NewzIntel.com

Category: Natural Disasters

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto: Republicans’ Claw Back of Bipartisan Funding will Hurt Families, Make Nevadans Less Safe

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) voted against the Republican rescission package, which would cut already-approved bipartisan funding for public TV and radio as well as for global humanitarian aid. The legislation, which now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives, would cut support for critical educational and public safety programs in Nevada.

    “Today, Republicans voted to slash funds that help rural communities, Tribes, families with kids, and farmers across the country. Public broadcasting funding in particular plays a critical role in delivering emergency alerts and keeping communities across Nevada safe,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This vote also sets the dangerous precedent that Republicans can claw back funding that was already approved by Congress with bipartisan support. Nevadans deserve better.”

    The Republican rescission package would cut foreign aid programs that support American farmers, help thousands of vulnerable children worldwide, and help counter the influence of countries like Communist China abroad.

    The bill would slash over $7.5 million from public broadcasting in Nevada – including from Nevada Public Radio (KNPR), KUNR, Reno PBS TV, and Vegas PBS TV. The cuts would in turn affect rural communities whose radio and TV stations rely on public broadcasting funding – including stations in Laughlin, Mesquite, Elko, Tonopah, Round Mountain, and more. Eliminating these critical dollars will make it harder to get safety information and warnings to Nevadans in the cases of emergencies, AMBER Alerts, and natural disasters like wildfires. Public TV and radio also serve as critical resources that provide educational programming to children and families across the state. The average cost to the American taxpayer for public broadcasting is about $1.60 per person per year.

    “The elimination of CPB funding is a direct threat to Nevada Public Radio’s ability to cover news across our state—especially in rural communities, many of which are already considered news deserts. This decision undermines the essential role public media plays in connecting Nevadans with trusted, fact-based journalism and independent reporting that commercial media often overlooks. While CPB accounts for about 8% of our funding, its loss will be felt far beyond our budget—it jeopardizes our capacity to tell the stories of underrepresented communities, hold institutions accountable, and sustain meaningful reporting in places where no other outlet exists,” said Favian Perez, CEO & President of Nevada Public Radio.

    “We are beyond disappointed that despite the work of Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen, a majority of the Senate has decided to ignore the will of the American people and vote to defund public broadcasting. Due to this action thousands of Nevada’s families may lose access to the quality educational programs, services and emergency alerting notices provided by public television. This decision will have a negative impact on the quality of life in our state,” said Kurt A. Mische, President & CEO of PBS Reno.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • Fire at mall in Iraq leaves at least 69 dead: Report

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in eastern Iraq has left at least 69 people dead and 11 others missing, Reuters reported citing city’s health authorities and two police sources on Thursday.

    Reuters’ footage of the aftermath of the overnight fire showed the blackened exterior of “Corniche Hypermarket” building, with rescue teams and security forces still at the site.

    Videos verified by Reuters showed firefighters spraying water on the blazing building overnight and people climbing from the roof with the help of rescue teams.

    “We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,” city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.

    The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the province’s governor said initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, the INA state news agency reported.

    “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the governor as saying.

    A lack of safety measures in Iraq has led to large death tolls in fires. In 2023, more than 100 people were killed after a fire swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern Iraqi town.

    (Reuters)

     

  • MIL-OSI Africa: States announce several measures to halt the Gaza genocide at Bogotá conference

    Source: Government of South Africa

    States announce several measures to halt the Gaza genocide at Bogotá conference

    In a significant multilateral initiative, a coalition of countries from various regions has agreed on six coordinated diplomatic, legal and economic measures aimed at restraining Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories and upholding international law.

    The Emergency Conference of The Hague Group, jointly organised by the governments of Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs, brought together 30 nations from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. 

    “In the deliberations at the Bogotá conference, all 30 participating States unanimously agreed that the era of impunity must end – and that international law must be enforced without fear or favour through immediate domestic policies and legislation – along with a unified call for an immediate ceasefire,” a joint statement issued at the end of the conference read. 

    To initiate this process, 12 countries from around the world – Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Africa – convened in Bogotá, Colombia, for two days. 

    READ | Israel’s disregard for ICJ rulings undermines global governance, says Dangor

    The countries committed to immediately implement six measures through their domestic legal and administrative systems. 

    The leaders have scheduled a meeting for 20 September, coinciding with the 80th United Nations General Assembly, to invite more countries to join this initiative. Consultations with governments worldwide are currently underway.

    The countries have since announced several measures to be adopted based on the States’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks. This includes a ban on arms shipments to Israel, a prohibition on ships transporting such arms, and a review of public contracts to identify any links to companies benefiting from the Israeli occupation. 

    In addition, the group supports “universal jurisdiction mandates”, which would enable States or international bodies to prosecute serious international crimes, regardless of where they occurred.

    “These 12 States have taken a momentous step forward,” said UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese. 

    “The clock is now ticking for States – from Europe to the Arab world and beyond – to join them.”

    The conference agreed to set a deadline for States’ final decisions by September 2025, in line with the 12-month timeframe mandated by United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-10/24, adopted on 18 September 2024.

    That resolution called on all States to take effective action on Israel’s violations of international law, including accountability, sanctions, and cessation of support — within one year of adoption.

    “We came to Bogotá to make history – and we did,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro. 

    “Together, we have begun the work of ending the era of impunity. These measures show that we will no longer allow international law to be treated as optional, or Palestinian life as disposable.” 

    South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola, said what they have achieved is a collective affirmation that no State is above the law. 

    “The Hague Group was born to advance international law in an era of impunity. The measures adopted in Bogotá show that we are serious and that coordinated State action is possible,” said Lamola. 

    The Executive Secretary of The Hague Group, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, said the conference marks a turning point – not just for Palestine, but for the future of the international system.  

    “For decades, States, particularly in the Global South, have borne the cost of a broken international system. In Bogotá, they came together to reclaim it, not with words, but with actions.” – SAnews.gov.za

    Gabisile

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 50 killed in hypermarket fire in Iraq’s Wasit province

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BAGHDAD, July 17 (Xinhua) — About 50 people were killed in a massive fire at a hypermarket in Kut, the capital of Iraq’s Wasit province, provincial governor Mohammed Jamil al-Mahi said on Thursday.

    “We have lost about 50 people, including men, women and children, in a tragic fire at a hypermarket,” the governor wrote on his Facebook page.

    The official declared three days of mourning for the victims of the fire.

    “We will not be lenient towards anyone directly or indirectly responsible for this incident. The circumstances of what happened are suspicious. We will announce the results of the preliminary investigation to the public within 48 hours,” he said. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Parts relating to firearm marking requirements in Firearms and Ammunition (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 and Firearms and Ammunition (Marking of Firearms) Regulation to come into effect on July 25

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    A spokesman for the Security Bureau said today (July 17) that the Government will publish the Firearms and Ammunition (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 (Commencement) Notice (Commencement Notice) and the Firearms and Ammunition (Marking of Firearms) Regulation (Regulation) in the Gazette tomorrow (July 18) to fully implement the United Nation’s Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition (Firearms Protocol). The Commencement Notice and the Regulation will come into operation on July 25, 2025.
     
    The spokesman said, “The Firearms Protocol entered into force in 2005 to strengthen control over licit firearms, prevent their diversion into the illegal circuit, and promote relevant law enforcement co-operation of the States Parties. The Firearms Protocol has entered into force for the People’s Republic of China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)) since January 18, 2024. The Firearms Protocol stipulates the requirement to criminalise illicit manufacturing of or cross-border trafficking in firearms, component parts and ammunition, as well as falsifying or illicitly obliterating, removing or altering of the requisite markings on firearms.”

    The Government tabled the Firearms and Ammunition (Amendment) Bill 2025 at the Legislative Council (LegCo) on April 2, 2025, which was passed by the LegCo on May 28, 2025. The Firearms and Ammunition (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 (Amended Ordinance) empowers the Commissioner of Police (Commissioner) to enact subsidiary legislation to set out the detailed technical requirements for marking of firearms. Except for the parts relating to firearm marking (namely sections 8, 9, 10(1), 11, 13, 14, 15(1), (2) and (3), 16, 17, and 18 of the Amended Ordinance), the other parts of the Amended Ordinance came into effect upon gazettal on June 6, 2025.

    ​The spokesman added, “According to the Amended Ordinance, the parts relating to firearm marking shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Security (S for S) by notice published in the Gazette. The S for S now decides that the provisions relating to firearm marking in the Amended Ordinance shall come into effect on July 25, 2025. The Commissioner also enacts the Regulation, specifying the marking requirements for firearms manufactured in or imported into the HKSAR, including the location of markings, the method of engraving, the size of markings, as well as the exemptions for imported firearms from marking and the related requirements. The Regulation will come into force on July 25, 2025.”

    The Government will table the Commencement Notice and the Regulation at the LegCo on the coming Wednesday (July 23) for negative vetting.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • Monsoon update: IMD issues red alert for heavy rainfall in parts of UP, MP; Delhi likely to witness mild showers

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday issued warning of extremely heavy rainfall (exceeding 21 cm) at isolated locations across several states, including parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh under the influence of depression over southeast UP.

    Western Uttar Pradesh is expected to receive significant rainfall on July 18, 20, and 21. Eastern Rajasthan may see heavy downpours on July 17, while other parts of Rajasthan are likely to experience extremely heavy downpour on July 18.

    In Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, very heavy rainfall is anticipated on July 17 and again from July 20 to 23.

    Himachal Pradesh is likely to see heavy showers during July 21 to 23.

    In the southern region, Kerala is also likely to receive extremely heavy rainfall on July 17, 19, and 20, along with coastal Karnataka on July 17 and south interior Karnataka on July 17 and 18.

    Other regions expected to witness very heavy rainfall between July 17 and 23 include Kerala, Mahe, Tamil Nadu, and both Coastal and South Interior Karnataka. Western Madhya Pradesh on July 18 and sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim on July 20 are also under watch.

    Over the past 24 hours until 8:30 AM on July 17, extremely heavy rainfall was recorded in isolated areas of Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and coastal Karnataka. Heavy to very heavy rainfall also took place at scattered locations across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, eastern Rajasthan, Marathwada, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Isolated heavy rainfall was reported in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, central Maharashtra, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, and Telangana.

    Delhi weather update:

    In Delhi-NCR, the weather is expected to remain generally cloudy on Thursday, with very light to light rain accompanied by thunderstorms or lightning. Maximum temperatures are likely to range between 32°C and 34°C, which is 1 to 2 degrees below normal. Light southeasterly winds are expected throughout the day.

    On July 18, the capital is likely to receive light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and occasional gusty winds reaching up to 40 kmph. Temperatures will remain slightly below normal, with maximums between 32°C and 34°C and minimums between 24°C and 26°C. Winds will shift from the southeast to the east in the afternoon before calming by evening.

    July 19 and 20 will see partly cloudy skies with intermittent light showers and possible thunderstorms. Maximum temperatures will rise slightly to 34°C–36°C, while minimums will stay between 24°C and 27°C. Winds will remain light and variable, shifting from southeast to west by July 20.

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ODIHR’s latest report adds to the mountain of evidence detailing serious concerns with Russia’s actions in Ukraine: UK statement to the OSCE

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    ODIHR’s latest report adds to the mountain of evidence detailing serious concerns with Russia’s actions in Ukraine: UK statement to the OSCE

    Ambassador Holland condemns Russia’s appalling actions in Ukraine – including civilians deaths, CRSV and widespread use of torture – as detailed in ODIHR’s seventh interim report on reported violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Ukraine.

    Thank you, Mr Chair.  Today I would like to address the issue of civilian casualties from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    Firstly, every death in this conflict is a tragedy.  These are people, not statistics, and for each life lost, many more are destroyed as a result.  We cannot allow the normalisation of such death and destruction here or anywhere else.

    Secondly, we must remember that Russia chose to start this war.  There was no threat to Russia or Russians or Russian speakers in Ukraine.  What Russia feared was Ukraine escaping Moscow’s orbit.  It feared a prosperous, successful and sovereign Ukraine on its doorstep.  The responsibility for the increased risk to Russians, Ukrainians and our collective security sits squarely with Moscow.

    But just as President Putin chose to start this war, he could choose to end it.  President Trump has called for the senseless killing to stop and proposed an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.  Ukraine agreed to it.  Russia rejected it.  Despite Moscow’s attempts to obfuscate, these are the facts.

    Thirdly, Mr Chair, when it comes to civilian casualties, let us remember that Ukraine permits access to independent organisations who provide impartial reporting and verification of developments on the ground.  Many of these, including the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, have requested equal access to Russia.  But these requests have been denied.  We strongly urge Russia to allow access by independent international bodies who can offer impartial analysis of incidents in the Russian Federation, which would be of benefit to all OSCE participating States.

    A timely example of factual reporting from an independent organisation, this week ODIHR published their seventh interim report on reported violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Ukraine.  The report covers some of the deeply concerning issues that we have raised in this room.  For example, ODIHR reported that in the six months to 31 May 2025, the number of verified civilian casualties in Government-controlled areas of Ukraine was over 50% higher than in the corresponding period in 2024.

    ODIHR’s report also covered the 4 April attack on Kryvyi Rih, which involved a Russian ballistic missile hitting a playground and killing 20 civilians, including nine children.  Colleagues will remember that we held a Special Permanent Council on this shocking incident.  ODIHR states: “Following analysis of photographs and videos, as well as eye-witness statements and other publicly available evidence, ODIHR has reasonable grounds to believe that, contrary to the Russian Federation’s claims, there were no military objectives in the area immediately prior to or at the time of the strike.”

    There is much more of concern in ODIHR’s report, including testimony that conflict-related sexual violence is intensifying and increasingly cruel.  And the reconfirmation of ODIHR’s previous findings on the widespread and systematic use of torture by the Russian authorities against detained Ukrainian civilians and POWs. We are appalled by these findings and urge the full implementation of the recommendations within the report.

    Thank you, Mr Chair.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 12 countries agree to confront Israel collectively over Gaza after Bogotá summit

    ANALYSIS: By Mick Hall

    Collective measures to confront Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people have been agreed by 12 nations after an emergency summit of the Hague Group in Bogotá, Colombia.

    A joint statement today announced the six measures, which it said were geared to holding Israel to account for its crimes in Palestine and would operate within the states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks.

    Nearly two dozen other nations in attendance at the summit are now pondering whether to sign up to the measures before a September deadline set by the Hague Group.

    New Zealand and Australia stayed away from the summit.

    The measures include preventing the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel and dual-use items to Israel and preventing the transit, docking or servicing of vessels if there is a risk of vessels carrying such items. No vessel under the flag of the countries would be allowed to carry this equipment.

    The countries would also “commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds, where applicable, from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction, as well as our authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

    The countries will prosecute “the most serious crimes under international law through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, in compliance with our obligation to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes”.

    They agreed to support universal jurisdiction mandates, “as and where applicable in our legal constitutional frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory”.

    This will mean IDF soldiers and others accused of war crimes in Palestine would face arrest and could go through domestic judicial processes in these countries, or referrals to the ICC.

    The statement said the measures constituted a collective commitment to defend the foundational principles of international law.

    It also called on the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

    Following repeated total blockades of Gaza since October 7, 2023, Gazans have been dying of starvation as they continue to be bombed and repeatedly displaced and their means of life destroyed.

    The official death toll stands at nearly 59,000, mostly women and children, although some estimates put that number at over 200,000.

    The joint statement recognised Israel as a threat to regional peace and the system of international law and called on all United Nations member states to enforce their obligations under the UN charter.

    It condemned “unilateral attacks and threats against United Nations mandate holders, as well as key institutions of the human rights architecture and international justice” and committed to build “on the legacy of global solidarity movements that have dismantled apartheid and other oppressive systems, setting a model for future co-ordinated responses to international law violations”.

    Countries face wrath of US
     Ministers, high-ranking officials and envoys from 30 nations attended the two-day event, from July 15-16, called to come up with the measures. It is now hoped some of those attendees will sign up to the statement by September.

    For countries like Ireland, which sent a delegation, signing up would have profound implications. The Irish government has been heavily criticised by its own citizens for continuing to allow Shannon Airport as a transit point for military equipment from the United States to be sent to Israel.

    It would also face the prospect of severe reprisals by the US, as would others thinking of adding their names to the collective statement. The US is now expected to consult with nations that attended and warn them of the consequences of signing up.

    The summit had been billed by the UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, as “the most significant political development of the last 20 months”.

    Albanese had told attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful”.

    “This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end,” she said.

    Co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, the Hague group was established by nine nations in late January at The Hague in the Netherlands to hold Israel to account for its crimes and push for Palestinian self-determination.

    Colombia last year ended diplomatic relations with Israel, while South Africa in late December 2023 filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide, which was joined by nearly two dozen countries.

    The ICJ has determined a plausible genocide is taking place and issued orders for Israel to protect Palestinians and take measures to stop genocide taking place, a call ignored by the Zionist state.

    Representatives from the countries arrived in Bogota this week in defiance of the United States, which last week sanctioned Albanese for attempts to have US and Israeli political officials and business leaders prosecuted by the ICC over Gaza.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an illegitimate “campaign of political and economic warfare”.

    It followed the sanctioning of four ICC judges after arrest warrants were issued in November last year for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    Ahead of the Bogota meeting, the US State Department accused The Hague Group of multilateral attempts to “weaponise international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas” and warned the US would “aggressively defend” its interests.

    Signs of division in the West
     Most of those attending came from nations in the Global South, but not all.

    Founding Hague Group members Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa attended the Summit. Joining them were Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

    However, in a sign of increasing division in the West, NATO members Spain, Portugal, Norway, Slovenia and Turkey also attended.

    Inside the summit, former US State Department official Annelle Sheline, who resigned in March over Gaza, defended the right of those attending “to uphold their obligations under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

    “This is not the weaponisation of international law. This is the application of international law,” she told delegates.

    The US and Israel deny accusations that genocide is taking place in Gaza, while Western media have collectively refused to adjudicate the claims or frame stories around Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the strip, despite ample evidence by the UN and genocide experts.

    Since 7 October 2023, US allies have offered diplomatic cover for Israel by repeating it had “a right to defend itself” and was engaged in a legitimate defensive “war against Hamas”.

    Israel now plans to corral starving Gazans into a concentration camp in the south of the strip, with many analysts expecting the IDF to exterminate anyone found outside its boundaries, while preparing to push those inside across the border into Egypt.

    Asia Pacific and EU allies shun Bogota summit
     Addressing attendees at the summit yesterday, Albanese criticised the EU for its neo-colonialism and support for Israel, criticisms that can be extended to US allies in the Asia Pacific region.

    Independent journalist Abby Martin reported Albanese as saying: “Europe and its institutions are guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vessels to US Empire even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery.

    “The Hague Group is a new moral centre in world politics. Millions are hoping for leadership that can birth a new global order, rooted in justice, humanity and collective liberation. It’s not just about Palestine. This is about all of us.”

    The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was asked why Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not take up an invite to attend the Hague Group meeting. In a statement to Mick Hall in Context, a spokesperson said she had been unable to attend, but did not explain why.

    She said Australia was a “resolute defender of international law” and added: “Australia has consistently been part of international calls that all parties must abide by international humanitarian law. Not enough has been done to protect civilians and aid workers.

    “We have called on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    “We have also called on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the ICJ, including to enable the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.”

    When asked why New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters had failed to take up the invitation or send any of his officials, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson simply refused to comment.

    She said MFAT media advisors would only engage with “recognised news media outlets”.

    Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as well as a number of his ministers, have been referred to the ICC by domestic legal teams, accused of complicity in the genocide.

    Evidence against Albanese was accepted into the ICC’s wider investigation of crimes in Gaza in October last year, while Luxon’s referral earlier this month is being assessed by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

    Delegates told humanity at stake
     Delegates heard several impassioned addresses from speakers on what was at stake during the two-day event in Bogota.

    Palestinian-American trauma surgeon, Dr Thaer Ahmad, told the gathering that Palestinians seeking food were being met with bullets, describing aid distribution facilities set up by the US contractor-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as “slaughterhouses”. More than 800 starving Gazans have been killed at the GHF aid points so far.

    “People know they could die but cannot sit idly by and watch their families starve,” he said.

    “The bullets fired by GHF mercenaries are just one part of the weaponisation of aid, where Palestinians are ghettoised into areas where somebody in military fatigues decides if you are worthy of food or not.”

    Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour had urged the summit attendees to take decisive action to not only save the Palestinian people, but redeem humanity.

    “Instead of outrage at the crimes we know are taking place, we find those who defend, normalise, and even celebrate them,” he said.

    “The core values we believed humanity agreed were universal are shattered, blown to pieces like the tens of thousands of starved, murdered and injured civilians in Palestine.

    “The mind and heart cannot fathom or process the immense pain and horror that has taken hold of the lives of an entire people. We must not fail — not just for Palestine’s sake — but for humanity’s sake.”

    At the beginning of the summit, Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir told summit delegates the Palestinian genocide threatened the entire international system.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in The Guardian last week: “We can either stand firm in defence of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”

    Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, as well as Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, met in Brussels at the same time as the Bogota summit, to discuss Middle East co-operation, but also possible options for action against Israel.

    At the EU–Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put forward potential actions after Israel was found to have breached the EU economic cooperation deal with the bloc on human rights grounds. As expected, no sanctions, restricted trade or suspension of the co-operation deal were agreed.

    The EU has been one of Israel’s most strident backers in its campaign against Gaza, with EU members Germany and France in particular supplying weapons, as well as political support.

    The UK government has continued to supply arms and operate spy planes over Gaza over the past 21 months, launched from bases in Cyprus, while its military has issued D-Notices to censor media reports that its special forces have been operating inside the occupied territories.

    Mick Hall is an independent Irish-New Zealand journalist, formerly of RNZ and AAP, based in New Zealand since 2009. He writes primarily on politics, corporate power and international affairs. This article is republished from his substack Mick Hall in Context with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: 12 countries agree to confront Israel collectively over Gaza after Bogotá summit

    ANALYSIS: By Mick Hall

    Collective measures to confront Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people have been agreed by 12 nations after an emergency summit of the Hague Group in Bogotá, Colombia.

    A joint statement today announced the six measures, which it said were geared to holding Israel to account for its crimes in Palestine and would operate within the states’ domestic legal and legislative frameworks.

    Nearly two dozen other nations in attendance at the summit are now pondering whether to sign up to the measures before a September deadline set by the Hague Group.

    New Zealand and Australia stayed away from the summit.

    The measures include preventing the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel and dual-use items to Israel and preventing the transit, docking or servicing of vessels if there is a risk of vessels carrying such items. No vessel under the flag of the countries would be allowed to carry this equipment.

    The countries would also “commence an urgent review of all public contracts, in order to prevent public institutions and public funds, where applicable, from supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territory which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory, to ensure that our nationals, and companies and entities under our jurisdiction, as well as our authorities, do not act in any way that would entail recognition or provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

    The countries will prosecute “the most serious crimes under international law through robust, impartial and independent investigations and prosecutions at national or international levels, in compliance with our obligation to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes”.

    They agreed to support universal jurisdiction mandates, “as and where applicable in our legal constitutional frameworks and judiciaries, to ensure justice for all victims and the prevention of future crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory”.

    This will mean IDF soldiers and others accused of war crimes in Palestine would face arrest and could go through domestic judicial processes in these countries, or referrals to the ICC.

    The statement said the measures constituted a collective commitment to defend the foundational principles of international law.

    It also called on the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to commission an immediate investigation of the health and nutritional needs of the population of Gaza, devise a plan to meet those needs on a continuing and sustained basis, and report on these matters before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

    Following repeated total blockades of Gaza since October 7, 2023, Gazans have been dying of starvation as they continue to be bombed and repeatedly displaced and their means of life destroyed.

    The official death toll stands at nearly 59,000, mostly women and children, although some estimates put that number at over 200,000.

    The joint statement recognised Israel as a threat to regional peace and the system of international law and called on all United Nations member states to enforce their obligations under the UN charter.

    It condemned “unilateral attacks and threats against United Nations mandate holders, as well as key institutions of the human rights architecture and international justice” and committed to build “on the legacy of global solidarity movements that have dismantled apartheid and other oppressive systems, setting a model for future co-ordinated responses to international law violations”.

    Countries face wrath of US
     Ministers, high-ranking officials and envoys from 30 nations attended the two-day event, from July 15-16, called to come up with the measures. It is now hoped some of those attendees will sign up to the statement by September.

    For countries like Ireland, which sent a delegation, signing up would have profound implications. The Irish government has been heavily criticised by its own citizens for continuing to allow Shannon Airport as a transit point for military equipment from the United States to be sent to Israel.

    It would also face the prospect of severe reprisals by the US, as would others thinking of adding their names to the collective statement. The US is now expected to consult with nations that attended and warn them of the consequences of signing up.

    The summit had been billed by the UN Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, as “the most significant political development of the last 20 months”.

    Albanese had told attendees that “for too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful”.

    “This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end,” she said.

    Co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa, the Hague group was established by nine nations in late January at The Hague in the Netherlands to hold Israel to account for its crimes and push for Palestinian self-determination.

    Colombia last year ended diplomatic relations with Israel, while South Africa in late December 2023 filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide, which was joined by nearly two dozen countries.

    The ICJ has determined a plausible genocide is taking place and issued orders for Israel to protect Palestinians and take measures to stop genocide taking place, a call ignored by the Zionist state.

    Representatives from the countries arrived in Bogota this week in defiance of the United States, which last week sanctioned Albanese for attempts to have US and Israeli political officials and business leaders prosecuted by the ICC over Gaza.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an illegitimate “campaign of political and economic warfare”.

    It followed the sanctioning of four ICC judges after arrest warrants were issued in November last year for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    Ahead of the Bogota meeting, the US State Department accused The Hague Group of multilateral attempts to “weaponise international law as a tool to advance radical anti-Western agendas” and warned the US would “aggressively defend” its interests.

    Signs of division in the West
     Most of those attending came from nations in the Global South, but not all.

    Founding Hague Group members Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa attended the Summit. Joining them were Algeria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

    However, in a sign of increasing division in the West, NATO members Spain, Portugal, Norway, Slovenia and Turkey also attended.

    Inside the summit, former US State Department official Annelle Sheline, who resigned in March over Gaza, defended the right of those attending “to uphold their obligations under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

    “This is not the weaponisation of international law. This is the application of international law,” she told delegates.

    The US and Israel deny accusations that genocide is taking place in Gaza, while Western media have collectively refused to adjudicate the claims or frame stories around Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the strip, despite ample evidence by the UN and genocide experts.

    Since 7 October 2023, US allies have offered diplomatic cover for Israel by repeating it had “a right to defend itself” and was engaged in a legitimate defensive “war against Hamas”.

    Israel now plans to corral starving Gazans into a concentration camp in the south of the strip, with many analysts expecting the IDF to exterminate anyone found outside its boundaries, while preparing to push those inside across the border into Egypt.

    Asia Pacific and EU allies shun Bogota summit
     Addressing attendees at the summit yesterday, Albanese criticised the EU for its neo-colonialism and support for Israel, criticisms that can be extended to US allies in the Asia Pacific region.

    Independent journalist Abby Martin reported Albanese as saying: “Europe and its institutions are guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vessels to US Empire even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery.

    “The Hague Group is a new moral centre in world politics. Millions are hoping for leadership that can birth a new global order, rooted in justice, humanity and collective liberation. It’s not just about Palestine. This is about all of us.”

    The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was asked why Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not take up an invite to attend the Hague Group meeting. In a statement to Mick Hall in Context, a spokesperson said she had been unable to attend, but did not explain why.

    She said Australia was a “resolute defender of international law” and added: “Australia has consistently been part of international calls that all parties must abide by international humanitarian law. Not enough has been done to protect civilians and aid workers.

    “We have called on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    “We have also called on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the ICJ, including to enable the unhindered provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.”

    When asked why New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters had failed to take up the invitation or send any of his officials, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson simply refused to comment.

    She said MFAT media advisors would only engage with “recognised news media outlets”.

    Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as well as a number of his ministers, have been referred to the ICC by domestic legal teams, accused of complicity in the genocide.

    Evidence against Albanese was accepted into the ICC’s wider investigation of crimes in Gaza in October last year, while Luxon’s referral earlier this month is being assessed by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

    Delegates told humanity at stake
     Delegates heard several impassioned addresses from speakers on what was at stake during the two-day event in Bogota.

    Palestinian-American trauma surgeon, Dr Thaer Ahmad, told the gathering that Palestinians seeking food were being met with bullets, describing aid distribution facilities set up by the US contractor-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as “slaughterhouses”. More than 800 starving Gazans have been killed at the GHF aid points so far.

    “People know they could die but cannot sit idly by and watch their families starve,” he said.

    “The bullets fired by GHF mercenaries are just one part of the weaponisation of aid, where Palestinians are ghettoised into areas where somebody in military fatigues decides if you are worthy of food or not.”

    Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour had urged the summit attendees to take decisive action to not only save the Palestinian people, but redeem humanity.

    “Instead of outrage at the crimes we know are taking place, we find those who defend, normalise, and even celebrate them,” he said.

    “The core values we believed humanity agreed were universal are shattered, blown to pieces like the tens of thousands of starved, murdered and injured civilians in Palestine.

    “The mind and heart cannot fathom or process the immense pain and horror that has taken hold of the lives of an entire people. We must not fail — not just for Palestine’s sake — but for humanity’s sake.”

    At the beginning of the summit, Colombian Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir told summit delegates the Palestinian genocide threatened the entire international system.

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote in The Guardian last week: “We can either stand firm in defence of the legal principles that seek to prevent war and conflict, or watch helplessly as the international system collapses under the weight of unchecked power politics.”

    Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, as well as Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, met in Brussels at the same time as the Bogota summit, to discuss Middle East co-operation, but also possible options for action against Israel.

    At the EU–Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put forward potential actions after Israel was found to have breached the EU economic cooperation deal with the bloc on human rights grounds. As expected, no sanctions, restricted trade or suspension of the co-operation deal were agreed.

    The EU has been one of Israel’s most strident backers in its campaign against Gaza, with EU members Germany and France in particular supplying weapons, as well as political support.

    The UK government has continued to supply arms and operate spy planes over Gaza over the past 21 months, launched from bases in Cyprus, while its military has issued D-Notices to censor media reports that its special forces have been operating inside the occupied territories.

    Mick Hall is an independent Irish-New Zealand journalist, formerly of RNZ and AAP, based in New Zealand since 2009. He writes primarily on politics, corporate power and international affairs. This article is republished from his substack Mick Hall in Context with permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells receives new flood warning service

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells receives new flood warning service

    New warning for Southborough Stream. 106 properties in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells to benefit. Households urged to register for new, more targeted, service.

    Southborough Stream, which now benefits from an improved flood warning system.

    The Environment Agency has announced that they’ll be offering a new flood warning service to 106 properties in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, Kent, for the Southborough Stream.

    Parts of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are at risk of flooding from the Southborough Stream, which drains the north of the main Tunbridge Wells urban area, flowing north towards its meeting with the River Medway, east of Tonbridge. This stream was previously included as part of a wider flood alert area for the middle Medway and had no existing flood warning service. A new flood alert and flood warning area has now been created for the stream to allow more than 100 properties to be better prepared for flooding.

    The new areas have been created by targeting groups of households where during periods of flood risk, the chances of flooding might be greater than the larger surrounding area. This will make the flood warnings they receive more targeted and enable the homeowners to take the steps they need to respond in good time. 

    Flood Warnings tell people about an imminent risk of flooding to their home or business and helps people make informed decisions about how to respond. There are three types of warning – flood alert, flood warning and severe flood warning. Each warning type is triggered by particular weather, or river or sea conditions that cause flooding.

    Householders are encouraged to prepare if they receive a flood alert, which could mean packing a bag that includes medicines, insurance documents and anything else they wouldn’t want to lose if flooding were to take place.

    A flood warning calls on people to act now which means turning off gas, water and electricity and moving family and pets to safety.

    A severe flood warning means you are in immediate danger and to follow advice from emergency services.

    Henry Bethell, Environment Agency flood resilience team leader for Kent, said:

    We know the devastating impact that flooding can have, which is why protecting people and communities is our top priority. However, the climate emergency means we cannot prevent all flooding – so we’re working to make communities resilient to future flooding.

    We want to ensure that everyone has as much time as possible to prepare for flooding, which is why we’re pleased that people in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells will now be able to receive our free flood warning service for the Southborough Stream.

    Home and business owners will be automatically enrolled to the flood warning service via their mobile network. However, to get the most benefit out of the service the Environment Agency is encouraging people to register directly with them by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188, or visiting www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings where they can register preferred contact details. 

    Background:

    • 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding.
    • With climate change projections, 8 million properties could be at risk of flooding by mid-century.
    • The average cost of flood damage to a home is £30,000.
    • The average cost of flooding to a business is £82,000.
    • If you are flooded, temporary accommodation costs on average £10,000.
    • If you are flooded you are likely to be out of your home for an average of 5 months.
    • Know what to do when you receive a flood warning and download a personal flood plan – www.gov.uk/guidance/flood-alerts-and-warnings-what-they-are-and-what-to-do.

    All Environment Agency news releases, both area and national, can be found under Announcements at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency.

    Follow us on Twitter, now known as X: @envagencyse

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: Geeking out, China’s high-tech factory floors adored as ‘industrial Disneyland’

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

    Robots work at Xiaomi’s automobile factory in Beijing, capital of China, June 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    Getting a pass into Xiaomi’s car plant in suburban Beijing feels like snagging front-row tickets to the world’s hottest concert.

    “Application accepted!” Wang Shuang crowed, posting a screenshot to social media. “The last time I felt this giddy was when I landed a Taylor Swift ticket.”

    Welcome to China’s newest travel craze: high-tech factories have joined ancient palaces and world-class museums as the nation’s must-see destinations.

    China has dominated as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse for fifteen straight years. Yet, in just the past two years, the robust rise of smart manufacturing has revolutionized the country’s once dreary, clang-and-hiss assembly lines into a cultural phenomenon or “industrial Disneyland.”

    Chinese manufacturers aren’t pioneering this factory fascination. France’s Citroen ignited the trend in the 1950s. Boeing and Toyota plants remain the top U.S. and Japan draws.

    As the country’s industrial prowess ascends from the lower rungs of the global supply chain to a technology-driven frontier, a profound shift has taken hold. An increasing number of Chinese people now celebrate mechanical ingenuity with reverence, as their pride in homegrown sectors flourishes.

    The registration page of Xiaomi, a headline-grabbing newcomer to the electric vehicle (EV) sector last year, was still live ticking: beside the tiny line “20 spots only,” the counter read “4,060 already applied” as a scramble ensued to witness robotic arms assembling electric cars.

    Wang snagged that coveted ticket only after camping on the official website for days, finger tap-dancing like a twitchy trigger, until the confirmation flashed alive.

    Tech odyssey 

    Under the scorching sun, the lucky visitor Wang stepped into the factory complex as scheduled. The two-hour journey felt like a tech-filled odyssey. She rode a shuttle vehicle that zipped through the six major workshops: stamping, large die casting, body welding, painting, battery assembly and final assembly.

    In her experience, factories were enclosed, dusty, and filled with workers in safety helmets. This time, she saw robotic arms working with micron-level precision on the factory floor and AI-driven robots moving freely along planned routes to deliver battery cell components to their destinations.

    “It takes just 76 seconds to churn out a new car,” Wang exclaimed in amazement. “Quicker than whipping up a latte.”

    NIO, another domestic EV manufacturer, has opened its “Second Advanced Manufacturing Base” to the public since October 2023. Visitors can also tour the facility, which is filled with robotic arms, from an elevated corridor. In 2024, over 130,000 people visited the site, including about 900 from overseas.

    The moves to open production lines to the public came as China’s new energy vehicles have topped the global production and sales charts for nine consecutive years. Along with lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, they form China’s “new export trio,” showcasing the technological upgrades of “Made in China.”

    Freya Zhang, a research analyst at the investment consulting firm Tech Buzz China, told the journal Wired that China’s EV factory tour “offers a chance to not only see the production line up close, but also experience the human side of the brand.”

    Beyond EVs, emerging tech hubs are becoming pilgrimage sites. In Hangzhou, an innovative magnet in east China, robotics pioneers like Unitree Robotics draw curated tour groups.

    At the AG600 final-assembly plant in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai — host city of China’s premier airshow — a steady stream of visitors was filing through the country’s only extensive special-mission aircraft production line that is open to the public.

    The AG600 line attracts roughly 40,000 visitors a year, with open-day slots almost booked out to a crowd dominated by the young. The domestically developed amphibious aircraft, which has already entered mass production, can swiftly shuttle between water sources and fire sites, making it a powerful tool for forest firefighting.

    The destination of industry tourism is also emerging from unexpected origins: waste treatment plants. Not far from Zhuhai, Shenzhen, an economic hub of China, now welcomes visitors to four such “eco-parks.”

    One social platform user from Xiaohongshu posted about their visit: The true spectacle lies in the industrial-scale choreography of the facility’s central sorting hall, where a colossal hydraulic claw, operating with uncanny precision, plunges into mountains of refuse and sorts recyclables. “It provides a sense of satisfaction akin to that of playing a claw crane game.”

    New growth 

    China hosts over 40 percent of the world’s “lighthouse factories,” and more assembly lines have been digitally transformed, creating an ideal foundation for transforming humans on factory floors into a cultural canvas.

    More Chinese cities have made industrial tourism their new engines for growth. In February, Beijing vowed to create five national industrial-tourism demonstration bases by 2027 and become a leading destination by 2029.

    The city’s tourism blueprint includes opening high-level autonomous driving scenarios, rocket institutes, low-altitude economy, and green energy routes, while inviting research institutes to grant public access to select labs and assembly halls.

    Local governments are also looking to outfit industrial tourism itself with next-gen stagecraft: Shanghai is set to weave large language models, the metaverse and blockchain into richer cultural narratives, while Hunan province in central China will deploy AR, VR, AI, 5G, 3D cinema, and holography to build fully immersive worlds.

    “Industrial tourism is a nexus where secondary and tertiary industries converge,” said Chen Wei, an expert from Tsinghua University. “It can fuel consumption, expand domestic demand, and promote industrial science education.”

    Among the facilities listed as national industrial tourism demonstration bases are Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, the aerospace supercomputing center in the island province of Hainan, and the Zhuzhou electric locomotive production line in Hunan, which is a cradle of China’s high-speed trains, according to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    “Fast-tracking industrial tourism is a strategic move in building a modern industrial system, which serves to unlock growth potential for regional economic vitality,” said Chen. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • Fire at mall in Iraq leaves at least 60 dead: Report

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in eastern Iraq has left at least 60 people dead and 11 others missing, Reuters reported citing city’s health authorities and two police sources on Thursday.

    Videos circulating on social media showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in al-Kut overnight as firefighters tried to contain the blaze.

    “We have compiled a list of 59 victims whose identities have been confirmed, but one body was so badly burned that it has been extremely difficult to identify,” a city health official told Reuters.

    “We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,” city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.

    The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the province’s governor said initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, the state news agency (INA)reported.

    “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the governor as saying.

    (Reuters)

  • Trump says he’s not planning to fire Fed’s Powell

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is not planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but he kept the door open to the possibility and renewed his criticism of the central bank chief for not lowering interest rates.

    A Bloomberg report earlier Wednesday saying that Trump was likely to fire Powell soon sparked a drop in stocks and the dollar, and a rise in Treasury yields.

    Trump, who has been criticizing Powell on an almost daily basis for being “TOO LATE” to cut interest rates, said the report wasn’t true. But Trump confirmed he had floated the idea with Republican lawmakers on Tuesday evening, marking the latest chapter in an escalating campaign by Trump against the independent central bank and its embattled chief.

    “I don’t rule out anything, but I think it’s highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud,” Trump said, a reference to recent White House and Republican lawmaker criticism of cost overruns in the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s historic headquarters in Washington. There has been no evidence of fraud, and the Fed has pushed back on criticism of its handling of the project.

    Powell, who was nominated by Trump during his first term in late 2017 to lead the Fed and then nominated for a second term by Democratic President Joe Biden four years later, has repeatedly said he intends to serve out his term, which runs through May 15, 2026. A recent Supreme Court opinion has solidified a long-standing interpretation of the law that the Fed chair cannot be fired over policy differences but only “for cause.”

    In an interview aired later on Wednesday, Trump was again asked if he was thinking of removing Powell. “I’d love it if he wants to resign, that would be up to him,” Trump told the Real America’s Voice. “They say it would disrupt the market if I did.”

    Treasury yields pared declines and stocks ended the day higher after Trump’s comments, which included the familiar complaint that Powell is a “terrible” chair for keeping the Fed’s short-term policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range since December while the central bank assesses the impact of sharply higher tariffs on inflation.

    Trump blames the Fed for higher long-term rates that increase the cost of U.S. government borrowing. His attacks on Powell have continued since his signing on July 4 of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the tax and spending bill that independent analysts say will add trillions of dollars to the U.S. deficit.

    “A HUGE MISTAKE”

    Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who opposed the tax bill and has since said he won’t run for reelection, on Wednesday delivered a spirited defense of an independent Fed, which economists say is the linchpin of U.S. financial and price stability.

    “There’s been some talk about potentially firing the Fed chair,” said Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees the Fed and confirms presidential nominations to its Board. Subjecting the Fed to direct presidential control would be a “huge mistake,” he said.

    “The consequences of firing a Fed chair, just because political people don’t agree with that economic decision, will be to undermine the credibility of the United States going forward, and I would argue if it happens you are going to see a pretty immediate response, and we’ve got to avoid that,” said Tillis.

    Other Republicans downplayed the possibility of Trump’s firing Powell.

    Asked if it would be a problem for Trump to fire Powell, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters: “My understanding is he doesn’t have any intention of doing that.”

    “President Trump’s own analysis and that of his Treasury secretary is that he cannot fire Jay Powell,” House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill told CNBC earlier on Wednesday.

    RENOVATIONS AT THE FED

    Last week, the White House appeared to try to lay the groundwork for firing Powell for cause when the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, sent Powell a letter saying that Trump was “extremely troubled” by the renovations of two Fed buildings.

    Powell responded by asking the U.S. central bank’s inspector general to review the project. The central bank also posted a “frequently asked questions” fact sheet, which rebutted some of Vought’s assertions about VIP dining rooms and elevators that he said added to the costs.

    “Nobody is fooled by President Trump and Republicans’ sudden interest in building renovations — it’s clear pretext to fire Fed Chair Powell,” Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and herself a longtime critic of Powell, posted on X. Warren was the committee’s only member to vote against Powell’s renomination as chair in 2022, saying he had not done enough on regulation.

    Fed policymakers are worried that, with 40-year-high inflation only recently in the rear-view mirror, any bump up in inflation coupled with a too-early cut to short-term borrowing costs could ignite expectations that inflation is back, a potentially self-fulfilling prophecy that could weaken the economy and undermine progress on price stability.

    Analysts said they feared the pressure campaign on Powell would continue — with deleterious effects on the Fed’s ability to do its congressionally mandated job of both keeping prices stable and maximizing employment.

    “Any reduction in the independence of the Fed would likely add upside risks to an inflation outlook that is already subject to upward pressures from tariffs and somewhat elevated inflation expectations,” wrote JP Morgan chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli, who said he doubts the “saga” of the president’s repeated threats to remove Powell is over.

    Feroli and others noted that continued pressure on Powell would likely push up longer-term interest rates as investors demand more protection from the risk of higher inflation — making U.S. government borrowing more, not less, expensive.

    The “formal process” for identifying a successor to Powell is under way, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said. Bessent is one candidate for the job, along with White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

    (Reuters)

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Greenpeace – Government agency warns controversial bill could delay disaster response

    Source: Greenpeace

    As the cleanup begins in flood-hit Tasman, fresh documents reveal a stark warning from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) that the Regulatory Standards Bill could hinder the country’s ability to respond to climate-related disasters.
    In a briefing obtained by Greenpeace under the Official Information Act, LINZ – the agency responsible for managing Crown land – warned that the Bill may “limit the ability to respond quickly to emerging issues (for example, climate-related or natural disaster issues).”
    Greenpeace has called the advice “yet another nail in the coffin for the doomed Bill”.
    “As families, businesses and farmers in Tasman begin the difficult cleanup after yet another devastating flood, it’s shocking to learn that officials are warning this Bill could make it harder to respond to exactly these kinds of disasters,” says Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.
    LINZ also flagged concerns about the Bill’s impact on critical infrastructure and public works, warning “an overly rigid emphasis on property interests may conflict with broader regulatory objectives, including the Government’s ability to acquire land for infrastructure or public good projects.” This was a concern echoed by the Treasury in its advice on the Bill.
    “The Regulatory Standards Bill is dangerous. It would tie the Government up in new red tape at the very moment when urgent climate action and disaster preparation are needed most,” says Toop
    “The advice is clear. This Bill would make it harder to build the infrastructure we urgently need to decarbonise the economy and prepare for climate disasters – things like flood protection, improved communication links, and renewable energy.”
    LINZ further flagged that the legislation could create new legal barriers to returning land to iwi under the Treaty settlement process, citing concerns raised by the Waitangi Tribunal.
    “These new warnings are yet another nail in the coffin for this doomed Bill. It has attracted blistering criticism from the United Nations, legal experts, health professionals, Māori leaders, environmental groups, and the public service itself.”
    “The Labour and Green parties have committed to repealing the Bill. It simply has no future. The Prime Minister should withdraw National’s support immediately before further time and money is wasted on yet another one of David Seymour’s disastrously unpopular policy ideas.”
    This latest revelation comes as news broke this morning that MBIE had warned the Bill could be much more expensive than previously expected and have a negative impact on economic growth, and just days after news broke that the United Nations has issued a letter to the Government criticising the Bill.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Israel’s disregard for ICJ rulings undermines global governance, says Dangor

    Source: Government of South Africa

    Israel’s disregard for ICJ rulings undermines global governance, says Dangor

    Israel’s ongoing disregard for the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) undermines the integrity of the court and weakens the ability of global governance institutions to address impunity, says Zane Dangor, the Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

    Dangor was addressing the Emergency Conference of States, which is aimed at resolving what has been described as the genocide in Gaza. The Emergency Conference, jointly convened by Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs of The Hague Group, seeks to turn international condemnation into coordinated legal and diplomatic action.

    The meeting in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, took place one year after the General Assembly passed a resolution affirming the ICJ advisory opinion that deemed Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories “unlawful.“

    “As the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, we are witnessing continued and urgent calls from United Nations (UN) Member States and the international community for a ceasefire in Gaza. For too long, Israel has blatantly ignored orders from the ICJ in violation of international law.

    “Despite this, the impunity continues unabated,” Dangor said on Tuesday. 

    Dangor stressed that Israel continues with its violence against Palestinians, with forced evacuations and targeted attacks on schools and medical facilities being the order of the day. 

    To stop the bloodshed, the DG called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations towards a just peace. 

    “A just peace requires justice, and this requires that international law must be respected.” 

    Dangor said the international community cannot claim that the importance of international law, including the UN Charter, applies in some circumstances but not in others.

    “We should not pick and choose which binding orders of the ICJ to abide by and which to set aside or simply ignore.”

    Dangor argued that allowing Israel to disregard court decisions and UN resolutions without repercussions undermines the integrity of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as the organisations responsible for its enforcement.

    “This is unacceptable, and we should not be complicit in Israel’s endeavours to irreparably harm the institutions that were established to hold all of us accountable to the goals of a more peaceful and just world.” 

    Israel’s unlawful actions, Dangor said, are enabled when some seek to rationalise their actions. 

    “The crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of apartheid are not complex; they are unlawful.

    “It is time to end the institutional impunity that Israel has enjoyed for over five decades.” 

    Dangor said the carnage seen in Palestine today is a testament to the “folly” of Israel’s grand exceptionalism from accountability to international law and norms.

    “As responsible Member States of the United Nations, it is our duty to ensure that the bloodshed and genocide in Gaza are stopped… now as we do not have the luxury of time.

    “The government of Israel must immediately halt the forced displacement of civilians in Gaza, which is causing untold suffering and trauma.” 

    Dangor is of the view that the Israeli government, as the occupying power, must uphold its obligations under international law and guarantee unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance, including healthcare and other essential services in the West Bank and Gaza.

    According to the DG, humanitarian support provided by Member States is regularly obstructed and destroyed by Israeli authorities or is being allowed to be destroyed by right-wing and extreme elements. 

    “We hope that today, we begin a journey wherein states from all regions, including those that were part of the Madrid meeting, join hands to end the ongoing genocide in Palestine and fora more just world.” – SAnews.gov.za

    Gabisile

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: REMARKS: Senator Coons condemns deep cuts to humanitarian and disaster aid in moving speech on Senate floor

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) delivered a floor speech today condemning proposed Republican-led efforts to axe humanitarian and disaster relief funding, and eliminate publicly broadcast emergency alerts for rural communities in the latest budget rescission package. The cuts, totaling approximately $9 billion, or roughly 0.1% of the federal budget, target critical aid programs including the World Food Program, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and disaster response efforts around the globe. During his speech, Senator Coons said the cuts not only undermine America’s values, but they also betray the moral teachings at the heart of our faith traditions.
    “Jesus wept,” Senator Coons began, referencing the Gospel of John. Senator Coons warned that the proposed $9 billion in rescissions, which include drastic reductions to food assistance, refugee aid, and disaster response, would cause similar needless suffering to our most vulnerable. “For God’s justice is swift and sure, and I tremble when I think about the answer this chamber will give today to the question, who is my neighbor? Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep.”
    Despite the focus of President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress on cutting foreign aid this year, the United States spends less than 1% of its annual budget on foreign assistance. The money feeds starving children, combats epidemics overseas before they reach American shores, helps us strengthen partnerships and alliances, and is critical in helping us outcompete China.
    “I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines of all the nations on Earth is the most prone to natural disasters,” Senator Coons continued. “They value our partnership, our alliance. We’ve been security partners for decades. There’s many Filipino-Americans. There’s a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders, their elected leaders, their senators and their ministers of their cabinet, they said, you know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines: every time there’s a typhoon, there’s an earthquake, there’s a volcano, it’s the Americans who come. It’s the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support.”
    Shortly afterward, Senator Coons offered an amendment on the Senate floor to strip out $496 million of the cuts that target international disaster relief.
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks are available below.
    WATCH HERE.
    Senator Coons: Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Most of us who grew up in bible-believing households know this is the shortest verse in all of Scripture, and in some ways the most powerful – one that haunts me. Jesus wept in John, the 11th chapter, 35th verse, because he had come too late, seemingly, to save the life of Lazarus. He wept because someone he knew and loved had died, and it had caused such harm and loss to his family. Today we are doing something on this floor of this Senate – my Republican colleagues are doing something on the floor of this Senate – that I believe would make Jesus weep.
    In Luke, there’s a moment in the 10th chapter where a lawyer – and it’s always a lawyer – comes to test Jesus, and trying to justify himself, presses Jesus with questions: “What must I do to gain eternal life?” And Jesus says, “what does the Scripture teach?” He says, “You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. And the second commandment is like unto it, you should love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says, “you have read well. Do this and you will gain eternal life.” But the lawyer, hoping to be justified says – “but, but, but wait. Who is my neighbor?” And what follows is the well-known parable of the good Samaritan where the righteous, the priestly, the respected, the powerful walk on the other side of the road when they encounter someone who’s been set upon by robbers. Not my problem, not my neighbor. But in the parable of the good Samaritan, it’s this person – a Samaritan from a disfavored ethnicity, someone outside the circle of concern to the ancient Israelites – who does the right thing.
    This parable would have been shocking at the time that it was preached by Jesus. The idea that the “good neighbor” was the outcast – the unexpected – would be something that frankly would have been a surprise. So although today being a ‘good Samaritan’ is a common term, it’s important to know the history. We are taught as children that we are to see all as our neighbors, not just those who live next door, not just those who look like us or speak like us or pray like us, but the widest possible definition of neighbor is what we are called through righteousness to see in the world.
    And what a difference it has made. Because our nation has for decades embraced the cause of being present, of caring, of making lifesaving differences to young mothers and children, to widows and orphans, to the imprisoned, to the hungry, to the refugee, to those fleeing oppression, to those seeking relief from authoritarian governments, for those seeking a better way. We are all God’s children, and from childhood we are taught that the Golden Rule, which appears in virtually every religion – do unto others as you would have them unto to you – is the very foundation of the goodness of America, that we care for each other as neighbors, and we care for the world as neighbors. Yes, we are the most charitable, giving, philanthropic, engaged nation on Earth. And yet all that we do in foreign aid is less than 1% of our total federal budget.
    Months ago, when Elon Musk and DOGE began roaming about the federal agencies of our government, their first target was that that delivers disaster relief, that helps feed the hungry, that helps welcome the refugee, that helps stabilize countries going through turmoil. They laid off thousands. They shut down programs. They canceled billions [of dollars]. And yet, here today we are at it again. Republicans are proposing even deeper cuts.
    I want to talk about one area of the many that will be cut, I fear, later today: disaster assistance. Our nation has been riveted as we’ve watched the tragedy that unfolded in the Texas Hill Country, where a raging river killed dozens and dozens of innocent children. And you know, around the world, when disaster strikes, it is the Americans who show up first. It is Americans who show up with relief, with assistance, with skill and talent and ability.
    It’s been this way for decades and it should be this way still. I was on a bipartisan trip to the Philippines just a few months ago with Senator Ricketts, and I was struck to learn that the Philippines, of all the nations on Earth, is the most prone to natural disasters. They value our partnership, our alliance. We’ve been security partners for decades. There’s many Filipino-Americans. There’s a close and deep relationship. But in meeting with their national leaders, their elected leaders, their senators and their ministers of their cabinet, they said, you know, it makes an incredible difference here in the Philippines: every time there’s a typhoon, there’s an earthquake, there’s a volcano, it’s the Americans who come. It’s the Americans who deliver the aid, who help us help ourselves with training and equipment and support. And you know, in the excess of DOGE’s deep cuts, they fired and laid off most of our experts who are capable of delivering world-class disaster relief.
    We saw the consequences with an earthquake in Myanmar just three months ago, where the few remaining folks who did this work were laid off as they were deployed. And instead, the response was led by the Chinese. We are driving nations into the open arms of our adversaries. We have long been known as a nation that sought to be respected, admired, believed in, embraced, not for the example of our power, but by the power of our example. That when there were dread pandemics killing millions, America showed up. 
    One of the positives of this day is that my Republican colleagues have recoiled from fully shutting down PEPFAR, and that is a positive. One of the best things we’ve ever done as a nation is to save 27 million lives across the world that otherwise would have been lost to HIV and AIDS. But I’ll tell you, when Ebola raged across Africa in 2014, I was the one member of Congress who went to Liberia at the request of the president – a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a brave and proud leader of a nation struggling facing massive losses of life. Projections at the early stages of the Ebola pandemic were that a fifth to a quarter of their population would die in a matter of weeks. And who came to help? The Americans. Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, CARE, the U.S. military, our public health service. 
    I’ll never forget meeting a young Liberian named Alvin. He dropped out of college to become a physician’s assistant to help when the outbreak began and he in caring for patients himself contracted Ebola – a near certain death sentence. Yet, Alvin was evacuated by Americans to the Ebola treatment center set up and funded and equipped by Americans. And his life was saved by Americans. Whether it was the president of the nation, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, or Alvin, the folks I met on that trip to Liberia thanked and praised the American people for our decency, our kindness, our seeing them as our neighbor in their moment of deepest struggle, risk, and loss. And yet today – yet today – my colleagues would rather trim one-tenth of 1% of the budget, $9 billion, to cut deeper into food aid and disaster assistance and fighting pandemics, all to justify a tax cut.
    I can think of few more despicable acts on this floor in my 15 years. I can speak to process. We have a bipartisan appropriations process where we can and should debate and consider these further cuts, and put them on the floor, and vote them up. But this is an odd thing. It’s a rescission. It is a cutting back further of money we’ve already appropriated. Just a few minutes later today, I will be trying to get votes to end $465 million of further cuts in disaster assistance that’ll be on the floor today. Taking money from the World Food Program and UNICEF, from Red Cross and Save the Children, from Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. Folks may think at home that this money that goes out to the world is money better spent here, but for the pennies on the federal dollar that we spend responding to disasters around the world, organizations we all know and the majority of us believe in and support, like the Red Cross, World Vision, or Catholic Relief Services are able to appear in time and deliver lifesaving aid. 
    Think about what we are doing. Think about the example we are setting. Think about what we are teaching our children. Open your hearts and eyes and realize what we are about to do. This is a nation of which I am so proud, and yet at times it does things of which I am so ashamed. I cannot imagine the faces in the refugee camps, in the villages, in the clinics, in the schools, in the towns, in the cities around the world, who for years have been used to the idea that when there’s a pandemic, the Americans come; that when there’s an earthquake, the Americans come; that when there is starvation, the Americans come. Today we will vote, “no, we won’t.” We are more interested in ourselves and in a bigger tax cut than we are in saving starving children, people laid low by the devastation of an earthquake, families separated by a typhoon. The best part of this nation – what truly makes us great – is our selfless giving to others. We will be judged by how we act today. For God’s justice is swift and sure, and I tremble when I think about the answer this chamber will give today to the question, who is my neighbor?
    Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we should turn aside. We should not, with this act and this vote today, make Jesus weep.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons’ amendment to save international disaster relief funding blocked by Republicans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today introduced an amendment to the Republican rescissions package that would have removed $496 million in cuts to international disaster relief, effectively saving the program. Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
    Ahead of the vote, Senator Coons spoke on the floor about the urgency of this funding to help us outcompete China, raise our standing in the world, and promote our national security. “This money doesn’t just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer from earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and natural disasters,” he said. “It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.”
    International disaster assistance funding is a crucial piece of America’s foreign policy toolkit. The account responds to emergency humanitarian situations in over 60 countries and is a crucial component of our competition with China for global influence. For instance, Filipino leaders have cited disaster assistance funding as the key reason why the nation gave the United States access to nine military sites across the country.
    These cuts will also have a major impact on organizations that are household names and carry out much of the disaster response, including Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and UNICEF.
    The amendment was narrowly blocked by Republicans, 49-50. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted for the amendment.
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks before the amendment vote are below.
    WATCH HERE.
    Senator Coons: Mr. President, it was Ronald Reagan who said “America is great because America is good.” My amendment would restore $496 million of international disaster relief funding by removing it from this rescissions package. This money doesn’t just save lives in countries around the world when they suffer from earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and natural disasters. It strengthens our standing, brings us closer to our allies, and helps us compete with China.
    Two months ago, I visited the Philippines on a bipartisan CODEL and was struck to learn it is the most natural disaster-prone country on earth. Today, they’re giving us access to nine new military sites. They are one of our strongest treaty partners in the region. And why? When I asked their leaders, they said, because America helps respond to disasters.
    $496 million. Point-zero-one percent of the debt Republicans have just added to our nation in the past two weeks. And this money is implemented by Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, the World Food Program –
    Senator Sheehy: The senator’s time is expired.
    Senator Coons: I ask my colleagues to support it.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SPC Jul 17, 2025 0100 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook

    Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

     For best viewing experience, please enable browser JavaScript support.

    Jul 17, 2025 0100 UTC Day 1 Convective Outlook

    Updated: Thu Jul 17 00:50:27 UTC 2025 (Print Version |   |  )

    Probabilistic to Categorical Outlook Conversion Table

     Forecast Discussion

    SPC AC 170050

    Day 1 Convective Outlook
    NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
    0750 PM CDT Wed Jul 16 2025

    Valid 170100Z – 171200Z

    …THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM EASTERN CO
    TO THE LOWER MO VALLEY…LOWER MI TO THE LOWER OH VALLEY…AND THE
    MID-ATLANTIC…

    …SUMMARY…
    Isolated severe thunderstorms remain possible tonight across eastern
    Colorado to the Lower Missouri Valley. Isolated damaging winds
    remain possible this evening across parts of the Midwest and the
    Mid-Atlantic States.

    …Eastern CO to the Lower MO Valley…
    A trio of rather widely-spaced and recently weakening supercells are
    ongoing across eastern CO to southwest KS. With pronounced MLCIN
    downstream, that will further increase nocturnally, these
    surface-based storms should diminish. Widespread elevated convection
    is expected across northern KS into the Lower MO Valley overnight,
    north of the southward-sagging cold front. Marginal severe hail will
    be possible with initial updrafts before clustering in a largely
    west/east-orientation. Modest effective bulk shear will limit the
    overall threat.

    …Lower MI/Lower OH Valley to the Mid-Atlantic States…
    A generally weakening broken line of convection is ongoing from
    western Lower MI to southern IL. The MI portion has shown some
    recent uptick, closer to the MCV over central Lake MI. Adequate
    deep-layer shear and the recent convective increase may foster a
    sporadic damaging wind threat. But the downstream airmass of weak
    lapse rates and MLCAPE, as sampled by the 00Z DTX/APX soundings,
    will marginalize severe potential tonight.

    Farther east, slow-moving thunderstorms will drift east and/or
    weaken across parts of the Mid-Atlantic States tonight. But pockets
    of moderate buoyancy and modest deep-layer shear could support
    localized damaging winds for a few more hours.

    ..Grams.. 07/17/2025

    CLICK TO GET WUUS01 PTSDY1 PRODUCT

    .html”>Latest Day 2 Outlook/Today’s Outlooks/Forecast Products/Home

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Senate Floor, Klobuchar Fights Cuts to Public Broadcasting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Minnesota Amy Klobuchar

    WATCH KLOBUCHAR’S FULL REMARKS HERE

    WASHINGTON — On the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke in opposition to legislation to clawback funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and foreign aid, which was previously approved on a bipartisan basis last Congress.

    “This clawback doesn’t just eliminate funding for, say, NPR, PBS. The primary impact of that part of the funding cuts is going to be on local radio and TV. 1,500 local public media stations across the country that receive 70% of this funding – jeopardizing these stations that provide local community services…

    I know because I know some of my communities that rely on these stations. Grand Marais, MN – the very tip of our state, the tip of Minnesota.  Do you think all these other stations are covering the Canadian wildfires? Hourly. They do because of the smoke, and people need to know the air quality when they’re making decisions about what they’re going to do that day or the next day.  

    Do you think people know when on Hwy. 61 there’s a tree over the road or there’s been a deer that’s been hit by a car and the emergency? No, they hear it on WTIP….

    This isn’t a partisan issue. 77% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats report relying on public radio for emergency alerts and news. That’s part of the reason why, for a half a century, we have agreed on a bipartisan basis in the US Senate to invest in public broadcasting. Yet now, Congressional Republicans are using a partisan process to rubber stamp the president’s unchecked power and rip away these resources.”

    Download Klobuchar’s full floor speech here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Monster’s on the hunt for title shot

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

    Wounded, yet never tamed, China’s former world champion boxer Xu Can, aka “The Monster”, is back on the prowl, more bloodthirsty than ever, as he targets another title shot in a heavier division.

    Following a career setback that saw him lose his belt in 2021, China’s former WBA featherweight world champion Xu Can (right) is ready to punch his way back into title contention in the super featherweight class and become China’s first two-division champion. XINHUA

    The former World Boxing Association featherweight (126 pound, 57kg) belt holder will have his mettle for the title in the 130-pound class seriously tested on Aug 15, when he defends his International Boxing Organization international title in the super featherweight division against French challenger Jaouad Belmehdi on home soil in Beijing.

    The fight was announced on Tuesday as the main event of the “Kzmall’s Night”, a multi-bout boxing show, organized by Beijing-based Max Power Promotions and sanctioned by the IBO, which will be staged at the National Convention Center in the Chinese capital’s Olympic park.

    Xu, China’s first featherweight world champion under a major sanctioning body, is embracing his defense of the intercontinental belt as a statement of his lofty ambition to become the first Chinese man to win world titles across two weight classes.

    “My goal since coming back (from two straight defeats) is to become China’s first two-division world champion,” said Xu, who claimed his first world title by beating Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas via a unanimous decision in January 2019 in Houston to snatch up the WBA featherweight strap.

    “And to do so, I need to climb the rankings all over again by taking on some legitimate opponents. I am ready for it, I am serious about my mission and I will let my punches do the talking.”

    After wresting the title from Rojas, Xu kept his momentum rolling with two successful defenses against Japan’s Shun Kubo and Manny Robles III of the United States in the same year. It cemented his status as China’s most internationally recognized pro boxer, which was underlined by a five-star rating on BoxRec in 2019, while drawing another wave of mainstream attention to the sport following retired Olympian Zou Shiming’s back-to-back light flyweight gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

    The pandemic, unfortunately, hit at the worst possible time for Xu’s career ascent, severely disrupting his preparations for a third title defense against then British champ Leigh Wood in a bout that later proved to be a Waterloo for the Chinese star, and pushed him almost to the brink of quitting the sport.

    “It was a huge blow for me, psychologically and emotionally, that made me want to give up boxing,” said Xu, who was knocked out by Wood with a 12th-round right hook in July 2021 in England, losing his WBA title.

    Xu’s attempt at an immediate riposte was denied by a split-decision loss to Mexico’s Brandon “Leoncito” Benitez in October 2022, dragging him abruptly out of the sport’s spotlight.

    However, the resilient fighter — known for his slogan: “I am Can, I can!” — refuses to hang up his gloves just yet, having rekindled his fire for a comeback after a yearlong break, accompanied by family and friends, during a healing process that “helped restore his love” for the brutally competitive sport.

    “Looking back at the setbacks, I feel like it was just part of the process of my growth as a pro,” said Xu, a 31-year-old native of Fuzhou, East China’s Jiangxi province.

    “Perhaps, I’ve had too smooth of an early career to be true, progressing on a flat path all the way until losing the belt. Now, I have just started the uphill climb. I am taking steps slower than before, but I am making solid progress — one step at a time,” said Xu, who beat Panama’s Jhonatan Arenas via TKO in his most recent fight in December, claiming the vacant IBO 130-pound international title.

    Standing 1.75 meters tall with impressive range, Xu has built a reputation for high-volume punching and superior endurance during his featherweight reign. However, learning from his defeats, he realizes that striking power, timing and finesse are the keys for success in the super featherweight realm, should he make a convincing run for a world title in the heavier, and more competitive, division.

    Supported by his agency Max Power at Beijing gym M23, Xu, who keeps a 20-4-0 win-loss-draw record, has been focusing on his strength conditioning, footwork and combination diversity to prepare for the fight against Belmehdi (23-1-3), a knockout specialist known as “The Moroccan Bomber “and who is currently rated at three stars on BoxRec.

    “Can is a very good boxer, but I am very confident of my skill. See you on August 15 for an explosive fight,” said the 27-year-old Belmehdi, who’s chalked up 11 KO wins.

    Justin Kennedy, vice-president of IBO, said the winner between Xu and Belmehdi will move closer to a shot at the division’s ultimate prize.

    “This is going to be a great event in the heart of Beijing, in a country that is moving forward rapidly in world boxing with a lot of really world-class fighters coming through,” Kennedy said in a video message played at the news conference launching the event on Tuesday.

    “The fight between these two highly skilled fighters will be a great display of boxing. Please tune in and turn up for what will be an amazing night.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Wellington Local Advisory Committee Appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the seven inaugural members of Wellington’s new Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were appointed by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ūpoko Region Manager, Bruce Stubbs says the Wellington LAC will provide a voice for the communities across Wellington, Porirua, Kapiti Coast, Hutt City and Wairarapa.
    “Members represent a diverse range of interests, offer strong local knowledge and will bring real value to the table. We look forward to working with them,” he says.
    The committee’s first task will be to plan how to best engage and seek feedback about local needs from people in their communities, and to build a shared understanding with them about the service Fire and Emergency delivers.
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Canterbury this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Wellington Local Advisory Committee
    Adrienne Staples (Chair)
    Shamia Love Shariff (Deputy Chair)
    Maleeha Ahmad
    Asher Wilson Goldman
    Sara Williams
    Andrew Brown
    Maria Mitimeti.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fire and Emergency – Canterbury Local Advisory Committee appointed

    Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand has confirmed the eight inaugural members of the new Canterbury Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
    The LAC members were selected by the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board and will provide the Board with independent advice about what their communities value, their needs and the risks they face.
    Te Ihu Region Manager, Brad Mosby says the Canterbury LAC will provide a voice for the communities across both Canterbury and Mid-South Canterbury.
    “Our Canterbury LAC members are well connected and respected within their communities, and we look forward to working with them.
    “They’ll engage with community groups about local needs and support our local teams in building a shared understanding with communities about the service we deliver.”
    You can read more details about the newly appointed members on Fire and Emergency’s website.
    Fire and Emergency has also established a new LAC for Wellington this month concluding the national implementation of all 16 LACs.
    Every community in New Zealand is now represented by a Local Advisory Committee. As well as the two new LACs in Wellington and Canterbury, there are LACs in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Whanganui-Manawatū, Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast, Otago, Southland and the Chatham Islands.
    An additional three new Chatham Islands committee members were also appointed to the Chatham Islands LAC this month.
    Canterbury Local Advisory Committee
    Darin Cusack (Chair)
    Wendy Smith (Deputy Chair)
    Ross Paniora
    Mark Adams
    Brett King
    Cherie Leckner
    Andrew Cocking
    Habib Marwat.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged with stolen property and firearms offences

    Thursday, 17 July 2025 – 12:46 pm.

    A man has been charged as investigations continue into the stealing of five vehicles from a North Hobart car yard in May.
    Last month, police from the South East, Glenorchy and Bridgewater Criminal Investigation Branches executed several searches in the Montrose and Derwent Valley areas, alongside the Southern Drugs and Firearms Unit.
    A Toyota Rav 4 stolen from a North Hobart car yard was located at an address in Magra, as well as close to $150,000 of other property also believed to be stolen.
    The property included a firearm, several motor vehicles, a trailer, a generator, and about one tonne of fuel. A quantity of illicit drugs was also located.
    A 36-year-old Magra man has since been charged with various stolen property and firearms offences and will reappear in the Hobart Magistrates Court on 12 September 2025.
    Four of the five vehicles stolen from the North Hobart car yard have been recovered.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: US Army Deploys, Fires Mid-Range Capability During Talisman Sabre 25

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia — The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) deployed a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) to Australia and conducted a Standard Missile 6 live fire on July 15th, 2025, successfully sinking a maritime target in support of Exercise Talisman Sabre 25, a bilateral exercise between the U.S. and Australian militaries. The deployment demonstrates the 3rd MDTF’s ability to deploy and support regional security and stability.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI China: 124 dead in Pakistan during 3 weeks of monsoon devastation

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

    A man carries his children as he wades through flood water after heavy monsoon rains in southern Pakistan’s Hyderabad on July 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    Torrential monsoon rains and associated incidents have left at least 124 people dead and 264 others injured across Pakistan over the past three weeks, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said Wednesday.

    In its latest situation report, the NDMA said the casualties were recorded between June 26 and July 16, with eight new deaths and 11 injuries reported in the last 24 hours.

    The eastern Punjab province was the worst affected, with 49 fatalities and 158 injuries, followed by the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with 38 deaths and 57 injuries. The southern Sindh province reported 20 deaths and 40 injuries, while the southwestern Balochistan province recorded 16 fatalities and four injuries.

    One death and five injuries were reported in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, while no casualties were recorded in northern Gilgit-Baltistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory, said the NDMA.

    Pakistan experiences heavy monsoon rains from July to September each year, which often cause widespread flooding, infrastructure damage, and casualties, particularly in low-lying and rural areas.

    Authorities have issued advisories and are working with provincial governments to coordinate relief and rescue efforts in the most affected regions. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: UNICEF chief says UN-led humanitarian action in Gaza sidelined

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

    The UN-led humanitarian response in Gaza has been sidelined since the breakdown of the ceasefire in March, even though the world body was doing a good job, said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell on Wednesday.

    “For the last several months, the UN-led humanitarian response has been sidelined despite the fact that during the March ceasefire, we were delivering assistance in an efficient and safe manner,” she told a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

    Essential vaccines and neonatal care, lifesaving nutrition services, and access to clean water were affected, she said, and asked members of the Security Council to ensure that UNICEF and their humanitarian partners are allowed to do their jobs.

    “We have proven that essentials like medicine, vaccines, water, food, and nutrition for babies can reach those in need, wherever they are, when we have appropriate access. We urgently need a return to the functioning UN-led aid pipeline with safe and sustained humanitarian access through all available (border) crossings,” said Russell.

    Also, she reiterated the UN secretary-general’s appeal to ensure that all aid delivery is demilitarized and grounded in the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

    Russell was referring to the militarized mode of humanitarian aid distribution carried out by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, run by the United States, which set up four sites in the whole of Gaza in restricted Israeli military zones where starving civilians enter through fenced lanes under the eyes of armed security contractors.

    Between May 27 and July 7, the UN Human Rights Office recorded the killings of 798 Palestinian civilians, including children, desperate to find food at or near distribution sites and humanitarian convoys, she said.

    More than 17,000 children have reportedly been killed and 33,000 injured in Gaza since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, an average of 28 children have been killed each day, said Russell. “Consider that for a moment. A whole classroom of children killed, every day for nearly two years.”

    In Gaza, the effects of the violence perpetrated on children have been catastrophic. International law is clear: all parties to the conflict must protect civilians and ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, she said while also calling for unimpeded humanitarian access and a ceasefire, as well as efforts to put an end to the war. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff, Booker, Markey Lead 28 Senate Colleagues in Effort to Protect California’s Proposition 12

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla, Schiff, Booker, Markey Lead 28 Senate Colleagues in Effort to Protect California’s Proposition 12

    Senators: “The Food Security and Farm Protection Act would harm America’s small farmers and infringe on the fundamental rights of states to establish laws and regulations within their own borders.”

    This letter follows an announcement last week from the Trump Administration seeking to undermine Proposition 12 and other state laws.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led 28 of their Senate colleagues in strongly objecting to the inclusion of the Food Security and Farm Protection Act in the next Farm Bill or in any other legislation. This letter follows a frivolous Trump Administration lawsuit announced last week seeking to undermine Proposition 12 and other state laws.  

    In a letter to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the Senators raised concerns over the risk this legislation poses to California’s Proposition 12, Massachusetts’ Question 3, and other similar laws nationwide that allow states regulate their own food standards. They also highlighted how undermining these measures would hurt American farmers who have long met the standards set by Proposition 12 or who already invested in resources to comply.  

    “This legislation would have a sweeping impact if passed—threatening countless state laws and opening the floodgates to unnecessary litigation. The bill is particularly draconian in that it aims to negate state and local laws when there are no federal standards to take their place, creating an overnight regulatory vacuum,” wrote the Senators. “In doing so, it would drastically broaden the scope of federal preemption, and disregard the wisdom of duly-enacted laws that address local concerns.” 

    “Countless farmers who wanted to take advantage of this market opportunity invested resources and made necessary modifications to be compliant. Federal preemption of these laws would be picking the winners and losers, and would seriously harm farmers who made important investments,” continued the Senators. 

    Fifteen states, including California, have implemented public health, food safety, and human standards for the in-state production and sale of certain products, following demands from consumers, food companies, and farmers. These standards include consumer information safeguards, food quality and safety regulations, animal welfare standards, and more.  

    In addition to Padilla, Schiff, Booker, and Markey, the letter is signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

    Full text of the letter is available here and below:     

    Dear Chairman Boozman and Ranking Member Klobuchar: 

    We write today expressing our strong opposition to inclusion of the “Food Security and Farm Protection Act” (S. 1326), previously known as the “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (EATS) Act,” or any similar legislation in the next Farm Bill. Modeled after former Representative Steve King’s amendment, which was intensely controversial and ultimately excluded from the final 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, the Food Security and Farm Protection Act would harm America’s small farmers and infringe on the fundamental rights of states to establish laws and regulations within their own borders. 

    This legislation would have a sweeping impact if passed—threatening countless state laws and opening the floodgates to unnecessary litigation. The bill is particularly draconian in that it aims to negate state and local laws when there are no federal standards to take their place, creating an overnight regulatory vacuum. In doing so, it would drastically broaden the scope of federal preemption, and disregard the wisdom of duly-enacted laws that address local concerns.  

    The range of potentially impacted laws includes measures aimed at protecting states from invasive pests and infectious disease, health and safety standards, consumer information safeguards, food quality and safety regulations, animal welfare standards, and fishing regulations. Below are just a few of the many areas that could be impacted by the Food Security and Farm Protection Act:  

    • Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota regulate the labeling of bitter almonds or prohibit their sale as a poison. Florida prohibits the sale of citrus fruits containing arsenic. 
    • Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin have laws that restrict the importation of firewood in order to prevent the spread of invasive pests and diseases. Additionally, at least 23 states have restrictions on the importation of Ash trees in order to prevent the spread of the emerald ash borer. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas are among states that have passed laws to prevent the spread of the Asian citrus psyllid, which causes citrus greening, and many states have implemented regulations to protect iconic species of trees that grow in various regions of the United States.  
    • Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas have laws governing sales within their states of seeds and seed oils. Dozens of states have enacted laws on noxious weeds, rules for spraying manure on fields, sourcing requirements, and many other agricultural matters. 
    • Many states impose additional requirements beyond federal regulations to address risks to cattle from brucellosis (48 states), bovine tuberculosis (41 states), and Johne’s Disease (North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming).  

    Demand from consumers, food companies, and the farming community has propelled 15 states to enact public health, food safety, and humane standards for the in-state production and sale of products from egg-laying chickens, veal calves, and sows. The Food Security and Farm Protection Act was introduced with the primary goal of undermining these standards – particularly California’s Proposition 12, in response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding that law, and Massachusetts’s Question 3. Last Congress, the House Agriculture Committee included a similarly harmful provision in their Farm Bill draft, adding another poison pill that contributed to a lack of progress on the next Farm Bill.  

    California’s Proposition 12 has been in full effect for over a year, while Massachusetts’s Question 3 has been in full effect since 2023. The demand for Proposition 12- and Question 3- compliant products has been met. Countless farmers who wanted to take advantage of this market opportunity invested resources and made necessary modifications to be compliant. Federal preemption of these laws would be picking the winners and losers, and would seriously harm farmers who made important investments.  

    Due to these concerns, we respectfully ask that you reject inclusion of this provision in any form, as you did in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills.  

    Thank you, and we look forward to working with you to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Padilla Joins LA Times’ Making LA Podcast: “From Pacoima to Power”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    What happens when a Pacoima kid turned MIT-trained engineer brings a wonk’s brain — and a line cook’s work ethic — into the halls of power?

    Listen to the full podcast here

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) recently sat down for the inaugural episode of the LA Times’ Making LA Podcast to discuss his journey from growing up in Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley as the proud son of immigrants from Mexico to rising through Los Angeles and California politics to become the state’s senior U.S. Senator. The interview took place at the Discovery Cube in the San Fernando Valley, a hands-on children’s science museum Senator Padilla helped found.

    Padilla walked through his family’s history, sharing that his dad spent 40 years as a short order cook while his mom cleaned houses to provide for their family. His parents emphasized the importance of a good education, and he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

    Padilla discussed his political rise beginning with serving as former Representative Tony Cárdenas’ campaign manager for his longshot State Assembly campaign in 1996, then becoming a member of the Los Angeles City Council in 1999, and serving as the youngest person ever elected as City Council President just two years later. As City Council President, Padilla was acting Mayor of Los Angeles during the September 11, 2001 attacks, reassuring the city as residents feared Los Angeles could be targeted next. Padilla also detailed his work in the State Senate — including successful bills to require restaurant chains to display nutrition and caloric information for their menu items and to transform the transfer process from community colleges to four-year universities — as well as expanding voting access and resisting Republicans’ attacks on the right to vote during his tenure as California’s Secretary of State.

    Now serving as California’s senior U.S. Senator, Padilla reflected on being sworn in just two weeks after the January 6 insurrection. He emphasized that he continues to fight on behalf of his 40 million constituents and is working to convince others to join him to fight for climate resilience, voting rights, infrastructure investments, wildfire prevention and response, and comprehensive immigration reform. Padilla shared that behind closed doors, his Republican colleagues agree on the need to reform our outdated immigration system, and committed to keep fighting to pass his Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, his first bill introduced in Congress.

    Listen to the full podcast here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals in New York Apprehend Puerto Rico Most Wanted

    Source: US Marshals Service

    San Juan, PR – The U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, working a collateral lead from the USMS Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force, today arrested in Jamestown, New York, one of Puerto Rico’s 10 most wanted fugitives.

    Bryan José Rivera-Montañez, 26, of Guayama, is wanted by the Puerto Rico Police Bureau on a state arrest warrant issued by the Ponce Court for first-degree murder and multiple violations of weapons law after he allegedly killed with a firearm an individual in Santa Isabel March 7, 2024. His bail had been set at $2,500,000.

    In late June the USMS Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force sent a collateral lead to the USMS New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force requesting assistance in locating and apprehending Rivera-Montañez, who was arrested without incident at an apartment in the 60 block of Water Street in Jamestown.

    “This arrest exemplifies our agency’s fight against violent crime and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the safety of our communities,” said Wilmer Ocasio-Ibarra, U.S. Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico. “I want to express my sincere appreciation for and recognize the great contribution of the members of the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force and their coordination with the Puerto Rico Violent Offender Task Force in capturing this violent fugitive.” 

    The New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force began operations in April 2002 and was the first regional fugitive task force to become fully operational following the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000. The NY/NJRFTF was the flagship that allowed seven other regional fugitive task forces to be created across the country. With partnership agreements with over 90 federal, state, or local agencies and 13 fully operational offices, the NY/NJRFTF has successfully apprehended more than 100,000 fugitives since inception. 

    The USMS District of Puerto Rico encourages the community to continue to collaborate with our deputies on tips that help find the whereabouts of a fugitive by contacting our local office at (787) 766-6297, calling the U.S. Marshals Service Communication Center at 1 (800) 336-0102, or submitting tips using the USMS Tips App.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed Blasts Republicans’ Attempt to Defund Public Broadcasting & Humanitarian Aid

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    VIDEO: Sen. Reed speaks out on Senate floor in opposition to Trump’s rescissions package that would eliminate life-saving global health programs, peacekeeping efforts, and economic development abroad, and undercut community-focused TV and radio stations

    WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of a July 18 deadline, Senate Republicans are rushing to pass a rescissions package to claw back roughly $9 billion in humanitarian aid and funding for public broadcasting.  Senate Republicans advanced the proposal last night on a 50-50 vote with three Senate Republicans joining all Democrats and Independents opposing the measure, but with Vice President Vance breaking the tie.

    U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to “oppose this partisan rescission bill because it represents a complete surrender of Congress’s power of the purse.  It will hurt America’s standing in the world and it will cost lives,” Reed said today on the Senate floor.  “We are considering this package at a time when the Trump Administration has frozen congressionally enacted funds, illegally impounded funds, and threatened to cancel unspent funds at the end of fiscal year.  Now, the Administration is back asking Congress to ratify even more cuts.” 

    Reed is urging Senators to vote for their constituents best interests and against the Trump Administration’s rescission package, which includes cuts to public television and radio funds that Congress previously authorized and appropriated. 

    The Trump Administration’s attempt to defund public media investment would revoke about $1.1 billion in previously-appropriated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), including over $1 million annually for Rhode Island TV and radio stations.

    Congress provided CPB approximately $535 million in in federal support for each of the next two fiscal years to disburse across nearly 1,500 local radio and TV stations nationwide, as well as programmers and technology infrastructure providers.  Cutting this funding in the upcoming two fiscal years could force some local stations off the air, while other stations may have fewer shows to broadcast and fewer resources for local news reporting and educational programming.

    Speaking on the Senate floor today, Reed stated: “This bill will eliminate close to $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. This would not simply affect funding for National Public Radio and national PBS, it would result in funding cuts for local stations like Rhode Island PBS and the Public’s Radio, which lose about 10 percent of its funding if this bill passes.  The same story will play out in every state with independent local news and civic discourse taking the hit just because of the President’s command to the majority party.”

    Reed also noted that public radio is decentralized.  Stations in Kansas are covering local issues, with local personalities, differently than public broadcasters in Rhode Island or other states.

    Since 2013, public TV stations have helped the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system deliver emergency alerts to people’s cell phones via the stations’ own transmitters when cell companies’ connections fail.

    In 2024, over 11,000 alerts were issued by federal, state, and local authorities via the PBS WARN system. Similarly, the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), which is managed by NPR, helps send presidential emergency alerts to local public radio stations nationwide—allowing critical communications to reach people, even when the internet or cellular connections fail.

    Reed asked: “In the wake of deadly flooding in Texas and elsewhere do my colleagues really want to support a package that cuts funding for emergency alerts?”

    The bill would also cut $7.9 billion from the kind of global assistance programs that are crucial to U.S. national security and our efforts to compete with China economically and diplomatically.

    These programs are also the embodiment of American idealism and morality.  As Catholic Relief Services wrote: “If passed, these rescissions drastically decrease U.S. investment in international assistance programs that support human dignity, protect life and build good will with countries around the world. Not only that, these cuts and other measures to eliminate international assistance programs also represent a retreat of the U.S. as a global leader in addressing poverty around the world. This would undermine decades of work in serving the global community and fostering a peaceful and prosperous world.”

    The cuts on the table include $500 million from global health programs, which could affect efforts that have successfully slowed the spread of infectious diseases, along with cuts to lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

    One proven program that could see drastic cuts under this rescissions package is the disbursement of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). RUTF is a specialty product used to treat severe malnutrition in children, and could be impacted by the proposed cuts to UNICEF included in Trump’s package.

    “Unfortunately, we have already seen this Administration’s disregard for the lifesaving treatment provided by RUTF.  Edesia Nutrition, a key manufacturer of RUTF based in Rhode Island, has been forced to curtail production and delay shipments of lifesaving therapeutic food, which has sat in warehouses, unable to get to the children who need it because of the Trump Administration’s needless slow-walking.  If OMB really cared about waste, it wouldn’t have this food aid and the millions of tons of wheat and other crops sitting and rotting rather than distributing it,” said Senator Reed, noting these are American-made products made by American workers, using domestically produced food, to prevent millions of at-risk, malnourished children from starving to death.

    “These cuts are shortsighted, there is no other way to put it. To paraphrase former Secretary of Defense Mattis, ‘if we don’t fund these soft power and diplomatic programs, then we need to buy more ammunition,’” concluded Reed.

    MIL OSI USA News –