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Category: Ukraine

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Germany’s Annalena Baerbock elected President of the 80th General Assembly

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    She assumes the role at a challenging time, with ongoing conflicts, faltering development goals, mounting financial pressures, and the upcoming selection of the next Secretary-General.

    Ms. Baerbock received 167 votes following the secret ballot. Fourteen delegations abstained.

    She becomes the first woman from the Western European group to hold the post and the fifth woman overall to lead the General Assembly. The presidency rotates among the world body’s five regional groups.

    At 44 years, Ms. Baerbock is also one of the youngest leaders to secure the top job.

    Crucial juncture

    Ms. Baerbock’s election comes at a critical juncture for the multilateral system, spearheaded by the United Nations.

    With the Security Council deadlocked – especially on moves to help end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – the Assembly has become a vital forum for diplomatic engagement and consensus-building, even without binding authority on peace and security issues.

    As conflicts rage, the Assembly has passed a series of resolutions calling for ceasefires, humanitarian access and the protection of civilians.

    Many now see the Assembly as an essential platform for accountability and maintaining international focus on intractable crises, especially through the “Veto Initiative” adopted in 2022 which ensures that issues blocked by permanent members on the Security Council are debated in the Assembly as a priority.

    A power wielded by the five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – a veto (or negative vote) can block Council action even when all other members support a motion.

    Pledge to be an honest broker

    In her acceptance speech, President-elect Baerbock acknowledged the current global challenges and pledged to serve as “an honest broker and a unifier” for all 193 Member States, emphasising her theme of “Better Together.”

    She outlined three priorities for her presidency: making the Organization more efficient and effective; advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and making the Assembly a “truly inclusive forum”.

    She called for a UN “that embraces everyone. I see the diversity of the General Assembly as our strength. This is the place where all nations come together and where every country has a seat and a voice.”

    She also highlighted the importance of promoting gender equality, multilingualism, and engagement with civil society and youth.

    UN Video | Annalena Baerbock elected to lead 80th session of the UN General Assembly

    UN80 initiative

    Ms. Baerbock also touched on the UN80 initiative, which was launched by Secretary-General António Guterres in March.

    “The UN80 Initiative should not be a mere cost-cutting exercise,” she said, stressing the need for bold ambition and readiness to take difficult decisions.

    “Our common goal is a strong, focused, nimble and fit-for-purpose organization. One that is capable of realising its core objectives – we need a United Nations that delivers on peace, development and justice.”

    A career defined by multilateralism

    In congratulating Ms. Baerbock, current President Philemon Yang described her as a leader defined by “an unwavering commitment to multilateralism”, praising her “Better Together” vision.

    Mr. Yang, who steered the Assembly through a year marked by the Summit of the Future and persistent global crises, expressed confidence in her ability to build trust and foster dialogue across divides.

    Secretary-General António Guterres said Mr. Yang’s successor was taking the gavel amid a “difficult and uncertain moment for the multilateral system,” noting she was only the fifth woman to lead the body.

    The UN chief warned that “conflicts, climate catastrophe, poverty and inequality continue to challenge the human family,” and called on the Assembly to unite in forging common solutions.

    UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

    Annalena Baerbock, President-elect of the eightieth session of the UN General Assembly, speaks to the media following her election.

    The world parliament

    The General Assembly remains the UN’s most representative body, where each Member State has an equal voice – and an equal say in decisions.

    While its resolutions are non-binding, the GA – as the acronym goes in New York – helps define global diplomatic norms, convenes dialogues on worldwide challenges and holds the Security Council to account.

    The 80th session, starting 9 September, is expected to be pivotal – not only for sheer number and intensity of crises ongoing – but for advancing long-term reforms, including the UN80 initiative and the selection of the next Secretary-General before his term ends in 2026.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Türk speaks out on sexual violence, Brazil floods update, Nicaraguan human rights violations

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    “We are not meeting the minimum requirement to prevent women from being silenced, and support their participation and leadership in…building peace,” Mr. Türk said.

    25 years ago, the UN Security Council passed a resolution which affirmed the vital role that women play in preventing and resolving conflict and emphasized the importance of ending impunity for sexual violence in and around conflict.

    Since then, other resolutions have reinforced these principles and UN agencies and their partners have worked to implement them. While this work has led to trials which held perpetrators accountable, gender-based violence is becoming more, not less, prevalent.

    Justice is not the norm

    Mr. Türk’s office has documented thousands of horrific cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine and many other conflict-affected areas.

    “Fighters are being encouraged or instructed to victimize women, often as a deliberate weapon of warfare – to terrorize communities and force them to flee; and to silence the voices of women who speak out against war-mongering, and seek to build peace,” he said.

    Funding and aid cuts are also impeding the efforts of humanitarians and human rights agencies, impeding the provision of essential medical and psychosocial support for affected women and girls.

    Mr. Türk noted that the failure to provide these essential services has long-term impacts on survivors and “leaves young girls and women alone, outcast and traumatised.”

    Floods in Brazil displacing communities two years in a row

    The UN migration organization (IOM) raised the alarm on Tuesday over heavy rains pounding Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

    Since mid-June, over 5,000 people have been displaced, four have died, one person remains missing, and 132 municipalities have reported damage.

    This latest disaster comes just a year after record flooding forced many communities from their homes, some now displaced for the second time.

    IOM response

    IOM’s presence and partnerships in the region were expanded and strengthened during the 2024 crisis, allowing for a swift response in 2025.

    This year, the organization is focused on supporting recovery efforts by providing technical expertise and helping authorities assess needs and develop long-term solutions.

    The goal is to ensure aid reaches those most in need and that systems are in place to help communities rebuild safely and sustainably.

    While committed to supporting the people of Rio Grande do Sul, IOM has called for critical support: “As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, humanitarian action must go hand in hand with investments in preparedness and resilience,” said Paolo Caputo, IOM Chief of Mission in Brazil.

    Nicaraguan dissident killed in Costa Rica is part of a pattern, experts say

    The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, condemned the murder of Nicaraguan exile Roberto Samcam on Tuesday, saying that reports indicate the crime may be part of a larger pattern to silence dissidents abroad.

    Mr. Samcam was killed in Costa Rica on 19 June by someone posing to be a delivery man who shot him five times before fleeing.

    The victim was a retired army major who, in 2018, publicly denounced the current Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.

    “We condemn the murder of Roberto Samcam in the strongest terms, and welcome the swift action of Costa Rica, which we trust will expose the motivations behind this terrible act and bring justice to his family,” said Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the group.

    A pattern of silencing dissidents

    Since 2018 when security forces in Nicaragua violently suppressed anti-government protests, independent experts have documented many alleged human rights violations and abuses.

    Most recently, in February, the UN group released a report warning that the repressive actions of the Nicaraguan State have extended beyond their territorial borders, affecting dissidents – real or perceived – living abroad.

    “Nowhere in the world seems to be safe for Nicaraguans opposed to the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo,” said expert Reed Broady.

    The experts noted that there is information to indicate there may be links to the murder of another Nicaraguan dissident Rodolfo Rojas Cordero in 2022 in Honduras and the twice attempted murder of Jaoa Maldonado in 2021 and 2024.

    “States must be held accountable for committing transborder human rights violations,” Mr. Simon said.

    Independent rights experts are not UN staff, receive no salary for their work and and independent of any government or organization.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Ukraine: Continued Russian assaults drive civilians from frontline communities

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    “Attacks on frontline regions (are) increasing and it’s always civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said UNHCR Representative Karolina Lindholm Billing.

    Since January, more than 3,500 newly displaced people have transited through a centre in Pavlohrad towards central Ukraine; in total, more than 200,000 people have been evacuated or displaced from frontline areas between August last year and the start of 2025.

    Last to leave

    Last month, more than 4,200 evacuees arrived at a transit centre in the northeastern city of Sumy where UNHCR and partners provide humanitarian support. These numbers are only a fraction of all those made homeless by the violence and mandatory evacuation orders issued by Kyiv in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.

    The majority of those being moved are the elderly with low mobility or disabilities, families with few resources and children. In many cases, they stayed until the end because they didn’t want to leave everything they had behind, UNHCR said.

    Cities and civilians targeted

    On Thursday, UN aid agencies led condemnation of Russian missile-and-drone attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 84, one of a wave of attacks across the country that point to an intensification of the conflict since the start of the year – and growing humanitarian needs for refugees.

    “Those deadly Russian attacks have intensified alarmingly since January,” said Ms. Billing, speaking to journalists in Geneva via videolink from Kyiv.

    “More than 1,000 people have been directly affected as their homes have been damaged or completely destroyed. Civilian infrastructure were also hit in several other regions yesterday, including in Kharkiv, where I myself woke up around 2 am in the morning to the loud sound of explosions.”

    According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian casualties in Ukraine were 70 per cent higher in March this year compared to 12 months earlier.

    Supporting lives and livelihoods

    The war has left four million internally displaced since 24 February 2022 when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Many of those uprooted have yet to find affordable housing and a new job – which is why support from humanitarian organizations is so crucial, the UNHCR official continued.

    “One of the main things we deliver as part of the emergency response are emergency shelter materials that help people cover broken windows, roofs and doors,” Ms. Billing said.

    Since 2022, UNHCR has supported around 450,000 people making repairs on their homes. The UN agency also provides psychological first aid and legal support to those who have lost their identity documents and emergency cash assistance to help people cover most basic needs.   

    Funding impacts

    But more support is needed to sustain a timely and predictable response to the many calls for assistance the agency receives from the affected people and the authorities.

    Last year, US funding for UNHCR accounted for around 40 per cent of its overall contributions. For 2025, UNHCR has appealed for $803.5 million to address the emergency situation in Ukraine. Today, that appeal is just 25 per cent funded. During the winter period, the agency had to put some of its programmes partially on hold, impacting psychosocial support, emergency shelter material and cash assistance. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Ukraine: Ceasefire a critical first step on the road to durable peace

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo addressed ambassadors alongside UN deputy relief chief, Joyce Msuya, who updated on the dire humanitarian situation in the country amid ongoing Russian attacks.

    Ms. DiCarlo said the meeting was taking place at a potential inflection point in the three-year war, as the past few weeks have seen intensified shuttle diplomacy towards a possible peace deal. 

    ‘Glimmer of hope’

    “These initiatives offer a glimmer of hope for progress towards a ceasefire and an eventual peaceful settlement,” she said.

    “At the same time, we continue to witness relentless attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns.”

    Russian forces have carried out recent deadly strikes, such as the massive, combined missile and drone attack last week on several regions, including the capital Kyiv.  

    Multiple residential buildings in the city were hit. At least 12 people were reported killed and more than 70 others injured, including children, making it the deadliest attack on the capital in nine months. 

    This followed several other deadly strikes, including one in Sumy city on Palm Sunday that reportedly killed 35 people.  Another in Kryvyi Rih killed 18, including nine children – the deadliest single strike against children since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

    The UN human rights office, OHCHR, verified that as of 24 April, 151 civilians have been killed, and 697 injured so far this month in Ukraine. 

    Verification is ongoing, but numbers are expected to surpass the March figures, which were already 50 per cent higher than in February.

    She also noted recent media reports quoting local Russian authorities that indicate civilian casualties in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions in Russia, including alleged Ukrainian strikes on 23 and 24 April that reportedly killed three people in the Belgorod region.

    “We condemn all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur,” she said.

    Diplomatic efforts encouraged

    Ms. DiCarlo noted that the UN Secretary-General has repeatedly called for de-escalation and a durable ceasefire in Ukraine.

    “In this regard, we are encouraged by the diplomatic efforts underway,” she said.

    “We take note of yesterday’s announcement by the Russian Federation of a 72-hour truce planned for the period from 8 to 10 May.”

    It follows a similar Russian announcement on 19 April of a 30-hour Easter truce, “and Ukrainian authorities reportedly agreed to mirror any such steps, reiterating their earlier support for a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States,” she said.

    “Regrettably, hostilities continued during Holy Week, with both sides accusing each other of violations.”

    She recalled that a month earlier, the Secretary-General welcomed separate announcements by the US, Russia and Ukraine regarding a 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure and the resumption of negotiations on the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.

    “Despite these commitments, however, attacks against energy infrastructure persisted,” she said. 

    Political will valuable

    Ms. DiCarlo said the continued exchange of prisoner of war by both sides – including the largest to date, when 500 people were swapped on 20 April – “shows that with political will, diplomacy can yield tangible results even in the most difficult circumstances.”

    She concluded her remarks by pointing to the forthcoming 80th anniversary of the Second World War, which serves as a reminder “with even greater urgency” of the centrality of the UN Charter and international law in safeguarding peace and security.

    “The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine stands as an egregious challenge to these fundamental principles, jeopardizing stability in Europe and threatening the broader international order,” she said.

    “What is needed now is a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a critical first step towards ending the violence and creating the conditions for a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace.”

    UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

    Joyce Msuya, UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefs the Security Council meeting on maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.

    Millions in need

    Ms. Msuya reported that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine has worsened despite ceasefire opportunities. Overall, nearly 13 million people need assistance.

    “So far this year, not a single day has passed without civilians being killed or injured in attacks,” she said. 

    The operating environment also remains highly dangerous for humanitarians. 

    Aid workers under attack

    “From 1 January to 23 April, there were 38 verified security incidents impacting humanitarian staff within 20 kilometers of the frontline. This has left three aid workers dead and 21 injured while delivering life-saving assistance,” she said.

    Ms. Msuya reiterated earlier calls for the Council to take urgent, collective action on Ukraine in three areas.

    She urged ambassadors to ensure the protection of civilians – including humanitarian and health workers – and critical infrastructure. 

    Her second point stressed the need to increase financial support for humanitarian operations as underfunding is forcing critical programmes to scale down. 

    Finally, she called for a just peace: “Every effort, whether aimed at a temporary pause or a lasting agreement, must prioritize the protection and needs of civilians.” 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN aviation council finds Russia responsible for downing of Malaysia Airlines flight

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    The council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted on Monday that Russia failed to uphold its obligations under international air law which requires that States “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.”

    The case was brought by the Netherlands and Australia.

    “This represents the first time in ICAO’s history that its Council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism,” the UN agency said.

    Caught in conflict

    Flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine amid the armed conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian military forces.

    All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed.  They represented some 17 nationalities and included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australian citizens or residents.

    ICAO develops and implements global aviation strategies and technical standards and the council is its governing body.  The UN agency created a special task force on risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones in the weeks following the crash.

    The Netherlands established a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in August 2014 together with Australia, Malaysia and Belgium, as well as Ukraine.

    The JIT determined that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk TELAR installation that was transported from Russia to a farm field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by separatists.

    In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted three men – two Russians and a Ukrainian – for murder.  They were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. Another Russian man was acquitted.

    Breach of civilian aviation treaty

    That same year, the Netherlands and Australia launched the case with ICAO.

    It centered on allegations that Russia’s conduct in the downing of the aircraft by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine constituted a breach of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

    War in Ukraine has escalated since the crash following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.  

    More than 13,000 civilians have been killed to date, and over 31,000 injured, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Civilians killed in drone strike in eastern Ukraine: UN rights monitors

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    At least nine people were killed and seven injured when a Russian drone struck a minibus near the town of Bilopillia in the Sumy region, according to local authorities.

    HRMMU monitors are in the process of gathering additional information on the circumstances of the attack and its victims.

    Preliminary reports suggest that the minibus was carrying civilian evacuees from an area close to the frontline, the majority of whom were women.

    ‘A stark reminder’

    “With nine civilians reported killed, this would be the deadliest attack in weeks,” said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU.

    “This is a stark reminder that civilians continue to be killed and injured on a daily basis across Ukraine.”

    If confirmed, the strike would represent the deadliest attack since 24 April, when at least 11 civilians were killed and 81 injured in the capital, Kyiv.

    HRMMU said that while the number of civilian casualties in May has been somewhat lower than in April, it continues to document daily civilian casualties, particularly along the frontline.

    Activists under attack

    Meanwhile, UN Women is mourning one of the victims of the attack, who was killed alongside her husband.

    Olena Yevtushenko was an active member of a women’s self-help group in Bilopillia which the agency supports.  She was also a teacher and the director of a centre for teacher development under the city council.

    Bilopillia is located some 11 kilometres from the border with Russia and women there “have stood strong and resilient despite daily attacks, creating socio-economic initiatives to advance women’s empowerment in their community, support the displaced and prevent gender-based violence,” UN Women’s Office in Ukraine said in a tweet.

    “Attacks are killing activists in Ukraine who are helping their neighbours to survive the war and plan for the future. These attacks cannot be left unpunished.” 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN denounces deadly Palm Sunday attack in Ukraine

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    The two missiles struck a busy street in the city centre, damaging residential buildings, an educational facility and civilian vehicles, as people were out celebrating Palm Sunday, a major religious holiday in Ukraine.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres was deeply alarmed and shocked to learn of the attack his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.

    Devastating pattern of assaults

    “The attack, on Palm Sunday and at the start of Holy Week, continues a devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks, resulting in civilian casualties and large-scale destruction,” he said.

    The Secretary-General underlined that attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international humanitarian law and must end immediately.

    Mr. Guterres renewed his call for a durable ceasefire in Ukraine.

    He also reiterated the UN’s support to meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully upholds the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in line with the UN Charter, international law, and relevant UN resolutions.

    Senior aid official ‘utterly appalled’

    The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, was “utterly appalled” by the Russian missile strike on the heart of Sumy city, which is located in northeastern Ukraine.

    “Palm Sunday is meant to be a day of peace and reflection. Instead, people in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine have been subjected to violence, terror, and loss,” he said.

    The missile hit a busy street in the city centre, damaging residential buildings, an educational facility, and civilian vehicles — including a public bus.

    “On behalf of the humanitarian community and the United Nations country team, I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and express my deeply felt condolences with the families whose lives have been torn apart,” said Mr. Schmale.

    He recalled that international humanitarian law strictly prohibits attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, stressing that “those rules exist to protect human life and dignity — and they must be respected at all times.”

    The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Kharkiv, which also supports residents of the Sumy region, was part of a mission that visited the city in the wake of the devastating attack.

    Jinan Ramadan shared powerful accounts of the suffering she witnessed and urged the international community to continue to support Ukraine.  Our interview below has more details. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Outrage as Russian attacks on Ukraine cities kill at least nine civilians

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    The latest Russian strikes reportedly damaged 12 buildings in the capital, causing widespread damage to homes, businesses and key services, while phones have been heard ringing from the rubble.

    Other Ukrainian cities targeted included Zhytomyr – due west of Kyiv – and the northeastern cities of Sumy –  where a daytime missile strike killed at least 34 people on 13 April – and Kharkiv – where the authorities reported 24 drone and missile strikes in total.

    “The casualty count is expected to rise as emergency teams continue search-and-rescue operations,” said the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

    The development follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s reported decision on Wednesday to reject a US-led proposal to seek a peace deal with Russia that would have involved ceding territory lost during the war. In theory, this would include the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in addition to Crimea, which Russia annexed illegally in 2014.

    “Last night’s large-scale attack by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on residential areas in Kyiv and surrounding regions is yet another appalling violation of international humanitarian law,” said the UN’s top aid official in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale.

    Children and a pregnant woman were among the more than 70 people injured by Wednesday night’s reported missile and drone strikes. “This senseless use of force must stop… Civilians must never be targets”, insisted Mr. Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine.

    Spike in civilian attacks

    Echoing that message, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, appealed for an end to the use of explosive weapons in civilian areas which have caused a marked rise in attacks on civilian areas this year.

    According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, at least 164 civilians were killed in March and 910 injured across Ukraine. This represents a 50 per cent increase from February 2025.

    On Tuesday and Wednesday, OCHA reported that drone and glide bomb attacks had struck densely populated areas “throughout the country”, while fighting in front-line regions has killed more civilians.

    Cities targeted included Zaporizhzhia, where a glide bomb strike on Tuesday left one person dead and injured more than 40 others, including seven children and a pregnant woman, OCHA said. Several apartment buildings were damaged in the attack on the city which is near to the front line and home to 630,000 people, including many displaced from other regions.

    The UN aid office also reported overnight drone strikes on Wednesday in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Poltava and Odesa, damaging a hospital, homes, warehouses and an energy facility.

    ‘Deeply disturbing trend’

    “The scenes of destruction and suffering in Kyiv this morning reflect a deeply disturbing trend – civilians bearing the brunt of ever more intense and frequent attacks,” said Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

    According to the mission, from 1 to 24 April, at least 848 civilian casualties have been verified – 151 killed and 697 injured – marking a 46 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. The organisation expects the real toll to rise further as more reports are confirmed.

    Thirty-one civilians were killed, including two boys aged 11 and 17. At least 80 more were injured, including 14 children. Many victims had been on a city bus destroyed in the blast.

    Ms. Bell visited survivors in hospital, recounting their harrowing experiences. “One, aged 62, was on a bus with her husband on their way to church when the second missile exploded. He was killed and she sustained a devastating head injury. Another, aged 64, was on her way to the market; she now faces multiple operations.”

    As April draws to a close, the UN is urging greater international attention to the rising toll on non-combatants, warning that the current trajectory is fuelling a severe humanitarian crisis.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: Global growth slows, deadly Ukraine attacks, Haiti hurricane hunger risk, legal migration for refugees

    Source: United Nations 4

    Growth is projected to weaken to 2.3 per cent, or nearly half a percentage point lower than expected at the start of the year, according to the Global Economic Prospects report.

    “The global outlook is predicated on tariff rates close to those of late May prevailing,” it said.

    “Accordingly, pauses to previously announced tariff hikes between the United States and its trading partners are assumed to persist.”

    Although a global recession is not expected, average global growth is on track to be the slowest of any decade since the 1960s.

    Poor countries suffer

    Growth forecasts are being slashed in nearly 70 per cent of all economies, with the poorest countries most affected.

    In most developing countries, nearly 60 per cent, growth should average 3.8 per cent in 2025 before reaching an average 3.9 per cent in the following two years – more than a percentage lower than the average in the 2010s.

    The slowdown will impact efforts by developing countries in areas such as job creation, poverty reduction and closing income gaps with richer economies.

    “The world economy today is once more running into turbulence. Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep,” said Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist.

    The report calls for rebuilding trade relations as “economic cooperation is better than any of the alternatives – for all parties,” he said.

    Countries are also urged to improve business climates and to promote employment by ensuring workers are equipped with necessary skills.

    At least three dead in new Russian drone assault on Ukrainian cities 

    A massive new wave of Russian drone attacks has killed at least three civilians and left Kyiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia engulfed in clouds of thick smoke, aid teams said on Tuesday. 

    The attack was reportedly one of the largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

    In an online update, the UN aid coordinating office, OCHA, said that a maternity ward in Odesa had come under fire, causing injuries and widespread damage to homes. 

    Another terrible night

    The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, underscored the impact of the violence on civilians, citing 16-year-old Sonya from Kyiv in an online post. “It was a terrible night,” she said. “The sounds were so frightening – a buzzing sound that was getting closer and explosions every five minutes.”

    Russia has intensified its airstrikes on Ukraine in recent days. 

    According to Moscow, it stepped up its bombing campaign in retaliation for Ukraine’s surprise drone attacks deep inside Russian territory last week codenamed operation spiderweb.

    Amid the ongoing conflict, UN humanitarian teams and partners continue to work to help civilians in cities across Ukraine.

    They provide first aid, protection services, food, construction materials and other support including counselling and legal advice.

    Haiti: Hurricane season is here, but there are no food supplies

    The World Food Programme (WFP) has reported that for the first time ever, it has no prepositioned food supplies in Haiti for the hurricane season, which lasts from June to November. 

    WFP also said staffers do not have the financial resources to respond quickly to an emergency weather event in the country. 

    Other UN agencies have prepositioned water and sanitation kits for 100,000 and health supplies for 20,000 people. However, these are not sufficient, especially in the absence of food, to meet needs during an emergency. 

    “The current lack of contingency stocks and operational funds leaves Haiti’s most at-risk communities dangerously unprotected at a time of heightened vulnerability,” Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a briefing Tuesday. 

    Famine-like conditions

    Food insecurity and malnutrition are already rampant, with over half the population facing acute hunger. Haiti is one of five countries worldwide which is experiencing famine-like conditions. 

    Continuing armed violence by gangs in the capital and in other regions has displaced over one million people, compounding the hunger crisis and limiting access to other basic services such as clean water and health care. 

    UN agencies in the country estimate that they will need $908 million to continue providing life-saving resources in Haiti, but currently, they have only received $78 million in emergency support. 

    Refugees find hope through legal migration

    Nearly one million refugees from eight countries with high asylum recognition rates were granted entry permits to 38 destination countries between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Safe Pathways for Refugees. 

    These permits were issued through existing systems for work, study, or family reunification.

    “Refugees are using the same legal channels that millions rely on every day,” said Ruven Menikdiwela, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. 

    “We don’t need new systems – just safer access to the ones already in place.”

    In 2023 alone, nearly 255,000 permits were issued, marking a 14 per cent increase from 2022 and the highest number recorded since tracking began in 2010. 

    Countries such as Germany, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden have played a leading role. 

    UNHCR is urging States to remove obstacles for refugees and integrate them into regular migration systems. It also calls for stronger partnerships to expand access to legal pathways amid growing displacement and strained asylum systems. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Eighty years on, UN Charter marked by reflection, resolve – and a run

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Under cooler skies after days of intense heat, the run ended where it all began, at the original UN Charter – the document that launched the Organization and reshaped the modern international order – now on display at UN Headquarters.

    Inside the General Assembly Hall, delegates gathered to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its signing.

    They reflected on the past eight decades in which the UN helped rebuild countries after the Second World War, supported former colonies’ independence, fostered peace, delivered aid, advanced human rights and development, and tackling emerging threats like climate change.

    To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war

    General Assembly President Philémon Yang described the moment as “symbolic” but somber, noting ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, and the growing challenges to multilateralism.

    He urged nations to choose diplomacy over force and uphold the Charter’s vision of peace and human dignity: “We must seize the moment and choose dialogue and diplomacy instead of destructive wars.”

    Secretary-General António Guterres echoed this call, warning that the Charter’s principles are increasingly under threat and must be defended as the bedrock of international relations.

    “The Charter of the United Nations is not optional. It is not an à la carte menu. It is the bedrock of international relations,” he said, stressing the need to recommit to its promises “for peace, for justice, for progress, for we the peoples.”

    Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Security Council President for June, emphasized the urgency of renewed collective action to address emerging global threats.

    “Let this 80th anniversary of the Charter be not just an occasion for reflection, but also a call to action,” she urged.

    UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    General Assembly commemorates 80th anniversary of the signing of UN Charter.

    To unite our strength to maintain international peace and security

    Eighty years ago, on 26 June 1945, delegates from 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to sign a document that would change the course of history.

    Forged in the aftermath of the Second World War, by a generation scarred by the Great Depression and the Holocaust and having learnt the painful lessons of the League of Nations’ collapse, the Charter of the United Nations represented a new global pact.

    Its preamble – “We the peoples of the United Nations” – echoed the determination to prevent future conflict, reaffirm faith in human rights, and promote peace and social progress.

    That very document, preserved by the United States National Archives and Records Administration, has returned – for the first time in decades – to the heart of the institution it founded.

    Now on public display at UN Headquarters through September, the original Charter stands as a powerful symbol: not just of a past promise, but of an enduring commitment to multilateralism, peace and shared purpose.

    Video: UN Charter returns to UN Headquarters

    To promote social progress and better standards of life

    More voices – from the presidents of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – also took the floor, reaffirming the enduring relevance of the Charter and the need to defend it.

    Bob Rae, ECOSOC President, drew an arc through human history to underscore the UN’s relative youth – just eight decades old in a global context of millennia.

    “We currently have the advantage of being able to lucidly look at what we have accomplished, while also recognizing our successes and failures,” he said, holding up a copy of the Charter once used by his father.

    “The United Nations is not a government and the Charter is not perfect,” he said, “but it was founded with great aspirations and hope.”

    ICJ President Judge Yuji Iwasawa reflected on the progress since 1945 and the challenges still facing the global community.

    “In the 80 years since the drafters of the Charter set down their pens, the international community has achieved remarkable progress. However, it also faces many challenges,” he said. “The vision of the Charter’s drafters to uphold the rule of law for the maintenance of international peace and security, remains not only relevant but indispensable today.”

    UN Photo/Loey Felipe

    Jordan Sanchez, a young poet, speaks at the General Assembly during the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.

    To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights

    In a powerful reminder that the Charter speaks not only to the past but to future generations, Jordan Sanchez, a young poet took the stage.

    Her spoken word piece, Let the Light Fall, evoked not declarations, but feelings of hope and vision for a better world.

    “Let the light fall,” she began, “on fallen faces hidden in the shadow of scorn…where may the children run towards the light of your face, towards the warmth of your presence and the stillness of your peace.”

    “There is no fear, only abundance, of safety, of security, of knowing there will always be enough light for me” she said, describing a dreamscape of Eden restored – not a paradise lost, but glimpsed in justice, fairness and shared humanity.

    “Let us be bold enough to look down and take it, humble enough to kneel down and bathe in it, loving enough to collect and share it, and childish enough to truly, truly believe in it.”

    The equal rights of men and women

    As the world marks 80 years of the UN Charter, it’s worth remembering that its promise of equal rights for men and women was hard-won from the very start.

    In 1945, just four women were among the 850 delegates who gathered in San Francisco to sign the document, and only 30 of the represented countries granted women the right to vote.

    In a 2018 UN News podcast, researchers spotlighted these overlooked trailblazers – and asked why the women who helped shape the UN’s founding vision are so often left out of its story.

    Listen to the podcast here.

    Note: The subheads in this article are taken directly from the Preamble of the United Nations Charter, whose enduring language continues to guide the Organization’s mission.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: United States, Ukraine among new members elected to UN Economic and Social Council

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Croatia, Russia and Ukraine secured seats from the Eastern European regional group, which had three available seats. Russia was elected in a run-off against Belarus, as both nations failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting. North Macedonia, the fifth candidate from the group, did not meet the two-thirds threshold and did not advance.

    Germany and the United States were also elected in a by-election to replace Liechtenstein and Italy, which relinquished their seats. Their terms will run through 2026 and 2027, respectively.

    Other countries elected to ECOSOC – for three year terms – include Australia, Burundi, Chad, China, Ecuador, Finland, India, Lebanon, Mozambique, Norway, Peru, Sierra Leone, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Türkiye, and Turkmenistan.

    The terms of all new members will begin on 1 January 2026.

    Vote tally

    ECOSOC membership is allocated based on equitable geographical representation across five regional groups: African States, Asia-Pacific States, Eastern European States, Latin American and Caribbean States, and Western European and other States.

    A total of 189 Member States participated in the first round of balloting, and 187 in the runoff. A two-thirds majority of valid votes cast was required for election; abstentions and invalid ballots were not counted in the total.

    A – African States (four seats) required majority 126
    Mozambique: 186
    Sierra Leone: 186
    Burundi: 184
    Chad: 183

    B – Asia-Pacific States (four seats) required majority 125
    Lebanon: 183
    Turkmenistan: 183
    India: 181
    China: 180

    C – Eastern European States (three seats)
    First round – required majority 123
    Croatia: 146 
    Ukraine: 130
    Russia: 108 
    Belarus: 96
    North Macedonia: 59

    Second round runoff – required majority 108
    Russia: 115
    Belarus: 46

    D – Latin American and Caribbean States (three seats) required majority 125
    Ecuador: 182
    Peru: 182
    Saint Kitts and Nevis: 180

    E – Western European and other States (four seats) required majority 120
    Türkiye: 174
    Finland: 173
    Australia: 172
    Norway: 169
    Andorra: 1

    By-elections (two seats, independent elections) required majority 114
    Germany: 171
    United States: 170
    Andorra: 1

    The Economic and Social Council

    ECOSOC is one of the six main organs of the United Nations and consists of 54 Member States elected for overlapping three-year terms. It plays a central role in advancing the international development agenda and fostering international cooperation across economic, social, and environmental spheres.

    The General Assembly, comprising all 193 UN Member States, elects ECOSOC members annually by secret ballot.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Report reveals significant rise in civilian casualties and rights violations in Ukraine

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    It covers the period from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, during which 986 civilians were killed and 4,807 injured – a 37 per cent increase compared to the same period the previous year.

    “The war in Ukraine – now in its fourth year – is becoming increasingly deadly for civilians,” said Danielle Bell, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).

    “We continue to document patterns of violence that are inconsistent with obligations under international humanitarian law.”

    Concern over use of short-range drones

    Most casualties occurred in areas under Ukrainian Government control, primarily due to Russian attacks using long-range explosive weapons in populated areas and short-range drones near frontline locations.

    Nearly half of all casualties were caused by missiles, loitering munitions and air-dropped bombs in densely populated areas. At least three attacks involved the use of missiles with fragmentation warheads which detonated above ground and scattered fragments across large open areas, killing and injuring many civilians at once.

    The use of short-range drones is driving the rise in civilian casualties, the report said. OHCHR verified that 207 civilians were killed and 1,365 injured in these attacks.

    Among the deadliest incidents was a Russian drone strike on a civilian bus transporting employees of a mining company to work in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Eight women and two men were killed, and 57 people were injured.

    “The high number of civilian casualties from the use of short-range drones, which allow operators to see their targets in real time, raises grave concerns,” Ms. Bell said.

    “Our findings strongly suggest a failure to distinguish between civilian and military targets, and to take all feasible precautions to verify the military nature of those targets – or worse, an intentional decision not to.”

    During the same period, Russian forces struck at least five hospitals directly. Some of the attacks used multiple loitering munitions, suggesting potential deliberate targeting of the hospitals in violation of international humanitarian law.

    Prisoners of war

    Serious violations against prisoners of war (POWs) also remain a major concern, according to the report. OHCHR documented credible allegations that at least 35 Ukrainian POWs and one Russian POW were executed during the reporting period.

    Staff interviewed 117 recently released Ukrainian POWs and two detained medical personnel, nearly all of whom described being tortured and ill-treated in captivity. This included severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, dog attacks, and deliberate humiliation, often carried out by personnel wearing balaclavas to conceal their identities.

    Ms. Bell said the continued brutalization of Ukrainian prisoners of war is not only inhumane, but a serious violation of international law.

    “These are not isolated incidents – they point to well-documented patterns of widespread and systematic torture that demand urgent and unambiguous accountability, and measures toward prevention,” she said.

    Meanwhile, more than half of the Russian POWs and third-country nationals held by Ukraine also reported abuse – including torture, ill-treatment, threats, and internment in unofficial facilities – which mostly occurred in transit places before arrival at official places of internment.

    Rights concerns in Russian-occupied areas

    The report highlights ongoing human rights concerns with Ukrainian civilians unlawfully detained by Russian authorities, predominantly in occupied territory. People who have been released described torture, ill-treatment, and dire conditions of detention.

    Ukrainians in occupied territory faced increased coercion to adopt Russian citizenship. OHCHR documented over 16,000 homes listed by Russian occupation authorities as potentially “abandoned” and therefore at risk of being confiscated.

    Displaced residents faced severe legal and logistical obstacles, as well as security risks, to reclaim their property.

    Ukrainian children recruited

    Another issue covered in the report is the recruitment and use of Ukrainian children “for sabotage activities of increasing gravity against Ukrainian military objectives.”

    The children reportedly were recruited by unidentified actors, likely affiliated with Russia, according to Ukrainian law enforcement authorities. Some of these youngsters were killed or injured, while others are facing prosecution after being enticed via social media to commit arson or plant explosives.

    “Using children to commit acts of sabotage or violence exploits their vulnerability and endangers their lives,” Ms. Bell said. “It compounds their suffering by exposing them to violence, coercion, and harsh legal consequences.”

    OHCHR also voiced concern over the situation of older people, mainly women, as well as persons with disabilities, who remain at disproportionate risk, particularly in frontline areas.

    Many are unable to evacuate due to poverty and limited housing options, while those who can often face long stays in shelters that lack appropriate facilities, or they are placed in institutional settings due to the absence of suitable alternatives.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Adhering to bans on mines only in peace time will not work: UN rights chief

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have taken or are considering steps to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction – known also as the Ottawa Convention, after the Canadian city where the process was launched.

    “These weapons risk causing persistent and long-term, serious harm to civilians, including children,” Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. “Like other international humanitarian law treaties, the Ottawa Convention was principally designed to govern the conduct of parties to armed conflicts.”

    “Adhering to them in times of peace only to withdraw from them in times of war or for newly invoked national security considerations seriously undermines the framework of international humanitarian law.”

    A threat to civilians

    Anti-personnel mines are one of the two main types of mines and target people – as opposed to anti-vehicle mines. However, because both of these mines are triggered automatically, they result in huge numbers of civilian deaths, especially children.

    Their deadly risks linger long after hostilities end, contaminating farmland, playgrounds, and homes, and posing a constant threat to unsuspecting civilians.

    Agreed in 1997, the Ottawa Convention prohibits signatories from using, stockpiling, producing or transferring anti-personnel mines due to the threat that these weapons pose to civilians, especially children.  

    In the two-and-a-half decades since it was passed, the Ottawa Convention has 166 States parties, has led to the a marked reduction in the use of anti-personnel mines.  

    Trends reversing

    However, in recent years, these positive trends have begun to reverse with the number of civilians killed and injured by mines increasing by 22 per cent in 2024 – 85 per cent of the casualties were civilians and half of them were children.  

    Despite progress, some 100 million people across 60 countries still live under the threat of landmines.

    In Ukraine, for instance, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimates that more than 20 per cent of the country’s land is contaminated – amounting to 139,000 square kilometres.

    Similarly, landmines remain still a significant threat in Cambodia, decades after the end of the conflict and years of de-mining efforts.

    Uphold international law

    Mr. Türk urged all parties to the Ottawa Convention to uphold their international legal obligations regarding anti-personnel mines and on non-signatories to join the Convention.  

    “With so many civilians suffering from the use of anti-personnel mines, I call on all States to refrain from leaving any international humanitarian law treaty, and to immediately suspend any withdrawal process that may be underway.”  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN Human Rights Council hears grim updates on Ukraine, Gaza and global racism

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Escalating conflict in Ukraine

    In an oral update, Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, reported a sharp escalation in hostilities in Ukraine.

    Civilian casualties have surged, with April to June seeing nearly 50 per cent more deaths and injuries compared to the same period in 2024.

    “More than 90 per cent of these casualties occurred in territory controlled by Ukraine,” she said, attributing the spike in part to intensified Russian drone and missile attacks.

    Attacks using airburst warheads and repeated strikes on hospitals have instilled “terror and anxiety” among urban populations, she added. A June 16-17 nighttime attack in Kyiv killed more civilians than any other assault in the past year.

    While ceasefire negotiations have produced some humanitarian gains – such as the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of deceased soldiers – Ms. Kehris underscored harrowing conditions in detention.

    Over 117 former Ukrainian POWs interviewed by the UN rights office, OHCHR, reported torture, including sexual violence, in Russian captivity. Though less widespread, similar abuses have also been documented in unofficial Ukrainian detention facilities, prompting calls for transparent investigations.

    The report also noted ongoing human rights violations in territories occupied by Russia, including restrictions on civic space and the exercise of freedom of expression.

    “Peace is more imperative than ever,” Ms. Kehris said, reiterating calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in line with international law.

    Structural racism and intersectionality

    Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, delivered a thematic report focused on intersectionality as a tool for racial justice.

    Drawing from experiences of Black feminists and expanded by studies focusing on Dalit, Indigenous, Muslim and Roma community members, the concept of intersectionality was presented as essential to dismantling systemic discrimination.

    “Women of African descent, caste-oppressed communities, Roma, Arab and Muslim women, and other marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted due to overlapping forms of discrimination,” Ms. Ashwini said.

    Her report detailed how states can integrate an intersectional approach, emphasising data disaggregation, participatory policymaking, legal recognition of multiple discrimination and historical accountability.

    Ms. Ashwini highlighted the importance of reparatory justice for communities affected by colonialism and slavery and called on states – particularly those historically complicit – to implement bold reforms.

    People search through the rubble of a destroyed building in the central Gaza Strip.

    Deepening crisis in Gaza

    Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, also reported to the Council, with grim update on Gaza.

    She described conditions as “apocalyptic” and reported over 200,000 people killed or injured since 7 October 2023, when Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups attacked Israeli communities – killing at least 1,200 people and taking more than 250 as hostages.

    “In Gaza, Palestinians continue to endure suffering beyond imagination,” Ms. Albanese said, describing the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a “death trap – engineered to kill or force the flight of a starved, bombarded, emaciated population marked for elimination.”

    She also accused Israel of using the conflict as an opportunity to test new weapons and technology against the population of the enclave “without restraint”.

    “The forever-occupation has provided an optimal testing ground for arms manufacturers and big tech with little oversight and zero accountability – while investors, and private and public institutions have profited handsomely,” she said.

    “We must reverse the tide,” Ms. Albanese urged, calling on Member States to impose a full arms embargo on Israel, suspend all trade agreements and investment relation and enforce accountability, “ensuring that corporate entities face legal consequences for their involvement in serious violations of international law.”

    Independent rights experts

    Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts appointed and mandated by the Human Rights Council – the UN’s highest intergovernmental forum on human rights.

    Forming a part of its Special Procedures, Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts are mandated to monitor and assess the rights situation in certain thematic or country situations.

    They work in their individual capacity, are not UN staff and do not receive a salary. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: International Criminal Court: Deputies take over amid Prosecutor misconduct probe

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    In a statement on Monday, the prosecutors’ office confirmed that deputies Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang are taking the lead, ensuring continuity across all cases and operations.

    The transition follows Prosecutor Khan’s announcement on 16 May that he would temporarily step aside while the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) conducts an external inquiry into the allegations.

    The investigation into widely reported allegations of sexual misconduct is being conducted by the OIOS at the request of the ICC’s governing body. Mr. Khan has denied the allegations.

    Although the ICC’s Independent Oversight Mechanism typically handles such matters, the OIOS was brought in given the circumstances of the allegations and perceptions of possible and future conflicts of interest.

    Duty of care

    The prosecutors’ office said it would fully cooperate with the investigation, while underscoring the need to protect the privacy and rights of everyone involved – emphasising the importance of safeguarding the integrity of the OIOS investigation.

    “The Office is acutely aware of the duty of care it owes to all staff members and personnel, especially affected individuals,” the statement underscored.

    Impartial and fair process

    The Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC – which elects the 18 judges – said on Sunday that the OIOS investigation was being carried out to ensure a full independent, impartial and fair process.

    “The findings of the investigation will be handled in a transparent manner in accordance with the Rome Statute and the legal framework of the Court,” it noted.

    Upholding ICC’s mandate

    In assuming leadership, the Deputy Prosecutors underlined the importance of ensuring continuity of the office’s activities across all areas of work, and particularly in its mission to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes – genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression – with independence and impartiality.

    Court in the spotlight

    The Prosecutor’s leave of absence comes at a sensitive moment for the ICC, which is conducting investigations and prosecutions across multiple conflict zones, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Sudan (Darfur) and Ukraine.

    Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, prompting the United States to announce punitive sanctions against the Court.

    These include measures against senior personnel – including Prosecutor Khan – with threats of arrest should they travel to the US.

    Relationship with the United Nations

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent judicial body established under the Rome Statute, adopted in 1998 and in force since 2002. Although not part of the United Nations, the ICC works closely with it under a cooperative framework.

    The UN Security Council can refer situations to the ICC, enabling the Court to investigate and prosecute most serious crimes. Notable referrals include the situations in Darfur, Sudan (2005) and Libya (2011).

    In return, the ICC reports to the Security Council when needed involving referrals.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Trump says no progress on Iran, Ukraine in phone call with Putin

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

    U.S. President Donald Trump said that he did not make any progress during his phone call earlier on Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Iran and the Ukraine conflict.

    “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump told reporters. “I’m not happy about that.”

    “We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,” said Trump.

    During the phone call, which lasted about an hour, Putin said that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict with Ukraine, including the elimination of its root causes, according to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

    “Our president said that Russia will achieve its goals, namely to eliminate the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current harsh confrontation. And Russia will not give up on these goals,” Ushakov said.

    Putin’s aide said that Russia is ready for the third round of talks with Ukraine, adding that Putin and Trump did not discuss the specifics of what would be discussed during the possible negotiations.

    Putin and Trump confirmed their mutual interest in implementing a series of economic projects between Russia and the United States, including in energy and space, Ushakov said. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Trump says no progress on Iran, Ukraine in phone call with Putin

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

    U.S. President Donald Trump said that he did not make any progress during his phone call earlier on Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Iran and the Ukraine conflict.

    “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump told reporters. “I’m not happy about that.”

    “We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,” said Trump.

    During the phone call, which lasted about an hour, Putin said that Moscow would achieve its goals in the conflict with Ukraine, including the elimination of its root causes, according to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

    “Our president said that Russia will achieve its goals, namely to eliminate the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current harsh confrontation. And Russia will not give up on these goals,” Ushakov said.

    Putin’s aide said that Russia is ready for the third round of talks with Ukraine, adding that Putin and Trump did not discuss the specifics of what would be discussed during the possible negotiations.

    Putin and Trump confirmed their mutual interest in implementing a series of economic projects between Russia and the United States, including in energy and space, Ushakov said. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: AI is consuming more power than the grid can handle — nuclear might be the answer

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Goran Calic, Associate Profesor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Leadership Chair, McMaster University

    New partnerships are forming between tech companies and power operators — ones that could reshape decades of misconceptions about nuclear energy.

    Last year, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) put out a call for nuclear proposals, Google agreed to buy new nuclear reactors from Kairos Power, Amazon partnered with Energy Northwest and Dominion Energy to develop nuclear energy and Microsoft committed to a 20-year deal to restart Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

    At the centre of these partnerships is artificial intelligence’s voracious appetite for electricity. One Google search uses about as much electricity as turning on a household light for 17 seconds. Asking a Generative AI model like ChatGPT a single question is equivalent to leaving that light on for 20 minutes.



    Read more:
    AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption

    Having GenAI generate an image can draw about 6,250 times more electricity, roughly the energy of fully charging a smartphone, or enough to keep the same light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.

    The hundreds of millions of people now using AI have effectively added the equivalent of millions of new homes to the power grid. And demand is only growing. The challenge for tech companies is that few sources of electricity are well-suited to AI.

    The grid wasn’t ready for AI

    AI requires vast amounts of computational power running around the clock, often housed in energy-intensive data centres.

    Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide intermittent energy, meaning they don’t guarantee the constant power supply these data centres require. These centres must be online 24/7, even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

    Fossil fuels can run continuously, but they carry their own risks. They have significant environmental impacts. Fuel prices can be unpredictable, as exemplified by the gas price spikes due to the war in Ukraine, and the long-term availability of fossil fuels is uncertain.

    Major tech companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft say they are committed to eliminating CO2 emissions, making fossil fuels a poor long-term fit for them.

    This has pushed nuclear energy back into the conversation. Nuclear energy is a good fit because it provides electricity around the clock, maximizing the use of expensive data centres. It’s also clean, allowing tech companies to meet their low CO2 commitments. Lastly, nuclear energy has very low fuel costs, which allows tech companies to plan their costs far into the future.

    However, nuclear energy has its own set of problems that have historically been hard to solve — problems that tech companies may now be uniquely positioned to overcome.

    Is nuclear energy making a comeback?

    Nuclear power has long been considered too costly and too slow to build. The estimated cost of a 1.1 gigawatt nuclear power facility is about US$7.77 billion, but can run higher. The recently completed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in the state of Georgia, for example, cost US$36.8 billion combined.

    Historically, nuclear energy projects have been hard to justify because of their high upfront costs. Like solar and wind power, nuclear energy has relatively low operating costs once a plant is up and running. The key difference is scale: unlike solar panels, which can be installed on individual rooftops, the kind of nuclear reactors tech companies require can’t be built small.

    Yet this cost is now more palatable when compared to the expense of AI data centres, which are both more costly and entirely useless without electricity. The first phase of OpenAI and SoftBank’s Stargate AI project will cost US$100 billion and could be entirely powered by a single nuclear plant.

    Nuclear power plants also take a long time to build. A 1.1 gigawatt reactor takes, on average, 7.5 years in the U.S. and 6.3 years globally. Projects with such long timelines require confidence in long-term electricity demand, something traditional utilities struggle to predict.

    To solve the problem of long-range forecasting, tech companies are incentivizing power providers by guaranteeing they’ll purchase electricity far into the future.

    These companies are also literally and financially moving closer to nuclear power, either by acquiring nuclear energy companies or locating their data centres next to nuclear power plants.

    Destigmatizing nuclear energy

    One of the biggest challenges facing nuclear energy is the perception that it’s dangerous and dirty. Per gigawatt-hour of electricity, nuclear produces only six tonnes of CO2. In comparison, coal produces 970, natural gas 720 and hydropower 24. Nuclear even has lower emissions than wind and solar, which produce 11 and 53 tonnes of CO2, respectively.

    Nuclear energy is also among the safest energy sources. Per gigawatt-hour, it causes 820 times fewer deaths than coal, 43 times fewer than hydropower and roughly the same as wind and solar.

    Still, nuclear energy remains stigmatized, largely because of persistent misconceptions and outdated beliefs about nuclear waste and disasters. For instance, while many public concerns remain about nuclear waste, existing storage solutions have been used safely for decades and are supported by a strong track record and scientific consensus.

    Similarly, while the Fukushima disaster in Japan displaced thousands of people and was extremely costly (total costs of the disaster are expected at about US$188 billion), not a single person died of radiation exposure after the accident, a United Nations Scientific Committee of 80 international experts found.



    Read more:
    With nuclear power on the rise, reducing conspiracies and increasing public education is key

    For decades, there was little effort to correct public perceptions about nuclear fears because it wasn’t seen as necessary or profitable. Coal, gas and renewables were sufficient to meet the demand required of them. But that’s now changing.

    With AI’s energy needs soaring, Big Tech has classified nuclear energy as green and the World Bank has agreed to lift its longstanding ban on financing nuclear projects.

    Big Tech’s billion-dollar bet on nuclear

    The world has long lived with two nuclear dilemmas. The first is that, despite being one the safest and cleanest form of energy, nuclear was perceived as one the most dangerous and dirtiest.

    The second is that upgrading the power grid requires large-scale investments, yet money had been funnelled into small, distributed sources like solar and wind, or dirty ones like coal and natural gas.

    Now tech companies are making hundred-billion-dollar strategic bets that they can solve both nuclear dilemmas. They are betting that nuclear can offer the kind of steady, clean power their AI ambitions require.

    This could be an unexpected positive consequence of AI: the revitalization of one of the safest and cleanest energy sources available to humankind.

    Michael Tadrous, an undergraduate student and research assistant at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, co-authored this article.

    The Conversation

    Goran Calic 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. AI is consuming more power than the grid can handle — nuclear might be the answer – https://theconversation.com/ai-is-consuming-more-power-than-the-grid-can-handle-nuclear-might-be-the-answer-258677

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: AI is consuming more power than the grid can handle — nuclear might be the answer

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Goran Calic, Associate Profesor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Leadership Chair, McMaster University

    New partnerships are forming between tech companies and power operators — ones that could reshape decades of misconceptions about nuclear energy.

    Last year, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) put out a call for nuclear proposals, Google agreed to buy new nuclear reactors from Kairos Power, Amazon partnered with Energy Northwest and Dominion Energy to develop nuclear energy and Microsoft committed to a 20-year deal to restart Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

    At the centre of these partnerships is artificial intelligence’s voracious appetite for electricity. One Google search uses about as much electricity as turning on a household light for 17 seconds. Asking a Generative AI model like ChatGPT a single question is equivalent to leaving that light on for 20 minutes.



    Read more:
    AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is bigger than energy consumption

    Having GenAI generate an image can draw about 6,250 times more electricity, roughly the energy of fully charging a smartphone, or enough to keep the same light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.

    The hundreds of millions of people now using AI have effectively added the equivalent of millions of new homes to the power grid. And demand is only growing. The challenge for tech companies is that few sources of electricity are well-suited to AI.

    The grid wasn’t ready for AI

    AI requires vast amounts of computational power running around the clock, often housed in energy-intensive data centres.

    Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide intermittent energy, meaning they don’t guarantee the constant power supply these data centres require. These centres must be online 24/7, even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

    Fossil fuels can run continuously, but they carry their own risks. They have significant environmental impacts. Fuel prices can be unpredictable, as exemplified by the gas price spikes due to the war in Ukraine, and the long-term availability of fossil fuels is uncertain.

    Major tech companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft say they are committed to eliminating CO2 emissions, making fossil fuels a poor long-term fit for them.

    This has pushed nuclear energy back into the conversation. Nuclear energy is a good fit because it provides electricity around the clock, maximizing the use of expensive data centres. It’s also clean, allowing tech companies to meet their low CO2 commitments. Lastly, nuclear energy has very low fuel costs, which allows tech companies to plan their costs far into the future.

    However, nuclear energy has its own set of problems that have historically been hard to solve — problems that tech companies may now be uniquely positioned to overcome.

    Is nuclear energy making a comeback?

    Nuclear power has long been considered too costly and too slow to build. The estimated cost of a 1.1 gigawatt nuclear power facility is about US$7.77 billion, but can run higher. The recently completed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in the state of Georgia, for example, cost US$36.8 billion combined.

    Historically, nuclear energy projects have been hard to justify because of their high upfront costs. Like solar and wind power, nuclear energy has relatively low operating costs once a plant is up and running. The key difference is scale: unlike solar panels, which can be installed on individual rooftops, the kind of nuclear reactors tech companies require can’t be built small.

    Yet this cost is now more palatable when compared to the expense of AI data centres, which are both more costly and entirely useless without electricity. The first phase of OpenAI and SoftBank’s Stargate AI project will cost US$100 billion and could be entirely powered by a single nuclear plant.

    Nuclear power plants also take a long time to build. A 1.1 gigawatt reactor takes, on average, 7.5 years in the U.S. and 6.3 years globally. Projects with such long timelines require confidence in long-term electricity demand, something traditional utilities struggle to predict.

    To solve the problem of long-range forecasting, tech companies are incentivizing power providers by guaranteeing they’ll purchase electricity far into the future.

    These companies are also literally and financially moving closer to nuclear power, either by acquiring nuclear energy companies or locating their data centres next to nuclear power plants.

    Destigmatizing nuclear energy

    One of the biggest challenges facing nuclear energy is the perception that it’s dangerous and dirty. Per gigawatt-hour of electricity, nuclear produces only six tonnes of CO2. In comparison, coal produces 970, natural gas 720 and hydropower 24. Nuclear even has lower emissions than wind and solar, which produce 11 and 53 tonnes of CO2, respectively.

    Nuclear energy is also among the safest energy sources. Per gigawatt-hour, it causes 820 times fewer deaths than coal, 43 times fewer than hydropower and roughly the same as wind and solar.

    Still, nuclear energy remains stigmatized, largely because of persistent misconceptions and outdated beliefs about nuclear waste and disasters. For instance, while many public concerns remain about nuclear waste, existing storage solutions have been used safely for decades and are supported by a strong track record and scientific consensus.

    Similarly, while the Fukushima disaster in Japan displaced thousands of people and was extremely costly (total costs of the disaster are expected at about US$188 billion), not a single person died of radiation exposure after the accident, a United Nations Scientific Committee of 80 international experts found.



    Read more:
    With nuclear power on the rise, reducing conspiracies and increasing public education is key

    For decades, there was little effort to correct public perceptions about nuclear fears because it wasn’t seen as necessary or profitable. Coal, gas and renewables were sufficient to meet the demand required of them. But that’s now changing.

    With AI’s energy needs soaring, Big Tech has classified nuclear energy as green and the World Bank has agreed to lift its longstanding ban on financing nuclear projects.

    Big Tech’s billion-dollar bet on nuclear

    The world has long lived with two nuclear dilemmas. The first is that, despite being one the safest and cleanest form of energy, nuclear was perceived as one the most dangerous and dirtiest.

    The second is that upgrading the power grid requires large-scale investments, yet money had been funnelled into small, distributed sources like solar and wind, or dirty ones like coal and natural gas.

    Now tech companies are making hundred-billion-dollar strategic bets that they can solve both nuclear dilemmas. They are betting that nuclear can offer the kind of steady, clean power their AI ambitions require.

    This could be an unexpected positive consequence of AI: the revitalization of one of the safest and cleanest energy sources available to humankind.

    Michael Tadrous, an undergraduate student and research assistant at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, co-authored this article.

    The Conversation

    Goran Calic 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. AI is consuming more power than the grid can handle — nuclear might be the answer – https://theconversation.com/ai-is-consuming-more-power-than-the-grid-can-handle-nuclear-might-be-the-answer-258677

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Mr. Nobody Against Putin gives an insight into the propaganda in Russian schools

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Political Communications, Nottingham Trent University

    A remarkable documentary is providing insight into the propaganda found within Russian schools. Mr. Nobody Against Putin, directed by David Borenstein, premiered at the 2025 Sundance film festival in January, where it won the world cinema documentary special jury award.

    The film was recorded over two years by Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, an events coordinator and videographer at a high school in Karabash, a heavily polluted town in central southern Russia. The documentary records the intensification of Kremlin-directed ultra-nationalist and pro-war propaganda within the Russian schooling system, which has intensified since the escalation of the war against Ukraine in February 2022.

    Talankin makes clear his view that this approach to “education” represents a moral wrong, and he is very much on point with the writings of the key ethicists on the subject. American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, for example, wrote that “education is both a tool of propaganda in the hands of dominant groups, and a means of emancipation for subject classes”.

    Niebuhr was writing about the education system in the US during the 1920s, when there was a widespread understanding that education was used in these two ways. Talankin’s concern is that Russia has moved to a position of imbalance, where the “dominant groups” have too much influence and are using their power to corrupt the minds of children through disingenuous narratives about national servitude, sacrifice and conformity, coupled with the unsubtle threat that those who are not patriots are “parasites”.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    In their highly respected book Propaganda & Persuasion (1986), propaganda experts Garth Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell state that “to analyse propaganda, one needs to be able to identify it”. This is a difficult task because propaganda thrives through symbols, the subliminal and in fictional works precisely because the audience is not conscious of it.

    However, the creation of an environment that uses propaganda is also dependent upon who is given the oxygen of publicity and who is marginalised. These are the conditions under which ideological indoctrination occurs and power is achieved or maintained.

    As such, a critical analyst of propaganda must assess the linguistic strategy, the information strategy, the eminence strategy (how to ensure that the target audience are watching, reading or listening to the desired content) and the staging strategy of the communicator. This can be remembered through the helpful L.I.E.S. mnemonic.

    The trailer for Mr. Nobody versus Putin.

    Talankin’s footage shows how Russian schools now promote distorted versions of European history. The well-trodden narrative that Ukraine has been taken over by neo-Nazis is referred to several times in lessons. Russian flags appear with greater frequency around the school as time goes on, and assembly time becomes an exercise in pledging allegiance to the fatherland.

    Teachers are expected to read from scripts prepared for them by the ministry of education. Pupils then respond with choreographed answers – some even glancing down at notes under their desks. The children are told about how dreadful life in France and the UK is because of their reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

    Interestingly, the Kremlin has asked that all of this be videoed and uploaded to a central database to ensure compliance with national regulations on what is taught in schools. Indeed, Talankin complains at one point that much of his time is now spent uploading the videos rather than actually teaching the students and helping them to be creative – as his job previously was.

    Shared humanity

    Talankin takes us on a tour of his city. He shows a pro-war rally that is broadly supported by the townsfolk. Or at least those in opposition dare not say anything or engage in an equivalent demonstration. He takes us to the civic library, theoretically a site of independent learning but which has been hijacked by these propaganda efforts.

    Perhaps the most important moments of the documentary though are the snippets of critique and the sense of “knowing” that Talankin is keen to show. The young girl who jokingly tells her teacher to “blink twice if you’re lying”, and to which all her class then laugh. His interactions with other teachers who confide in him that they know that the propaganda is bullshit, but, worried for their status and prosperity, go along with it.

    The propaganda is pretty poor though. It is clunky and obvious, and, while it might generate some short-term influence, it smacks of both arrogance and desperation on the part of the Kremlin. Indeed, it shows that there is no desire on the part of central government for Russian people to thrive intellectually.

    This scenario is reminiscent of the end of the Soviet era, when communist propaganda continued to prevail, but few still believed it. Nevertheless, without a clear alternative to follow, or obvious alternative leader to guide them, most people continued to abide.

    The most harrowing part of the documentary comes towards the end when Talankin provides an audio recording of the funeral of a local lad who has been killed in Ukraine. He did not dare film the funeral as this is a cultural faux pas, but the screams and wails of the mother as her son is laid to rest are piercing. The scene seems intended to bring our shared humanity to bare.

    Talankin is a nice guy with intelligence and ethical fortitude. The kids are funny, charming and talented. The mother is doing what we would all do if we had lost a child to a violent death. As such, Mr. Nobody Against Putin might better be called Mr. Everybody Against Putin, as it should be of grave concern to everyone that Russia’s education system is resorting to such techniques.

    Colin Alexander 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. Mr. Nobody Against Putin gives an insight into the propaganda in Russian schools – https://theconversation.com/mr-nobody-against-putin-gives-an-insight-into-the-propaganda-in-russian-schools-260162

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Trauma is carried in your DNA. But science reveals a more complicated story

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Tara-Lyn Camilleri, Postdoctoral researcher of transgenerational effects, Monash University

    Radu Bercan/Shutterstock

    As war continues to rage in Gaza and Ukraine, there is concern about how the related trauma might be transmitted to future generations of people in those regions.

    More generally, interest in the idea of transgenerational trauma has recently surged. For example, earlier this year, National Geographic magazine asked whether genes carry past family trauma.

    But while this might be a catchy question, it’s also slightly misleading. Because while trauma can ripple across generations, shaped by how our bodies respond to their environments, its effects aren’t hard-coded in our genes.

    Plastic minds and bodies

    At the heart of this process is what’s known as phenotypic plasticity.

    This is the capacity for organisms to produce different outcomes from the same genes, depending on their environment. These outcomes, called phenotypes, can include stress sensitivity and body shape.

    One way different phenotypes can arise from the same genes is via epigenetics: small chemical changes to the DNA molecule that make particular genes more or less active. Think of these like a director’s notes on a script. These notes guide the cell on which lines to emphasise or soften, without changing the script itself.

    But epigenetics is just one way this plasticity is expressed.

    Understanding how trauma is passed across generations means looking beyond genes and cells to the environments that shape and influence them.

    Human development is sculpted by lived experience, from caregiving and community to stress, safety and belonging.

    These factors interact to produce lasting – but not always fixed – effects. By focusing on how they interact, rather than on single causes, we can better understand why trauma echoes across generations. This also helps us identify how that cycle might be disrupted.

    Widespread in nature

    Phenotypic plasticity is widespread in nature.

    In honeybees, genetically identical larvae become queens or workers depending on what they eat while developing. In three-spined stickleback fish, early exposure to predators reshapes their stress physiology and body shape, making them harder for predators to grasp.

    These aren’t genetic differences – they’re environmental effects on development.

    In humans, early-life conditions similarly shape development. A child raised in an unsafe setting may develop heightened vigilance or stress sensitivity – traits that help in danger but can persist as anxiety or chronic stress in times of safety. This is known as environmental mismatch.

    Across generations, plasticity becomes more complicated. In some of my past research, I studied how diet in one generation of fruit flies shaped health, reproduction and longevity in their offspring and grand offspring.

    The results varied depending on diet, generation and trait. Traits that appeared to be useful in one generation weren’t always so in the next. This highlights how difficult transgenerational effects are to predict – precisely because of this plasticity.

    In three-spined stickleback fish, early exposure to predators reshapes their stress physiology and body shape.
    drakiragavon/iNaturalist, CC BY-ND

    Too narrow an explanation

    Epigenetics often reflect environmental exposures – such as stress, trauma, nutrition or caregiving. But they’re not necessarily permanent “scars”. Many are dynamic and can shift with changing environments – especially early in life.

    Studies show that epigenetic patterns linked to early childhood adversity vary depending on later environments such as family stability and social support. This suggests the biological imprint of early stress is shaped by what happens next.

    It’s tempting to treat epigenetics as the key to explaining inherited trauma – but that’s too narrow. Trauma can influence the next generation through altered hormones, immune function or in utero conditions – all of which shape brain development and stress reactivity.

    Genetic variation also plays a major role. It doesn’t encode trauma itself, but it shapes traits such as sensitivity to threat or emotional regulation. These traits aren’t chosen – they arise from a web of biological and social influences beyond our control.

    But how they unfold, and whether they’re amplified or softened, depends on the systems that surround us.

    Connection to culture

    Connection to culture plays an important role too.

    In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori-led initiatives that centre land, language and whakapapa (ancestral lineage) have shown promise in restoring wellbeing after generations of colonisation-related trauma.

    For Holocaust survivors and descendants, connection to cultural identity through ritual and shared narrative can reduce the psychological burden of transmitted trauma.

    But not all trauma is collective or institutional. Interventions such as trauma-informed parenting and early relational therapies have been shown to improve outcomes in the next generation.

    These psychological supports affect biology. Feeling safe in our relationships, having stable routines and a sense of meaning can reduce stress hormones, modulate immune function, and buffer against long-term disease risk.

    In this way, culture, caregiving and connection are all biological interventions. When they soften the effects of earlier stress, they may help interrupt its transmission.

    Trauma-informed parenting has been shown to improve outcomes in the next generation.
    fizkes/Shutterstock

    Reframing inherited vulnerability

    This matters, because it changes how we understand inherited vulnerability.

    Rather than a permanent wound passed down through DNA, the effects of trauma are better understood as changeable responses shaped by context.

    Thanks to plasticity, our biology is always in conversation with the environment – and when we change the context, we can change the outcome.

    Tara-Lyn Camilleri receives funding from from Australian Graduate Women, a not-for-profit organisation that advocates for education and supports women in postgraduate education with scholarships. Her research has also been supported by Australian Research Council grants and Royal Society funding. She is a volunteer committee member for Graduate Women Victoria.

    – ref. Trauma is carried in your DNA. But science reveals a more complicated story – https://theconversation.com/trauma-is-carried-in-your-dna-but-science-reveals-a-more-complicated-story-259057

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Mr. Nobody Against Putin gives an insight into the propaganda in Russian schools

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Colin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Political Communications, Nottingham Trent University

    A remarkable documentary is providing insight into the propaganda found within Russian schools. Mr. Nobody Against Putin, directed by David Borenstein, premiered at the 2025 Sundance film festival in January, where it won the world cinema documentary special jury award.

    The film was recorded over two years by Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, an events coordinator and videographer at a high school in Karabash, a heavily polluted town in central southern Russia. The documentary records the intensification of Kremlin-directed ultra-nationalist and pro-war propaganda within the Russian schooling system, which has intensified since the escalation of the war against Ukraine in February 2022.

    Talankin makes clear his view that this approach to “education” represents a moral wrong, and he is very much on point with the writings of the key ethicists on the subject. American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, for example, wrote that “education is both a tool of propaganda in the hands of dominant groups, and a means of emancipation for subject classes”.

    Niebuhr was writing about the education system in the US during the 1920s, when there was a widespread understanding that education was used in these two ways. Talankin’s concern is that Russia has moved to a position of imbalance, where the “dominant groups” have too much influence and are using their power to corrupt the minds of children through disingenuous narratives about national servitude, sacrifice and conformity, coupled with the unsubtle threat that those who are not patriots are “parasites”.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    In their highly respected book Propaganda & Persuasion (1986), propaganda experts Garth Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell state that “to analyse propaganda, one needs to be able to identify it”. This is a difficult task because propaganda thrives through symbols, the subliminal and in fictional works precisely because the audience is not conscious of it.

    However, the creation of an environment that uses propaganda is also dependent upon who is given the oxygen of publicity and who is marginalised. These are the conditions under which ideological indoctrination occurs and power is achieved or maintained.

    As such, a critical analyst of propaganda must assess the linguistic strategy, the information strategy, the eminence strategy (how to ensure that the target audience are watching, reading or listening to the desired content) and the staging strategy of the communicator. This can be remembered through the helpful L.I.E.S. mnemonic.

    The trailer for Mr. Nobody versus Putin.

    Talankin’s footage shows how Russian schools now promote distorted versions of European history. The well-trodden narrative that Ukraine has been taken over by neo-Nazis is referred to several times in lessons. Russian flags appear with greater frequency around the school as time goes on, and assembly time becomes an exercise in pledging allegiance to the fatherland.

    Teachers are expected to read from scripts prepared for them by the ministry of education. Pupils then respond with choreographed answers – some even glancing down at notes under their desks. The children are told about how dreadful life in France and the UK is because of their reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

    Interestingly, the Kremlin has asked that all of this be videoed and uploaded to a central database to ensure compliance with national regulations on what is taught in schools. Indeed, Talankin complains at one point that much of his time is now spent uploading the videos rather than actually teaching the students and helping them to be creative – as his job previously was.

    Shared humanity

    Talankin takes us on a tour of his city. He shows a pro-war rally that is broadly supported by the townsfolk. Or at least those in opposition dare not say anything or engage in an equivalent demonstration. He takes us to the civic library, theoretically a site of independent learning but which has been hijacked by these propaganda efforts.

    Perhaps the most important moments of the documentary though are the snippets of critique and the sense of “knowing” that Talankin is keen to show. The young girl who jokingly tells her teacher to “blink twice if you’re lying”, and to which all her class then laugh. His interactions with other teachers who confide in him that they know that the propaganda is bullshit, but, worried for their status and prosperity, go along with it.

    The propaganda is pretty poor though. It is clunky and obvious, and, while it might generate some short-term influence, it smacks of both arrogance and desperation on the part of the Kremlin. Indeed, it shows that there is no desire on the part of central government for Russian people to thrive intellectually.

    This scenario is reminiscent of the end of the Soviet era, when communist propaganda continued to prevail, but few still believed it. Nevertheless, without a clear alternative to follow, or obvious alternative leader to guide them, most people continued to abide.

    The most harrowing part of the documentary comes towards the end when Talankin provides an audio recording of the funeral of a local lad who has been killed in Ukraine. He did not dare film the funeral as this is a cultural faux pas, but the screams and wails of the mother as her son is laid to rest are piercing. The scene seems intended to bring our shared humanity to bare.

    Talankin is a nice guy with intelligence and ethical fortitude. The kids are funny, charming and talented. The mother is doing what we would all do if we had lost a child to a violent death. As such, Mr. Nobody Against Putin might better be called Mr. Everybody Against Putin, as it should be of grave concern to everyone that Russia’s education system is resorting to such techniques.

    Colin Alexander 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. Mr. Nobody Against Putin gives an insight into the propaganda in Russian schools – https://theconversation.com/mr-nobody-against-putin-gives-an-insight-into-the-propaganda-in-russian-schools-260162

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: War, politics and religion shape wildlife evolution in cities

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Carlen, Living Earth Collaborative Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis

    A Buddhist monk in Hong Kong releases fish and chants prayers during a ceremony to free the spirits of tsunami victims. Samantha Sin/AFP via Getty Images

    People often consider evolution to be a process that occurs in nature in the background of human society. But evolution is not separate from human beings. In fact, human cultural practices can influence evolution in wildlife. This influence is highly pronounced in cities, where people drastically alter landscapes to meet their own needs.

    Human actions can affect wildlife evolution in a number of ways. If people fragment habitat, separated wildlife populations can evolve to be more and more different from each other. If people change certain local conditions, it can pressure organisms in new ways that mean different genes are favored by natural selection and passed on to offspring – another form of evolution that can be driven by what people do.

    In a recent review, evolutionary biologists Marta Szulkin, Colin Garroway and I, in collaboration with scientists spread across five continents, explored how cultural processes – including religion, politics and war – shape urban evolution. We reviewed dozens of empirical studies about urban wildlife around the globe. Our work highlights which human cultural practices have and continue to shape the evolutionary trajectory of wild animals and plants.

    Religious practices

    If you’ve traveled internationally, you may have noticed the menu at any one McDonald’s restaurant is shaped by the local culture of its location. In the United Arab Emirates, McDonald’s serves an entirely halal menu. Vegetarian items are common and no beef is served in Indian McDonald’s. And in the United States, McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish is especially popular during Lent when observant Catholics don’t consume meat on Fridays.

    Similarly, ecosystems of cities are shaped by local cultural practices. Because all wildlife are connected to the environment, cultural practices that alter the landscape shape the evolution of urban organisms.

    Populations of fire salamanders have different genes depending on which side of city walls in Oviedo, Spain, they live on.
    Patrice Skrzynski via Getty Images

    For example, in Oviedo, Spain, people constructed walls around religious buildings between the 12th and 16th centuries. This division of the city led to different populations of fire salamanders inside and outside the walls. Because salamanders can’t scale these walls, those on opposite sides became isolated from each other and unable to pass genes back and forth. In a process that scientists call genetic drift, over time salamanders on the two sides became genetically distinct − evidence of the two populations evolving independently.

    Imagine dumping out a handful of M&Ms. Just by chance, some colors might be overrepresented and others might be missing. In the same way, genes that are overrepresented on one side of the wall can be in low numbers or missing on the other side. That’s genetic drift.

    Introducing non-native wildlife is another way people can alter urban ecosystems and evolutionary processes. For example, prayer animal release is a practice that started in the fifth or sixth century in some sects of Buddhism. Practitioners who strive to cause no harm to any living creature release captive animals, which benefits the animal and is meant to improve the karma of the person who released it.

    However, these animals are often captured from the wild or come from the pet trade, thereby introducing non-native wildlife into the urban ecosystem. Non-natives may compete with local species and contribute to the local extinction of native wildlife. Capturing animals nearby has downsides, too. It can diminish local populations, since many die traveling to the release ceremony. The genetic diversity of these local populations in turn decreases, reducing the population’s ability to survive.

    More than a thousand sparrows killed by peasants in 1958 are displayed on a cart near Beijing, China.
    Sovphoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Influence of politics

    Politically motivated campaigns have shaped wildlife in various ways.

    Starting in 1958, for instance, the Chinese Communist Party led a movement to eliminate four species that were considered pests: rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. While the first three are commonly considered pests around the world, sparrows made the list because they were “public animals of capitalism” due to their fondness for grain. The extermination campaign ended up decimating the sparrow population and damaging the entire ecosystem. With sparrows no longer hunting and eating insects, crop pests such as locusts thrived, leading to crop destruction and famine.

    In the United States, racial politics may be shaping evolutionary processes in wildlife.
    For instance, American highways traverse cities according to political agendas and have often dismantled poor neighborhoods of color to make way for multilane thoroughfares. These highways can change how animals are able to disperse and commingle. For example, they prevent bobcats and coyotes from traveling throughout Los Angeles, leading to similar patterns of population differentiation as seen in fire salamanders in Spain.

    Wildlife during and after war

    Human religious and political agendas often lead to armed conflict. Wars are known to dramatically alter the environment, as seen in current conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

    The Russia-Ukraine war affected migration of greater spotted eagles.
    Nimit Virdi via Getty Images

    While documenting evolutionary changes to urban wildlife is secondary to keeping people safe during wartime, a handful of studies on wildlife have come out of active war zones. For example, the current Russia-Ukraine war affected the migration of greater spotted eagles. They made large diversions around the active war zone, arriving later than usual at their breeding grounds. The longer route increased the energy the eagles used during migration and likely influenced their fitness during breeding.

    Wars limit access to resources for people living in active war zones. The lack of energy to heat homes in Ukraine during the winter has led urban residents to harvest wood from nearby forests. This harvesting will have long-term consequences on forest dynamics, likely altering future evolutionary potential.

    A similar example is famine that occurred during the Democratic Republic of Congo’s civil wars (1996-1997, 1998-2003) and led to an increase in bushmeat consumption. This wildlife hunting is known to reduce primate population sizes, making them more susceptible to local extinction.

    Even after war, landscapes experience consequences.

    For example, the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea is a 160-mile (250-kilometer) barrier, established in 1953, separating the two countries. Heavily fortified with razor wire and landmines, the demilitarized zone has become a de facto nature sanctuary supporting thousands of species, including dozens of endangered species.

    The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War led to the establishment of the European Green Belt, which runs along the same path as the Iron Curtain. This protected ecological network is over 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) long, allowing wildlife to move freely across 24 countries in Europe. Like the Korean DMZ, the European Green Belt allows for wildlife to move, breed and exchange genes, despite political boundaries. Politics has removed human influence from these spaces, allowing them to be a safe haven for wildlife.

    While researchers have documented a number of examples of wildlife evolving in response to human history and cultural practices, there’s plenty more to uncover. Cultures differ around the world, meaning each city has its own set of variables that shape the evolutionary processes of wildlife. Understanding how these human cultural practices shape evolutionary patterns will allow people to better design cities that support both humans and the wildlife that call these places home.

    Ideas for this article were developed as part of a NSF funded Research Coordination Network (DEB 1840663). Elizabeth Carlen was funded by the Living Earth Collaborative.

    – ref. War, politics and religion shape wildlife evolution in cities – https://theconversation.com/war-politics-and-religion-shape-wildlife-evolution-in-cities-260184

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Russia is paying schoolgirls to have babies. Why is pronatalism on the rise around the world?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University

    In some parts of Russia, schoolgirls who become pregnant are being paid more than 100,000 roubles (nearly £900) for giving birth and raising their babies.

    This new measure, introduced in the past few months across ten regions, is part of Russia’s new demographic strategy, widening the policy adopted in March 2025 which only applied to adult women. It is designed to address the dramatic decline in the country’s birthrate.

    In 2023 the number of births in Russia per woman was 1.41 – substantially below 2.05, which is the level required to maintain a population at its current size.

    Paying teenage girls to have babies while they are still in school is controversial in Russia. According to a recent survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre, 43% of Russians approve of the policy, while 40% are opposed to it. But it indicates the high priority that the state places on increasing the number of children being born.

    Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, regards a large population as one of the markers of a flourishing great power, along with control over a vast (and growing) territory and a powerful military. Paradoxically, though, his efforts to increase the physical size of Russia by attacking Ukraine and illegally annexing its territory have also been disastrous in terms of shrinking Russia’s population.

    The number of Russian soldiers killed in the war has reached 250,000 by some estimates, while the war sparked an exodus of hundreds of thousands of some of the most highly educated Russians. Many of them are young men fleeing military service who could have been fathers to the next generation of Russian citizens.

    But while Russia’s demographic situation is extreme, declining birth rates are now a global trend. It is estimated that by 2050 more than three quarters of the world’s countries will have such low fertility rates that they will not be able to sustain their populations.

    It’s not only Russia

    Putin is not the only world leader to introduce policies designed to encourage women to have more babies. Viktor Orban’s government in Hungary is offering a range of incentives, such as generous tax breaks and subsidised mortgages, to those who have three or more children.

    Poland makes a monthly payment of 500 złoty (£101) per child to families with two or more children. But there’s some evidence this has not prompted higher-income Polish women to have more children, as they might have to sacrifice higher earnings and career advancement to have another child.

    In the United States, Donald Trump is proposing to pay women US$5,000 (£3,682) to have a baby, tied to a wider Maga movement push, supported by Elon Musk and others, to encourage women to have larger families.

    Reversing demographic trends is complex, because the reasons that individuals and couples have for becoming parents are also complex. Personal preferences and aspirations, beliefs about their ability to provide for children, as well as societal norms and cultural and religious values all play a part in these decisions.

    As a result, the impact of “pronatalist” policies has been mixed. No country has found an easy way to reverse declining birth rates.

    One country seeking to address population decline with policies, other than encouraging women to have more babies is Spain, which now allows an easier pathway to citizenship for migrants, including those who entered the country illegally. Madrid’s embrace of immigrants is being credited for its current economic boom.

    The US is seeing a pronatalist movement become more vocal.

    Looking for particular types of families

    But governments that adopt pronatalist policies tend to be concerned, not simply with increasing the total number of people living and working in their countries, but with encouraging certain kinds of people to reproduce. In other words, there is often an ideological dimension to these practices.

    Incentives for pregnancy, childbirth and large families are typically targeted at those whom the state regards as its most desirable citizens. These people may be desirable citizens due to their race, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual orientation or some other identity or combination of identities.



    Read more:
    Putin forced to send wounded back to fight and offer huge military salaries as Russia suffers a million casualties

    For instance, the Spanish bid to increase the population by increasing immigration offers mostly Spanish speakers from Catholic countries in Latin America jobs while opportunities to remain in, or move to, the country does appear to be extended to migrants from Africa. Meanwhile, Hungary’s incentives to families are only available to heterosexual couples who earn high incomes.

    Elon Musk believes people need to have more children.

    The emphasis on increasing the proportion of the most desirable citizens is why the Trump administration sees no contradiction in calling for more babies to be born in the US, while ordering the arrest and deportation of hundreds of alleged illegal migrants, attempting to reverse the constitutional guarantee of US citizenship for anyone born in the country and even attempting to withdraw citizenship from some Americans.

    Which mothers do they want?

    The success or failure of governments and societies that promote pronatalism hinges on their ability to persuade people – and especially women – to embrace parenthood. Along with financial incentives and other tangible rewards for having babies, some states offer praise and recognition for the mothers of large families.

    Putin’s reintroduction of the Stalin-era motherhood medal for women with ten or more children is one example. Sometimes the recognition comes from society, such as the current American fascination with “trad wives” – women who become social media influencers by turning their backs on careers in favour of raising large numbers of children and living socially conservative lifestyles.

    The mirror image of this celebration of motherhood is the implicit or explicit criticism of women who delay childbirth or reject it altogether. Russia’s parliament passed a law in 2024 to ban the promotion of childlessness, or “child-free propaganda”. This legislation joins other measures such as restrictions on abortions in private clinics, together with public condemnation of women who choose to study at university and pursue careers rather than prioritise marriage and child-rearing.

    The world’s most prosperous states would be embracing immigration if pronatalist policies were driven solely by the need to ensure a sufficient workforce to support the economy and society. Instead, these attempts are often bound up with efforts to restrict or dictate the choices that citizens – and especially women – make about their personal lives, and to create a population dominated by the types of the people they favour.

    Jennifer Mathers 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. Russia is paying schoolgirls to have babies. Why is pronatalism on the rise around the world? – https://theconversation.com/russia-is-paying-schoolgirls-to-have-babies-why-is-pronatalism-on-the-rise-around-the-world-258979

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: International student activism histories show how education can foster democracy

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Reuben Rose-Redwood, Professor of Geography and Associate Dean Academic, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Victoria

    On March 25, 2025, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, Rümeysa Öztürk, was walking in a Boston suburb when she was detained by plain-clothed federal agents. A video of the encounter went viral, sparking fear and outrage in the United States and beyond.

    Since March, a growing number of international students in the U.S. have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated for everything from engaging in political activism to minor infractions such as traffic tickets.

    The tightening of restrictions is part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to impose its political will on colleges and universities. These governmental interventions have caused deep concern about the future of higher education, democracy, scientific research and the rule of law in the U.S.



    Read more:
    Three scientists speak about what it’s like to have research funding cut by the Trump administration

    Many of the revoked student visas were restored in late April as a result of nearly 100 federal lawsuits. But the Trump administration continues to target international students for deportation.

    In Öztürk’s case, her visa was revoked for co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper a year earlier. The op-ed called on the university to acknowledge the plausible claim of a Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with links to Israel.

    Boston Globe video: Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk detained by immigration authorities.

    Other international students, scholars and permanent residents have also been detained for participating in pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.

    Just before the Gaza campus encampment movement arose in April 2024, we published an edited book, International Student Activism and the Politics of Higher Education. Our book brought together interdisciplinary scholars to examine how international students have engaged in political activism and advocacy through case studies.

    This leads us to consider what lessons the history of international student politics might hold for addressing current challenges.

    Host and home country relations

    Although the backlash against international student activism has captured headlines recently, there’s a long history of international students participating in political life during their studies abroad.

    These political activities have ranged from protests against tuition hikes to involvement in lobbying and demonstrations related to global geopolitical issues.

    The first key lesson we have learned is that the very presence of international students on university campuses is a political matter that depends on a measure of good will between the host and home countries.

    For instance, when diplomatic relations between Canada and Saudi Arabia broke down in 2018 due to a dispute over alleged Saudi human rights violations, the Saudi government ordered its students to leave Canada and study elsewhere. Despite this order, thousands of Saudi students chose to stay in Canada even after Saudi authorities withdrew government scholarships to support them.

    Political courage in face of risks

    A second lesson is that international student activists have often demonstrated extraordinary political courage when the risks of government retaliation are high.

    After the First World War, Korean nationals studying in the U.S. took inspiration from the American Revolution to advocate for an independent Korea. At the time, participation in the independence movement was punishable by death in Japanese-occupied Korea.

    Following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Chinese students and scholars in the U.S. also protested against political repression in China at great risk of persecution if they returned to their home country.

    Building political solidarity

    A third important lesson is that the international student experience offers an opportunity for students to build political solidarity across national divisions.

    The international solidarity movement for Palestine is a prime example.

    During the 1960s, support for Palestine was widespread among international students of different nationalities in strongholds of student politics such as Paris. In recent years, international students have forged new alliances through the pro-Palestinian protest movement against the Gaza war on campuses around the world.



    Read more:
    The renaming of universities and campus buildings reflects changing attitudes and values

    Ebbs and flows of activism

    International students have engaged in diverse forms of “front-stage” and “back-stage” political action in different contexts.

    Front-stage political activism includes participation in protests, demonstrations, occupations and other political acts that are publicly visible.

    Some protests are responses to specific policy changes at colleges and universities. At the University of Victoria, where we both work, international students protested tuition increases in 2019, blockading administrative buildings and occupying the Senate chambers.

    Other front-stage political actions — such as the 2024 Gaza campus protests — are part of global movements.

    But front-stage protests are only half the story. They often ebb and flow throughout the school year and come with significant risks due to the precarious status of international students as visa holders.

    Given the heightened risks under the Trump administration, some international students are advocating for more strategic back-stage political activism to minimize public attention.

    In a recent editorial, Janhavi Munde, an international student at Wesleyan University, noted that within the current political environment, “it might be smarter and safer to create change in the background” in order to “provide more scope for impactful activism — as opposed to getting arrested the day of your first on-campus protest.”

    Strengthening democratic culture

    The current debate over international student activism in the U.S. raises broader questions about the very purpose of higher education in democratic societies.

    When asked at a news conference why Öztürk, the Turkish student at Tufts University, was detained, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that “we gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”

    This narrow understanding of higher education reduces the richness of the educational experience — where learning occurs both within and beyond the classroom — to a one-dimensional focus on schooling to receive a credential.

    One of the main aims of higher education in democracies is to foster critical thinking and civic engagement. When international students actively participate in campus political life, this strengthens the democratic culture of higher education and society.

    More than a century ago, American philosopher John Dewey observed in Democracy and Education that education is essential to striving for the democratic ideal. He argued that “democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living.” For Dewey, education could foster democracy through “the breaking down of those barriers of class, race and national territory.”

    Equal dignity of all people

    As geographers, we take inspiration from Russian geographer Peter Kropotkin’s classic 1885 essay where he observed that, in a:

    “time of wars, of national self-conceit, of national jealousies and hatreds … geography must be — in so far as the school may do anything to counterbalance hostile influences — a means of dissipating these prejudices and of creating other feelings more worthy of humanity.”

    When international students such as Öztürk urge us to “affirm the equal dignity and humanity of all people,” they are displaying political courage by embodying the ideals of freedom and democracy at a time when these founding principles of the U.S. are increasingly under threat.

    Reuben Rose-Redwood has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

    CindyAnn Rose-Redwood has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

    – ref. International student activism histories show how education can foster democracy – https://theconversation.com/international-student-activism-histories-show-how-education-can-foster-democracy-257600

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: International student activism histories show how education can foster democracy

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Reuben Rose-Redwood, Professor of Geography and Associate Dean Academic, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Victoria

    On March 25, 2025, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, Rümeysa Öztürk, was walking in a Boston suburb when she was detained by plain-clothed federal agents. A video of the encounter went viral, sparking fear and outrage in the United States and beyond.

    Since March, a growing number of international students in the U.S. have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated for everything from engaging in political activism to minor infractions such as traffic tickets.

    The tightening of restrictions is part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to impose its political will on colleges and universities. These governmental interventions have caused deep concern about the future of higher education, democracy, scientific research and the rule of law in the U.S.



    Read more:
    Three scientists speak about what it’s like to have research funding cut by the Trump administration

    Many of the revoked student visas were restored in late April as a result of nearly 100 federal lawsuits. But the Trump administration continues to target international students for deportation.

    In Öztürk’s case, her visa was revoked for co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper a year earlier. The op-ed called on the university to acknowledge the plausible claim of a Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with links to Israel.

    Boston Globe video: Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk detained by immigration authorities.

    Other international students, scholars and permanent residents have also been detained for participating in pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.

    Just before the Gaza campus encampment movement arose in April 2024, we published an edited book, International Student Activism and the Politics of Higher Education. Our book brought together interdisciplinary scholars to examine how international students have engaged in political activism and advocacy through case studies.

    This leads us to consider what lessons the history of international student politics might hold for addressing current challenges.

    Host and home country relations

    Although the backlash against international student activism has captured headlines recently, there’s a long history of international students participating in political life during their studies abroad.

    These political activities have ranged from protests against tuition hikes to involvement in lobbying and demonstrations related to global geopolitical issues.

    The first key lesson we have learned is that the very presence of international students on university campuses is a political matter that depends on a measure of good will between the host and home countries.

    For instance, when diplomatic relations between Canada and Saudi Arabia broke down in 2018 due to a dispute over alleged Saudi human rights violations, the Saudi government ordered its students to leave Canada and study elsewhere. Despite this order, thousands of Saudi students chose to stay in Canada even after Saudi authorities withdrew government scholarships to support them.

    Political courage in face of risks

    A second lesson is that international student activists have often demonstrated extraordinary political courage when the risks of government retaliation are high.

    After the First World War, Korean nationals studying in the U.S. took inspiration from the American Revolution to advocate for an independent Korea. At the time, participation in the independence movement was punishable by death in Japanese-occupied Korea.

    Following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Chinese students and scholars in the U.S. also protested against political repression in China at great risk of persecution if they returned to their home country.

    Building political solidarity

    A third important lesson is that the international student experience offers an opportunity for students to build political solidarity across national divisions.

    The international solidarity movement for Palestine is a prime example.

    During the 1960s, support for Palestine was widespread among international students of different nationalities in strongholds of student politics such as Paris. In recent years, international students have forged new alliances through the pro-Palestinian protest movement against the Gaza war on campuses around the world.



    Read more:
    The renaming of universities and campus buildings reflects changing attitudes and values

    Ebbs and flows of activism

    International students have engaged in diverse forms of “front-stage” and “back-stage” political action in different contexts.

    Front-stage political activism includes participation in protests, demonstrations, occupations and other political acts that are publicly visible.

    Some protests are responses to specific policy changes at colleges and universities. At the University of Victoria, where we both work, international students protested tuition increases in 2019, blockading administrative buildings and occupying the Senate chambers.

    Other front-stage political actions — such as the 2024 Gaza campus protests — are part of global movements.

    But front-stage protests are only half the story. They often ebb and flow throughout the school year and come with significant risks due to the precarious status of international students as visa holders.

    Given the heightened risks under the Trump administration, some international students are advocating for more strategic back-stage political activism to minimize public attention.

    In a recent editorial, Janhavi Munde, an international student at Wesleyan University, noted that within the current political environment, “it might be smarter and safer to create change in the background” in order to “provide more scope for impactful activism — as opposed to getting arrested the day of your first on-campus protest.”

    Strengthening democratic culture

    The current debate over international student activism in the U.S. raises broader questions about the very purpose of higher education in democratic societies.

    When asked at a news conference why Öztürk, the Turkish student at Tufts University, was detained, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that “we gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”

    This narrow understanding of higher education reduces the richness of the educational experience — where learning occurs both within and beyond the classroom — to a one-dimensional focus on schooling to receive a credential.

    One of the main aims of higher education in democracies is to foster critical thinking and civic engagement. When international students actively participate in campus political life, this strengthens the democratic culture of higher education and society.

    More than a century ago, American philosopher John Dewey observed in Democracy and Education that education is essential to striving for the democratic ideal. He argued that “democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living.” For Dewey, education could foster democracy through “the breaking down of those barriers of class, race and national territory.”

    Equal dignity of all people

    As geographers, we take inspiration from Russian geographer Peter Kropotkin’s classic 1885 essay where he observed that, in a:

    “time of wars, of national self-conceit, of national jealousies and hatreds … geography must be — in so far as the school may do anything to counterbalance hostile influences — a means of dissipating these prejudices and of creating other feelings more worthy of humanity.”

    When international students such as Öztürk urge us to “affirm the equal dignity and humanity of all people,” they are displaying political courage by embodying the ideals of freedom and democracy at a time when these founding principles of the U.S. are increasingly under threat.

    Reuben Rose-Redwood has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

    CindyAnn Rose-Redwood has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

    – ref. International student activism histories show how education can foster democracy – https://theconversation.com/international-student-activism-histories-show-how-education-can-foster-democracy-257600

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Update 300 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all off-site power for several hours today, once again underlining the extremely fragile nuclear safety situation at the site, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

    The plant’s connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut at 17:37 local time today and restored around 21:11, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for more than three and a half hours. While the cause was not immediately known, it coincided with air raid alarms in the region, Director General Grossi said, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.

    It was the ninth time the ZNPP suffered a complete loss of off-site power since the conflict began in February 2022, and the first since 2 December 2023.

    The IAEA team based at the site, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), reported that 18 emergency diesel generators immediately started operating to generate the electricity the plant needs to be able to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools. The plant has diesel fuel for at least 10 days on-site, and arrangements in place to secure further supplies. Once off-site power was restored, the diesel generators were switched off.

    “What was once virtually unimaginable – that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all of its external power connections – has unfortunately become a common occurrence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Almost three and a half years into this devastating war, nuclear safety in Ukraine remains very much in danger,” Director General Grossi said.

    “Our team on the ground will continue to follow the situation very closely and report on further developments there,” he said.

    The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2024 but still require cooling water for their reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP lost the connection to its last remaining 330 kV back-up power line on 7 May, leaving the plant dependent on its sole 750 kV line. Before the conflict, it had ten off-site power lines available, highlighting the extent to which nuclear safety has deteriorated since February 2022.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Update 300 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

    Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all off-site power for several hours today, once again underlining the extremely fragile nuclear safety situation at the site, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

    The plant’s connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut at 17:37 local time today and restored around 21:11, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for more than three and a half hours. While the cause was not immediately known, it coincided with air raid alarms in the region, Director General Grossi said, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.

    It was the ninth time the ZNPP suffered a complete loss of off-site power since the conflict began in February 2022, and the first since 2 December 2023.

    The IAEA team based at the site, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), reported that 18 emergency diesel generators immediately started operating to generate the electricity the plant needs to be able to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools. The plant has diesel fuel for at least 10 days on-site, and arrangements in place to secure further supplies. Once off-site power was restored, the diesel generators were switched off.

    “What was once virtually unimaginable – that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all of its external power connections – has unfortunately become a common occurrence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Almost three and a half years into this devastating war, nuclear safety in Ukraine remains very much in danger,” Director General Grossi said.

    “Our team on the ground will continue to follow the situation very closely and report on further developments there,” he said.

    The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2024 but still require cooling water for their reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP lost the connection to its last remaining 330 kV back-up power line on 7 May, leaving the plant dependent on its sole 750 kV line. Before the conflict, it had ten off-site power lines available, highlighting the extent to which nuclear safety has deteriorated since February 2022.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Update 300 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all off-site power for several hours today, once again underlining the extremely fragile nuclear safety situation at the site, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

    The plant’s connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut at 17:37 local time today and restored around 21:11, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for more than three and a half hours. While the cause was not immediately known, it coincided with air raid alarms in the region, Director General Grossi said, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.

    It was the ninth time the ZNPP suffered a complete loss of off-site power since the conflict began in February 2022, and the first since 2 December 2023.

    The IAEA team based at the site, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), reported that 18 emergency diesel generators immediately started operating to generate the electricity the plant needs to be able to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools. The plant has diesel fuel for at least 10 days on-site, and arrangements in place to secure further supplies. Once off-site power was restored, the diesel generators were switched off.

    “What was once virtually unimaginable – that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all of its external power connections – has unfortunately become a common occurrence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Almost three and a half years into this devastating war, nuclear safety in Ukraine remains very much in danger,” Director General Grossi said.

    “Our team on the ground will continue to follow the situation very closely and report on further developments there,” he said.

    The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2024 but still require cooling water for their reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP lost the connection to its last remaining 330 kV back-up power line on 7 May, leaving the plant dependent on its sole 750 kV line. Before the conflict, it had ten off-site power lines available, highlighting the extent to which nuclear safety has deteriorated since February 2022.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Update 300 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all off-site power for several hours today, once again underlining the extremely fragile nuclear safety situation at the site, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

    The plant’s connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut at 17:37 local time today and restored around 21:11, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for more than three and a half hours. While the cause was not immediately known, it coincided with air raid alarms in the region, Director General Grossi said, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.

    It was the ninth time the ZNPP suffered a complete loss of off-site power since the conflict began in February 2022, and the first since 2 December 2023.

    The IAEA team based at the site, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), reported that 18 emergency diesel generators immediately started operating to generate the electricity the plant needs to be able to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools. The plant has diesel fuel for at least 10 days on-site, and arrangements in place to secure further supplies. Once off-site power was restored, the diesel generators were switched off.

    “What was once virtually unimaginable – that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all of its external power connections – has unfortunately become a common occurrence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Almost three and a half years into this devastating war, nuclear safety in Ukraine remains very much in danger,” Director General Grossi said.

    “Our team on the ground will continue to follow the situation very closely and report on further developments there,” he said.

    The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since 2024 but still require cooling water for their reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP lost the connection to its last remaining 330 kV back-up power line on 7 May, leaving the plant dependent on its sole 750 kV line. Before the conflict, it had ten off-site power lines available, highlighting the extent to which nuclear safety has deteriorated since February 2022.

    MIL Security OSI –