NewzIntel.com

Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Australia: This vote will change everything for public schools

    Source: Australian Education Union

    18 March 2025

    There’s a stark choice facing voters this year thanks to the major parties’ radically different views on teaching and learning and, critically, how schools should be funded.

    AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe says the choice is between Labor’s vision for fully funded public schools where teachers and students have the support they need or a Dutton government that plans to tell teachers what to teach and how to teach it and deny them the support and resources they need. Peter Dutton claims “ideologically driven advocates” have too much influence over what is taught.

    “Kids are being indoctrinated from preschool where all sorts of woke agendas are part of the curriculum … it then progresses … all the way through to high school. And there are a lot of teachers there who are masquerading as teachers, but who are really either climate zealots

    or other social issues that they’re obsessed with,” he says.

    By contrast, Minister for Education Jason Clare celebrates the work of teachers, telling Parliament:

    “Everything they do helps our kids to aim higher, to work harder, to be braver and to believe in themselves.”

    Prime minister Anthony Albanese too has praised teachers and educators, saying: “Hardworking, dedicated educators who have slogged hard through the terms, through the years, all of them working to make sure that holding open the doors of opportunity is not a lofty ideal, but a lived reality – and an Australian tradition.”

    He describes public schools as an essential part of the fabric of Australia and recognises that “education is the single most powerful weapon we have against disadvantage. And it’s the single best investment we can make in our nation’s future”.

    Labor’s groundbreaking pledge

    In January, the prime minister made a landmark commitment to deliver full funding of public schools.

    In agreements struck with Victoria and South Australia, he guaranteed to lift the federal share of public school funding from 20 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to 25 per cent.

    The SRS is the minimum level of funding schools require to meet the needs of all students.

    State and territory governments are required to fund the remaining 75 per cent of the SRS and remove clauses in previous agreements that allow them to count non-school costs of $2 billion a year as part of their share of funding.

    With NSW signing on in March, the federal government is aiming to finalise agreements with every state and territory to deliver full funding to the minimum standard of 100 per cent of the SRS by 2034.

    Haythorpe says full funding will mean guaranteed funding increases for schools over the next decade, allowing for the employment of additional teachers, more small group and individual support for struggling students and more support for teachers inside the classroom via additional education support workers.

    It will also mean more specialist support in schools such as counsellors and speech pathologists.

    “We’ve been campaigning for more than a decade for schools to be funded to 100 per cent of the SRS, which was the original recommendation of the Gonski review in 2011,” says Haythorpe. “The Albanese government’s commitment is testament to the efforts of teachers, principals, support staff and community members who have worked tirelessly to deliver it.”

    The government has also made serious inroads in addressing the teacher shortage crisis, announcing teaching scholarships of up to $40,000 to new undergraduates and payments to teaching students during their practicums, in addition to tuition-free teaching degrees and HELP debt reduction.

    Coalition conservative agenda troubling

    The Coalition has never expressed support for the full funding of public schools. It has not responded to requests for clarification on its position before this edition of Australian Educator was finalised.

    “You can’t trust the Coalition on school funding,” says Haythorpe.

    “The last time they were in government, they promised to honour school funding agreements but then ripped them up and cut $14 billion from public schools in 2017,” she says.

    “Scott Morrison struck agreements with state and territory governments in 2018 that saw only 1.3 per cent of public schools fully funded by 2023. By contrast 98 per cent of private schools were funded at or above the SRS.”

    New official data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority highlights the disparity between public and private school funding.

    Private schools are receiving 27 per cent more recurrent income from all sources per student than public schools.

    The capital expenditure gap is also increasing. In 2023, it was 2.1 times more than public schools, up from 1.5 times more in 2021.

    Stark differences in teaching and learning

    The major parties’ ideas about teaching and learning are also diametrically opposed.

    Dutton has consistently attacked teachers, questioning their professionalism and claiming children are being indoctrinated in schools.

    The Coalition’s plan for schools includes overhauling the national curriculum, mandating explicit/direct instruction in every classroom and introducing a behaviour curriculum for students.

    The Albanese government’s schools funding plans are tied to reforms including a Year 1 phonics and numeracy check to identify students who need extra help, wellbeing programs including access to mental health professionals in schools, high-quality and evidence-based professional learning and new initiatives to improve the attraction and retention of teachers.

    Greens call for end to private school funding

    The Greens have called for full funding to 100 per cent of the SRS for public schools by July this year. Their election commitments also include a capital fund for public schools and additional funding of $2.4 billion for public schools so fees can be abolished. Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt says governments are underfunding public schools and shifting the costs onto parents.

    This article was originally published in the Australian Educator, Autumn 2025

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Universities – International tax rules are losing their grip – academic – UoA

    Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

    As the Trump administration prioritises domestic interests over multilateral agreements, a University of Auckland legal scholar warns of a “quiet evolution” reshaping international tax law.

    Professor Craig Elliffe’s research on this shift is in the running for the 2025 Frans Vanistendael Award for International Tax Law, one of the field’s most prestigious honours. Published in the World Tax Journal, his paper, one of just six shortlisted for the €10,000 prize, explores how governments are strengthening domestic tax laws to combat tax avoidance, sometimes at the cost of weakening international agreements.

    Elliffe looks at the relationship between international tax law, mainly tax treaties, and domestic tax law, examining how they interact and influence each other.

    For decades, tax treaties have been the backbone of cross-border taxation, designed primarily to prevent double taxation – where the same income is taxed in two different countries. Over time, tax treaties have also been used to prevent tax avoidance and evasion, especially by multinational companies and wealthy individuals.

    We’re already seeing this kind of shift with the trade tariffs being imposed by the US; there’s this sort of breakdown of the existing cooperative global world trade and tax systems.

    Professor Craig ElliffeUniversity of Auckland

    Elliffe argues that domestic law has prevailed against the more specialised law of tax treaties and at an increasing rate. This evolution has occurred in situations where the special law of treaties is “watered down” by the principle that treaties shouldn’t be allowed to be abused, or in situations where they facilitate tax avoidance.

    “There’s been a clear trend towards preserving and increasing the authority of certain domestic tax laws,” says Elliffe.

    “There are many reasons for this reassertion of sovereign taxing rights, but they’re mainly justified under the banner of preventing tax avoidance. Such domestic laws, however, can conflict with the reduction or elimination of double taxation and undermine the rationale for tax treaties.”

    Over the past decade, Elliffe says the pace of this trend has increased, suggesting more of a revolution than an evolution: a clear move towards preserving the authority of certain domestic tax laws.

    “This means there’s less certainty in law, which is a shame. It means countries can’t rely on the treaties to the same extent they previously had.

    “We’re already seeing this kind of shift with the trade tariffs being imposed by the US; there’s this sort of breakdown of the existing cooperative global world trade and tax systems.”

    His paper raises questions about the future of international tax cooperation. If countries continue to prioritise domestic tax sovereignty over treaty commitments, he says the result may be a more fragmented and unpredictable tax landscape.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Local News – Property owners doing their bit for a healthy Porirua Harbour

    Source: Porirua City Council

    A programme to identify broken sewer pipes on private and public property is playing its part to improve Porirua Harbour’s health, with hundreds of repairs being carried out since the initiative began.
    Porirua City councillors were briefed on the Knowing Your Pipes programme at a workshop last Thursday. The project, led by Wellington Water Ltd (WWL), began four years ago to identify and fix problem areas causing pollution in Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour.
    To locate faults, a WWL drainage investigation crew identify and trace pollution caused by broken pipes. Where pipes are privately owned, property owners are required to take action to repair them.
    Since 2021, a total of 571 private wastewater and stormwater faults have been identified in Porirua. Of these, only 38 major faults are yet to be fixed, with almost half of these being in Kāinga Ora properties and scheduled for works.
    While most private property owners will voluntarily fix faulty pipes, from time to time there can be a delay in owners taking action. When a fault is found, the programme follows a structured process to notify and remind owners of repairs that are needed.
    At the workshop, officers outlined those steps, as well as the enforcement process and a financial assistance programme, where a repair can be paid for over time.
    Porirua Mayor Anita Baker says it is pleasing to see that there has been a high fix rate, with most property owners playing their part in restoring the health of our harbour.
    “The recent signing of the Porirua Harbour Accord underscores how important this issue is.
    “We all have a role to play – on both private and public land.”
    Faults found on the public network are fixed as part of the infrastructure maintenance programme. Since  Knowing Your Pipes began, 41 major public faults have been found. All but 10 of these have been fixed, with the rest in train.
    The newly minted Porirua Harbour Accord, signed in February between Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, Porirua City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City Council, and WWL, alongside stakeholders, community groups, and organisations dedicated to improving the harbour’s health, sets the strategic context for Knowing Your Pipes, the workshop briefing noted.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Opens Disaster Loan Outreach Center in Pacific Palisades

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has opened a third Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) in Los Angeles County to assist small businesses, private nonprofit (PNP) organizations, and residents affected by the wildfires and straight‑line winds occurring Jan. 7-31.

    The new center, located in Pacific Palisades, provides a one-stop resource where SBA customer service representatives are available to meet individually with business owners and residents to answer questions and assist with the disaster loan application process. No appointment is necessary, but walk-ins are welcome. Those who prefer to schedule an in-person appointment in advance can do so at appointment.sba.gov.

    The center’s hours of operation are as follows:

    LOS ANGELES COUNTY
    Disaster Loan Outreach Center
    Ronald Reagan Palisades Post 283
    15247 La Cruz Dr.
    Pacific Palisades, CA  90272

    Monday – Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

    Opened at 8:30 a.m., Monday, March 17

    “When disasters strike, SBA’s Disaster Loan Outreach Centers perform an important role by assisting small businesses and their communities,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the U.S. Small Business Administration. “At these centers, our SBA specialists help business owners and residents apply for disaster loans and learn about the full range of programs available to support their recovery.”

    Businesses and nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans and may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

    Homeowners and renters are eligible to apply for home and personal property loans and may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances. Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.

    Applicants may be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future disasters.

    The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and private nonprofit organizations impacted by financial losses directly related to these disasters. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    Interest rates are as low as 4% for small businesses, 3.625% for nonprofits, and 2.563% for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due, until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA determines eligibility and sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    The SBA encourages applicants to submit their loan applications promptly. Applications will be prioritized in the order they are received, and the SBA remains committed to processing them as efficiently as possible.

    To apply online visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is March 31. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Oct. 8.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Still no certainty for disability communities

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds.

    “Disabled people, their families and carers have gone through so much heartbreak over the past year because of this heartless Government,” acting disability issues spokesperson, Carmel Sepuloni said.

    “We’ve seen disability communities lose out on things like equipment, respite and activities; people frozen out of disability care homes; disabled people being paid less than the minimum wage; a freeze on the Enabling Good Lives rollout and of course, the gutting of Whaikaha.

    “We held public meetings throughout the country last year, listening to disabled people and understanding their new challenges following the government’s changes. Their stories were dire.

    “The Government is taking disabled people and their communities backwards. Louise Upston cannot keep pretending that nothing’s wrong and that there aren’t people suffering because of her Government’s choices.

    “With community consultations for feedback on policies affecting disabled people closing next Monday – I urge communities to share their stories.

    “This is a matter the Minister must take seriously and make amends for. It is simply unacceptable that disability communities are still struggling for certainty a year on,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

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    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: ACT looks to stand candidates in local council elections

    Source: ACT Party

    For the first time ever, ACT is looking to stand candidates in local council elections.

    Today ACT Leader David Seymour announced the Party is seeking expressions of interest from New Zealanders to stand for their local council under the ACT banner.

    “ACT has been focused on tackling the cost of living, wasteful spending, and co-governance in central government. But when I travel the country, I’m constantly told that local councils have failed to address these same concerns at the local level.

    “Kiwis voted for real change in 2023, but our councils seem to have missed the memo. It’s time for a clean-out.

    “Ratepayers are fed up with councillors who make big promises to get elected, then whack up rates, neglect roads and pipes, and waste money on pet projects. They’ve waged war on cars with cycleways and speed bumps while pushing divisive race-based policies like co-governance and Māori wards. Meanwhile, the basics – rubbish collection, fixing potholes, keeping rates affordable – get ignored.

    “In Government, ACT is fighting for real change, slashing wasteful spending and reining in the cost of living. ACT councillors would do the same: lower rates, scrap the nice-to-haves, end the anti-car ideology, and take race out of local politics.

    “We’re seeking practical, community-minded New Zealanders to step up. We don’t want career politicians. We want people who are sick of the nonsense and ready to focus on what matters – keeping rates down and services up. If that’s you, we want to hear from you.”

    ACT is inviting potential candidates to visit actlocal.nz to learn more and register their interest.

    “Councils won’t change unless good people act. This is your chance to deliver real change for your community with ACT,” says Seymour.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: AGs warn against potential new passport application rules targeting trans individuals

    Source: Washington State News

    OLYMPIA — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown today joined a coalition of 12 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Department of State opposing proposed changes to the passport application process that would prevent transgender individuals from obtaining a passport that matches their gender identity. 

    “These discriminatory rules would add confusion and costs for taxpayers merely to satisfy the president’s fixation on dehumanizing an entire class of people,” Brown said. 

    On Jan. 20, the Trump administration issued an executive order declaring that the United States will only recognize two sexes, male and female, and instructing the secretaries of State and Homeland Security, among others, to “implement changes that require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex,” as defined by the executive order. Subsequently, the State Department proposed changes to several passport information collection forms. The executive order and proposed form changes break with decades of federal policy on gender identity, including the ability for individuals to change gender markers in identifying records and documents. 

    In its comment letter, the coalition explains the proposed changes would significantly harm non-binary and transgender people. Forcing a transgender or non-binary person to use identity documents that do not align with their gender identity impedes their ability to live and travel. For example, when a person’s passport does not comport with their physical appearance, it could cause confusion, delays, or harassment when they travel within the United States and internationally. These harms compound the psychological harm that could result from the new policy. 

    Further, the coalition warns that the policy would cause considerable confusion between state-issued identification cards and federal identification documents. At least 16 states, including Washington, allow transgender and non-binary people to correct their state-issued birth certificate to accurately reflect their gender identity. If identifying information on state-issued documents does not match information on federal documents, individuals would likely experience delays when trying to access resources, and states would likely be forced to expend needless resources to review mismatched documents.  

    Joining AG Brown in submitting the comment letter, which was led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and New York Attorney General Letitia James, were the attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont. 

    -30-

    Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the State of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

    Media Contact:

    Email: press@atg.wa.gov

    Phone: (360) 753-2727

    General contacts: Click here

    Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Office of the Governor — News Release — Gov. Green Secures Federal Support for University and Restoration of 442nd Regimental Combat Team Webpage

    Source: US State of Hawaii

    Office of the Governor — News Release — Gov. Green Secures Federal Support for University and Restoration of 442nd Regimental Combat Team Webpage

    Posted on Mar 17, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom, Office of the Governor Press Releases

    STATE OF HAWAIʻI 
    KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI 
     
    JOSH GREEN, M.D. 
    GOVERNOR
    KE KIAʻĀINA 

    GOVERNOR GREEN SECURES FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AND RESTORATION OF 442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM WEBPAGE

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    March 17, 2025

    HONOLULU — Governor Josh Green, M.D., has successfully secured key federal actions through direct engagement with the White House, advocating for Hawai‘i on critical issues affecting our communities. In two significant resolutions, Governor Green ensured continued federal funding for the University of Hawai‘i amid a Title VI investigation and championed the restoration of the U.S. Army’s webpage honoring the legendary 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

    Protecting the Future of Higher Education in Hawai‘i

    The University of Hawai‘i was among 60 institutions under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for potential antisemitic harassment and discrimination. While UH has fully cooperated with the investigation and remains committed to fostering an inclusive learning environment, there were growing concerns that the federal administration would use these investigations as a pretext to pull critical federal funding.

    Governor Green took decisive action, engaging directly with senior White House officials to protect UH students and ensure the institution would not face unwarranted financial penalties. Speaking on his efforts, Governor Green stated:

    “I was on the phone to the White House dealing with UH funding at about 4:30 a.m. on March 11. I spoke with high-level administration officials including the Deputy Chief of Staff for the White House and a Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. I explained that while there was a little on-campus conflict during the recent war in Gaza, it paled in comparison to what’s gone on at other universities. We are not an institution that is antisemitic. We’re giving them a letter to fortify our position, but they assured me the University of Hawai‘i is not on the chopping block for antisemitism.”

    Through these efforts, the federal administration reaffirmed its commitment to upholding civil rights while maintaining funding streams that support research, education, and student services at UH.

    “I couldn’t stand by and allow a misunderstanding from the government to use civil rights investigations as a tool to undermine our students’ future,” said Governor Green. “The University of Hawai‘i is a pillar of opportunity for our local students, and I will always fight to protect access to higher education.”

    Restoring the Legacy of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

    In response to the recent removal of the U.S. Army’s webpage honoring the 442nd Regimental Combat Team—a unit renowned as the most decorated for its size and length of service in U.S. military history—Governor Josh Green, M.D. has actively engaged with senior White House officials to address the issue. The webpage has since been restored, reaffirming the commitment to preserving the legacy of these courageous soldiers.

    During the 73rd Cherry Blossom Festival, Governor Green shared with local Japanese leaders, including Consul General of Japan, Yoshinori Kodama, that he was reaching out to the administration to ensure the 442nd’s legacy remained intact.

    “The story of the 442nd is a testament to the resilience and patriotism of Japanese-American soldiers who fought bravely for a country that once questioned their loyalty,” said Governor Green. “We must never allow their sacrifices to be erased from history.”

    This outcome highlights Hawaiʻi’s shared commitment to preserving and honoring the rich heritage of its communities, reflecting the state’s dedication to safeguarding the narratives that define our collective identity.

    # # #

    Media Contacts:   
    Erika Engle
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Governor, State of Hawai‘i
    Office: 808-586-0120
    Email: [email protected] 

    Makana McClellan
    Director of Communications
    Office of the Governor, State of Hawaiʻi
    Cell: 808-265-0083
    Email: [email protected]

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Files Statement of Interest in California Religious Land Use Lawsuit Brought by Small Christian Church

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SANTA ANA, California – The Justice Department filed a statement of interest today in federal district court supporting a small Christian church’s claim that the City of Santa Ana violated its rights under the under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) when it denied the church’s zoning application to use space in the city’s professional district as a house of worship.            

    The statement of interest was filed in Anchor Stone Christian Church v. City of Santa Ana, a private lawsuit alleging that the City violated RLUIPA by enacting and enforcing zoning provisions that treat religious uses less favorably than secular places of assembly. The lawsuit alleges that the city’s professional district allows, as of right, nonreligious assembly uses like museums and art galleries, but only allows religious assembly uses with the city’s discretionary approval of a conditional use permit (CUP). 

    “Zoning practices that unfairly limit assemblies by faith-based groups violate federal law,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. “Municipalities cannot create zoning districts that treat houses of worship worse than comparable secular assemblies. The Justice Department will vigorously protect the right of religious institutions to receive equal treatment under the law.”

    “RLUIPA prohibits local governments from treating religious assembly uses like the Anchor Stone Church worse than comparable nonreligious assemblies,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mac Warner of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Zoning codes violate RLUIPA when they make it more difficult for people to gather for religious worship than for secular purposes. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigilantly enforce RLUIPA’s protections and ensure that religious groups have equal access to places to worship as a community.” 

    The lawsuit alleges that Anchor Stone is a small Christian church of first-generation Chinese and Taiwanese Americans. It obtained space within the city’s professional district and applied for a CUP to operate a Church but was denied by the city. The Church filed a motion for preliminary injunction, seeking an order allowing it to worship at its property. The Department’s statement of interest supports the Church’s argument that the zoning code, on its face, treats religious uses less favorably than nonreligious assembly uses, in violation of RLUIPA’s equal terms provision, and that the city has failed to justify this unequal treatment.

    RLUIPA is a federal law that protects persons and religious institutions from unduly burdensome, unequal, or discriminatory land use regulations. More information about RLUIPA and the department’s efforts to enforce it can be found on the Place to Worship Initiative’s webpage.

    As part of this initiative, the department distributed a letter to state, county, and municipal leaders throughout the country to remind them of their obligations under RLUIPA, including its requirement that land use regulations treat religious assemblies and institutions at least as well as nonreligious assemblies and institutions. Additionally, as part of a series on combating religious discrimination and promoting awareness of RLUIPA, the department hosted an outreach forum last year with land use practitioners and religious leaders at Fowler School of Law at Chapman University in Orange County, California.

    Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions may contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Division’s Civil Rights Section at (213) 894-2879 or the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the RLUIPA complaint portal. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, may be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-Evening Report: New Zealand and Gaza: Confronting and not confronting the unspeakable

    ANALYSIS: By Robert Patman

    New Zealand’s National-led coalition government’s policy on Gaza seems caught between a desire for a two-state diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and closer alignment with the US, which supports a Netanyahu government strongly opposed to a Palestinian state

    In the last 17 months, Gaza has been the scene of what Thomas Merton once called the unspeakable — human wrongdoing on a scale and a depth that seems to go beyond the capacity of words to adequately describe.

    The latest Gaza conflict began with a horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 that prompted a relentless Israel ground and air offensive in Gaza with full financial, logistical and diplomatic backing from the Biden administration.

    During this period, around 50,000 people – 48,903 Palestinians and 1706 Israelis – have been reported killed in the Gaza conflict, according to the official figures of the Gaza Health Ministry, as well as 166 journalists and media workers, 120 academics,and more than 224 humanitarian aid workers.

    Moreover, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, signed in mid-January, seems to be hanging by a thread.

    Israel has resumed its blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza and cut off electricity after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal to extend phase 1 of the ceasefire deal (to release more Israeli hostages) without any commitment to implement phase 2 (that envisaged ending the conflict in Gaza and Israel withdrawing its troops from the territory).

    Hamas insists on negotiating phase 2 as signed by both parties in the January ceasefire agreement

    Over the weekend, Israel reportedly launched air-strikes in Gaza and the Trump administration unleashed a wave of attacks on Houthi rebel positions in Yemen after the Houthis warned Israel not to restart the war in Gaza.

    New Zealand and the Gaza conflict
     Although distant in geographic terms, the Gaza crisis represents a major moral and legal challenge to New Zealand’s self-image and its worldview based on the strengthening of an international rules-based order.

    New Zealand’s founding document, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, emphasised partnership and cooperation between indigenous Māori and European settlers in nation-building.

    While the aspirations of the Treaty have yet to be fully realised, the credibility of its vision of reconciliation at home depends on New Zealand’s willingness to uphold respect for human rights and the rule of law in the international arena, particularly in states like Israel where tensions persist between the settler population and Palestinians in occupied territories like the West Bank.

    New Zealand’s declaratory stance towards Gaza
    In 2023 and 2024, New Zealand consistently backed calls in the UN General Assembly for humanitarian truces or ceasefires in Gaza. It also joined Australia and Canada in February and July last year to demand an end to hostilities.

    The New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, told the General Assembly in April 2024 that the Security Council had failed in its responsibility “to maintain international peace and security”.

    He was right. The Biden administration used its UN Security Council veto four times to perpetuate this brutal onslaught in Gaza for nearly 15 months.

    In addition, Peters has repeatedly said there can be no military resolution of a political problem in Gaza that can only be resolved through affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination within the framework of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

    The limitations of New Zealand’s Gaza approach
     Despite considerable disagreement with Netanyahu’s policy of “mighty vengeance” in Gaza, the National-led coalition government had few qualms about sending a small Defence Force deployment to the Red Sea in January 2024 as part of a US-led coalition effort to counter Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping there.

    While such attacks are clearly illegal, they are basically part of the fallout from a prolonged international failure to stop the US-enabled carnage in Gaza.

    In particular, the NZDF’s Red Sea deployment did not sit comfortably with New Zealand’s acceptance in September 2024 of the ICJ’s ruling that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza) was “unlawful”.

    At the same time, the National-led coalition government’s silence on US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to “own” Gaza, displace two million Palestinian residents and make the territory the “Riviera” of the Middle East was deafening.

    Furthermore, while Wellington announced travel bans on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank in February 2024, it has had little to say publicly about the Netanyahu government’s plans to annex the West Bank in 2025. Such a development would gravely undermine the two-state solution, violate international law, and further fuel regional tensions.

    New Zealand’s low-key policy
     On balance, the National-led coalition government’s policy towards Gaza appears to be ambivalent and lacking moral and legal clarity in a context in which war crimes have been regularly committed since October 7.

    Peters was absolutely correct to condemn the UNSC for failing to deliver the ceasefire that New Zealand and the overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly had wanted from the first month of this crisis.

    But the New Zealand government has had no words of criticism for the US, which used its power of veto in the UNSC for more than a year to thwart the prospect of a ceasefire and provided blanket support for an Israeli military campaign that killed huge numbers of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

    By cooperating with the Biden administration against Houthi rebels and adopting a quietly-quietly approach to Trump’s provocative comments on Gaza and his apparent willingness to do whatever it takes to help Israel “to get the job done’, New Zealand has revealed a selective approach to upholding international law and human rights in the desperate conditions facing Gaza

    Professor Robert G. Patman is an Inaugural Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chair and his research interests concern international relations, global security, US foreign policy, great powers, and the Horn of Africa. This article was first published by The Spinoff and is republished here with the author’s permission.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Workers comp reform to address psychological safety

    Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

    Published: 18 March 2025

    Released by: Treasurer

    Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will today warn parliament that the State’s workers compensation system is unsustainable without reform to how it deals with workplace psychological injury.

    Mr Mookhey will set out plans to make greater use of workplace health and safety laws to prevent psychological injuries, instead of relying solely on the state’s workers compensation system as the main response. 

    In a Ministerial Statement, the Treasurer will also advise Parliament that:

    • If claims continue growing at recent rates, the State insurer icare expects an additional 80,000 people will make psychological injury claims over the next five years,
    • For every $1 needed to care for injured workers, the State’s main workers compensation scheme currently holds only 85 cents in assets, and
    • Without reform, premiums for businesses facing no claims against them are forecast to rise by 36 per cent over the three years to 2027-28.

    Mr Mookhey will outline a program of consultation with Business NSW and Unions NSW, as well as other interested parties, to create the reform. The model he will outline will see NSW:

    1. Give the NSW Industrial Relation Commission a bullying & harassment jurisdiction ahead of requiring those claims to be heard there first before a claim can be pursued for compensation. This will allow the Commission to address psychological hazards, fostering a culture of prevention.
    2. Define psychological injury, as well as ‘reasonable management action’, to provide workers and businesses with certainty – rather than let the definitions remain the subject of litigation. 
    3. Align whole-person-impairment thresholds to standards established in South Australia and Queensland.
    4. Adopt some of the anti-fraud measures recently enacted by the Commonwealth to protect the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
    5. Respond further to the recommendations retired Supreme Court justice Robert McDougall made in his independent review of Safe Work NSW.

    The Treasurer has been working closely with Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis and Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib on the reform.

    Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

    “Our workers compensation system was designed at a time when most people did physical labour – on farms and building sites, in mines or in factories.

    “A system that approaches all psychological workplace hazards the same way as physical dangers, needs to change.

    “Allowing the system to stay on autopilot will only trap more employees, employers, and the state of NSW to a fate we can avoid.

    “We must build a system that is fit for purpose – one that reflects modern workplaces and modern ways of working.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China, UK pledge to jointly address climate change

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

    BEIJING, March 17 — Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in Beijing on Monday. The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation in jointly addressing climate change.

    Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said developing stable and mutually beneficial relations between China and the UK serves the common interests of the two peoples, facilitates global economic growth, and promotes joint efforts to address global challenges.

    China is ready to work with the UK to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, consolidate the momentum for improvement and development of bilateral ties, deepen cooperation in areas such as financial services, trade and investment, and low-carbon development, and jointly address climate change to better benefit the people of both countries and the world, Ding added.

    Miliband said the UK government sincerely hopes to enhance engagement with China, is committed to developing a long-term and constructive bilateral relationship, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with China on energy security and addressing climate change.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: New Zealand & India strengthen horticultural ties

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector.
    “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our commitment to deepening this strategic partnership,” Mr McClay said.
    The MOC aims to foster closer ties between the two countries’ horticultural industries, focusing on areas such as technical exchanges, harvest and post-harvest management, training, and the sharing of technological expertise.
    “By working together, we can unlock new opportunities for both nations, supporting the growth and diversification of our horticultural industries while benefiting rural communities on both sides,” Mr McClay added.
    A key milestone under the MOC is the mutual development of New Zealand’s and India’s kiwifruit sectors.
    “Kiwi fruit will be the first significant achievement under this partnership, already worth $600 million. And this agreement has the potential to create up to $1 billion in reciprocal horticultural benefits over the next decade,” Mr McClay stated.
    This marks the culmination of years of collaboration between the industries and governments. New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry has built a global reputation for producing high-quality fruit, and this agreement is expected to drive further growth and innovation in both markets.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: PMs Luxon & Modi deepen NZ-India ties

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today.
    Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across a range of areas.  
    That included the announcement of a new Defence Cooperation Arrangement. 
    “In today’s world, security is the foundation of prosperity – and India is a key partner of New Zealand in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Luxon says. 
    “This arrangement will open up new areas of collaboration between our defence forces and facilitate closer defence ties.”
    The Joint Statement also outlined opportunities to work more closely around political relations, trade, science and technology, people-to-people and sporting links, and cooperation in regional and international settings. 
    New Zealand will increase its diplomatic footprint in India, establishing additional roles in New Delhi and Mumbai to further New Zealand’s profile and promote interests on the ground.  
    “My meetings today have allowed us to unlock new opportunities and potential partnerships that will serve the people of New Zealand and India.”
    While in Delhi, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Indian President, Her Excellency Droupadi Murmu, and gave the opening address as Chief Guest at the Raisina Dialogue, India’s premier defence and security conference.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: RAISINA DIALOGUE 2025: KĀLACHAKRA – PEOPLE, PEACE AND PLANET

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone.
    What an honour it is to stand on this stage – to inaugurate this august Dialogue – with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi.
    My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our warm discussions this morning.
    I am a great admirer of your extraordinary achievements as Prime Minister.
    In the almost 11 years that you’ve occupied the Prime Minister’s office, you have weathered the COVID crisis and still managed to expand India’s economy by 50%.
    You have lifted 250 million of your countrymen out of poverty and eliminated extreme poverty.
    Today, India is at the leading edge of technology with massive innovative potential.
    You were the first country to land on the moon’s South Pole.  In the process drawing the world’s attention to India’s extraordinary technological prowess.
    And Prime Minister, during your tenure, the Men in Blue have been the most dominant side in cricket’s white ball competitions, most recently winning the Champions Trophy last week against my Men in Black and breaking many New Zealanders hearts – including mine – in the process!
    Congratulations!
    Among this catalogue of achievements is the reason we gather today: the Raisina Dialogue.  A forum that provides a moment every year for thought-leaders from across the world to focus their collective minds on the contemporary strategic challenges being navigated right here in the Indian Ocean.
    I applaud Dr Jaishankar and Samir Saran for the intellectual leadership they have shown driving this Dialogue over the past 10 years. 
    It has grown into a hugely influential forum.  Look no further than the luminaries you attract: 6 former Heads of Government and Ministers from over thirty countries.
    I hope my remarks today, add to the debate in some small way.
    Ladies and gentlemen, it’s more than 200 years since Indians and New Zealanders first began living side-by-side.
    At the beginning of the 19th century – well before we became a nation – Indian sailors jumped ship in New Zealand, with some meeting locals and marrying into our indigenous Māori tribes.  A few years later, Māori traders began travelling to Kolkata to sell tree trunks used in sailing ships.
    An exchange that echoes down the ages.
    Just as they were 200 years ago, Kiwi-Indians today are fully integrated into our multicultural society.  New Zealanders of Indian heritage comprise 11% of the people living in Auckland, our biggest city.
    I’ve brought with me to New Delhi a selection of Kiwi-Indian community leaders. Members of Parliament, captains of industry, professional cricketers and even an online influencer who has revolutionised investment for women the world over.  In short, a selection of Kiwi-Indians who get up every single morning to make New Zealand a better place to live.
    And our trade has diversified considerably from wood thanks to the increased sophistication of your economy.  India today is a critical source of pharmaceuticals and machinery for us. While we are a great tourism and education destination for you.
    India has become an ever more significant feature of our society.
    And yet, while there has been much that has developed and changed, there has been something missing at the core of our relationship.
    With a country as consequential as India, we need rich political interaction, engaged militaries, strong economic architecture, and connections that support a diaspora that bridges between our two great nations.
    Prime Minister Modi and I sat down today and charted out the future of our two countries’ relationship.
    A future that builds from where we have been.  One that is wholly more ambitious about what we will do together in the future. 

    We agreed to our Defence Forces building greater strategic trust with one another, while deploying together and training together more.
    We want our scientists collaborating on global challenges like climate change and on commercial opportunities like space.
    We are supporting our businesses to improve air links and build primary sector cooperation.
    We will facilitate students, young professionals and tourists to move between our countries.
    And we’ve instructed our trade negotiators to get on and negotiate a free trade agreement between our two great nations.

    A comprehensive agenda to underpin a comprehensive relationship. As we look to the future, the opportunity for both our governments is to sustain that momentum.
    Not only to follow through on the commitments we have made to one another. But to proactively build on that platform, by exploring new opportunities and creating new architecture.
    To ensure that we are creating strategic trust and commercial connection between two countries at the bookends of our wide Indo-Pacific region.
    Ladies and gentlemen, it is to the Indo-Pacific that I now turn.  There are many reasons to be excited about our region.  I want to single out the two biggest opportunities.
    First, India and New Zealand are fortunate enough to live in the world’s most economically dynamic region.
    The Indo-Pacific will represent two-thirds of global economic growth over the coming years.  By 2030, it will be home to two-thirds of the world’s middle-class consumers.
    And India itself lies at the heart of this exciting economic future.  It’s easy to focus on the troubles the world faces, but its worth reflecting for a moment on what economic development at this scale means at a human level.
    Here in India, you’ve gone from only the very few in rural areas having a water or power connection to almost everyone. It means people with better health and education outcomes.  And that creates hope and optimism about the future for individuals and their families.
    Replicated across literally hundreds of millions of people, that process of development generates dynamic economies.  Growth that offers massive opportunities for every country in the Indo-Pacific, and families and individuals within them.
    The second big opportunity is technological change.  We are on the cusp of a transformation of our economies and societies in a way that we can barely now imagine.
    I’m talking about artificial intelligence, which is within reach of achieving the cognitive powers of a human being.  But I’m also thinking of a range of other technologies – quantum, biotech, advanced manufacturing – that are going to have profound impacts on our economies.
    It has felt like this technological transformation has been long-heralded, but never quite arrived. Well, it seems to me that a series of innovations – the always online world, big data, powerful computing, machine learning – are cumulating in ways that are going to tip over into a dislocation that is new and altogether different. 
    The game is about to change.  We are on the cusp of an explosion in the application of AI, a technology that will have an impact across the whole economy, not just in one or two sectors. A technology that will transform the way we work, study and entertain ourselves.  A technology that will force governments to think in entirely different ways about how they deliver public services and secure their nations.
    Certainly, this presents risks that will need to be managed.  For example, militaries are already using AI, which means the international community is going to need to develop new norms about how this is done in a way that ensures compliance with the rules of war and ensures human responsibility in conflict.
    But my message is that, while we need manage change, we cannot allow ourselves to be paralysed by the risks.  For those who believe they can outcompete through this period of technological dislocation, the opportunities are there.  The citizens, the companies, and the countries that embrace the coming change will be the ones that reap the dividends. 
    Yet, there’s also no doubt that there are fundamental trend lines in the Indo-Pacific that present geo-strategic risks to growth and prosperity.
    These have long-term drivers that are not going away, and have been amplified by recent events.
    Past assumptions – that underpinned the previous generation’s geopolitical calculations – are being upended.
    A fortnight ago, the Singaporean Foreign Minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, put this change eloquently when he said: “the world is now shifting from unipolarity to multipolarity, from free trade to protectionism, from multilateralism to unilateralism, from globalisation to hyper-nationalism, from openness to xenophobia, from optimism to anxiety”.
    This is a global change, not isolated to one region. Certainly, though, we live today in an Indo-Pacific navigating contest and rivalry, with a period of strategic uncertainty.  I would highlight three big shifts that make for challenging times ahead.
    Fist, we are seeing rules giving way to power. 
    Previously, we could count on countries respecting the UN Charter, the Law of the Sea and world trade rules.  That sadly cannot be assumed in an age of sharper competition.
    Instead, we risk dangerous miscalculation at flashpoints. These range from the militarisation of disputed reefs to dangerous air movements.  From land border incursions to breakout nuclear capabilities.
    Of course, it is not just flashpoints, but a slow shift in Indo-Pacific realities that change calculations.  Recent demonstrations of naval force near New Zealand’s maritime surrounds, for example, sent a signal that alarmed many of my fellow citizens.
    Second, we are witnessing a shift from economics to security. 
    After the Cold War, the dominant paradigm in relations between Indo-Pacific countries was a sustained effort to raise material living standards by tending to our economies.
    Make no mistake, “bread and butter” issues still loom very large, and are a priority for governments all around the region.  Indeed, economic growth is my Government’s highest priority.
    But across the Indo-Pacific, we also see Governments dedicating increased attention and resource to military modernisation. Military build-ups reflect a need to prepare against uncertainty and insecurity.  Some military build-ups, however, are underway without the reassurance that transparency brings.
    National security demands are expanding.  Governments need to protect their people and assets against foreign interference, cyberattacks, and terrorism.
    In the last few months, a new threat has emerged, with damage to critical infrastructure, like sub-sea cables. You can’t have prosperity without security, not least when the tools of commerce themselves require protection.
    The third geo-economic shift is from efficiency to resilience. 
    Where previously, Indo-Pacific economies saw ever deeper interdependence as a dynamo for growth, that can no longer be assumed in an age of decoupling.
    Onshoring, protectionism and trade wars are displacing best price, open markets, and integrated supply chains.
    And so we find ourselves in a world that is growing more difficult and more complex, especially for smaller states.
    However, we must engage with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. So, like most countries across the region, New Zealand’s strategic policy is being shaped by our assessment of these trends.
    We have agency to shape the Indo-Pacific that we want, but we must do so with energy and with urgency.
    Ladies and gentlemen, as New Zealand looks to protect and advance our interests in the Indo-Pacific, we can only do so alongside partners.  Partners like India that have a significant role to play in the Indo-Pacific.
    In an increasingly multipolar world, India’s size and geo-strategic heft gives you autonomy.  At the same time, your democratic partners in the Indo-Pacific offer you a force multiplier for our convergent interests. 
    For at a time when democracy is in decline with less than half the world’s adults electing their leaders, it is an inspiration that 650 million Indians turned out to vote last year in the largest election in history.
    Your national election is a triumph of logistics and a triumph of legitimacy.  An election that means your leaders serve their people, rather than your people serving their leaders.
    Now, I don’t advocate arbitrary divisions between democracies and autocracies. And just because we are democracies, we won’t always see eye-to-eye. 
    Nonetheless, there’s truth in the fact that our democratic governance means we share a belief in the freedom to choose, giving everyone a voice and respect for the rules.  Our interests increasingly converge around seeing these three ideas as an aligned set of organising principles for our Indo-Pacific region.
    First, we want to live in an Indo-Pacific where countries are free to choose their own path free from interference.
    A region where no one country comes to dominate.
    It is a sign of the times that I stand here defending respect for sovereignty. Yet, New Zealand’s approach is increasingly shaped around that objective.
    Just on Saturday, I joined a call led by Prime Minister Starmer focused on what more those contributing to Ukraine’s defence can do to support a just and lasting peace.  To help a country whose sovereignty and territorial integrity has been so flagrantly attacked.
    In my home region, our fellow Pacific neighbours are navigating geo-strategic dynamics that are their sharpest in nearly 80 years.
    In a deeply contested world, Pacific partners are being asked to make choices that may undermine their national sovereignty.  They risk falling into over-indebtedness, they must make choices about dual-use infrastructure, and they face pressure to enter new security arrangements.
    New Zealand invests in working alongside Pacific countries to boost their capacity to make independent choices free from interference. 
    Yet, size alone cannot inoculate a country from these dynamics.  Building strong and diversified relationships is the key to mitigating the risks of dependence on a few.
    That is why my Government is investing in our key relationships, from traditional partners to thickening and deepening our relationships across Southeast Asia, and in a serious way with India, too. 
    And we have a responsibility to invest in our own security as a downpayment on our future ability to choose our own path.  That is why New Zealand will be scaling up and doing more to support our own defence.
    We plan to better resource and equip our Defence Force to ensure we can continue to defend our interests.  Whether in our near region, in our alliance with Australia, or in support of collective security efforts with partners like India.
    Alongside this investment in capability, we are making tangible contributions across the Indo-Pacific.  When I was in Japan last year, I saw firsthand the work our aviators do to detect and deter North Korea’s sanctions-busting activities.
    The New Zealand Navy is leading Combined Task Force 150 responsible for multinational activities to protect trade routes and counter smuggling, piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. We are fortunate indeed that India has agreed to take up the Deputy Command.  Underlining these naval connections, one of our frigates, HMNZS Te Kaha, is in Mumbai later this week.
    As we seek an Indo-Pacific in which countries are free to choose their own path, I’m determined New Zealand plays its role.  Whether through our work with Pacific Islands partners, our relationships in the Indo-Pacific, or through our defence efforts.
    A second principle both India and New Zealand subscribe to is the criticality of Indo-Pacific regional institutions, even as these evolve.
    Regional architecture scaffolds our region’s security and its prosperity.
    ASEAN continues to promote regional peace and economic development. Through its convening power and its centrality, it also provides a place for the region’s players to come together to discuss strategic issues.
    ASEAN sits at the centre of the East Asia Summit, which for twenty years now has enabled political dialogue across the region, a forum that builds understanding, reduces the risk of miscalculation and contributes to strategic trust.
    Yet, the Indo-Pacific architecture is not static as it adapts to new realities.  Mini-lateral groupings are important new pieces of the puzzle.
    The Quad has emerged as an important vehicle promoting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.  India’s contribution to that evolution has of course been vital.  While New Zealand has no pretensions to Quad membership, we stand ready to work with you to advance Quad initiatives.
    We ourselves are strengthening our work with Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as Australia.  Last year, I convened the Indo-Pacific Four to discuss Ukraine and North Korea. 
    And with serious headwinds buffeting the global trade system, New Zealand is seriously invested in Indo-Pacific trade and economic integration groupings.
    From CPTPP, the gold standard of FTAs internationally, to RCEP, perhaps the world’s most inclusive.
    And we welcome India’s engagement in the regional economic architecture, with our work together in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), important in an era in which we seek to build one another’s resilience.
    The third Indo-Pacific principle we align around is a region in which respect for the rules is foundational.
    Globally, rules are being undermined: whether those around territorial integrity, freedom of navigation, or laws of war.  Yet, these are the very rules that preserve an Indo-Pacific order that is not “might is right” alone. 
    And, as I have said before, there is no prosperity without security. The rules that underpin our security also allow our businesses to operate with certainty. Those rules deliver daily in meaningful ways for our people.
    For example, one in four jobs in New Zealand rely on exports and our exporting businesses being able to depend on the predictability that those rules deliver. And in a miracle, that’s only possible thanks to globally-accepted aviation standards, 120,000 flights carry 12 million passengers and operate safely between their destinations every day.
    These rules shape the character of our region.  We remain committed to this rules-based system, even while acknowledging its shortcomings.  It is a truism that the world of 2025 is vastly different from 1945, and yet global institutions sadly have been slow to adapt.
    We are not talking about “starting over” by remaking the global order. Instead, I tend to agree with Dr Jaishankar when he says we want an order in which change is evolutionary – at a pace that is comfortable and steady.
    That’s why New Zealand supports reforming global governance frameworks to better reflect today’s realities.  Rather than casting them aside, they should give greater voice to the developing world and under-represented regions.
    Countries like India – that play such a central role in the global community – should have a seat at the table. We’ve therefore long supported India having a permanent seat on a reformed UN Security Council.
    Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen.
    It has been a privilege to speak to you today, at this important forum for global dialogue.
    The geostrategic picture I’ve painted is stark.  Rules are giving way to power; economics to security; and efficiency to resilience.
    The tectonic shifts unfolding highlight that we – working alongside partners and friends – must navigate disruption, uncertainty, and sharpening pressure on our national interests.
    Yet, we will not be overwhelmed by complexity and challenge. We must go forward with confidence.
    We live at the heart of the world’s most exciting and dynamic region – the Indo-Pacific.
    We live in an era of technological transformation that offers outsized opportunities.
    We are countries with solid underlying democratic institutions, which will underpin our societies’ future success.
    India and New Zealand have extraordinarily talented people. 
    Both our countries have a clear plan that reflects and reinforces the connections between our security and prosperity. 
    We cannot afford to be thrown by the rapid pace of change – we must grapple with shifting realities and capitalise on these for all our peoples’ benefit.
    We will create and seize opportunities. Invest in our capabilities.
    This is our region. Its future will be shaped by the choices we make—together.
    Thank you, ngā mihi nui, and dhanyavaad .
     

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Oversight Sweeps Nearly Every Corner of Taxpayer-Funded Government Agencies

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Amid Sunshine Week, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is highlighting the historic scale of his recent oversight work, which secured victories for national security, government transparency, health care and more.
    Grassley in the 118th Congress sent over 600 oversight letters to federal, state and private sector entities, as well as all 74 Offices of the Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel – sending more oversight letters over the past two years than in any Congress prior. Grassley’s oversight – a hallmark of his time in public service – inspired bipartisan laws and prompted action from numerous federal agencies to address government waste, fraud and abuse. 
    “The Framers of our Constitution tasked Congress with conducting oversight as part of our system of checks and balances. I take this constitutional responsibility very seriously, and always have,” Grassley said. “My oversight and investigations help ensure the government is a service to the people of Iowa and the American taxpayer. I’m proud of the work I’ve done to safeguard our national security, improve health care outcomes, protect patriotic whistleblowers and hold agencies’ feet to the fire. I’m keeping my nose to the grindstone this Congress as I continue fighting for a more transparent and accountable government.”   
    Grassley gave an overview of his oversight achievements in a speech on the Senate floor. He noted: “We’re [now] in the 119th Congress. As this Congress gets underway, I have become Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. My oversight is already full-speed-ahead, and I look forward to what the next couple of years produce.”
    Highlights of Grassley Oversight in the 118th Congress
    Digging into agency mismanagement | Grassley: 
    Unveiled the “most detailed picture” of the Secret Service’s communication failures leading up to the first assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. 
    The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General opened a formal review into the Secret Service just hours after receiving a request from Grassley to do so. Grassley’s request ultimately resulted in five ongoing reviews into the Secret Service’s protection processes.

    Shone light on inappropriate expenditures billed to the Environmental Protection Agency under the guise of “environmental justice.” 
    Revealed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) misclassified employees as law enforcement, an illegal practice that cost taxpayers billions.
    Demanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) come clean on its failure to investigate child sex crimes and crack down on sexual misconduct among its workforce, including questionable disciplinary patterns allowing wrongdoers to evade accountability.
    Spearheaded efforts to root out partisan bias at the FBI, stop the weaponization of government against law-abiding Americans for their religious faith and expose bureaucratic sabotage of congressional oversight.
    Built on his yearslong oversight of the Pentagon by crafting a bipartisan measure to ensure the U.S. Armed Forces identify items the Defense Department (DOD) could produce itself through reverse engineering. Grassley’s bill, introduced with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), was signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. 
    Exposed U.S. Attorney David Weiss for lacking the authorities then-Attorney General Merrick Garland publicly asserted Weiss had to fully prosecute the Hunter Biden case. Grassley further exposed, through legally protected whistleblower disclosures, that the FBI had dozens of sources who provided potentially criminal information relating to the Biden family.
    Protecting whistleblowers | Grassley:
    Forced the ATF, Executive Office of Immigration Review and Internal Revenue Service to update its nondisclosure agreements with language informing whistleblowers of their rights.
    Demanded all Offices of Inspectors General review their parent agency’s whistleblower protection measures to ensure federal agencies maintain lawful anti-gag provisions. 
    Unanimously passed a resolution and delivered remarks celebrating National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. 
    Supporting crime victims | Grassley:
    Shone a light on Credit Suisse’s failure to disclose Nazi-linked accounts the bank historically serviced. Credit Suisse reinitiated an internal investigation of the accounts thanks to Grassley’s probing. 
    The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global Jewish human rights organization, recognized Grassley for his work to right historic wrongs.
    At Grassley’s request, Argentinian President Javier Milei has agreed to cooperate with the investigation to provide Argentine-based records related to Credit Suisse’s use of Nazi “ratlines.” 

    Secured a Government Accountability Office study of the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Crime Victims Fund to ensure DOJ doesn’t squander money intended to support victims of crime. The DOJ Office of Inspector General opened its own audit following Grassley’s oversight.
    Cracking down on Biden border chaos | Grassley:  
    Spurred a federal investigation into potential trafficking of unaccompanied migrant children. Homeland Security Investigations followed up on 102 investigative targets Grassley identified. 
    Brought Health and Human Services (HHS) whistleblowers before a congressional panel to expose the abuse they witnessed in HHS’ Unaccompanied Children program. 
    Earned recognition as “the only person in a position of power” who exhibited consistent dedication to addressing government-funded migrant child trafficking.
    Called on dozens of federal contractors and grantees to account for what actions they’ve taken to safeguard unaccompanied migrant children in their care.
    Brought Customs and Border Protection whistleblowers before a congressional panel to discuss the government’s unlawful refusal to collect DNA from all individuals encountered at the border. 
    Advancing life-saving health care reforms | Grassley:  
    Championed a bipartisan law to reform the U.S. organ transplant system for the first time in four decades. The Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act ensures the best-qualified contractors manage and operate nationwide organ donations and placements, providing patients with the highest-quality care and ensuring generous donations are used to save lives.
    The nonpartisan Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy recognized Grassley and his bipartisan colleagues for their work to “[achieve] the best outcome for the American people.” 

    Spearheaded a bipartisan investigation with then-Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) into private equity ownership of hospital systems that operate across the country, including in Iowa. Grassley and Whitehouse pulled back the curtain on access and quality changes that had occurred at hospital systems purchased by private equity.
    Cutting off resources to Mexican drug cartels | Grassley:  
    Published a detailed report revealing federal agencies’ decades-long failure to conduct oversight of U.S. resources sent to Mexico, allowing taxpayer dollars to fall into the hands of cartels and fuel drug trafficking operations. 
    Informed by his report, Grassley authored bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve intercountry drug destruction efforts. The bill passed the House of Representatives last Congress.

    Exposed how Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) loopholes enable drug cartels to transport illicit drugs on U.S. registered planes. Grassley’s bipartisan bill to close FAA’s loopholes was signed into law as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.  
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Joins Schiff, Senate Democrats In Demanding USDA Reverse $1 Billion In Canceled Local Food Purchases For Schools, Farmers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    March 17, 2025
    SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, along with 29 Senators, sent a letter demanding a reversal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) cancellation of food purchase programs across the United States, warning of the harmful impacts this move will have on both families and American farmers. Slashing funding for locally sourced, nutritious food in schools showcases the hypocrisy of the Trump Administration’s claims about wanting to improve healthy food for children.
    “We ask that you reverse the cancellation,” the Senators wrote. “We have grave concerns that the cancellation… poses extreme harm to producers and communities in every state across the country. At a time of uncertainty in farm country, farmers need every opportunity to be able to expand market access for their products.” 
    In Illinois, cancellation of purchases through the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) puts more than $26 million in food purchases for 4,017 schools and 1,250 child care centers at risk in Fiscal Year 2025. 
    The letter was also signed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),  Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR),  Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). 
    The full letter sent to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins can be found here and below: 
    Dear Secretary Rollins:  
    We write to express serious concerns regarding the cancellation of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs supporting local and regional food purchases providing assistance to those in need. These successful programs, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), allow states, territories, and Tribes to purchase local foods from nearby farmers and ranchers to be used for emergency food providers, schools, and child care centers.  
    At a time when food insecurity remains high, providing affordable, fresh food to food banks and families while supporting American farmers is critical. Notably, LFPA and LFS have benefitted producers and consumers by providing funding for purchases through all 50 states, four territories, and 84 tribal governments. Through LFPA and LFS, USDA has prioritized the procurement and distribution of healthy, nutritious, domestic food. It has also taken an important step towards igniting rural prosperity by expanding and strengthening markets among farmers and rural economies. As of December 2024, the programs had supported over 8,000 producers, providing increased marketing opportunities.  
    Most importantly, we ask that you reverse the cancellation of LFPA and LFS. We also ask that you provide a thorough and complete update on USDA’s implementation of LFPA and LFS, including answers to the following questions:  
    1.        What is the status of reimbursements for entities that have agreements with USDA through LFPA and LFS? What is the last date for which states, territories, and Tribes received reimbursements for food purchases under LFPA and LFS?  
    2.        Has the Administration conducted any assessments of how these program cancellations will impact producers and recipient organizations (e.g., food banks, schools, child care centers)? If so, please provide a copy of any such assessments.  
    We have grave concerns that the cancellation of LFPA and LFS poses extreme harm to producers and communities in every state across the country. At a time of uncertainty in farm country, farmers need every opportunity to be able to expand market access for their products.  
    Please provide responses to the information requested in our questions no later than Friday, April 4. Thank you for your attention to this urgent and important matter.  
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Defends Rule to Stop the Flood of Robocalls

    Source: US State of California

    Continues fight against annoying and illegal robocalls and robotexts  

    OAKLAND — California Attorney General Bonta today joined 28 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, in support of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule which would limit unwanted robocalls and robotexts. The rule in question would close a loophole that allows lead generators to trick a consumer into “consenting” to calls from potentially thousands of companies. Lead generators engage in generating consumer interest on public facing websites with the goal of turning that interest into a sale — in this case, sale of consumer consent to other robocallers or robotexters. The brief defends the regulation, which was recently vacated by the Eleventh Circuit, and argues that it is within FCC’s statutory authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  

    “Everyone hates robocalls. Robocalls continue to top the list of most frequent consumer complaints across the country, and their annihilation continues to be a nationwide, bipartisan effort,” said Attorney General Bonta. “By closing the lead-generator loophole and putting an end to consent abuse, the Federal Communications Commission’s rule would substantially reduce unwanted telemarketing robocalls that bombard individuals and prohibit telemarketers from selling consumer consent to other callers — this is an essential tool in the effort to protect consumers from unwanted and often illegal robocalls.”

    In 2023, the FTC proposed a rule, supported by Attorney General Bonta and 28 attorneys general, which required that telemarketers and lead generators get specific one-to-one consent from consumers before subjecting them to robocalls or selling their contact information. Specifically, this meant that a consumer could not consent to a telemarketing or advertising robocall unless the consumer consented to calls from one entity at a time; this consent would also only cover subject matter associated with the original call. This rule aimed to both ensure that consent was in response to clear disclosure and to prevent lead generators, texters, and callers from using a single consumer written consent to inundate consumers with unwanted telemarketing robocalls and robotexts from dozens of sellers.

    Robocalls are often a vehicle for scams. For Californians, the impact of illegal and unwanted robocalls can range from a momentary nuisance to serious fraud involving identity theft or life-changing financial losses. Phone calls and text messages are by far the most common contact method for fraud, and in 2023 alone, fraudulent phone calls and texts led to more than $1.2 billion in reported financial losses nationwide, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Robocalls are typically the number one consumer complaint to the FTC each year. 

    Attorney General Bonta is committed to working to put a stop to illegal robocalls. Attorney General Bonta is part of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, a task force of 51 bipartisan attorneys general who investigate and take legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States. 

    In 2024, Attorney General Bonta: 

    • Sent warning letters to four telecom companies for transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic on their networks — including robocalls that impersonated government officials or involved scams.
    • Submitted a comment letter to the FCC in support of its proposed rules to protect consumers by increasing the effectiveness of the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database.
    • Sent a warning letter to a telecom company responsible for transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic, including robocalls that impersonated government officials. 
    • Sent a warning letter to a company that allegedly sent New Hampshire residents scam election robocalls during the New Hampshire primary election. 
    • Filed a comment letter to the FCC related to the potential impact of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology on efforts to protect consumers from illegal robocalls or robotexts. 

    In May 2023, Attorney General Bonta, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general, announced a lawsuit against Avid Telecom for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of unlawful robocalls that included Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, and employment scams. 

    In submitting today’s brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

    A copy of the brief can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Durbin Lead Push to Save Task Force Combating Threats to Election Officials

    US Senate News:

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

    Padilla, Durbin Lead Push to Save Task Force Combating Threats to Election Officials

    Senators to Attorney General: “In this challenging environment for election officials, it is essential to our democracy that they can continue to rely on [DOJ] to uphold the law”
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led 29 Democratic Senators in urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to continue the essential work of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Election Threats Task Force, which directs the Department’s efforts to protect election officials from rising threats and acts of violence.
    The Senators’ letter comes as the Trump Administration has significantly rolled back the federal government’s capacity to fight against foreign and domestic election security threats. On Attorney General Bondi’s first day in office, she disbanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Foreign Influence Task Force, hindering efforts to address secret influence campaigns waged by China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries. Additionally, the Administration has fired or put on leave dozens of officials responsible for combating foreign election interference at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and has reportedly frozen all of CISA’s ongoing election security work. The Administration has also defunded CISA’s nationwide program to train local officials and monitor threats through the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
    “Given the recent disturbing personnel and policy decisions at the Department and the lack of transparency about the future of the Task Force, we request an immediate update on the status and activities of the Task Force, as well as what resources will be provided to ensure its important work continues so that election officials of both parties can safely administer our elections,” wrote the Senators.
    “Recent surveys have found that one in three election officials reported facing threats, harassment, and abuse. Similarly, 48 percent of local election officials know of someone who has left their job because of fear for their safety—a troubling loss of institutional knowledge needed for the smooth running of elections. Election workers continue to fear for their safety, so it is critical that the work of the Task Force continues to deter and counter these threats. In this challenging environment for election officials, it is essential to our democracy that they can continue to rely on the Department to uphold the law,” continued the Senators.
    In addition to Senators Padilla and Durbin, the letter was also signed by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
    As Ranking Member of the Rules Committee, which has oversight over federal elections, Senator Padilla has fought against President Trump’s unprecedented attacks against election security. Last month, he pressed senior officials at CISA for answers after they fired employees who have worked to combat election misinformation. During his first business meeting as Rules Committee Ranking Member, Padilla highlighted threats to election security and the importance of free and fair elections. Additionally, Padilla expressed serious concerns about the dangerous implications for elections following President Trump’s executive order purporting to bring independent regulatory agencies under total control of the White House. Padilla previously denounced the illegal firing of Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chair Ellen Weintraub and led 10 Democratic Senators to demand President Trump rescind his attempt. 
    Full text of the letter is available here and below:
    Dear Attorney General Bondi:
    We write to strongly urge you to continue the critical law enforcement work of the Department of Justice’s Election Threats Task Force, which protects election officials from ongoing threats and acts of violence. Given the recent disturbing personnel and policy decisions at the Department and the lack of transparency about the future of the Task Force, we request an immediate update on the status and activities of the Task Force, as well as what resources will be provided to ensure its important work continues so that election officials of both parties can safely administer our elections.
    The Task Force was established in the wake of the 2020 election cycle when election officials across the political spectrum began facing unprecedented threats of violence intended to thwart the peaceful transfer of power that is the hallmark of our democracy. In close collaboration with state and local law enforcement, the Task Force has assessed thousands of complaints of suspected threats of violence and investigated and prosecuted violent offenders. Over the years, these threats have not only continued but escalated.  The Task Force has investigated fentanyl-laced letters, bomb threats, and swatting incidents—serving as a legacy of the 2020 election and impacting the ways election officials interact with voters in their communities.
    Recent surveys have found that one in three election officials reported facing threats, harassment, and abuse. Similarly, 48 percent of local election officials know of someone who has left their job because of fear for their safety—a troubling loss of institutional knowledge needed for the smooth running of elections. Election workers continue to fear for their safety, so it is critical that the work of the Task Force continues to deter and counter these threats. In this challenging environment for election officials, it is essential to our democracy that they can continue to rely on the Department to uphold the law.
    Moreover, the federal government’s ability to fight election interference has been greatly hampered in the early weeks of this Administration. Dozens of officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who are responsible for combatting foreign election interference, have been fired or put on leave. CISA has also reportedly frozen all of its ongoing election security work, including defunding its nationwide program to train local officials and monitor threats through the “Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center.” Additionally, on your first day in office, you signed a directive disbanding the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, which was aimed at responding to secret influence campaigns waged by China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries.
    We request a response on the status and future plans of the Election Threats Task Force, the extent of resources and personnel dedicated to its work, and how it plans to incorporate related work previously led by CISA and the Foreign Influence Task Force by March 31, 2025.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: iQor CXBPO™ Appoints First Filipina Country Leader in the Philippines

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — iQor CXBPO™, an award-winning customer experience business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions provider, today announced the appointment of Fleurette (Flo) Navarro as Regional President – Philippines, marking a historic leadership milestone as the first Filipina executive to lead the company’s Philippines’ organization. This appointment is part of a broader leadership realignment aimed at enhancing local decision-making, agility, and strategic growth across global markets.

    Country leaders will now oversee administration, facilities, human resources, and recruiting functions within their respective regions, enabling localized execution, streamlined decision-making, and seamless integration of local policies and cultural priorities. Sonia Goyal will lead Global Human Resources Operations, driving strategic HR initiatives and overseeing a Center of Excellence dedicated to transforming people practices through technology and AI.

    “These strategic leadership realignments reinforce our commitment to excellence, innovation, and employee engagement,” said Chief Administrative Officer Art DiBari. “Flo is the first Filipina executive to lead our Philippines organization—a milestone that brings immense pride to our team. We are confident these changes will enhance our ability to deliver world-class CX solutions while fostering an agile, collaborative, and people-centric culture.”

    As Regional President – Philippines, Navarro will oversee human resources, recruiting, and administrative functions in the Philippines, while managing external relationships with industry bodies, government agencies, and academic institutions. With 17 contact centers spanning the Philippine archipelago and a workforce of 31,000 in-country solutionists, this new role will drive continued growth in the region. Navarro will report to DiBari.

    With more than 25 years of experience in the BPO industry, Navarro has held senior leadership positions at HSBC, CapitalOne, and Tata Consultancy, gaining deep expertise in operations, account management, training, quality assurance, and human resources. Since joining iQor in 2017, she has played a pivotal role in reshaping the company’s talent strategy, earning Great Place to Work® Certifications™ in the Philippines, India, and Colombia. Most recently, as Global Chief People Officer (2023–2025), she led human resources, recruiting, payroll, compensation, and benefits strategies, significantly impacting iQor CXBPO™’s workforce and business outcomes.

    “I am honored to take on this role and excited to continue elevating iQor CXBPO™’s Philippines organization,” said Navarro. “Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and I look forward to strengthening our presence, fostering innovation, and driving meaningful results for our employees, clients, and stakeholders.”

    Goyal will lead Global Human Resources Operations, overseeing human resources and recruiting functions outside Colombia, India, the Philippines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

    Since joining iQor in 2014, Goyal has implemented transformative human resources strategies that have enhanced performance, profitability, and employee engagement. She has also led major global hiring initiatives, including the launch of iQor CXBPO™’s Trinidad sites and the expansion of bilingual operations in Medellín, Colombia.

    “I’m excited to lead our global HR operations at such a pivotal time for iQor CXBPO™,” said Goyal. “This realignment strengthens our ability to attract and retain top talent while driving excellence in HR practices worldwide.”

    For more information about iQor CXBPO™ and its leadership, visit www.iqor.com.

    About iQor CXBPO™
    iQor CXBPO™ is a trusted partner in intelligent customer experience solutions, delivering exceptional results for global brands. With 40,000 employees across 10 countries, we combine 30 years of industry expertise with cutting-edge AI-driven innovations to optimize customer interactions at every stage. Our agile, scalable solutions ensure seamless omnichannel engagement, driving loyalty and measurable business success. Recognized as a Great Place to Work® and a leader in CX excellence, we elevate performance through a people-first approach, operational expertise, and secure, technology-enabled solutions. Learn more at iQor.com.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College

    Shackled and bent over – some of the 250-plus deportees arriving in El Salvador. El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

    El Salvador President Nayib Bukele framed his offer to house “dangerous American criminals” and “criminals from any country” as a win-win for all.

    The fee for transferring detainees to a newly built Salvadoran mega-prison “would be relatively low” for the U.S. but enough to make El Salvador’s “entire prison system sustainable,” Bukele wrote in a post on the social media platform X dated Feb. 3, 2025.

    What was left unsaid is that the individuals would be knowingly placed into a prison system in which a range of sources have reported widespread human rights abuses at the hands of state forces.

    A first transfer of U.S. deportees from Venezuela has now arrived into that system. On March 16, the U.S. government flew around 250 deportees to El Salvador despite a judge’s order temporarily blocking the move. Bukele later posted a video online showing the deportees arriving in El Salvador with their hands and feet shackled and forcibly bent over by armed guards.

    As experts who have researched human rights and prison conditions in El Salvador, we have documented an alarming democratic decline amid Bukele’s attempts to conceal ongoing violence both in prisons and throughout the country.

    We have also heard firsthand of the human rights abuses that deportees and Salvadorans alike say they have suffered while incarcerated in El Salvador, and we have worked on hundreds of asylum cases as expert witnesses, testifying in U.S. immigration court about the nature and scope of human rights abuses in the country. We are deeply concerned both over the conditions into which deportees are arriving and as to what the U.S. administration’s decision signals about its commitments to international human rights standards.

    Eroding democratic norms

    Bukele has led El Salvador since 2019, winning the presidency by vowing to crack down on the crime and corruption that had plagued the nation. But he has also circumvented democratic norms – for example, by rewriting the constitution so that he could be reelected in 2024.

    For the past three years, Bukele has governed with few checks and balances under a self-imposed “state of exception.” This emergency status has allowed Bukele to suspend many rights as he wages what he calls a “war on gangs.”

    The crackdown manifests in mass arbitrary arrests of anyone who fits stereotypical demographic characteristics of gang members, like having tattoos, a prior criminal record or even just “looking nervous.”

    As a result of the ongoing mass arrests, El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The proportion of its population that El Salvador incarcerates is more than triple that of the U.S. and double that of the next nearest country, Cuba.

    Safest country in Latin America?

    Bukele’s tough-on-gangs persona has earned him widespread popularity at home and abroad – he has fostered an immediate friendship with the new U.S. administration in particular.

    But maintaining this popularity has involved, it is widely alleged, manipulating crime statistics, attacking journalists who criticize him and denying involvement in a widely documented secret gang pact that unraveled just before the start of the state of exception.

    Bukele and pro-government Salvadoran media insist that the crackdown on gangs has transformed El Salvador into the safest country in Latin America.

    But on the ground, Salvadorans have described how police, military personnel and Mexican cartels have taken over the exploitative practices previously carried out by gangs like MS-13 and Barrio 18. One Salvadoran woman whose son died in prison just a few days after he was arbitrarily detained told a reporter from Al Jazeera: “One is always afraid. Before it was fear of the gangs, now it’s also the security forces who take innocent people.”

    Torture as state policy

    Bukele’s crackdown on gangs has come at a huge cost to human rights – and nowhere is this seen more than in El Salvador’s prison system.

    Bukele has ordered a communication blackout between incarcerated people and their loved ones. This means no visits, no letters and no phone calls.

    Such lack of contact makes it nearly impossible for people to determine the well-being of their incarcerated family members, many of whom are parents with young children now cared for by extended family.

    Despite the blackout, scholars, international and national rights’ groups and investigative journalists have been able to build up a picture of conditions inside El Salvador’s prisons through interviews with victims and their family members, medical records and forensic analysis of cases of prison deaths. What they describe is a hellscape.

    Incarcerated Salvadorans are packed into grossly overcrowded cells, beaten regularly by prison personnel and denied medicines even when they are available. Inmates are frequently subjected to punishments including food deprivation and electric shocks. Indeed, a U.S. State Department’s 2023 country report on El Salvador noted the “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.”

    The human rights organization Cristosal estimates that hundreds have died from malnutrition, blunt force trauma, strangulation and lack of lifesaving medical treatment.

    Often, their bodies are buried by government workers in mass graves without notifying families.

    Although El Salvador is a signatory to the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture, Amnesty International concluded after multiple missions to the country and interviews with victims and their families that there is “systemic use of torture” in Salvadoran prisons.

    Likewise, a case-by-case study by Cristosal, which included forensic analysis of exhumed bodies of people who died in prison, determined in 2024 that “torture has become a state policy.”

    ‘At risk of irreparable harm’

    What makes this all the more worrying is the scale of potential abuse.

    El Salvador now houses a prison population of around 110,000 – more than three times the number of inmates before the state of exception began.

    To increase the country’s capacity for ongoing mass incarceration, Bukele built and opened the Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison in 2023. An analysis of the center using satellite footage showed that if the prison were to reach its full supposed capacity of 40,000, each prisoner would have less than 2 feet of space in their cells.

    It is to this prison that deportees from the U.S. have been taken.

    President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in transferring the detainees. The wartime act has been invoked only three times, including to justify Japanese internment during World War II.

    There are serious concerns over both the process and the legality of transferring U.S. prisoners to a nation that has not protected the human rights of its detained population.

    El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison.
    El Salvador Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

    While Trump said the deportees were members of the gangs Tren de Aragua and MS-13, the incarcerated individuals did not receive a hearing to contest allegations of their gang membership, eliciting questions as to the viability of that claim.

    Moreover, the agreement through which the Trump administration is seeking to moving migrants detained in the U.S. to El Salvador faces scrutiny under international law, given what is known about the country’s prison conditions.

    International human rights is governed by laws that prohibit nations from transferring people into harm’s way, be it returning foreign nationals to countries where “there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be at risk of irreparable harm,” or transferring detainees to jurisdictions in which they are at risk of being tortured or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

    The efforts of human rights organizations, journalists and scholars to document prison conditions point to an unequivocal conclusion: El Salvador does not meet the terms necessary to protect the human rights of deported and incarcerated migrants.

    To the contrary, the government of El Salvador has repeatedly been accused by rights groups of committing crimes against humanity, including against its prison population.

    Mneesha Gellman received funding from Emerson College’s Faculty Development Fund. She is the Director of the Emerson Prison Initiative.

    Sarah C. Bishop has received research funding from the Fulbright Organization, The Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society at Villanova University, the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation, and the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York. She serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit organization Mixteca.

    – ref. Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison – https://theconversation.com/beatings-overcrowding-and-food-deprivation-us-deportees-face-distressing-human-rights-conditions-in-el-salvadors-mega-prison-250739

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Pillen Editorial Supports U.S. Department of Education Changes; Praises Nebraska Teachers

    Source: US State of Nebraska

    . Pillen Editorial Supports U.S. Department of Education Changes; Praises Nebraska Teachers

    LINCOLN, NE – In an editorial published today by The Federalist, Governor Jim Pillen addressed the Trump Administration’s efforts to rethink the size and scope of the U.S. Department of Education, an effort he supports. In the piece, Pillen praises Nebraska’s teachers and administrators for their work serving our students and details a pro-kid, pro-parent, pro-teacher, pro-school vision for the future of American education that returns power and decision making to local leaders, giving families more freedom.

    The editorial is available below:

     

    The Best Thing Trump Can Do For Teachers And Kids Is Shut Down The Education Department

    By Governor Jim Pillen

    March 17, 2025

    Think about the three people who affected you the most growing up. For a lot of us, I’d bet at least one is a teacher or coach. It speaks to the influence and importance schools can have on our lives and education.

    Teachers are difference makers who help us, as parents, educate and develop our kids. But just as we don’t need Washington to tell parents how to parent, we don’t need federal bureaucrats telling our schools how to teach. Many classroom decisions are best left up to our leaders at the local level.

    Last week, the Trump administration, under the leadership of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, announced it is following through with a campaign promise to rethink the size and scope of the Department of Education. I think it’s beyond time to return those powers and decisions to the states and restore local control, giving families more freedom.

    Since the Department of Education was formed as a standalone department in 1980, we’ve seen its budget and workforce bloat — but we haven’t seen improved outcomes for students, parents, or teachers. We clearly aren’t getting what we’re paying for.

    For a decade, I served on the Board of Regents for the University of Nebraska system, getting into the weeds of education policy and decision making for our state. One of the philosophies I brought with me from that experience into the governor’s office is that we need more accountability in government.

    Just like a teen staring at a phone screen, too often the U.S. Department of Education’s bureaucracy has been distracted from its mission, and American education has suffered for it. We can’t predict the future, but we have to change something. Our kids’ education is too important for us to keep pursuing mediocre results that cost us billions.

    For starters, American taxpayers shouldn’t be funding controversial culture wars through our schools. We should expect that our investment will be spent on teaching kids the essentials: math, reading, science, and civics.

    There is a simpler, better path forward. By sending education back to states, we let those nearest to the student have the biggest influence. This is a pro-kid, pro-parent, pro-teacher, pro-school position. No matter the style of schooling families choose — public, private, homeschool, or hybrid — our lessons should be focused on helping our youth succeed, and you don’t need federal government mandates to do that.

    In Nebraska, I know the type of people who serve in our schools. Our teachers devote their lives to our kids. We’re human, and we’re not going to get things right 100 percent of the time, but I’m confident in our ability to lead and ensure we’re addressing the needs of our students, teachers, and schools.

    Because technology and research constantly change the way we learn, educators must be able to move fast in the classroom in ways some faraway cubicle worker in Washington can’t. Teachers and administrators are closer to the action and better prepared for this type of work.

    In my state, we’re leading by making localized decisions: We’re rethinking how we invest and fund K-12 schools, raising awareness and doubling down on special education opportunities, and working with students and schools to ban the distraction of cell phones bell-to-bell.

    Secretary McMahon’s stated goal is to make the state of education in America “freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future.” That’s a mission all of us should be able to get behind because there’s no politics in it.

    Let’s focus more on how to help the teacher in the classroom who is giving our kids this week’s spelling test. Let’s figure out ways to better support dynamic, inspiring lessons. Let’s support the guidance counselor who is helping our students navigate adolescence while they make big, life-long decisions.

    Let’s let our country’s kids — and education — reach the world-changing potential they have. That should be the American tradition. The Department of Education just needs to get out of the way.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Leads Coalition Opposing Changes to New Federal Passport Rule Harming Transgender Individuals

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 11 other attorneys general in opposing the U.S. Department of State’s proposed changes to passport application requirements, which would prevent transgender and non-binary individuals from obtaining passports that accurately reflect their gender. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the proposed changes would conflict with state laws, cause significant confusion, increase administrative burdens, and threaten public safety. The changes would also infringe on the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals to travel freely and safely, while exposing them to potential harassment, discrimination, and harm.

    “All Americans deserve to have identification documents that accurately reflect their gender and who they are, and any attempt to take away that right is an attack on the dignity and freedom of transgender and non-binary individuals,” said Attorney General James. “The Trump administration’s proposed changes threaten the safety and well-being of our communities, create unnecessary barriers to travel, and put transgender and non-binary Americans at unnecessary risk. The federal government cannot trespass on Americans’ rights, and that includes the rights of transgender and non-binary people.”

    On January 20, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order declaring that the United States will only recognize two sexes, male and female, and instructing the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, among others, to “implement changes that require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex,” as defined by the Executive Order. The EO not only goes against acceptable medical standards and science, but attempts to erase the existence of intersex, transgender, and nonbinary people. The U.S. Department of State then proposed changes to several passport application forms that would prevent transgender and non-binary Americans from obtaining a passport consistent with their gender and ignores the existence of intersex Americans. The Executive Order and proposed application form changes break with decades of federal policy on gender identity, including the ability for individuals to align their gender markers on identifying records and documents with their gender identity.

    In their letter, Attorney General James and the coalition highlight the harmful consequences of this policy, including the potential for transgender and non-binary individuals to be outed, harassed, or denied access to essential services. Forcing a transgender or non-binary person to have identity documents that do not match their gender impedes their ability to live freely and could cause confusion, delays, or harassment when they travel within the United States and internationally. This is only compounded by the individual psychological harm that the new policy could cause.

    The attorneys general also emphasize that many states, including New York, have enacted laws that allow individuals to change gender markers on birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and other legal documents without medical documentation. State laws also allow individuals to seal their original birth certificate or name change from disclosure. The proposed federal changes would create inconsistencies between state and federal identification documents, leading to confusion for state agencies, employers, public accommodations, and law enforcement. In such cases, individuals would likely experience harassment or delays when trying to access resources, and states would likely be forced to expend needless resources to review mismatched documents and ensure compliance with the law.

    Attorney General James and the coalition strongly urge the State Department to withdraw the proposed changes and instead uphold policies that respect the rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity.

    Joining Attorney General James in submitting the comment letter, which was co-led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. Louis Woman Accused of $177,000 Pandemic-Era Tax Credit Scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis, Missouri has been accused of fraudulently obtaining $177,000 in pandemic-era tax refunds.

    Ayana J. Brown, 33, was indicted February 20 on two felony counts of theft of government property. She turned herself in Monday and pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

    The indictment says that on Dec. 22, 2022, Brown filed two fraudulent quarterly employment tax returns (IRS Form 941s) with the IRS on behalf of Yaya Flowtiques LLC. Brown falsely claimed the company had five employees and paid approximately $177,321 in wages for the first quarter of 2021 and $145,098 in wages for the second quarter, the indictment says.  In fact, Yaya Flowtiques had no employees during this time, the indictment says.  Brown fraudulently claimed credits under the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) program, resulting in two U.S. Treasury checks totaling $177,000 in refunds that were mailed to Brown, the indictment says.

    The ERC was a tax credit designed to encourage businesses to retain employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, businesses qualified for the ERC if they were shut down by a government order, experienced a 50% decline in gross receipts or qualified as a recovery startup business and if they paid qualified wages to employees during the pandemic.

    Each theft of government property charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and fine

    Charges set forth in an indictment are merely an accusation and does not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK and EU to ramp up pressure on Russia and boost defence initiatives

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    UK and EU to ramp up pressure on Russia and boost defence initiatives

    The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas will meet the Foreign and Defence Secretaries in London to discuss coordinating cooperation on Ukraine

    • EU foreign affairs chief arrives in London for talks with Foreign and Defence Secretaries as joint efforts intensify to curb Russia’s economy
    • UK-EU foreign policy consultations will focus on united support for Ukraine, countering Russian hybrid threats and working to step up collective defence spending
    • Talks will underline need for a secure and prosperous Europe and UK – a foundation of the Government’s Plan for Change.

    As part of the UK’s commitment to strengthen ties with Europe and work together to secure the region’s future, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, will arrive in London today (Tuesday 18 March) for discussions with the Foreign and Defence Secretaries on ways to dial up pressure on Russia and deliver just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

    The talks, part of a new era of UK-EU relations, will coordinate cooperation on Ukraine, and discuss efforts to increase economic pressure and ensure Russia pays for the damage it is causing to Ukraine – as well as stepping up action against hybrid threats, like cyberattacks, election interference and rampant Russian disinformation.

    As part of the Government’s commitment to increase defence spending and keep the British people safe and secure for generations to come, the Foreign Secretary and the High Representative will review efforts to boost European defence spending, including through innovative initiatives, and bolstering wider military readiness in support of NATO. 

    Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

    A strong and secure Britain is a foundation of our Plan for Change. This cannot be achieved without strengthening our shared European security and coming together with our partners to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

    More than three years on since Putin’s illegal full-scale invasion, we are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for our continent. It’s vital we upgrade our partnership with the EU and work together to bring an end to this war and deliver security of all of our citizens.

    The UK and EU – along with other international partners – have already jointly imposed sanctions on Russia, depriving its economy of $450 billion since February 2022. Both have also worked together to train Ukrainian soldiers through the UK’s Operation INTERFLEX and the EU’s Military Advisory Mission to Ukraine, which between them have trained over 120,000 soldiers.

    The Chief of the Defence Staff will also host Kallas for a briefing from The Commander INTERFLEX and the EU’s Liaison Officer for the Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine. Discussions will focus on around how to build on the success of Operation INTERFLEX by enhancing the training offered to Ukraine

    Defence Secretary John Healey said:

    This Government is stepping up on European security; deepening our defence relationship with our EU and NATO allies is vital during this critical period.

    European security starts in Ukraine. The UK and EU are united in our resolve to back Ukraine with the military firepower they need to stand up to Russia’s illegal invasion and secure a lasting peace.

    The talks build on the UK’s increased engagement with the EU, after the Prime Minister joined European Council meetings in February and earlier this month, and EU Presidents von der Leyen and Costa attended the Leaders’ Meeting on Ukraine in London.

    Ahead of the first UK-EU Summit on 19 May and the UK-hosted Berlin Process Summit later this year, discussions are expected to also include other areas of cooperation such as stability in the Western Balkans, where both the UK and EU play a leading role in maintaining peace and security.

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Free press under threat in US – Columbia J-School speaks out

    Columbia Journalism School

    Freedom of the press — a bedrock principle of American democracy — is under threat in the United States.

    Here at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism we are witnessing and experiencing an alarming chill. We write to affirm our commitment to supporting and exercising First Amendment rights for students, faculty, and staff on our campus — and, indeed, for all.

    After Homeland Security seized and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia’s School of Public and International Affairs, without charging him with any crime, many of our international students have felt afraid to come to classes and to events on campus.

    They are right to be worried. Some of our faculty members and students who have covered the protests over the Gaza war have been the object of smear campaigns and targeted on the same sites that were used to bring Khalil to the attention of Homeland Security.

    President Trump has warned that the effort to deport Khalil is just the first of many.

    These actions represent threats against political speech and the ability of the American press to do its essential job and are part of a larger design to silence voices that are out of favour with the current administration.

    We have also seen reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport the Palestinian poet and journalist Mosab Abu Toha, who has written extensively in the New Yorker about the condition of the residents of Gaza and warned of the mortal danger to Palestinian journalists.

    There are 13 million legal foreign residents (green card holders) in the United States. If the administration can deport Khalil, it means those 13 million people must live in fear if they dare speak up or publish something that runs afoul of government views.

    There are more than one million international students in the United States. They, too, may worry that they are no longer free to speak their mind. Punishing even one person for their speech is meant to intimidate others into self-censorship.

    One does not have to agree with the political opinions of any particular individual to understand that these threats cut to the core of what it means to live in a pluralistic democracy. The use of deportation to suppress foreign critics runs parallel to an aggressive campaign to use libel laws in novel — even outlandish ways — to silence or intimidate the independent press.

    The President has sued CBS for an interview with Kamala Harris which Trump found too favourable. He has sued the Pulitzer Prize committee for awarding prizes to stories critical of him.

    He has even sued the Des Moines Register for publishing the results of a pre-election poll that showed Kamala Harris ahead at that point in the state.

    Large corporations like Disney and Meta settled lawsuits most lawyers thought they could win because they did not want to risk the wrath of the Trump administration and jeopardize business they have with the federal government.

    Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos decided that the paper’s editorial pages would limit themselves to pieces celebrating “free markets and individual liberties.”

    Meanwhile, the Trump administration insists on hand-picking the journalists who will be permitted to cover the White House and Pentagon, and it has banned the Associated Press from press briefings because the AP is following its own style book and refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

    The Columbia Journalism School stands in defence of First Amendment principles of free speech and free press across the political spectrum. The actions we’ve outlined above jeopardise these principles and therefore the viability of our democracy. All who believe in these freedoms should steadfastly oppose the intimidation, harassment, and detention of individuals on the basis of their speech or their journalism.

    The Faculty of Columbia Journalism School
     New York

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why Americans care so much about egg prices – and how this issue got so political

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Clodagh Harrington, Lecturer in American Politics, University College Cork

    The price of eggs has risen dramatically in recent years across the US. A dozen eggs cost US$1.20 (92p) in June 2019, but the price is now around US$4.90 (with a peak of US$8.17 in early March).

    Some restaurants have imposed surcharges on egg-based dishes, bringing even more attention to escalating costs. And there are also shortages on supermarket shelves.

    In the coming months, the US plans to import up to 100 million of this consumer staple. Government officials are approaching countries from Turkey to Brazil with enquiries about eggs for export.

    Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins, who previously said that one option to the crisis was for people to get a chicken for their backyard, suggested in the Wall Street Journal that prices are unlikely to stabilise for some months. And Donald Trump recently shared an article on Truth Social calling on the public to “shut up about egg prices”.

    The main cause of the problem is an outbreak of avian flu that has resulted in over 166 million birds in the US being slaughtered. Around 98% of the nation’s chickens are produced on factory farms, which are ripe for contagion.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu has already spread to several hundred dairy cattle and to one human. The USDA recently announced a US$1 billion plan to counter the problem, with funding for improved bio-security, vaccine research and compensation to farmers.

    In January 2025, Donald Trump’s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, blamed the previous administration for high egg prices. It is true that birds were slaughtered on President Joe Biden’s watch, but this was and remains standard practice at times of bird flu outbreaks and had also been the case during the Obama and first Trump administrations.

    However, this points to the way the rising price of eggs has become a political touchstone. It was referred to regularly in campaign speeches and press briefings as a sign of things going wrong and a symbol of the US economy faced. Donald Trump promised to fix the price of eggs swiftly if elected, but so far the issue shows no sign of going away.

    Prices are still trending up. Even when prices suddenly drop, as they have this week, the public know how much cheaper they used to be until recently, and do not tend to feel better.

    There are a number of reasons why egg prices have become an important to US politicians. First, almost everyone buys eggs. So the shortage and subsequent price rise is newsworthy and affects consumers in all income brackets.

    Secondly, they are a measure of broader economic vulnerabilities, so egg-related problems tend to be part of a larger story about how weak the economy is. And thirdly, egg prices are political because of Trump’s promise to bring them down.



    Read more:
    US inflation has increased since Trump took office – why prices are unlikely to come down soon

    Polls showed that the economy and inflation were key factors in voter choice on election day 2024. In February 2025, Donald Trump did an interview with NBC News in which he said he won the election on the border and groceries.

    On immigration, voters often base their opinions on what they perceive to be true. For example, tough rhetoric on building a wall may equate with a sense of feeling that the president is taking strong action, whether anything tangible actually materialises or not.

    With groceries, reality trumps perception. The price of eggs is printed on the box and the cost is paid directly by voters.

    Donald Trump on what he’s doing on egg prices and the economy.

    Then there are the egg producers. US farmers tended to overwhelmingly support Trump on election day, so it is prudent for him to feel their pain, or at least appear to. Farming areas voted for him increasingly in his three election efforts, even increasing their support for him in 2020 after trade wars and price increases which would have negatively impacted them.

    Another factor that may push up egg prices is that an estimated 70% of the factory farm workforce is immigrant labour, and as many as 40% are undocumented. Should the administration’s plans for high tariffs and mass deportations come to fruition, the industry would struggle to function.

    Further food price increases will be inevitable, with potential exacerbation via the funding freezes for some USDA programmes that Trump has enacted. As of March 2025, US$1 billion in cuts has been announced, the consequences of which are already being felt by farmers. The “pain now for gain later” message is a tricky political sell.

    Even in the current era of international turbulence, elections are largely won on more pedestrian matters. Specifically, “kitchen-table” economics is relatable to every voter, regardless of how grand, or not, their table is.

    Americans will be aware that in neighbouring Canada, egg prices have not risen dramatically and there have not been shortages. But prices in Canada have been traditionally higher than the US, this is in part at least because farming standards differ.

    The US does not have high welfare standards for agricultural workers or animals, and this shortcoming needs to be addressed in order to help reduce future risk of flu, but this is likely to also raise prices.

    Blaming the previous incumbent is not a durable stance for Donald Trump. As former president Harry Truman might remind him: “The buck stops here.” Right at his desk.

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

    – ref. Why Americans care so much about egg prices – and how this issue got so political – https://theconversation.com/why-americans-care-so-much-about-egg-prices-and-how-this-issue-got-so-political-251752

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Fungi are among the planet’s most important organisms — yet they’re overlooked in conservation strategies

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jonathan Cazabonne, Doctorant en mycologie et écologie des vieilles forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)

    Fungi are among the most important organisms on Earth. Even though most of the world’s described 157,000 fungal species are only visible with a microscope, these organisms are essential to our ecosystems, our societies and economies.

    They break down organic matter and interact with all groups of organisms — including other fungi. They’re key actors in forest carbon storage, nutrient cycling, as well as plant growth and resistance to environmental stress.

    Fungi are also important to human cultures — including as a source of food, medicine and art. Economically, fungi also support a growing economy centred around mycotourism — with a growing number of travellers visiting Canada and Spain each year to forage for wild mushrooms.



    Read more:
    Rural communities in Québec are embracing ‘mushroom tourism’ to boost local economies

    All the benefits fungi provide to humans are estimated to be worth the equivalent of US$54.57 trillion. This is why it’s an understatement to say that the world’s ecosystems and human societies are shaped by fungi.

    And yet fungi continue to be an important but overlooked element of conservation strategies.

    Why fungi are forgotten

    Conservation efforts have long focused on protecting well-studied animals and plants. This is reflected in the number of species that have been assigned a conservation status by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

    Around 84 per cent of known species of vertebrates have received an IUCN conservation status. But just 0.5 per cent of all described fungi — 818 fungal species — are currently present on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Considering scientists estimate that there could be around 2.5 million fungal species in the world — of which we currently only know about six per cent of them — this means just 0.03 per cent of all fungi have been assigned a conservation status.

    Several factors explain this alarming reality.

    Fungi are difficult to study in both nature and under experimental conditions. This is because of many species’ microscopic size, their short lifespan and the hidden habitats they call home — such as soils, the tissues of other organisms and dung deposits.

    Many species of fungi are difficult to study because of their microscopic size.
    (Shutterstock)

    Fungi are also considered “uncharismatic” — meaning they don’t have the level of human appeal that some other species have. Much of their diversity is cryptic, as well. This means that while many fungi were once considered to be a single species, in reality they’re made up of multiple species that may look similar but are genetically distinct from one another. Because of this, conservation projects for fungi are poorly funded and do not easily capture public interest.

    Protecting the unknown

    In recent years, there’s been momentum within the scientific community to recognise fungi as a distinct kingdom within conservation strategies — one that’s on equal footing with animals and plants.

    A significant milestone in this movement has been the adoption of the term “funga,” which mirrors “fauna” and “flora”. This designates the fungal diversity within a given environment or habitat.

    Another important advancement was the recent pledge for fungal conservation that was presented at the 2024 Conference of Parties (COP16) in Colombia. This pledge urged parties to make fungal conservation a priority given fungi are central to achieving the biodiversity targets set out by the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework.

    More local initiatives are also emerging. In Québec, over 70 mycologists and biologists signed an opinion letter encouraging the government to integrate fungi into its legislative framework.

    Such progress is not trivial and may help correct misconceptions about fungi that continue to be present among the public, economic sectors and policymakers. For example, the misconception that fungi are plants is something that still persists to this day. Allowing this misconception to continue being perpetuated is harmful to the field of mycology, and may be preventing it from becoming a standalone discipline that deserves dedicated funding and specialists.

    Still, there’s much we don’t know about these unique, important organisms. And in order for us to be able to protect and preserve the planet’s fungi, we need to begin by formally identifying areas where knowledge is lacking and close these gaps.

    Last year, researchers used Laboulbeniomycetes — a class of poorly understood microfungi — as a case study to understand what biodiversity and conservation shortfalls continue to affect funga. This group of fungi includes species that rely on arthropods to disperse their spores or act as hosts for them. Many of these fungi live as minute parasites on the surface of insects such as cockroaches and ladybirds.

    The case study uncovered four major biodiversity shortfalls that are undermining the conservation of funga. These include knowledge gaps in species diversity, distribution, conservation assessments and species persistence.

    Part of conservation

    Failing to protect fungi means, by extension, failing to protect the roles they play in our ecosystems and daily lives.

    This is especially timely, as fungi, like animals and plants, are also facing numerous threats. Habitat degradation, pollution, invasive species and climate change may all increase their risks of extinction.

    And, as recently exemplified in vertebrates, many undescribed species of fungi may be even more at peril than we might know. This is because they’re most likely to be found in remote geographical regions — such as tropical rainforests — and thus heavily susceptible to human-induced changes.

    A key priority to better integrate fungi into conservation biology is to accumulate data on species diversity. But in order to accumulate data and understand how we can better protect fungal species worldwide, we need to fund research on fungi and make mycology a more attractive field for young scientists.

    One thing remains certain: the more we explore, the more we realise just how little we know.

    Jonathan Cazabonne is financially supported by a B2X doctoral research fellowship from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT).

    Danny Haelewaters receives funding from the Czech Academy of Sciences (Lumina Quaeruntur Fellowship LQ200962501).

    – ref. Fungi are among the planet’s most important organisms — yet they’re overlooked in conservation strategies – https://theconversation.com/fungi-are-among-the-planets-most-important-organisms-yet-theyre-overlooked-in-conservation-strategies-250483

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PS752: International Civil Aviation Organisation Vote

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    PS752: International Civil Aviation Organisation Vote

    The UK Government has issued a statement following the outcome of the International Civil Aviation Organisation hearing on the case of Flight PS752.

    A UK Government spokesperson said:

    “Today, on 17 March 2025, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rejected Iran’s preliminary objection in the case of Flight PS752.

    “Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom welcome the decision by the ICAO Council to accept jurisdiction in the case.

    “This decision takes us a step closer to holding Iran to account for its illegal downing of Flight PS752 in January 2020. We will now proceed to the next phase in our case against Iran at ICAO.

    “We remain committed to seeking justice, transparency, and accountability for the 176 innocent victims and their families.”

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Supporting strong community houses and boosting access to government services

    Source: Ministers for Social Services

    More vulnerable Australians will soon have better access to essential government services and programs that build their social connections within their own communities.

    The Albanese Labor Government is investing $989,000 to bolster neighbourhood houses, neighbourhood centres and community centres across the country.

    These community-based organisations provide support to access Federal Government services such as Centrelink and emergency relief in geographically isolated and disadvantaged communities. They also offer programs to help vulnerable Australians better engage with their communities such as digital literacy programs, employment skills and education pathway training, one-on-one coaching, and nutrition and cooking classes.

    The Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association (ANHCA) will use the funding to administer grants of up to $15,000 to eligible organisations to deliver more than 50 community-based projects.

    ANHCA is the national peak body representing more than 1,000 neighbourhood houses, neighbourhood centres and community centres around Australia – accessed by more than 400,000 disadvantaged Australians each week.

    Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth visited Derwent Valley Community House in New Norfolk, Tasmania today. It provides people with information, educational, cultural and social supports and resources including cooking classes, learner driving programs, and help with literacy.

    Minister Rishworth said by supporting place-based solutions to addressing disadvantage, we can help build stronger and more resilient communities, and help Australians who need extra support.

    “The Albanese Labor Government is pleased to partner with ANHCA to deliver better outcomes for neighbourhood houses and community centres by addressing services gaps identified by the community and removing barriers vulnerable groups face to access support,” Minister Rishworth said.

    “ANHCA is well-equipped with the expertise, community knowledge, and sector understanding to ensure that Government funding is being used and delivered where it is needed most.

    ANHCA President Liz Bonner said: “This dedicated funding for neighbourhood houses, neighbourhood centres and community centres across Australia is very welcome support for a sector that provides Australia’s essential social infrastructure and contributes so much to social cohesion, at a time when the cost of living pressures are challenging community connection.”

    The funding is delivered under the Strong and Resilient Communities – Inclusive Communities (SARC – IC) Activity which is designed to support people on pathways to self-reliance and empowerment through local community-driven solutions. The Government has invested $49.5 million in SARC – IC projects since 2022.

    More information about SARC grants is available on the Department of Social Services website.

    MIL OSI News –