333 and climbing to over $1,600.

Longevity products promise more than health. They promise time, control and even immortality. But the quest to live forever, or at least a lot longer, raises moral and ethical questions about who benefits, and what kind of world is being created.

Without thoughtful oversight, these technologies risk becoming tools of exclusion, not progress. Because if time becomes a product, not everyone will get to check out at the same counter.

Amy Errmann 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. Immortality at a price: how the promise of delaying death has become a consumer marketing bonanza – https://theconversation.com/immortality-at-a-price-how-the-promise-of-delaying-death-has-become-a-consumer-marketing-bonanza-257009

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Can Israel still claim self-defence to justify its Gaza war? Here’s what the law says

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University

On October 7 2023, more than 1,000 Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and went on a killing spree, murdering 1,200 men, women and children and abducting another 250 people to take back to Gaza. It was the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

That day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the country, “Israel is at war”. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) immediately began a military campaign to secure the release of the hostages and defeat Hamas. Since that day, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children.

Israel has maintained its response is justified under international law, as every nation has “an inherent right to defend itself”, as Netanyahu stated in early 2024.

This is based on the right to self-defence in international law, which is outlined in Article 51 of the 1945 United Nations Charter as follows:

Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations[…]

At the start of the war, many nations agreed Israel had a right to defend itself, but how it did so mattered. This would ensure its actions were consistent with international humanitarian law.

However, 20 months after the October 7 attacks, fundamental legal issues have arisen around whether this self-defence justification still holds.

Can Israel exercise self-defence ad infinitum? Or is it now waging a war of aggression against Palestine?

Self-defence in the law

Self-defence has a long history in international law.

The modern principles of self-defence were outlined in diplomatic exchanges over an 1837 incident involving an American ship, The Caroline, after it was destroyed by British forces in Canada. Both sides agreed that an exercise of self-defence would have required the British to demonstrate their conduct was not “unreasonable or excessive”.

The concept of self-defence was also extensively relied on by the Allies in the second world war in response to German and Japanese aggression.

Self-defence was originally framed in the law as a right to respond to a state-based attack. However, this scope has broadened in recent decades to encompass attacks from non-state actors, such as al-Qaeda following the September 11 2001 terror attacks.

Israel is a legitimate, recognised state in the global community and a member of the United Nations. Its right to self-defence will always remain intact when it faces attacks from its neighbours or non-state actors, such as Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

However, the right of self-defence is not unlimited. It is constrained by the principles of necessity and proportionality.

The necessity test was met in the current war due to the extreme violence of the Hamas attack on October 7 and the taking of hostages. These were actions that could not be ignored and demanded a response, due to the threat Israel continued to face.

The proportionality test was also met, initially. Israel’s military operation after the attack was strategic in nature, focused on the return of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas to eliminate the immediate threat the group posed.

The legal question now is whether Israel is still legitimately exercising self-defence in response to the October 7 attacks.

This is a live issue, especially given comments by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on May 30 that Hamas would be “annihilated” unless a proposed ceasefire deal was accepted.

These comments and Israel’s ongoing conduct throughout the war raise the question of whether proportionality is still being met.

A test of proportionality

The importance of proportionality in self-defence has been endorsed in recent years by the International Court of Justice.

Under international law, proportionality remains relevant throughout a conflict, not just in the initial response to an attack.

While the law allows a war to continue until an aggressor surrenders, it does not legitimise the complete destruction of the territory where an aggressor is fighting.

The principle of proportionality also provides protections for civilians. Military actions are to be directed at the foreign forces who launched the attack, not civilians.

While Israel has targeted Hamas fighters in its attacks, including those who orchestrated the October 7 attacks, these actions have caused significant collateral deaths of Palestinian civilians.

Therefore, taken overall, the ongoing, 20-month military assault against Hamas, with its high numbers of civilian casualties, credible reports of famine and devastation of Gazan towns and cities, suggests Israel’s exercise of self-defence has become disproportionate.

The principle of proportionality is also part of international humanitarian law. However, Israel’s actions on this front are a separate legal issue that has been the subject of investigation by the International Criminal Court.

My aim here is to solely assess the legal question of proportionality in self-defence and international law.

Is rescuing hostages in self-defence?

Israel could separately argue it is exercising legitimate self-defence to rescue the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

However, rescuing nationals as an exercise of self-defence is legally controversial. Israel set a precedent in 1976 when the military rescued 103 Jewish hostages from Entebbe, Uganda, after their aircraft had been hijacked.

In current international law, there are very few other examples in which this interpretation of self-defence has been adopted – and no international consensus on its use.

In Gaza, the size, scale and duration of Israel’s war goes far beyond a hostage rescue operation. Its aim is also to eliminate Hamas.

Given this, rescuing hostages as an act of self-defence is arguably not a suitable justification for Israel’s ongoing military operations.

An act of aggression?

If Israel can no longer rely on self-defence to justify its Gaza military campaign, how would its actions be characterised under international law?

Israel could claim it is undertaking a security operation as an occupying power.

While the International Court of Justice said in an advisory opinion last year that Israel was engaged in an illegal occupation of Gaza, the court expressly made clear it was not addressing the circumstances that had evolved since October 7.

Israel is indeed continuing to act as an occupying power, even though it has not physically reoccupied all of Gaza. This is irrelevant given the effective control it exercises over the territory.

However, the scale of the IDF’s operations constitute an armed conflict and well exceed the limited military operations to restore security as an occupying power.

Absent any other legitimate basis for Israel’s current conduct in Gaza, there is a strong argument that what is occurring is an act of aggression. The UN Charter and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court prohibit acts of aggression not otherwise justified under international law.

These include invasions or attacks by the armed forces of a state, military occupations, bombardments and blockades. All of this has occurred – and continues to occur – in Gaza.

The international community has rightly condemned Russia’s invasion as an act of aggression in Ukraine. Will it now do the same with Israel’s conduct in Gaza?

Donald Rothwell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Can Israel still claim self-defence to justify its Gaza war? Here’s what the law says – https://theconversation.com/can-israel-still-claim-self-defence-to-justify-its-gaza-war-heres-what-the-law-says-257822

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How Trump’s trade war is supercharging the fast fashion industry

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mona Mashhadi Rajabi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney

Jade Gao/Getty Images

When US President Donald Trump introduced sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports the goal was to bring manufacturing back to American soil and protect local jobs.

However, this process of re-shoring is complex and requires years of investment and planning – far too slow for the world of ultra-fast fashion, where brands are used to reacting in weeks, not years.

Many clothing companies started to move production out of China during Trump’s first term. They relocated to countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia when the initial China-specific tariffs hit.

This trend accelerated with the newer “reciprocal” tariffs. Instead of re-shoring production, many fashion brands are simply sourcing from whichever country offers the lowest total cost after tariffs. The result? The ultra-fast fashion machine adapted quickly and became even more exploitative.

From Guangzhou to your wardrobe in days

Platforms such as Shein and Temu built their success by offering trend-driven clothing at shockingly low prices. A $5 dress or $3 top might seem like a bargain, but those prices hide a lot.

Much of Shein’s production takes place in the so-called “Shein village” in Guangzhou, China, where workers often sew for 12–14 hours a day under poor conditions to keep pace with the demand for new items.

When the US cracked down on Chinese imports, the intention was to make American-made goods more competitive. This included raising the tariff on Chinese goods as high as 145% (since paused), and closing the “de minimis” loophole, which had allowed imports under US$800 to enter tariff-free.

But these tariffs did not halt ultra-fast fashion. They just rerouted production to countries with lower tariffs and even lower labour costs. The Philippines, with a comparatively low tariff rate of 17%, emerged as a surprising alternative. However, the country can’t provide the industrial scale and infrastructure to match what China can offer.

So why does Australia matter?

Much of the cheap fashion previously bound for the US is now flooding other markets, including Australia.

Australia still allows most low-value imports to enter tax-free, and platforms such as Shein and Temu have taken full advantage. Australian consumers are among the most frequent Shein and Temu buyers per capita globally.

Just 3% of clothing is made in Australia and most labels rely on offshore manufacturing. This makes Australia an ideal target market for ultra-fast fashion imports. We have high purchasing power, lenient import rules and strong demand for low-cost style, especially due to the cost-of-living crisis.

The hidden costs of cheap clothes

The environmental impact of fast fashion is well known. However, amid the chaos of Trump’s tariff announcements, far less attention has been paid to how these policies – together with the retreat from climate commitments – worsen environmental harms, including those linked to fast fashion.

The irony is that the tariffs meant to protect American workers have, in some cases, worsened conditions for workers elsewhere. Meanwhile, consumers in Australia now benefit from faster delivery of even cheaper goods as Temu, Shein and others have improved their shipping capabilities to Australia.

Australian consumers send more than 200,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill each year. But the deeper problem is structural. The entire business model is built on exploitation and environmental damage.

Factory workers bear the brunt of cost-cutting. In the race to stay competitive, many manufacturers reduce wages and overlook hazardous working conditions.

Will ethical fashion ever compete?

Fixing these problems will require a global rethink of how fashion operates.
Governments have a role in regulating disclosures about supply chains and enforcing labour standards.

Brands need to take responsibility for the conditions in their factories, whether directly owned or outsourced. Transparency is essential.

Alternatives to fast fashion are gaining traction. Clothing rentals are emerging as a promising business model that help build a more circular fashion economy. Charity-run op shops have long been a sustainable source of second-hand clothing.

Australia’s new Seamless scheme seeks to make fashion brands responsible for the full life of the clothes they sell. The aim is to help people buy, wear and recycle clothes in a more sustainable way.

Consumers also matter. If we continue to expect clothes to cost less than a cup of coffee, change will be slow. Recognising that a $5 t-shirt has hidden costs, borne by people on the factory floor and the environment, is a first step.

Some ethical brands are already showing a better way and offer clothes made under fairer conditions and with sustainable materials. These clothes are not as cheap or fast, but they represent a more conscious alternative especially for consumers concerned about synthetic fibres, toxic chemicals and environmental harm.

Trump reshuffled the deck, but did not change the game

Trump’s trade rules aim to re-balance global trade in favour of American industry, yet have cost companies more than US$34 billion in lost sales and higher costs. This cost will eventually fall on US consumers. In ultra-fast fashion, it mostly exposed how fragile and exploitative the system already was.

Today, brands such as Shein and Temu are thriving in Australia. But unless we address the systemic inequalities in fashion production and rethink the incentives that drive this market, the true cost of cheap clothing will continue to be paid by those least able to afford it.

Mona Mashhadi Rajabi receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ), and a Business Research Grant from the University of Technology Sydney.

Lisa Lake previously received funding from NSW Department of Education Innovation and Collaboration grant to establish the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion + Textiles.

Martina Linnenluecke receives funding from The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Research Council. Her work is also supported by a Strategic Research Accelerator Grant from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

Yun Shen 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. How Trump’s trade war is supercharging the fast fashion industry – https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-trade-war-is-supercharging-the-fast-fashion-industry-257727

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

June 9, 2025
Prince of Clay Alcaraz battles back from the brink to retain French Open crown

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Carlos Alcaraz battled from the brink of a first Grand Slam final loss to outlast Jannik Sinner in a French Open title clash for the ages on Sunday and keep his crown, cementing his status as the Prince of Clay in Roland Garros’ post-Rafa Nadal era.

In a scintillating showdown between the torch-bearers of a new generation, the 22-year-old saved three match points in the fourth set to win 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(10-2) and continue his dominance over Sinner with his fifth straight victory and end the Italian’s 20-match winning run at the majors.

Alcaraz showed his steely determination to win the epic in five hours and 29 minutes – the longest final at Roland Garros – and soaked up the roaring ovation from a thoroughly entertained Parisian crowd long used to 14-times champion Nadal’s reign.

“I’m just really happy to be able to make history with you in this tournament,” Alcaraz told Sinner after collecting the Musketeers’ Cup.

“I’m sure you’re going to be champion not once, but many times. It’s a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you.”

Victory made him only the second man since tennis turned professional in 1968 to win all of his first five Grand Slam singles finals after Swiss great Roger Federer but Alcaraz was more enthralled with an achievement he shared with fellow Spaniard and 22-times major champion Nadal.

“The coincidence of winning my fifth Grand Slam at the same age as Nadal, that’s destiny,” Alcaraz told reporters.

“It’s a stat I’m going to keep forever … It’s a huge honour. Hopefully it’s not going to stop like this.”

Alcaraz and Sinner, who have lifted seven out of the last eight Grand Slams to stamp their authority in the men’s game, were locked in a fierce battle full of dramatic momentum shifts in the first major final between two men born in the 2000s.

Sunday’s five-hour-plus fiesta was the second-longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era and marked only the third time since 1968 that a player saved a match point en route to victory in a Grand Slam final.

Alcaraz matched Argentine Gaston Gaudio’s 2004 French Open feat and Serbian Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon comeback in 2019.

Playing his first Grand Slam after serving a three-month ban after a doping case, top seed Sinner held serve in a tense five-deuce opening game lasting 12 minutes.

However, the 23-year-old was broken in the fifth game when he fired a forehand wide, before hitting back from 2-3 and going on to snatch an intense opening set following an unforced error by Alcaraz.

ON THE ROPES

Relentless pressure from the baseline allowed Sinner to go a break up early in the second set and the top seed began to apply the squeeze on Alcaraz, who was on the ropes trailing 1-4 on a sunbathed Court Philippe Chatrier.

An aggressive Alcaraz came out fighting and drew loud cheers when he drew level after 10 games and then forced a tiebreak but Sinner edged ahead with a blistering forehand winner and doubled his lead after the clock ticked past two hours.

Alcaraz, who had never come back from two sets down before, battled hard in the hope of avoiding heartbreak in a major final and pulled a set back before saving three match points at 3-5 down in the fourth, later restoring parity following the tiebreak.

He traded breaks in a high-quality decider but prevailed in the super tiebreak to become the third man to capture back-to-back Roland Garros titles this century after Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.

“He was born to play these kind of moments,” said Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“Every time we were in these situations, even when he was younger in the challengers … he always went for it.”

Sinner was left to digest how he let slip a golden chance to win claycourt’s blue riband event following hardcourt triumphs at the U.S. Open and Australian Open.

Alcaraz fell to the red dirt before Sinner went over to his side of the court to congratulate him and the Spaniard then ran to the heaving stands to hug his team and celebrate.

“CARLOS II, PRINCE OF CLAY,” the French Open posted on X.

Sinner had a contemplative look, sitting on his bench as his rival rejoiced, and was gracious in defeat when he congratulated him during the trophy ceremony.

“We tried our best today, we gave everything … an amazing tournament even though it’s very difficult now,” Sinner said.

“It’s a big privilege for me to play here … I won’t sleep very well tonight but it’s okay.”

(Reuters)

June 9, 2025
Indian stock market opens in green, IT and PSU banks lead

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Monday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in the IT, PSU banks and auto sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.26 am, Sensex was trading 379.01 points or 0.46 per cent up at 82,568 while the Nifty added 116.15 point or 0.46 per cent at 25,119.20.

Nifty Bank was up 273.35 points or 0.48 per cent at 56,851.75. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,405.95 after rising 395.65 points or 0.67 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,711.90 after climbing 129.45 points or 0.70 per cent.

According to analysts, the monetary bazooka fired by the RBI last week will keep the market spirits alive in the near-term.

But this may not be sufficient to sustain the rally, and more important is the trend in earnings growth, they added.

“Q4 results indicate better earnings growth for midcaps. FY26 earnings are unlikely to reach mid teens, which is necessary for the market to remain resilient and move up,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys were the top gainers. Whereas, Titan, Tata Steel and Eternal were the top losers.

After a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 25,000, followed by 24,900 and 24,800. On the higher side, 25,100 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 25,200 and 25,300, said experts.

Given the current market dynamics and lingering global uncertainties, traders are advised to maintain a disciplined approach. It is prudent to avoid taking large overnight positions and instead focus on short-term trading opportunities, backed by strict stop-losses and robust risk management, said Hardik Matalia from Choice Broking.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 1,009.71 crore on June 6, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying on the 14th day, as they bought equities of Rs 9,342.48 crore on the same day.

In the Asian markets, Hong Kong, Bangkok, China, Seoul and Japan were trading in green.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US closed at 42,762.87, up 443.13 points, or 1.05 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a gain of 61.06 points, or 1.03 per cent, at 6,000.36 and the Nasdaq closed at 19,529.95, up 231.51 points, or 1.20 per cent.

(IANS)

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Portugal win Nations League title with shootout win over Spain

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

Cristiano Ronaldo scored again as Portugal claimed its second UEFA Nations League title, overcoming Spain 5-3 on penalties after a tense 2-2 draw in Munich on Sunday.

Having scored the winner against Germany in the semifinal, Ronaldo equalized in the 61st minute of the final to bring Portugal back into the game for a second time. This extended his record of international goals to 138 in 221 appearances.

Spain, who had stunned France 5-4 in the semifinal, started brightly and were rewarded in the 21st minute when Martin Zubimendi scored from close range following a clever pass from 17-year-old Lamine Yamal. Portugal responded swiftly through Nuno Mendes, whose angled drive beat goalkeeper Unai Simon just five minutes later.

Spain regained the lead moments before halftime when Pedri played a defense-splitting pass to Mikel Oyarzabal, who finished confidently to make it 2-1. However, Ronaldo leveled the match with a scrappy but vital finish after Mendes’ cross caused chaos in the Spain box.

Despite both sides pressing for a winner, the match was dragged into extra time, where fatigue began to take its toll. Substitute Diogo Jota almost won it for Portugal in the final minute, but his header went just over the bar.

In the penalty shootout, both teams converted their first three attempts. The turning point came when Spain’s late substitute Alvaro Morata saw his tame effort saved by goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Ruben Neves then stepped up and fired home the winning penalty, sparking scenes of jubilation on the Portuguese bench.

“Our fighting spirit helped us clinch the title. We knew it would be a tough game; Spain is a very strong team and plays some of the best football in the world. But we also know that when we stick together and play as a team, we are very hard to beat,” said Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

MIL OSI China News –

June 9, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Rating valuations released to Auckland ratepayers
Source: Auckland Council

Auckland ratepayers will receive new property valuations this week, as Auckland Council prepares to update rates from 1 July 2025.

The rating valuations Auckland property owners receive this week are based on property market trends and recent sales activity as at 1 May 2024. Therefore, the valuations are not intended to accurately reflect current market value – instead, the information will help enable rates to be fairly shared across Auckland’s 630,000 properties.

The new rating valuations have been prepared by two independent valuation providers, QV and Opteon. These experienced property valuers have worked closely with Auckland Council to deliver valuations that meet robust standards.

Auckland Council chief financial officer Ross Tucker said he was pleased to announce that the Valuer-General has now approved the new valuations for release to Aucklanders.

“As we know, the last council valuations from 1 June 2021 were completed close to the market peak and between then and May 2024 the economy and property market generally trended down. Therefore, as most people would expect, the May 2024 Capital Values (CVs) are lower than the previous 2021 CVs for many properties,” said Mr Tucker.

The overall CV movements between June 2021 and May 2024, by property type for Auckland, are:
- industrial +5%
- lifestyle +4%
- rural + 4%
- commercial -5%
- residential -9%.
Valuation movements over that period also varied across the Auckland region. Residential properties in centrally located local board areas tended to see a bigger reduction than those further out.

[embedded content]

Economic backdrop

Auckland Council Chief Economist Gary Blick said it is important to note that the last two Auckland rating valuations happened to coincide with markedly different stages of the recent economic cycle.

“At the time of the 2021 rating valuation, in June 2021, the Official Cash Rate (OCR) had been at an all-time low,” says Mr Blick. “We saw exceptionally low mortgage rates and strong upward pressure on property prices. The 2021 rating valuation reflected those higher prices.

“In contrast, the 2024 rating valuation in May 2024, occurred when the OCR had been lifted to its recent high of 5.5 per cent. Higher interest rates cooled buyer demand, leading to a decline in property prices.

“Despite that fall, the median house price as at June 2024 was still above the level just prior to the OCR cut of March 2020, and that remains the case today. The recent economic cycle – with its unusually steep climb and fall – helps explain why some properties have had swings between the two rating valuations.”

What it means for rates

The valuations do not change how much the council takes in rates – this is set annually following community consultation. For 2025/2026, Auckland Council has approved an overall average rates increase of 5.8 per cent for residential ratepayers.

The council has kept the rates increase down, due to the commitment made as part of the council’s Long-term Plan 2024-2034, along with good progress in savings.

“We are acutely aware of the tough cost of living facing our community and we continue to work hard to achieve council savings and improve value for ratepayers, to help keep rates as low as possible,” said Mr Tucker.

“Most Auckland ratepayers will see some degree of rates increase from 1 July 2025. However, how a residential property’s CV changes compares to other properties in the region will generally determine whether that property’s rates increase from 1 July is more, or less, than the 5.8 per cent average.

“If your residential property value has reduced more than the average (-9 per cent) change between the two valuations, you can expect a smaller rates increase than the 5.8 per cent. Conversely, if your property value held up better than the average, then you can expect a larger rates increase.”

For 2025/2026, the annual rates for an average residential property (CV $1.29 million) will be $4,069. The 5.8 per cent average increase for 2025/2026 will equate to $223 per year or around $4.30 per week.

Anyone concerned about paying their rates is encouraged to get in touch to access a range of assistance available. This information can be found on the Auckland Council website and rates notices.

Ratepayers can access their property valuations via the Auckland Council website from Tuesday, 10 June 2025. Formal notices will be posted or emailed from Friday, 13 June 2025.

Supporting information

What are the valuation trends from this rating valuation?

The rating valuations are based on 1 May 2024. At that time, these were the high-level trends for residential properties compared to the previous valuation:
- Values for areas further from the city centre have held up slightly better (Hibiscus & Bays, Upper Harbour and Franklin range from -4% to -1%).
- Conversely, properties closer to the city centre generally had above-average reductions (-11 to -14%). These include Puketāpapa, Albert-Eden, Maungakiekei-Tāmaki, Waitematā and Whau (all -14 or -13 per cent). This may be influenced by the varied market, including apartments, multi-units and stand-alone homes, which all have different sales trends.
- In some areas, reduced demand for properties with redevelopment potential has contributed to larger value declines. These include Māngere Bridge, Henderson, Massey, Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure.
- Land values have driven changes in CV. For many residential properties, land values had fallen an average of -13% and commercial land is also down -6%. The reduction in land values reflects reduced development activity since 2021 and, in some cases, potential zoning changes.
- Some have bucked the trend. Rodney held its values (average 0% change) and Great Barrier is up (+38%). This is a continuing trend, with residential values on Great Barrier up 59% at the 2021 revaluation.
- For storm-affected properties, it is difficult to quantify the overall effect of the 2023 storms on the market due to the number of variables involved. For instance, values in Muriwai have increased by 12%, whereas values in Henderson have fallen by 10%.
How are rating valuations completed?

Valuers assess a property’s CV by analysing data, such as local sales, property type, location and other property factors. The values are not a good indication of what a property would sell for today (the values are based on 1 May 2024).

Rating valuations allow rates to be fairly shared. Council valuations do not accurately reflect a property’s current market value and should not be used for insurance or mortgage purposes.

How does rating valuation impact a property’s rates cost?

A change in a property’s CV will not necessarily mean the rates will be higher for an increased value, or lower for a decreased value. Properties with a valuation change higher or lower than the region’s average, will pay a higher or lower proportion of rates.

How a property’s CV compares to other properties in the region will determine whether a property’s rates increase from 1 July is more, or less, than the average residential rates increase of 5.8 per cent, which was set through the council’s budget process. The new CV will be used to calculate rates for the next rating year, which starts on 1 July 2025.

Do reduced property values mean lower rates?

Property values going up do not increase the total rates the council collects, and likewise downward values do not decrease the total rates the council collects. Valuations simply allow the amount of rates to be fairly shared.

How does rating valuation work for an average home?

For your average stand-alone home, the valuers would look at sales of comparable homes – similar land size, floor area, quality condition and location attributes, such as coastal properties.

Valuers analysed market sales in areas of Auckland around 1 May 2024, considering similar properties and locations. For example, renovated villas in Grey Lynn are compared with sales of other renovated villas in that immediate area.

So, a typical residential property would usually move in value along with other similar properties in the neighbourhood. But not all property values in an area will change in the same way – it depends on standalone houses, cross-leases, units and other home types.

Values are done by mass valuation, using information held by council and our valuation providers – not by individual inspection.

What should ratepayers do if they need support with paying rates?

Anyone concerned about paying their rates is encouraged to get in touch as we have a range of assistance available. These include:
- a government-funded rates rebate scheme
- a rates postponement scheme for residential properties
- flexible payment options, such as direct debits offering weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, and annual payment.
The rates rebate threshold for SuperGold card holders will increase from $31,510 to $45,000 from 1 July 2025. This will make more ratepayers who receive NZ superannuation eligible for a rates rebate.

This information can be found on the Auckland Council website and our rates invoices also detail the support available. We encourage ratepayers to consider their options.

For more information and frequently asked questions, visit the main Auckland Council website.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –
June 9, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 9, 2025

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 9, 2025.

Israeli forces intercept Gaza freedom aid boat Madleen – cut communications
Pacific Media Watch Contact has been lost with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla humanitarian aid boat Madleen after Israeli commandos intercepted it in international waters. The commandos demanded that everyone on board turn off their phones, and the boat lost contact with Al Jazeera Mubasher journalist Omar Faiad as well as its live feed, reports the

NZ homes are notorious for being cold and damp. Here are 4 ways to make yours feel warmer this winter
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Tookey, Professor of Construction Management, Auckland University of Technology New Zealand has just been hit by the first big cold snap of 2025 and, like every year, many New Zealanders will be reaching for an extra jumper, slippers and maybe a blanket to try and keep

2-million-year-old pitted teeth from our ancient relatives reveal secrets about human evolution
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Towle, Research Fellow in Biological Anthropology, Monash University Ian Towle / The Conversation The enamel that forms the outer layer of our teeth might seem like an unlikely place to find clues about evolution. But it tells us more than you’d think about the relationships between

Curious Kids: Why do dolphins jump out of the water?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharina J. Peters, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Will Falcon/Shutterstock Why do dolphins jump out of the water? Charlize, age 8, Melbourne Have you ever seen images of dolphins jumping out of the waves and performing impressive acrobatics in the air? Or maybe you’ve seen

How Trump’s trade war is supercharging the fast fashion industry
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mona Mashhadi Rajabi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney Jade Gao/Getty Images When US President Donald Trump introduced sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports the goal was to bring manufacturing back to American soil and protect local jobs. However, this process of re-shoring is complex and

Can Israel still claim self-defence to justify its Gaza war? Here’s what the law says
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University On October 7 2023, more than 1,000 Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and went on a killing spree, murdering 1,200 men, women and children and abducting another 250 people to take back to Gaza. It was the

Measles cases are surging globally. Should children be vaccinated earlier?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meru Sheel, Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases, Immunisation and Emergencies (IDIE) Group, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney EyeEm Mobile GmbH/Getty Images Measles has been rising globally in recent years. There were an estimated 10.3 million cases worldwide in 2023, a 20% increase from 2022. Outbreaks

What can you do if you don’t like your child’s friends?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Murrihy, Director, The Kidman Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney Getty Images/ Wander Woman Collective Many parents will be familiar with this situation: your child has a good or even best friend, but you don’t like them. Perhaps the friend is bossy, has poor

Immortality at a price: how the promise of delaying death has become a consumer marketing bonanza
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Errmann, Senior Lecturer, Marketing & International Business, Auckland University of Technology Living forever has become the wellness and marketing trend of the 2020s. But cheating death – or at least delaying it – will come at a price. What was once the domain of scientists and

Why bystanders defend bad behaviour at work — even when they know it’s wrong
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zhanna Lyubykh, Assistant Professor, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University Rather than intervening, supporting targets or reporting the misconduct, bystanders may downplay it, withdraw support or even blame the target, which ultimately reinforces the mistreatment. (Shutterstock) “You always mess things up. Why are you even on

Phil Goff: Israel doesn’t care how many innocent people it’s killing in Gaza
COMMENTARY: By Phil Goff “What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians. It’s the result of government policy — knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated.” This statement was made not by a foreign or liberal critic of Israel but by the former Prime Minister

New Zealand’s foreign policy stance on Palestine lacks transparency
COMMENTARY: By John Hobbs It is difficult to understand what sits behind the New Zealand government’s unwillingness to sanction, or threaten to sanction, the Israeli government for its genocide against the Palestinian people. The United Nations, human rights groups, legal experts and now genocide experts have all agreed it really is “genocide” which is being

The blow-up between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been entertaining, but how did things go so bad, so fast?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Maher, Lecturer in Politics, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney A no-holds-barred and very public blow-up between the world’s richest man and the president of the United States has had social media agog in recent days, with each making serious accusations against the

Gaza plea: RSF, CPJ and 150+ media outlets call on Israel to open Strip to foreign journalists, protect Palestinian reporters
Pacific Media Watch More than 150 press freedom advocacy groups and international newsrooms have joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in issuing a public appeal demanding that Israel grant foreign journalists immediate, independent and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip. The organisations are also calling for the full protection

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 9, 2025

Category: Natural Disasters

Key alliance

A growing country

Rose-colored glasses

‘Our Living Soils’ by Emma Rosen and Rhiannon Thomas out now

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Updates to this page

WATCH: Padilla Slams Trump Administration for Terrorizing Los Angeles Communities Through ICE Raids, Deploying National Guard

Musk in politics

DOGE: success and failure

Trump clips Musk’s wings

The falling out

What now?

Tapping into long-held fears

From biohacks to consumer branding

Self-defence in the law

A test of proportionality

Is rescuing hostages in self-defence?

An act of aggression?

From Guangzhou to your wardrobe in days

So why does Australia matter?

The hidden costs of cheap clothes

Will ethical fashion ever compete?

Trump reshuffled the deck, but did not change the game

Economic backdrop

What it means for rates

Supporting information

What are the valuation trends from this rating valuation?

How are rating valuations completed?

How does rating valuation impact a property’s rates cost?

Do reduced property values mean lower rates?

How does rating valuation work for an average home?

What should ratepayers do if they need support with paying rates?