NewzIntel.com

Category: Natural Disasters

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Statement on the fire at Bicester Motion

    Source: City of Oxford

    Friday, 16 May 2025

    Statement from Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council.

    “On behalf of Oxford City Council and the City of Oxford, I want to express my condolences to the families of those firefighters, and the member of the public, who have tragically lost their lives in the fire at Bicester Motion.  

    “This is a terrible reminder for us all that firefighters, as well as the other members of the emergency services, put themselves at risk on a daily basis, to protect us all. We own them a deep debt of gratitude.  

    “We are deeply saddened, and our thoughts are with the family, colleagues and friends of those we have lost in this tragic incident.” 
    Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council 

    Oxford City Council has lowered the City Flag flying over the 1930’s extension of Oxford Town Hall to half-mast today to mourn the loss. 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • Russians and Ukrainians in Turkey for what would be first talks in 3 year

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in Istanbul on Friday for what was billed as their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

    The encounter anticipated at the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus would be a sign of diplomatic progress between the warring sides, who had not met face-to-face since March 2022, the month following Russia’s invasion.

    Expectations for a major breakthrough, already low, were dented further on Thursday when Trump said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

    Trump, winding up a Middle East tour and heading back to Washington, said on Friday he would meet the Russian leader “as soon as we can set it up”.

    In Istanbul, a Reuters reporter saw the first vehicles arriving at the talks venue, including white minibuses and several black cars. A Turkish Foreign Ministry source said a meeting had started between Turkish, U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

    Turkish sources had said the Ukrainian and Russian delegations would meet in the presence of Turkish officials, beginning at 0930 GMT.

    Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey, but has spurned a challenge from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet him in person, and instead has sent a team of mid-ranking officials to the talks.

    Zelenskiy said Putin’s decision not to attend but to send what he called a “decorative” lineup showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war. Russia accused Ukraine of trying “to put on a show” around the talks.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also flew to Istanbul on Friday, told reporters the night before that, based on the level of the negotiating teams, a major breakthrough was unlikely.

    “I hope I’m wrong. I hope I’m 100% wrong. I hope tomorrow the news says they’ve agreed to a ceasefire; they’ve agreed to enter serious negotiations. But I’m just giving you my assessment, honestly,” he said.

    Russia says it sees the talks as a continuation of the negotiations that took place in the early weeks of the war in 2022, also in Istanbul.

    But the terms under discussion then, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia’s initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for large cuts to the size of Ukraine’s military.

    With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

    Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Taiwan and partner countries host international workshop on whole-of-society resilience aimed at advancing world peace, stability, and prosperity

    Source: Republic of China Taiwan

    Taiwan and partner countries host international workshop on whole-of-society resilience aimed at advancing world peace, stability, and prosperity

    Date：2025-03-04
    Data Source：Department of North American Affairs

    March 4, 2025 
    No. 057 

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) hosted an international workshop on “Whole-of-Society Resilience Building, Preparation, and Response” in Taiwan from March 4 to 6 under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF). The event was held jointly with the representative offices of the United States, Japan, Australia, and Canada in Taiwan, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior’s National Fire Agency (NFA). Industry representatives, government officials, and academics from Taiwan and overseas attended the workshop to explore innovative strategies and best practices for building whole-of-society resilience and enhancing nations’ response capabilities to both man-made and natural disasters. A total of 264 people from 30 countries attended, including Taiwanese participants and 61 foreign guests.

    In his opening remarks, President Lai Ching-te pledged that as a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan was both willing and able to make greater contributions to global democracy, peace, and prosperity. He noted that Taiwan and partner countries shared their expertise and experience through the GCTF with the rest of the world so that concerted responses could be made to meet new challenges. 

    President Lai stated that Taiwan would steadily implement three initiatives—central and local governments will join forces to strengthen societal resilience across the board, whole-of-society disaster response capabilities will be enhanced, and Taiwan will leverage its strengths to contribute to the international community. He added that the Taiwanese people would demonstrate to the world their determination to create an even more resilient Taiwan. He also said he hoped that Taiwan could pursue mutual assistance and exchanges with other countries so as to jointly promote global stability and prosperity.

    In-depth discussions during the workshop covered a wide range of issues, including consensus building and command structures for whole-of-society resilience; civilian training and employment; the stockpiling of strategic supplies; the distribution of critical supplies; the safeguarding of energy and critical infrastructure operations; social well-being; medical care; the preparation of shelters and related facilities; and the security of information communication, transportation, and financial networks. In addition, executives from multinational enterprises shared their experiences of resilience enhancement and emergency planning. To cap off the workshop, international participants visited the NFA Training Center in Nantou County to gain an understanding of Taiwan’s firefighting and disaster prevention training programs. 

    Given the threats of natural disasters and geopolitical challenges, it is paramount for all countries to bolster whole-of-society resilience. Taiwan and partner nations will continue to work together through the GCTF platform to advance international exchanges and cooperation; build secure and resilient societies; and ensure global peace, stability, and prosperity. (E)

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s video message to the “Sagarmatha Sambaad” – Everest Dialogue

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Download the video:
    https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/downloads2.unmultimedia.org/public/video/evergreen/MSG+SG+/SG+29+Apr+25/3365761_MSG+SG+EVEREST+DIALOGUE+NEPAL+29+APR+25.mp4

    Your Excellency Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli,

    Dear Friends,

    I am so pleased to send a message of solidarity and support to this first-ever Sagarmatha Sambaad.

    I couldn’t agree more with the spirit of this gathering – that your majestic mountains, including Sagarmatha, truly inspire us to think beyond borders and reflect through dialogue and engagement.

    I have felt that spirit on my visits to Nepal – including, most recently, when I had the privilege of seeing the glacial valley basins at Mount Everest and the Annapurnas.  

    I saw firsthand how the rooftops of the world are caving in. 

    Record temperatures have meant record glacier melt.

    Nepal today is on thin ice – losing close to one-third of its ice in just over thirty years.

    And your glaciers have melted sixty-five per cent faster in the last decade than in the previous one. 

    Nepal – and so many other vulnerable frontline countries – did not cause this tragedy.

    But you are living with the impacts. 

    And we know when glaciers shrink, so do river flows. 

    In the future, major Himalayan rivers like the Indus, the Ganges and Brahmaputra could have massively reduced flows. 

    Combined with saltwater intrusion, that would decimate deltas. 

    We would see low-lying countries and communities erased forever;

    Millions of people on the move with fierce competition for water and land;

    And floods, droughts and landslides accelerating worldwide. 

    That is why last year from Nepal, I sent a global message to the world: stop the madness. 

    And that is why you are gathered together focused on Sambaad – dialogue.

    The world has much to learn from Nepal’s climate leadership.

    From your local adaptation plan of action;

    To pioneering the United Nations Early Warning Systems for All Initiative;

    To extraordinary efforts on reforestation;

    And pushing to reach your climate goals by 2045.

    The world must act without delay to keep 1.5 in reach – with the biggest emitters in the lead.  

    By seizing the opportunities of renewable energy and the benefits they bring to communities and economies.

    By making good on climate finance commitments, including the 1.3 trillion-dollar climate finance goal, agreed at COP29.

    By honouring the promise of developed countries to double adaptation finance to at least 40 billion dollars this year.

    And by delivering serious support to the Loss and Damage fund to help the most vulnerable.

    Achieving these goals demands bold collaboration, across nations and sectors.

    The United Nations is your ally in this essential task.

    Thank you.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Joint training on Mt Dandenong

    Source:

    Recently, Kalorama-Mt Dandenong Fire Brigade invited neighbouring brigades of Sassafras-Ferny Creek, Olinda and Montrose to join them on a combined training session at Skyhigh, Mt Dandenong.

    The volunteers from these brigades joined up to assess the access and resources on site and plan for possible events.

    The training was coordinated by Alex Felich, 1st Lieutenant at Kalorama-Mt Dandenong brigade, with the goal of expanding the knowledge of the responding and assisting brigades.

    “Having a good working knowledge of the premises, the site and the resources can save critical time,” Alex said.

    The emergency response area for Kalorama-Mt.Dandenong brigade is unique in terms of bushfire risk and critical social and economic infrastructure.

    The brigade is responsible for the TV towers (communications to Melbourne), an electrical substation and water pumping stations. They also protect large businesses including Skyhigh Mt.Dandenong and Panorama Retreat, and a number of small businesses, cafes and B&Bs.

    “In order to protect these valuable assets we need to prepare not only our ourselves but also our supporting brigades,” Alex said.

    “Training is important but so is knowing what resources we have in terms of water, vehicles, firefighters, equipment and, importantly, the role we all need to accomplish.”

    Captain of Sassafras–Ferny Creek Fire Brigade Jeff Harbourd commented that Sky High is a location that his brigade would also be called to, to support Kalorama–Mt Dandenong, and when that occurs it would be under the worst possible conditions such as a bushfire or structure fire.

    “Training like this offers valuable familiarisation and allows for the identification and clarification of each and everyone’s roles and responsibilities, enables members to practise with trucks on site, sort out difficulties and provide workable solutions prior to a fire.”

    Captain of Olinda Fire Brigade, Deb Weber, strongly agreed.

    “Getting to know the people we work with from our neighbouring brigades in a more relaxed training scenario makes for a better cohesive working relationship and allows members to build the trust required to endure certain emergency situations, which can lead to better outcomes for all involved,” Deb said.

    The exercise was deemed successful in bringing the brigades together and giving them a view to how they each operate and can support each other in an emergency. Having the training on site also allowed for a hands-on approach to the unique location.

    Brigades can then tailor training for the technical aspects of fires that may occur at Sky High and its surrounds.

    “When an emergency occurs – no matter where across the state – ‘we work as one’ to protect our communities,” Jeff said.

    Submitted by Virginia Porter

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Arson and criminal damage charges – Palmerston

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    Yesterday, police arrested two youths in relation to arson and criminal damage at a supermarket in Palmerston.

    About 7:40pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports of a small fire within a grocery store at a shopping centre.

    Before emergency services arrived, a staff member extinguished the flames.

    Two male youths, aged 14 and 13-years-old, were arrested.

    The 14-year-old has been charged with arson, property damage and breach of bail.

    The 13-year-old has been charged with arson and property damage.

    Both youths were remanded to appear in court today.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pittsburg County Resident Sentenced For Second Degree Murder

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Timothy Kenneth Barber, age 45, of Hartshorne, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 293 months in prison for one count of Murder in Indian Country—Second Degree.

    The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police.

    On November 5, 2024, Barber pleaded guilty to the charge.  According to investigators, on December 20, 2023, Barber killed the victim with a single intentional shot to the head fired at close range from a .22 caliber rifle.  The crime occurred in Pittsburg County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

    The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Barber will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Robinson represented the United States.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Drug Trafficker Presented On Federal Charges After Turning Hotel Room Into Clandestine Drug Lab

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Frank A. Tarentino, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today the presentment of PEDRO MARTE in White Plains federal court on a Complaint charging MARTE with two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. 

    U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said: “As alleged, Pedro Marte turned a New Rochelle hotel room into a dangerous drug lab.  A law enforcement investigation revealed that Marte possessed large quantities of cocaine, and deadly fentanyl.  We should all be able to stay in a hotel without worrying about exposure to dangerous and potentially lethal drug trafficking.  The Women and Men of the Southern District, together with our law enforcement partners, will do everything in our power to protect our community from those who put innocent lives at risk.”

    DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino said: “Pedro Marte’s use of his hotel room as a clandestine drug lab not only placed the lives of innocent guests in danger but was reckless and unconscionable.  We are thankful to our law enforcement partners and our first responders for their quick actions.  Without their immediate response, the results could have been catastrophic.” 

    As alleged in the Complaint:[1] 

    On or about the evening of April 6, 2025, law enforcement and fire department personnel responded to reports of an incident in a hotel in New Rochelle. Upon entering the hotel, they observed damage to 27 rooms.  Law enforcement then entered the room where the hotel’s sprinkler systems had first been activated and observed evidence of a significant fire, as well as equipment and materials consistent with a clandestine drug lab for converting powder cocaine into crack cocaine.  After determining that MARTE had rented the room in question, law enforcement officers searched the storage locker that MARTE had visited immediately prior to arriving at the Residence Inn, where they found approximately three kilograms of a substance that tested positive for cocaine, 12.2 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl, and drug distribution paraphernalia.

    *                *                *

    MARTE, 47, of New York, New York, is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

    The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. 

    Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the DEA, the New Rochelle Police Department, and the New Rochelle Fire Department. 

    This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmi Schickler is in charge of the prosecution.

    The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
     

    [1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Georgia man indicted by federal grand jury on gun trafficking charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a four-count indictment charging Devontae Jones, 27, of Atlanta, Georgia with dealing firearms without a license and transferring a machinegun, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. McGrath, who is handling the case, stated that in February 2024, the ATF began investigating Jones, who was believed to be trafficking illegal firearms, including machine guns, from Atlanta, Georgia to the Rochester, NY, area. The ATF conducted a series of controlled firearms purchases from Jones, who shipped the firearms from Atlanta to Rochester. A total 20 firearms, including four machine guns, were purchased from Jones between February and May 2024.

    Jones was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Colleen D. Holland and detained.

    The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Bryan Miller, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ketty Larco Ward, Boston Division.   

    The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.   

    # # # # 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Ecuadorian Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN DIEGO – Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato, an Ecuadorian national and high-level drug trafficker, pleaded guilty in federal court today to international drug trafficking charges following his extradition to San Diego January 26, 2024.

    Farfan had previously been designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for materially contributing to the illicit activities of major Mexican cartels to traffic cocaine into the United States.

    Farfan pleaded guilty to a second superseding indictment returned by a federal frand jury on October 30, 2019. In his plea agreement, Farfan admitted that he led an extensive drug trafficking organization that distributed over 450 kilograms of cocaine in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and elsewhere, and that the cocaine was ultimately imported into and distributed within the United States. He also admitted that the organization bribed government officials and used firearms to further their drug trafficking activities.

    As part of his plea, Farfan also agreed to forfeit over $899,000 of U.S. currency.

    Farfan is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez on August 11, 2025, at 10 a.m.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle B. Martin and Ashley E. Goff.

    DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 19CR1610-01-LL                             

    Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato                   Age: 44                               Ecuador

    SUMMARY OF CHARGES

    International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 959, 960, and 963

    Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison

    INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

    Drug Enforcement Administration

    Federal Bureau of Investigation

    MIL Security OSI –

  • Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Russia’s Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine’s president said his defence minister would head up Kyiv’s team.

    They will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022, but hopes of a major breakthrough were further dented by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later echoed that view, telling reporters in the Turkish resort of Antalya that Washington “didn’t have high expectations” for the Ukraine talks in Istanbul.

    The head of the Russian delegation, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, said he expected Ukraine’s representatives to turn up for the beginning of discussions on Friday in Istanbul at 10 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).

    “We are ready to work,” Medinsky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app. He said his delegation had held “productive” talks on Thursday evening with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

    Zelenskiy said Putin’s decision not to attend but to send what he called a “decorative” lineup showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war. Russia accused Ukraine of trying “to put on a show” around the talks.

    “We can’t be running around the world looking for Putin,” Zelenskiy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

    “I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation – this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump,” Zelenskiy told reporters.

    Zelenskiy said he would also not go to Istanbul and that his team’s mandate was to discuss a ceasefire.

    A decree issued by Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s delegation would be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and include the deputy heads of its intelligence services, the deputy chief of the military’s general staff and the deputy foreign minister.

    Ukraine backs an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed. More than three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia has the advantage on the battlefield and says Ukraine could use a pause in the war to call up extra troops and acquire more Western weapons.

    Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set. Trump, after piling heavy pressure on Ukraine and clashing with Zelenskiy in the Oval Office in February, has lately expressed growing impatience that Putin may be “tapping me along.”

    “Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

    Rubio, speaking in Antalya, later echoed that thought: “It’s my assessment that I don’t think we’re going to have a breakthrough here until the President (Trump) and President Putin interact directly on this topic.”

    Referring to the current state of the talks as a “logjam,” Rubio said he would travel to Istanbul to meet with Turkey’s foreign minister and Ukraine’s delegation on Friday.

    The diplomatic disarray was symptomatic of the hostility between the sides and the unpredictability injected by Trump, whose interventions since returning to the White House in January have often provoked dismay from Ukraine and its European allies.

    While Zelenskiy waited in vain for Putin in Ankara, the Russian negotiators had no one to talk to on the Ukrainian side. Some 200 reporters milled around near the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus Strait that the Russians had specified as the venue.

    CEASEFIRES AND PEACE TALKS

    The enemies have been wrestling for months over the logistics of ceasefires and peace talks while trying to show Trump they are serious about trying to end what he calls “this stupid war.”

    Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.

    Asked if Putin would join talks at some future point, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “What kind of participation will be required further, at what level, it is too early to say now.”

    Russia said on Thursday its forces had captured two more settlements in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. A spokesperson for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointedly reminded reporters of his comment last year that Ukraine was “getting smaller” in the absence of an agreement to stop fighting.

    FIRST TALKS FOR THREE YEARS

    Once they start, the talks will have to address a chasm between the two sides over a host of issues.

    Russian delegation head Medinsky is a former culture minister who has overseen the rewriting of history textbooks to reflect Moscow’s narrative on the war. It includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of military intelligence.

    Key members of the team, including its leader, were also involved in the last direct peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022 – and Medinsky confirmed on Thursday that Russia saw the new talks as a resumption of those interrupted three years ago.

    “The task of direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side is sooner or later to achieve long-term peace by eliminating the basic root causes of the conflict,” said Medinsky.

    The terms under discussion in 2022, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia’s initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for large cuts to the size of Ukraine’s military.

    With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

    Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC May 16, 2025 0600 UTC Day 2 Convective Outlook

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    SPC AC 160557

    Day 2 Convective Outlook
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    1257 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025

    Valid 171200Z – 181200Z

    …THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF
    THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO ARKANSAS AND OVER PARTS OF THE MID-ATLANTIC
    AND NORTHEAST…

    …SUMMARY…
    Severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday across parts of the Mid
    Atlantic and Northeast, and across parts of the southeastern Great
    Plains to Lower Mississippi Valley.

    …Synopsis…
    A mid-level low centered across the western Great Lakes Saturday
    morning will shift east through the day and move over the Northeast
    by 12Z Sunday. Moderate to strong mid-level flow will expand south
    from the southern Great Lakes to the Southeast. Farther west, a
    weakening mid-level shortwave trough will advance from northern
    Mexico into the Southern Plains. A mid-level jet streak associated
    with this mid-level shortwave trough will overspread portions of
    central/northern Texas and into Oklahoma on Saturday. A strong
    mid-level jet streak will move into the Intermountain West on
    Saturday and amplify a trough across the western CONUS.

    …Mid Atlantic to the Northeast…
    Thunderstorms will likely be ongoing at the beginning of the period
    across portions of the Upper Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes.
    This convection and cloudcover associated with it, casts
    considerable uncertainty on destabilization, particularly across the
    Northeast. However, mid-60s dewpoints are anticipated ahead of the
    cold front as it moves eastward through the day. This moisture,
    combined with cooling temperatures aloft. Could be sufficient for
    damaging wind gusts and perhaps isolated large hail.

    The most favorable zone for severe storms will likely exist across
    eastern North Carolina into southeast Virginia. This zone is far
    enough south to likely remain mostly cloud free which will promote
    surface heating and destabilization. In addition, the stronger
    mid-level flow is forecast to overspread this region which would
    support storm organization and the potential for supercells. Given
    the greater instability and shear with potential for supercell storm
    mode, large hail and damaging wind gusts appear most likely within
    this region.

    …Southeast…
    The cold front will likely become stalled across the Southeast on
    Saturday. South of this front, moderate to strong instability is
    forecast with 50 knots of flow parallel to the boundary. Forcing
    will remain weak along this boundary with minimal surface
    convergence and mostly neutral heights aloft. Therefore, storms are
    possible along this boundary, and could be supercellular if they
    form, but coverage should be isolated if any storms form at all
    given the weak forcing.

    …Central Texas into Oklahoma, Arkansas, and northern Louisiana…
    Moderate to strong instability is forecast across central/northern
    Texas Saturday afternoon as temperatures warm into the low 80s with
    dewpoints in the low 70s and 500mb temperatures around -10C. Weak
    large scale forcing will overspread the dryline during the afternoon
    as a right entrance region of the upper-level jet overspreads
    northern Texas. Any subtle large scale forcing will likely be
    sufficient for rapid storm development along the uncapped
    dryline/triple point in north-central Texas by mid-afternoon. Large
    hail (some 2+ inch) will be the initial threat from supercells along
    the dryline. However, CAM signals suggest a combination of left and
    right-moving supercells congealing into a cluster/MCS rather quickly
    with an increasing severe wind threat. These mode concerns limit
    higher hail/tornado probabilities at this time, despite a very
    unstable and strongly sheared environment across the region.

    Additional supercells may develop Saturday evening and into early
    Sunday morning across eastern Oklahoma into the Ozarks as isentropic
    ascent increases with the strengthening low-level jet. These storms
    will pose a primary threat of large hail.

    …Utah into Southeast Idaho and Southwest Wyoming…
    Rapidly cooling temperatures aloft across the Great Basin on
    Saturday will result in weak destabilization and numerous storms. A
    deep, well-mixed boundary layer will support the potential for
    severe wind gusts from the stronger cores.

    ..Bentley.. 05/16/2025

    CLICK TO GET WUUS02 PTSDY2 PRODUCT

    NOTE: THE NEXT DAY 2 OUTLOOK IS SCHEDULED BY 1730Z

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC May 16, 2025 0600 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    SPC AC 160558

    Day 1 Convective Outlook
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    1258 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025

    Valid 161200Z – 171200Z

    …THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PARTS OF
    KENTUCKY…NORTHERN AND WESTERN TENNESSEE…SOUTHEAST MISSOURI…FAR
    SOUTHERN ILLINOIS…SOUTHERN INDIANA…FAR SOUTHWEST OHIO…

    …SUMMARY…
    A regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely this afternoon
    into tonight across parts of the mid Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee
    Valleys. This will include intense supercells associated with
    tornadoes, large hail and wind damage. Several strong tornadoes are
    expected, and a long-track high-end tornado will be possible. From
    the evening into the overnight, a bowing line segment is expected to
    form with potential for tornadoes and damaging winds, some possibly
    greater than 75 mph.

    …Mid Mississippi and Ohio Valley/Tennessee Valley…
    A negatively-tilted mid-level trough will move through the Upper
    Midwest and mid Mississippi Valley today, as an associated 75 to 90
    knot mid-level jet translates northeastward into the Ozarks. At the
    surface, a low will move into the western Great Lakes, as a cold
    front advances eastward into the mid Mississippi Valley. A very
    moist airmass will remain in place ahead of the front, extending
    eastward into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Across this airmass,
    surface dewpoints will be in the upper 60s and lower 70s F. Warming
    surface temperatures will result in moderate to strong
    destabilization across much of the moist sector by afternoon. An
    area of low-level convergence is expected to become increasingly
    focused from the Ozarks into the mid Mississippi Valley. This will
    result in the initiation of scattered strong to severe storms around
    midday. Several convective clusters are expected to organize and
    move eastward into the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon. Storm
    coverage will expand markedly during the late afternoon and early
    evening as low-level flow increases across the region.

    Concerning the thermodynamic environment, a pristine airmass is
    expected to be in place by afternoon. Model forecasts are in good
    agreement that MLCAPE will peak from 3000 to 4000 J/kg from parts of
    the Ozarks eastward into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. As
    instability increases, deep-layer shear and lift are also expected
    to increase as a mid-level jet approaches from the west. Ahead of
    this feature, an 850 mb jet is forecast to develop over the mid
    Mississippi Valley. This jet will gradually increase in strength
    into the 45 to 65 knot range, moving eastward into western Kentucky
    by late afternoon. Near the axis of the low-level jet at Paducah,
    RAP forecast soundings at 23Z have MLCAPE near 3500 J/kg, 0-6 km
    shear around 60 knots, and low to mid-level lapse rates near 7 C/km.
    0-3 km helicity is forecast to be between 225 and 250 m2/s2. This
    environment will support supercells and tornadoes. Several strong
    tornadoes appear likely, and a high-end long-track tornado will be
    possible from far southeast Missouri, into southern Illinois and
    southern Indiana, southward into western Kentucky and far northern
    Tennessee.

    During the late afternoon, storm coverage is expected to become
    widespread across the moist sector. Several supercell clusters will
    move eastward from the mid Mississippi Valley into the Ohio and
    Tennessee Valleys. Steep mid-level lapse rates will promote large
    hail development. The more intense cores may have hailstones between
    2 and 4 inches in diameter. Supercells will also be capable of
    producing damaging wind gusts. During the early evening, the
    wind-damage threat is expected to increase as some of the convective
    clusters gradually transition into more linear structures. Winds
    could exceed 75 mph along the leading edge of these faster-moving
    bowing line segments. During the evening, multiple bow echos are
    expected to form that will result in extensive wind damage swaths.
    Wind damage is expected across a broad area, including parts of the
    mid Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys into the central
    Appalachian mountains.

    …Ark-La-Tex/Lower Mississippi Valley…
    A very moist airmass will be in place today across the Ark-La-Tex
    and lower Mississippi Valley. Surface dewpoints in the lower to mid
    70s F will result in moderate to strong destabilization across much
    of this airmass. A capping inversion is expected to be in place for
    much of the day, but should weaken late in the afternoon as a
    mid-level jet moves eastward into the mid Mississippi Valley. The
    southern edge of the jet will help to increase large-scale ascent,
    aiding convective development. In response, a few clusters of storms
    will form and move eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley during
    the late afternoon and early evening. In areas that strongly
    destabilize, storms could be capable of producing large hail and
    wind damage. Hailstones greater than 2 inches in diameter will be
    possible with intense supercell cores.

    ..Broyles/Weinman.. 05/16/2025

    CLICK TO GET WUUS01 PTSDY1 PRODUCT

    NOTE: THE NEXT DAY 1 OUTLOOK IS SCHEDULED BY 1300Z

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Russia-Ukraine peace talks to be held in Istanbul amid lingering differences

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

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara, Türkiye, May 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that a Ukrainian delegation would attend the upcoming peace talks in Istanbul with a commitment to ending the conflict with Russia, though he would not personally show up at the negotiating table.

    At the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine would send a delegation to Istanbul.

    Zelensky said Ukraine remained committed to dialogue but expressed doubts about Moscow’s intentions. He told reporters that Ukraine did not see “any decision-makers” from the Russian delegation who will be present at the talks.

    The delegation will be led by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, alongside professionals, including military and intelligence officers, Zelensky remarked, noting that Ukraine is awaiting confirmation from both Washington and Moscow on the exact schedule for the talks, which are expected to take place either Thursday or Friday.

    On top of that, Zelensky stressed that he is ready for discussions if an unconditional ceasefire will be discussed at the level of leaders.

    Meanwhile, Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation and senior aide to President Vladimir Putin, stated that his team has the necessary competencies to conduct negotiations and will focus on “finding possible solutions” and common ground through a constructive approach.

    Speaking outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul, the diplomat said that Russia views the fresh negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul as a “continuation” of the peace process disrupted in 2022, claiming that his team’s objective is to secure a lasting peace by “addressing the underlying causes of the conflict.”

    Addressing reporters separately after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Türkiye’s Antalya, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that both Russia and Ukraine have, in principle, expressed their willingness for a ceasefire. However, each has its own considerations: Ukraine favors an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, while Russia maintains that certain modalities must first be understood and agreed upon.

    Fidan said the Ukraine-Russia negotiations have now reached a certain stage, urging both parties to make concessions and take steps towards establishing a common peace.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also attending the NATO meeting, said Washington supports a negotiated settlement. “We will see what happens over the next couple of days in that regard, but we want to see progress,” he said.

    The Istanbul talks follow a proposal by Putin on Sunday to resume direct negotiations with Ukraine. Zelensky has previously said he is open to a face-to-face meeting with Putin. However, the Kremlin said Putin would not attend the talks.

    The last direct talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul in March 2022, where the two sides failed to agree to halt the fighting. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Eight Law Enforcement Bills During National Police Week

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced eight law enforcement bills amid National Police Week. This is the Judiciary Committee’s largest Police Week package in over 15 years. 

    Additionally, the Committee voted 12-9 to advance Jason Reding Quinones’ nomination to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. 

    “Day in and day out, the men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line to protect communities across America. Today’s action helps ensure these brave individuals, and their families, are equally protected and supported,” Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said. “The legislation advanced out of our committee this National Police Week will boost investment in local police departments, safeguard benefits for fallen officers’ families and improve law enforcement recruitment and retention. I’m proud to Back the Blue and look forward to quickly moving these bills on the Senate floor.” 

    Grassley also led 80 of his Senate colleagues in a resolution recognizing the service and sacrifice of America’s courageous law enforcement officers and their families. 

    The eight bipartisan bills passed out of the Judiciary Committee today are: 

    S. 180, Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act: 
    A bill to use existing Justice Department funds to equip state and local governments with additional training and containment tools to guard officers and first responders against accidental exposure to dangerous substances. 

    Cosponsors: Grassley, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

    S.1563, Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act: 
    A bill to solve law enforcement staffing shortages by providing local police departments access to retired federal, state and local officers to perform investigations and analysis, as well as training for the next generation of law enforcement. 

    Cosponsors: Klobuchar, Grassley, Durbin

    S.419, Reauthorizing Support and Treatment for Officers in Crisis Act: 
    A bill to expand mental health resources for law enforcement officers. The legislation would help provide family –support, mental health services and suicide prevention programs within law enforcement communities. 

    Cosponsors: Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Grassley, Klobuchar, Durbin

    S.911, Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act: 
    A bill to ensure families of retired law enforcement officers who were killed as a result of their service are not unjustly denied benefits. The bill is named in honor of Chief Herbert D. Proffitt, a Korean war veteran and retired law enforcement officer who was tragically killed by an individual he had arrested a decade earlier. 

    Cosponsors: Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Blumenthal, Grassley, Durbin

    S.1316, Strong Communities Act: 
    A bill to boost law enforcement recruitment and retention by incentivizing officers to work in the communities where they live.  

    Cosponsors: Gary Peters (D-Mich.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Marsha Blackburn (D-Tenn.), Klobuchar, Cruz, Coons, Welch, Durbin, Hirono

    S.1595, Improving Police CARE Act: 
    A bill to equip law enforcement officers with quality trauma kits, which allows them to respond immediately if a civilian or fellow officer experiences a traumatic injury during a call. 

    Cosponsors: Cornyn, Whitehouse, Tillis, Coons, Durbin

    S.539, PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act: 
    A bill to reauthorize and modernize the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, aiding state and local law enforcement agencies in combating child sexual exploitation and internet crimes against children. 

    Cosponsors: Cornyn, Blumenthal, Blackburn, Klobuchar, Hawley, Durbin

    S.237, Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act: 
    A bill to strengthen federal support for families of police officers, firefighters and first responders who are killed or permanently disabled by service-related cancers. 

    Cosponsors: Klobuchar, Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Blackburn, Blumenthal, Coons, Cornyn, Cruz, Durbin, Hirono, Padilla, Welch, Whitehouse 

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Israeli airstrikes kill at least 80 in Gaza, cancer hospital knocked out of service

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

    Palestinians inspect a site of an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, on May 15, 2025. At least 80 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, said Palestinian medical sources. [Photo/Xinhua]

    At least 80 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, said Palestinian medical sources.

    The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that 54 people, including women and children, were killed in strikes on the southern city, according to a press statement.

    According to Gaza-based health authorities, the Gaza European Hospital, the only hospital providing medical follow-up care to cancer patients in the enclave, was out of service due to recent Israeli attacks.

    The Israeli attacks “caused significant damage to infrastructure, such as sewage lines, damage to internal departments, and destruction of roads leading to the hospital,” the authorities said in a press statement.

    Meanwhile, medical sources told Xinhua that 26 others were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and other areas in northern Gaza.

    The airstrikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that the Israeli military would enter Gaza “with full force” in the coming days to press forward with efforts to defeat Hamas.

    Israel resumed large-scale military operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Since then, 2,876 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,800 injured, according to health officials in Gaza.

    The total Palestinian death toll since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, has reached 53,010, the officials said on Thursday.

    Israel is using a policy of “reducing space and emptying populated areas to pressure citizens,” Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua on Thursday.

    He also claimed that thousands of people spent the night in the streets amid threats of strikes on schools and shelters housing the displaced, adding that Israeli forces were obstructing emergency teams from reaching victims and systematically destroying Civil Defense infrastructure. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC Tornado Watch 257

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    Note:  The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports.
    SEL7

    URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    Tornado Watch Number 257
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    930 PM EDT Thu May 15 2025

    The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

    * Tornado Watch for portions of
    Northern and West-Central Indiana
    Far Southern Lower Michigan
    Lake Michigan

    * Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 930 PM
    until 300 AM EDT.

    * Primary threats include…
    A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes possible
    Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts
    to 75 mph possible
    Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2.5
    inches in diameter possible

    SUMMARY…Thunderstorms will spread east-northeastward this evening
    and overnight while posing a threat for a few tornadoes, scattered
    severe/damaging winds with the ongoing cluster, and large hail with
    any sustained supercells.

    The tornado watch area is approximately along and 45 statute miles
    east and west of a line from 30 miles east of Benton Harbor MI to 90
    miles south of South Bend IN. For a complete depiction of the watch
    see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

    REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for
    tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch
    area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for
    threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements
    and possible warnings.

    &&

    OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 253…WW 255…WW 256…

    AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
    surface and aloft to 2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
    gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean
    storm motion vector 24040.

    …Gleason

    SEL7

    URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    Tornado Watch Number 257
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    930 PM EDT Thu May 15 2025

    The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

    * Tornado Watch for portions of
    Northern and West-Central Indiana
    Far Southern Lower Michigan
    Lake Michigan

    * Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 930 PM
    until 300 AM EDT.

    * Primary threats include…
    A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes possible
    Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts
    to 75 mph possible
    Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2.5
    inches in diameter possible

    SUMMARY…Thunderstorms will spread east-northeastward this evening
    and overnight while posing a threat for a few tornadoes, scattered
    severe/damaging winds with the ongoing cluster, and large hail with
    any sustained supercells.

    The tornado watch area is approximately along and 45 statute miles
    east and west of a line from 30 miles east of Benton Harbor MI to 90
    miles south of South Bend IN. For a complete depiction of the watch
    see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

    REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for
    tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch
    area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for
    threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements
    and possible warnings.

    &&

    OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 253…WW 255…WW 256…

    AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
    surface and aloft to 2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
    gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean
    storm motion vector 24040.

    …Gleason

    Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas.
    SAW7
    WW 257 TORNADO IN MI LM 160130Z – 160700Z
    AXIS..45 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE..
    30E BEH/BENTON HARBOR MI/ – 90S SBN/SOUTH BEND IN/
    ..AVIATION COORDS.. 40NM E/W /24SSE PMM – 35N IND/
    HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..2.5 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..65 KNOTS.
    MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.

    LAT…LON 42138497 40398546 40398718 42138672

    THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A
    COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS
    FOR WOU7.

    Watch 257 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.

    Note:  Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes

    Probability of 2 or more tornadoes

    Mod (50%)

    Probability of 1 or more strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes

    Mod (30%)

    Wind

    Probability of 10 or more severe wind events

    Mod (60%)

    Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots

    Mod (30%)

    Hail

    Probability of 10 or more severe hail events

    Mod (50%)

    Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches

    Mod (30%)

    Combined Severe Hail/Wind

    Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events

    High (80%)

    For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech to Otago Regional Growth Summit

    Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

    Thank you for being here.

    We appreciate your time. We appreciate your work.

    You have been joined this morning by five Ministers:

    • The Honourable Shane Jones, a driving force for the economic success of provincial New Zealand.
    • Customs Minister Casey Costello.
    • South Island Minister James Meager, and
    • Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson.

    Today’s summit

    Ours is a country that has taken challenges and overcome them.

    Too often, we look to somebody else for an answer. We need look no further than ourselves.

    Gathered in this room are senior leaders from across the Otago region. Industry leaders, education leaders, transport leaders, elected leaders, and future leaders.

    Indeed, this entire region represents a story of New Zealand. One that embraces its resources, recognises its assets, develops itself, markets itself, attracts a thriving workforce and builds a community.

    These Regional Growth Summits have been set up as a forum for businesses, industry, and key regional leaders for your region’s priorities and how we can work together to grow regional economies.

    Rail as an economic enabler

    A man called Julius Vogel, from Dunedin, saw New Zealand as a nation and not as a series of regions. He connected us with rail, building more rail in ten years than in the 130 years which followed. One nation with many strengths.

    This morning, you have heard from Hon Shane Jones of our Government’s commitment of $8.2 million to build a three-track rail siding connecting Southern Link Logistics, an inland freight hub.

    Freight is about getting from A to B. Freight is the lifeblood of our economy. It’s no good making something if it doesn’t go to a customer.

    Rail boosts the network. Rail is the clearing house for busy ports, moving vast quantities of containers so ports can handle more ships. More ships enable more exports, more imports, more trade.

    Inland freight hubs mean local road freight operators, and rail freight, can feed regional goods into the hub and have rail take the combined heavy-haul to port. This model happens all over the country, and locals here in Otago have said they need it, and we have listened and delivered.

    Further, we have rebuilt the Hillside Railway Workshops in Dunedin. Brand new mechanical depots and network services, and an assembly operation is driving mechanical engineering expertise here in Otago and delivering 1,500 wagons to serve national goods.

    We don’t just talk. We deliver.

    Rebuilding the economy

    New Zealand requires a productive economy to thrive. 

    That means using what we have, adding value, and solving problems elsewhere in the world with our ideas and our products.

    This is not a new idea. Economic success requires work, right here, right now, every day.

    We have many assets as a nation:

    • Our people, their dedication to each other, their families and their communities. Their willingness to put in a hard days work, and our educators, thinkers and innovators and their tenacity to push humanity forward.
    • Our businesses, taking risk and investing for tomorrow, building industries, and backing their communities.
    • Our infrastructure – roads, rails, ports, farms, mills, depots, workshops, fibre, and much more. We have invested heavily, and these assets remain as vital to our success today as they have for decades.
    • Our resources – pastoral land, oceans and rivers, forests and yes, a thing called the extractive industry. Look around, 96 percent of this building and every building in New Zealand came from the extractive industry.

    We must aggressively sell our country as an attractive investment destination.

    The question that is always asked, “but why New Zealand?”, and we must have the answer.

    What gives us an edge over other small nations seeking investment? Why should an investor look to us, to our people, to our resources, to our future and decide we are where their future lies?

    Singapore, Taiwan, Ireland, and Croatia today, have answered these questions.

    So, what must we do?

    First, developing talent is essential to driving productivity gains.

    Many of you will also be aware of the work underway to redesign New Zealand’s vocational training to make it more regionally responsive, efficient, and relevant. These changes will help equip our people with the skills to take better opportunities within their communities, rather than needing to head off to Australia.

    Government investment through Regional Development funds, which started with the Provincial Growth Fund, has had a huge impact on growing job opportunities in Otago, with just under 1,000 jobs created through central government investment in Otago to date. 

    We will see these positive employment outcomes continue with the construction of the flood resilience projects and future potential investments through the Regional Investment Fund.

    Second, competitive business settings. We need the right policies and settings to allow development in the right places at the right time. We are talking here about sensible tax, predictable labour settings, and reliable migration settings.

    The length of time it takes to deliver infrastructure projects in New Zealand is costing us – in inflated costs, delays, and importantly from our perspective, in our international reputation for doing business. We see shovel-ready projects trapped in cycles of over-regulation and legal challenges.

    Third, promoting global trade and investment to boost the value of our exports, grow international markets and attract investment for our firms.

    As the Minister of Foreign Affairs this one is obvious. We are rebuilding the importance of solid relationships and working in partnership with other countries.

    Fourth, science and innovation systems are critical to boosting the number of knowledge-intensive, internationally connected firms.

    Improving digital connectivity and skills is a critical way of ensuring communities have access to a broader range of employment opportunities and enjoy greater productivity. To support these outcomes, the Provincial Growth Fund provided a $950,000 grant for the business case and $10 million grant toward the development of the Centre of Digital Excellence in Dunedin. 

    The centre invests in career pathways to the gaming industry, helps develop digital skills, grows digital capability, supports innovation through contestable funds, and attracts digital businesses to Dunedin.

    Fifth, long-term infrastructure. We want to see major projects on the Fast-Track. That is why we have legislated for economically significant infrastructure projects to be considered for what they are: the pathway to our future. We got things done in our past, and we are going to do it again.

    We are backing our roads and our rail because we know an export nation relies on solid connections to our coastal ports.

    And, if Minister Jones hasn’t made you aware, a $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund.

    Conclusion

    Now, we remind you that while the people of Wellington do have strengths, the public service within Wellington will not be the problem solver for Otago. That is your job.

    We need our regions to be running at full steam, increasing self-sufficiency, resilience, and for everyone to benefit from the changes we’re driving.

    And if you need help, tell Shane Jones what’s important to you as a region, and how we can work together to make that happen.

    You will be heard.

    Thank you very much.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China urges action to ensure Nakba becomes history through two-State solution

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

    China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, on Thursday called for urgent steps to realize a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, stressing that only through the implementation of the two-State solution can the Nakba be consigned to history.

    “Seventy-seven years ago, more than half of the Palestinian people were expelled or fled from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war, and they have since embarked on the arduous journey of striving for their legitimate rights and interests. Today, 77 years later, the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people has not only remained unaddressed, but has even worsened,” said Geng at a United Nations commemoration marking the 77th anniversary of the Nakba.

    Highlighting the devastating impact of the 19-month-long conflict in Gaza, Geng said more than 53,000 Palestinians had lost their lives and two million people now face “an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” under an intensifying Israeli siege.

    The continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank and rising settler violence are “relentlessly squeezing the space for the Palestinian people and eroding the basis of the two-State solution,” he said.

    “The question of Palestine, at the core of the Middle East issue, bears on the peace, stability, and long-term security of the region. The implementation of the two-State solution is the only viable way to resolve the question,” said Geng. “The imperative now is to immediately realize a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and alleviate the humanitarian disaster.”

    He urged Israel to comply with UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, respect the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures and advisory opinion, and “immediately cease all military attacks and violations of international law, especially international humanitarian law, lift the blockade of Gaza, stop settlement activities in the West Bank, and curb settler violence.”

    “A major power with significant influence over the party concerned should uphold an impartial and objective position, and take tangible actions to calm the fighting in Gaza and ease tensions in West Bank,” he said.

    Reaffirming China’s long-standing position, Geng reiterated the country’s support for an independent State of Palestinian “based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” as well as Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations.

    He also expressed support for the Gaza recovery and reconstruction plan jointly launched by Egypt and other Arab countries, and the high-level conference on the two-State solution to be held by France and Saudi Arabia in June, “which will give new impetus to its implementation.”

    “China will continue to work tirelessly with all peace-loving countries to promote the implementation of the two-State solution and to realize a comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the question of Palestine at an early date, so that the Nakba day will forever remain in the past,” Geng said. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China doubles down on urban upgrades to boost high-quality development

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

    An aerial drone photo taken on Oct. 9, 2024 shows a view of the Ciqikou ancient town in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. [Photo/Xinhua]

    China is intensifying efforts to advance its urban renewal initiative as it strives to build livable, resilient and smart cities, and to bolster high-quality development.

    In its latest push, the country on Thursday unveiled a set of guidelines, pledging increased policy and financial support for urban renewal projects, which can range from gas pipe updates and lift installations to the renovation of old factories into commercial zones.

    The guidelines, issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, are designed to achieve key progress in the country’s urban renewal campaign by 2030. They also aim to improve safety conditions, enhance service efficiency, elevate living environments, develop business models, and preserve cultural heritage.

    Efforts should be focused on reinforcing and renovating existing buildings as well as old residential areas, while optimizing their infrastructure, including parking, charging, fire protection and communication.

    The update and renovation of old commercial blocks, factory areas and urban villages will be advanced, according to the guidelines, which also urged establishing multi-level and all-coverage public service networks to meet people’s living needs.

    The guidelines also called for accelerating the construction and renovation of gas, water supply, drainage, sewage, heat supply along with other underground pipeline networks and underground utility tunnels, while strengthening the construction of public fire protection facilities, and improving transportation infrastructure.

    They also established requirements on restoring the ecological system in cities, and preserving urban history and culture.

    In the meantime, an urban renewal implementation mechanism should be established, while the land use policy should be optimized, the guidelines said, adding that a whole-life-cycle housing safety management system needs to be created.

    The latest document came as Chinese authorities issue a slew of measures to upgrade urban areas.

    The country initiated over 60,000 urban renewal projects in 2024, with a total investment of 2.9 trillion yuan (about 402.8 billion U.S. dollars).

    In January this year, a meeting of the State Council said that urban renewal “serves as an important lever for the expansion of domestic demand.”

    The renovation of old residential communities, blocks, factory areas and urban villages in cities should be accelerated, and the renovation of urban infrastructure should be strengthened, the meeting noted.

    In April, the Ministry of Finance pledged central budget support for the urban renewal initiative in up to 20 cities over the course of this year, noting that priority will be given to mega and super large cities, as well as large cities along key river basins such as the Yellow River and the Pearl River.

    Municipalities, along with cities in the country’s western regions, can each receive up to 1.2 billion yuan in subsidies for upgrade projects. Urban areas in China’s central regions can obtain up to 1 billion yuan, while those in eastern regions can receive up to 800 million yuan. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but the task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College

    Slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah looms large in Lebanon. Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

    Within a span of two weeks from late April to early May 2025, Israel launched two aerial attacks ostensibly targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon: The first, on April 27, struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs; the second, an assault in southern Lebanon, left one person dead and eight others injured.

    While the attacks may not be an aberration in the long history of Israel’s military action in Lebanon, the latest episodes were notable given the context: Israel and Hezbollah have been nominally locked in a truce for five months.

    As an expert on Lebanese history and culture, I believe the latest violations clearly show the fragility of that ceasefire. But more importantly, they complicate the Lebanese government’s mission of disarming Hezbollah, the paramilitary group that remains a powerful force in the country despite a series of Israeli targeted killings of its senior members. That task forms the backbone of a nearly 20-year-old United Nations resolution meant to bring lasting peace to Lebanon.

    The long road to a ceasefire

    In the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Hezbollah vowed solidarity with the Palestinian movement, resulting in a running series of tit-for-tat attacks with Israel that escalated into a full-blown war in the fall of 2024.

    On Oct. 1, 2024, Israel invaded Lebanon – the sixth time since 1978 – in order to directly confront Hezbollah. That operation led to the killing of an estimated 3,800 Lebanese people and the displacement of over 1 million civilians. The damage to Lebanon’s economy is estimated at US$14 billion, according to the World Bank.

    Hezbollah lost a lot of its fighters, arsenal and popular support as a result. More importantly, these losses discredited Hezbollah’s claim that it alone can guarantee Lebanon’s territorial integrity against Israel’s invasion.

    The United States and France brokered a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Nov. 27, 2024. The agreement was based in part on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006 to end that year’s 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. The resolution had as a central tenet the disarmament of armed militias, including Hezbollah, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.

    The 2024 ceasefire built on that resolution. It required Hezbollah’s retreat beyond the Litani River, which at its closest point is about 20 miles from northern Israel. In return, and by February 2025, Israel was to gradually withdraw from Lebanese territories in order to allow the Lebanese army to take control of areas in the south and to confiscate all unauthorized weapons – a nod to Hezbollah’s arsenal.

    Yet, Israel maintained the occupation of several posts in southern Lebanon after that deadline and continued to launch attacks on Lebanese soil, the most recent being on May 8, 2025.

    The challenge of disarming Hezbollah

    Despite these violations, large-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah has not resumed. But the next step, a lasting peace based on the laying down of Hezbollah arms, is complicated by a series of factors, not least the sectarian nature of Lebanese politics.

    Since its inception in 1920, Lebanon’s governance has been defined by a polarized and formally sectarian political system, which seeded the roots of a decades-long civil conflict that began in 1975. A series of invasions by Israel in response to attacks from Lebanese-based Palestinian groups exacerbated sectarianism and instability.

    From this mix, Hezbollah emerged and became a powerful force during the late 1980s.

    The Taif Agreement, ending Lebanon’s civil war in 1989, formally recognized the state’s right to resist the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories – and with it Hezbollah’s presence as a force of resistance. An uneasy coexistence between the government and Hezbollah emerged, which often spilled over into violence, including assassinations of important public figures.

    More recently, Hezbollah was responsible for a two-year political vacuum as it mobilized members to repeatedly block opposition candidates for the vacant presidency in the hopes of installing a leader that would support its agenda.

    A view from the southern Lebanese district of Marjeyoun shows smoke billowing from the site of Israeli airstrikes on May 8, 2025.
    Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images

    In January 2025 that standoff ended when Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun, a Maronite Christian, as president.

    The acquiescence of Hezbollah and its allies was in part a sign of how much the power of the Shiite militia had been diminished by Israel during the conflict.

    But it is also the result of a widespread general understanding in Lebanon of the need to end the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war. The new president has brought much-needed hope to a battered country – one that has been plagued by numerous crises, including a collapsed economy that by 2019 had pushed 80% of the population into poverty.

    But Aoun’s presidency signals the changing political environment in another key way; unlike his predecessors, Aoun has not endorsed Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance movement.

    Further, Aoun has announced his intentions to disarm the group
    and to fully implement resolution 1701.

    To this end, Aoun has made impressive gains. According to state officials, the Lebanese army had by the end of April 2025 dismantled over 90% of Hezbollah’s infrastructure south of the Litani River and taken control over these sites.

    Yet Hezbollah’s chief, Naim Kassem, doggedly rejects calls to disarm and integrate the group’s fighters into the Lebanese armed forces.

    Even in Hezbollah’s weakened position, Kassem believes only his movement, and not the Lebanese state, can guarantee Lebanon’s safety against Israel. And Israel violations of the ceasefire only play into this narrative.

    “We will not allow anyone to remove Hezbollah’s weapons,” Kassem said after one recent airstrike, vowing that the group would hand over weapons only when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon and ended it’s air incursions.

    Can Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, untangle the Gordian knot of Lebanese politics?
    Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

    The challenge going forward

    Yet countries including the United States and Qatar – not to mention Israel – consider Hezbollah’s disarmament a prerequisite to both peace and much-needed international assistance.

    And this makes the task ahead for Aoun difficult. He will be well aware that international aid is desperately needed. But pressing too hard to accommodate either Israel’s or Hezbollah’s interests risks, respectively, exacerbating either domestic political pressures or jeopardizing future foreign investment.

    To complicate matters further, the situation in Lebanon is hardly helped by developments in neighboring Syria.

    The fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024 has added another element of regional uncertainty and the fear in Lebanon of further sectarian violence. Although Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect all religious groups, he was not able to prevent the massacre of Alawite civilians in several coastal towns – an attack that triggered a fresh wave of refugees heading toward Lebanon.

    The removal of Assad was another blow for Hezbollah, a strong Assad ally that benefited from years of Syrian interference in Lebanon.

    The challenge of international relations

    For now, a return to full-scale war in Lebanon does not appear to be on the table.

    But what comes next for Lebanon and Hezbollah depends on many factors, not least the state of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and any spillover into Lebanon. But the actions of other regional actors, notably Saudi Arabia and Iran, matter too. Should Saudi Arabia be encouraged down the path of normalizing relations with Israel – a process interrupted by the Oct. 7 attack – then it would impact Lebanon in many ways.

    Any deal would, from the Saudi perspective, likely have to include a solution to the question of Palestinian statehood, taking away one of Hezbollah’s main grievances. It would also likely put pressure on Lebanon and Israel to find a solution to its long-standing border dispute.

    Meanwhile, Iran, too, is seemingly turning to diplomatic means to address some of its regional issues, with nascent moves to both improve ties with Saudi Arabia and forge forward with a new nuclear deal with the U.S. This could see Tehran turn away from a policy of trying to impose its influence throughout the region by arming groups aligned with Tehran – first among them, Hezbollah.

    Mireille Rebeiz is affiliated with the American Red Cross.

    – ref. Disarming Hezbollah is key to Lebanon’s recovery − but the task is complicated by regional shifts, ceasefire violations – https://theconversation.com/disarming-hezbollah-is-key-to-lebanons-recovery-but-the-task-is-complicated-by-regional-shifts-ceasefire-violations-255671

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit Gujarat’s Bhuj airbase today

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit the Bhuj airbase in Gujarat for a two-day visit on Friday. The Defence Minister will also visit the India-Pakistan border region. During his visit, Singh is expected to evaluate the operational preparedness of the Indian Armed Forces in the region and examine the effectiveness of strengthened security measures following Pakistan’s recent unsuccessful drone incursions. Amid military tensions, the Pakistani Army attempted to target India’s Bhuj using drones.

    However, India’s security forces successfully thwarted Pakistan’s repeated attacks with the assistance of air defence systems. Eventually, after facing continuous military setbacks and no success, Pakistan called for a ceasefire. Bhuj Rudra Mata Air Force Station is a key installation of the Indian Air Force located in Bhuj.

    The station shares its runway with the civilian Bhuj Airport and functions under the South Western Air Command (SWAC). Bhuj Air Force Station, which houses the 27 Wing, is a critical base for air defence and surveillance due to its proximity to the India-Pakistan border. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning visited the Adampur Air Base in Punjab.

    During his visit to the Adampur Air Base, the Prime Minister was briefed by Air Force officers and interacted with the personnel involved in the operation. Adampur Air Base falls under the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.

    Several operations, including Operation Sindoor, were led by the Western Air Command, with Air Marshal Jeetendra Chaudhry, the Western Air Command Chief, overseeing the missions in coordination with the Chief of Air Staff.

    The Western Air Command is one of the most critical operational commands of the Indian Air Force, covering a vast and strategic region- from Jammu and Kashmir to Rajasthan, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Western Uttar Pradesh.

    This region includes some of the most sensitive borders and forward airbases, making it the nerve centre for any aerial military action involving Pakistan. Rajnath Singh recently reviewed the security situation along India’s western border. The border areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, which lie adjacent to Pakistan, are part of the western frontier.

    The security review meeting, which focused on the safety of the nation’s borders, was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Army and Navy Chiefs, and senior officials.

    According to the Ministry of Defence, the meeting held on Tuesday in New Delhi discussed the security situation on the western borders. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, provided detailed information regarding the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border with Pakistan. (IANS)

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Night ends in custod-y for gang members

    Source: New Zealand Police

    Two gang members on a late night cruise through the streets of Glen Eden ended the evening in Police custody.

    Officers patrolling the area spotted a vehicle, which had been reported stolen from an Avondale address last month, travelling on Woodbank Drive at about 11.10pm.

    Waitematā West Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant John Thornley, says the vehicle stopped voluntarily and officers blocked it in before arresting the two occupants.

    “A patched Killer Beez member and a Crips member were quickly taken into custody.

    “A search of the vehicle found a modified unloaded starter pistol and a bullet was also located in one of the men’s pockets.

    “We’re really pleased to have another dangerous weapon off the street, and this is a good example of proactive Police work that has resulted in a safer community.”

    A 42-year-old man appeared in Waitākere District Court today charged with unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

    The other man, aged 33, had a warrant to arrest for an unrelated matter.

    ENDS

    Holly McKay/NZ Police

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sherrill Statement Regarding NJ TRANSIT Strike

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)

    WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill issued the following statement on the NJ TRANSIT train engineers’ strike:  

    “I’m deeply concerned about the impact that this loss in rail service will have on families and commuters across New Jersey. For so many in our community, NJ TRANSIT isn’t optional — it’s how we get to work, school, and critical appointments.

    “I have spoken with both NJ TRANSIT and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). These workers have kept our stateed moving through storms, shutdowns, and a pandemic. They have gone years without a contract, and deserve fair treatment and a livable wage. I respect their right to organize and collectively bargain.

    “At the same time, disruptions in service will have a serious ripple effect across our state and region. I’m urging both sides to return to the negotiating table immediately. A fair resolution is still possible — and the cost of a prolonged strike is simply too high for New Jersey families.”

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: To boost the nation’s health, the government’s proposed food strategy must put people over profits

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Walshe, Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Canberra

    crbellette/sShutterstock

    On election night, a triumphant Anthony Albanese took to the stage brandishing a Medicare card as a symbol of the nation’s commitment to public healthcare.

    As the re-elected government gets to work on its promised national food security strategy “Feeding Australia”, it has a unique opportunity to build a strategic agenda as bold and transformative as Medicare.

    That agenda is investment in food as a public good – a recognition that a healthy food system is as important to the nation’s health and wellbeing as access to hospitals, bulk-billing doctors and subsidised medicines.

    Feeding Australia

    The new Labor government, with its large majority, has a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver meaningful change in our food system.

    It went into the election promising a new food security strategy, which Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says will improve supply chain resilience and and minimise price volatility at the checkout:

    Australia has an impressive record in agriculture, feeding millions of people both here and abroad, but we can’t afford to be complacent. The Albanese Labor government will protect and strengthen Australia’s food security for the benefit of our farmers and all Australians, as well as the trading partners that rely on our produce. When our food and supply chains are secure, it reduces financial strain on households, helping all Australians.

    Labor has tried this before. In 2013, the Gillard government’s short-lived National Food Plan was critcised for prioritising corporate interests over public health and sustainability.

    Repeating past mistakes will again risk putting corporate hunger first. The Feeding Australia strategy must prioritise the health of people, planet, and care for Country.

    Food for thought

    The food security strategy must address multiple, converging crises:

    • growing food poverty
    • worsening diet-related health
    • biosecurity threats
    • accelerating climate change
    • declining farmer viability
    • supermarket duopoly.

    Australia produces enough food to feed more than twice its population. Yet it struggles to feed its own people well.

    Foodbank Australia estimates one third of Australians now experience some form of food insecurity. A combination of market failures and policy inaction leaves us vulnerable to supply chain disruption and even greater food inequity.

    Biosecurity is also a challenge. The recent outbreak of bird flu means eggs – a basic pantry item – now cost 16.1% more than 2020.

    But it’s not only consumers who are suffering. One-third of vegetable growers are considering leaving agriculture in the next year, due to high costs and what growers’ group AUSVEG has called the “relentless squeeze” on margins.

    A business-as-usual approach will only reinforce the current state of Australia’s supermarket sector, which is among the most concentrated and profitable in the world. Accusations of price gouging and misleading pricing raise concerns for consumers, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis.

    As extreme climate events and biosecurity threats increase in frequency and intensity, the duopoly’s centralised supply chains have occasionally failed. After this year’s floods in Far North Queensland, supermarket shelves were empty once again.

    Empty shelves were a weekly occurance in Far North Queensland after the floods stopped rail and road transport.
    Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

    Yet, independent grocers with shorter supply chains remained stocked – as they did during the Queensland floods in 2011.

    The food strategy must do more than offer a band-aid solution to fix an ailing food system.

    Community networks

    Local food networks have an important role to play in this process.

    They are collectives of people and organisations that are committed to creating food and farming systems that put health, equity, and sustainability first. They gather collective wisdom, mobilise public procurement to support local producers, and secure more democratic, health-oriented, and sustainable food system policies.

    Food networks are flourishing in North America, which has more than 300 active councils as of 2023. The Australian sector is not as mature, but is growing.

    Groups including the South Australian Urban Food Network, Tasmanian Food Security Council, Southern Harvest (NSW/ACT), and Farm 2 Fork Collective (Queensland), demonstrate growing capacity for citizen involvement in food policy and decision making. These networks encourage local initiatives such as community gardens, food hubs, and localised institutional procurement.

    New research points to how community-led food cooperatives can also help improve food security and healthier diets.

    These, and other examples, show the power of community in strengthening food system resilience and security. But they can’t do it alone. Communities need government support and investment.

    Future food

    The question of who feeds Australia – and how we are fed – matters to us all.

    The National Food Security Strategy is an opportunity to forge a more healthy food future. It can lay the foundations for a food and farming system that feeds us well for generations to come.

    Achieving this bold agenda will take an inclusive, participatory process that foregrounds First Nations’ voices and the lived experience of those at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis.

    Rachael Walshe works for Sustain: The Australian Food Network

    Kelly Donati is a co-founder and volunteer board director of Sustain: The Australian Food Network.

    Molly Fairweather works for Sustain: The Australian Food Network. She is also a member of Healthy Food Systems Australia (HFSA).

    Nick Rose is the co-founder and Executive Director of Sustain: the Australian Food Network. He is also a Senior Lecturer in the Bachelor of Food Studies at William Angliss Institute.

    Nick Rose was a Partner Investigator on an ARC project, Strengthening Food Governance at the Local Level (2019-2022).

    Sustain currently receives funding from a range of public sector organisations and philanthropic foundations with a shared mission for food system change, including VicHealth and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Organisation.

    – ref. To boost the nation’s health, the government’s proposed food strategy must put people over profits – https://theconversation.com/to-boost-the-nations-health-the-governments-proposed-food-strategy-must-put-people-over-profits-256679

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray on Trump Defunding Blue State Army Corps Construction: “This is Some Corrupt B-S”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, issued the following statement on the release of the Army Corps’ work plans detailing how it will spend the funding provided by Congress under Republicans’ yearlong continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025. The plans show how Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers intends to zero out and significantly cut funding for essential projects in Washington state and across the country. 
    Among other important priorities, the Army Corps’ plans include the complete elimination of construction funding for the Howard Hanson Dam fish passage facility in Washington state–which was otherwise poised to receive $500 million this year in funding Senator Murray secured in the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she wrote as Chair and passed through committee in August 2024, as well as in House Republicans’ fiscal year 2025 bill.
    Overall, the Army Corps’ plans would steer hundreds of millions of dollars more in construction funding to red states while cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in construction funding for blue states, relative to the president’s fiscal year 2025 request. This includes the complete elimination of Army Corps construction funding for states like California. The president’s budget request has, historically, been fully funded–and was fully funded in both the Senate and House draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.
    “This is some corrupt B-S from the President. We are witnessing a historic and serious, politically motivated abuse of our taxpayer dollars by President Trump. I am going to fight to make sure our communities get the resources they need.
    “Trump is ripping away taxpayer dollars from blue states like mine for absolutely critical Army Corps projects that maintain and build foundational water infrastructure–whether it’s dredging for our ports, protecting communities from flood waters, or maintaining major dams. President Trump is setting a dangerous precedent—one that Republicans need to think carefully about. This is not how things should ever work in America.
    “I am furious that this administration plans to unilaterally defund construction on the Howard Hanson Dam, which was set to receive $500 million to execute a necessary construction contract this year–funding I fought tooth and nail for in the appropriations bill I cleared unanimously out of committee last year and that was also included in the House Appropriations bill drafted by Republicans. This is a staggering betrayal of Washington state and the entire Pacific Northwest and a tremendous, unacceptable setback in the important work to safeguard our water supply, protect our communities from dangerous flooding, and save our salmon. Eliminating this funding will also prevent the federal government from meeting its legal obligations to finish construction of this passage.
    “I fought so hard against Republicans’ slush fund CR for exactly this reason: it handed authority over to the Trump administration to move money around and unilaterally defund critical projects, just like we are seeing now. I warned that Republicans’ bill, which was drafted without any Democratic input, would be catastrophic for the nearly 8 million people I represent in Washington state and so many others across the country, and I fear that is now exactly what we are witnessing.  
    “It does not pass muster that nearly half a billion dollars is no longer needed for Washington state’s Howard Hanson Dam, nor should anyone believe that the most populous state in America–California–should receive exactly zero dollars for Army Corps construction work.
    “Congress must rein Trump in—or he is going to keep trampling the powers of Congress and the communities we all came here to fight for. It may not be your state today, but all of my colleagues must push back now–and forcefully.”
    Supporting the Howard Hanson Dam has been a longtime priority for Senator Murray, and she has pressed the Army Corps to prioritize funding for the Dam for years. Under the last administration, Senator Murray was able to secure critical funding boosts for Howard Hanson Dam, including $220 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $50 million to begin construction of the Fish Passage facility in the funding bills for Fiscal Year 2024 that Murray wrote as then-Chair of the Appropriations Committee. Back in 2010, Murray secured $44 million in badly needed emergency funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Howard Hanson Dam. In the draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill she cleared unanimously out of Committee last year, Senator Murray secured $500 million for the fish passage project, which would also address flood risk and water supply issues for cities like Tacoma and Covington. $500 million was also included in the House’s draft fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill. The funding is needed to execute a construction option on the contract for the project, which would have allowed construction to begin in 2026 as scheduled.
    Congress typically provides specific, detailed instructions in its annual appropriations bills on how the Army Corps (and so many other agencies) must spend funding provided by Congress. Annual appropriations bills note exactly what Army Corps projects must be funded and at what levels. But instead of working with Democrats to pass full-year appropriations bills that deliver for communities across America, Republicans in Congress put forth a yearlong continuing resolution (CR) that failed to include hundreds of specific directives on how funding must be spent. For months, Senator Murray warned of the dangers of passing Republicans’ slush fund CR, noting, for example, that it would allow the administration to zero out funding for Army Corps projects. 
    In a floor speech ahead of the Senate vote on House Republicans’ yearlong CR, Senator Murray warned about the consequences of passing the bill, stating: 
    “This bill is a green light for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to redirect funding to their own pet projects, force states and communities to abide by their directives, and slash, burn, and zero out programs that our families count on… This bill will let them pick which Army Corps, transit, and military construction projects move ahead—and which grind to a halt… That’s not how this should work. That’s not how this should work in America… If you ask Elon really nicely and you also don’t ask too many questions about his billions of dollars in conflicts of interest… maybe he won’t pull the plug on those critical dam repairs the Army Corps was working on. I mean what sort of deal is that? And what do they think is going to happen next?”
    Senator Murray delivered the same warning in another floor speech just the day before:
    “I really want to make sure all of my colleagues understand how bad this bill is… This is not a ‘clean’ CR as some Republicans claim—it cuts programs our communities rely on. That includes a major 44% cut to Army Corps projects that help mitigate against floods, hurricanes, and much else… It also lacks the basic guardrails we include in all of our funding bills—on a bipartisan basis each and every year—to make sure our states and communities are taken care of and not subject to the whims of the Trump administration to pick winners and losers.”
    From Senator Murray’s March 9th, 2025, fact sheet on the yearlong CR:
    “This full-year CR would hand vast discretion over spending decisions to President Trump and his administration to zero out programs and redirect funding as they see fit… ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Gives the Trump administration near-absolute discretion to select which Army Corps projects to fund, allowing President Trump to slow and stop particular projects for political reasons. Construction funding is cut by 44%, which will halt progress on some ongoing projects that mitigate the impacts of hurricanes, flooding, and more.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: From Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook, AFSM

    Source:

    CFA acknowledges that we have had a number of our brigades reporting unavailability overnight and today due to crewing issues.

    We are continuing to monitor the situation but want to reassure the community that we have operating procedures in place to ensure that when brigades are offline we can respond neighbouring brigades to protect communities or put in place alternative arrangements. 

    The safety of life and property is always our number one priority. We expect that our brigades will turn out to protect their communities as they always have done in their time of need. 

    CFA acknowledges that our volunteers and brigades, many of whom are from rural communities, have had a long summer of fire activity and are facing a lot of pressure as a result of drought which is impacting their livelihoods. 

    We respect their rights to engage in matters relevant to their local communities, including those who are concerned about the potential impact of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund. 

    The Victorian Government has announced that a rebate will apply to all eligible CFA operational and support volunteer members and we will be working with our members to ensure that they are able to seek the information they need to apply for the rebate. 

    We are proud of the work that our members do to provide critical services 24/7 in protecting their communities. 

    Submitted by CFA Media

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC Tornado Watch 258

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

    Note:  The expiration time in the watch graphic is amended if the watch is replaced, cancelled or extended.Note: Click for Watch Status Reports.
    SEL8

    URGENT – IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
    Tornado Watch Number 258
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    1130 PM EDT Thu May 15 2025

    The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

    * Tornado Watch for portions of
    Eastern Lower Michigan
    Lake Erie
    Lake Huron

    * Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 1130 PM
    until 500 AM EDT.

    * Primary threats include…
    A couple tornadoes possible
    Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts
    to 75 mph possible
    Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible

    SUMMARY…A well-organized thunderstorm cluster should continue to
    pose a threat for scattered severe/damaging winds and a couple of
    tornadoes as it moves quickly eastward across Lower Michigan.

    The tornado watch area is approximately along and 50 statute miles
    east and west of a line from 35 miles northwest of Bad Axe MI to 35
    miles south of Ann Arbor MI. For a complete depiction of the watch
    see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

    REMEMBER…A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for
    tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch
    area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for
    threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements
    and possible warnings.

    &&

    OTHER WATCH INFORMATION…CONTINUE…WW 256…WW 257…

    AVIATION…Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
    surface and aloft to 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind
    gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean
    storm motion vector 25045.

    …Gleason

    Note: The Aviation Watch (SAW) product is an approximation to the watch area. The actual watch is depicted by the shaded areas.
    SAW8
    WW 258 TORNADO MI LE LH 160330Z – 160900Z
    AXIS..50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF LINE..
    35NW BAX/BAD AXE MI/ – 35S ARB/ANN ARBOR MI/
    ..AVIATION COORDS.. 45NM E/W /19SSW ASP – 34SSW DXO/
    HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT..1.5 INCHES. WIND GUSTS..65 KNOTS.
    MAX TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25045.

    LAT…LON 44138248 41718278 41718472 44138450

    THIS IS AN APPROXIMATION TO THE WATCH AREA. FOR A
    COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE WOUS64 KWNS
    FOR WOU8.

    Watch 258 Status Report Message has not been issued yet.

    Note:  Click for Complete Product Text.Tornadoes

    Probability of 2 or more tornadoes

    Mod (40%)

    Probability of 1 or more strong (EF2-EF5) tornadoes

    Low (20%)

    Wind

    Probability of 10 or more severe wind events

    Mod (60%)

    Probability of 1 or more wind events > 65 knots

    Mod (30%)

    Hail

    Probability of 10 or more severe hail events

    Low (20%)

    Probability of 1 or more hailstones > 2 inches

    Low (10%)

    Combined Severe Hail/Wind

    Probability of 6 or more combined severe hail/wind events

    High (80%)

    For each watch, probabilities for particular events inside the watch (listed above in each table) are determined by the issuing forecaster. The “Low” category contains probability values ranging from less than 2% to 20% (EF2-EF5 tornadoes), less than 5% to 20% (all other probabilities), “Moderate” from 30% to 60%, and “High” from 70% to greater than 95%. High values are bolded and lighter in color to provide awareness of an increased threat for a particular event.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Allen Backs Pro-Law Enforcement Bills During National Police Week

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA-12)

    This week, in honor of National Police Week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three pieces of legislation to express support for law enforcement officers and agencies nationwide. After voting in support of each measure, Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) issued the following statement:

    “National Police Week serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by our law enforcement officers and the vital role they play in protecting our communities, our families, and our loved ones. While they face increasing challenges and threats to their safety, as the recent tragedy in Columbia County has shown us, it is more important now than ever to stand with our men and women in blue. I was proud to help pass this week’s legislation and will continue to unapologetically support those who carry the badge in the 12th District and across the nation.”

    The pro-law enforcement bills passed this week include:

    H.R. 2240, the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act of 2025: 

    • Requires the Attorney General to assemble reports on violence against law enforcement officers and the effectiveness of programs meant to provide law enforcement with wellness resources and protective equipment so we may comprehensively enhance the safety of police officers.

    H.R. 2243, the LEOSA Reform Act: 

    • Broadens the ability of qualified active and retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms in areas such as national parks, federal facilities open to the public, and state, local, or private property open to the public.

    H.R. 2255, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act: 

    • Directs the General Services Administration to allow current and retired federal law enforcement officers to buy their retired service weapons at salvage value.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: DOC reopens lower Hooker Valley Track

    Source: Police investigating after shots fired at Hastings house

    Date:  16 May 2025

    “We know how much this iconic walk is valued and how much people love to visit and walk it, so we’ve worked hard to keep the lower part of the track open,” says Aoraki Mount Cook Operations Manager Sally Jones.

    “There is an elevated viewing site looking over Mueller Lake and visitors can still walk up the stunning Hooker Valley past the first suspension bridge which is about an hour’s return from the carpark at White Horse Hill.

    “We will have to keep the upper part of the track closed while the construction takes place as there are helicopters carrying big loads flying overhead. It’s a worksite and keeping people safe is our number one priority.”

    Sally Jones says the well-known track to Kea Point is also still open and visitors can enjoy the iconic views of Aoraki and other mountains close by.

    “Kea Point is not as popular, but the views are just as spectacular as the Hooker Valley. For those who with the skills and fitness seeking a more challenging walk, there is also the trek up to Sealy Tarn, to Mueller Hut and the walk up to the Tasman blue lakes.”

    Work is underway to get the Hooker Valley Track fully open. Once built, a huge new suspension bridge will span 189 metres across the river. It will replace an older bridge which had to be closed last month due to riverbank erosion near the bridge supports.

    DOC contractors have been on site to block off access to the old bridge and to keep visitors away from what is now a construction site and must be treated as such.

    Construction work will continue for the rest of this year, and it’s hoped the new bridge will be open by next Autumn.

    “It’s a huge and challenging project and will be a tourist attraction in its own right,” says Sally Jones.

    The cables that will be flown in are massive and the whole thing will be spectacular to watch. We can’t wait until it’s open.”

    Incredible landscapes, nature, and cultural heritage make Aoraki Mount Cook one of the top two most popular national parks in Aotearoa (alongside Fiordland). It attracts over a million visitors a year and is on the itineraries of about 21% of international visitors.

    Map of the current closures on the Hooker Valley Track

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –