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  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth, Durbin Help Reintroduce Bill to Help Families Get the Affordable Child Care They Need

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth
    July 17, 2025
    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03) and their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.
    “For most working parents, affordable child care isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity,” said Duckworth. “Donald Trump ran on a promise to lower costs for working families—and yet, he and Republicans are prioritizing tax breaks to their billionaire donors, leaving families to fend for themselves. If Republicans really cared about lowering costs and supporting middle-class families, they’d help us pass this legislation to help solve our child care shortage and make quality, affordable care more accessible to every family who needs it.”
    “Working families in Illinois deserve high-quality, affordable, and reliable child care, but this necessity has become an out-of-reach luxury. While the cost of care continues to rise, President Trump has held up critical government funding and dished out tax breaks for billionaires rather than address the child care crisis,” said Durbin. “It’s time working families had better options. Under the Child Care for Working Families Act, parents would have better access to affordable child care, including pre-kindergarten programs, and caregivers would earn the living wages they deserve.”
    As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the childcare crisis.
    The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceed median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal childcare office, held up childcare funding to states, held up Head Start funding and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.
    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the childcare crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation would also dramatically expand access to pre-K and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increase wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, typical family in America will pay no more than $15 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.
    The Child Care for Working Families Act would help:
    Make child care affordable for working families.
    The typical family earning the state median income would pay less than $15 a day for child care.
    No working family would pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
    Families earning below 85% of state median income would pay nothing at all for child care.
    If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts or Head Start agencies.

    Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:

    Addressing childcare deserts by providing grants to help open new childcare providers in underserved communities.
    Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
    Increasing childcare options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
    Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness and children in foster care.

    Support higher wages for child care workers.

    Childcare workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
    Childcare subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.

    Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.

    States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
    States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
    If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts or Head Start agencies.

    Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.
    Along with Duckworth, Durbin and Murray, the legislation is cosponsored by 41 additional U.S. Senators—the most in the bill’s history: U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
    The full text of the bill is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
    – 30 –

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur Statement at the Full Committee Markup of the 2026 Energy and Water Development Funding Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09)

    Washington, DC — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the full committee’s markup of its fiscal year 2026 bill:

    Thank you very much, Chairman Cole. Ranking Member DeLauro, my dear friend, Chair Fleischmann and all the members as we gather today to mark up this Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development Bill. I have to restate, Chairman Fleischmann, I have truly appreciated working with you. You are always open to suggestions and, to all of our colleagues on this subcommittee that is a very, bipartisan subcommittee to develop and pass these bills, and our committee has long had this practice. We affect every single Congressional District in this country.

    I’m truly saddened that this vital subcommittee is, being steered yet again to return to a partisan process not caused by our subcommittee, but as we move forward with this Fiscal Year 2026 House bill.

    I would like to begin by thanking our diligent staff for all their hard work on this bill from the minority staff Scott McKee, Anisha Singh, and Adam Wilson, and on our personal staff, Kaitlin Ulin, TJ Lowdermilk, and Margaret McInnis. Truly thank you to you all.

    Engineered energy and water systems undergird America’s way of life. They are not optional, but essential to sustaining life. Of late, we have been piercingly reminded about our subcommittee’s purpose, especially as related to water management by the extreme flash flooding and tragic loss of over 132 lives, and with over 101 missing, in the Guadalupe River catchment area in Texas.

    The deadly West Virginia flash flooding this past month significantly damaged over 100 homes. Unfortunately, taking the lives of at least nine people, including a three year old, in Valley Grove, West Virginia. And we’ve seen flooding events in central North Carolina and New Mexico. All our hearts go out to the families of the victims and their communities. These tragedies inform us of the power of water and wild energy in our atmosphere. Not because of cloud seeding, but because of nature’s awesome power generated inside the thin seven layer atmosphere surrounding our spinning and rotating earth. Let me be clear. No matter how much members on the other side of the aisle want to pretend that the climate isn’t changing, for the record, the last ten years are the ten hottest in recorded history.

    So many have been held up on their plane flights back here. It’s an unusual change in the weather across this country, and members are personally experiencing these delays, as are the American people. These recent floods are made worse by the heating atmosphere. We had four 1,000 year floods last week alone. That is a record.

    So far in July, our country has seen over 1,200 flooding events, more than double the normal for an average July, and we’re just halfway through the month. Constitutionally, it is our sworn duty to prepare and protect the people in our communities, and it is hard to accept that no warning sirens had been installed along the Guadalupe River, despite prior tragedies along that very treacherous corridor. Our nation needs to install warning systems and build resilient infrastructure, and we are behind.

    For example, in a district like mine, we had to bring funding for tornado sirens many years ago. I was shocked that they didn’t exist. And in Ohio, we do zone to prevent flooding from threatening human life. But many places in our country do not, and we cannot keep bailing out places that are irresponsible in their behavior. My home in the City of Toledo has gone into Billions of dollars of debt to build new sewers, along with gigantic underground catchment basins, some as large as two football fields in size, in order to handle increasing water loads.

    We are making investments all over our district to protect Lake Erie shoreline and its tributaries. But in places where infrastructure investments aren’t cost effective, how does our nation make sure that families will be protected with adequate local planning and disaster warning systems? America needs more rigor in land and water planning systems, and my friends, quite frankly, we as a nation don’t get a grade A on that.

    It is our awesome responsibility as public servants to address the structural shortcomings at the federal, state, and local level that contributed to the recent loss of life. Sadly, this Republican energy and water bill does not meet our nation’s imperative for the future. It’s over $700 Million below last year. We must invest faster in modern infrastructure, and become energy independent in perpetuity. That is our responsibility. In a nation of 350 million people headed to 500 million people, we must make energy cost less and invest in grid resilience, which is sadly behind what this country needs.

    I find it interesting that Russell Vought, the chief architect of the budget cuts that we are being asked to endure in this bill, claims that he’s so savvy. But how is it possible? He’s supposed to be known as a budget cutter, right? But how is it possible that he has added $3.4 Trillion, despite our cuts to the national debt over the next ten years? Over 20 years, he’s adding $9.5 Trillion, and $18.7 Trillion by 30 years out. So that’s a total of $32 Trillion, if temporary measures are extended permanently. Think about that one. So if they’re doing such a good job over there at the Executive Branch and OMB, how come the national debt is rising when we’re cutting every single bill that we are discussing today, and those that will follow?

    This bill fails to address the cost of living crisis. The price of electricity has risen 5.8% over the last year. Every family in this country knows that, and even higher energy bills lie ahead for families and businesses. China is investing record levels in energy, my friends. But this bill retreats from US global leadership in the future in the form of a diversified and clean energy economy. This energy and water bill cuts $1.6 Billion, or 47%, from the Department of Energy’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. The adage analysis prevention is worth a pound of cure applies to our nation’s imperative to deliver clean, affordable, and secure energy to the American people and to ensure our nation leads, not lags, in the global race toward energy independence in perpetuity, including an abundant clean energy future.

    Our mom and dad taught us how to be thrifty and not wasteful. Dad would say, “it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you save,” and that applies to energy and fresh water. Conservation are good goals for the future of our children and grandchildren, and we’ve made some strides toward those horizons. The United States on the oil front is producing more than ever before, record high levels of production, but we are still tethered to a volatile global energy market dominated by cartels and petroleum dictators like OPEC. We must advance an all of the above energy strategy to be successful long term. Europe learned the hard way about being too reliant on one source of energy, Russian gas. In their case when Russia invaded Ukraine. Let us heed that chilling warning.

    China aims to be the OPEC for the next century, and gain dominance in clean energy, and they are well on their way. Their investments dwarf the rest of the world’s. A Chinese company has developed an EV battery. Are you ready for this? That can travel 1,800 miles in a single charge and recharge in just five minutes. Think about that. What sense does it make for this Energy and Water Bill to slash the Department of Energy’s vital research and development programs?

    The Republican plan cripples America’s energy future by awarding giant tax breaks to Millionaires and Billionaires in the Big Billionaire Bonanza Bill that’s creating the big, huge additions to the debt. America must focus on building an economy that works for everyone, especially our working families and retirees, not just the wealthy few. The bill this bill eliminates funding for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and worse, it revokes $5.1 Billion of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources from the Department of Energy that will cede the US global lead in hydrogen, direct air capture, battery recycling, and energy savings in every public and private structure. Already, US businesses have canceled. This is shocking number. More than $15 Billion in investments in new factories and electricity production projects this year, as a result of the Republican Bonanza for Billionaires Bill. Those canceled projects were expected to create nearly 12,000 new jobs, all now gone.

    I can remember when we brought back the heavy Ford heavy truck line from Mexico to the region that I represent, and I stood next to the CEO of the company at that time, and I said, what can I do to keep these jobs anchored here in Northern Ohio? And he looked at me and he didn’t waste a moment. He said, cut my energy bills by a third. Well, think about that one.

    Thus I strongly oppose the Republican cuts to vital energy production and conservation and our future through the US Department of Energy. Shortchanging these advances pushes our nation backwards and raises already high energy prices for consumers. Why drive America backwards by slow walking energy innovation and failing to modernize our nation’s electric grids, which are old.

    In other areas, this bill dangerously short changes our national security, and this is really critical. The bill slashes $412 Million from the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account. This effectively guts our efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, detect covert nuclear threats, and uphold arms control agreements that keep us safe. All a big gift for Iran, Russia, China, Belarus, and North Korea. Think about that Spiderweb of Tyranny.

    Additionally, this bill turns its back on communities still living with the toxic legacy of America’s atomic past. Zeroing out the Army Corps program to clean up radioactive waste at early nuclear sites. It slashes $779 Million from the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup efforts. Delaying the cleanup of these communities have been promised for decades. I’ll note for the committee that one of these sites is in the village of Luckey, Ohio, not so far from my district, and believe me, you don’t want to breathe in or ingest atomic waste anywhere in the world. Finally, this bill includes numerous controversial poison pill riders that sadly show some extremists among us are not interested in real bills that can gain bipartisan support and become law.

    In closing, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. America can, and must meet the new age frontiers of energy and water. We owe it to the future. Nature is signaling, times are changing. And it’s good to remind ourselves, 200 years after Daniel Webster stated this, that is up on the wall in the House of Representatives chamber. “Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether also we in our time and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.” That is our mandate today.

    Thank you, and I yield back.

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley Condemns Dangerous SCOTUS Ruling Attacking Access to Healthcare for Medicaid Patients

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Medina v. Planned Parenthood Ruling Will Rob Patients of their Lives, Put Essential Healthcare Further Out of Reach for Millions

    Ruling Will Cut Off Medicaid Funding, Undermine Planned Parenthood Providing Critical Healthcare Services, Including Cancer Screenings, Birth Control, and Preventative Care

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, issued the following statement on the harmful Medina v. Planned Parenthood ruling, the Supreme Court’s decision to allow South Carolina to bar Medicaid patients from receiving healthcare services at Planned Parenthood. The decision allows states to ban the organization from getting Medicaid reimbursements for cancer screenings, wellness checks, pre-natal care, and other basic medical services.

    “This cruel, unjust, and political ruling by this far-right majority court is nothing short of damning. On the very week that we marked the somber anniversary of the Supreme Court ripping away our right to abortion care, the Court issued another devastating blow that will push basic, essential healthcare further out of reach for millions.

    “Planned Parenthood is often folks’ only local option for essential care, including cancer screenings, wellness-checks, and pre-natal care. By cutting off Medicaid funding for this routine healthcare, the Court is going to rob patients of their lives, and will be especially harmful for Black women, people of color, low-income folks, the LGBTQIA community, and those in rural and underserved communities.

    “We are witnessing the most sweeping attempt yet to dismantle Medicaid and rip away essential healthcare as the Republicans try to ram their Big Ugly Bill through the Senate on the heels of this court ruling. Trump and Republicans are attacking our healthcare at every level of government—and today the Supreme Court majority linked arms to advance their cruel agenda. It’s absolutely shameful.”

    “We refuse to accept their harmful agenda as an inevitability. Planned Parenthood has long provided quality, compassionate care to all and we will always stand with them. We refuse to cede to such unconscionable attacks on the basic right to healthcare.”

    This week, in the wake of the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Congresswoman Pressley has spent the week convening leaders and impacted families, renewing her calls for comprehensive legislation to protect abortion care, and uplifting the experiences of people impacted by cruel abortion bans and denials of essential medical care.

    Congresswoman Pressley has been outspoken in demanding justice for Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old pregnant mother who was declared brain dead in February and was forced to remain on life support due to Georgia’s abortion ban. Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned floor speech in which she underscored that Adriana’s case is far too common in the unjust history of denying Black women their dignity, humanity, and right to bodily autonomy – and that GOP abortion bans such as Georgia’s deepen this pain and bar critical healthcare freedom. Last week, Rep. Pressley issued a statement after Adriana’s infant son Chance was delivered via emergency Cesarean section and Adriana was taken off life support.

    Throughout her time in Congress, Rep. Pressley has fought persistently to protect fundamental reproductive and sexual healthcare rights. 

    • On the first anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Rep. Pressley introduced the Abortion Justice Act, sweeping, intersectional legislation to address access to abortion care and put forth a comprehensive vision of a just America where abortion care is readily available—without stigma, shame or systemic barriers—for all who seek it, regardless of zip code, immigration status, income, or background.
    • Rep. Pressley is a lead co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), bicameral federal legislation to guarantee equal access to abortion care, everywhere. 
    • Rep. Pressley is also a lead co-sponsor of the EACH Act, bold legislation to repeal the Hyde Amendment and help guarantee abortion coverage—regardless of how a patient gets their health insurance.
    • Shortly before the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Rep. Pressley led a group of her Black women colleagues in writing to President Biden urging him to declare a public health emergency amid the unprecedented threats to abortion rights nationwide. 
    • Rep. Pressley condemned the Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade., and implored the Senate to protect abortion rights and slammed the white supremacist roots of anti-abortion efforts.
    • In October 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on Josseli Barnica, who died on Sept. 3, 2021 after being denied emergency abortion care in Texas as she suffered a miscarriage.
    • In September 2024, in a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Hearing, Rep. Pressley highlighted the harmful and deadly impact of abortion bans in America to date, and outlined in detail the shameful circumstances under which Amber Nicole Thurman died after being denied necessary abortion care in Georgia.
    • In June 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Idaho v. United States; Moyle v. United States – the case about whether emergency abortion care is included under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). 
    • In May 2024, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on a Louisiana bill that would classify medication abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances. 
    • In April 2024, at a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley played “Fact or Fiction” with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf to emphasize the safety and efficacy of medication abortion drug mifepristone.
    • In August 2023, Rep. Pressley issued a statement on the Fifth Circuit Court decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA.
    • In July 2023, Rep. Pressley, alongside Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01), and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), reintroduced the Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act, legislation to help people with disabilities—who face discrimination and extra barriers when seeking care—get better access to reproductive healthcare and the informed care they need to control their own reproductive lives.
    • In July 2023, Rep. Pressley applauded the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of over-the-counter birth control.
    • In May 2023, Rep. Pressley applauded the FDA Advisory Committee’s unanimous, 17-0 vote to recommend the approval of the first-ever application for over-the-counter birth control. She and Senator Murray also held a press conference applauding the decision and urging the FDA to approval over-the-counter birth control without delay.
    • In May 2023, Rep. Pressley, along with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Ami Bera, MD (CA-06) and Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), reintroduced their bicameral Affordability is Access Act to ensure that once the FDA determines an over-the-counter birth control option to be safe, insurers fully cover over-the-counter birth control without any fees or out-of-pocket costs.
    • In April 2023, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Texas court ruling on mifepristone, and discussed the Texas case in a recent floor speech in which she affirmed medication abortion as routine medical care and access to mifepristone as essential. She later joined Governor Maura Healey, Senator Elizabth Warren (D-MA), and local leaders in announcing action to protect Mifepristone in Massachusetts.
    • In March 2023, Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Schakowsky, Lee, DeGette, Torres and Strickland, reintroduced the Abortion is Healthcare Everywhere Act harmful and discriminatory Helms Amendment and expand abortion access globally.
    • In March 2023, Rep. Pressley and Senator Hirono led their colleagues in reintroducing a bicameral congressional resolution honoring abortion providers and clinic staff. 
    • In March 2023, Rep. Pressley delivered a speech in which she discussed the pending court case in Texas, which aims to restrict access to medication abortion across the entire nation. In her remarks, Rep. Pressley affirmed medication abortion as routine medical care, and accessibility to the abortion pill mifepristone as essential.
    • In September 2021, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s inaction on SB-8, Texas’ restrictive abortion law. Later that month, she participated in a House Oversight Committee hearing to examine the threat posed by abortion bans and underscored the urgency of the Senate passing the Women’s Health Protection Act. 
    • In April 2021, Rep. Pressley, along with Congresswomen Barbara Lee (CA-13), Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), led a group of 131 Democratic members in reintroducing the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act or the EACH Act, which would repeal the Hyde Amendment and ensure that all people, regardless of income, insurance or zip code, can make personal reproductive healthcare decisions without interference from politicians. She re-Introduced the legislation In January 2023.
    • Rep. Pressley has led calls in Congress for the FDA to remove medically unnecessary restrictions on the medication abortion drug mifepristone, and applauded the FDA’s action in January 2023 to allow retail pharmacies to dispense abortion medication pills.
    • As Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus’s Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, Congresswoman Pressley has led the fight to repeal the Hyde Amendments from annual Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bills and in July 2020 published a Medium post on the importance of doing so. She applauded the removal of the Hyde Amendment in President Biden’s FY2022 budget.
    • In May 2020, she led more than 155 Members of Congress in calling on House Democratic leadership to ensure that any future COVID-19 relief packages rejected Republican efforts to use the public health crisis to diminish abortion access.
    • In August 2021, Rep. Pressley, Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, and Pro-Choice Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Diana DeGette and Barbara Lee led more than 70 of their House Democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution in support of equitable, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion care. 
    • In January 2023, Rep. Pressley introduced a resolution to condemn all forms of political violence in the U.S., regardless of its target or intent. That same day, she delivered a powerful speech on the House floor slamming Republicans’ harmful, misleading anti-abortion resolution.
    • In September 2022, Rep. Pressley hosted U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester for a convening on their work to address the Black maternal health crisis and the criminalization of abortion care in states across the nation following the harmful U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. 
    • In May 2019, she led more than 100 colleagues in introducing H.Con.Res.40, a resolution reaffirming the House of Representative’s support for Roe v. Wade.
    • In June 2019, Rep. Pressley introduced H.R. 3296, the Affordability is Access Act, to make oral contraception available without a prescription. 
    • In September 2016, as a member of the Boston City Council, Pressley championed a resolution calling on Congress and President Obama to repeal the Hyde Amendment and reinstate insurance coverage for abortion services.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s Duku Highway sees tourism boom in summer

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

    China’s Duku Highway sees tourism boom in summer

    Updated: July 18, 2025 08:36 Xinhua
    An aerial drone photo taken on July 15, 2025 shows a section of the Duku Highway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Northwest China’s Duku Highway, considered one of the most scenic roads in the country, sees a tourism boom in the summer. The 561-kilometer highway connects Dushanzi in the north of Xinjiang with Kuqa City in the south, running through varied landscapes that include canyons, glaciers, lakes and grasslands. [Photo/Xinhua]
    An aerial drone photo taken on July 17, 2025 shows the scenery along the Duku Highway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua]
    An aerial drone photo shows a vehicle in a canyon near the Duku Highway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 17, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    An aerial drone photo shows tourists visiting a canyon near the Duku Highway in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 17, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Maritime News – High-seas rescue results in three people being safely plucked from a life raft after abandoning their vessel hundreds of nautical miles north of New Zealand

    Source: Maritime NZ

    Three people are now safely on-board a merchant ship, after the launch they suffered mechanical issues and had to be abandoned.

    At about 2.30 PM, 17 July Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Centre was notified that the launch had encountered trouble south of the Kermadec Islands, it was enroute to Tonga from New Zealand.

    The incident occurred about 350 nautical miles north-east of New Zealand.

    Shortly after a MAYDAY was declared and the crew made the decision to get into a life raft, abandoning their vessel.

    Search and Rescue Officer at RCCNZ Taylor Monaghan, says this was a high stakes search and rescue operation.

    “After getting their emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) coordinates following its activation, it was clear they were a long way from help.

    “A MAYDAY call was then broadcast by the Maritime Operations Centre to vessels within a 200NM area,” Taylor Monaghan says.

    It was picked up by a merchant oil tanker, the only vessel in the area, which accepted the request to help and re-routed to the location of the distress signal. While RCCNZ got in touch with the New Zealand Defence Force to request air assistance.

    “The NZDF P8 played a critical role in this rescue.

    “It was able to get quickly to the life raft and assist with giving directions and support to the master of the merchant vessel.

    “This was done at night, in trying conditions as well,” Taylor Monaghan says.

     When abandoning their launch for the life raft, the crew ensured they took the necessary survival equipment.

    “They took life jackets, a grab bag and other essential supplies. They gave themselves the best chance of survival, Taylor Monaghan says.

    Six hours after the initial request for assistance, the NZDF P8 arrived on scene, its crew monitored the life raft and coordinated with the merchant oil tanker that was steaming to render assistance.

    “In the meantime, the crew of the merchant vessel developed a rescue plan.

    “Getting on-board a large vessel on the open ocean from a life raft is not an easy task.

    “The tanker needed to use multiple ladders to have enough length to reach the life raft, as well carefully manoeuvring alongside the much smaller life raft” Taylor Monaghan says.

    At about 11 PM New Zealand time, RCCNZ was notified the crew had successfully been picked up by the merchant ship.

    RCCNZ General Manager, Justin Allan was monitored the progress of the search, and says it was a big relief when the rescue was confirmed.

    “I am immensely proud of the work of the search and rescue officers involved, as well as the crews of the NZDF P8 and the merchant oil tanker. This was a complex rescue, and very good result to get the three safely off the life raft and onto the merchant vessel,” he says.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Separated men are nearly 5 times more likely to take their lives than married men

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Wilson, Research Fellow and PhD Candidate in Men’s Mental Health, The University of Melbourne

    Breakups hurt. Emotional and psychological distress are common when intimate relationships break down. For some people, this distress can be so overwhelming that it leads to suicidal thoughts and behaviours.

    This problem seems especially the case for men. Intimate partner problems including breakups, separation and divorce feature in the paths to suicide among one in three Australian men aged 25 to 44 who end their lives.

    Men account for three in every four suicides in many nations worldwide, including Australia. So improving our understanding of links between relationship breakdown and men’s suicide risk has life-saving potential.

    Our research, published today, is the first large-scale review of the evidence to focus on understanding men’s risk of suicide after a breakup. We found separated men were nearly five times more likely to die by suicide compared to married men.

    What did we find?

    We brought together findings from 75 studies across 30 countries worldwide, involving more than 106 million men.

    We focused on understanding why relationship breakdown can lead to suicide in men, and which men are most at risk. We might not be able to prevent breakups from happening, but we can promote healthy adjustment to the stress of relationship breakdown to try and prevent suicide.

    Overall, we found divorced men were 2.8 times more likely to take their lives than married men.

    For separated men, the risk was much higher. We found that separated men were 4.8 times more likely to die by suicide than married men.

    Most strikingly, we found separated men under 35 years of age had nearly nine times greater odds of suicide than married men of the same age.

    The short-term period after relationship breakdown therefore appears particularly risky for men’s mental health.

    What are these men feeling?

    Some men’s difficulties regulating the intense emotional stress of relationship breakdown can play a role in their suicide risk. For some men, the emotional pain tied to separation – deep sadness, shame, guilt, anxiety and loss – can be so intense it feels never-ending.

    Many men are raised in a culture of masculinity that often encourages them to suppress or withdraw from their emotions in times of intense stress.

    Some men also experience difficulties understanding or interpreting their emotions, which can create challenges in knowing how to respond to them.

    Overall, our research found relationship breakdown may lead to suicide for some men because of the complex interaction between the individual (emotional distress) and interpersonal (changes in their social network and availability of support) impacts of a breakup.

    Many of these impacts don’t seem to feature in the paths to suicide after a breakup for women in the same way.

    Breakups also impact social networks

    As intimate relationships become more serious, we tend to spend less time investing in our friendships, especially if juggling the demands of a career and family.

    Many men, especially in heterosexual relationships, rely on their intimate partner as a primary source of social and emotional support – often at the expense of connections outside their relationship.

    This can create a risky situation if relationships break down, as it seems many men are left with little support to turn to. This rang true in our research, as men’s social disconnection and loneliness seemed to increase their suicide risk following relationship breakdown.

    We also know people can struggle to know how to support men after a breakup. Research has found some men who ask for support are told to just “get back on the horse”. Such a response invalidates men’s pain and reinforces masculine stereotypes that relationship breakdown doesn’t affect them.

    So, what can we do?

    There is no simple answer to preventing suicide following relationship breakdown, but a range of opportunities exist.

    We can intervene early, by educating young people with the skills to end relationships healthily, handle rejection and regulate the difficult emotions of a breakup.

    We can embed support groups and other opportunities for connection and peer support in relationship services that are regularly in contact with those navigating separation, to help combat loneliness.

    We can ensure mental health practitioners are equipped with the skills necessary to engage and respond effectively to men who seek help following a breakup, to help keep them safe until they can get back on their feet.

    Most importantly, if men come to any of us seeking support after a breakup, we can remember that time is often a great healer. The best we can do is sit with men in their pain, rather than try and get them to stop feeling it. This connection could be life-saving.

    Support and information is available at Relationships Australia and MensLine Australia. If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

    Michael Wilson works for The University of Melbourne and consults to Movember. He receives funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, provided by the Australian Commonwealth Government and the University of Melbourne.

    Jacqui Macdonald receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Medical Research Future Fund and the Australian Research Council. She convenes the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium and she is on the Movember Global Men’s Health Advisory Committee.

    Zac Seidler has been awarded an NHMRC Investigator Grant. He is also the Global Director of Research with the Movember Institute of Men’s Health. He advises government on men’s suicide, masculinities, violence prevention and social media policy.

    – ref. Separated men are nearly 5 times more likely to take their lives than married men – https://theconversation.com/separated-men-are-nearly-5-times-more-likely-to-take-their-lives-than-married-men-258196

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: WA had the highest rates of Indigenous child removal in the country. At last, the state is finally facing up to it

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenna Woods, Dean, School of Indigenous Knowledges, Murdoch University

    Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

    First Nations people please be advised this article speaks of racially discriminating moments in history, including the distress and death of First Nations people.

    In 1997, Australia was confronted with the landmark Bringing Them Home report. It chronicled the country’s long, dark history of the forced removal of First Nations children.

    The report also made recommendations on what to do next. Compensation was key among them. Every state and territory heeded that call in the years that followed, except Western Australia.

    In the decades since, many have called for the recognition of, and compensation for, First Nations people in WA forcibly removed from their families, culture and Country. In May, Premier Roger Cook answered that call, announcing a redress scheme for living survivors of the Stolen Generations.

    But the Stolen Generations aren’t just historical; they’re ongoing. Many still feel the reverberations of decades of trauma. WA will finally seek to redress some of it.

    Generations forced apart

    WA had the highest rates of forcible removal of Aboriginal children in this country. Today, more than 50% of Aboriginal people in WA are either Stolen Generations survivors or their direct descendants.

    Historian Margaret Jacobs wrote that through the 1905 Aborigines Protection Act, “Indigeneity itself became inextricably associated with neglect”.

    Aboriginal families, due solely to their Aboriginality, were regarded as inferior and their children were removed en masse to missions where traditional cultural practices were prohibited. Stolen Generations child removals continued until the 1970s.

    In the missions where Aboriginal children were placed after removal, psychological, physical and sexual abuse was widespread. The children, often removed as infants, were institutionalised and raised by religious missionaries.

    Speaking in traditional languages or engaging in cultural practices were prohibited, with the goal being to strip them of their Aboriginality so they could be fully assimilated into Western society. To minimise barriers to this, parents and families were prohibited from communicating or visiting their children.

    The human consequences of these inhumane practices have been monumental.

    The financial impact

    Attachment theory attests to the importance of early childhood experiences of love, care and safety on an individual’s future life outcomes. The theory suggests infants develop one of four main attachment styles in response to the care they receive from their parents or other carers during infancy.

    The significance of this in the context of generations of children being forcibly removed from their caregivers cannot be understated.

    In addition, the majority of Stolen Generations children survived various forms of abuse within these institutions and live with the resulting trauma of that.

    Under the 1905 act, any property or personal items owned by Aboriginal people could be confiscated at any time and money owing to Aboriginal peoples, including wages, was to be paid to the Chief Protector of Aborigines.

    This prevented Aboriginal families from securing financial stability and establishing intergenerational wealth, despite their significant labour contributions to WA’s economic development.

    A good indicator of intergenerational wealth consolidation can be found in rates of home ownership.

    Currently, 45.8% of Aboriginal people in the greater Perth area own their home, compared with 70.4% of their non-Aboriginal counterparts.

    Of those, 10.8% of Aboriginal households own their home outright, compared with 28.5% for non-Aboriginal owners.

    This makes redress not just a symbolic move, but a deeply practical one too.

    Compounding disadvantage

    Overall, these circumstances have created a “gap within the Gap”.

    This refers to the first gap, being that Aboriginal people have poorer life outcomes than their non-Aboriginal counterparts.

    The gap within that gap is that Stolen Generations survivors and their descendants have poorer life outcomes than the general Aboriginal population.

    Stolen Generations peoples and their descendants are more likely to have mental health disorders, to experience family violence, homelessness or criminal justice involvement, and to have an addiction, including substances and gambling, while also being less likely to have a support network.

    This state scheme will make individual payments to living survivors of the Stolen Generations who were forcibly removed before July 1 1972.

    It will deliver a one-off payment of $85,000 to survivors in recognition of the trauma and pain they suffered through their removal.

    Registrations for Stolen Generations members who are eligible for this scheme will open in the latter half of 2025 and payments will commence by the end of the year.

    It won’t fix everything, but it’s a welcome sign of progress.

    13YARN is a free and confidential 24/7 national crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping. Call 13 92 76.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. WA had the highest rates of Indigenous child removal in the country. At last, the state is finally facing up to it – https://theconversation.com/wa-had-the-highest-rates-of-indigenous-child-removal-in-the-country-at-last-the-state-is-finally-facing-up-to-it-258695

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Multi-agency effort rescues woman buried in silage

    Source:

    Image: Fire Rescue Victoria

    A woman who became trapped under a large volume of silage was successfully rescued following a multi-agency operation at a property in Darnum on Sunday, 13 July.

    The woman had been standing on a concrete pad near the base of a silage pit when a four-metre-high sheer wall of fodder collapsed on top of her.   

    Despite being almost completely submerged, she managed to hold onto her phone and call for assistance. 

    CFA crews from Warragul and Nilma North were among the first on scene, arriving shortly after 4:30pm alongside SES, Fire Rescue Victoria, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria.  

    CFA Incident Controller Brian Brewer said the woman’s upper body had already been uncovered by the time crews arrived, but her lower body remained buried. 

    “It was a time-critical situation, light was fading fast, and there was a storm approaching. Those factors influenced how we approached the rescue,” Brian said. 

    It took crews just over an hour to successfully extricate the woman, who was carried by stretcher to a waiting ambulance and transferred to a helicopter for transport to hospital.  

    “In more than 40 years with CFA, this was certainly one of the more unusual rescues I’ve attended.  

    Brian, who is member of Warragul Fire Brigade, said crews faced several logistical hurdles.  

    “Conditions on the property were challenging. The yard was extremely wet, vehicle access was limited, and we had to carry in gear by hand. We relied on lighting and hand tools to free her,” Brian said. 

    “We also had spotters monitoring the remaining silage wall throughout the operation for any signs of movement. We knew if rain set in, the conditions could quickly worsen and put everyone at greater risk.” 

    Brian praised the cooperation between agencies throughout the incident. 

    “It was very much a team effort. CFA, SES, FRV, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria all worked together seamlessly under pressure.”

    Submitted by CFA Media

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Security with Respect to Sterile Medical Equipment

    Source: US Whitehouse

    class=”has-text-align-center”>By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

    1.  The use of ethylene oxide is critical for the sterilization of medical equipment, which protects patients against infection and the transmission of disease.  The continued utilization of ethylene oxide by commercial sterilization facilities is essential to ensuring that our Nation provides its sick and injured with the best outcomes possible — an objective that is at the forefront of the Federal Government’s responsibility to the American people.  
    2.  On April 5, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule, pursuant to section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412, titled National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants:  Ethylene Oxide Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology Review, 89 FR 24090 (EtO Rule).  The EtO Rule imposes new emissions-control requirements on commercial sterilization facilities. 
    3.  The EtO Rule places severe burdens on commercial sterilization facilities.  About 50 percent of all sterile medical devices in the United States are sterilized with ethylene oxide, and sterilization with ethylene oxide may be the only method of sterilizing many medical devices without damaging them.  By requiring compliance with standards premised on the application of emissions-control technologies that do not exist in a commercially viable form, the EtO Rule risks making critical sterile medical devices unavailable to care for patients in our civilian and military medical systems.  The current compliance timeline as set forth at 89 FR 24101-24103 of the EtO Rule will likely force existing sterilization facilities to close down, seriously disrupting the supply of medical equipment.  Our Nation would be unable to adequately supply the sterilized medical equipment that medical personnel need to safely treat their patients in hospitals, operating rooms, and other medical facilities.  In short, the current compliance timeline would undermine our national security.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7412(i)(4), do hereby proclaim that certain stationary sources subject to the EtO Rule, as identified in Annex I of this proclamation, are exempt from compliance with the EtO Rule for a period of 2 years beyond the EtO Rule’s relevant compliance dates (Exemption).  This Exemption applies to all compliance deadlines established under the EtO Rule applicable to the stationary sources listed in Annex I, with each such deadline extended by 2 years from the date originally required for such deadline.  The effect of this Exemption is that, during each such 2-year period, these stationary sources will remain subject to the emissions and compliance obligations in effect prior to the issuance of the EtO Rule.  In support of this Exemption, I hereby make the following determinations:

    The technology to implement the EtO Rule is not available.  Such technology does not exist in a commercially viable form sufficient to allow implementation of and compliance with the EtO Rule by the compliance dates set forth in the EtO Rule.

    It is in the national security interests of the United States to issue this Exemption for the reasons stated in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this proclamation.

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
      seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

                                     DONALD J. TRUMP

      ANNEX I
           1. International Sterilization Laboratory
                 i. Affected Facility/Source: Groveland Facility, Florida 

      1. Becton Dickinson and Company
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. BD Covington, Georgia
          2. BD Madison, Georgia
          3. BD Medical, Utah
          4. BD Medical Pharmaceutical Systems, Nebraska
          5. Edwards Lifesciences Technology Sàrl, Puerto Rico

        3. KPR US, LLC d/b/a Kendall Patient Recovery 
                    i. Affected Facility/Source: Augusta Facility, Georgia 

      1. MedXL, LLC
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Ardmore Facility, Oklahoma
      1. Aligned Medical Solutions
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. 1602 4th Ave. Facility, Billings, Montana
          2. 1400 Montana Ave. Facility, Billings, Montana
      1. Professional Contract Sterilization, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Taunton Facility, Massachusetts
      1. Sterigenics U.S., LLC
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. Atlanta Facility, Georgia
          2. Charlotte Facility, North Carolina 
          3. Grand Prairie Facility, Texas
          4. 4900 S Gifford Ave. Facility, Los Angeles, California
          5. 4801-63 E 50th St. Facility, Los Angeles, California
          6. Ontario Facility, California
          7. Queensbury Facility, New York
          8. Salt Lake City Facility, Utah
          9. Santa Teresa Facility, New Mexico
      1. Cosmed Group, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. Erie Facility, Pennsylvania
          2. Franklin Facility, New Jersey
          3. Linden Facility, New Jersey
      1. Arthrex
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Ave Maria Facilities (2), Florida
      1. Cook Incorporated
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Ellettsville North Facility, Indiana
      2. ALCON Research Ltd.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: ALCON Advance Optic Device Center, North Facility, West Virginia
      1. B. Braun U.S. Device Manufacturing LLC
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Allentown Manufacturing Facility, Pennsylvania
      1. DeRoyal Industries, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. 1135 Highway 33 South, New Tazewell, Tennessee
          2. 1211 Highway 33 South, New Tazewell, Tennessee
      1. Sterilization Services of Georgia, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Atlanta Facility, Georgia
      1. Sterilization Services of Virginia, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Richmond Facility, Virginia
      1. Trinity Sterile, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Trinity Sterile, Inc., Maryland
      1. LivaNova USA, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source: LivaNova Arvada Facility, Colorado
      1. Covidien LP
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Covidien North Haven Facility, Connecticut
      1. Medtronic Xomed LLC
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Jacksonville Facility, Florida
      1. Medtronic Puerto Rico Operations Company, Inc.
        1. Affected Facility/Source:
          1. Villalba Facility, Puerto Rico
          2. Juncos Facility, Puerto Rico
      1. Advanced Product Solutions
        1. Affected Facility/Source: Columbia Facility, Alabama

      Affected Facility/Source: Salinas, Puerto Rico

      Steri-Tech, Inc.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Club World Cup ends with success, controversy and questions

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

    FIFA’s bold reimagining of the Club World Cup (CWC) culminated July 13, ushering in what the governing body hailed as “a golden era of club football.”

    The expanded 32-team format, along with sweeping technological and presentation changes, aimed to elevate the tournament’s global appeal, fairness and influence. While the 2025 edition delivered significant successes, it also revealed persistent challenges that demand attention.

    GLOBAL PARTICIPATION EXPANDS

    The most radical change was the expansion from seven to 32 teams. Players from 81 countries and regions took the pitch, many experiencing FIFA’s top-tier competition for the first time. This dismantled the previous barrier that limited participation mostly to continental champions, advancing FIFA’s mission to “truly globalize football.”

    Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (R) of Paris Saint-Germain vies with Malo Gusto of Chelsea FC during the final match between Chelsea FC (England) and Paris Saint-Germain (France) at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 at the MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, the United States, July 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Xu Chang)

    Smaller clubs responded with enthusiasm. Facing giants like Real Madrid and Manchester City enriched player resumes and sparked pride back home-fulfilling FIFA’s core goal of showcasing diverse football cultures.

    “It shows how big football is worldwide and how good some of these players are,” said Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane. “I’m loving this tournament so far, and hopefully we can be here for a while.”

    Zhou Tong, the sole Chinese player representing New Zealand’s semi-professional Auckland City, captured the spirit: “Football connects people, changes lives, opens eyes to the world. That’s magic-like universal language.”

    Unlike elite clubs, most Auckland City players hold full-time jobs and play part time. Zhou works as a community coach focused on grassroots development. Their participation powerfully embodied FIFA’s “Football Unites the World” campaign.

    CALENDAR AND COMPETITIVE CHALLENGES

    Criticism focused on increased player workload and injury risks. The CWC schedule fully overlapped with Europe’s summer league breaks. With next summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America, European players face back-to-back grueling seasons.

    UEFA and others have long criticized FIFA’s crowded calendar. Opponents argue players are overworked while domestic leagues face disruption. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reiterated: “Players are not machines.” The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO) escalated the issue by filing a complaint with the European Commission.

    Another concern was the competitiveness gap. Heavy defeats, such as Auckland City’s 10-0 loss to Bayern Munich and Al Ain’s 6-0 defeat to Manchester City, highlighted the disparity. Teams from Asia, Africa and North America generally struggled, resulting in matches that lacked suspense and neutral appeal.

    FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged criticism from European clubs and fans, as well as concerns about heat, noting future use of roofed stadiums and cooling breaks.

    Luka Modric (L) of Real Madrid vies with Senny Mayulu of Paris Saint-Germain during the semifinal match between Paris Saint-Germain (France) and Real Madrid (Spain) at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 at the MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, the United States, July 9, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

    “So maybe some criticize it a little bit, but it’s something new. It’s something special,” Infantino said. “It’s a real World Cup with the best teams and the best players.”

    He added: “The heat is an issue. Cooling breaks are very important, and we will see what we can do. But we have stadiums with roofs, and we will definitely use these during the day next year.”

    Infantino emphasized the tournament’s value for underrepresented regions like Oceania: “Auckland City, to some extent, represents 99.9% of football players and fans – those of us who dream of being on that stage but may never get the chance. Suddenly, one of us gets to play against the best. It must be a place for everyone.”

    REFEREEING REVOLUTION

    The tournament also served as a testing ground for technological innovation. A key rule change from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) debuted: goalkeepers holding the ball for more than eight seconds would concede a corner kick.

    FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina reported widespread approval. “It was very successful. The tempo of the match improved, and we saw no time wasting by goalkeepers, as happened quite often before.” Only two violations occurred, fulfilling the rule’s preventative goal.

    Referees wore head-mounted cameras to broadcast a first-person view, enhancing viewer engagement. Collina said the “ref cam” exceeded expectations and spurred interest in broader adoption.

    Referees also announced VAR decisions on-field via microphone, while fans in stadiums viewed the same replays as officials, increasing transparency. Coaches used tablets for substitutions and real-time player data (e.g., distance covered, heart rate), reducing errors and supporting tactical decisions. Collectively, the innovations improved fairness and flow.

    “The outcome of using the ref cam at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 went beyond our expectations,” Collina said. “We’ve received great feedback – people ask, ‘Why not in all matches?’ and even more: ‘Why not in all sports?’”

    BILLION-DOLLAR GAMBLE

    FIFA dramatically increased the prize pool from 16 million US dollars for seven teams in the previous edition to 1 billion dollars for 32 teams, surpassing the 440 million dollars awarded at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It became the richest prize pool in football.

    Clubs earned money based on performance and commercial impact. Even bottom-ranked Auckland City received 4.6 million dollars – about seven times their 2024 total revenue.

    Infantino dismissed skepticism over the tournament’s financial viability: “We heard it wouldn’t work financially, but we generated over 2 billion dollars in revenue from this competition. We earned an average of 33 million dollars per match. No other cup competition comes close.”

    “It is already the most successful club competition in the world by all different measurements,” he added.

    To maximize accessibility, FIFA struck a 1-billion-dollar global broadcast deal with streaming service DAZN, including free streams of all 63 matches in 32 languages.

    New presentation features such as individual player walkouts and a mid-final halftime show added spectacle-but sparked backlash. The 24-minute halftime performance violated FIFA’s 15-minute maximum break rule.

    Attendance figures varied widely: four matches drew fewer than 10,000 fans, with the lowest being 3,412 for a Group F match between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns. Sixteen matches exceeded 60,000 fans, with the highest attendance at 81,118 for the Chelsea vs. PSG final.

    “We respect everyone’s opinion,” Infantino said. “But it has been successful. We had over 2.5 million spectators in the stadiums – around 40,000 per match. No league in the world reaches that number, except the Premier League.”

    MEDIA ZONE REFORMS

    The revamped CWC mixed zone abandoned the traditional TV-first format. Instead, four interview pods were set up – two per team.

    Clubs designated players to give interviews in their native language and in English. Written press were allowed to film and photograph, but videos could only be posted online one hour after the mixed zone closed and had to be removed within 48 hours.

    Many journalists welcomed the guaranteed access. Marcio Dolzan of Brazil’s Lance contrasted it with the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, where reporters waited two hours for Argentine players, who avoided interviews entirely.

    Others were critical. “Having covered nine World Cups, this format is unfamiliar,” said Antonio Carrasco of Venezuela’s Meridiano TV. “It feels like mini press conferences. All journalists hear the same thing. There’s no opportunity for exclusives or choice of whom to interview.”

    West Lamy of The Huffington Post pointed out logistical issues: At English-language pods, non-English-speaking journalists often interviewed players in their own language, undermining the pod’s purpose.

    FIFA provided translators, but they were often ineffective – journalists spoke over them or asked new questions before translations finished. Star players drew crowds, while others were overlooked. On-screen player data helped with question prep but didn’t solve access inequities.

    “But if this is a change FIFA has already decided on, we will adapt,” Carrasco said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Olympians expected to make highlight as Universiade swimming kicks off

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

    Swimming at the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games will feature several student-athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

    High-profile coaches who have been behind some of biggest stars will also be part of the Games.

    Team USA will see Olympians Emma Lebron Weber and Jacob Ryan Mitchell as well as world junior mixed and women’s relay gold medalist Maxine Charlize Parker in the pool.

    Olympians Julie Brousseau, Patrick Hussey and Emma O’Croinin will be the shepherds for Canada.

    Canada’s Ashley McMillan will be on the chase for medals having made the final in the 200m individual medley at the 2024 world championships.

    Britain will have a strong presence in the 100m breaststroke with Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Archie Goodburn in the squad.

    Loughborough’s Fleur Lewis will be on the medal hunt in the 800m freestyle after breaking an 18-year-old British short-course record in the 1,500m freestyle at the BUCS Championships 2023.

    With the World Aquatics Championships beginning immediately after the opening of the FISU Games, many student-athletes will be heading straight from Berlin to Singapore.

    Among them is Paige Van Der Westhuizen from Zimbabwe, who studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland.

    “I’m feeling good,” she said. “Having the World University Games just before the World Aquatics Championships will be tough, but I’m excited.”

    Swimming Australia’s head coach Rohan Taylor, who had coached Beijing 2008 Olympic champion Leisel Jones, said that the FISU Games will also help provide an incentive to keep student-athletes in their sport.

    “Athletes often face a crossroads that can end their careers,” Taylor said on Thursday. “They think they have to choose between university and a professional career of swimming.”

    “The World University Games provide an incentive for athletes to continue developing both paths by keeping them in the sport longer.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Universiade: First gold goes to Denmark as Sandersen triumphs in taekwondo

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

    With a Danish flag wrapped around her shoulders, taekwondo athlete Eva Eun-Kyung Sandersen raced around the venue Thursday after claiming the first gold of the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games in the women’s individual poomsae with a score of 8.732.

    A nine-time World Poomsae medalist and 11-time European champion, Sandersen dominated the final with refined technique and precise coordination, finishing ahead of South Korea’s Jung Haeun. Kaitlyn Marie Reclusado of the United States and China’s Pan Meijing shared bronze.

    “I feel so relieved,” said Sandersen, pausing to catch her breath in a post-match interview. “I’m really happy and proud of my trainer and everything we’ve worked for. I can finally tell them that we did something great together.”

    Despite having stood on many podiums before, the gold at the University Games held special significance for the 24-year-old.

    “I’ve practiced taekwondo for about 15 years. The sport is my whole life – it’s everything I think about. This gold medal means so much to me.”

    This marked Sandersen’s first and last appearance at the Universiade. She had hoped to make her debut two years ago in China’s Chengdu, but a last-minute injury ended those plans.

    “I was supposed to go to Chengdu, but I injured my knee just one month before, due to intense training over a long period,” she said, becoming emotional. “It was a tough time, and it was hard to recover both physically and mentally.”

    Born to South Korean parents and raised in Denmark, Sandersen wasn’t introduced to taekwondo right away.

    “My sports journey actually started with ballet,” she said. “But my mom suggested I try taekwondo because of our Korean heritage.”

    After a decorated career that spans both continental and global success, Sandersen now hopes to combine her two passions: sport and science.

    “I’m a student majoring in pharmacy, and ideally I’d love to find a way to blend pharmacy with sports. I want to promote taekwondo around the world and show people how beautiful it is.”

    She also shared a personal dream: to one day see her discipline recognized at the Olympic level.

    “I know individual poomsae isn’t currently part of the Olympic program, so I may never get the chance to compete at the Olympics,” she said. “But I really hope it will be included one day, and if it is, I’ll definitely fight for that glory.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: [Galaxy Unpacked 2025] Lights, Camera, Fold: Capturing New York With the Galaxy Z Fold7

    Source: Samsung

    At Galaxy Unpacked 2025 held last week in Brooklyn, New York, Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold7, ushering in a new era of mobile photography by bringing professional-grade, Ultra camera capabilities to its foldable smartphone lineup.
     
    To put those capabilities to the test, Samsung Newsroom editors embarked on a special one-day tour across New York City — a photo spot itinerary curated by Gemini. The mission? Capture the magic of the city that never sleeps, one fold at a time.
     
    ▲ An itinerary of New York photo spots curated by Gemini
     
     
    The Manhattan Skyline, Now in 200MP Glory
    The journey began in Brooklyn, where the editors aimed to capture Manhattan’s stunning skyline across the East River in a single frame — bridges, boats and all — while preserving clarity, even at a distance zooming in.
     
    Enter the first-ever 200MP camera on a Z Fold. From bridge cables to distant rooftops, every detail was rendered with striking precision. The ultra-high resolution allowed the team to shoot wide, then zoom in and crop while maintaining exceptional image quality. With the Galaxy Z Fold7, nothing is out of reach — even the subtlest parts of cityscapes, no matter how far the zoom.
     
    ▲ Manhattan’s breathtaking skyline, taken with the Galaxy Z Fold7’s 200MP wide-angle camera
     
    ▲ Zoomed-in crop of a distant boat from the original photo above
     

    ▲ A closer look at the boat — zoomed in from the original 200MP photo
     
     
    No Selfie Stick, No Problem: 100-Degree Wide-Angle Selfies That Capture It All
    What’s a New York adventure without a selfie — or ten? With the Galaxy Z Fold7’s 10MP 100-degree front camera, snapping the perfect shot becomes effortless.
     
    Designed into the main display, this lens’ 100-degree field of view captures not just faces, but full scenes — whether it’s the Brooklyn Bridge or Central Park in the background. No tripod, no selfie stick — just a wide-angle perspective that turns every memory into a postcard.
     
    ▲ A wide-angle selfie with the Galaxy Z Fold7’s 100-degree main display front camera
     
     
    Picture-Perfect Spots, Minus the Crowds
    Next stop: Jane’s Carousel — a popular photo spot known for its vintage charm and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.
     
    Iconic landmarks are bound to be crowded, often making it difficult to capture a clean shot. But Galaxy Z Fold7 users need not worry. With the newly added Suggest Erases feature in Generative Edit, the device automatically detects people in the background and allows users to remove them with ease — no manual selection required. The results can then be reviewed side-by-side on a single screen for easy comparison.
     
    ▲ Using Generative Edit, people in the background can be automatically detected and seamlessly removed with a single tap.
     
     
    What’s That? Circle It and Find Out
    As the editors explored the fashion-forward, trendy neighborhood of SoHo, a striking building stood out. What was it?
     
    With Circle to Search, curiosity meets instant answers. A quick snap and circle gesture revealed everything there was to know. Whether it’s architecture, street art or a mystery object, traveling with the Galaxy Z Fold7 means never missing a beat.
     
    ▲ With Circle to Search, circling any part of an image instantly provides relevant information.
     
     
    Clear Sound, Even in Bustling New York
    At Central Park, a street performance filled the air with music. Wanting to capture the buskers’ carefree energy, the editors recorded a video — but along with the music came unwanted background noise. Cue Audio Eraser.
     
    With the AI-powered tool, the Galaxy Z Fold7 isolated the music, filtering out distractions like wind and nearby conversations. The result? A polished and immersive video, ready to be shared.
     

    ▲ Audio Eraser enhances audio clarity by removing unwanted noise from videos.
     
     
    Night Video: New York Nights, Captured in Clarity
    The day wrapped up where it began — by the East River at Brooklyn Bridge Park. This time though, Manhattan’s skyline shimmered under the moonlight, offering a dramatically different atmosphere.
     
    Shooting videos in low light can be tricky, but the Galaxy Z Fold7 handled the scene with ease. Thanks to its default 10-bit HDR powered by the ProVisual Engine, highlights and shadows were rendered with lifelike depth and crisp detail — resulting in clean, noise-free footage.
     
    
    ▲ Night Video footage of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline, captured with the Galaxy Z Fold7
     
    One day in New York was enough to prove the Galaxy Z Fold7’s remarkable versatility. Its noticeably lighter design made all-day shooting effortless, while the spacious display allowed the team to seamlessly edit content on the go.
     
    Powered by AI-driven innovations and designed with real-world-use in mind, the Galaxy Z Fold7 goes beyond the role of a smartphone. It’s a creative tool, a travel companion and a memory keeper.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand And Espaillat Reintroduce Resilient Transit Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    Legislation Would Authorize Additional Funding for Resilience Improvement Projects for Public Transportation Systems, Making Them More Reliable in the Event of Extreme Weather

    Today, United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, and Representative Adriano Espaillat announced the Resilient Transit Act of 2025. The legislation would provide a dedicated stream of federal funding to strengthen the resilience of the United States’ public transportation systems as extreme weather events become more common.

    This legislation would authorize an additional $300 million from the mass transit account of the Highway Trust Fund for Fiscal Year 2026 for resilience improvement grants and apportion those funds in accordance with the existing State of Good Repair Grants Program formula. Recipients of the grant would be able to use the funds to finance standalone resilience improvement projects or resilience improvement components of larger projects carried out under the State of Good Repair Grants Program. Resilience improvement projects include the use of structural and nonstructural techniques to better anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to extreme weather events precipitated by climate change, including earthquakes, sea level rise, heat waves, and floods.

    “Public transportation systems already lack sufficient resilience funding, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events precipitated by climate change will disrupt and damage future public transit function,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Public transit ridership continues to increase year over year, thereby increasing the necessity of functioning public transit systems. I am committed to improving the reliability of public transit for the millions of Americans who rely on it each and every year.”

    “The Resilient Transit Act of 2025 establishes the first-ever dedicated funding stream to proactively strengthen our transit systems, while working to make them more durable in the face of extreme weather and climate-driven threats,” said Representative Espaillat. “I’m proud to join Senator Gillibrand to introduce this critical piece of legislation once again, ensuring our infrastructure not only withstands storms today but continues to serve communities tomorrow. Together, we are committed to investing in public transit and safeguarding the lifeblood of cities around the nation.”

    Senator Gillibrand and Representative Espaillat first introduced the Resilient Transit Act in 2022 and reintroduced the bill in 2023. Additionally, Senator Gillibrand passed portions of her Resilient Highways Act as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, including provisions to relocate and raise roads out of zones at risk of floods or slides and construct protective infrastructure to mitigate flood risk.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand Statement On House Passage Of The Genius Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand applauded House passage of the GENIUS Act, landmark legislation that will establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins. As the lead Democratic senator on the bill, Senator Gillibrand shepherded the legislation to passage in the Senate in June.

    “House passage of the GENIUS Act is a historic milestone in our bipartisan effort to regulate stablecoins. This bill will empower American businesses and consumers and enable them to take advantage of the next iteration of financial innovation,” said Senator Gillibrand. “A result of serious bipartisan negotiations, the GENIUS Act will protect consumers, enable responsible innovation, and safeguard the dominance of the U.S. dollar. This bill targets illicit finance, places limitations on Big Tech, puts in place ethical guardrails, and strengthens national security. The GENIUS Act is landmark legislation that will help maintain American global competitiveness, now and into the future.” 

    Senator Gillibrand, alongside Senators Hagerty (R-TN), Scott (R-SC), Lummis (R-WY), and Alsobrooks (D-MD), introduced the GENIUS Act earlier this year. The bill passed out of the Senate Banking Committee with bipartisan support in March 2025, and the Senate passed the full bill with strong bipartisan support in June 2025.

    Senator Gillibrand has been working on cryptocurrency legislation since 2022, when she and Senator Lummis introduced the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act, a comprehensive bipartisan framework for cryptocurrency regulation. The framework was re-introduced in 2023. In 2024, Gillibrand and Lummis also introduced a stablecoin bill that included many of the provisions that passed in the GENIUS Act.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley Slams Trump DOJ for Seeking One-Day Sentence for Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Case

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement slamming the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for seeking a one-day jail sentence for the officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor.

    “Breonna Taylor should be alive today. Instead, she was shot and killed while sleeping when officers fired into her home.

    “By seeking a one-day sentence, in the rare instance where a police officer is actually convicted for murdering a Black woman, Trump’s DOJ is sending a cruel and disrespectful message: that they do not value Breonna’s life, nor the pain and loss endured by her loved ones.

    “This is an affront to justice, to accountability, and to every person who calls this country home. We should all be outraged.”

    Congresswoman Pressley has introduced over a dozen pieces of precise legislation to improve police accountability and fundamentally redefine what justice looks like in America, including the People’s Justice Guarantee, Ending Qualified Immunity Act and Andrew Kearse Accountability for the Denial of Medical Care Act.

    • In June 2023, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12)unveiled the Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Reentry and Stable Tenancy (Housing FIRST) Act, bold legislation to help people who are formerly incarcerated and those with criminal histories access safe and stable housing.
    • In May 2023, Rep. Pressley reintroduced her Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act to improve maternal health care and support for pregnant individuals who are incarcerated. It was originally introduced in March 2020 and reintroduced in February 2021 as part of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Package—a suite of 12 bills aimed at addressing the Black maternal health crisis.
    • In May 2023, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Co-Chair of the Mental Health Caucus, requested the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to research post-traumatic prison disorder and share findings related to prevention and treatment for people returning from behind the wall.
    • In April 2023, Rep. Pressley and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) re-introduced their Ending Qualified Immunity Act, legislation that would eliminate the unjust and court-invented doctrine of qualified immunity and restore the ability for people to obtain relief when state and local officials, including police officers, violate their legal and constitutionally secured rights. Rep. Pressley originally introduced the bill in June 2020 with Rep. Justin Amash (L-MI) and reintroduced it with Sen. Markey in March 2021.
    • On April 6, 2023, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Hank Johnson led 25 of their colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus in calling on Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to address racial disparities in traffic enforcement.
    • In April 2023, Rep. Pressley, in partnership with Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05), re-introduced the Ending PUSHOUT Act, their legislation to end the punitive pushout of girls of color from schools. It was originally introduced in December 2019 and reintroduced in March 2021.
    • In March 2023, Rep. Pressley, Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Congressman Greg Casar (TX-35) and 27 Members of Congress, alongside more than 300 advocacy organizations and community leaders, reintroduced the New Way Forward Act, a landmark piece of legislation that addresses some of the most harmful provisions of immigration law that drive racist enforcement practices, expanded incarceration in immigration detention centers, and unjust deportations. It was originally introduced in December 2019 Reps. Chuy Garcia (IL-04), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Karen Bass (CA-37) and was reintroduced in January 2021.
    • In March 2023, Rep. Pressley and her colleagues re-introduced the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act to stop federal entities’ use of facial recognition tools and prohibit federal support for state and local law enforcement entities that use biometric technology. They reintroduced the bill in June 2021.
    • In December 2022, the House passed Congresswoman Pressley’s amendment to strengthen maternal health care for people who are incarcerated.
    • In December 2021, Rep. Pressley unveiled the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act, historic legislation to transform our nation’s clemency system and address the mass incarceration crisis.
    • In March 2021, Rep. Pressley sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging him to consider H. Res. 266, the People’s Justice Guarantee, as a framework for embedding justice in our criminal legal system and building integrity in the Department of Justice (DOJ). 
    • In February 2021, October 2020, Congresswoman Pressley reintroduced the Mental Health Justice Act with Reps. Katie Porter (CA-45), Tony Cardenas (CA-29), and Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), to support the creation of mental health first responder units that would be deployed in lieu of law enforcement when 911 is called due to a mental health crisis. The lawmakers originally introduced the legislation in October 2020.
    • In January 2021, she reintroduced the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2021 with Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) to prohibit the use of the death penalty at the federal level, and require re-sentencing of those currently on death row. The lawmakers originally introduced the bill in July 2019.
    • In August 2020, she introduced the COVID-19 in Corrections Data Transparency Act with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others, requires federal, state, and local prisons and jails to collect and publicly report COVID-19 data. The legislation was reintroduced last month.
    • In July 2020, she introduced the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act with Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), to prohibit federal funds to support the increased presence of police in K-12 schools and supports school districts that invests in counselors.
    • In June 2020, she introduced the Dismantle Mass Incarceration for Public Health Act with Reps. Tlaib (MI-13) and Barbara Lee (CA-13) to require decarceration to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in prisons and jails.
    • In June 2020, she introduced the Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA), to hold police officers criminally liable for denying care to those in medical distress.
    • In May 2020, she introduced a resolution with Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Karen Bass (CA-37) and Barbara Lee (CA-13) to condemn any and all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and militarization and over-policing of Black and brown communities.  
    • In July 2019, she introduced the No Biometric Barriers Housing Act with Reps. Yvette Clarke (NY-09) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) that would prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in most public and assisted housing units funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), protecting tenants from biased surveillance technology. 
    • In June 2019, in conjunction with Gun Violence Awareness Month and the 5th Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day, she introduced a resolution to honor survivors of homicide victims by establishing National Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Peng Liyuan attends Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event

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

    Peng Liyuan attends Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event

    Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, attends the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event and delivers a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, on July 17, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    BEIJING, July 17 — Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Thursday attended the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event and delivered a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

    Peng also watched a video about the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival. Elyn MacInnis, founder of Friends of Kuliang, and Luca Berrone, Xi’s friend from Iowa, shared their stories of Kuliang, as well as their experiences of China-U.S. people-to-people exchange and local cooperation. They expressed their deep affection for China and their gratitude to President Xi for his concern for the youth of both countries. They also said that they will continue contributing to promoting the U.S.-China friendship.

    U.S. youth representatives shared their experiences of visiting China, and said they are willing to become new-generation friendship ambassadors, carrying forward great stories of friendship between the two countries.

    In her speech, Peng said that the century-old story of Kuliang and President Xi’s deep friendship with his old friends in Iowa spanning over 40 years epitomize the China-U.S. friendship.

    Though the two countries have different histories, cultures and languages, the Chinese and American peoples love their families and are kind, friendly, hardworking and practical, meaning they are perfectly capable of becoming good friends and partners, she said.

    Over the year since President Xi proposed China’s initiative to welcome 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over a five-year period, many young people from the United States have been invited to visit China. While gaining first-hand experience of the real China, they have made new friends and written new chapters in the China-U.S. friendship, Peng said.

    Noting that youth is the future of the country, as well as the future of friendship, Peng called on young people to be the inheritors of the China-U.S. friendship, and promoters of peace and amity. She also called on them to build a bridge of friendship between the two countries, and to contribute their youthful strength to a better future for both nations.

    Before the event, Peng met with MacInnis and Berrone, expressing appreciation for their longtime dedication to the cause of China-U.S. friendship. She encouraged them to continue making active efforts to enhance exchange and mutual understanding between the two peoples.

    Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, attends the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event and delivers a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, on July 17, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, meets with Elyn MacInnis, founder of Friends of Kuliang, and Luca Berrone, Xi’s friend from Iowa, before the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event on July 17, 2025. Peng on Thursday attended the event and delivered a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, attends the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event and delivers a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, on July 17, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, poses for a group photo during the Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. youth friendship event on July 17, 2025. Peng on Thursday attended the event and delivered a speech at the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China sees robust IP progress, fueling high-quality development

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

    BEIJING, July 17 — China has made significant strides in intellectual property (IP) protection during its 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), providing impetus for innovation and high-quality development, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said on Thursday.

    CNIPA head Shen Changyu, speaking at a press conference on reviewing China’s IP progress, outlined the administration’s comprehensive strategy to establish a world-class IP governance system, institutional framework, cultural environment and professional talent pool. “Our clear objective is to establish China as a global IP powerhouse by 2035.”

    He emphasized four strategic focus areas: advancing the modernization of the IP governance system and its capabilities, supporting China’s high-level self-reliance in science and technology, cultivating new quality productive forces and modern industrial systems, and promoting high-standard opening-up and market system development.

    Through a quality-oriented approach, the CNIPA has refined key performance metrics such as high-value invention patents per 10,000 people, the value-added of patent-intensive industries as a percentage of GDP, the total import and export volume of IP royalties, and IP examination quality and efficiency standards.

    “These indicators reflect a more scientific approach to measuring China’s IP progress,” Shen said, adding that the administration will actively engage stakeholders in shaping the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) to ensure practical, innovation-friendly policies that boost industries and benefit public welfare.

    As the 14th Five-Year Plan period nears its conclusion, China is clocking up a series of achievements in the transformation and industrialization of patents, IP in green and low-carbon technologies, geographical indication (GI) products and international IP cooperation.

    China has effectively promoted the transformation and industrialization of a large number of patents, with the industrialization rate of enterprise invention patents up from 44.9 percent in 2020 to 53.3 percent in 2024.

    As of June 2025, China’s number of valid domestic invention patents has reached 5.01 million, which is an increase of 13.2 percent year on year, according to Shen, while ownership of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people has reached 15.3.

    Additionally, the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation continues to be enhanced in China, Shen said.

    There were 524,000 domestic enterprises that held valid invention patents in June 2025, by which time the total number of valid invention patents held by those enterprises had reached 3.7 million, accounting for 74.4 percent of the total number in China — an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).

    China has seen increasingly vibrant innovation in green and low-carbon technologies, with 53,000 invention patents granted in the sector in 2024 alone, said Liang Xinxin, an official of the CNIPA. The 2024 figure, which doubled 2020’s, reflects an average annual growth rate of 19.2 percent.

    The clean energy and energy storage sectors showed robust growth, with respective invention patent authorizations rising 34.9 percent and 32.8 percent year on year — the highest increases among all green technology categories, Liang noted.

    China has cumulatively recognized 2,861 GI products, according to Shen. The annual output value of China’s GI products increased from 639.8 billion yuan (about 89.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 to 969 billion yuan in 2024, he noted.

    A total of 7,424 GIs have been registered as collective or certification trademarks, and over 37,000 business entities have been authorized to use the special GI symbol.

    China has established IP cooperation partnerships with over 80 countries and regions. The China-EU agreement on GIs has come into force, realizing the mutual recognition and protection of the first group of listed products, Shen said, adding that China has successfully acceded to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

    CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Hu Wenhui noted that the administration treats domestic and foreign enterprises equally in terms of IP protection. In the first half of the year, foreign applicants filed 94,000 trademark applications in China — a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent, with significant growth of over 20 percent in applications from Germany, Italy and the United States, Hu said.

    By the end of 2024, the CNIPA had provided a total of 2,393 guidance services and 6,885 advisory consultations to domestic enterprises engaging in global expansion, helping them reduce litigation costs by 1.32 billion yuan and recover economic losses amounting to 38.04 billion yuan, he said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: P-plater caught at dangerous speed on Midland Highway

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    P-plater caught at dangerous speed on Midland Highway

    Friday, 18 July 2025 – 9:46 am.

    A P-plater will be proceeded against after he was caught travelling 44km over the speed limit on the Midland Highway yesterday.
    About 4.30pm, police intercepted the 17-year-old, who had held his licence for just four days, near Oatlands, where he was detected travelling at 144km/h.
    Senior Constable Shane Leek from Oatlands Police said the teenager’s provisional licence meant he was subject to a 100km/h speed restriction.
    The driver was also found to be in breach of several other licence conditions, including:

    Using a mobile phone while driving under a P1 licence
    Failure to display a rear P plate
    Breaching peer passenger restrictions under a P1 licence

    “This behaviour posed a serious risk to the driver, their passengers, and other road users,” said Senior Constable Leek.
    “Excessive speed, combined with inexperience and distraction, can have tragic consequences.”
    The teenager now faces a $1537 fine, 11 demerit points and has been disqualified from driving for 3 months.
    Tasmania Police reminds all P1 licence holders of their legal obligations:

    Always carry your licence
    Clearly display P plates on the front and rear of your vehicle
    Do not exceed 100km/h, even where higher limits apply
    Maintain a blood alcohol content of 0.00
    Do not use a mobile phone while driving
    Comply with all Tasmanian Road Rules
    Follow peer passenger restrictions (limit of one passenger aged between 16 and 21 years).

    Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, and these conditions are in place to protect not only young drivers but the wider community.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: DHS Nabs at Least 11 Illegal Aliens Including Serial Criminal with 67 Arrests in Sacramento Operation

    Source: US Department of Homeland Security

    CBP nabs career criminal, drug dealer and ten other illegal aliens in targeted operation

    WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested numerous illegal aliens, including a dangerous serial drug abuser and dealer with 67 charges, during a July 17 operation in Sacramento, California.  

    CBP’s targeted operation resulted in the heroic arrest of Javier Dimas-Alcantara, a serial criminal with convictions and charges spanning decades, including the following: 

    • Multiple instances of transport and sale of a narcotic or controlled substance
    • Felony burglary
    • Illegal entry
    • Carrying a loaded firearm in public
    • Multiple instances of providing false identification to a law enforcement officer
    • Multiple instances of felony possession of marijuana for sale
    • Revocation of probation due to re-offense of possession of marijuana for sale
    • Being under the influence of a controlled substance
    • Multiple instances of possession of a narcotic or controlled substance
    • Possession of a controlled narcotic with intent to sell 

    “On July 17, CBP conducted an operation in Sacramento, California, resulting in the arrest of at least 11 criminal illegal aliens. Among the illegal aliens captured in this heroic effort was Javier Dimas-Alcantara, a serial criminal illegal alien who has been booked into jail 67 times,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Dimas has been CONVICTED of a myriad of offenses—you would not want this man to be your neighbor. And yet, politicians like Gavin Newsom defend criminals who terrorize American communities and demonize law enforcement who defend those same communities. He and every other sanctuary politician should be thanking CBP for getting this scum out of American communities instead of obstructing federal law enforcement at every possible turn.” 

    President Trump and Secretary Noem have been given a clear mandate from the American people: get violent illegal aliens OFF our streets and OUT of our country.  

    Illegal aliens can take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right, legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return. 

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murkowski Speaks Out on Rescission Package

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski

    07.17.25

    Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement following the passage of the rescissions package late Wednesday evening:

    “I voted against approving this rescissions package for three key reasons.

    “First, it is still unclear how specific accounts within the areas targeted for rescission will be impacted. Neither the administration nor others involved in this process have provided sufficient explanation and transparency about the programs and priorities that would be cut as a result of this measure.

    “Second, while some changes have been made to protect global health programs, we still lack necessary details, including which ones will be zeroed out. There is no way to determine the implications for lifesaving care and vital resources for women and children abroad. I also strongly oppose the rescission of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. My colleagues are targeting NPR but will wind up hurting – and, over time, closing down – local radio stations that provide essential news, alerts, and educational programming in Alaska and across the country. During the vote last night, I advanced an amendment to protect funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that disappointingly failed. This was just hours after we saw the value of public broadcasting in my state as Alaskans anxiously awaited updates following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that triggered a tsunami warning. Fortunately, there was no damage reported from the earthquake, and the tsunami warning was quickly canceled. But as we see life threatening natural disasters occur more frequently around the country, that will not always be the case.

    “Finally, and most importantly, approving this package in this manner further shifts the balance of power over the federal budget to the executive branch. Congress, not OMB, holds the power of the purse under the Constitution. To the extent that certain appropriations are not necessary to comply with the laws passed by Congress, we can best address that through the annual budgeting process, where we routinely rescind funds every year.

    “Nothing in our floor debate or vote-a-rama alleviated my objections to this mystery box of a rescissions package, so I voted against it.”

    Ahead of a procedural vote Tuesday evening, Senator Murkowski spoke on the Senate Floor expressing her objections to this process. Her full remarks can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed & Whitehouse Advocate for Passage of Child Care Affordability Bill to Expand High-Quality Child Care Options

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Child care is essential to families, communities, and our economy.  But instead of making federal investments to help bring down the cost of child care, the Trump Administration is raising costs for working families in order to provide a bigger tax windfall for billionaires and special interests.  The Republican tax law also slashed Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provide critical support to children, families, child care centers and the child care workforce.  And the Trump Administration has made deep cuts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families.

    To help working families afford the rising cost of child care, expand the range of high-quality child care options, and strengthen America’s child care infrastructure and workforce, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are teaming up with Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act (S.2295).

    This comprehensive legislation seeks to alleviate the high cost of child care for working families; provide families with more flexible options for high-quality, affordable child care; and boost wages for early childhood workers.  The bill would cap child care expenses at 7 percent of working families’ incomes, making it affordable for all parents and providing historic investments in the child care workforce, including higher pay, better benefits and improved training opportunities. It would also help increase access to pre-K education while supporting full-day Head Start programs.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Murray.

    “Working parents need access to high-quality, affordable child care that meets their needs.  But too many parents simply can’t afford it.  This bill would help lower the cost of child care and allow working parents to keep more of their paychecks so they can afford to raise a family.  Making child care more accessible and affordable is critical to families, communities, businesses, and future economic growth.  Studies show that investing in quality child care and early childhood education saves money in the long run and is linked to better graduation rates and lower use of public benefits later in life,” said Senator Reed.  “This is a chance to help lift children out of poverty, save working parents real money, and strengthen our workforce.  We’ve got to prioritize investing in what’s important to us – for Democrats that is expanding access to affordable and high-quality child care.”

    “Making child care more affordable will lower one of the biggest costs in many families’ budgets, and give parents more flexibility to participate in the workforce,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “As President Trump fuels the affordability crisis with his chaotic tariffs and his Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill, our legislation will lower the cost of child care for working Rhode Island families, set kids up for success, and ensure early childhood educators are paid fairly for their hard work.”

    Last month, Ruth J. Friedman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, testified before Congress on the state of America’s child care crisis, noting: “An approach like the Child Care for Working Families Act takes the necessary steps to adequately build child care supply and reduce parent costs. It would be transformative for American families, eliminating child care as a barrier to the workforce and child care bills as a barrier to economic security and wellbeing.  Ultimately, it would give parents much more freedom to raise their families and be productive members of society.”

    According to the Economic Policy Institute, Rhode Island is ranked as the 18th most expensive state for infant care, with the average annual cost exceeding $16,750 per year, or $1,397 per month.  And according to a WalletHub Child Care Costs by State report released this month, Rhode Island ranked 7th-highest in the nation for child care costs for married couples, with data showing 10.42 percent of married couples’ income was spent on family-based child care and 11.45 percent was spent on center-based child care.

    The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages.

    The legislation would also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.  Under the legislation, which Murray, Reed and Whitehouse have been pushing since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family would pay more than 7 percent of their income on child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families. 
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      •  If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care. 
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.         

    The Child Care for Working Families Act is endorsed by: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, All Our Kin, The Center for American Progress, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Child Care Aware of America, Community Change Action, Council for Professional Recognition, Family Value @ Work, MomsRising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Education Association (NEA), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Oxfam, Save the Children, Save the Children Action Network, SEIU, YWCA, Zero to Three.

    In addition to Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the Senate bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-NM), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

    In the House, the bill is being introduced by U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed & Whitehouse Advocate for Passage of Child Care Affordability Bill to Expand High-Quality Child Care Options

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
    WASHINGTON, DC – Child care is essential to families, communities, and our economy.  But instead of making federal investments to help bring down the cost of child care, the Trump Administration is raising costs for working families in order to provide a bigger tax windfall for billionaires and special interests.  The Republican tax law also slashed Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provide critical support to children, families, child care centers and the child care workforce.  And the Trump Administration has made deep cuts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families.
    To help working families afford the rising cost of child care, expand the range of high-quality child care options, and strengthen America’s child care infrastructure and workforce, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are teaming up with Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act (S.2295).
    This comprehensive legislation seeks to alleviate the high cost of child care for working families; provide families with more flexible options for high-quality, affordable child care; and boost wages for early childhood workers.  The bill would cap child care expenses at 7 percent of working families’ incomes, making it affordable for all parents and providing historic investments in the child care workforce, including higher pay, better benefits and improved training opportunities. It would also help increase access to pre-K education while supporting full-day Head Start programs.
    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Murray.
    “Working parents need access to high-quality, affordable child care that meets their needs.  But too many parents simply can’t afford it.  This bill would help lower the cost of child care and allow working parents to keep more of their paychecks so they can afford to raise a family.  Making child care more accessible and affordable is critical to families, communities, businesses, and future economic growth.  Studies show that investing in quality child care and early childhood education saves money in the long run and is linked to better graduation rates and lower use of public benefits later in life,” said Senator Reed.  “This is a chance to help lift children out of poverty, save working parents real money, and strengthen our workforce.  We’ve got to prioritize investing in what’s important to us – for Democrats that is expanding access to affordable and high-quality child care.”
    “Making child care more affordable will lower one of the biggest costs in many families’ budgets, and give parents more flexibility to participate in the workforce,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “As President Trump fuels the affordability crisis with his chaotic tariffs and his Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill, our legislation will lower the cost of child care for working Rhode Island families, set kids up for success, and ensure early childhood educators are paid fairly for their hard work.”
    Last month, Ruth J. Friedman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, testified before Congress on the state of America’s child care crisis, noting: “An approach like the Child Care for Working Families Act takes the necessary steps to adequately build child care supply and reduce parent costs. It would be transformative for American families, eliminating child care as a barrier to the workforce and child care bills as a barrier to economic security and wellbeing.  Ultimately, it would give parents much more freedom to raise their families and be productive members of society.”
    According to the Economic Policy Institute, Rhode Island is ranked as the 18th most expensive state for infant care, with the average annual cost exceeding $16,750 per year, or $1,397 per month.  And according to a WalletHub Child Care Costs by State report released this month, Rhode Island ranked 7th-highest in the nation for child care costs for married couples, with data showing 10.42 percent of married couples’ income was spent on family-based child care and 11.45 percent was spent on center-based child care.
    The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.
    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages.
    The legislation would also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.  Under the legislation, which Murray, Reed and Whitehouse have been pushing since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family would pay more than 7 percent of their income on child care.
    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:
    Make child care affordable for working families. 
    The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
    No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
    Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
     If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.

    Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
    Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
    Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
    Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
    Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.

    Support higher wages for child care workers.
    Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
    Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care. 

    Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
    States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
    States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
    If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.

    Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.         
    The Child Care for Working Families Act is endorsed by: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, All Our Kin, The Center for American Progress, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Child Care Aware of America, Community Change Action, Council for Professional Recognition, Family Value @ Work, MomsRising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Education Association (NEA), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Oxfam, Save the Children, Save the Children Action Network, SEIU, YWCA, Zero to Three.
    In addition to Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the Senate bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-NM), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
    In the House, the bill is being introduced by U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed & Whitehouse Advocate for Passage of Child Care Affordability Bill to Expand High-Quality Child Care Options

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed

    WASHINGTON, DC – Child care is essential to families, communities, and our economy.  But instead of making federal investments to help bring down the cost of child care, the Trump Administration is raising costs for working families in order to provide a bigger tax windfall for billionaires and special interests.  The Republican tax law also slashed Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provide critical support to children, families, child care centers and the child care workforce.  And the Trump Administration has made deep cuts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families.

    To help working families afford the rising cost of child care, expand the range of high-quality child care options, and strengthen America’s child care infrastructure and workforce, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are teaming up with Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act (S.2295).

    This comprehensive legislation seeks to alleviate the high cost of child care for working families; provide families with more flexible options for high-quality, affordable child care; and boost wages for early childhood workers.  The bill would cap child care expenses at 7 percent of working families’ incomes, making it affordable for all parents and providing historic investments in the child care workforce, including higher pay, better benefits and improved training opportunities. It would also help increase access to pre-K education while supporting full-day Head Start programs.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Murray.

    “Working parents need access to high-quality, affordable child care that meets their needs.  But too many parents simply can’t afford it.  This bill would help lower the cost of child care and allow working parents to keep more of their paychecks so they can afford to raise a family.  Making child care more accessible and affordable is critical to families, communities, businesses, and future economic growth.  Studies show that investing in quality child care and early childhood education saves money in the long run and is linked to better graduation rates and lower use of public benefits later in life,” said Senator Reed.  “This is a chance to help lift children out of poverty, save working parents real money, and strengthen our workforce.  We’ve got to prioritize investing in what’s important to us – for Democrats that is expanding access to affordable and high-quality child care.”

    “Making child care more affordable will lower one of the biggest costs in many families’ budgets, and give parents more flexibility to participate in the workforce,” said Senator Whitehouse.  “As President Trump fuels the affordability crisis with his chaotic tariffs and his Big, Beautiful-for-Billionaires Bill, our legislation will lower the cost of child care for working Rhode Island families, set kids up for success, and ensure early childhood educators are paid fairly for their hard work.”

    Last month, Ruth J. Friedman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, testified before Congress on the state of America’s child care crisis, noting: “An approach like the Child Care for Working Families Act takes the necessary steps to adequately build child care supply and reduce parent costs. It would be transformative for American families, eliminating child care as a barrier to the workforce and child care bills as a barrier to economic security and wellbeing.  Ultimately, it would give parents much more freedom to raise their families and be productive members of society.”

    According to the Economic Policy Institute, Rhode Island is ranked as the 18th most expensive state for infant care, with the average annual cost exceeding $16,750 per year, or $1,397 per month.  And according to a WalletHub Child Care Costs by State report released this month, Rhode Island ranked 7th-highest in the nation for child care costs for married couples, with data showing 10.42 percent of married couples’ income was spent on family-based child care and 11.45 percent was spent on center-based child care.

    The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages.

    The legislation would also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.  Under the legislation, which Murray, Reed and Whitehouse have been pushing since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family would pay more than 7 percent of their income on child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families. 
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      •  If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care. 
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.         

    The Child Care for Working Families Act is endorsed by: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, All Our Kin, The Center for American Progress, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Child Care Aware of America, Community Change Action, Council for Professional Recognition, Family Value @ Work, MomsRising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Education Association (NEA), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Oxfam, Save the Children, Save the Children Action Network, SEIU, YWCA, Zero to Three.

    In addition to Murray, Reed, and Whitehouse, the Senate bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-NM), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tammy Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

    In the House, the bill is being introduced by U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall: Association Health Plans are a Great Resource for Kansans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
    Senator Marshall Questions Experts About Benefits Access for Independent Workers
    Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas),questioned Patrice Onwuka, Director at the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum, Kev Coleman, Research Fellow at the Paragon Health Institute, and Karen Friedman, Executive Director at the Pension Rights Center, during a recent Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee focused on benefits for independent workers.
    Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
    Highlights from the hearing include: 
    On what protections would exist if a portable benefits provider went under:
    Senator Marshall: “Let’s start with Mrs. Onwuka. Welcome everybody. We appreciate you being here. Under a portable benefit model, what protections do workers have if a benefit provider were to go under or misuse funds?”
    Mrs. Onwuka: “Under a portable benefits plan, I think that there are protections in place to ensure that, you know, whatever investments have been made, whatever has been paid into it, that that would still be there and protected. There’s some great companies that have those accounts and set those up to ensure that, and they’re regulated to ensure that that happens.”Senator Marshall: “Have many of them failed? Or has that happened very often?”
    Mrs. Onwuka: “I have not seen anything any of them fail, sir.”
    On what’s preventing wider adoption of association health care plans:
    Senator Marshall: “Mr. Coleman, let’s go to you next. I’m a big fan of association health care plans. It’s something I fought for to help become a possibility. I’ve seen some acceptance of it, I’m surprised it’s not more, so to be honest. What’s keeping that from exploding in a good way, and what do we need to do to put wind beneath those sails?”
    Mr. Coleman: “Senator, thank you very much for that question. A primary obstacle to association health plans, underneath legacy regulation, deals with the obstacles to be able to form a coalition of our association of businesses whose aggregate employee body can be seen as a single health plan. There’s something known as ‘lookthrough doctrine,’ which says, if you don’t have the right affiliations among businesses, we’re going to treat each individual business within an association as its own entity with respect to health insurance. And hence, if they have three people, they’re in the small group health insurance.”
    Senator Marshall: “Got it – so, is this that we need to change the law, or is it a regulatory issue?”
    Mr. Coleman: “Ultimately, changing the law is best, because not only do you have the benefit of, you know, a very clear statutory precedent, but you also have a situation where technologists like myself, or my former self, are going to make investments in that market to build platforms facilitating technology, et cetera. If it’s a regulatory solution, there’s more hesitation, because there’s the fear that the next administration may change regulation.”
    Senator Marshall: “Okay, thanks. And I would just ask the committee staff, I’m sure you’re looking at that, but would love to kind of understand what we can do to improve that situation as well. We’ve seen some great success in Kansas with some of these plans, and again, I’m surprised there’s not more people utilizing it.”
    On how portable benefits could be on par with benefits offered to W2 employees:
    Senator Marshall: “I’ll go to Ms. Friedman next. And if you just briefly explain…how under portable benefits can we be sure that employers are still providing benefits on par with many of the W2 employees?”
    Ms. Friedman “…I mean, look, portability has been an intractable problem in the retirement space. There are lots of proposals that will address this. Senator Sanders, pensions for all would be portable. The state-facilitated auto-Iris has some portability. I think we have to ensure that we’re looking at solutions. I mean, what we’re trying to do is address a concern, which is portability. People changing jobs a lot, and benefits going with them. We need to be exploring those options and make sure that they’re options that both protect employees and also are being workable.”
    Senator Marshall: “So I understand the problem, now I’m looking for the solution. Mrs. Onwuka, can you take a shot at that? How, under portable benefits, can we be sure that employers are still providing benefits on par with W2 employees?”
    Mrs. Onwuka: “Well, that can be negotiated between the independent contractor and their client, really, who’s able to pay in you know, just as they in their contracts, they can define how much the employer is willing to pay this independent contractor on top of their negotiated rate, how much they’re going to pay into that benefits plan. And they can match with whatever they’re paying their W2 employees in terms of the benefits that they’re providing there. But let’s not forget, these plans can be paid into by multiple different clients and different entities, so an independent contractor can really do well in terms of being negotiating the kind of, you know, benefits package that works for them.”
    Senator Marshall: “Typically, if you were new to that negotiation and you have seven or ten clients or people you’re working for, are you asking them to match like 10% or 20%? Is there a kind of a range that you’re looking for?”
    Mrs. Onwuka: “It would be up to that independent contractor to decide, sir.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Marshall & Hickenlooper Introduce Legislation Requiring Price Transparency in Healthcare

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
    Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), led the introduction of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act along with Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado). This legislation will improve the transparency of healthcare costs so patients understand the true price of procedures, medications, and services before receiving them.
    Specifically, the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act will require public reporting of negotiated rates, costs, and cash prices for services provided at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, and clinical labs. The bill also ensures group health plans have access to claims data and prevents third-party administrators from restricting data access. Providers or facilities will also be required to include a detailed itemized bill of each distinct item or service, or an all-in total price for bundled items if offered to the patient as an option.
    “Customers don’t walk into a restaurant only to find out how much the food costs when they get the bill. Patients should know the price of the service they need before they make any decisions,” said Senator Marshall. “Making America Healthy Again requires empowering Americans with the best information possible to inform their life and healthcare choices: the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act will ensure prices are available to patients to support a more competitive, innovative, affordable, and high-quality healthcare system.”
    “You wouldn’t book a flight if you couldn’t find out the ticket price until you land — or check into a hotel without knowing if you’re paying for the Ritz or a dump. But that’s the absurd guessing game Americans play every time they need medical care,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “We deserve to know exactly what we are paying for whether it’s a lab test, a colonoscopy, or an MRI. Our bill gives Americans that peace of mind.”
    “We applaud Senators Roger Marshall and John Hickenlooper for their strong, bipartisan leadership on the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. With actual, upfront, and accountable prices, patients will be able to shop for the best care with protection from rampant overcharges hiding in the shadows. We urge all senators to support this bill and pass it without delay to protect America’s patients,” said Cynthia Fisher, Founder and Chairman of Patients Rights Advocate.
    “We applaud Senators Marshall and Hickenlooper for their ongoing commitment to enhancing health care price transparency requirements that will ensure employers have access to information necessary when making decisions on benefit design for the millions of Americans who receive coverage through their employer,” said ERIC President and CEO James Gelfand. “Moreover, strong transparency requirements of providers, including hospitals, and plans will empower workers and their families to select high quality, affordable health care, drugs, and services, helping ease the ever-growing pressures health care costs have on employers and workers alike.”   
    “Patients Deserve Price Tags Act is a critical step toward delivering high-quality care at lower costs for patients. Price transparency starts with clear, accessible information and this bill will empower patients to compare prices before they seek care. Real transparency and accountability are essential in helping unions make informed negotiations on behalf of workers and will ultimately help drive down costs. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act moves us closer to that goal,” said Kevin Lyons, Member Benefits Director for the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association.
    “At a time when health care costs are ballooning out of control and Americans continue to make clear that affordability is a top priority, we applaud Senators Marshall and Hickenlooper for introducing the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. This robust, pro-consumer, bipartisan legislation will ensure that every family in America knows exactly how much a big hospital will charge them before they receive medical care and services,” said Sophia Tripoli, senior director for health policy at Families USA. “As long as big hospital corporations and health care systems are able to keep their prices hidden, they will continue to jack up prices year over year with no transparency or accountability from the public or lawmakers. The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act would bring much needed transparency to hospital pricing and help us hold the health care sector accountable for the unfair price gouging practices that are hurting patients and families.”
    Click here to read the full bill text.
    Background:
    During the first Trump Administration, in June 2019, President Trump issued an executive order titled Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First. Senator Marshall was a big supporter and partner of this work in 2019.
    In February 2025, President Trump signed a similar executive order requiring price transparency in healthcare. This legislation echoes the actions of the Trump Administration.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: National Defence signs technology partnership arrangement with Australia for Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    July 17, 2025 – Ottawa – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

    On June 20, 2025, representatives of the governments of Canada and Australia signed a landmark technology partnership arrangement, a critical milestone in the rapid development and deployment of Canada’s A-OTHR system.

    Through this arrangement, Australian industry partners will work with Canadian companies to build expertise and capacity in Canada, grow our domestic sovereign defence industry, support high-paying Canadian jobs, and help Canada scale up its own radar system and technology.

    Canada’s Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) system is a key component of Canada’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization plan and will provide advanced early warning, enable faster detection and decision making by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for airborne threats, and provide long-range surveillance to meet Canada’s domestic and continental security needs.

    After careful consideration, Canada determined that a technology partnership with the Government of Australia, which currently operates one of the most advanced Over-the-Horizon Radar capabilities in the world, would provide the best solution for strengthening CAF domain awareness of Canada’s northern approaches. It will also quickly deliver a crucial capability to the CAF and NORAD commanders.

    The first stage of the A-OTHR program will deliver an initial capability by the end of 2029.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fenced sanctuary closer for skink on the brink

    Source: NZ Department of Conservation

    Date:  18 July 2025

    A recent survey of skink numbers shows the work is urgent and the fence, near Reefton, will be built earlier than planned to ensure the species’ survival.

    Protecting a five-hectare area, the fence will be constructed from a durable stainless-steel mesh specially designed to keep mice, rats and stoats out.

    Department of Conservation Ranger Supervisor Gemma Hunt says the fence will hopefully stop the population’s decline, turning the tide for the skinks.

    “Even though we reduced mouse numbers earlier this year through pest control, there has been a constant threat of mice reinvading from outside the treatment area and continuing to prey on the skinks,” says Gemma.

    “Long-term population monitoring by DOC and Auckland Zoo indicated there were between 40 and 100 skinks early last year, but more recent estimates suggest a worryingly low number of just 30.

    “We hope to find more skinks when we continue our surveys this spring but in the meantime a predator-proof fence is necessary to secure the population and prevent extinction. 

    “Following the pest control operation earlier this year, we decided to move some skinks to safe housing at Auckland Zoo as a precaution,” says Gemma.

    DOC and zoo staff managed to find three skinks in late autumn before cooler temperatures prevented further collection and these were transferred to the zoo.  

    “When it’s cold, the skinks burrow into the ground to protect themselves from extreme low temperatures and move very little. This not only makes it harder for us to find them but makes them easy prey for mice who can access these same burrows.

    “Most Kiwis don’t realise just how bad the situation is for many of our native species. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of threatened species in the world, with 4,000 species, including the Alborn skink, at risk of extinction. Once these species are gone from here, they are gone for good.

    “We know fenced enclosures work for protecting populations of skinks,” says Gemma.

    “Other populations such as Kapitia skinks are doing great in the fenced enclosures DOC has built. We believe that two or three baby skinks are born to females each year so, if we can protect these families from predators, their numbers will steadily grow.

    “We’re aiming to complete the $700,000 fence and remove predators by November and are optimistic that the remaining skinks should be able to breed quickly in relative safety.

    “We’re asking the public to support our work through donations to the New Zealand Nature Fund. Your donations will help the skink population to recover to a healthy level, funding pest control, monitoring, and research into whether there are more populations of the skinks living nearby.

    “Building this fence to keep predators away will help us stop an extinction in real-time. We might be playing all our cards now, but we need to go all in to make sure these skinks survive,” says Gemma.

    Contact

    For media enquiries contact:

    Email: media@doc.govt.nz

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Our performance evolution

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    Download Our performance evolution

    You can download a version of Our performance evolution (PDF, 674KB)This link will download a file.

    Commissioner’s foreword

    Since commencing as Commissioner of Taxation on 1 March 2024, I continue to be impressed by the expertise, professionalism and dedication of ATO staff.

    Our performance is strong, but as with any organisation, we need to take opportunities to improve. Accordingly, I am grateful that the ATO has had the opportunity to be reviewed as part of the Australian Public Service Commission’s (APSC) capability review program, particularly so early in my tenure. Independent reviews such as this provide us with honest and frank perspectives on what to improve to set us up for the future.

    I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the review team for their professionalism, rigour, and the depth of insight they brought to this process. Their extensive experience and thoughtful engagement have been invaluable.

    The review found that we are a high-performing organisation, which is a testament to the dedication and capability of our people. At the same time, it has identified areas where we can do better – opportunities to strengthen our systems, sharpen our focus, and deliver even greater value to the Australian community.

    We deliver well on our core purpose of collecting tax so government can deliver services for the Australian community. However, what delivers us success now will not be enough alone to achieve our vision for an Australia where every taxpayer meets their obligations because:

    • complying is easy
    • help is tailored
    • deliberate non-compliance has consequences.

    We need to examine what we do and how we do it, identify opportunities for improvement and make decisive shifts to unlock our full potential.

    Our performance evolution will help us get there. Drawing on key insights from our APSC capability review, it outlines how we – as one ATO – will align our efforts to not only deliver today’s priorities, but also prepare for and tackle tomorrow’s challenges.

    We are fortunate to be building on a strong foundation. The capability review identified many strengths we can be proud of. We’ll use these strengths to propel us forward on our performance evolution, taking practical actions to set a course for the future, where we will:

    • think bigger
    • act bolder
    • deliver together.

    While this plan does not outline every detail of the actions we will take, it establishes the key shifts that will empower us to strengthen what we do best, allowing us to adapt our actions as our environment changes.

    The Executive team and I will play a key role here. We must role model the behaviours needed for the ATO to achieve its vision, drive accountability and ensure we don’t lose momentum. We must also openly and genuinely support employees to act as one to deliver our performance evolution.

    Whilst the staff who support the Tax Practitioner Board (TPB) and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) are ATO staff, our performance evolution relates to those in the Tax Office itself.

    I will leave it to the Chair of the TPB and the ACNC Commissioner to draw on the Capability Review insights that best serve the delivery of their statutory functions.

    I’m grateful to have the opportunity to capitalise on our high performance and look forward to continuing to improve as we implement our performance evolution.

    Rob Heferen

    Commissioner of Taxation

    Registrar of the Australian Business Register

    Australian Business Registry Services

    Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets

    Unlocking the full potential of our high performance

    ‘The ATO is a high performing organisation with a strong reputation for managing Australia’s tax and superannuation systems in a modern and reliable way.

    Its capabilities are good and ATO staff are right to be proud of them.

    The findings [of the capability review] are not judgments on current capability, but rather ways the ATO might evolve to be a ‘great’ organisation.’ Capability Review, Australian Taxation Office, 2025 (PDF, 817KB)This link will download a file

    The Australian Public Service Commission’s capability review affirmed the ATO’s position as a high performing and globally respected tax administration.

    We have a proven track record and have excelled when circumstances have called for us to be at our best. Our role in the government’s response to the pandemic demonstrated what we’re capable of and underscored our potential to be truly exceptional. Learning from this and our many other successes, as well as our mistakes, we should not stand still. We need to continually improve.

    The capability review’s insights inform where to focus our ongoing improvement efforts. This future view highlights the capabilities we need to adapt and respond to the changing demands of government, the community and our own operations.

    Key insights from the review indicate that to continue to serve the Australian community with excellence and integrity, achieve our vision, and proactively address future challenges, we need to:

    • work as one ATO to deliver for the Australian community, including through improved internal collaboration
    • have a leadership group that works as a team and models the right behaviours
    • establish enterprise-wide priorities and shared plans for achieving them
    • make trade-offs for the sake of the organisation, work through impasses and take collective responsibility for decisions
    • accept and reward measured risk taking in the interests of innovation, collaboration and achieving better, faster outcomes.

    Our performance evolution sets us on a path to meet these needs and unlock the full potential of our high performance. It does so by bringing together current initiatives and building on the successes of the past to do some things differently and truly excel.

    This plan is just the beginning. It lays a foundation for the ongoing implementation of a range of connected actions which will unlock our full potential. A future where:

    • We will agree on our priorities, how much we are prepared to invest in achieving them, relevant trade‑offs and what risks those carry. We will align our resourcing and performance measures to them.
    • We will clearly communicate our strategic direction and priorities under it, ensuring they are understood throughout the organisation.
    • We will ensure accountabilities are clear, and advancing our strategic direction is a collective responsibility.
    • We will make decisions far enough in advance to ensure that at both the group and individual level, we can effectively plan our contribution to the delivery of our enterprise priorities and our functional accountabilities.
    • We will work as one ATO, so that improved internal collaboration becomes ‘business as usual’.
    • We will engage sensibly with risk. To do this, we will think carefully about risk appetite, tolerances and sensible mitigations in the context of our strategic direction.
    • At the individual level we will be supported in innovating and taking measured risks, aligning our efforts with our strategic direction and by having irritants taken out of how we work.

    We will do this by thinking beyond function, beyond our teams and comfort zones.

    From

    To

    Team first

    Purpose first

    Cautious action

    Bold action

    Siloed delivery

    Shared delivery

    Avoiding the hard calls trade‑offs

    Courageous trade‑offs

    Key shifts

    Together, we will unlock the full potential of our high performance by moving together as one ATO, and adapting our mindsets and behaviours to:

    Think bigger

    Thinking bigger means seeing the broader picture and understanding where we are headed.

    This requires each of us to:

    • expand our view of what we can do to drive the ATO to succeed
    • consider what is truly possible within our remit
    • challenge assumptions of what is needed for us to achieve our vision.

    If we are to challenge assumptions of what’s needed and expand our view of how we can help the ATO succeed, we first need a common understanding of what success looks like.

    This will come from having a clear understanding of our longer-term direction, and the strategies we will prioritise to deliver on it. Clearly communicating our strategic direction (including our priorities, risk tolerances and areas where we are choosing to reduce our focus) will help:

    • guide our actions
    • sharpen our focus
    • expand our perspective on the role we can each play in realising our vision.

    We also need the means to think bigger. We will commit the right leadership, accountabilities, resources and funding to the work needed to deliver our purpose and achieve our vision.

    Initial actions

    Develop and communicate our strategic direction – We will agree on strategies that will move us forward in delivering our purpose and achieving our vision over the next 5 years and communicate the roadmap for delivery.

    Align investment – We will invest our resources in line with our strategic direction.

    Make clear decisions – We will be clear about our decisions on our priorities, their scope and implications (including for accountabilities, resourcing, performance measures and risks).

    Act bolder

    Being bold takes both individual courage and confident leadership to support our action.

    This requires each of us to:

    • proactively address issues
    • work through impasses and make the call, including trade-offs needed to deliver on priorities
    • use good judgment to make decisions and support those who do the same – regardless of the outcome.

    With our strategic direction, priorities, functional accountabilities and shared responsibilities clear, we are trusted to use good judgment, sensibly engage with risk, and take decisive action within the parameters of our authority.

    Doing this boldly will come from knowing that informed and decisive action is supported at the highest levels of the ATO and encouraged at all levels across the ATO. Acting within our remit, this will help us to:

    • make decisive calls
    • adopt innovative approaches
    • act proactively to resolve impasses and agree trade-offs
    • slow, change or stop work when we need to make room for higher priorities
    • use good judgment to make sound, timely and innovative recommendations that inform decisions beyond our level of delegation.

    Being bolder is also stretching our comfort zone, supporting mobility to expand our perspective and empowering people to take appropriate measured risks.

    Initial actions

    Support and reward decision-making – We will encourage and recognise:

    • measured risk-taking
    • staff who innovate.

    We will support decision-makers with appropriate guidance and tools.

    Reinforce support for mobility – We will increase mobility, including amongst our SES.

    Clarify delegations – We will refresh and reinforce delegations and decision-making authorities.

    Deliver together

    We excel when we are aligned – around purpose, priorities and outcomes. Collaboration is just the starting point.

    This requires each of us to:

    • recognise that our impact goes beyond our function
    • take shared ownership of our strategic direction, respecting any trade-offs
    • move together to deliver our core purpose and advance our vision.

    To deliver our core purpose and achieve our vision, we need to unlock the full potential of our high performance together – as one ATO.

    Delivering as one ATO will come from:

    • understanding both the big picture and the detail of how work flows, how different areas interact, and how it all fits together
    • working collaboratively with those impacted by our work
    • understanding what our part to play is.

    Enhancing our forward planning and ensuring that effective internal collaboration is part of our ‘business as usual’ will help us:

    • understand how our plans deliver our strategic direction
    • take shared ownership of our plans
    • know what we must do
    • move together, to deliver what is needed.

    This does not mean everyone doing everything. Accountabilities and decision-making will still lie with individuals, but understanding who else is responsible for contributing to those outcomes, and interconnecting our many moving parts will help us deliver together, as one ATO.

    Delivering together also requires that we be proactive in reducing frictions that might otherwise divert our focus away from the work that contributes most to our purpose and vision. We’ll take action to reduce irritants in how we work, deliver incremental changes that improve our efficiency and lay a clear pathway to prioritise larger improvements.

    Initial actions

    Plan as one ATO – We will:

    • bring planning discussions forward
    • design and integrate our group and line plans to deliver on our strategic direction.

    Agree on our part – We will ensure everyone understands their contribution, not just to their direct responsibilities and functional accountabilities, but to broader outcomes. We will agree on collective responsibilities for the priorities and outcomes that deliver on our strategic direction and reinforce collaboration expectations.

    Address irritants – We will address some of the more pervasive technology irritants and smaller opportunities as informed by users through Pulse surveys and our Census action plan.

    User insights will also inform and drive longer-term planning for the IT tools and data we need to work efficiently.

    Be the key

    We’re building on the strong foundations of a high-performing organisation that:

    • is trusted by government and the community to get things done
    • has a proven track record.

    From this position of strength, we are making a call to action: Our performance evolution will only happen through positive steps and everyday actions taken by all of us.

    We all need to contribute to unlocking the potential of our high performance. To do this we can ask ourselves some questions to help us get there.

    • Think bigger:
      • Do I know where we are headed?
      • Am I putting myself in the Commissioner’s shoes?
      • What positive change am I creating beyond my team?
    • Act bolder:
      • Have I raised necessary issues and worked through impasses?
      • What’s standing in the way of me making decisions I’m empowered to make?
      • How can I support my team to make the decisions they are empowered to make?
      • Should I be getting outside my comfort zone?
    • Deliver together:
      • How am I contributing to organisational outcomes?
      • Who should I work with to get it done?
      • Do I have solutions for blockers or irritants impeding smooth delivery?

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Thinking of trekking to Everest Base Camp? Don’t leave home without this expert advice

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heike Schanzel, Professor of Social Sustainability in Tourism, Auckland University of Technology

    Purnima Shrestha /AFP via Getty Images

    Tourists in Kathmandu are tempted everywhere by advertisements for trekking expeditions to Everest Base Camp. If you didn’t know better, you might think it’s just a nice hike in the Nepalese countryside.

    Typically the lower staging post for attempts on the summit, the camp is still 5,364 metres above sea level and a destination in its own right. Travel agencies say no prior experience is required, and all equipment will be provided. Social media, too, is filled with posts enticing potential trekkers to make the iconic journey.

    But there is a real risk of creating a false sense of security. An exciting adventure can quickly turn into a struggle for survival, especially for novice mountaineers.

    Nevertheless, Sagarmatha National Park is deservedly popular for its natural beauty and the allure of the world’s highest peak, Chomolungma (Mount Everest). It is also home to the ethnically distinctive Sherpa community.

    Consequently, the routes to Everest Base Camp are among the busiest in the Himalayas, with nearly 60,000 tourists visiting the area each year. There are two distinct trekking seasons: spring (March to May) and autumn (September to October).

    High mountains require everyone to be properly prepared. Events which under normal conditions might be a minor inconvenience can be magnified in such an environment and pose a serious risk.

    Even at the start of the trek in Lukla (2,860m), one is exposed to factors that can directly or indirectly affect one’s health, especially altitude mountain sickness or unfamiliar bacteria.

    We interviewed 24 trekkers in May this year, as well as 60 residents and business owners in May 2023, to explore some of the safety issues anyone considering heading to base camp should be aware of.

    Life at high altitude

    First, it’s vital to choose goals within one’s technical and physical capabilities. While the human body can adapt to altitudes of up to 5,300m, the potential risk of altitude mountain sickness can occur at only 2,500m – lower than Lukla.

    Proper acclimatisation above 3,000m means ascending no more than 500m a day and resting every two to three days at the same altitude. The optimal (though rarely followed) approach is the “saw tooth system” of climbing during the day but descending to sleep at a lower level.

    Residents of the Khumbu region (on the Nepalese side of Everest) are familiar with the problem of tourists not acclimatising, or not paying attention to their surroundings. As one hotel owner said, pointing to a trekker setting out:

    He’s going uphill and it’s already late. It’s going to get dark and cold soon. He won’t make it to the next settlement. We have to report this to the authorities or go after him ourselves.

    Inexperienced trekkers should hire a local guide. Several we interviewed had needed medical evacuation, including a woman in her mid-20s who had to leave base camp after one night. She found her guides – not locals – online. But they never checked her vital signs during the trek:

    [The doctors] said that I had high-altitude pulmonary edema […] it was just really important to come down the elevation. And if I had tried to go higher, it probably would have been really bad.

    Health checks throughout the trek are imperative. This includes assessing the four main symptoms of altitude mountain sickness: headache, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. If they appear, the trekker shouldn’t go higher and might even need to descend.

    A Sherpa woman at the market in Namche Bazar, Nepal: respect the culture, eat local food.
    Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

    Take time to adapt

    Using a reputable local trekking agency might be more expensive, but it will help ensure safety and also familiarise the visitor with the local culture, helping avoid negative impacts on the host community.

    Too often, the primary goal of trekkers is a photo on the famous rock at base camp. Once obtained, many simply take a helicopter back to Kathmandu. As a helicopter tour agency owner said:

    They don’t want to get back on their feet. The goal, after all, has been achieved. In general, tourists used to be much better prepared. Now they know they can return by helicopter.

    Helicopter travel can be dangerous on its own, of course. But this tendency to view the trek as a one-way trip also affects host-guest relations and can irritate local communities.

    It’s also important to monitor your food and drink intake and watch for signs of food poisoning. Diarrhoea at high altitudes is particularly dangerous because it leads to rapid dehydration – hard to combat in mountain conditions.

    Low air pressure and reduced oxygen exacerbate the condition, weakening the body’s ability to recover. Also, the symptoms of dehydration can resemble altitude mountain sickness.

    When travelling in other climate zones or countries with different sanitary standards, there is inevitable contact with strains of bacteria not present in one’s natural microbiome.

    A good solution is to spend a few days naturally adapting to bacterial flora at a lower altitude in Nepal before heading to the mountains. Also, try to eat the local food, such as daal bhat, Nepal’s national dish. According to one hotel owner in Pangboche:

    Tourists demand strange food from us – pizza, spaghetti, Caesar salad – and then are angry that it doesn’t taste the way they want. This is not our food. You should probably eat local food.

    Most of the trekkers we interviewed during this spring season reported experiencing gastrointestinal issues, often for several days.

    Overall, diarrhoea-related infections are the leading cause of illness among travellers, including base camp trekkers. Studies conducted in the Himalayas show as many as 14% of mountain tourists contract gastroenteritis, accounting for about 10% of all helicopter evacuations.

    In the end, the commonest cause of failure or accident in the mountains is overestimating one’s abilities – what has been called “bad judgement syndrome” – when the route is too hard, the pace too fast, or there’s been too little time spent acclimatising.

    A simple solution: walk slowly and enjoy the views.

    Michal Apollo receives funding from the National Science Centre NCN Poland, the small-scale project awarded by the Institute of Earth Sciences, and the Research Excellence Initiative of the University of Silesia in Katowice. He is affiliated with the Global Justice Program, Yale University, and Academics Stand Against Poverty.

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

    – ref. Thinking of trekking to Everest Base Camp? Don’t leave home without this expert advice – https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-trekking-to-everest-base-camp-dont-leave-home-without-this-expert-advice-260497

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –