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  • MIL-OSI Europe: Minutes – Tuesday, 11 February 2025 – Strasbourg – Final edition

    Source: European Parliament 2

    PV-10-2025-02-11

    EN

    EN

    iPlPv_Sit

    Minutes
    Tuesday, 11 February 2025 – Strasbourg

    IN THE CHAIR: Christel SCHALDEMOSE
    Vice-President

    1. Opening of the sitting

    The sitting opened at 09:00.


    2. Preparedness for a new trade era: multilateral cooperation or tariffs (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Preparedness for a new trade era: multilateral cooperation or tariffs (2025/2551(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Maroš Šefčovič (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: Jörgen Warborn, on behalf of the PPE Group, Iratxe García Pérez, on behalf of the S&D Group, Klara Dostalova, on behalf of the PfE Group, Daniele Polato, on behalf of the ECR Group, Karin Karlsbro, on behalf of the Renew Group, Anna Cavazzini, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Manon Aubry, on behalf of The Left Group, René Aust, on behalf of the ESN Group, Michał Szczerba, Kathleen Van Brempt, Christophe Bay, Stephen Nikola Bartulica, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, who also answered a blue-card question from Manon Aubry, Diana Riba i Giner, Lynn Boylan, Fabio De Masi, Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez, who also answered a blue-card question from Petras Gražulis, Yannis Maniatis, Anna Bryłka, Svenja Hahn, who also answered a blue-card question from Damian Boeselager, Majdouline Sbai, Rudi Kennes, Lídia Pereira, who also answered a blue-card question from João Oliveira, Bernd Lange, Jorge Buxadé Villalba, who also answered a blue-card question from Cristina Maestre, Sophie Wilmès, Virginijus Sinkevičius, Željana Zovko, Stefano Bonaccini, András László, who also answered a blue-card question from Radan Kanev, Barry Cowen, Luděk Niedermayer, who also answered a blue-card question from Maria Grapini, Raphaël Glucksmann, Ľubica Karvašová, Sebastião Bugalho, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, Loucas Fourlas, Dirk Gotink and Salvatore De Meo.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Sebastian Tynkkynen and Billy Kelleher.

    IN THE CHAIR: Roberts ZĪLE
    Vice-President

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Lukas Sieper.

    The following spoke: Maria Grapini on the organisation of the debate.

    The following spoke: Maroš Šefčovič and Adam Szłapka.

    The debate closed.


    3. Continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s war of aggression (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s war of aggression (2025/2528(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Marta Kos (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: Michael Gahler, on behalf of the PPE Group, Yannis Maniatis, on behalf of the S&D Group, Csaba Dömötör, on behalf of the PfE Group, Adam Bielan, on behalf of the ECR Group, Petras Auštrevičius, on behalf of the Renew Group, Villy Søvndal, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Danilo Della Valle, on behalf of The Left Group, Petras Gražulis, on behalf of the ESN Group, Rasa Juknevičienė, Kathleen Van Brempt, Pierre-Romain Thionnet, Reinis Pozņaks, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who also answered a blue-card question from Alexander Sell, Mārtiņš Staķis, Jonas Sjöstedt, Petar Volgin, Ľuboš Blaha, Sandra Kalniete, Sven Mikser, Viktória Ferenc, Alberico Gambino, Hilde Vautmans, Sergey Lagodinsky, Hans Neuhoff, Fabio De Masi, Michał Szczerba, Thijs Reuten, Petra Steger, Jaak Madison, Bernard Guetta, Markéta Gregorová, Zsuzsanna Borvendég, Pekka Toveri, Pina Picierno, Michał Dworczyk, Helmut Brandstätter, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, Raphaël Glucksmann, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Davor Ivo Stier, Marcos Ros Sempere, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Reinhold Lopatka, who also answered a blue-card question from Alexander Jungbluth, Tonino Picula, Mika Aaltola, who also answered a blue-card question from Merja Kyllönen, Tobias Cremer, Riho Terras and Ana Miguel Pedro.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Hélder Sousa Silva, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Dainius Žalimas, Siegbert Frank Droese and Ondřej Dostál.

    The following spoke: Marta Kos and Adam Szłapka.

    Motions for resolutions to be tabled under Rule 136(2) would be announced at a later stage.

    The debate closed.

    Vote: next part-session.

    (The sitting was suspended for a few moments.)


    IN THE CHAIR: Roberta METSOLA
    President

    4. Resumption of the sitting

    The sitting resumed at 12:22.


    5. Formal sitting – Address by Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada

    The President made an address to welcome Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.

    Ruslan Stefanchuk addressed the House.

    (The sitting was suspended for a few moments.)


    6. Resumption of the sitting

    The sitting resumed at 12:42.


    7. Voting time

    For detailed results of the votes, see also ‘Results of votes’ and ‘Results of roll-call votes’.


    7.1. Conclusion of an agreement between the European Union and the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on certain aspects of air services *** (vote)

    Recommendation on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on certain aspects of air services [10844/2024 – C10-0111/2024 – 2015/0188(NLE)] – Committee on Transport and Tourism. Rapporteur: Tomas Tobé (A10-0005/2025)

    (Majority of the votes cast)

    DRAFT COUNCIL DECISION

    Approved (P10_TA(2025)0008)

    Parliament consented to the conclusion of the agreement.

    (‘Results of votes’, item 1)


    7.2. Conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Protocol (2024-2029) implementing the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Cabo Verde *** (vote)

    Recommendation on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Protocol (2024-2029) implementing the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Cabo Verde [11267/2024 – C10-0087/2024 – 2024/0133(NLE)] – Committee on Fisheries. Rapporteur: Paulo Do Nascimento Cabral (A10-0004/2025)

    (Majority of the votes cast)

    DRAFT COUNCIL DECISION

    Approved (P10_TA(2025)0009)

    Parliament consented to the conclusion of the agreement.

    (‘Results of votes’, item 2)


    7.3. Renewal of the Agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine *** (vote)

    Recommendation on the draft Council decision on the renewal of the Agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine [14848/2024 – C10-0196/2024 – 2024/0240(NLE)] – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Rapporteur: Borys Budka (A10-0007/2025)

    (Majority of the votes cast)

    DRAFT COUNCIL DECISION

    Approved (P10_TA(2025)0010)

    Parliament consented to the renewal of the agreement.

    (‘Results of votes’, item 3)


    7.4. European Central Bank – annual report 2024 (vote)

    Report on European Central Bank – annual report 2024 [2024/2054(INI)] – Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Rapporteur: Anouk Van Brug (A10-0003/2025)

    The debate had taken place on 10 February 2025 (minutes of 10.2.2025, item 13).

    (Majority of the votes cast)

    MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

    Adopted (P10_TA(2025)0011)

    (‘Results of votes’, item 4)

    (The sitting was suspended at 12:53.)


    IN THE CHAIR: Javi LÓPEZ
    Vice-President

    8. Resumption of the sitting

    The sitting resumed at 12:58.


    9. Approval of the minutes of the previous sitting

    The minutes of the previous sitting were approved.


    10. The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (debate)

    Commission statement: The need to address urgent labour shortages and ensure quality jobs in the health care sector (2025/2529(RSP))

    Roxana Mînzatu (Executive Vice-President of the Commission) made the statement.

    The following spoke: Dennis Radtke, on behalf of the PPE Group, Gabriele Bischoff, on behalf of the S&D Group, Gerald Hauser, on behalf of the PfE Group, Ruggero Razza, on behalf of the ECR Group, Vlad Vasile-Voiculescu, on behalf of the Renew Group, Maria Ohisalo, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Leila Chaibi, on behalf of The Left Group, Tomislav Sokol, Estelle Ceulemans, Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, Aurelijus Veryga, Brigitte van den Berg, Tilly Metz, Catarina Martins, Jan-Peter Warnke, Liesbet Sommen, Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Pál Szekeres, Adrian-George Axinia, Olivier Chastel, Pernando Barrena Arza, Maria Zacharia, András Tivadar Kulja, Marianne Vind, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Michele Picaro, Kathleen Funchion, Adam Jarubas, Nicolás González Casares, Marie Dauchy, Beatrice Timgren, Elena Nevado del Campo, Johan Danielsson, Valérie Deloge, Mariateresa Vivaldini, Romana Tomc, who also answered a blue-card question from João Oliveira, and Alessandra Moretti.

    IN THE CHAIR: Roberts ZĪLE
    Vice-President

    The following spoke: Philippe Olivier, Claudiu-Richard Târziu, Marit Maij, Malika Sorel, Francesco Ventola, Victor Negrescu and Evelyn Regner.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Sérgio Humberto, Maria Grapini, Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez, Ana Miranda Paz, João Oliveira, Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos, Dennis Radtke, Idoia Mendia and Rudi Kennes.

    The following spoke: Roxana Mînzatu.

    The debate closed.


    11. Boosting vocational education and training in times of labour market transitions (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Boosting vocational education and training in times of labour market transitions (2025/2530(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Roxana Mînzatu (Executive Vice-President of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: Dennis Radtke, on behalf of the PPE Group, Romana Jerković, on behalf of the S&D Group, Catherine Griset, on behalf of the PfE Group, Chiara Gemma, on behalf of the ECR Group, Brigitte van den Berg, on behalf of the Renew Group, Li Andersson, on behalf of The Left Group, Marcin Sypniewski, on behalf of the ESN Group, Maravillas Abadía Jover, Hannes Heide and Pál Szekeres.

    IN THE CHAIR: Pina PICIERNO
    Vice-President

    The following spoke: Georgiana Teodorescu, Laurence Farreng, Nikos Pappas, Fidias Panayiotou, Gheorghe Falcă, Idoia Mendia, Elisabeth Dieringer, Marlena Maląg, Anna-Maja Henriksson, Andrzej Buła, Marc Angel, Mélanie Disdier, Ivaylo Valchev, Sérgio Humberto, who also answered a blue-card question from João Oliveira, Sabrina Repp, Annamária Vicsek, Elena Donazzan, Eleonora Meleti, Isilda Gomes, Juan Carlos Girauta Vidal, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė and Marie Dauchy.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Nina Carberry, Nikolina Brnjac, Marcos Ros Sempere, Alicia Homs Ginel, Kateřina Konečná and Lukas Sieper.

    The following spoke: Glenn Micallef (Member of the Commission) and Adam Szłapka.

    The debate closed.


    12. Wider comprehensive EU-Middle East strategy (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Wider comprehensive EU-Middle East strategy (2024/3015(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Dubravka Šuica (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: David McAllister, on behalf of the PPE Group, Yannis Maniatis, on behalf of the S&D Group, Jorge Martín Frías, on behalf of the PfE Group, Ana Miranda Paz, on certain remarks made by the previous speaker, Rihards Kols, on behalf of the ECR Group, Hilde Vautmans, on behalf of the Renew Group, Hannah Neumann, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Lynn Boylan, on behalf of The Left Group, Petras Gražulis, on behalf of the ESN Group, Antonio López-Istúriz White, Hana Jalloul Muro, António Tânger Corrêa, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Urmas Paet, Villy Søvndal, João Oliveira, who also answered a blue-card question from Ana Miranda Paz, Alexander Sell, Nikolaos Anadiotis, Hildegard Bentele, Francisco Assis, György Hölvényi, Marion Maréchal, Irena Joveva and Martin Schirdewan.

    IN THE CHAIR: Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ
    Vice-President

    The following spoke: Ruth Firmenich, Ingeborg Ter Laak, Lucia Annunziata, Cristian Terheş, Abir Al-Sahlani, Elena Yoncheva, Andrey Kovatchev, Evin Incir, Emmanouil Fragkos, Billy Kelleher, Alice Teodorescu Måwe, Davor Ivo Stier, Michał Szczerba, Wouter Beke, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte and Reinhold Lopatka.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Ana Miranda Paz, Marc Botenga and Diana Iovanovici Şoşoacă.

    The following spoke: Dubravka Šuica and Adam Szłapka.

    The debate closed.


    13. Escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (2025/2553(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Dubravka Šuica (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: Ingeborg Ter Laak, on behalf of the PPE Group, Marit Maij, on behalf of the S&D Group, Thierry Mariani, on behalf of the PfE Group, Alberico Gambino, on behalf of the ECR Group, Hilde Vautmans, on behalf of the Renew Group, Sara Matthieu, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Marc Botenga, on behalf of The Left Group, Petras Gražulis, on behalf of the ESN Group, Wouter Beke, Francisco Assis, György Hölvényi, Charles Goerens, Majdouline Sbai, Marcin Sypniewski, Lukas Mandl, Laura Ballarín Cereza, Jan-Christoph Oetjen, Saskia Bricmont, Hildegard Bentele, Murielle Laurent, Yvan Verougstraete, Giorgio Gori and Udo Bullmann, who also declined to take a blue-card question from Lukas Sieper.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Juan Fernando López Aguilar.

    The following spoke: Dubravka Šuica and Adam Szłapka.

    The following spoke: Hilde Vautmans, again on the subject of the debate.

    Motions for resolutions tabled under Rule 136(2) to wind up the debate: minutes of 13.2.2025, item I.

    The debate closed.

    Vote: 13 February 2025.


    14. Welcome

    On behalf of Parliament, the President welcomed a delegation from the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, who had taken a seat in the distinguished visitors’ gallery.


    15. Political crisis in Serbia (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Political crisis in Serbia (2025/2554(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) made the statement on behalf of the Council.

    IN THE CHAIR: Katarina BARLEY
    Vice-President

    Marta Kos (Member of the Commission) made the statement on behalf of the Commission.

    The following spoke: Davor Ivo Stier, on behalf of the PPE Group, Tonino Picula, on behalf of the S&D Group, Annamária Vicsek, on behalf of the PfE Group, Alessandro Ciriani, on behalf of the ECR Group, Helmut Brandstätter, on behalf of the Renew Group, Vladimir Prebilič, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Konstantinos Arvanitis, on behalf of The Left Group, Petr Bystron, on behalf of the ESN Group, Loucas Fourlas, Alessandra Moretti, Thierry Mariani, Şerban Dimitrie Sturdza, Eugen Tomac, Gordan Bosanac, Kostas Papadakis, Reinhold Lopatka, Thijs Reuten, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Rasmus Nordqvist, Zoltán Tarr, Matjaž Nemec, Irena Joveva (The President explained how the interpreting system worked), Matej Tonin, Andreas Schieder, Dan Barna and Tomislav Sokol.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Seán Kelly, Nikos Papandreou, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Lukas Sieper and Diana Iovanovici Şoşoacă.

    The following spoke: Marta Kos and Adam Szłapka.

    The debate closed.


    16. US AI chip export restrictions: a challenge to European AI development and economic resilience (debate)

    Question for oral answer O-000001/2025 by Borys Budka, on behalf of the ITRE Committee, to the Commission: US AI chip export restrictions: a challenge to European AI development and economic resilience (B10-0002/2025) (2025/2539(RSP))

    Borys Budka moved the question.

    Henna Virkkunen (Executive Vice-President of the Commission) answered the question.

    The following spoke: Wouter Beke, on behalf of the PPE Group, Matthias Ecke, on behalf of the S&D Group, Kris Van Dijck, on behalf of the ECR Group, Bart Groothuis, on behalf of the Renew Group, András László, on behalf of the PfE Group, Virginijus Sinkevičius, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Dario Tamburrano, on behalf of The Left Group, Eszter Lakos, who also answered a blue-card question from András László, Lina Gálvez and Barbara Bonte.

    IN THE CHAIR: Ewa KOPACZ
    Vice-President

    The following spoke: Francesco Torselli, Michał Kobosko, Alexandra Geese, Aura Salla, Maria Grapini, Paulius Saudargas, Elisabeth Grossmann, Mirosława Nykiel, Brando Benifei, Paulo Cunha and Oliver Schenk.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, Marc Botenga, Kateřina Konečná, Seán Kelly and Lukas Sieper.

    The following spoke: Henna Virkkunen.

    The debate closed.


    17. Protecting the system of international justice and its institutions, in particular the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice (debate)

    Council and Commission statements: Protecting the system of international justice and its institutions, in particular the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice (2025/2555(RSP))

    Adam Szłapka (President-in-Office of the Council) and Michael McGrath (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

    The following spoke: Alice Teodorescu Måwe, on behalf of the PPE Group, Francisco Assis, on behalf of the S&D Group, András László, on behalf of the PfE Group, Małgorzata Gosiewska, on behalf of the ECR Group, Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle, on behalf of the Renew Group, Mounir Satouri, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Mimmo Lucano, on behalf of The Left Group, Hana Jalloul Muro, Alessandro Ciriani, who also answered a blue-card question from Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle, Catarina Vieira, Gaetano Pedulla’, Brando Benifei, Jaume Asens Llodrà, who also answered a blue-card question from João Oliveira, Rima Hassan (the President reminded the speaker of the rules on conduct), Chloé Ridel, Benedetta Scuderi, Alessandro Zan and Ana Miranda Paz.

    The following spoke under the catch-the-eye procedure: Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Billy Kelleher, Tineke Strik, João Oliveira, Lukas Sieper and Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis.

    The following spoke: Michael McGrath and Adam Szłapka.

    The following spoke: Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle, concerning the last intervention by the Council (the President gave explanations).

    The debate closed.


    18. Explanations of vote

    Written explanations of vote

    Explanations of vote submitted in writing under Rule 201 appear on the Members’ pages on Parliament’s website.


    19. Agenda of the next sitting

    The next sitting would be held the following day, 12 February 2025, starting at 09:00. The agenda was available on Parliament’s website.


    20. Approval of the minutes of the sitting

    In accordance with Rule 208(3), the minutes of the sitting would be put to the House for approval at the beginning of the afternoon of the next sitting.


    21. Closure of the sitting

    The sitting closed at 20:52.


    ATTENDANCE REGISTER

    Present:

    Aaltola Mika, Abadía Jover Maravillas, Adamowicz Magdalena, Aftias Georgios, Agirregoitia Martínez Oihane, Agius Peter, Agius Saliba Alex, Alexandraki Galato, Allione Grégory, Al-Sahlani Abir, Anadiotis Nikolaos, Anderson Christine, Andersson Li, Andresen Rasmus, Andriukaitis Vytenis Povilas, Androuët Mathilde, Angel Marc, Annemans Gerolf, Annunziata Lucia, Antoci Giuseppe, Arias Echeverría Pablo, Arimont Pascal, Arłukowicz Bartosz, Arnaoutoglou Sakis, Arndt Anja, Arvanitis Konstantinos, Asens Llodrà Jaume, Assis Francisco, Attard Daniel, Aubry Manon, Auštrevičius Petras, Axinia Adrian-George, Azmani Malik, Bajada Thomas, Baljeu Jeannette, Ballarín Cereza Laura, Bardella Jordan, Barley Katarina, Barna Dan, Barrena Arza Pernando, Bartulica Stephen Nikola, Bartůšek Nikola, Bay Nicolas, Bay Christophe, Beke Wouter, Beleris Fredis, Bellamy François-Xavier, Benea Adrian-Dragoş, Benifei Brando, Benjumea Benjumea Isabel, Beňová Monika, Bentele Hildegard, Berendsen Tom, Berger Stefan, Berg Sibylle, Berlato Sergio, Bernhuber Alexander, Biedroń Robert, Bielan Adam, Bischoff Gabriele, Blaha Ľuboš, Blinkevičiūtė Vilija, Blom Rachel, Bloss Michael, Bocheński Tobiasz, Bogdan Ioan-Rareş, Bonaccini Stefano, Bonte Barbara, Borchia Paolo, Borrás Pabón Mireia, Borvendég Zsuzsanna, Borzan Biljana, Bosanac Gordan, Bosse Stine, Botenga Marc, Boyer Gilles, Boylan Lynn, Brandstätter Helmut, Brasier-Clain Marie-Luce, Braun Grzegorz, Brejza Krzysztof, Bricmont Saskia, Brnjac Nikolina, Brudziński Joachim Stanisław, Bryłka Anna, Buchheit Markus, Buczek Tomasz, Buda Daniel, Buda Waldemar, Budka Borys, Bugalho Sebastião, Buła Andrzej, Bullmann Udo, Burkhardt Delara, Buxadé Villalba Jorge, Bystron Petr, Bžoch Jaroslav, Camara Mélissa, Canfin Pascal, Carberry Nina, Cârciu Gheorghe, Carême Damien, Casa David, Caspary Daniel, Cassart Benoit, Castillo Laurent, del Castillo Vera Pilar, Cavazzini Anna, Cavedagna Stefano, Ceccardi Susanna, Ceulemans Estelle, Chahim Mohammed, Chaibi Leila, Chastel Olivier, Chinnici Caterina, Cifrová Ostrihoňová Veronika, Ciriani Alessandro, Cisint Anna Maria, Clausen Per, Cormand David, Corrado Annalisa, Costanzo Vivien, Cotrim De Figueiredo João, Cowen Barry, Cremer Tobias, Crespo Díaz Carmen, Cristea Andi, Crosetto Giovanni, Cunha Paulo, Dahl Henrik, Danielsson Johan, Dauchy Marie, Dávid Dóra, David Ivan, Decaro Antonio, de la Hoz Quintano Raúl, Della Valle Danilo, Deloge Valérie, De Masi Fabio, De Meo Salvatore, Deutsch Tamás, Dibrani Adnan, Diepeveen Ton, Dieringer Elisabeth, Dîncu Vasile, Disdier Mélanie, Dobrev Klára, Doherty Regina, Doleschal Christian, Dömötör Csaba, Do Nascimento Cabral Paulo, Donazzan Elena, Dorfmann Herbert, Dostalova Klara, Dostál Ondřej, Droese Siegbert Frank, Düpont Lena, Dworczyk Michał, Ecke Matthias, Ehler Christian, Ehlers Marieke, Eriksson Sofie, Erixon Dick, Eroglu Engin, Estaràs Ferragut Rosa, Ezcurra Almansa Alma, Falcă Gheorghe, Farantouris Nikolas, Farreng Laurence, Farský Jan, Ferber Markus, Ferenc Viktória, Fernández Jonás, Fidanza Carlo, Firea Gabriela, Firmenich Ruth, Fita Claire, Flanagan Luke Ming, Fourlas Loucas, Fourreau Emma, Fragkos Emmanouil, Freund Daniel, Frigout Anne-Sophie, Friis Sigrid, Fritzon Heléne, Froelich Tomasz, Funchion Kathleen, Furet Angéline, Furore Mario, Gahler Michael, Gál Kinga, Gálvez Lina, Gambino Alberico, García Hermida-Van Der Walle Raquel, Garraud Jean-Paul, Gasiuk-Pihowicz Kamila, Geadi Geadis, Geese Alexandra, Geier Jens, Geisel Thomas, Gemma Chiara, Georgiou Giorgos, Gerbrandy Gerben-Jan, Germain Jean-Marc, Gerzsenyi Gabriella, Geuking Niels, Gieseke Jens, Giménez Larraz Borja, Girauta Vidal Juan Carlos, Glavak Sunčana, Glück Andreas, Glucksmann Raphaël, Goerens Charles, Gomart Christophe, Gomes Isilda, Gómez López Sandra, Gonçalves Bruno, Gonçalves Sérgio, González Casares Nicolás, González Pons Esteban, Gori Giorgio, Gosiewska Małgorzata, Gotink Dirk, Gozi Sandro, Grapini Maria, Gražulis Petras, Gregorová Markéta, Grims Branko, Griset Catherine, Gronkiewicz-Waltz Hanna, Groothuis Bart, Grossmann Elisabeth, Grudler Christophe, Gualmini Elisabetta, Guarda Cristina, Guetta Bernard, Guzenina Maria, Hadjipantela Michalis, Hahn Svenja, Haider Roman, Halicki Andrzej, Hansen Niels Flemming, Hassan Rima, Hauser Gerald, Häusling Martin, Hava Mircea-Gheorghe, Hazekamp Anja, Heide Hannes, Heinäluoma Eero, Henriksson Anna-Maja, Herbst Niclas, Herranz García Esther, Hetman Krzysztof, Hohlmeier Monika, Hojsík Martin, Holmgren Pär, Hölvényi György, Homs Ginel Alicia, Humberto Sérgio, Ijabs Ivars, Imart Céline, Incir Evin, Inselvini Paolo, Iovanovici Şoşoacă Diana, Jalloul Muro Hana, Jamet France, Jarubas Adam, Jerković Romana, Joński Dariusz, Joron Virginie, Jouvet Pierre, Joveva Irena, Juknevičienė Rasa, Jungbluth Alexander, Kabilov Taner, Kalfon François, Kaliňák Erik, Kaljurand Marina, Kalniete Sandra, Kamiński Mariusz, Kanev Radan, Kanko Assita, Karlsbro Karin, Kartheiser Fernand, Karvašová Ľubica, Katainen Elsi, Kefalogiannis Emmanouil, Kelleher Billy, Keller Fabienne, Kelly Seán, Kemp Martine, Kennes Rudi, Kircher Sophia, Knafo Sarah, Knotek Ondřej, Kobosko Michał, Köhler Stefan, Kohut Łukasz, Kokalari Arba, Kolář Ondřej, Kollár Kinga, Kols Rihards, Konečná Kateřina, Kopacz Ewa, Körner Moritz, Kountoura Elena, Kovatchev Andrey, Krah Maximilian, Krištopans Vilis, Kruis Sebastian, Krutílek Ondřej, Kubín Tomáš, Kuhnke Alice, Kulja András Tivadar, Kulmuni Katri, Kyllönen Merja, Kyuchyuk Ilhan, Lagodinsky Sergey, Lakos Eszter, Lalucq Aurore, Lange Bernd, Langensiepen Katrin, Laššáková Judita, László András, Latinopoulou Afroditi, Laurent Murielle, Laureti Camilla, Laykova Rada, Lazarov Ilia, Lazarus Luis-Vicențiu, Le Callennec Isabelle, Leggeri Fabrice, Lenaers Jeroen, Lewandowski Janusz, Lexmann Miriam, Liese Peter, Lins Norbert, Løkkegaard Morten, Lopatka Reinhold, López Javi, López Aguilar Juan Fernando, López-Istúriz White Antonio, Lövin Isabella, Lucano Mimmo, Luena César, Lupo Giuseppe, McAllister David, Madison Jaak, Maestre Cristina, Magoni Lara, Maij Marit, Maląg Marlena, Manda Claudiu, Mandl Lukas, Maniatis Yannis, Maran Pierfrancesco, Marczułajtis-Walczak Jagna, Maréchal Marion, Mariani Thierry, Marino Ignazio Roberto, Marquardt Erik, Martín Frías Jorge, Martins Catarina, Marzà Ibáñez Vicent, Matthieu Sara, Mavrides Costas, Mayer Georg, Mazurek Milan, Mažylis Liudas, Mebarek Nora, Mehnert Alexandra, Meimarakis Vangelis, Meleti Eleonora, Mendes Ana Catarina, Mendia Idoia, Mertens Verena, Mesure Marina, Metsola Roberta, Metz Tilly, Mikser Sven, Milazzo Giuseppe, Minchev Nikola, Miranda Paz Ana, Montero Irene, Montserrat Dolors, Morace Carolina, Moreira de Sá Tiago, Moreno Sánchez Javier, Moretti Alessandra, Motreanu Dan-Ştefan, Mularczyk Arkadiusz, Müller Piotr, Mureşan Siegfried, Nagyová Jana, Nardella Dario, Navarrete Rojas Fernando, Negrescu Victor, Nemec Matjaž, Nesci Denis, Neuhoff Hans, Neumann Hannah, Nevado del Campo Elena, Nica Dan, Niebler Angelika, Niedermayer Luděk, Niinistö Ville, Nikolaou-Alavanos Lefteris, Nikolic Aleksandar, Ní Mhurchú Cynthia, Noichl Maria, Nordqvist Rasmus, Novakov Andrey, Nykiel Mirosława, Obajtek Daniel, Ódor Ľudovít, Oetjen Jan-Christoph, Ohisalo Maria, Oliveira João, Olivier Philippe, Omarjee Younous, Ó Ríordáin Aodhán, Ozdoba Jacek, Paet Urmas, Pajín Leire, Palmisano Valentina, Panayiotou Fidias, Papadakis Kostas, Papandreou Nikos, Pappas Nikos, Pascual de la Parte Nicolás, Patriciello Aldo, Paulus Jutta, Pedro Ana Miguel, Pedulla’ Gaetano, Pellerin-Carlin Thomas, Peltier Guillaume, Penkova Tsvetelina, Pennelle Gilles, Pereira Lídia, Pérez Alvise, Peter-Hansen Kira Marie, Petrov Hristo, Picaro Michele, Picierno Pina, Picula Tonino, Piera Pascale, Pimpie Pierre, Piperea Gheorghe, de la Pisa Carrión Margarita, Pokorná Jermanová Jaroslava, Polato Daniele, Polfjärd Jessica, Popescu Virgil-Daniel, Pozņaks Reinis, Prebilič Vladimir, Princi Giusi, Pürner Friedrich, Rackete Carola, Radev Emil, Radtke Dennis, Rafowicz Emma, Ratas Jüri, Razza Ruggero, Rechagneux Julie, Regner Evelyn, Repasi René, Repp Sabrina, Ressler Karlo, Reuten Thijs, Riba i Giner Diana, Ricci Matteo, Ridel Chloé, Riehl Nela, Ripa Manuela, Ros Sempere Marcos, Roth Neveďalová Katarína, Rougé André, Ruissen Bert-Jan, Ruotolo Sandro, Rzońca Bogdan, Saeidi Arash, Salini Massimiliano, Salis Ilaria, Salla Aura, Sanchez Julien, Sancho Murillo Elena, Saramo Jussi, Sardone Silvia, Šarec Marjan, Sargiacomo Eric, Satouri Mounir, Saudargas Paulius, Sbai Majdouline, Sberna Antonella, Schaldemose Christel, Schenk Oliver, Scheuring-Wielgus Joanna, Schieder Andreas, Schilling Lena, Schwab Andreas, Scuderi Benedetta, Seekatz Ralf, Sell Alexander, Serrano Sierra Rosa, Serra Sánchez Isabel, Sidl Günther, Sienkiewicz Bartłomiej, Sieper Lukas, Simon Sven, Singer Christine, Sinkevičius Virginijus, Sippel Birgit, Sjöstedt Jonas, Śmiszek Krzysztof, Smith Anthony, Smit Sander, Sokol Tomislav, Solier Diego, Solís Pérez Susana, Sommen Liesbet, Sonneborn Martin, Sorel Malika, Sousa Silva Hélder, Søvndal Villy, Staķis Mārtiņš, Stancanelli Raffaele, Ştefănuță Nicolae, Steger Petra, Stier Davor Ivo, Storm Kristoffer, Stöteler Sebastiaan, Stoyanov Stanislav, Strack-Zimmermann Marie-Agnes, Streit Joachim, Strik Tineke, Strolenberg Anna, Sturdza Şerban Dimitrie, Stürgkh Anna, Sypniewski Marcin, Szczerba Michał, Szekeres Pál, Szydło Beata, Tamburrano Dario, Tânger Corrêa António, Tarczyński Dominik, Tarquinio Marco, Tarr Zoltán, Târziu Claudiu-Richard, Tavares Carla, Tegethoff Kai, Teodorescu Georgiana, Teodorescu Måwe Alice, Terheş Cristian, Ter Laak Ingeborg, Terras Riho, Tertsch Hermann, Thionnet Pierre-Romain, Timgren Beatrice, Tinagli Irene, Tobé Tomas, Tolassy Rody, Tomac Eugen, Tomašič Zala, Tomaszewski Waldemar, Tomc Romana, Tonin Matej, Topo Raffaele, Torselli Francesco, Tosi Flavio, Toussaint Marie, Tovaglieri Isabella, Toveri Pekka, Tridico Pasquale, Trochu Laurence, Tsiodras Dimitris, Tudose Mihai, Turek Filip, Tynkkynen Sebastian, Uhrík Milan, Vaidere Inese, Valchev Ivaylo, Vălean Adina, Van Brempt Kathleen, Van Brug Anouk, van den Berg Brigitte, Vandendriessche Tom, Van Dijck Kris, Van Lanschot Reinier, Van Leeuwen Jessika, Vannacci Roberto, Van Overtveldt Johan, Van Sparrentak Kim, Varaut Alexandre, Vasconcelos Ana, Vasile-Voiculescu Vlad, Vautmans Hilde, Vedrenne Marie-Pierre, Ventola Francesco, Verougstraete Yvan, Veryga Aurelijus, Vešligaj Marko, Vicsek Annamária, Vieira Catarina, Vilimsky Harald, Vincze Loránt, Vind Marianne, Vistisen Anders, Vivaldini Mariateresa, Volgin Petar, von der Schulenburg Michael, Vondra Alexandr, Voss Axel, Vozemberg-Vrionidi Elissavet, Vrecionová Veronika, Vázquez Lázara Adrián, Waitz Thomas, Walsh Maria, Walsmann Marion, Warborn Jörgen, Warnke Jan-Peter, Wąsik Maciej, Wawrykiewicz Michał, Wcisło Marta, Wechsler Andrea, Weimers Charlie, Werbrouck Séverine, Wiesner Emma, Wiezik Michal, Wilmès Sophie, Winkler Iuliu, Winzig Angelika, Wiseler-Lima Isabel, Wiśniewska Jadwiga, Wölken Tiemo, Wolters Lara, Yar Lucia, Yoncheva Elena, Zacharia Maria, Zalewska Anna, Žalimas Dainius, Zan Alessandro, Zarzalejos Javier, Zdechovský Tomáš, Zdrojewski Bogdan Andrzej, Zijlstra Auke, Zīle Roberts, Zingaretti Nicola, Złotowski Kosma, Zoido Álvarez Juan Ignacio, Zovko Željana, Zver Milan

    Excused:

    Andrews Barry, Di Rupo Elio, Strada Cecilia, Temido Marta

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Firearms Theft

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Ryan Ansart & Damiean Marcial-Alexander stole multiple weapons from Waterville firearms dealer

    BANGOR, Maine:  A West Springfield, Mass. man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for conspiring to steal firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer and for stealing those firearms.

    U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced Ryan Ansart, 22, to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $17,253.37 in restitution. Ansart pleaded guilty on August 22, 2024.

    According to court records, in April 2022, Ansart and coconspirator Damiean Marcial-Alexander broke into a Waterville firearms dealer and stole multiple firearms, including a Glock, Model 17 Gen5 9mm pistol and a Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver. According to an ATF Theft/Loss Report submitted by the store owner, 15 firearms in all were reported stolen, six revolvers and nine semi-automatic pistols. Evidence collected included Instagram and text messages planning the theft, including a map to the location from Marcial-Alexander’s apartment, as well as photos of the two men holding some of the stolen firearms. 

    On February 4, Damiean Marcial-Alexander, (22, Waterville) was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $17,253.37 in restitution for his role in the conspiracy and theft.

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case with assistance from the Waterville Police Department.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Southern suburbs man charged with weapons and child sex offences

    Source: South Australia Police

    A southern suburbs man faced court today charged with weapons and child sex offences after police searched his home yesterday.

    ​
    Detectives from the SA Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (SA JACET), a partnership between SAPOL’s Public Protection Branch and the Australian Federal Police, arrested the 36-year-old man yesterday morning, Tuesday 11 February.
    ​
    It will be alleged that, acting on information received, police attended the man’s address and conducted a search.
    ​
    Digital evidence experts from SAPOL commenced a forensic review of electronic devices belonging to the man and he was subsequently charged with possession of child exploitation material offences.
    ​
    The search also uncovered two gel blasters, a crossbow, a slingshot, various knives and machetes and a ballistic vest.
    ​
    He was further charged with firearms (gel blaster) offences, possess prohibited weapon and possess body armour.
    ​
    He was refused police bail and appeared in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court today, Wednesday 12 February.
    ​
    Digital evidence specialists continue to analyse the electronic devices and further charges may result.
    ​
    Police remind the public that child exploitation material are not just images on a screen.  Every image and every second of a video are a real child being abused and being subjected to a situation that no child should ever experience.
    ​
    Anyone with information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au
    ​
    CO2500006115, CO2500006146

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Charges – Domestic violence – Darwin City

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested a 25-year-old male in relation to domestic violence, firearm and drug offences on Sunday.

    Between 6 and 9 February 2025, it is alleged a serious domestic violence incident occurred involving a 25-year-old male threatening his 24-year-old female partner with a firearm. A report was received by police on 10 February 2025.

    Yesterday, about 11:20am, members from the Territory Response Group (TRG) were deployed to Manson Street in Darwin City to coordinate an arrest of the 25-year-old male. Police conducted a lawful search of a location associated to the male where a quantity of dangerous drugs were located. 

    The Northern Domestic and Family Violence Unit have carriage of the incident.

    The offender was charged with:

    •          Make threats to kill a person

    •          Deprive a person of personal liberty

    •          Aggravated Assault

    •          Damage to property

    •          Supply schedule 1 drug commercial quantity

    •          Possess schedule 1 drug commercial quantity

    •          Possess schedule 2 drug traffickable quantity

    •          Receive or possess property of commission of offence

    •          Possess, use firearm whilst unlicenced

    He was remanded to appear in Darwin Local Court on 12 February 2025.

    If anyone has witnessed a disturbance in the vicinity of the Coolalinga Shopping Complex occurring around 6.30pm on Thursday 6 January 2025 or has information relating to incident, you can contact police on 131 444. You can also anonymously report through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/ 

    If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic or family violence, support services are available, including, but not limited to, 1800RESPECT (1800737732) or Lifeline 131 114.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Clearland — Missing person: Help the RCMP find Steven Creaser

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Lunenburg County District RCMP is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 28-year-old Steven Creaser who was last seen in Clearland.

    Creaser is described as 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds. He has blonde hair, blue eyes. He is known to wear fisherman rubber boots.

    When someone goes missing, it has deep and far-reaching impacts for the person and those who know them. We ask that people spread the word through social media respectfully.

    Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Steven Creaser is asked to contact the Lunenburg County District RCMP at 902-527-5555. To remain anonymous, call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips app.

    Note: A photo of Steven Creaser is attached.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Road Closed SH8 Cromwell-Clyde Road

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    State Highway 8, the Cromwell – Clyde Road, is closed south of Cromwell following a serious crash involving two vehicles, reported at 5pm.

    Emergency services are in attendance.

    The road will be closed for some time, motorists are asked to avoid the area and expect significant delays.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Call for information – Assault police – Galiwinku

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police Force is calling for information in relation to an assault police incident that occurred in Galiwinku early this morning.

    Around 3:55am, police received a report that a group of unknown youths were allegedly attempting to unlawfully enter a service station in the community.

    Local members attended and when approaching the premises the youths allegedly threw rocks, striking one of the officers to the face and the leg. The group then fled the scene on foot.

    The injured officer attended the Galiwinku Clinic for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

    Investigations are ongoing.

    Superintendent Jody Nobbs said, “This is despicable behaviour, and we will not tolerate it.

    “Police do not deserve to be assaulted while protecting and serving the community.

    “We are committed to identifying those responsible and ensuring they are held to account.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Public advised to avoid Brentwood Ave, Highbury

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Members of the public are advised to avoid the Brentwood Ave area in Highbury due to an ongoing Police operation.

    Motorists around the area are also advised to expect delays.

    Further information will be released when we are in a position to do so.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Two arrested for drug trafficking at Port Augusta

    Source: South Australia Police

    Two people were arrested for drug trafficking after a traffic stop at Port Augusta yesterday afternoon.

    About 3.45pm on Tuesday 11 February, police pulled over a vehicle on Elsie Street, Port Augusta.

    Officers instructed the occupants to exit the car, as it was about to be searched.  The front passenger was allegedly seen removing an item from her handbag and throwing it underneath the vehicle.

    The car was searched and the item, a cloth zip-up bag, was retrieved from under the car.  It will be alleged the bag contained approximately 20 grams of suspected methamphetamine, scales, cash and other items.

    A 28-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man, both from Port Augusta, were arrested and charged with trafficking in a controlled drug.

    They were bailed to appear in the Port Augusta Magistrates Court on 31 March.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Name release: Fatal crash, Ngāhinapōuri

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police can now release the name of the man who died in a crash on Kakaramea Road, Ngāhinapōuri on 9 February.

    He was 60-year-old Peter Brett Van Syp, of Dinsdale.

    Police extend our sympathies to his friends and family.

    Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls to visit Nouméa for key political talks

    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future.

    These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode with a wide range of political stakeholders.

    The talks, which included pro-independence and pro-France parties, were said to have “allowed to restore a climate of trust between France and New Caledonia’s politicians”.

    Those meetings contributed to “a better understanding” of “everyone’s expectations” and “clarify everyone’s respective projects”, Valls said.

    Between February 4 and 9, Valls said he had met “at least twice” with delegations from all six parties and movements represented in New Caledonia’s Congress.

    The main goal was to resume the political process and allow everyone to “project themselves into the future” after the May 2024 riots.

    The riots caused 14 dead, hundreds of injured, arson and looting of hundreds of businesses and an estimated damage of some 2.2 billion euros (NZ$4 billion).

    ‘Touched all topics’
    “We have touched on all topics, extensively and without any taboo, including the events related to the riots that broke out in New Caledonia in May 2024.”

    Valls said in this post-riot situation, “everyone bears their own responsibilities, but the French State may also have a part of responsibility for what happened a few months ago”.

    New Caledonia’s key economic leaders Mimsy Daly and David Guyenne with French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls. Image: MEDEF NC/RNZ

    At the weekend, as part of the week-long talks, Valls and French Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin hosted a three-hour session dedicated to New Caledonia’s “devastated” economy.

    High on the agenda of the conference were crucial subjects, such as France’s assistance package, the need to reform and reduce costs in New Caledonia (including in the public service workforce) — as well as key sectors such as the health, tourism sectors and the nickel mining and processing industry — which has been facing an unprecedented crisis for the past two years.

    Unemployment benefits
    There was also a significant chapter dedicated to the duration of special unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs due to the riots’ destruction.

    Another sensitive point raised was the long and difficult process for businesses (especially very small, small and medium) damaged and destroyed for the same reasons to get insurance companies to pay compensation.

    Most insurance companies represented in New Caledonia have, since the May 2024 riots, cancelled the “riot risk” from their insurance coverage.

    This has so far made it impossible for riot-damaged businesses to renew their insurance cover under the same terms as before.

    French assistance to post-riot recovery in New Caledonia includes a 1 billion euros (NZ$1.8 billion) loan ceiling and a special fund of some 192 million euros (NZ$350 million) dedicated to the reconstruction of public buildings, mainly schools.

    New Caledonia’s students are returning to school next week as part of the new academic year.

    French Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin speaking from Paris to New Caledonia audience via a vision conference during the Economic Forum last Saturday. Image: NC la 1ère TV/RNZ

    Economy and politics closely intertwined
     Valls stressed once again that “there cannot be an economic recovery without a political compromise, just like there cannot be any lasting political solution without economic recovery”.

    “(France) needs to be there so that the economic slump (caused by the riots) does not turn into a social disaster which, in turn, would exacerbate political fractures”.

    “The government of France will be on your side. No matter what happens. We are absolutely taking charge of our responsibilities.”

    The “economic Forum” was also the first time delegations from all political tendencies, even though they did not talk to each other directly, were at least sitting in the same room.

    “Thank you all for being here, this is a beautiful picture of New Caledonia. Maybe the economy can do more than politics”, Valls told the Economic Forum last Saturday.

    Next step: ‘trilateral’ meetings
     The next step, in New Caledonia, is for Valls to attempt holding “trilateral” meetings (involving all parties, pro and anti-independence and France) around the same table, which was not the case in Paris last week.

    The format of those Nouméa talks, however, “remains to be determined”.

    Valls said he could stay in New Caledonia for as long as one week because, he said, “I want to take time”, including to not only meet politicians, but also economic and civil society stakeholders.

    The 62-year-old French minister, who is also a former Prime Minister, as a political adviser to the then French Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, was involved in the signing of the Matignon Accord, signed in 1988 between France, pro-independence and pro-France parties, which effectively put an end to half a decade of quasi civil war in the French Pacific archipelago.

    He also stressed that any future discussion would be based on the “foundation and basis” of the Matignon and Nouméa Accords which, he said, was “the only possible way”.

    The Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998 between the same parties, paved the way for a gradual transfer of powers from France to New Caledonia as well as a status of wider autonomy, often described in the legal jargon as “sui generis”.

    Until now, under the Nouméa Accord, the key powers remaining to be transferred by France were foreign affairs (shared with New Caledonia), currency, law and order, defence and justice.

    New Caledonia’s authorities have not requested the implementation of the transfer for another three portfolios: higher education, research, audiovisual communication and the administration of communes.

    An exit protocol
    But the 1998 deal also included an exit protocol, depending on the results of three referendums on self-determination.

    Those referendums were held in 2018, 2020 and 2021 and they all yielded a majority of votes against independence.

    However, New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement largely boycotted the third poll and has since contested its validity.

    Pro-France and pro-independence camps hold radically different views on how New Caledonia should evolve in its post-Nouméa Accord (1998) future status.

    The options mentioned so far by local parties range from a quick independence (a five-year process to begin in September 2025 following the anticipated signature of a “Kanaky Accord”) to some sort of yet undefined “shared sovereignty” that could imply an “independence-association”, or a status of “associated state” for New Caledonia.

    Pro-France parties, however, have previously stated they were determined to push for New Caledonia to remain part of France and, in corollary, that New Caledonia’s three provinces (North, South and Loyalty Islands) should be granted more separate powers, a formula sometimes described as “internal federalism” but criticised by pro-independence parties as a form of “apartheid”.

    Complicating factor
    Another complicating factor is that both sides — pro-independence and pro-France camps — are also divided between moderate and radical components.

    Last week, during question time in Parliament, Valls expressed concern at the current polarised situation: “People talk about racism, civil war. A common and shared project can only be built through dialogue.

    “The (previously signed, respectively in 1988 and 1998) Matignon and Nouméa Accords, both bearing the prospect of a decolonisation process, are the foundation of our discussions. I would even say they are part of my DNA,” the minister said.

    Referring to any future outcome of the current talks, he said they will have to be “inventive, ambitious, bold in order to build a compromise and do away with any radical position, all radical positions, in order to offer a common project for New Caledonia, for its youth, for concord and for peace”.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Peters and Slotkin Lead Bipartisan Legislation to Extend Federal Funding and Protections for the Great Lakes

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Elissa Slotkin (MI) are leading bipartisan legislation to extend federal funding and protections for the Great Lakes. The senators introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) through 2031 and increase the program’s annual authorized funding levels from $475 million to $500 million. The GLRI is the most significant investment ever made to restore and protect our Great Lakes. The GLRI combines federal and nonfederal efforts to stop the spread of carp and other invasive species, restore coastline and habitats connecting our streams and rivers, clean up environmentally damaged Areas of Concern, and prevent future contamination. While providing vital support for these efforts, the GLRI also helps ensure we can address new and emerging threats to the Great Lakes.    

    “The Great Lakes are a national treasure and central to our economy, environment, and way of life in Michigan. Since its creation, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has made significant headway in cleaning up Areas of Concern, protecting vital habitats, and restoring coastlines around the Great Lakes Basin,” said Senator Peters. “This bipartisan legislation will provide GLRI with the resources needed to build on that success and help protect and preserve the Great Lakes for future generations of Michiganders. I’m proud to again help lead the charge to strengthen this essential program.”  

    “Our Great Lakes power our Michigan economy, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative ensures we are protecting our Lakes for generations to come,” said Senator Slotkin. “From controlling invasive species to responding to algal blooms to building up our waterways infrastructure – the GLRI is a critical tool. Time and time again the Trump administration has tried to zero out this program, and it’s more important than ever we protect it. It’s why I am honored to take up the mantle from Senator Debbie Stabenow, and work alongside Senator Peters to get this bill done.”   

    Since its inception, the GLRI has spurred tremendous progress in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region including nearly half of a million acres of habitat protected, restored, or enhanced, a five-fold increase in the successful cleanup and delisting of Areas of Concern, a ten-fold increase in the remediation of environmental and public health impairments, and reducing the threat of harmful algal blooms. The GLRI’s efforts have also resulted in economic returns of more than 3 to 1 across the region. 

    “The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is the most successful effort to protect and clean up our Great Lakes in U.S. history,” said Lisa Wozniak, Executive Director of Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Our Great Lakes face emerging challenges, like toxic PFAS contamination, invasive species, rapidly warming temperatures and the impacts of climate change, which makes the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Act of 2025 more important than ever. Protecting our treasured Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for millions of people, is something all Michiganders can get behind, and we look forward to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to get this legislation signed into law.” 

    “The simple fact is the GLRI funds critical projects that make life better for the millions of Americans that depend on the Great Lakes. It also delivers a positive economic return on the government’s investment in cleaner water and healthier communities. Senator Peters and Senator Young along with other Great Lakes senators have our gratitude for introducing this important bill,” said Joel Brammeier, Alliance for the Great Lakes President and CEO. 

    “The GLRI is a landmark program that is making significant progress in restoring the waters, ecosystems, economies, and communities that make up the Great Lakes region,” said Erika Jensen, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Commission. “The Great Lakes Commission applauds Senators Peters and Young for introducing this important legislation, which will safeguard the economic and environmental health of the Great Lakes region for generations to come.” 

    “This bill is a winner for millions of people in the region,” said Laura Rubin, Director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We thank Sens. Gary Peters and Todd Young for their bipartisan leadership and commitment to tackle the serious threats to our region’s drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life. Federal investments to restore the Great Lakes have been producing results, but serious threats remain. We look forward to working with the Great Lakes congressional delegation to pass this bipartisan bill that supports common sense solutions. If we scale back investments now, the problems will only get worse and more expensive to solve.” 

    “The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative provides critical investments in the health of the Great Lakes and the communities and businesses that rely on clean water. Communities across the region realize the lasting benefits of clean and healthy lakes, which attract visitors, create jobs, and sustain the Great Lakes way of life,” said Peter Laing, Great Lakes Business Network Co-Chair.  

    The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 is also supported by the League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Council of Great Lakes Governors, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, American Great Lakes Ports Association, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, American Sportfishing Association, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, National Audubon Society – Great Lakes,  Environmental Law & Policy Center, and other key stakeholders in Great Lakes protection.  

    Peters and Slotkin have been champions for the GLRI. Peters and Slotkin helped enact the single-largest-ever investment in the GLRI through the bipartisan infrastructure law to accelerate the restoration of nine high-priority areas in Michigan whose lakes, rivers and watersheds flow into the Great Lakes.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Migrants Day, hunger in the Arab world, arbitrary arrests in South Sudan

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Migrants and Refugees

    Migration patterns continue to be shaped by conflicts, climate disasters, and economic pressures, with 2024 marking record levels of internal displacement, the UN reported on Wednesday, marking International Migrants Day.

    Tragically, the year also saw the highest death toll of migrants in transit.

    “These challenges are made worse by the rising tide of mis- and disinformation and hate speech which sows division and distorts the valuable contributions migrants are making each and every day,” said Secretary-General António Guterres.

    The potential of safe and well-managed migration remains clear, as migrants boost economies, address labour shortages in aging societies and drive innovation globally.

    The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration third report underscores the urgency of addressing migrant safety. Since 2014, nearly 70,000 migrants have died or gone missing, with the true numbers likely higher.

    The report calls for stronger international cooperation to prevent migrant deaths, enhance identification efforts, and support affected families.

    Meanwhile, the issue of migrant smuggling continues to pose severe risks. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), smugglers exploit barriers to legal migration, profiting from the desperation of those fleeing conflict or poverty.

    Ending migrant ‘smuggling’

    The UN Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants serves as the primary legal framework to combat this crime. Efforts by UNODC include supporting countries to implement the protocol, prosecute smugglers, and protect migrants’ rights.

    This year, two UN Committees stressed the urgent need to address the compounded challenges faced by migrants with disabilities, often overlooked by available policies and services.

    As migration remains a global reality, these initiatives emphasise the need for collective action to create pathways that prioritise safety and opportunity, the UN says.

    Hunger deepens in Arab region amid conflicts and economic struggle

    Hunger in the Arab region has intensified amid escalating crises in 2023, according to a new report released by the UN on Wednesday.

    The report, titled 2024 Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, was launched by several UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

    It reveals that 66.1 million people, or approximately 14 percent of the Arab region’s population, faced hunger in 2023.

    Access to adequate food remains a significant challenge, with 186.5 million people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, an increase from the previous year. Alarmingly, 72.7 million people faced severe food insecurity.

    Conflict is identified as the primary driver of food insecurity and malnutrition in the region, the report says.

    Rising prices

    Economic challenges, high income inequalities, and climate extremes further exacerbate the situation. Rising food prices have also worsened the crisis, with undernourishment rates in conflict-affected countries soaring to 26.4 per cent, compared to 6.6 per cent in non-conflict areas.

    The report warns that food security and nutrition indicators are likely to deteriorate further due to ongoing conflicts and persistent droughts.

    Economic access to healthy diets remains a critical issue, affecting over one-third of the population. In 2022, 151.3 million people could not afford a healthy diet, with the highest rates in conflict-affected countries.

    The Arab region continues to suffer from the triple burden of malnutrition, including rising trends in obesity, wasting, and nutrient deficiencies. Despite some progress in reducing stunting rates, achieving nutrition targets remains a challenge.

    Adult obesity rates in the Arab States are also alarmingly high, the report warns, with a prevalence of 32.1 per cent in 2022, more than double the global rate. Upper-middle-income countries, particularly Egypt, Qatar, and Kuwait, have the highest rates of obesity.

    The report underscores the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to address food insecurity and malnutrition across the region.

    South Sudan: arbitrary arrests and detentions include 87 children

    South Sudanese women and girls who are refusing to accept an arranged marriage are among those being arrested and detained unlawfully, UN human rights investigators said on Wednesday.

    A new report from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNSMISS) found that a total of 1,140 civilians were arbitrarily arrested and detained between January 2023 and May this year; most were men, but that number also included at least 162 women and 87 children.

    In many cases their detention was on the orders of a customary court presided over by a traditional chief, for refusing an arranged marriage, seeking divorce, or for alleged adultery, the report’s authors said.

    Cash incentive

    Women and girls are often detained to compel the bride’s family to return her dowry to her future husband.

    Other detainees have included those with disabilities – who “have often been detained without having committed an offence – and political opposition members.”(?) End quote was missing, so I asumed it coes here.

    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, appealed to the South Sudanese authorities to release all those held arbitrarily and to continue efforts to reform the country’s judicial system.

    Cause for concern

    “It is concerning that individuals have been arrested and detained – in many cases for alleged conduct that does not amount to criminal offences,” the UN rights chief said.

    The report’s authors highlighted how the rule of law remains “weak” in South Sudan where State institutions “have been weakened” amid ongoing targeted killings, conflict-related sexual violence that disproportionately affects women and girls, along with looting and movement restrictions.

    Most of the arrests were carried out by Government security agencies – the National Security Service, the National Prison Service and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces.

    Other arrests were carried out by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army – In Opposition and the National Salvation Front armed groups, as well as on the orders of state and county officials.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Mayor’s Office of (Alcaldia de) Guaranda

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Mission

    The mission of the Mayor’s Office of Guaranda, Sucre, is to plan the municipality’s socioeconomic advancement and manage its resources responsibly.

    The objective is for Guaranda to become a safe, environmentally sustainable municipality, producer and provider of goods and services.

    DRR activities

    Guaranda carries out disaster risk management, which includes knowledge, reduction and management of disasters, as included in Law 1523 of 2012, which adopts the national policy for disaster risk management and establishes the national system for disaster risk management in Colombia.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hamas report to mediators accuses Israel of pervasive Gaza ceasefire violations

    As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.

    By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News

    Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since the agreement went into effect on January 19 — including the killing of civilians, repeated ground and air incursions, the beating and humiliation of Palestinian captives during their release and the deportation of some without their consent, and the denial of humanitarian aid.

    Drop Site News obtained a copy of the report delivered to mediators from Qatar and Egypt.

    “Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement if the occupation is committed to the agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

    “We confirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments, and it bears responsibility for any complications or delays.”

    The move comes in response to accusations by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas had violated the agreement, threatening a full resumption of the war — yet it was Israel’s nearly daily breaches of the deal that prompted Hamas to announce it would postpone the next release of Israeli captives.

    On Monday, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, announced the next planned release of three Israeli captives, scheduled for Saturday, would be “postponed indefinitely”.

    Abu Obeida cited “delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed”.

    Israel violating ceasefire agreement
    Hamas issued a statement soon afterwards reiterating that Israel was violating the agreement by blocking aid, attacking civilians, and restricting movement in Gaza, and warning that the next release of captives would be postponed until it complied.

    “By issuing this statement five full days ahead of the scheduled prisoner handover, Hamas aims to grant mediators sufficient time to pressure the occupation to fulfill its obligations,” the statement said.

    Three Israeli officials and two mediators speaking anonymously to The New York Times confirmed that Israel had not fulfilled its obligations to send humanitarian aid into Gaza. This fact was mentioned in the 9th paragraph of the Times story.

    In response, President Trump, on Monday told reporters that the ceasefire should be cancelled if Hamas did not release all the remaining captives it was holding in Gaza by midday Saturday, warning “all hell is going to break out”.

    Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on Trump’s comments.

    “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, “the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.”

    Netanyahu reportedly ordered the military to add more troops in and around Gaza to prepare for “every scenario” if the captives were not released.

    It was not immediately clear if he was referring to the three Israelis originally scheduled for release Saturday, all remaining captives, or all living Israelis slated for release in Phase 1.

    Document submitted to mediators
    The two-page document submitted by Hamas to mediators yesterday divided the violations into five separate categories: Field Violations, Prisoners, Humanitarian Aid, Denial of Essential Supplies, and Political Violations.

    Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire deal since it came into effect, targeting Palestinians in Gaza on an almost daily basis. The document outlines 269 “field violations” by the Israeli military, including the killing of 26 Palestinians and the wounding of 59 others.

    Page 1 of the Hamas report of ceasefire violations by Israel. Image: Hamas screenshot APR/DDN

    The number of people killed appears to be a dramatic undercount compared to the official toll documented by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

    The Director-General of the Health Ministry, Dr Monir al-Barsh, announced separately yesterday that 92 Palestinians had been killed and 822 wounded in “direct targeting” by the Israeli military since January 19, when the ceasefire came into effect.

    The report also lists repeated ground incursions into Gaza beyond the designated buffer zone, particularly in the Philadelphi corridor — the 14km strip of land that runs along the border of Egypt.

    These incursions “were accompanied by gunfire and resulted in the deaths of citizens and the demolition of homes,” the report said.

    It also accused Israeli authorities of subjecting Palestinian captives to beatings and humiliation during their release, forcibly deporting released captives to Gaza without their coordination or consent, preventing families of deported prisoners from leaving the West Bank to join them, and delaying prisoner releases by several hours.

    The report also says that fewer than 25 fuel trucks per day have been allowed into Gaza, which is half of the allotted 50 fuel trucks per day, as outlined in the deal. The entry of commercial fuel was blocked entirely, the report says, again in violation of the agreement.

    Only 53,000 tents allowed
    Just over 53,000 tents were allowed into Gaza, the reports says, out of the 200,000 allotted and no mobile housing units out of the 60,000 agreed on.

    Heavy machinery for the removal of massive amounts of debris and retrieval of bodies was similarly blocked, with only four machines allowed in.

    Israel also blocked the entry of supplies to repair and operate the power plant and electrical grid, the report said.

    No medical supplies, ambulances have been allowed in and no equipment for civil defense teams. Meanwhile banks were not allowed to receive cash to replenish a severe currency shortage.

    The report ends on “Political Violations” criticising statements by the “Israeli Prime Minister and ministers openly calling for the expulsion of Gaza’s population, sending a clear message that the occupation does not wish to honour the agreement and aims to implement Trump’s plan to displace Gaza’s residents”.

    It also criticises the “deliberate delay” in starting the negotiations on Phase 2 of the ceasefire and “the introduction of impossible conditions.”

    A summary of the Israeli ceasefire violations. Image: QudsNews

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police increase visibility in Birkenhead

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police are upping reassurance patrolling in Birkenhead, as investigations continue into the aggravated robbery of a Cash in Transit van.

    A scene examination was completed at the ATM machine on Birkenhead Avenue yesterday evening.

    North Shore Relieving Area Commander, Inspector Mike Rickards, says Police visibility is increasing in response.

    “We are increasing reassurance patrolling for businesses and residents through that busy public space in Birkenhead,” he says.

    “It is anticipated this will be carried out over the coming days alongside other demand.”

    Meanwhile, investigations continue into Tuesday’s aggravated robbery as well as a wounding of a man on 4 February.

    “The public will appreciate we won’t be able to discuss the specifics of both investigations underway,” Inspector Rickards says.

    “Investigators from the Waitematā CIB are continuing to progress in their work to identify and hold offenders to account.”

    Inspector Rickards says Police understand the concern with two serious offences occurring so close to each other.

    “It’s likely to be the exception than the norm with two unrelated incidents occurring on the same road within a week of each other.”

    Police acknowledge the public who have come forward with information so far and continue to ask anyone to come forward.

    Please update Police online or call 105 using the reference number 250211/1336.

    Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS.

    Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN World Court concludes landmark hearings on States’ responsibility for climate change

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Climate and Environment

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held historic hearings from 2 to 13 December addressing States’ obligations under international law to combat climate change, a process spearheaded by small island nations facing existential threats.

    Initiated by a UN General Assembly resolution, the proceedings involved 96 countries and 11 regional organizations presenting their views on the “obligations of States with regard to climate change” under international law.  

    While ICJ advisory opinion will be non-binding, it is expected to shape the future of international climate law.

    Small islands call for justice

    The hearings opened with an appeal from Vanuatu and Melanesian Spearhead Group, representing nations most vulnerable to climate change.  

    “The outcome of these historic proceedings will have repercussions for generations to come, determining the fate of nations like mine and the future of our planet,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change.  

    The Pacific Island nation highlighted the catastrophic impacts of rising seas and extreme weather, calling the failures of high-emitting States “illicit”.

    The country’s Attorney General Arnold Kiel Loughman argued that “the failure of a handful of high-emitting states to meet their obligations constitutes an internationally wrongful act,” as they have brought humanity “to the brink of the abyss.”  

    Small island developing States (SIDS), represented by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), echoed these calls.  

    They asked the World Court to affirm principles of international law that address sea-level rise, including the recognition of maritime zones and statehood even if territories are inundated.  

    Differentiated responsibilities: Brazil, China weigh in  

    Brazil highlighted its commitment to ambitious emissions reductions, stressing that despite being a developing country, it faces significant challenges like poverty eradication and extreme climate impacts.  

    The country’s special envoy on climate change, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, underscored the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, asserting that high-emitting developed countries bear the greatest burden in addressing the crisis.  

    China, meanwhile, urged the ICJ to avoid creating new legal obligations and focus on existing frameworks such as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

    As one of the world’s largest emitters, China argued that developed nations must bear historical responsibility, while developing countries require longer timelines to meet climate goals.

    UN Photo

    The towers and gables of the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

    US, EU take diverging stances  

    The United States acknowledged the severity of the climate crisis but argued that international treaties like the Paris Agreement are not legally binding.  

    Margaret Taylor, the US representative, also rejected the notion that “common but differentiated responsibilities” is a fundamental principle of international law.  

    On the other hand, the European Union (EU) emphasised cooperation and stressed the non-adversarial nature of the advisory proceedings.  

    EU representatives pointed to the importance of existing treaties in addressing climate change but stopped short of calling for enforcement mechanisms.  

    A crucial moment for international climate action

    While the ICJ deliberates, nations and observers alike await its advisory opinion, expected to guide future legal interpretations of States’ responsibilities for the climate crisis.

    For small island nations and vulnerable communities, the stakes are existential.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s ex-vice justice minister indicted for bribery

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Liu Zhiqiang, a former vice minister of justice, has been indicted for suspected bribery-taking, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said on Tuesday.
    Liu, also a former member of the Ministry of Justice’s leading Party members group, allegedly took advantage of his various positions to seek benefits for others and illegally accepted an especially huge amount of money and valuables, according to the SPP.
    Prosecutors had informed the defendant of his legal rights, interrogated him and listened to the defense counsel’s arguments.
    Following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision, the People’s Procuratorate of Wuhu City in east China’s Anhui Province filed Liu’s case with the city’s intermediate people’s court. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Press Release: Aero India 2025 Opens

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    INDIA  –  

    Aero India 2025, India’s largest airshow and aviation exhibition has officially begun and will last until 14 February at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru, India.

    The event is scheduled to include aerial demonstrations and static displays from the United States and multiple other countries. U.S. Air Force aircraft scheduled to appear at the event include the C-17 Globemaster III, F-35A Lightning II, B-1B Lancer, and F-16 Fighting Falcon.

    The bi-annual event is an opportunity to enhance cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region, while providing the U.S. a forum to showcase its defense capabilities while strengthening alliances and partnerships.

    Several U.S. Department of Defense key leaders are scheduled to attend the event including Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Commander of Pacific Air Forces, General Kevin Schneider and Commander of Air Combat Command, General Kenneth Wilsbach.

    “Aero India 2025 is an ideal forum to showcase U.S. defense aircraft and equipment and ultimately contribute toward our compatibility and interoperability with other nations,” said Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces. “The growth in Indian and U.S. bilateral defense trade has corresponded with growing interoperability through information sharing, liaison officers, training exercises, and defense enabling agreements. The importance of our partnership continues to grow, particularly as we face an increasingly complex and dynamic security environment in the Indo-Pacific.”

    Participating leaders are expected to discuss topics such as increased security cooperation and promoting regional stability. The DoD aims to reinforce the U.S. – India defense partnership by strengthening military-to-military ties, and participation in this event is one of many continued efforts towards maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific for all.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: MARFORPAC, PMC Discuss Future Training at Staff Talks

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    FORT BONIFACIO, MANILA, Philippines  –  

    Senior leaders from U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, and the Philippine Marine Corps gathered at Fort Bonifacio for their annual Marine-to-Marine staff talks, from Feb. 3 to 6, 2025.

    The annual Marine-to-Marine staff talks are an important part of the U.S.-Philippine alliance, giving senior military leaders the chance to discuss regional security issues and find ways to work together more closely. These talks help strengthen the bond between the two military forces, allowing them to address new security challenges, share knowledge, and plan actions to maintain stability in the region. This week’s discussions further strengthened the long-lasting relationship between the U.S. and the Philippine Marine Corps, showing the two nations’ shared commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.

    “What we’ve accomplished here is alignment against an important problem set, which is ensuring the right people are conducting the right training together in the right places,” said Col. Christopher Winn, assistant chief of staff, G-5 Plans Division, MARFORPAC. “I cannot understate the importance of this alliance in this very important part of the world.”

    The yearly event highlighted the importance of the U.S.-Philippine military partnership and offered a chance to work together on shared objectives. Over the course of three days, leaders from both armed forces engaged on various topics, such as recent amphibious operation experiences, strategies for modernizing training, and enhancing capabilities to stay prepared and agile in the Indo-Pacific region.

    Another major topic discussed at the PMC-MARFORPAC Staff Talks included upcoming and reoccurring exercises aimed at increasing the interoperability between the U.S. and Philippine Marine Corps. Two of these major exercises – Balikatan and KAMANDAG – are designed to improve both militaries’ ability to conduct a range of combined operations such as humanitarian aid and disaster relief, amphibious operations, and coastal defense.

    “We must ensure that our Marines are equipped, trained, and prepared to execute any mission anywhere at any time,” Philippine Marine Corps Col. Enstein B. Calaoa, Chief of Marine Staff, PMC said. “This means investing in the best technology, providing realistic and demanding training, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.”

    These activities help align their efforts with common security goals and strengthen their long-standing partnership. Through combined exercises, both countries continue to build stronger military ties and ensure they are ready to face regional challenges together.

    This year’s event focused on strengthening defense cooperation between the Philippines and the U.S., while developing a model to assess future activities. The event also helped outline key events for 2026, which will enable future cooperation. These steps will ensure both nations remain prepared and responsive to security challenges and continue to strengthen their relationship in the years ahead.

    “We must constantly strive to improve, to innovate, and to anticipate the challenges of tomorrow,” Calaoa emphasized in his closing remarks. “These talks have highlighted several key areas that demand our continued attention.”

    The U.S. and the Philippines have a long-standing alliance dating back to 1951, with the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty, which serves as the foundation for close security cooperation. More than seventy years later, the two nations continue to work closely together towards common goals based on shared values and interests in the region.

    U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is the largest operational command in the Marine Corps and the Nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Marines serve alongside the joint force and like-minded Allies and partners to preserve and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Kazakhstan tightens laws to combat trafficking of newborns

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By  Kulpash Konyrova, in Kazakhstan

    Law and Crime Prevention

    Babies are being sold for up to $4,500 in Kazakhstan, but the government is cracking down on traffickers with a new law adopted earlier this month.

    To fight against trafficking newborns, the new legislation facilitates the criminal prosecution for such crimes as kidnapping, illegal deprivation of liberty, human trafficking, involvement in prostitution and more.

    Approved ahead of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, marked annually on 30 July, the law responds to a grim reality.

    Last year, 19 cases of trade in newborns were registered in the country, for which more than 15 people were brought to justice, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

    So far in 2024, six cases of trade in newborns have been registered, with the ministry reporting prices for each child range from $200 to $4,500.

    © Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan

    Doctors check the condition of a newborn baby who needs medical assistance at a hospital in Kazakhstan.

    True extent of the problem

    But, that is just the surface, said Gulnaz Kelekeyeva, head of the project Kazakhstan’s Actions in Combating Child Trafficking project at Winrock International, a United States-based non-governmental organization (NGO). Ms. Kelekeyeva said she believes that official statistics do not reflect the real state of affairs.

    “Unfortunately, in Kazakhstan, there has been virtually no nationwide research on socially vulnerable children and the vulnerability of children to trafficking and exploitation,” she told UN News. “There are also no accurate statistics to assess the true scale of the problem.”

    The only study on vulnerable Kazakhstani children who have been victims of human trafficking in and outside the country, as well as sexual exploitation, was conducted in 2012 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan.

    Trafficking moves online

    Since then, human and child trafficking has moved online, Ms. Kelekeyeva warned.

    “Much has changed over the past 12 years, in particular, human and child trafficking is now increasingly taking place in cyberspace,” she said. “It is necessary to conduct a new analysis of the current situation in the country regarding the protection of children from trafficking and exploitation.”

    Human and child trafficking is now increasingly taking place in cyberspace

    Today, there is only isolated information about cases of child trafficking that gets into the media from crime reports, she emphasised.

    Last fall, media reports spotlighted a case about the sale of an abandoned baby by obstetricians at a maternity hospital in Kazakhstan. The doctors were found guilty of selling a newborn for $3,000 and sentenced to eight years of imprisonment.

    Another case involved a 23-year-old mother tried to sell her two children. The eldest was about a year old, and the second was less than a month old. The children are now under state protection.

    Protecting children

    Unfortunately, those tasked with caring for children are often unaware of the role they play in preventing and combatting child trafficking, Ms. Kelekeyeva said. That includes health and education authorities, maternity hospitals and schools, children’s homes, guardianship and trusteeship institutions, visiting nurses and paediatricians at clinics, emergency wards and private medical centres in Kazakhstan.

    “Often, they mistakenly believe that this issue falls within the competence of purely law enforcement agencies,” she said. “Although it is precisely in this issue that there should be interaction between all interested services.”

    Child trafficking is not only the adoption of children, but also sexual exploitation, forced labour and the sale of organs, she said.

    Digital tools are helping

    The new Kazakh law is toughening penalties for human trafficking requires healthcare workers to report abandoned newborns or face administrative liability, and digital technologies are helping to identify such cases.

    Since last year, a pilot project has been tested in one of the maternity hospitals Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Each newborn was immediately given an individual identification number, which eliminates the possibility of criminal transactions.

    This year, the pilot is being rolled out across the country.

    Legal support

    Scientific achievements at the time, such as the possibility of artificial insemination, are now causing many difficulties in developing a law aimed at preventing the trafficking of newborns, explained member of parliament Sergei Ponomarev, who took part in developing the new anti-trafficking legislation.

    Today, cases have been encountered where women from Kazakhstan, especially from the southern regions of the country, are used as incubators to bear other people’s children, he said.

    The child’s DNA is then taken to determine parental rights with a man who is a citizen of another country, he said, noting that when determining kinship, the biological father has every right to take his child abroad.

    “Regarding this matter, we are open to studying the experience of other countries,” he said.

    A Kazakh sold abroad returns home

    When 21-year-old Eddy Jean (born Zhanibek) was born, he was adopted by a single Belgian woman who reportedly paid €12,000. In 2022, he came to Kazakhstan in search of his birth mother.

    “I don’t need anything; I just want to see my mother’s face, hug her at least once and calm my heart,” Eddy said at the time on a popular talk show that aired on national television. “I still worry, especially when I talk about my mother.”

    I just want to see my mother’s face, hug her at least once and calm my heart

    Renowned journalist Kymbat Doszhan told UN News that she was so moved by Eddy’s story that she became his official representative in Kazakhstan in the search for his biological mother.

    She said Eddy’s biological mother had asked to leave the maternity hospital with a receipt in 2002, but never returned. In those years, when the nation’s economy was recovering after the Soviet Union’s collapse, she said many Kazakhstani children were adopted by foreigners and taken abroad.

    The Kazakhstan Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that foreigners can now pay as much as $50,000 for a trafficked newborn. But, Ms. Doszhan said “it is still very difficult to find Eddy’s biological mother.”

    She said archival documents from the orphanage have either disappeared or do not contain accurate information.

    “Perhaps this was done intentionally,” she continued. “There were two meetings with Eddy’s alleged mothers, but the DNA results did not confirm the relationship. When we contacted his adoptive mother from Belgium, it turned out that she had paid the orphanage staff €12,000.”

    Today in Kazakhstan, issues of child adoption are regulated by law. In the event of the detection of a crime, in particular an act of purchase and sale or other transactions in relation to a minor, the fact is registered under article 135, on trafficking minors, of the Criminal Code.

    Still, the search for Eddy’s birth mother continues, Ms. Doszhan said.

    “We were faced with the fact that we had no one to even file claims against,” she said. “Those who sold children in those years have long since left Kazakhstan.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Guinea: Senior UN officials welcome verdict in 2009 stadium massacre trial

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Law and Crime Prevention

    The fight against impunity must continue in Guinea, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday, welcoming the long-awaited verdict in the trial into the 2009 massacre at a stadium in the capital, Conakry.

    On Wednesday, a court in Conakry found former President Moussa Dadis Camara and several other military leaders guilty of crimes against humanity. Four other men were acquitted.

    Those convicted were also ordered to provide reparations to the victims and their families.

    Right to justice

    “After nearly 15 years, the victims, survivors and their families have the right to full justice and transparency,” UN rights chief Volker Türk said.

    “It is necessary to continue the path that Guinea has already started towards an end to impunity and ensuring that all those responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice,” he added.

    The High Commissioner also called for further strengthening of Guinea’s judicial institutions and guaranteeing their independence as key to preventing such violations from recurring.

    Killings, sexual violence and torture

    At least 156 people were killed, many disappeared and at least 109 girls and women were subjected to sexual violence, including sexual mutilation and sexual slavery, when security and military forces attacked a peaceful political rally at the Conakry Stadium on 28 September 2009.

    A number of victims were tortured to death and buried in mass graves.

    In the aftermath, a UN Commission of Inquiry was mandated to establish the facts and circumstances, to identify those responsible and make recommendations.

    With the support of the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the Commission concluded at the time that there was a “strong presumption that crimes against humanity were committed”, with “reasonable grounds to suspect individual criminal responsibility”.

    “Those who have lost loved ones and those who have been subjected to torture and sexual violence have the right to comprehensive psychosocial as well as financial support,” Mr. Türk said.

    The High Commissioner noted that it was also crucial for the Guinean Government to determine the whereabouts of all those who went missing and ensure those responsible for enforced disappearances and associated violations are held to account.

    He also stressed the importance of guaranteeing the defendants’ right to appeal.

    Powerful message against impunity

    Separately, the senior UN official working to end rape in wartime also welcomed the outcome of the trial.

    Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, said the verdict sends a powerful message that impunity will not be tolerated and reaffirms commitment to upholding the rights of survivors.

    “The delivery of the first-instance verdict is a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for survivors of sexual violence and accountability for perpetrators. Sexual violence crimes have always been at the centre of this accountability process, both in investigations and trial,” she added.

    The Special Representative’s Office has supported this process since 2011, when the Guinean Government and the UN signed a joint communiqué on the fight against impunity for the 28 September 2009 events, including sexual violence.

    Through the Team of Experts on the rule of law and sexual violence in conflict, the Office has provided technical assistance to the investigating judges throughout the investigation phase and in the establishment of a steering committee for the organization of the trial.

    Ms. Patten commended the crucial efforts by Guinean authorities in organising this nationally owned process.

    She also praised the proactive role of the national judicial system and the magistrates’ professionalism in the conduct of a fair trial.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Saints and liars: The story of American aid workers who helped Jewish refugees escape the Holocaust

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Tracey Petersen

    Human Rights

    Long before the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941, American aid workers were fanning out across territory occupied by the Axis powers, attempting to help Jews escape, as their grip tightened.

    A new book on their work underlines the chaos of the time, and the difficult decisions they had to make, knowing that for every person they saved, many more would be killed.

    Saints and Liars, by Debórah Dwork, the Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the City University of New York Graduate Center, tells the stories of rescue workers in five key cities as the situation on the ground grew increasingly dire.

    At the launch ahead of the  International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust marked annually on 27 January, Tracey Petersen, the manager of the UN Holocaust Education Outreach Programme, interviewed Debórah Dwork at UN Headquarters, and began by asking her about the book’s title.

    This interview has been edited for clarity and length

    Debórah Dwork: I called it Saints and Liars because that’s what these people were. They did amazing things, in a non-religious sense. They did miraculous things. They saved people either by helping them to move on, get to sea, find a safe harbour, or by feeding, clothing and sheltering them.

    And at the same time, nearly all of them lied. They broke rules and played fast and loose with the truth in order to accomplish their goals.

    Tracey Petersen: Why did you write this book?

    UN Publications/Steven Bornholtz

    Debórah Dwork (r) author of Saints and Liars.

    Debórah Dwork: I wanted to tell the story of Americans who went to Europe when everyone who was worried about danger was trying to go in the opposite direction. Their first idea was relief activities, but their mandate morphed to trying to effect rescue. I wanted to know who they were and what prompted them.

    We start in Prague, 1939, before the war was declared and well before the United States entered the war. What prompted Waitstill and Martha Sharp? They were a pair of married Unitarians sent to Czechoslovakia by their church.

    The situation grew worse and worse for political opponents of the Nazi regime and for Jews. And yet the Sharps stayed on to help and began to engage in illegal activities in the hope of saving lives.

    Soundcloud

    Tracey Petersen: Did the outside world in general know what was happening in Czechoslovakia at that time?

    Debórah Dwork: The loss of the Sudetenland region was part of the Munich Pact, an agreement signed by the major leaders of Europe, who gave away a whole chunk of Czechoslovakia without a single shot being fired.

    As you can imagine, this was the stuff of headlines, and it was the Munich Pact which first galvanized the Unitarian leadership in Boston to say “we’ve got to do something: the Germans have taken Sudetenland. Refugees are fleeing into Prague. They need help. They need clothing. They need shelter. They need medical care. They need food”.

    Tracey Petersen: How dangerous was the work of these American aid workers?

    Debórah Dwork: Waitstill Sharp said that Yankees like to skate on thin ice. Just one of the ways in which his work endangered him was that he did illegal currency transactions, because raising money to pay for the rescue activities was very difficult. But if the regime had learned about this he would have been at least imprisoned and probably tortured.

    Tracey Petersen: Why did refugees go to Shanghai and where were they coming from?

    Debórah Dwork: Even before the war, Jews and political dissidents in Germany and Nazi-occupied Austria and Czechoslovakia sought desperately to leave Europe and to get to some place of safety.

    As it happened, Shanghai was just such a place because no visa was required for them to land there. So, by the time war did break out in January, in September 1939, some 20,000 refugees had collected in Shanghai, which had been under Japanese rule since 1937.

    US Holocaust Memorial Museum/Yad Vashem

    Jews from Subcarpathian Rus are subjected to a selection process on a ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland.

    The US State Department and American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) sent Laura Margolis to Shanghai to help them move on to their next destination, but the war intervened, and she ended up staying in a city under occupation with very few resources to help them meet their needs. They needed medical care, food and shelter. The children needed education. Somehow, she had to try to meet the needs of this community that was cut off from the rest of the world

    Tracey Petersen: The numbers are staggering. You had women, children, refugees, incredible terror, anxiety, being turned down for visas… did the aid workers reflect on whether they were possibly being swayed by their emotions and maybe helping some people when they should have been helping others? Is there any sense of their turmoil?

    Debórah Dwork: Definitely. There were thousands upon thousands of people who needed help. When you wake up in the morning, whose case are you going to attend to? What were the criteria?

    The Unitarians did have specific criteria: they wanted to rescue people who would help to reestablish democratic governments after the war was over. Of course, they were mostly male, mostly middle class or upper middle class. Mostly well-educated. That was the idea. But life on the ground had its own dynamic. And in Prague Martha and Waitstill ended up helping all manner of people.

    The Quakers, by contrast, had no such calculus. Their goal was to help everyone who required help. This was a sharp and distinct difference between the Unitarians agenda and the Quakers agenda. In fact, they annoyed each other with the Unitarians saying the Quakers had no principles, and the Quakers saying the Unitarians had no principles.

    Tracey Petersen: In many ways these stories reveal that a successful rescue is sometimes just a question of luck and timing.

    Debórah Dwork: We all know the degree to which the unpredictable and the irrational affect our lives. Luck, timing, fortuitous circumstances, passion, sympathies, antipathies. But when we think about the past, we strip those factors away. We think things happened for a reason. Sometimes they did happen for a reason, but sometimes they happened by accident.

    Let’s hope that we can learn from these events and say action is possible, activities are possible, initiative is possible. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The climate crisis: 5 things to watch out for in 2025

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    By Conor Lennon

    Climate and Environment

    The Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, will be the global focus of efforts to tackle the climate crisis in November 2025, when it hosts one of the most significant UN climate conferences in recent years. 

    However, throughout the years there will be plenty of opportunities to make important progress on several climate-related issues, from the staggering levels of plastic pollution to financing the shift to a cleaner global economy.

    1 Can we keep 1.5 alive?

    “Keep 1.5 alive” has been the UN’s rallying cry for a number of years, a reference to the goal of ensuring that average global temperatures don’t soar beyond 1.5 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels. The scientific consensus is that a lack of action would have catastrophic consequences, not least for the so-called “frontline States”, such as developing island nations which could disappear under the ocean, as sea levels rise.

    © UNICEF/Lasse Bak Mejlvang

    A man fishes sitting on sandbags which protect the Pacific Ocean island nation Tuvalu against sea erosion.

    At COP30, the UN climate conference scheduled to take place between 10 and 21 November 2025, mitigation (in other words, actions and policies designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to rising temperatures) is likely to a key focus.

    The nations of the world will arrive with upgraded, more ambitious commitments to lowering greenhouse gases. This is both a recognition that existing pledges are wholly inadequate, in terms of getting temperatures down, and part of the deal that Member States signed up to in 2015 at the Paris COP (nations are expected to “ratchet up” their commitments every five years. The last time this happened was at the 2021 Glasgow COP, delayed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

    2 Protecting nature

    Holding COP30 in the Amazonian rainforest region of Brazil is of symbolic importance. It harks back to the early days of international attempts to protect the environment: the pivotal “Earth Summit”, which led to the establishment of three environmental treaties on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification, took place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

    © Unsplash/Sreenivas

    A parrot stands on a tree branch in Maharashtra, India.

    The location also highlights the role that nature has to play in the climate crisis. The rainforest is a massive “carbon sink”, a system that sucks up and stores CO2, a greenhouse gas, and prevents it from entering the atmosphere, where it contributes to warming.

    Unfortunately, rainforests and other “nature-based solutions” face threats from human development, such as illegal logging which has devastated huge swathes of the region. The UN will continue efforts begun in 2024 to improve the protection of the rainforest and other ecosystems, at biodiversity talks due to be resumed in Rome in February.

    3 Who’s going to pay for all this?

    Finance has long been a thorny issue in international climate negotiations. Developing countries argue that wealthy nations should contribute far more towards projects and initiatives that will enable them to move away from fossil fuels, and power their economies on clean energy sources. The pushback from the rich countries is that fast-growing economies such as China, which is now the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, should also pay their share.

    © UNFCCC/Habib Samadov

    Activists protest against fossil fuels at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a breakthrough of sorts was made, with the adoption of an agreement to triple the amount of climate finance paid to developing countries, to $300 billion per year, by 2035. The deal is a definite step forward, but the final sum is far less than the $1.3 trillion that climate experts say these countries need in order to adapt to the crisis.

    Expect more progress to be made on financing in 2025, at a summit in Spain at the end of June. The Financing for Development conferences only take place once every 10 years, and next year’s edition is being billed as an opportunity to make radical changes to the international financial architecture. Environmental and climate concerns will be raised, and potential solutions such as green taxation, carbon pricing and subsidies will all be on the table.

    4 Laying down the law

    When the attention of the International Court of Justice turned to climate change in December, it was hailed as a landmark moment with regards to States’ legal obligations under international law.

    © UNDP/Silke von Brockhausen

    Vanuatu often experiences destructive extreme weather, such as typhoons, which are being exacerbated by climate change.

    Vanuatu, a Pacific island state particularly vulnerable to the crisis, asked the court for an advisory position, in order to clarify the obligations of States with regard to climate change, and inform any future judicial proceedings.

    Over a two-week period, 96 countries and 11 regional organizations took part in public hearings before the Court, including Vanuatu and a group of other Pacific islands States, and major economies including China and the USA.

    The ICJ will deliberate for several months before delivering its advisory opinion on the subject. Although this opinion will be non-binding, it is expected to guide future international climate law.

    5 Plastic pollution

    UN-convened talks on getting to grips with the global epidemic of plastic pollution edged closer to a deal during negotiations in Busan, South Korea.

    Some key advances were made during the November 2024 talks – the fifth round of negotiations following the 2022 UN Environment Assembly resolution calling for an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.

    Agreement on three pivotal areas needs to be ironed: plastic products, including the issue of chemicals; sustainable production and consumption; and financing.

    UNDP India

    Plastic bottles are collected for recycling in India.

    Member States are now charged with finding political solutions to their differences before the resumed session begins, and with landing a final deal that addresses the full lifecycle of plastics and delivers on the growing global momentum to end plastic pollution.

    “It is clear that the world still wants and demands an end to plastic pollution,” said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen. “We need to ensure we craft an instrument that hits the problem hard instead of punching below its potential weight. I call on all Member States to lean in.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: US, Australia, and UK forces conduct joint combined operations

    Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

    SOUTH CHINA SEA  –  

    The U.S. Navy (USN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and Royal Navy (RN) joined together to conduct a link exercise, a coordinated maneuvering exercise, and a variety of other combined operations in the South China Sea, Feb. 6-7.

    Participating units included the USN Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65), the RAN Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG 39), the RN River-class offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey (P234).

    “Regular military engagements between the defense forces in the Indo-Pacific will help maintain regional security and stability” said Commodore Jonathan Ley, Joint Force Maritime Component Commander for Australia’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command. “This activity is a testament to the growing ability of Australia and the United States to work together in this complex maritime environment. As one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes and home to almost two thirds of the world’s population, it is essential we are ready, willing and able to meet any challenge.”

    During the maritime training, the three ships exercised their ability to exchange data using their tactical datalink systems, while the maneuvering exercise trained the crews’ ability to sail alongside each other in various conditions, improving the self-defense and communication capabilities of the three countries.

    “Operating alongside our Royal Navy and Australian counterparts strengthens collaboration at sea,” said Capt. Justin Harts, Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. “We will continue to reinforce our interoperability with our allies at every corner to maintain a consistent presence in the Indo-Pacific.”

    The U.S. Navy regularly operates alongside our allies in the Indo-Pacific region as a demonstration of our shared commitment to upholding international law. Combined operations provide valuable opportunities to train, exercise and develop tactical interoperability across allied navies in the Indo-Pacific.

    Benfold is forward-deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force.

    U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HONOLULU – Acting United States Attorney Kenneth M. Sorenson announced that John B. Stancil, 37, of Waimanalo, was sentenced today in federal court by U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson to 240 months of imprisonment (the statutory maximum) followed by 3 years of supervised release for racketeering conspiracy. Stancil pled guilty on January 22, 2024, in the middle of jury selection, to conspiring to conduct and  participate in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, the “Miske Enterprise,” through racketeering activity that included participating in the commission of murder-for-hire and acts relating to chemical weapons.

    In his plea agreement, Stancil admitted that he and other members of the Miske Enterprise participated in chemical weapon attacks on two Honolulu nightclubs in March 2017, carried out on the orders of codefendant Michael J. Miske. Stancil provided the toxic chemical used in the attacks – a substance called chloropicrin, which can cause death, temporary incapacitation, or permanent harm to humans. Stancil also admitted to joining a murder-for-hire conspiracy with Miske and other Enterprise members. Miske put a murder contract out on an individual he believed was cooperating with law enforcement. Stancil then provided details of where the victim lived to another co-conspirator who agreed to carry out the murder until Miske eventually rescinded the contract. Stancil also admitted he served as the getaway driver for multiple assaults ordered by Miske and on behalf of the Miske Enterprise. According to other information provided to the Court, Stancil also coordinated and participated in numerous robberies on behalf of the Miske Enterprise.

    Stancil was charged alongside twelve other defendants, all of whom pled guilty except for Michael J. Miske who proceeded to trial and was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder, and 11 other felony charges on July 18, 2024. Seven other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise pled guilty to various offenses in related cases.

    “You cannot run from the facts,” Judge Watson advised Stancil during today’s sentencing before reciting the litany of racketeering acts for which the Court found Stancil responsible. Judge Watson found Stancil to be  “among the most culpable” of those in the Miske Enterprise, describing him as one of Michael Miske’s “key confidantes and lieutenants” and a “key player in terrorizing the citizenry of this city and county for years.” Judge Watson further noted that Stancil deserved an even higher prison sentence that the Court was not permitted to impose by statute.

    “Today’s sentence represents the culmination of years of tireless, dogged, skilled, and innovative work on the part of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii and our outstanding law enforcement partners, the Honolulu Division of the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, among others,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson. “The court was deprived of the opportunity to sentence Michael Miske due to his untimely death following his guilty verdicts at trial for racketeering and other crimes. But today’s sentence, along with the 18 convictions we have secured against Miske’s henchmen and violent thugs, demonstrates our strong commitment to investigating, prosecuting, and convicting those who violate the law and endanger the safety and welfare of Hawaii’s citizens. Let today’s sentence and the convictions in these cases serve as a stark reminder to those who operate criminal enterprises in Hawaii that we have the tools, expertise, and resolve to bring them to justice.”

    “Mr. Stancil was a key member of the Miske Enterprise, actively participating in a longstanding pattern of racketeering activity involving murder-forhire, robbery, and use of chemical weapons,” said FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge David Porter. “This sentencing reflects years of collaboration between FBI Honolulu and our law enforcement partners. The FBI remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantle violent criminal enterprises, hold their members accountable, and pursue justice for victims.”

    “Mr. Stancil’s racketeering charge reminds us that organized crime threatens innocent lives for money,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “Our agency follows the money so we can cut off organized crime at its roots.” 

    “HSI is committed to ending organized crime in Hawaii. The sentencing of Mr. Stancil underscores the importance of leveraging law enforcement partnerships to safeguard our community,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas. “Our dedication to this cause is unwavering, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that these criminals are held accountable for their actions.”

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

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental  Protection Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Honolulu Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Cybercrime Lab of the Department of Justice Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team, the Office of Investigations–Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Inciong, Michael Nammar, KeAupuni Akina, and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Twenty Defendants Indicted in Akron Drug Trafficking and Firearms Conspiracy

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    AKRON, Ohio – A 51-count superseding indictment was unsealed today charging 17 Ohio residents of operating a large-scale drug trafficking scheme based in Akron. The Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) is alleged to be responsible for trafficking distribution quantities of controlled substances in the Summit County, Ohio area including methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, as well as Alprazolam, which is more commonly known under the brand name Xanax. Three other defendants were indicted separately for their involvement in the conspiracy.

    According to court documents, the investigation that led to the indictment began in December 2023 and continued to around August 2024. The alleged leader, Joe Nathan Sanders-Taylor, 41, of Akron, was believed to be the center of the DTO that distributed illegal drugs throughout Northeast Ohio. He was regularly supplied by co-conspirators who funneled drug inventory from sources connected to the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG or Jalisco Cartel). Sanders-Taylor developed a drug distribution process that employed a number of individuals to serve as drug dealers throughout the Northeast Ohio region.

    Court documents show that Sanders-Taylor used a network of associates to re-sell the drugs, assist with financial transactions, or act as lookouts while drug deals took place. Several co-defendants and other members of the conspiracy maintained and used residences in Summit County, Ohio, to store and distribute their drug supplies, or to manufacture controlled substances. Members of the conspiracy also possessed firearms to further their illegal business activities and protect their drug inventory.

    Sanders-Taylor was arrested on June 10, 2024, after he engaged in a pursuit by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on Interstate 77 in Summit County. As he fled from police, he threw two loaded firearms with high-capacity magazines from the vehicle. Sanders-Taylor crashed the vehicle and then fled on foot and attempted to carjack two separate vehicles with people still inside. Sanders-Taylor was later discovered to have prior federal convictions which prohibits him from possessing firearms. Further investigation of the incident determined that he also possessed distribution amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl. The remaining defendants were apprehended in a series of coordinated arrests.

    The superseding indictment charges the following 17 defendants:

    • Joe Nathan Sanders-Taylor, aka Red, 41, Akron
    • Brooke Marie Logan, aka Bee, 29, Akron
    • Tyrell Jerome Jennings, aka 50, 35, Cleveland
    • Christopher Michael Andrews, aka Blondy, 28, Akron
    • Crystal Marie Harris, 50, Akron
    • Ronald Oscar Clark, 58, Akron
    • Chelsey Marie Connelly, 35, Akron
    • Angela Grace Wade, 47, Akron
    • Demardre Leshawn Johnson, aka Icey, 37, Akron
    • Denetris Condra May, aka D-May, aka Mayday, 38, Akron
    • John P. Burton, 41, Akron
    • Brian Keith Hinkle, aka Hizzle, 38, Akron
    • Joshua Lee Hackney, aka Country, 38, Akron
    • Matthew Dion Inman, 54, Akron
    • Thomas Franklin Casanova, 27, Akron
    • Donnie Keith Eugene Schaffer, 30, Akron
    • Julia Francesca Stavole-Habimana, 26, Richfield

    The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants did unlawfully, knowingly, and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, all Schedule II controlled substances, and Alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance.

    In addition, three other defendants involved with this drug trafficking and firearms conspiracy were charged in a separate superseding indictment:

    • Robert Parham, 54, Akron
    • Laverne Fortson, 50, Akron
    • Jeffery Goldbach, 54, Ravenna

    According to court documents, in July 2024, Parham had 28 firearms, which included a machine gun, distribution amounts of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in his possession at his apartment in Akron. Fortson and Goldbach also possessed distribution amounts of narcotics at their residences.

    An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    If convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including each defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.

    The investigation preceding the superseding indictment was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI Akron Field Office, with assistance from the Akron Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Girard Police Department, Barberton Police Department, Liberty Police Department, and the University of Akron Police Department.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Dangelo for the Northern District of Ohio.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Waterbury Man Who Possessed Guns and Drugs While on Supervised Release Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that D’METRIUS JOHNSON, formerly known as D’METRIUS WOODWARD, and also known as “Meech,” 30, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for unlawfully possessing firearms as a felon, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release that followed a prior federal conviction.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 12, 2014, Johnson was sentenced in federal court to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his participation in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy.  He was released from federal prison in January 2018.  On November 21, 2022, while Johnson was on supervised release, Brookfield Police arrested him on state charges related to the theft of catalytic converters.  On that date, a search of Johnson’s Waterbury residence revealed a Ruger 57 semiautomatic pistol, a Glock 31 semiautomatic pistol, a Ruger LCP handgun, ammunition, approximately 89 grams of cocaine, and pills containing MDMA (“ecstasy”).

    It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

    Johnson has been detained since his arrest.  On November 14, 2024, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

    This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Waterbury Police Department, with the assistance of the Brookfield Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark.

    This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fort Wayne Man Sentenced to 292 Months in Prison

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    FORT WAYNE – Dontae L. Salter, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

    Salter was sentenced to 292 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

    According to documents in the case, Salter distributed several pounds of methamphetamine from June through October of 2023.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Wayne Safe Streets Gang Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Indiana State Police, the Fort Wayne Police Department, and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also assisting with the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony W. Geller.

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

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

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Granite Credit Union Selects Appli to Modernize Digital Lending Experience

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Appli, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered financial calculators, announced that Granite Credit Union has selected its financial calculator solution to improve the digital lending experience for its members.

    “In our market, which is very credit union-heavy, staying competitive technologically while maintaining our focus on member service is crucial,” said Garrett Laws, chief lending officer at Granite Credit Union. “Financial calculators are often the first step in a member’s lending journey, but traditional calculators provide limited value. Appli’s guided experience gives members the confidence to move forward with applications while helping those who might not initially qualify understand their path to approval. Even if someone isn’t ready for loan approval today, being able to show them a path forward aligns perfectly with our mission of helping people be confident in their financial future.”

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    Granite Credit Union will implement Appli’s technology to help members better understand their borrowing options and loan qualification potential before submitting formal applications. Starting with auto loans, including its unique “vanishing rate auto loan” program that rewards members with rate discounts for consistent on-time payments, the credit union plans to integrate the calculators throughout its digital presence – from its website and online banking portal to new member onboarding communications. Future phases will expand to personal loans and credit cards, with plans to explore mortgage and business lending applications.

    “Granite Credit Union is a perfect example of the innovative, member-focused approach we designed Appli for,” said Tim Pranger, CEO of Appli. “Their commitment to serving diverse communities and helping members build financial confidence through technology makes them an ideal partner as we continue expanding our platform’s capabilities.”

    About Granite Credit Union
    Founded in 1935, Granite Credit Union serves over 35,000 members and has just over $800 million in assets. Committed to helping members achieve their financial goals, Granite Credit Union offers a variety of financial products and services, including competitive rates, flexible lending options, and personalized financial guidance. With a vision of “always there… so you can make life happen,” the credit union strives to empower members with the tools and support they need to succeed financially. Members enjoy access to secure mobile banking services, online tools, and personalized in-branch assistance at locations across Utah. Granite Credit Union is dedicated to making a positive impact in the communities it serves through financial education, trusted relationships, and exceptional service. Granite Credit Union is always there… so you can make life happen. Learn more at granite.org.

    About Appli
    Appli, founded in 2024 by POPi/o co-founder Tim Pranger, provides AI-powered financial calculators that help lenders and member service representatives create personalized, engaging shopping experiences for financial products. By combining real-time analysis with generative AI, Appli’s tools boost customer confidence and increase conversion rates for financial institutions. For more information about Appli and its smart financial calculator for credit unions, visit hiappli.com.

    Media Contact:
    marketing@granite.org

    The MIL Network –