Category: Vehicles

MIL-OSI NGOs: Whatever we lose we will come back

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

Amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment and incursions across southern Lebanon, countless families have been uprooted, many seeking refuge in the coastal city of Saida. Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF’s) mobile medical teams have been visiting several locations in the southern city, offering general healthcare, medication, and mental health support to people displaced by the violence. Here are some of the testimonies of our patients there:

Hassan Zeineddine

“There’s nothing like living in your own home,” reflects Hassan Zeineddine, 67, an internally displaced Lebanese man with hypertension. He and his wife fled Kfar Melki, in the south of Lebanon, after nearby Israeli bombardments, leaving with only the clothes on their backs. “My sons are also displaced, scattered across the country. That alone is a struggle, but what we are going through is similar to what everyone else is.”

Having been uprooted three times during the recent escalations, Hassan, a retired employee who lost his pension and savings in the 2020 economic crisis, reminisces about the olive harvest and his deep connection to the land he was forced to leave behind.

“There is nothing quite like the south,” he says. “Wherever we go, whatever we lose, and whatever we are offered, we will always come back. I lived through the 1982 Israeli invasion and remember the airstrikes on southern villages then. As we returned to our homes then, we will now.”

Khadija

Khadija, a Syrian refugee and mother of five, was displaced from Nabatieh with her family. “She’s fading right before my eyes,” says Khadija, pointing to her seven-year-old daughter, who she says suffers from stunted growth. She describes the harsh conditions in the open parking lot by the Saida coastline where they’ve sought refuge.

“We never feel clean. People are competing over food here, and we don’t have enough clean water to wash. We go to the sea to relieve ourselves, but there are often men around.”

Her children are battling various health issues and it’s breaking her spirit. “Sidra, 13, has asthma, Hiba, 7, weighs barely 10 kilograms, and Malak, my 8-month-old, has a fever and diarrhoea. I breastfeed her whenever I can, but it’s not always enough, and I can’t properly clean her bottles.”

In a moment of despair Khadija admits, “Sometimes I wish we had stayed and died in an airstrike instead of living like this.”

Um Mohammad

Um Mohammad, a 40-year-old Syrian refugee displaced from Qsaibeh, in south Lebanon, has three daughters. She used to maintain her employer’s garden, landscaping and building fences around his land. The night she fled Qsaibeh, an airstrike landed dangerously close.

She recalls joining the community with buckets of water to put out the fire, and then her employer told her it was time to leave. She packed a change of clothes for each of her daughters, aged 18, 6, and 4, and grabbed only a blanket, leaving behind the groceries she had just bought that day on her kitchen floor.

Hala

Hala, 24, is a Syrian refugee and mother of three—Yamen, 2, Rawan, 3, and Razan, 6. She fled from the coastal town of Adloun in south Lebanon amidst airstrikes and the sirens of ambulances. “We left with nothing. We escaped on a motorcycle, but it broke down here in Saida. My husband went back to retrieve our belongings, but everything was stolen.”

Now, they rely on aid for food.

“All my children are sick with vomiting and diarrhoea. Rawan, who has down syndrome, used to receive physical therapy to walk and move. We had high hopes that she would begin verbal communication through speech therapy soon, and she had made so much progress. But now, all that is gone. She requires lots of medications and is often bullied by other children for not being able to express herself.”

Shams Al Mahmoud, Marimar, and Kazem

Shams Al Mahmoud, whose first name means ‘sun’ in Arabic and is a Syrian refugee, remains as bright and warm as ever, despite the hardships she and her family have endured. Along with her children—Mimar, 24, Mimas, Kazem, 20, and Marimar,14—Shams was displaced from Kfar Roumane and now lives in a parking lot in Saida, southern Lebanon.

With an endearing smile, she recounts the moments her family escaped Israeli airstrikes in the town they had called home for over a decade, fleeing for 12 hours on foot to finally find relative safety in Saida. A few days later, Kazem and one of his sisters made a dangerous trip back to their former home on a borrowed motorcycle to rescue their two kittens, Simba and Mimi.

“We thought of them as we were leaving,” says Marimar, as she fondly strokes one of the kittens. “But the airstrikes were too close. I’m so relieved we could go back for them.”

Najah Ashour

Najah Ashour, a Syrian refugee living in south Lebanon, was displaced once again along with her daughters—Maya, 11, Lujain, 6, and Sary, 9 months—after airstrikes struck the southern town of Baisariyeh. She is among the 1.2 million people displaced by the ongoing Israeli bombardments. While the war affects everyone, minority groups like Syrian refugees, migrant workers, the elderly, and people with disabilities face even greater risks of discrimination and exclusion, further limiting their access to healthcare and humanitarian aid.

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MIL OSI NGO –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: ‘Our nuclear childhood’: the sisters who witnessed H-bomb tests over their Pacific island, and are still coming to terms with the fallout
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christopher Hill, Associate Professor (Research and Development), Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, University of South Wales

Nuclear detonations were the backdrop to Teeua and Teraabo’s childhood. By the time the sisters were eight and four, the Pacific island on which they grew up, Kiritimati, had hosted 30 atomic and thermonuclear explosions – six during Operation Grapple, a British series between 1957 and 1958, and 24 during Operation Dominic, led by the US in 1962.

The UK’s secretary of state for the colonies, Alan Lennox-Boyd, had claimed the Grapple series would put Britain “far ahead of the Americans, and probably the Russians too, in super-bomb development”. Grapple, the country’s largest tri-service operation since D-Day, also involved troops from Fiji and New Zealand. It sought to secure the awesome power of the hydrogen bomb: a thermonuclear device far more destructive than the atomic bomb.

Britain’s seat at the top table of “super-bomb development” was emphatically announced in April 1958 with Grapple Y: an “H-bomb” 200 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. This remains Britain’s largest nuclear detonation – one of more than 100 conducted by the UK, US and Soviet Union in 1958 alone.

More than six decades later, the health effects on former servicemen based on Kiritimati, as well as at test locations in South and Western Australia, remain unresolved. Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, has called the treatment of UK nuclear test veterans “the longest-standing and, arguably, the worst” of all the British public scandals in recent history.

Read more:
Nobel peace prize awarded to Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group for its efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons

Unlike the Post Office, infected blood and Grenfell Tower inquiries in 2024, there has been no UK inquiry into British nuclear weapon tests in Australia and the Pacific. Yet veterans and their descendants maintain these tests caused hereditary ill-health effects and premature deaths among participants. The British government has been accused of hiding records of these health impacts for decades behind claims of national security.

Over the past year, the life stories of British nuclear test veterans have been collected by researchers, including myself, for an oral history project in partnership with the British Library. Whether from a vantage point of air, land or sea, the veterans all recall witnessing nuclear explosions with startling clarity, as if the moment was seared on to their memories. According to Doug Herne, a ship’s cook with the Royal Navy:

When the flash hit you, you could see the X-rays of your hands through your closed eyes. Then the heat hit you, and it was as if someone my size had caught fire and walked through me. To say it was frightening is an understatement. I think it shocked us into silence.

British servicemen describe their nuclear test experiences. Video: Wester van Gaal/Motherboard.

But what of the experiences of local people on Kiritimati? I have recently interviewed two sisters who are among the few surviving islanders who witnessed the nuclear tests. This is their story.

‘A mushroom cloud igniting the sky’

At the start of Operation Grapple in May 1957, around 250 islanders lived on Kiritimati – the world’s largest coral reef atoll, slap bang in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, around 1,250 miles (2,000km) due south of Hawaii. The island’s name is derived from the English word “Christmas”, the atoll having been “discovered” by the British explorer James Cook on Christmas Eve 1777.

In May 2023, I visited Kiritimati for a research project on “British nuclear imperialism”, which investigated how post-war Britain used its dwindling imperial assets and resources as a springboard for nuclear development. I sought to interview islanders who had remained on the atoll since the tests, including Teeua Tekonau, then aged 68. In 2024, I visited her younger sister, Teraabo Pollard, who lives more than 8,000 miles away in the contrasting surroundings of Burnley, north-west England.

Far from descriptions of fear and terror, both Teeua and Teraabo looked back on the tests with striking enthusiasm. Teraabo recalled witnessing them from the local maneaba (open-air meeting place) or tennis court as a “pleasurable” experience full of “excitement”.

She described having her ears plugged with cotton wool before being covered with a blanket. As if by magic, the blanket was then lifted to reveal a mushroom cloud igniting the night sky – a sight accompanied by sweetened bread handed out by American soldiers. So vivid was the light that Teraabo, then aged four, described “being excited about it being daytime again”.

An Operation Grapple thermonuclear test near Kiritimati, 1957-58. Video: Imperial War Museums.

In view of the violence of the tests, I was struck that Teeua and Teraabo volunteered these positive memories. Their enthusiasm seemed in marked contrast to growing concerns about the radioactive fallout – including those voiced by surviving test veterans and their descendants. As children, the tests seem to have offered the sisters a spectacle of fantasy and escapism – glazed with the saccharine of American treats and Disney films on British evacuation ships.

Yet they have also lived through the premature deaths of family members and, in Teraabo’s case, a malignant tumour dating from the time of the tests. And there have been similar stories from other families who lived in the shadow of these very risky, loosely controlled experiments. Teraabo told me about a friend who had peeked out from her blanket as a young girl – and who suffered from eye and health problems ever since.

‘Only a very slight health hazard’

Kiritimati forms part of the impossibly large Republic of Kiribati – a nation of 33 islands spread over 3.5 million square kilometres; the only one to have territory in all four hemispheres and, until 1995, on either side of the international date line. Before independence from Britain in 1979, Kiribati belonged to the Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony, which in effect made Kiritimati a “nuclear colony” for the purpose of British and American testing.

In 1955, Teeua and Teraabo’s parents, Taraem and Tekonau Tetoa, left their home island of Tabiteuea, a small atoll belonging to the Gilbert group of islands in the western Pacific. They boarded a British merchant vessel bound for Christmas Island nearly 2,000 miles away. Setting sail with new-born Teeua in their arms, the family looked forward to a future cutting copra on Kiritimati’s British coconut plantation.

The scale of this journey, with four young children, was immense. Just how the hundred or so Gilbertese passengers “managed to live [during the voyage] was better not asked”, according to one royal engineer who described a similar voyage a few years later. “There were piles of coconuts everywhere – perhaps they were for both food and drink.”

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Within two years of their arrival, the family faced more upheaval as mother Taraem and her children were packed aboard another ship ahead of the first three sets of British nuclear tests in the Pacific. Known as Grapple 1, 2 and 3, they were to be detonated over Malden Island, an atoll some 240 miles to the south of Kiritimati – but still too close for the comfort of local residents.

According to Teeua, the evacuation was prompted by disillusioned labourers brought to Kiritimati without their families, who went on strike after learning how much the British troops were being paid. But the islanders’ perspectives do not feature much in the colonial records, which give precedence to British disputes about logistical costs and safety calculations.

The Grapple task force resolved that the safe limit set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection should be reduced, to limit the cost of evacuations. A meeting in November 1956 noted that “only a very slight health hazard to people would arise from this reduction – and that only to primitive peoples”.

Shocking as this remark sounds, it is typical of the disregard that nuclear planners appear to have had, both for Indigenous communities and the mostly working-class soldiers. These lives did not seem to matter much in the context of Britain’s quest for nuclear supremacy. William Penney, Britain’s chief nuclear scientist, had bemoaned how critics during tests in Australia were “intent on thwarting the whole future of the British Empire for the sake of a few Aboriginals”.

Tekonau, Teeua’s father, was one of the 30 or so I-Kiribati people to stay behind on Kiritimati during the Malden tests in May and June 1957. As one of the only labourers to speak English, he had gained the trust of the district commissioner, Percy Roberts, who invited Tekonau to accompany him during inspections of villagers’ houses in Port London, then the island’s only village. On one occasion, Teeua said, the islanders did not recognise her father as he had been given a “flat top” haircut like the Fijian soldiers. “This means he had a nice relationship with the soldiers,” she told me. “Thank God for giving me such a good and clever dad.”

Since the initial tests did not produce a thermonuclear explosion, the task force embarked on further trials between November 1957 and September 1958, known as Grapple X, Y and Z. In view of expense and time, these were conducted on Kiritimati rather than Malden Island – and this time, the residents were not evacuated to other islands. Rather, families were brought aboard ships in the island’s harbour and shown films below deck.

After these tests, the islanders returned to find the large X and Y detonations had cracked the walls of their homes and smashed their doors and furniture. One islander found their pet frigate bird, like so many of the wild birds on Kiritimati, had been blinded by the flash of Grapple Y. No compensation was ever paid to the islanders, although the Ministry of Supply did reimburse the colony for deterioration of “plantation assets”, including £4 for every damaged coconut tree (equivalent to £120 today).

A month before Grapple Y, Teraabo was born. Her earliest and most vivid childhood memories are of the US-led Operation Dominic four years later, by which time evacuation procedures had been abandoned altogether.

This series of tests was sanctioned by Britain in exchange for a nuclear-powered submarine and access to the Nevada Proving Grounds in the US – regarded as pivotal to the future of British weapons technology ahead of the signing of the Test Ban Treaty in October 1963, which would prohibit atmospheric testing.

Dominic’s 24 detonations on Kiritimati – which usually took place after sunset around 6pm, between April and November 1962 – were “awesome”, according to Teraabo. Recalling the suspense as the “tannoy announced the countdown”, she described “coming out of cover [and] witnessing the bomb [as] an amazing experience … When the bomb set off, the brilliance of the light was tremendous.”

Each explosion’s slow expiration would re-illuminate the Pacific sky. One, Starfish Prime, became known as a “rainbow bomb” because of the multi-coloured aurora it produced over the Pacific, having been launched into space where it exploded.

So spectacular were these descriptions that I almost felt I had to suspend disbelief as I listened. At one point in my interview with Teraabo, she leaned in to reassure me that she had no interest in exaggerating these events: “I’m a very proud person,” she whispered, “I would never lie.”

‘In our blood’

More than six decades on from the Grapple tests, I was sitting in Teeua’s kitchen in the village of Tabwakea (meaning “turtle”), near the northern tip of Kiritimati. I had driven here in a Subaru Forester, clapped-out from the many potholes on the island’s main road, itself built by royal engineers over 60 years ago.

Teeua Tekonau in her kitchen during the author’s visit to Kiritimati in 2023.
Christopher R. Hill., CC BY

Teeua’s home, nestled down a sand track, had a wooden veranda at the front where she would teach children to read and write under shelter from the hot equatorial sun. Handcrafted mats lined the sand and coral floor, fanning out from the veranda to the kitchen at the back.

The house felt full of the sounds of the local community, from the chatter of neighbours to the laughter of children outdoors. No one could feel lonely here, despite the vastness of the ocean that surrounds Kiritimati.

As Teeua cooked rice and prepared coffee, we discussed the main reason for my visit: to understand the impacts of the nuclear tests on the islanders, their descendents, and the sensitive ecosystem in which they live. Teeua is chair of Kiritimati’s Association of Atomic Cancer Patients, and one of only three survivors of the tests still living on Kiritimati. She pulled up a seat and looked at me:

Many, many died of cancer … And many women had babies that died within three months … I remember the coconut trees … when you drank [from the coconuts], you [were] poisoned.

Both Teeua’s parents and four of her eight siblings had died of cancer or unexplained conditions, she said. Her younger brother, Takieta, died of leukaemia at the age of two in November 1963 – less than a year after Operation Dominic ended. Her sister Teraabo, who discovered a tumour in her stomach shortly after the trials, was only able to have her stomach treated once she moved to the UK in 1981, by which time the tumour had turned malignant.

Teeua’s testimony pointed to the gendered impacts of the nuclear tests. She referred to the prevalence of menstrual problems and stillbirths, evidence of which can be inferred from the testimony of another nuclear survivor, Sui Kiritome, a fellow I-Kiribati who had arrived on Kiritimati in 1957 with her teacher husband. Sui has described how their second child, Rakieti, had “blood coming out of all the cavities of her body” at birth.

A rare military hospital record from 1958 – stored in the UK’s National Archives at Kew in London – also refers to the treatment of a civilian woman for ante-partum haemorrhage and stillbirth, though it is unclear whether this was a local woman or one of the soldier’s wives on the passenger ship HMT Dunera, which visited briefly to “boost morale” after Grapple X.

Members of the Kiritimati Association of Atomic Cancer Patients.
Courtesy: Teeua Taukaro., CC BY-ND

Having re-established the Association of Atomic Cancer Patients in 2009, Teeua has continued much of the work that Ken McGinley, first chair of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association, did after its establishment in 1983. She has documented the names of all I-Kiribati people present during the tests, along with their spouses, children and other relatives. And she has listed the cancers and illnesses from which they have suffered.

In the absence of medical records at the island hospital, these handwritten notes are the closest thing on the atoll to epidemiological data about the tests. But according to Teeua, concerns about the health effects of the tests date back much longer, to 1965 when a labourer named Bwebwe spoke out about poisonous clouds. “Everyone thought he was crazy,” Teeua recalled.

But Bwebwe’s speculations were lent credibility by Sui Kiritome’s testimony, and by the facial scars she bore that were visible for all to see. In an interview with her daughter, Sui explained how she was only 24 when she started to lose her hair, and “burns developed on my face, scalp and parts of my shoulder”.

In a similar manner to claims made by British nuclear test veterans, Sui attributed her health problems to being rained on during Grapple Y – which may have been detonated closer to the atoll’s surface than the task force was prepared to admit.

When I asked Teeua why her campaigning association was only reformed in 2009, she explained it had been prompted by a visit from British nuclear test veterans who “told us that everyone [involved in the tests] has cancer – blood cancer”. They had been told this in the past but, she said, “we did not believe it. But after years … after our children [also] died of cancer, then we remembered what they told us.”

After some visiting researchers explained to Teeua and the community that the effects of the tests were “not good”, she concluded that “our kids died of cancer because of the tests … That’s why we start to combine together … the nuclear survivors, to talk about what they did to our kids”.

I found Teeua’s testimony deeply troubling: not only because of the suffering she and other families have been through, but in the way that veterans had returned to Kiritimati as civilians, raising concerns among locals that may have lain dormant or been forgotten. The suggestion that radiation was “in her blood” must have been deeply disturbing for Teeua and her community.

But I reminded myself that the veterans who came looking for answers in 2009 were also victims. They made the long journey seeking clues about their health problems, or a silver bullet to prove their government’s deception over the nuclear fallout.

As young men, they were unwittingly burdened with a lifetime of uncertainty – compounded by endless legal disputes with the Ministry of Defence or inconclusive health studies that jarred with their personal medical histories. And, like the islanders, some of these servicemen died young after experiencing agonising illnesses.

The scramble for the Pacific

My research on British nuclear imperialism also sheds light on how imperial and settler colonial perceptions of “nature” shaped how these nuclear tests were planned and operationalised.

British sites were selected on the basis of in-depth environmental research. When searching the site for Britain’s first atomic bomb (the Montebello Islands off the west coast of Australia), surveyors discovered 20 new species of insect, six new plants, and a species of legless lizard.

Monitoring of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests fed into the rise of ecosystem ecologies as an academic discipline. In the words of one environmental specialist on the US tests, it seemed that “destruction was the enabling condition for understanding life as interconnected”.

Since H-bombs would exceed the explosive yield deemed acceptable by Australia, Winston Churchill’s government in the mid-1950s had been forced to look for a new test site beyond Western and South Australia. British planners drew on a wealth of imperial knowledge and networks – but their proposal to use the Kermadec Islands, an archipelago 600 miles north-east of Auckland, was rejected by New Zealand on environmental grounds.

So, when Teeua and her family landed on Kiritimati in 1955, their journey was part of “the scramble for the Pacific”: a race between Britain and the US to lay claim to the sovereignty of Pacific atolls in light of their strategic significance for air and naval power.

The British government archives include some notable environmental “what ifs?” Had the US refused the UK’s selection of Kiritimati because of its own sovereignty claim, then it would have been probable, as Lennox-Boyd, Britain’s colonial secretary, admitted, that “the Antarctic region south of Australia might have to be used” for its rapidly expanding nuclear programme.

Instead, this extraordinary period in global history recently took me to a Victorian mansion in the Lancashire town of Burnley, where I interviewed Teeua’s younger sister, Teraabo, about her memories of the Kiritimati tests.

‘No longer angry’

Teraabo’s home felt like the antithesis of Teeua’s island abode 8,300 miles away: ordered instead of haphazard, private instead of communal, spacious instead of crowded. And our interview had a more detached, philosophical tone.

Teraabo Pollard with her father’s nuclear test veteran medal.
Christopher R. Hill., CC BY-ND

Like her sister, Teraabo has worked to raise awareness about the legacy of the nuclear tests, including with the Christmas Island Appeal, an offshoot of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association that sought to publicise the extent of the waste left on Kiritimati from the nuclear test period.

The appeal succeeded in persuading Tony Blair’s UK government to tackle the remaining waste in Kiritimati – most of which was non-radiological, according to a 1998 environmental assessment. The island was “cleaned up” and remediated between 2004 and 2008, at a cost of around £5 million to the Ministry of Defence. Much of the waste was flown or shipped back to the UK, where 388 tonnes of low-grade radioactive material were deposited in a former salt mine at Port Clarence, near Middlesbrough.

Yet Teraabo’s views have evolved. She told me she is “no longer angry” about the tests, a stark contrast to her position 20 years ago, when she told British journalist Alan Rimmer how islanders had “led a simple life with disease virtually unknown. But after the tests, everything changed. I now realise the whole island was poisoned.”

Whereas the Teraabo of 2003 blamed “the British government for all this misery”, she has since become more reflective. In the context of the cold war and the nuclear arms race, she even told me she could understand the British rationale for selecting Kiritimati as a test site. This seemed a remarkable statement from a survivor who had lost so much.

Over the course of the interview, it became clear Teraabo had grown tired of being angry – and that she had felt “trapped” by the tragic figure she was meant to represent in the campaigns of veterans and disarmers. Each time Teraabo rehearsed the doom-laden script of radiation exposure, she admitted she was also suppressing the joy of her childhood memories.

A turning point for Teraabo seems to have come in 2007, when she last visited Kiritimati and met her sister Teeua. By this time, the atoll’s population was 4,000 – quite a leap from the 300 residents she grew up with. “It is no longer the island I remember,” she said.

The Kiritimati of Teraabo’s memory was neat and well-structured. The one she described encountering in 2007 was chaotic and unkempt. She had come to the realisation that the Kiritimati she had been campaigning for – the pristine, untouched atoll of her parents – had long since moved on, so she should move on with it. The sorrow caused by the test operations would not define her.

Radioactive colonialism

Not long after I left Kiritimati in June 2023, the global nuclear disarmament organisation Ican began researching the atoll ahead of a major global summit to discuss the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Descendants of Kiritimati’s nuclear test survivors were asked a series of questions, with those who provided the “right” answers being selected for a sponsored trip to UN headquarters in New York.

The chosen representatives included Teeua’s daughter, Taraem. I wondered if the survivors of Kiritimati are doomed to forever rehearse the stories of their nuclear past – a burden that Teeua and Teraabo have had to carry ever since they stood in awe of atomic and thermonuclear detonations more than 60 years ago.

They have had to deal with “radioactive colonialism” all their adult lives – the outside world demanding to see the imprint of radioactivity on their health and memories. But the sisters’ fondness for British order, despite all they have been through, prevails.

Their positive memories of Britain may in part reflect the elevated role of their father, Tekonau Tetoa – a posthumous recipient of the test veteran medal – within the British colonial system. During my visit, I happened upon an old photo of Tekonau, looking immaculate as he hangs off the side of a plantation truck in a crisp white shirt. Knowing Teeua did not possess a photo of her parents, I took a scan and raced to her house down the road.

“Do you recognise this man?” I asked, holding up my phone.

She flickered with recognition. “Is that my father?”

I nodded, and she shed a tear of joy.

Tekonau Tetoa, father of Teeua and Teraabo, hangs off the door of a coconut plantation truck in Kiritimati.
Courtesy: John Bryden., CC BY-ND

Memories of Teeua and Teraabo’s father are preserved in the island landscape of their youth: pristine, regimented by the ostensible tidiness of colonial and military order.

But such order masked contamination: an unknown quantity that would only become evident years later in ill-health and environmental damage. It was not only the nuclear tests: from 1957 to 1964, the atoll was sprayed four times a week with DDT, a carcinogenic insecticide, as part of attempts to reduce insect-borne disease. In the words of one of the pilots: “I had many a wave from the rather fat Gilbo ladies sitting on their loos as I passed overhead, and gave them some spray for good measure!” British tidiness concealed a special brand of poison.

Today, the prospect of a meaningful response from the UK to the concerns raised by the islanders and servicemen alike seems slim. In October 2023, the UK and France followed North Korea and Russia in vetoing a Kiribati and Kazakhstan-proposed UN resolution on victim assistance and environmental remediation for people and places harmed by nuclear weapons use and testing.

Over in Kiritimati, meanwhile, Teeua still tends to a small plot where Prince Philip planted a commemorative tree in April 1959, shortly after the British-led nuclear tests had ended. It is rumoured he did not drink from the atoll’s water while he was there.

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Christopher Hill receives funding from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, UK Cabinet Office. The research for this article was also supported by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), UKRI. The author wishes to thank the following for their support with this article: Fiona Bowler, Ian Brailsford, Joshua Bushen, John Bryden, Jon Hogg, Brian Jones, Rens van Munster, Wesley Perriman, Maere Tekanene, Michael Walsh, Rotee Walsh and Derek Woolf. Sincere thanks to Teeua Tekonau and Teraabo Pollard for sharing their family stories.

– ref. ‘Our nuclear childhood’: the sisters who witnessed H-bomb tests over their Pacific island, and are still coming to terms with the fallout – https://theconversation.com/our-nuclear-childhood-the-sisters-who-witnessed-h-bomb-tests-over-their-pacific-island-and-are-still-coming-to-terms-with-the-fallout-239780
MIL OSI – Global Reports –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Wexton Announces $40 Million in Federal Infrastructure Law Funding for New Dulles Airport Terminal Project

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA)

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) announced a new $40 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Airport Terminals Program (ATP) to aid in the construction of Washington Dulles International Airport’s new 14-gate regional and commuter terminal. This is the fourth consecutive fiscal year that the new terminal project has received funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, after receiving $49.6 million in 2022, $20 million in 2023, and $35 million in 2024.

“I’m proud that our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is once again delivering critical funding that will help grow and enhance travel and economic activity here in Virginia’s 10th District at Dulles Airport,” said Congresswoman Wexton. “Today’s announcement brings the total to more than $144 million in federal funds to make this new terminal project a reality. A top priority for the airport, it will save passengers’ time, reduce crowding, and make the passenger experience smoother and more convenient. The investments we’ve made through this historic infrastructure law continue to have an impact in our community and local economy that will have benefits for generations to come.”

The new terminal will be conveniently located atop the underground Concourse C/D Aerotrain station, providing quick and easy access to passengers and reducing transit times for passengers with connections at Dulles who must currently use shuttle buses or long walkways. The new terminal will allow for jet bridge boarding that reduces boarding times and is more accessible for passengers with disabilities, rather than forcing passengers to board using outdoor covered walkways and aircraft stairs. It will be nearly four times larger than the current facility, which will reduce crowding, allow for expanded concessions and passenger amenities, and create additional space for operational areas, offices, aircraft servicing, and baggage handling.

The new regional and commuter terminal project will also improve Dulles’s environmental footprint, as the proposed new facility will be built to LEED Silver Certifiable standards. Environmental improvements include support for electric aircraft servicing vehicles and the use of modern energy efficient construction methods and materials.

The Airport Terminals Program, established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which Wexton voted to pass in 2021, provides $1 billion in grants annually for five years to address aging infrastructure at our nation’s airports.

###

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Upper Sackville — RCMP traffic stop results in seizure of handgun and drugs
Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

A traffic stop by the Nova Scotia RCMP’s Southeast Traffic Services (SETS) on Highway 101 has resulted in numerous charges and the seizure of a restricted firearm, drugs, illegal tobacco, and cash.

On October 23 at approximately 1:55 p.m., an officer with SETS was conducting traffic enforcement on Highway 101 in Upper Sackville and queried the license plate of a passing Dodge Ram, showing it to be unregistered. A traffic stop was conducted and the driver was determined to have a revoked driver’s license.

During the course of the Motor Vehicle Act investigation, the officer observed a quantity of unstamped tobacco cigarettes in the vehicle, and the driver was arrested under the Excise Act. The officer subsequently searched the vehicle and located more unstamped tobacco, bags of suspected methamphetamine pills, a significant quantity of cash, a 9mm handgun with the serial number removed, and two high capacity magazines.

The driver, 37-year-old Jacob Netherton of Mount Uniacke, has been charged with numerous offences including, but not limited to:
- Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking
- Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm
- Firearm Possession Contrary to Prohibition Order
- Tampering with Firearm Serial Number
- Possession of a Prohibited Device (over-capacity magazines)
Netherton was held in-custody pending an initial court appearance on October 24, 2024 at Halifax Provincial Court.

MIL Security OSI –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Sagkeeng First Nation — Powerview RCMP arrest two after firearms complaint

Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

On October 22, 2024, just after 12:00 am, Powerview RCMP responded to a call of two males with a firearm walking in the community.

Officers began patrols immediately and spotted a running vehicle parked in front of a residence with two occupants inside. As officers approached the vehicle, they noticed a rifle in the back seat.

Melvin Courchene, 26, and a 32-year-old male were both arrested without incident, and the firearm was seized. At that time, officers became aware there was still another male inside the residence with a firearm.

Officers on scene contained the residence, and requested assistance from the RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT). A warrant to enter the residence was granted, ERT responded, and the suspect, Isaiah Morrisseau, 39, surrendered without incident.

Isaiah Morrisseau is charged with:

-Possession of Firearm when Knowing Possession Unauthorized

-Weapons Possession Contrary to Order and Fail to Surrender Authorization

-Possession of Weapon for Dangerous Purpose

Melvin Courchene is charged with:

-Possession of Firearm when Knowing Possession Unauthorized

-Possession of a Firearm in Motor Vehicle

-Weapons Possession Contrary to Order and Fail to Surrender Authorization x2

The 32-year-old male was arrested for:

-Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm

-Possession of a Firearm Ammunition in Motor Vehicle

Morrisseau and Courchene have been remanded, while the 32-year-old male was released on conditions and cannot be named.

The investigation continues.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Brownley, Schneider, Kildee Introduce Legislation to Expand Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production and Reduce Carbon Emissions

Source: United States House of Representatives – Julia Brownley (D-CA)

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10), and Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-08) announced the introduction of the Expanding Clean Fuel Production Act, a bill that would extend the clean fuel production tax credit, also known as Section 45z, of the Inflation Reduction Act for 10 years. The Inflation Reduction Act created the clean fuel production credit (CFPC) for transportation fuel with zero or low greenhouse gas emissions, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This credit currently expires at the end of 2027.

“The 45z tax credit has been critical in helping to ramp up U.S. production of sustainable aviation fuel,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “However, we need to extend the credit long-term to provide market certainty and to ensure a safe and reliable supply of SAF to meet the needs of the aviation industry. I appreciate Congressman Schneider and Congressman Kildee’s partnership on this bill, and I look forward to working with stakeholders in the environmental, energy, and aviation community to extend the 45z credit and promote U.S. investment in this critical domestic fuel source.”

“I’m proud to introduce this legislation with Reps. Kildee and Brownley to extend the SAF credit, boost production of clean fuels and position the U.S. as a global leader in production and use of sustainable fuels,” said Congressman Schneider. “A ten-year extension would allow for sustained investment in production to accelerate the transition to cleaner fuels and to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation industry, in particular. We are already seeing the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act’s investments on U.S. production of sustainable fuels.”

“In my home state of Michigan, we have already seen the harmful effects of climate change on our Great Lakes,” said Congressman Kildee. “This legislation will help us continue producing clean energy and fuels here in the United States, to help create good paying jobs, provide new markets to Michigan farmers, and reduce carbon emissions from airplanes and other vehicles.”

“As the leading U.S. airline in SAF use and advocacy, we know that extending incentives for U.S. SAF producers by a full ten years is a necessary first step to grow the industry,” said Lauren Riley, Chief Sustainability Officer for United Airlines. “The continued leadership of Representatives Schneider, Kildee and Brownley is helping to assure U.S. competitiveness in SAF and clean fuels, while boosting U.S. agricultural producers and rural communities. We look forward to working with Representatives Schneider, Kildee and Brownley and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that this tax credit is both extended and enhanced in a way that will maximize investment in SAF and other clean, low-carbon fuels.”

“Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is the single most important method to decarbonize aviation in the coming decades, and LanzaJet applauds the leadership of Representatives Schneider, Kildee, and Brownley in advancing SAF tax incentives that will catalyze domestic investment in this critical sector,” said Jimmy Samartzis, LanzaJet CEO. “As the original sponsors of the IRA’s SAF Blender’s Tax Credit via the Sustainable Skies Act, Reps Schneider, Kildee, and Brownley continue to lay the foundation for a vibrant U.S. SAF industry by providing for ten years of policy certainty for domestic SAF producers via this important bill. We look forward to continuing to work with Representatives Schneider, Kildee, and Brownley to develop policy proposals that will both extend and enhance the IRA’s short term SAF tax credits and enable achievement of the goals of the SAF Grand Challenge.”

“We applaud Representative Schneider and his colleagues Representatives Kildee and Brownley for their efforts to extend incentives for SAF,” said Alison Graab, Executive Director of the SAF Coalition. “We look forward to working with them on both an extension as well as enhancing and strengthening the incentive. Advancing sustainable aviation fuel demonstrates a clear commitment to the environmental and economic promises SAF holds, and incentives that are durable and attract investment are essential to unlocking that potential and driving the progress needed to sustain and grow the SAF industry.”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 enacted a tax credit for the production of SAF, aiming to halve carbon emissions in the aviation sector. The credit was inspired by a SAF credit included in the Sustainable Skies Act, which Congresswoman Brownley authored with Representatives Schneider and Kildee in 2021.

###

Issues: 118th Congress, Climate Crisis, Energy and Environment, Transportation and Infrastructure

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Little Rock Man Sentenced to Over 17 Years In Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking Methamphetamine and Fentanyl, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug-Trafficking Crime

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

LITTLE ROCK—Christopher Monroe, a multi-convicted felon, will spend the next 215 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, which was handed down today by United States District Judge Brian S. Miller.

      Monroe, 44, of Little Rock, was indicted on June 6, 2023, in a six-count indictment charging possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

      On April 12, 2024, Monroe pleaded guilty to the fentanyl and methamphetamine crimes, as well as to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Today Judge Miller sentenced Monroe to 155 months in federal prison for the methamphetamine and fentanyl crimes, as well as for being a felon in possession of a firearm, with those offenses to run concurrently. Judge Miller also sentenced Monroe to 60 months in federal prison for possessing the firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, to be served consecutively after the 155-month sentence. In addition to the 215 months’ total imprisonment, which is more than 17.5 years, Judge Miller sentenced Monroe to five years supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

      An investigation revealed that on May 20, 2023, Arkansas State Troopers observed a GMC Sierra Denali that had previously fled from Sherwood Police and Arkansas State Police in recent weeks and evaded arrest. Troopers pulled up next to the truck and identified the driver as Monroe, the sole occupant of the vehicle. Monroe had confirmed warrants out of Sherwood. Troopers attempted to block the Denali and initiate a traffic stop State Highway 167, but Monroe refused to stop. He collided with patrol cars and fled from troopers, exceeding speeds of 100 m.p.h. and endangering others. Troopers continued to chase Monroe from Sherwood through Little Rock before the pursuit was terminated by immobilizing Monroe’s vehicle at Roosevelt Road.

      During a search of Monroe’s vehicle, law enforcement officers located 309 grams of methamphetamine; 109 grams of fentanyl; cocaine; marijuana; and oxycodone. Officers also located in a safe a loaded Taurus Judge .45/.410 caliber firearm. Also located in the safe were multiple controlled substances, baggies, scales, and cash.

      Judge Miller based Monroe’s sentence on the offense as well as his documented criminal history. At the time of the Monroe’s possession of the firearm and drugs, he had been previously convicted of 3^rd degree domestic battery, possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, theft of property, and theft by receiving, as well as illegal possession of a firearm.

        The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Arkansas State Police and Sherwood Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bart Dickinson.

# # #

Additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

X (formerly known as Twitter):

@USAO_EDAR

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Florida Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Aggravated Identity Theft and Wire Fraud

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Montgomery, Ala. – Today, Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson announced the sentencing of a Palm Bay, Florida man to 70 months in prison for using a fake identity to purchase a vehicle. On October 21, 2024, a federal judge sentenced 39-year-old Anthony Vila to 70 months in prison. In addition to the prison sentence, the judge also ordered that Vila serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to his plea agreement and other court records, in early August of 2022, Vila contacted a salesman at a Prattville, Alabama car dealership via electronic communications regarding the purchase of a vehicle valued at $45,000. After being denied financing, Vila sent the personal identifying information of someone he claimed to be his aunt to be used by the dealership as a co-signor on the loan. The information included a copy of the co-signor’s driver’s license and a pay stub. However, both documents were counterfeit. Vila also provided a date of birth and social security number for his alleged co-signor and had an unknown female claiming to be his aunt speak to the dealership over the phone. The $45,000 loan was eventually approved. The individual that Vila falsely claimed to be his aunt had no knowledge of the transaction and had not given permission for her personal information to be used.

On August 4, 2022, Vila picked up the vehicle from the dealership. Vila was apprehended with the vehicle a few days later in Montgomery. During a search of the vehicle, investigators found a laptop, printer, holograms, phone, firearm, and other items commonly used to commit identity theft. The phone contained over 100 stolen identities. The laptop contained evidence of the vehicle purchase described above. Vila pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on June 7, 2024.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Montgomery Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney J. Patrick Lamb prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police response to IPCA findings

Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

Police acknowledge the IPCA’s findings into a fleeing driver incident in Christchurch last year, where a passenger died after the vehicle crashed.

Shortly after 2am on 17 September 2023, officers stopped a vehicle in Christchurch and discovered the driver was breaching his licence conditions and the vehicle was not roadworthy.

The vehicle was issued a pink sticker, ordering it off the road, and the driver was instructed to drive it directly to a specific address.

The vehicle was instead located a short time later at a meet of antisocial road users.

Police signalled for the vehicle to stop and, when it didn’t, initiated a pursuit, however the vehicle was lost sight of.

The vehicle was located crashed into a tree in Rangiora a short time later. A back-seat passenger was found deceased.

The IPCA has ruled that while certain aspects of Police’s pursuit policy were not followed, the officers’ actions were not responsible for the crash.

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill says Police staff make quick decisions in high-pressure, dynamic situations every day.

“Our staff have been reminded of our policies around fleeing vehicles and pursuits.

“While some elements of our procedure were not followed in this case, the overall decision-making was sound, and we are pleased the IPCA has agreed with us that our staff did not cause this crash.

“We implore people who are being signalled to stop – please just stop. It’s not worth risking the lives of yourselves or others, and you are putting everyone in harm’s way when you choose to flee.”

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby

US Senate News:

Source: The White House
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:42 P.M. EDT
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Good afternoon, everyone.
Q    Good afternoon.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I have just one thing at the top, and then I’ll hand it over.
So, today, as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, First Lady Jill Biden announced $110 million in awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health — for Health, ARPA-H, to accelerate transformative research and development in women’s health care.
These new ARPA-H awardees will spur innovation and advance bold solutions to diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, and differently.
In less than a year since the president and the first lady launched the effort, the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research has galvanized nearly one — nearly a billion dollars in funding for women’s health research.
And now, I’m going to turn it over to my NSC colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who will talk to you more about the news of North Korea’s — Korean soldiers traveling to Russia, today’s historic announcement of the — of the use of frozen Russian sov- — sovereign assets to support Ukraine, and other foreign policy matters.
Admiral.
MR. KIRBY: Thank you very much, Karine.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Q    Good afternoon.
MR. KIRBY: So, just before I kick off on those issues, I do want to start off by extending our thoughts to the victims of the horrible terrorist attack in Ankara, Turkey, this morning.
Our prayers are with all of those affected and their families and, of course, also the people of Turkey during this difficult time.
Now, Turkish authorities, as they’ve said, are investigating this as a possible terrorist attack. And while we don’t yet know the motive or who is exactly behind it, we strong — strongly condemn this — this act of violence.
Now, I think, as you have all heard earlier this morning, we have seen the public reporting indicating that North Korean soldiers are traveling to Russia to fight against Ukraine. We’re working closely with our allies and partners to gain a full understanding of this situation, but today, I’m prepared to share what we know at this stage.
We assess that between early- to mid-October, North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into eastern Russia. We assessed that these soldiers traveled by ship from the Wonsan area in North Korea to Vladivostok, Russia. These soldiers then traveled onward to multiple Russian military training sites in eastern Russia where they are currently undergoing training.
We do not yet know whether these soldiers will en- — enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is a certain — certainly a highly concerning probability.
After completing training, these soldiers could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military. We have briefed the Ukrainian government on our understanding of this situation, and we’re certainly consulting closely with other allies, partners, and countries in the region on the implications of such a dramatic mov- — move and on how we might respond.
I expect to have more to share on all of that in the coming days.
For the time being, we will continue to monitor the situation closely. But let’s be clear, if North Korean soldiers do enter into combat, this development would demonstrate Russia’s growing desperation in its war against Ukraine.
Russia is suffering extraordinary casualties on the battlefield every single day, but President Putin appears intent on continuing this war. If Russia is indeed forced to turn to North Korea for manpower, this would be a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of the Kremlin.
It would also demonstrate an unprecedented level of direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea with security implications in Europe as well as the Indo-Pacific.
As we have said before, Russia’s cooperation with the North Korean military is in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions which prohibit the procurement of arms from North Korea and military arms training. This move is likewise a violation.
At President Biden’s direction, the United States continues to surge security assistance to Ukraine. In just the past week, which I think you’ve seen, the United States has announced more than $800 million in security assistance to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield needs.
Now, looking ahead, the United States is on track to provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, additional artillery, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel can- — carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help keep Ukraine effective on the battlefield.
And in coming days, the United States will announce a significant sanctions tranche targeting the enablers of Russia’s war in Ukraine located outside of Russia.
The Ukrainian military continues to fight bravely and effectively, and President Biden is determined to provide Ukraine with the support that it needs to prevail. To that end, the president announced today that of the $50 billion that the G7 committed to loan Ukraine back in June, the United States will provide a loan of $20 mil- — $20 billion. The other $30 billion in loans will come from a combination of our G7 partners, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan.
Now, this is unique. Never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then harnessed the value of those assets to fund the defense of the aggrieved party, all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.
These loans will support the people of Ukraine as they defend and rebuild their country, and it’s another example of how Mr. Putin’s war of aggression has only unified and strengthened the resolve of G7 countries and our partners to defend shared values.
And — yep, that’s it. Thank you. (Laughter.) Sorry. I had an extra page in there, and I wasn’t sure where it was going. So —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Aamer.
Q    Does the pre- — is the assessment that the presence of North Korean troops can have a meaningful trajectory on thou- — the war?
And then, secondly, you’ve said earlier even that it shows a sign of desperation on the Russians, but does it also demonstrate North Korea’s commitment to this burgeoning alliance with Russia? And is that, in of itself, a broadening and discouraging concern for America?
MR. KIRBY: So, on your first question, too soon to tell, Aamer, what kind of an impact these troops can have on the battlefield, because we just don’t know enough about what the intention is in terms of using them. So, I — I think that’s why I said at the top, we’re going to monitor this and watch it closely.
To your second question: yeah, absolutely. As we’ve also said, yes, I’ve called this a sign of desperation and a sign of weakness. It’s not like Mr. Putin is being very honest with the Russian people about what he doing here. I mean, Mr. Peskov, his spokesman, just the other day dec- — denied knowing anything about it.
But — but we’ve also talked many, many times about the burgeoning and growing defense relationship between North Korea and Russia and how reckless and dangerous we think that is, not only for the people of Ukraine — and clearly we’ll watch to see what this development means for them — but also for the Indo-Pacific region.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Nadia.
Q    Thank you. With the U.S. diplomats in the region, Mr. Hochstein in Lebanon and the Secretary of State in Saudi Arabia now before Israel, do you be- — do you believe there is a chance now for the ceasefire to be back on the table?
And do you believe that with the demise of Mr. Sinwar and Hassan Nasrallah, you have better chances or worse chances for somebody to negotiate with?
MR. KIRBY: The ceasefire you’re talking about, I’m assuming, is with Gaza.
Q    Well, both. I mean, you have Lebanon and you have Gaza —
MR. KIRBY: Yeah.
Q    — implementation 1701 and in Gaza.
MR. KIRBY: I mean, look, the short answer to your question, Nadia, is — is yes. And we wouldn’t be s- — we wouldn’t be engaged in this — these diplomatic efforts if we didn’t think there was still an opportunity here to get a ceasefire — a ceasefire for Gaza that brings the hostages home and increases humanitarian assistance, and certainly a ceasefire between Israel and — and Hezbollah.
And as for the — the implication that the — the deaths of the two leaders, Nasrallah and Sinwar, as President Biden said last week, that does open up — we believe opens up, should open up an opportunity to try to get there.
But I don’t want to sound too sanguine here. I’ll let Secretary Blinken speak for his travels. He’s still on the road. He talked about it a little bit today that, you know, they had good, constructive conversations, specifically with respect to — to Gaza while he was in Israel. But there’s still a lot of work before us.
Q    Okay. And one more, quickly. The number of civilians killed in Gaza was 779 in the last 20 days, especially in Jabalia, and the total number is 100,000 between the dead and the wounded. Ninety percent of Gaza is destroyed. Does the U.S. still believe that Israel’s strategy in Gaza is working, and do you still support it?
MR. KIRBY: We still support Israel’s right and responsibility to defend itself against these threats, including the continued threat of Hamas. And we still urge Israel to be mindful — ever mindful of civilian casualties and the damage to civilian infrastructure, and we’re going to continue to work with them to that end.
Q    Has the U.S. made an assessment about the type of weapons training or what type of training the North Korean soldiers are undergoing in Russia that could potentially be used in Ukraine?
And does this represent a new type of an — an agreement, in terms of an information-sharing agreement between the North Koreans and the Russians?
MR. KIRBY: I don’t believe we have a very specific assessment at this time of the exact nature of all the training. There’s — there’s three sites that we assess right now that the — this first tranche of about 3,000 are being trained.
I — I think I could go so far as to say that, at least in general terms, it’s — it’s basic kind of combat training and familiarization. I think I’ll go — I could go as far as that and no further.
But, as I also said, we’re going to monitor this and watch this closely. And obviously, if we have more information that we can share with you, we certainly will.
To your second question about information-sharing, as I’ve said before, in answer to — to Aamer, we have been watching this relationship grow and deepen now for many, many months. And the — the question that we’re asking ourselves — and we don’t have an answer for right now — is: What does Kim Jong Un think he’s getting out of this?
And so, you talked about information-sharing. I mean, they’re — maybe that’s part of this. Maybe it’s technology. Maybe it’s capabilities.
We don’t have a good sense of that. But that’s what’s so concerning to us, is — is not only the concern for the impact on the war in Ukraine but the impact that this could have in the Indo-Pacific, with Kim Jong Un benefiting to some degree.
Q    Can you talk about that just briefly? Like, how significant is this for U.S. allies in the region and the U.S. as a whole?
MR. KIRBY: It could be significant. Again, we don’t know enough right now.
So, when you say “region,” I think you mean Indo-Pacific. Until we have a better sense of what the North Koreans at least believe they’re getting out of this, as opposed to what they actually get, it’s hard to know and to put a metric on exactly what the impact is in the Indo-Pacific.
But it is concerning. It’s been concerning. Certainly, this development — this — this willingness of — of Kim to literally put skin in the game here, soldiers in Russia for the potential deployment — and we haven’t seen them deployed, but for the potential deployment — certainly would connote an expectation that he thinks he’s getting something out of this.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Selina.
Q    You mentioned that the U.S. is discussing how we would possibly respond. What are the possibilities for how the U.S. could respond to this?
MR. KIRBY: Well, for one thing, we’re going to continue to surge security assistance, as I just mentioned in my — my topper. And you’re going to continue to see — the president has made it clear that we’re going to continue to provide security assistance all the way up to the end of his administration, for sure. So, you’re going to see that continue to flow, and we’re talking to allies and partners about what the right next steps ought to be.
I’m not at liberty today to go through any specific options, but — but we’re going to — we’re going to have those conversations, and — and we have been.
Q    And China is a critical trading partner to North Korea. What’s the U.S. assessment for how China is looking at all of this?
MR. KIRBY: We don’t know how President Xi and the Chinese are looking at this. One would think that — if you take their comments at face value about desiring stability and security in the region, particularly on the Korean Peninsula, one would think that they’re also deeply concerned by this development.
But you can expect that we’ll be — we’ll be communicating with the — with the Chinese about this and certainly sharing our perspectives to the degree we can and — and gleaning theirs.
Q    And local South Korean press is reporting that, according to intelligence, these troops — North Korean troops lack understanding of modern warfare, such as drone attacks, and it’s anticipated there will be a high number of casualties when deployed to the front lines.
MR. KIRBY: I — too soon to know. I mean, we — we don’t really know what they’re going to be used for or where they’re going to — if they’re going to — if they’re going to deploy, where they’re going to deploy and to what purpose.
I can tell you one thing, though. If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game. They’re fair targets. And the Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they’re defending themselves against Russian soldiers.
And so, the — the possibility that there could be dead and wounded North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine is — is absolutely real if they get deployed.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, M.J.
Q    Just to clarify something you said earlier about what Kim Jong Un possibly gets out of this. As far as you know, has he gotten anything in return?
MR. KIRBY: Well, I mean, from this particular move, I can’t speak to that, M.J. I — I don’t think we have seen any specific, you know, quid — quid pro quo with respect to this provision of troops.
But we know that — that he and Mr. Putin have, again, been growing in their defense relationship. And we know Mr. Putin is — has been able to purchase North Korean artillery. He’s been able to get North Korean ballistic missiles, which he has used against Ukraine. And in return, we have seen, at the very least, some technology sharing with North Korea.
But what this particular development means going forward, we just don’t know. We’re going to have to watch that.
Q    And do you know if this came about because Putin specifically first asked for help, or whether it’s that Kim Jong Un offered the help first?
MR. KIRBY: Don’t know. Don’t know what precipitated it, but I think it’s important to remember that in the three-plus years that he’s been fighting in — in and around Ukraine, Mr. Putin and — and his military has suffered 530,000 casualties. And as we’re speaking today, he’s losing, casualties alone — and that’s killed and wounded — 1,200 — 1,000 to 1,200 per day.
Now, 530,000 is a lot. I mean, there were — in the American Civil War, there were, like, 620,000 killed, just to put this into some perspective. This is three years fighting in Ukraine. Five hundred and thirty [thousand] casualties is — is a lot.
And he hasn’t been fully transparent with the Russian people about this. And he hasn’t been transparent at all with the Russian people about this particular move, about br- — bringing in North Korean soldiers. So, that he has to farm out the fighting to a foreign country, I think, speaks volumes about how much his military is suffering and — and how uncertain he believes, how untenable he believes his — his situation is.
Q    And I guess, just if you had to guess, how would the training — what would the training even look like, given the language barrier? And once these North Korean soldiers are deployed, like, what would the command structure even look like, given —
MR. KIRBY: It’s a great question. I — I wish we had an answer to it. You’re — you’re not wrong to highlight the language barrier. I mean, these are — these aren’t even similar languages. They’re — and they are going to have to overcome that. It’s not like they have a long, productive history of working together as two militaries, even at all. So, that’s going to be a challenge.
Command and control is going to be a challenge. And this is not a challenge that the Russians have even solved amongst themselves. They’re still having command and control challenges: logistics and sustainment, getting things to the battlefield, keeping their troops in the field. They haven’t solved that for their own soldiers. So, they’re going to have to figure that out here too, if, in fact, they deploy. We haven’t seen that.
So, there are — there are some pretty big challenges they’re — they’re going to have to overcome.
Q    And I have a non-Ukraine question. Do you think that Donald Trump meets the definition of a fas- — fascist?
MR. KIRBY: That — I’m going to —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We got to move on. (Laughs.)
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, I’m —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Michael.
MR. KIRBY: — I’m not going to talk about that stuff.
Q    John, there — there’s concern among Democrats on the Hill that Donald Trump’s team has not entered into these critical transition agreements with the White House that could potentially, in their words, endanger national security. Is that a concern of yours?
MR. KIRBY: Well, look, with a caveat that I’ll — I’m going to defer to Karine on anything to do with the election and — and the transition. That’s really for her.
All I’ll say is that no matter how things play out in the election, the National Security Council, under Mr. Sullivan’s leadership, is and will make sure we’re ready for proper transition handover.
Q    And there are intelligence officials who have warned that foreign adversaries might be looking to stoke violence in the next 13 days ahead of the election.
MR. KIRBY: I saw the DNI assessment, yeah.
Q    What are you doing in preparation?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we’re working hard across the interagency, as you might expect we would, to share information not only inside the — at the federal level but working very hard to make sure we’ve got good handshakes and — and information sharing at state and local levels as well.
That’s the last thing we want, of course, is to see any violence or protest activity that — that leads to intimidation and that kind of thing. So, we’re working hard, again, with local and state officials.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Need to start wrapping it up. Go ahead, sir. Yeah.
Q    Thank you. So, would North Korea’s possible engagement in combat in Ukraine trigger a bolder move from the White House, like decision to lift the restrictions on usage of American weapons?
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, again, number one, we’re monitoring this closely, and that’s where we are right now. I came and gave you a very honest assessment of exactly where we are, and we just don’t know if these troops are going to be deployed against Ukraine in combat and, if so, where, when, and how.
So, number one, we’re monitoring this closely. I don’t have any policy decisions or options to speak to today. I can tell you the last thing I’ll say is that there’s been no change to the president’s policy when it comes to what we’re providing Ukraine and — and how they’re using it.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Jacqui.
Q    Thank you, Karine. John, why not? Why not green-light the long-range missiles for Ukraine’s use, which is Zelenskyy’s number one ask, as you’re sounding the alarm about what could have far-reaching implications if North Korean soldiers go into Ukraine?
MR. KIRBY: Well, for one thing, Jacqui, we don’t exactly know what these guys are going to do.
Q    What else could they be there for?
MR. KIRBY: We don’t know what they’re going to do. We don’t know if they’re going to deploy into combat or not. We don’t know, if they do, in what strength. We certainly don’t have a sense of what capability they might be able to bring to the field with them. Now —
Q    Doesn’t this seem, though, like —
MR. KIRBY: Hang on, now. Just a second.
Q    — we were — a couple years ago, they were staged — you had Russian troops staged on the Ukrainian border, and this administration was saying, “We don’t know if they’re going to go in. We don’t want to impose any sanctions.” We didn’t do it ahead of time.
MR. KIRBY: No, no, no, no, no, no.
Q    Where — why is there not a consequence first?
MR. KIRBY: Well, first of all, let’s not rewrite history, Jacqui. We — we were the first country to go out publicly and say, “Here’s what we think the Russians are going to do. Here’s the timeline.”
Q    But didn’t do anything about it.
MR. KIRBY: That is not true, Jacqui.
Q    There was no preemptive sanction. Nothing.
MR. KIRBY: Jacqui, that is not true. It is true we didn’t levy sanctions originally because we were hoping that the threat of sanctions might deter or dissuade Mr. Putin. You lay sanctions on before the man makes a decision, then he might as well just go ahead and do it.
Q    Well, he did it anyway.
MR. KIRBY: And we — and we did levy sanctions on him — heavy sanctions — not just us but around the world.
Number two, we mobilized support for Ukraine even before Mr. Putin decided to step across that line. And no country — no country has done more than the United States to make sure Ukraine is ready. So —
Q    Well, why not do something —
MR. KIRBY: — let’s not —
Q    — to prevent —
MR. KIRBY: Wait, wait. Jac- —
Q    — this from happening?
MR. KIRBY: Jacqui, let me finish the second question, and then we’ll get your third one.
So, let’s not rewrite history. The United States didn’t sit idly by here. We’ve been Ukraine’s staunchest and most prolific supporter in terms of security assistance.
And as for the policy decision, the — the president remains and we all remain in direct contact with our Ukrainian counterparts. We’re talking to them over what the — what they need. As I said, we’ve just announced $800 million more, and there’ll be more coming in security assistance.
I just don’t have any policy changes to —
Q    But why —
MR. KIRBY: — to speak to today.
Q    Why would you not u- — put a restriction on the type of target that can be hit, rather than the distance from a border that obviously Russia doesn’t recognize? And you’ve got training happening with North Korean troops, I would assume, on the types of military installations that would be fair game if that decision was made.
MR. KIRBY: Yeah, we’ll see —
Q    That —
MR. KIRBY: We’ll see — we’ll see what the Russians and North Koreans decide to do here. As I said earlier, if these North Korean soldiers decide to join the fight against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right, Jacqui. We got to go.
Aurelia.
Q    Yeah. Thank you. John, would you still describe the Israeli operation in Lebanon as targeted?
MR. KIRBY: I’m sorry, I do-
Q    Yeah. The Israeli strikes on Lebanon, would you still describe them as targeted?
MR. KIRBY: Again, I’m not going to get into scorecarding each and every strike that the Israelis take. I’ll just say a couple of things. They have a right to defend themselves. There are legitimate threats that Hezbollah still poses to the Israeli people. I mean, rockets and missiles are still being fired at Israeli cities.
So, let’s not forget what Hezbollah continues to be able to do. That’s number one.
Number two, we have said many, many times that we don’t support daily, you know, strikes into heavily populated areas, and that remains the case today. We still oppose, you know, daily strikes into densely populated areas —
Q    But they still are coming — the strikes.
MR. KIRBY: — and we have had those conversations. Secretary Blinken has had that exact conversation when he was in Israel for the last couple of days. We’ll continue to press the Israelis on that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
Q    Hi. So, the interest from the frozen assets, does it apply only to the European Union or also the U.S. assets?
MR. KIRBY: It is — it’s for all the frozen assets.
Q    Also in the U.S.?
MR. KIRBY: I believe so. I believe so.
Q    Because this morning, I heard Daleep Singh said just European Union, so I wasn’t sure.
MR. KIRBY: Okay. You know what? Let me take the question. When I — I can’t even balance my checkbook at home, so — (laughter).
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead.
Q    Thank you. I wanted to ask about Kursk specifically with the North Korean troops in Russia. Russia and North Korea have this mutual security pact. If they were to use North Korean troops against Ukrainians in Kursk, would it be legitimate to try to reclaim sovereign territory, or would that be seen as an escalation in the war against Ukraine?
MR. KIRBY: Again, I don’t want to get ahead of where we are right now and hypothesize what these troops may or may not be doing and, if the Russians are going to deploy them, where they’re going to deploy them, whether it’ll be inside Russia or inside Ukraine.
Let me just please go back to what I said before. If these North Korean troops are employed against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Janne, you have the last one.
Q    Thank you very much. (Inaudible) questions.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, you’re about to jump out of your seat, so —
Q    Thank — thank you, John.
MR. KIRBY: This — this seems like a fair day for Janne.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That’s true. Truly.
Q    On same — same topic, on North Korea. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee recently sent a letter to President Biden requesting a briefing regarding the seriousness of North Korea’s troops deployment and the neglect of the Korean Peninsula issue. What is the White House’s response to this?
MR. KIRBY: Well, we’ll respond. We’ll respond as — as appropriate to the chairman, and we won’t do that from the podium here in the briefing room. We’ll do it appropriately with him and his staff.
I’ll just say — and hopefully my being here today and the — my statement at the top should reflect how seriously we’re taking this issue and how closely we’re going to monitor it. We recognize the potential danger here, and we’re going to be talking to allies and partners, including the Ukrainians, about what the proper next steps are going to be.
But as for our response to the chairman, I’ll let that stand in legislative channels.
Q    Last quick one. Your colleague said at the State Department briefing that the United States does not reflect other countries’ intelligence analyses. So, what is your assessment of intelligence cooperation with allies at this —
MR. KIRBY: What — what did my colleague at the State Department say?
Q    Said that — at the briefing that the United States does not reflect other countries’ intelligence analyses.
MR. KIRBY: About — about —
Q    About the —
MR. KIRBY: — the North Korean troops?
Q    Yeah, about the North Korean troops, so —
MR. KIRBY: I just shared with you — to- — today’s opening statement was a downgrade of U.S. intelligence of what — what we’re seeing. And I think you can see similarities between what I said today and what our South Korean counterparts have — have said. Ukrainian intelligence has — has released information very, very similar.
And again, we’re — you know, today isn’t the end of this conversation. It’s — it’s, quite frankly, the beginning of the conversation that we’re going to be having with allies and partners, including through the intelligence community.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Thank you so much, Admiral.
MR. KIRBY: Thank you.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Toluse.
Q    Thanks, John.
MR. KIRBY: Thank you.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you. Sorry, guys. Give me one second.
Let’s let Toluse take — I know he’s been waiting patiently on the sides- — sideline.
We don’t have much time because I have to be in the Oval in about 20 minutes, but go ahead.
Q    Can I ask about the McDonald’s outbreak, the E. coli outbreak?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    And this follows a couple of big ones that we’ve seen over the summer, including Boar’s Head. I think there’s another nationwide one. Is the president tracking this? And more importantly, how confident should Americans feel about the food supply right now?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, what I would say is the administration’s top priority — its top priority is to make sure that Americans are safe. And so, we are taking this very seriously. We’re monitoring the situation.
CDC, as it relates to McDonald’s specifically, is working to determine the source of the outbreak, as we speak abou- — as you asked me about the E. cola — E. coli outbreak. And so, what I would suggest is that families, they need to and they must follow the latest CDC guidance.
Obviously, we’re aware. The president is — is also aware. And going back to this particular outbreak with McDonald’s, I understand that the company has halted sales of product to protect customers, and CDC is certainly in touch with — with local authorities to — to prevent infection.
So, look, we’re always concerned when we hear these types of — these types of situations — right? — poten- — outbreaks. And so — and the president wants to make sure that the American people are safe. So, it is a — it is certainly a priority for us, and CDC is on top of this and looking into it.
Q    And then just one more. Any reaction to Jill Stein asserting the U.S. and the UK have blocked a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I have not seen those reporting. I’m not going to respond to a — a political candidate in — for this — for this —
Q    Well, it seems (inaudible) — it’s a factual thing that’s —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I have not even seen the — the comments that —
Q    Okay.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — you are mentioning to me, so I — I can’t give you an honest response from here.
So, go ahead, M.J.
Q    Karine, what did the president mean when he said last night, about Donald Trump, “We got to lock him up”?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, and I — the president spoke to — about this very clearly as well in his statement, and he — and he said he meant, “lock him out” politically — politically lock him out. That’s what he said, and that’s what we have to do. That was the part of his quote that he said last night while he was in — in New Hampshire.
Look, let’s not forget, this is a president that has not –never shied away from being very clear and laying down what is at stake in this election.
I’m going to be really m- — mindful in not speaking about 2024 election that’s just a — less than two weeks away.
But this is just speaking to what the president said last night. He made clear — he made very clear yesterday that he was referring to defeating — to defeating Donald Trump. That is what he was talking about. He said, politically — politically, lock him — lock him out. That is what he was referring to.
Q    Well, he first said twice, “lock him up.” So, you’re saying —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And then — and —
Q    — when he said “lock him up,” he meant, defeat Donald Trump?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, it’s not what saying. It’s what he said. He said —
Q    Well, when —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — to the au- —
Q    — he clarified.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Wa- — wait.
Q    But he initially said —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: He — he — right.
Q    — “lock him up.”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly, he clarified himself. He wanted to make sure that things were put into context. He wanted to make sure that it — while we are — you know, while not just New Hampshire folks that were there were going to see it but also the Americans who are watching and pay attention to what the president is saying. He wanted to put it into context. And he, himself — this is not me; this is the president himself going back to explain — to explain — to say that he was talking about politically — politically locking him out.
Q    Is the president aware of John Kelly’s assertion that Donald Trump meets the definition of a fascist and that Trump wanted the kinds of generals Hitler had?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, you have heard from this president over and over again about the threats to democracy, and the president has spoken about that. You’ve heard from the former president himself saying that he is going to be a dictator on day one. This is him, not us. This is him.
And it’s not just all — it’s not just us, the White House, saying this. You’ve heard it from officials — former officials that worked for the former president say this as well.
So, you know, do we agree — I know that the — the vice president just spoke about this. Do we agree about that determination? Yes, we do. We do.
Let’s not forget — I will point you to January 6th. What we saw on January 6th: 2,000 people were told to go to the Capitol to undo a free and fair election by the former president. It was a dark, dark day in our democracy and a dangerous one. We have people who died because of what happened on January 6th. And, you know, we cannot forget that. We cannot forget that.
And so — and I will add — I will add this, that — and I can’t believe I even have to say this — but our nation’s veterans are heroes. They are heroes. They’re not losers or suckers; they are heroes.
And to be praising Adolf Hitler is dangerous, and it’s also disgusting.
Q    So, just to be clear, when you said, “we do” agree, President Biden believes that Donald Trump is a fascist?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, yes, we have said — he said himself — the former president has said he is going to be a dictator on day one. We cannot ignore that. We cannot.
And we cannot ignore or forget what happened on January 6th, 2021. That is real. Real people were affected by this — law enforcement who were trying to protect — protect the Capitol, protect law — elected officials in the Capitol, congressional members, senators, House members. Their lives were ruined because of that day, because 2,000 people — again, 2,000 people were told by the former president to go there to find the former vice president to stop a free and fair election. That is what — that is what happened.
Some of you — some of your colleagues were there, reported it, and saw it for yourself.
We cannot forget that.
Go ahead.
Q    Karine, I mean, you talk about the context of the president’s comments yesterday. I want to put them in the fuller context as well. The president went to New Hampshire to make a policy argument against Republicans on the issue of prescription drugs, but the majority — more of his comments yesterday were really some of the most dire warnings we’ve heard from this president yet about a return to a Donald Trump presidency and what it would mean — could mean for this country. He talked about world leaders pulling him aside, saying, “He can’t win.” He talked about the concern — what it would mean for future generations of America.
How concerned is the president about — at this point, about the state of the race? Is he worried that Trump is on a path to victory at this point?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I’m not going to talk about the state of the race. You heard from the president. You just laid out very clearly about what the president talked about yesterday in New Hampshire. He laid out what his thoughts were. He laid out what the stakes are for this country, and this is somebody who cares, clearly, very deeply about the future of this country.
And so, I’m not going to get into what he thinks about this — the race in this current moment. That is not something that I’m here to do. I am not — I am no longer a political pundit. I am the White House press secretary. I speak for the president, but obviously I cannot speak to the 2024 election.
And you did talk about something else — right? — when you talked about what he went to do on the official side. And I would read you some quotes here — some headlines that we — that we saw in New Hampshire today from New Hampshire press, which I think is really important: “Biden, Sanders tout prescription drug cost-savings at New — New Hampshire event.” Another one, “Biden and Bernie Sanders highlight lower prescription drug costs in New Hampshire stop.” That is important.
The president wanted to go to New Hampshire to talk about what he and the vice president have been able to do in more than three and a half years: lowering prescription drugs, beating Big Pharma. He talked about the Inflation Reduction Act. By the way, no Republican voted for that. Now it is popular with Democrats and Republicans, and this is something that is going to change people’s lives.
And so, that’s what he was there for. He talked about — let’s not forget, what — what they’ve been — oth- — other things they’ve been able to do, whether it’s the bipartisan gun violence protection — being able to do that in a bipartisan way, and dealing with COVID that t- — put our economy in a downturn. And this president has been able to empower — powering the economy, and we are now leading as a country in the world when it comes to the economy.
So, I think he was able to do both things. I think he was able to speak his mind on — on the political, you know, nature of where we are right now, which he can — obviously, he spoke to. And I think people in New Hampshire got a sense of what the president is trying to do on behalf of them in talking about lowering costs. We saw that in — in the New Hampshire papers. So, it broke through, and I think that’s important.
Q    You were with the president last week in Germany —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
Q    — when he says he had these conversations with world leaders expressing their dire concern about the election here. What has been his response to those world leaders about that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I’m not going to get into private diplomatic conversations, and I will just leave it there.
Q    And then, I’ll ask you — we — NBC News is reporting that the vice president is likely to spend election night here in Washington, perhaps at her alma mater of Howard University. Do we have an understanding yet of where the president will be —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.)
Q    — and when — how he plans to vote?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: As soon as — you all know, we certainly will share that with all of you.
I will say is that the president is certainly looking forward to casting his ballot in Delaware. And so, once we have the full information on what his day is going to look like or what the last couple of days leading up to November 5th will look like, we certainly will share that with all of you.
Go ahead.
Q    Since we’re talking about scheduling, it is traditional for the president to hold a press conference after —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh boy. I knew that was coming. (Laughter.)
Q    Can’t stop. Won’t stop.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You were- — you weren’t here for the — the drop-by. Were you here for the drop-by?
Q    Yes, I was.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh. It was great.
Q    It was great. We’d love to see him again.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    So, the — and —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And you know what? He had a really good time. He enjoyed — he enjoyed it.
Q    So, just an —
Q    Come on back. (Laughter.)
Q    — open invitation for the president to follow tradition and do a press conference after the election, which I think —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I —
Q    — is standard and important.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I totally hear that, Tam, and I know it is a tradition.
I — I don’t want to get ahead of what the schedule is going to look like. As we know, in less than two weeks, we will have an important election. Obviously, I’m not speaking about that election specifically, but we want to share — we will share more as we get closer. And we — we certainly are tracking that tradition, and we’ll certainly have more to share.
Q    Are we going to see him with the vice president much in the next couple of weeks?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I — I know you all have asked this question of him. You’ve asked this question of me. They have, as you know, campaigned together. They’ve done official events together in the past just couple of weeks.
They speak regularly. And — and I would say the president — you’ve heard the president just, you know, tout how proud and how he thinks she will be a great leader on day one, which is –he also said in 2020, which is why he chose her as his running mate, and he has said as well, this was the best decision that he’s made. And understands that she’s going to cut her own path. Said this himself just last week when he was in — in Philadelphia.
Don’t have anything to share, again, on the schedule. I know this is all part of a scheduling question, and we certainly will have more to share as the days — as the days — as you know, I mean, one day is like an eternity in — in this space, as you know. (Laughs.) And so, less than two weeks is — feels like so far away. So, we will have more to share, for sure.
Go ahead, Selina.
Q    I just want to follow up on M.J.’s question.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    So, did the president actually read former Marine General Kelly’s comments or listen to them? And did you —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So —
Q    — do you know how he reacted after doing so?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look — I mean, look, I just gave a really good — I think a good sense of the — what the president has said about our reaction here from the White House. The president is aware of John Kelly’s comments. And I gave you a reaction as part of the — as — as the president’s White House press secretary. And what I’m saying to you today is something that the president has said over and over and over again and repeated.
And let’s not forget the words that we have heard from the former president. And it matters here, because we’re talking about our democracy. We’re talking about what’s at stake here with our democracy. And when you have a former president saying that they will be a dictator on day one, that is something that we cannot forget.
And so, you know, the president has spoke- — spoken about this and given speeches on this. And that’s why I continue to point to January 6th, 2020 — -21 — 2021, because it was — it’s something that we cannot forget, a dark day on our democracy — a dark day on our democracy, because of what was — what — what occurred — what occurred.
Q    Was the president surprised by any of the comments from Kelly?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, not at all. I mean, again, the president has made comments and spoken about this over and over again. So, no. I will say no.
Go ahead.
Q    Thanks, Karine. Elon Musk has been, you know, campaigning with former President Donald Trump, and he is offering $1 million to voters. I just was wondering: Has the president expressed any concern to, you know, this interference by Elon Musk? And I don’t know if he — you know, his — the administration maybe has any plans or has discussed maybe how to sort of maybe move forward with what’s El- — Elon Musk is doing with — with the $1 million.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, on — on this particular question, I’m going to have to refer you to the FEC. I just have to be — that one, I — I — that’s a place that I’m going to have to refer you. I can’t speak to it beyond that.
Q    But has the president mentioned it at all, Elon Musk or —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: He’s aware of it. He’s aware of it. That I can tell you. I just can’t speak to it beyond that. I have to refer you to the FEC.
Go ahead, Jared.
Q    You talk and you’ve taken questions today, and obviously throughout the — the presidency, President Biden has talked a lot about democratic institutions. I’m just curious if between now and Election Day, the president is going to speak sort of more broadly about the confidence in the votes being counted accurately.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, the president has talk — talked about this. He believes in our institution. He believes in — in — this will be a free and fair election. He’s talked about this. We have to give the American people, who some of them are voting right now — to make sure that they have the confidence in their vote and how important it is to cast their vote.
I’m not going to go beyond that, but I think the president has been very clear about that.
Q    But you don’t — should we talk about schedules or something? (Laughs.)
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    Is there, like, a big sort of — because he’s done these types of addresses on issues like this before.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, I —
Q    So, I’m just curious if, like, this is a time that he would do that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, no, I hear you. And I hear you’re talking about the moment that we’re in and if the president is going to speak about it in a more formal way — in remarks, in a speech.
I don’t have anything to share with you, but he’s been very clear about having the confidence in our institutions, and so I’ll leave it there.
Go ahead.
Q    I just want to ask you briefly about congressional outreach for the $10 billion that would be military aid. Has the White House started that process, reaching out to members of Congress to get their buy-in to kind of help expedite this process?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, we’re in regular touch with congressional members about any type of initiative that we’re trying to push through, especially if it involves Congress, obviously.
I don’t have anything to read out to you at this time, but we are in regular conversation about a myriad of things when it comes to legislation, things that we’re trying to push forward. Again, certainly that is important to the American people. I just don’t have anything to share at this time.
Q    Just a quick —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    — 2024 question. You said the president is going to vote. It’s a scheduling question.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q    Will he vote ear- —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You guys are very into schedules today.
Q    Yeah, we’re — we’re into this. We’re into this.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, I know. Into th- —
Q    Will he vote early? Early voting —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — into the POTUS schedule.
Q    Early voting starts in Delaware, obviously, this week, and will he go early, before Election Day?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — as — as soon as we have something to share, I will certainly share that.
Q    Final try.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I appreciate the effort here. The president — I can say for sure the president is looking forward to casting his ballot. And when we have more to share about his schedule — I mean, we’re not — we’re — the president can’t not just go vote and not tel- — for you guys not to know, right? So, you guys follow him wherever he is, which is good —
Q    Thanks.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — which is a good thing. (Laughs.)
Go ahead.
Q    Thanks, Karine. The former president described the vice president as “lazy as hell” yesterday. She had a day when she was not on the campaign trail. I was going to give you an opportunity to respond to that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I would check the source. Pay real close attention to who’s saying that. That’s all I’ll say.
Q    Okay. Another question about the vice president’s interview with NBC. She talked — she was asked about whether there should be any concessions on the issue of abortion and the situation —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Wait, say that one more time.
Q    She was asked whether or not there should be concessions on the issue of abortion — the scenario being a potential divided government like we have now — whether or not she would be willing to offer concessions, things like religious freedom, on the issue of abortion. And I wanted to see if —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Meaning like on- — once she’s in office?
Q    Yes.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, look, I’m not going to — I’m not going to get into hypotheticals. It’s not — that is something that certainly, you know, when she be — when she is in office and becomes pre- — and all of the things happen — I’m not going to get into hypotheticals — she’s going to make her own decisions and decide what’s best for the American people. I can’t speak to that at this time. Not going to get into hypotheticals.
What you know and what you have seen from this president and this vice president is their commitment to continue to fight for women’s rights and continue to call on Congress to — to — you know, to reinstate Roe v. Wade, make sure that legislation is put out there, voted on. And so, he would sign that, obviously, if that were to happen.
And so, that is what they — he — they both have asked for. That is what we’ve been saying during this administration. And she has been, obviously, a passionate fighter on that issue, understanding what this means to women, understanding what this means to people’s rights and freedoms, and so has this president.
And so that’s what we’re — you’re going to continue to see. You just — you just heard us — I forget all the days — all the days come together — recently talk about how we’re expanding in the ACA for contraception, because understanding how that — how important that is to women and families, or — or women and Americans who are trying to make decisions on their family or how to move forward, and they should have that right — and so — and that freedom.
And so, again, that action shows you the commitment from the — and I hope the American people — from the Biden-Harris administration.
What she’s going to do next, how she’s going to govern, that’s not for me to say.
Q    Another question from the interview. She was asked whether or not sexism would come into play in this election. She said, “I don’t think of it that way.” Obviously, the former president, Barack Obama, said that he did believe that sexism was coming into play in this election. What does the president think about (inaudible)?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, I’ll say this. Clearly, the vice president spoke to this, and this is her campaign, and she sees — she’s going to say how she sees things.
The president has always said and will continue to say that she is ready to lead on day one. And you don’t have to just look at her record with him as a critical partner over the last more than three and a half years as vice president, but as senator, as attorney general, as district attorney, she is someone that has always fought for Americans, fought for people, whether it is citizens in California or more broadly, obviously.
And I think that’s what the American people — I know that’s what the American people want to see. They want to see a fighter. And that’s what the president sees in her.
And, again, just look at what we’ve been able to do in the more than three and a half years when it comes to trying to beat back COVID and make sure that we all could come together in this room again without masks and make sure there was a strategy to deal with this pandemic; turn the economy around because of this pandemic; make sure that, you know, schools were open, businesses were open. Now we have a record number of people applying to open up small businesses.
They’re doing that because they believe that the economy is working for them. Nobody wants to open a small business if they don’t think the economy is working — is — is working for them.
Now, there’s always a lot more work to be done, and we’re going to continue to do that work. You saw what the president did with Senator Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire — in Concord, New Hampshire, answering and lay- — and laying out what the — what the Inflation Reduction Act has been able to do, saving people a billion dollars because of that Inflation Reduction Act — which, I may add, Republicans did not vote for. They did not vote for it.
I know I have to get — I’m getting the pull here.
Go ahead, Jon.
Q    Thanks a lot, Karine. What’s the level of concern that the administration has about election interference, specifically from Russia?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, we spoke to that. We’ve laid out — we made an — an announcement on what we were seeing from Russia on election interference. We sent a very clear message on that just a couple of weeks ago. So, obviously, that is something that continues to be a concern. We will speak loud and clear about that, as we did just a couple of weeks ago.
But we also want Americans to know th- — to trust the institution, and that’s what the president is going to continue to say and — and — and also continue to lay out the stakes — what’s at stakes.
Okay. Thanks, everybody. Hopefully, see you on the road.
2:30 P.M. EDT

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Secretary of the Navy Visits Georgia Tech Research Institute, Underscoring Commitment to Innovation and Collaboration
Source: United States Navy

ATLANTA – Oct. 23, 2024 – The Secretary of the Navy Hon. Carlos Del Toro visited the Georgia Tech Research Institute today to highlight the vital role of research and development in maintaining naval dominance and warfighting excellence. The Secretary addressed Georgia Tech students and faculty, and Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps students from Georgia Tech, Spelman College and Morehouse College, emphasizing the importance of their contributions to national security.

The Secretary’s visit underscored the Navy’s commitment to fostering strategic partnerships with academic institutions like Georgia Tech. GTRI, the applied research division of Georgia Tech, plays a crucial role in developing cutting-edge technologies for the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense.

“Georgia Tech is a powerhouse of innovation, and GTRI’s research is critical to ensuring our Sailors and Marines have the technological edge they need to prevail in any conflict,” said Secretary Del Toro. “The work being done here, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, and electromagnetic spectrum operations, is directly aligned with the Navy’s strategic priorities.”

The Secretary highlighted GTRI’s contributions to the DON, including:
- Collaborative Research: GTRI works closely with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and other DoD entities to address specific technological needs.
- R&D Contributions: GTRI develops advanced systems such as autonomous vehicles, millimeter wave radar technologies, and electronic warfare solutions.
- Prototyping and Testing: GTRI provides facilities for testing and validating new technologies to meet military specifications.
- Technology Transition: GTRI focuses on translating research outcomes into practical applications, enhancing operational capabilities for the Navy and broader defense community.
The Secretary’s remarks also emphasized the importance of innovation in the face of evolving global challenges.

“To win the fight of the future, we must embrace and implement emerging technologies,” said Del Toro. “We are in an innovation race, and it is one we must win.”

The Secretary highlighted several DON innovation initiatives, including:
- The Naval Science and Technology Strategy: This strategy guides the Navy and Marine Corps’ investments in science and technology research.
- The Naval Innovation Center (NIC) at the Naval Postgraduate School: The NIC accelerates the innovation process by bringing research concepts out of the lab and into the field faster.
- The Department of the Navy’s Science and Technology Board: This board provides independent advice and counsel on matters relating to science, technology, and acquisition.
- The Disruptive Capabilities Office (DCO): The DCO identifies and implements already-available or emerging technologies to address the fleet’s capability gaps.
“With today’s enemies developing more advanced technological threats, we are grateful that the Secretary of the Navy made time to visit our Atlanta Region NROTC Midshipmen,” said Atlanta Region NROTC Commanding Officer Capt. Jesus Rodriguez. “Our future Naval officers were provided with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when the Secretary personally impressed on them the importance of continued studies in science and technology. Our Midshipmen and NROTC staff are all appreciative for the opportunity to meet with and listen to our Navy’s leadership emphasize the importance of our students’ initiative in technological development during their Naval careers.”

The Secretary concluded by issuing a call to action to the students in attendance.

“Innovation must permeate every aspect of our department’s approach to deliver technologies and capabilities at a speed and scale necessary for our Navy and Marine Corps to confront the challenges of today and the future.”

Read Secretary Del Toro’s remarks here.

###

MIL Security OSI –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: US Navy: Projecting Strength and Building the Fleet of Tomorrow

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham

US Navy: Projecting Strength and Building the Fleet of Tomorrow

By Senator Lindsey Graham and Morgan Ortagus

Fox News

October 23, 2024

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/us-navy-projecting-strength-and-building-fleet-tomorrow

It’s time for all Americans to grasp a hard truth: in a world that may be on the brink of World War III, our military budgets are inconsistent with the threats we face. This is especially the case with the budget of the Department of the Navy.

The bad news: the current Navy budget will not make a stronger military or a larger U.S. fleet a reality. The good news: through American innovation and more agile products, we can build a bigger and more efficient Navy.

However, President Biden’s proposed FY2025 budget of $257.6 billion for the Department of the Navy is well below inflation and does not provide for a more lethal Navy.

As both President Biden and President Trump certified, the most direct challenge facing the U.S. Navy today is from the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, strong investments must be made now to ensure the Navy, and most importantly the United States, can meet this threat head-on.

It comes as no shock to the reader that America and its allies and partners are facing an unprecedented deluge of maritime threats by the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese Navy alone has provoked a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait with dangerous maneuvers, harassed Taiwan with aggressive military exercises, entered America’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Bering Sea, developed a jam-resistant submarine torpedo, and injured several Filipino sailors at and around Second Thomas Shoal.

These developments incrementally set the conditions for a direct conflict on the open seas. Meanwhile, Washington has been lulled into complacency by decades of maritime supremacy. Most concerning, the United States lacks the political resolve to shed the Navy’s Soviet-era mentality and adapt to the new era of great power competition.

To meet the moment’s maritime threats, America must choose between tough and tougher: make significant investments in our fleet or face the costs of inaction.

Section One: Expanding U.S. Shipbuilding Capacity and Cooperation with Allies

Our shipbuilding industrial base is grappling with significant delays and challenges, affecting major programs like the Columbia-class submarines, Constellation-class frigates, and Ford-class carriers. These delays are not only impacting the procurement of new ships, they are also impacting the ability to maintain the current fleet.

A great first step to combating the maritime threats our nation faces is to expand the physical footprint of the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

The U.S. shipbuilding industry is first in its class and the men and women that come to work every day in our nation’s shipyards build the world’s most lethal and capable warships. In states like South Carolina, there are a wealth of maritime industry suppliers and shipbuilders diligently producing the necessary components to construct our nation’s ships.

But that alone is not enough. China’s Bohai Shipyard boasts an annual capacity exceeding the total number of ships our Navy has launched since 2014.

In addition, China is rapidly expanding its existing shipyards and according to experts “has been investing so much in shipbuilding over the past 18 years that it can now build more ships in a month than the United States can in a year.”

By comparison, America only has four public shipyards and these yards focus on maintenance of submarines and aircraft carriers and not the construction of new vessels.

The Department of the Navy should look at states like South Carolina to build new shipyards to maximize the U.S. shipbuilding capacity and our maritime industry.

In addition, the Navy must expand maintenance capacity here in the states as well as in the Pacific. The U.S. Navy has already decided to augment its capacity by placing a submarine maintenance facility in Guam. This should be replicated for other vessels elsewhere.

It is clear that the need for more shipbuilding capacity is great and immediate. Investing here at home will certainly help address the need. At the same time, our nation should also not discount opportunities to work with others when the opportunity presents itself.

The U.S. Navy cannot afford to leave any stone unturned when thinking of innovative ways to grow the fleet as quickly as possible.

Section Two: Fleet Requirements and Capabilities

A fundamental step toward a 21st-century U.S. Navy is improving both the size and modernity of our existing fleet. The fleet currently consists of carriers, surface combatants, submarines, amphibious warships, combat logistics ships, fleet support vessels and mine warfare assets.

Yet this fleet is hardly agile or scalable enough to meet a Chinese maritime threat that includes drones, hypersonic missiles and other high-tech tools of warcraft.

Persistent gaps also remain in amphibious warfare and in contested logistics. Amphibious combat vehicles, landing vessels, and light warships are all needed in higher quantities for rapid and effective landings.

Unmanned and underwater systems are especially relevant to modern naval operations. Often at a fraction of the cost of manned vessels, these vessels – both large and small – perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance missions, logistics and strike operations.

They also relieve pressure on our high-demand, low-density assets while augmenting the fleet. The proof is in their success in Ukraine, where naval drones have successfully countered Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, forcing them into safe harbors and destroying dozens of Russian vessels.

In addition to their combat roles, unmanned systems are revolutionizing naval logistics. Unmanned logistics platforms can autonomously deliver supplies, ammunition, and fuel to forward-deployed forces, significantly extending the operational reach of our fleet.

These systems reduce the need for manned resupply missions, which are often vulnerable to enemy attacks, thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of our operations. By integrating unmanned logistics into our naval strategy, we can maintain sustained operations in contested environments, ensuring our forces remain equipped and ready for extended engagements.

A possible way to advance the construction of these unmanned vessels is through an international partnership. Such a partnership could be modeled after the trilateral security partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (AUKUS) for submarine production in Australia. An AUKUS-like agreement for unmanned systems could create a new pathway for faster construction of these unmanned platforms and increase the integration between partners.

China’s naval power is growing at an alarming rate, with close to 400 ships currently in service and projections of 435 by 2030. The impact of this expansion is worsened by our diminishing technology gap, as China advances its naval technology while the U.S. Navy struggles to build ships.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy’s latest shipbuilding assessment calls for 381 battle force ships (carriers, destroyers, amphibious ships, submarines, etc.) and 134 unmanned vehicles, totaling 515 vessels.

While it is great to have a roadmap, the U.S. Navy’s own shipbuilding plan projects that we would not reach 381 battle force ships until 2043 under the best scenario. This delay poses an unacceptable risk to our national security and could force our sailors into a fight they are underequipped to win.

To avoid that scenario and reduce the exposure of manned ships to enemy attacks, we must expedite shipbuilding with a focus on unmanned surface and subsurface systems that are affordable and quick to produce. America does not have to win a shipbuilding foot race, but we must strategically invest in both the capabilities and capacities to counter China’s growing maritime capabilities and protect our interests.

Section Three: Funding the Department of the Navy

The U.S. military budget is woefully underfunded for the threats our nation faces today. The U.S. is on target to spend only 3.1% of total GDP on defense in Fiscal Year 2025 and that percentage is projected to fall to a paltry 2.4% in 2034 under the Biden-Harris budget plan.

Budgetary “business as usual” will only widen the gap between U.S. and Chinese naval capabilities. With China’s defense budget growing in both size and sophistication, it is imperative the United States make greater, and smarter, investments of our own.

Increasing funding for the Navy’s ship procurement, known as the Shipbuilding and Conversion account, alone will not be enough. In order to address the shipbuilding problem, Congress should consider a comprehensive approach that includes strong and consistent funding across procurement, operations and maintenance, research and development, personnel and military construction accounts.

In order to do this, Congress will need to think outside the box as the current budgetary restraints limit the needed investments. Congress should form a “Fleet Investment Fund” – codifying the Navy’s entire budget growth at least 5% above inflation and more than the department’s topline request – covering all aspects of naval development and readiness.

Most importantly, this account should not be subject to any caps or restrictions within the president’s budget request to Congress each fiscal year. The formation of this account must be seen as a national imperative.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the costs of these investments are great and will require tradeoffs and significant political capital, but the costs of inaction will be far greater. History demonstrates that adversaries are emboldened by America’s hesitation and deterred by its resolve. History proves that the U.S. Navy can adapt to evolving defense needs.

Since 1945, America has served as the global guarantor of open seas and freedom of navigation in contested waterways and critical trade routes. President Theodore Roosevelt stated before Congress in 1902 that “a good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.”

Morgan Ortagus is the founder of Polaris National Security and formerly served as the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department under President Trump.

Republican Lindsey Graham represents South Carolina in the United States Senate.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: FEMA Administrator Checks on Recovery Efforts in Georgia, Meets with State and Local Officials as Hurricane Helene Recovery Continues Throughout the Southeast

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency 2

em>More than 141,000 Georgia households have been approved for $156 million in FEMA housing and other types of assistance
FEMA Administrator to travel to South Carolina on Thursday, October 24 to check on long-term recovery
WASHINGTON – Today, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is in Augusta, Georgia to meet with state and local officials, survivors and FEMA staff supporting recovery efforts. She will also meet with Georgia Emergency Management Agency to discuss long-term recovery. Tomorrow, she will travel to South Carolina to meet with Gov. McMaster, check on federal recovery efforts and visit local Disaster Recovery Centers.
To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved over $2 billion in federal assistance for individuals and communities affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. FEMA has over 5,000 personnel deployed throughout the Southeast, contributing to a total of over 6,000 federal responders who are working together to support state and local governments in their recovery efforts. FEMA personnel remain on the ground in communities across the Southeast and are actively coordinating with local officials, conducting damage assessments and helping individuals apply for disaster assistance programs.
Federal assistance for those affected by the hurricanes includes $940 million to support survivors with housing repairs, personal property replacement and other essential recovery efforts. Additionally, over $1.1 billion has been approved for debris removal and emergency protective measures, which are necessary to save lives, protect public health and prevent further damage to public and private property.
Applying for assistance is a critical first step towards recovery. Disaster survivors in certain areas of Georgia, Florida (Helene), Florida (Milton), North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia can begin their recovery process by applying for federal assistance through FEMA. Individuals affected by the hurricanes are encouraged to apply as soon as they are able to by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov, which is the fastest way to get an application started. Individuals can also apply using the FEMA App, calling 1-800-621-3362 or in person at a local Disaster Recovery Center. Disaster Recovery Centers in the affected communities can provide survivors with in-person help on their applications and answer questions. Center locations can be found at FEMA.gov/DRC. FEMA also has Disaster Survivor Assistance team members in the field supporting survivors and helping them with the application process.
Federal assistance for individuals may include upfront funds to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies and other emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay. Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for other federally declared disasters.
Recovery Update
For those affected by Hurricane Helene, FEMA has approved over $1.3 billion in assistance. This includes $797 million in assistance for individuals and families, along with more than $524 million for debris removal and efforts to protect public health and safety. In response to Hurricane Milton, FEMA has approved more than $749 million in assistance, with $142 million allocated for individuals and families and over $606 million for debris removal and safety measures.
FEMA now has 57 Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout the affected communities to provide survivors with in-person assistance with more opening each day. These centers offer help with applications for FEMA assistance, information on available resources and guidance through the recovery process. Over 1,300 Disaster Survivor Assistance team members remain on the ground in neighborhoods in all affected states helping survivors apply for assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary agency resources.
Support for Georgia
FEMA has approved over $156 million in housing and other types of assistance for more than 141,000 households.
There are 214 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities providing support. There are also nine Disaster Recovery Centers now open in Augusta, Baxley, Douglas, Lyons, Midway, Sandersville, Savannah, Thompson and Valdosta where survivors can speak to state and federal personnel to help with their recovery. Survivors may find their closest center by visiting FEMA.gov/DRC.
Residents can find resources like shelters and feeding sites at gema.georgia.gov/hurricane-helene.
Support for South Carolina
FEMA has approved over $166 million in housing and other types of assistance for more than 176,000 households.
More than 1,800 survivors who cannot return home are currently staying in safe and clean lodging through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.
There are 124 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities providing support. There are also eight Disaster Recovery Centers now open in Allendale, Anderson, Gaffney, Graniteville, Greenville, Greenwood, Newberry and Union where survivors can speak to state and federal personnel to help with their recovery. Survivors may find their closest center by visiting FEMA.gov/DRC.
Residents with questions on Helene can call the state’s toll-free hotline, open 24 hours a day, at 1-866-246-0133. Residents who are dependent on medical equipment at home and who are without power due to Helene may be eligible for a medical needs shelter. Call the state’s Department of Public Health Care Line at 1-855-472-3432 for more information.
Support for North Carolina
FEMA has approved over $134 million for over 94,000 households and other types of assistance. Additionally, FEMA has approved more than $189 million for debris removal and reimbursement of emergency protective measures for the state.
More than 2,600 survivors who cannot return home are currently staying in safe and clean lodging through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. Mass shelter numbers remain steady, with 11 shelters housing just over 440 occupants.
FEMA delivered over 7.8 million meals and 10.3 million liters of water to North Carolina. Commodity distribution, mass feeding and hydration operations remain in areas of western North Carolina. Voluntary organizations are supporting feeding operations with bulk food and water deliveries coming via truck and aircraft. Residents can visit ncdps.gov/Helene to get information and additional assistance.
There are over 420 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities providing support. There are also 15 Disaster Recovery Centers now open in Asheville, Bakersville, Boone, Brevard, Charlotte, Hendersonville, Jefferson, Lenoir, Marion, Morgantown, Newland, Old Fort, Sparta, Sylva and Waynesville where survivors can speak directly with FEMA and state personnel for assistance with their recovery. To find the nearest center, visit FEMA.gov/DRC.
Support for Florida
In response to Helene, FEMA has approved over $319 million in housing and other types of assistance for more than 99,000 households. Additionally, FEMA has approved more than $335 million in Public Assistance for debris removal and emergency work. In response to Milton, FEMA has approved over $142 million in housing and other types of assistance for over 121,000 households. Additionally, FEMA has approved more than $606 million in Public Assistance for debris removal and emergency work.
In response to Helene and Milton, FEMA delivered over 4.6 million meals and 4.4 million liters of water to Florida.
More than 5,500 survivors who cannot return home are currently staying in safe and clean lodging through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. Mass shelter numbers continue to decline, with 14 shelters housing just over 650 occupants.
There are 495 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities to provide support. There are also 16 Disaster Recovery Centers now open in Alligator Point (Mobile), Branford, Brooksville, Fort Pierce, Homosassa, Lake City, Largo, Live Oak, Madison, Old Town, Palmetto (Mobile), Perry, Punta Gorda (Mobile), Sarasota, Stuart, and Vero Beach supporting survivors from Debby, Helene and Milton where survivors can speak to state and federal personnel to help with their recovery. Survivors may find their closest center by visiting FEMA.gov/DRC.
Residents in need of information or resources should call the State Assistance Information Line (SAIL) at 1-800-342-3557. English, Spanish and Creole speakers are available to answer questions.
Support for Virginia
To date, FEMA has approved over $6.6 million in housing and other types of assistance for more than 2,200 households.
There are about 76 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities providing support. There are also six Disaster Recovery Centers open in Christiansburg, Damascus, Dublin, Independence, Marion and Tazewell where survivors can speak to state and federal personnel to help with their recovery. Survivors may find their closest center by visiting FEMA.gov/DRC.
Residents can find resources like shelters and feeding sites at: Recover – Hurricane Helene | VDEM (vaemergency.gov).
Support for Tennessee
FEMA has approved more than $14.3 million in housing and other types of assistance for more than 3,900 households.
There are more than 56 Disaster Survivor Assistance members in communities providing support. There are now three Disaster Recovery Center open in Erwin, Greenville and Morristown where survivors can speak to state and federal personnel to help with their recovery. Survivors may find their closest center by visiting FEMA.gov/DRC.
Counties continue to establish donation centers. For the evolving list, visit TEMA’s website.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI: Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp., Led by Eagle Equity Partners’ Harry Sloan, Jeff Sagansky and Eli Baker, Announces Pricing of $250 million IPO

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Bold Eagle Will Feature a Warrantless Structure

Each Unit Includes One Class A Ordinary Share and
One Eagle Share Right to Receive 1/20th of a Class A Ordinary Share

Sponsor to Reduce Founder Shares in an Amount Equal to the Shares Underlying the Eagle Share Rights

NEW YORK, NY, Oct. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”), the ninth public acquisition vehicle sponsored by Eagle Equity Partners, which is led by Harry Sloan, Jeff Sagansky and Eli Baker, today announced the pricing on October 23, 2024 of its initial public offering of 25,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one Eagle Share Right to receive one twentieth of one Class A ordinary share upon the consummation of an initial business combination. There are no warrants issued publicly or privately in connection with this offering and, after the closing of the initial public offering, the Company’s sponsor will reduce its founder shares in an amount equal to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the Eagle Share Rights. An amount equal to $10.00 per unit will be deposited into a trust account upon the closing of the offering. The units will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) and trade under the ticker symbol “BEAGU” beginning on October 24, 2024. After the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and Eagle Share Rights are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “BEAG” and “BEAGR,” respectively. The offering is expected to close on October 25, 2024.

Bold Eagle Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company’s efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While the Company may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, it intends to capitalize on the ability of its management team to identify and combine with a business or businesses that can benefit from its management team’s established global relationships and operating experience.

The Company’s sponsor is Eagle Equity Partners IV, LLC, of which Harry Sloan, Jeff Sagansky and Eli Baker are Managing Members. Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky are the Co-Chairmen of the Company. Joining Mr. Sloan and Mr. Sagansky in the management of the Company is Eli Baker, the Chief Executive Officer, who has served in various capacities in seven of Eagle Equity’s prior public acquisition vehicles, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp. Also joining Mr. Sloan, Mr. Sagansky and Mr. Baker in the management of the Company is Ryan O’Connor, the Chief Financial Officer, who previously served as the Vice President of Finance of Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp.

UBS Investment Bank and Jefferies are acting as the representatives of the underwriters for the offering. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus may be obtained from UBS Securities LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, by telephone at (888) 827-7275 or by email at ol-prospectusrequest@ubs.com or from Jefferies LLC, Attn: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone: 877-821-7388 or by email: Prospectus_Department@Jefferies.com.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on October 23, 2024. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any State or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such State or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to the initial public offering and search for an initial business combination. No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described, or at all, or that the proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s registration statement for the initial public offering filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

# # #

INVESTOR AND MEDIA CONTACT:

Ryan O’Connor
t. (424) 284-3519
e. roconnor@eaglesinvest.com

The MIL Network –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Qube’s proposed acquisition of MIRRAT raises preliminary concerns
Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

The ACCC has published a Statement of Issues outlining preliminary competition concerns with Qube Holdings Limited’s (ASX:QUB) proposed acquisition of Melbourne International RoRo & Auto Terminal Pty Ltd (MIRRAT).

The ACCC is also seeking views on a court-enforceable undertaking offered by Qube, which it has put forward to remedy competition concerns.

MIRRAT operates the automotive/Roll-on Roll-off terminal at Webb Dock West in Melbourne. The proposed acquisition would permit Qube to acquire sole operating rights for roll-on roll-off trade through the Port of Melbourne.

Qube, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Australian Amalgamated Terminals Pty Ltd (AAT), operates automotive cargo terminals at the Port of Brisbane and Port Kembla, as well as a general cargo terminal at Appleton Dock at the Port of Melbourne.

Qube is Australia’s largest provider of import and export logistics services including port-related activities of terminal management, stevedoring, processing, pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and delivery.

Webb Dock West is the key facility for the processing of automotive and roll on-roll off cargo through the Port of Melbourne, according to feedback received by the ACCC.

“The proposed acquisition would result in Qube, which is one of Australia’s largest integrated terminal and freight logistics providers, owning a further interest in a critical component of the automotive delivery supply chain at the Port of Melbourne,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said.

“We are concerned that the proposed acquisition may have a significant effect on competition in downstream services such as automotive stevedoring and pre-delivery inspection (PDI) services.”

“If this transaction goes ahead, Qube would be operating the terminal while also being in active competition with other automotive stevedores or PDI providers,” Dr Williams said.

The ACCC is concerned that Qube could raise the costs of access for rival stevedores and PDI operators, preventing them from competing effectively.

Qube could do this by restricting access to the terminal or related services, raising prices and lowering the quality of terminal services.

Concerns were also raised with the ACCC that Qube would have access to rivals’ commercially sensitive information as the terminal operator.

Proposed undertaking

Qube’s proposed undertaking, which would vary the current court-enforceable undertakings in place at Port Kembla and Port Brisbane, would:
- require AAT to not discriminate between terminal users in favour of its own interests in the automotive supply chain by providing for certain price and non-price dispute resolution processes, ring fencing certain confidential information and report periodically on its compliance with the undertaking
- provide independent oversight (including by an independent auditor), and
- impose restrictions on AAT’s ability to introduce or change certain tariffs.
“We are now seeking feedback on both the preliminary competition concerns associated with the acquisition identified in the Statement of Issues and the proposed undertaking, which has been put forward by Qube,” Dr Williams said.

“While the ACCC has decided to publicly consult on the undertaking, this should not be interpreted to mean that this or any undertaking will ultimately be accepted.”

The Statement of Issues and proposed undertaking is available on the ACCC’s public register here: Qube Holdings Limited (Qube) – Melbourne International RoRo & Auto Terminal Pty Ltd (MIRRAT).

The ACCC invites submissions in response to the Statement of Issues by 7 November 2024.

Background

MIRRAT’s ultimate parent company is Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA (WW). WW is a Norway-based global provider of roll on roll off shipping and vehicle logistics and operates automotive terminals in Europe, the UK, the US and the Asia-Pacific. MIRRAT’s only operation in Australia is the automotive/RoRo terminal at Webb Dock West.

MIRRAT operates Webb Dock West subject to a section 87B undertaking accepted by the ACCC on 27 March 2014 (MIRRAT Undertaking). The MIRRAT Undertaking was accepted by the ACCC in relation to MIRRAT’s acquisition of a long-term lease to operate the Webb Dock West Roll on Roll off terminal at Port Melbourne. The MIRRAT Undertaking commenced on 1 January 2018. It expires when MIRRAT ceases to operate the Terminal, which may occur on or before 30 June 2040, and when the ACCC confirms this in writing.

The MIRRAT Undertaking includes a provision regarding change of control of MIRRAT’s business (that is, the operation of the Roll On Roll Off terminal at Webb Dock West). Under the change of control provision, control of the operation of the automotive terminal at Webb Dock West may only change to a new person or entity, if that person or entity has given a s87B undertaking to the ACCC that:
- requires it to comply with the same obligations as are imposed on MIRRAT pursuant to the MIRRAT Undertaking, or
- on terms that are otherwise acceptable to the ACCC,
unless the ACCC has notified MIRRAT in writing that a s87B undertaking under the change of control provision is not required.

The full text of the existing MIRRAT Undertaking can be found on the ACCC’s s87B undertakings register.

Qube is Australia’s largest integrated provider of import and export logistics services. Its port-related activities include facilities management, stevedoring, processing, PDI and delivery. It manages and develops strategic properties such as inland rail terminals and related logistics facilities. It provides road and rail transport of freight to and from ports, operation of container parks, customs and quarantine services, warehousing, intermodal terminals, and international freight forwarding.

In addition to being a terminal operator, Qube provides general stevedoring, automotive stevedoring and PDI services at each of its eastern seaboard ports. It provides general and automotive stevedoring through its affiliated entity ‘Qube Ports’. Qube provides PDI services through its 50% interest in K Line Auto Logistics which owns and operates PrixCar.

AAT (Qube) operates automotive cargo terminals in Port of Brisbane and Port Kembla, as well as a general cargo terminal at Appleton Dock in Port of Melbourne. The facilities are operated under a s87B undertaking accepted by the ACCC in 2016 (AAT Undertaking).

The AAT Undertaking was accepted in relation to Qube’s acquisition of a 50 per cent shareholding in AAT, resulting in Qube holding 100 per cent of AAT. The AAT Undertaking commenced on 23 November 2016 (and was varied on 25 June 2018). It has no end date.

The AAT Undertaking requires that any stevedore or transport operator may apply to have access to the site to service their customers. The access is on a non-discriminatory basis so that all parties are provided services to the same level. Stevedores or transport operators seeking access to the terminal can apply through AAT who will provide a stevedore licence or permit access to approved applicants. The full text of the AAT Undertaking can also be found on the ACCC’s s87B undertakings register.

The proposed acquisition will give rise to a Change of Control for the purpose of the MIRRAT Undertaking. AAT does not propose to enter a section 87B undertaking with identical terms to the MIRRAT Undertaking. Instead, AAT (Qube) proposes that its operation of the Terminal would be subject to the AAT Undertaking already in place for its existing terminals with additional clauses including in relation to the Price Dispute Resolution Process.

MIL OSI News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech to Institute of Public Administration New Zealand

Source: New Zealand Government

Good morning, kia ora koutou.

Thank you, Liz, for your introduction, and to you all for the opportunity to speak to you today.

It’s a pleasure to be here. And it’s a particular pleasure to continue a tradition that was started by one of my predecessors Sir Bill English. I’m told the finance minister has presented this address every year since 2009.

I would like to acknowledge the role the institute plays in promoting excellence in the public sector.

I also want to take the opportunity to voice my appreciation for the work public servants do to keep New Zealanders safe and ensure people receive the public services on which they depend.

I respect your enduring commitment to public service and the integrity with which you approach your work, remaining focused on the New Zealanders we each serve, evolving and adapting as the political tides come and go.

As a – still – proud Wellingtonian, I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with a broad spectrum of public servants throughout my career. I admire the thoughtfulness, tenacity, and earnestness I have seen in so many of you.

I am grateful that while our Government is facing into a particularly challenging set of economic circumstances, we do so with wise and experienced public servants at our back and by our side.

This is not as easy time for our country. A sustained cost of living crisis has left New Zealand with highly constrained government finances, recessionary conditions, rising unemployment and a range of new pressures for everyday Kiwis, both in their family and working lives.

That’s not a political observation, so much as a statement of reality.

Nor is it a reflection on the professionalism, skill or commitment of New Zealand’s public service.

The nation’s position today is a consequence of a global pandemic and of choices made by the previous Government.

This is not the forum for politics, and it is not my intention to make a political speech. The facts speak for themselves. In the past six years, there has been an 82 per cent increase in government spending and an additional $118 billion of debt added to the government books. As a country we have been living beyond our means. And now, we must correct course.

The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Inflation has returned to the Reserve Bank’s target range of 1 to 3 per cent for the first time in more than three years, interest rates are coming down and business and public confidence is increasing.

There is no escaping the reality, however, that many families and businesses are doing it tough. Inflation has increased household costs and squeezed business margins.

Partly for that reason, and also because it is good practice, our Government’s focus on fiscal discipline is going to continue. It is not a one-off, one-Budget affair. It is an ongoing state of mind.

As a government we are committed to getting the books back in order and bringing debt down, but our aspirations go far beyond changing the colour of the ink in the government’s accounts. We want to do more than simply deliver better value for money. And we are interested in far more than simply ticking off actions or delivering to targets.

We are intent on improving lives.

You and your colleagues in the public service have a critical role to play in this because, frankly, what we’ve been doing in recent years hasn’t worked for too many New Zealanders. Some of those who most need help haven’t been getting it.

That comes at an economic cost to the country, but more importantly it comes at a human cost. People are our greatest asset and delivering for people is our greatest purpose. In recent times, New Zealand has failed too many of its people: both economically and socially. Falling levels of educational achievement, poor housing, rising welfare dependency and an economy that is not growing quickly enough have denied opportunity to those who most need it.

I’ve said this a couple of times before to particular groups of public servants. Now, I’ll say it to a broader group.

Now is the time for your best and boldest ideas. As a government we are not interested in treading the same path that has denied opportunity to some of our most vulnerable. We want to make a difference to lives.

That’s the reason the Government has brought back public service targets: to focus the public sector on driving better results in health, education, law and order, work, housing and the environment. We understand targets aren’t a perfect mechanism, but past experience has shown they do help to focus attention on the things that make a difference.

It’s also why this Government is determined to scale up the efforts that have gone into social investment so far.

The philosophy underlying social investment makes sense to everybody.

Given the choice, what New Zealander would choose to pay for an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff when we could instead build a fence to prevent the fall? They key is working out where the fences are needed and for who, ascertaining who is best placed to build those fences, and then rigorously testing whether they’re actually preventing the fall.

This is a moral imperative, and it’s also a fiscal one.

The difference to the taxpayer between a life in and out of the prison system and a life spent in productive activity is in excess of a million dollars. More importantly, for the individuals concerned, and their families, it can be the difference between a life of fulfilment and a life of misery.

Thanks to the work started by Bill English we now have a very good idea of where to direct our efforts.

For example, Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure research database enables us to identify common factors in the lives of those who interact most frequently with state agencies. The factors themselves won’t come as a surprise to anyone. They include poor education, benefit dependency, multiple admissions to hospital emergency departments, being victims of violence and being perpetrators of violence.

But put the data together and you get a compelling case for targeted intervention. The IDI tells us that a 22-year-old with eight to 10 of these factors is, by the age of 27, 116 times more likely to have a child placed in care, 69 times more likely to have served a prison sentence, 22 times more likely to have been the victim of family violence and five-and-a-half times more likely to have been hospitalised for attempted suicide.

The data is not determinative. Many outstanding New Zealanders have emerged from extremely challenging circumstances and some of those who end up falling foul of our justice system and dependent on welfare come from privileged backgrounds.

But the data does give us a good sense of where to direct the scarce resources of the government. No country can afford to fund every good thing. Every dollar spent comes at the opportunity cost of a dollar spent elsewhere. We must always be working to focus funds where they can have the most profound and enduring impact. The prize for that effort is the most important prize of all: it is a child fulfilling the full human potential with which they entered this world.

There is no shortage of data in government. The challenge we must now address is how we use this this data to practically make a difference to lives.

Social investment approach

In July this year, the Government established the Social Investment Agency to lead, build, and demonstrate a social investment approach.

As a mark of the importance we attach to this work, the agency was established as a central agency. That is because the Government wants to see system change across the public service.

To this end we are asking the public service to think about service delivery in a different way. We are asking for more purposeful thought about how we invest for the New Zealanders in most need. Going beyond the easy platitudes of good intentions and instead moving towards a world of far greater accountability for what results are delivered.

This demands us to think much more purposefully not just about what we want to change but how best to make it happen. We want to see more devolution of power, more clarity about what works for who, and much more space for innovation. In accountant-speak, our focus is shifting from outputs to outcomes. That means asking ourselves the right questions.

First: what are the outcomes we want to achieve? That is a different question from the question that is often asked by governments – ‘what can we give people’. And it is a question that leads to different outcomes.

Second: who needs help? Not ‘how shall we distribute these services that we already have?’ That means putting the needs of the people who need help ahead of the needs of organisations providing services.

Third: what services should be prioritised? Not ‘what shall we add to the service mix?’ That means identifying what is working and, just as importantly, what is not working.

This is one of the most challenging issues governments face because stopping programmes that are not performing well affects the people involved and can be interpreted as an admission of failure.

But, if we are serious about making a difference to the lives of our most vulnerable, we have to be rigorous about directing resources away from initiatives that are not making a difference towards initiatives that are.

Fourth: how do we enable providers to achieve the outcomes we want? Not, ‘how do we manage providers so they do what we want’ but how do we empower them to achieve the outcomes we all want to see?

And fifth and finally: ‘How will we know if what we are doing is working?’ This is a question that is not asked often enough and the failure to do so is at the root of too much inefficiency in our social system.

Drawing on evidence and being clear about the answers to these questions, gives us the best chance of changing lives. It also ensures we get value for the money we spend.

Social outcomes contracts

Another important aspect of social investment is recognising that not all the answers to the challenges we face can be found in Wellington office blocks, or the Beehive, for that matter.

Communities often know what the best solutions for their people are. We need and want to foster genuine partnership between the public service and proven community-based providers.

I’ve heard time and time again from those working with communities that the way the government contracts and commissions programmes is broken.

I know that you too will have received feedback from service users, non-government organisations, iwi, and communities that current contracting arrangements fail to focus on the thing that really matters – whether the service makes a difference for people.

When I talk to and visit providers, they tell me about the multiple overlapping contracts that they have with different agencies who do not seem to be talking to each other.

They tell me about how government ties their hands by requiring specific outputs that prevent them from innovating to provide services more effectively.

They tell me about the time they waste producing reports that don’t seem to inform future conversations and contracting decisions, and the teams of people they have to employ to produce reports that aren’t read.

They tell me about being forced to ‘contract farm’ to secure piecemeal funding across multiple contracts in order to ensure they can stay afloat and serve their communities.

All of this is a drain on their resources which means they have less time to deliver outcomes for vulnerable New Zealanders. They have less time to think creatively and less ability to adapt and flex how they deliver.

Social investment suggests that one of the solutions to these problems is contracting with providers to deliver outcomes rather than outputs.

That means that once contracts have been negotiated, providers can choose how best to achieve the outcomes everyone wants. Outcomes-based contracts allow providers to flex their services around the needs of the people they are working with and to develop new solutions. To move away from a focus on serving the needs of a government department and instead take radical accountability for the results they deliver for the people they serve.

Outcomes-contracting also creates data-rich feedback loops to inform ongoing improvements to service delivery and future contracts.

It requires a conversation and agreement between funders and providers about data. What outcomes will be measured? How will those outcomes be measured? How will providers demonstrate that they are learning what works and doing more of it? How will funders use this data to inform decisions about future investments?

It’s not about elaborate evaluations and literature reviews – it’s about real-time insights into what’s working, what’s not working and what to do next to get the result that matter for the people we serve.

Changing the way that social services are commissioned will be a critical component of the social investment approach.

Therefore, I have asked the Social Investment Agency to lead work with other agencies to develop prototype outcomes contracts to replace the current set of criss-crossing and overlapping outputs-focused contracts. This will provide a blueprint for other commissioners and providers of services to follow.

Contracting in this way has the potential to raise the bar for investment decisions across the public service. Not only does it require agencies to understand the needs of different groups, it requires them to assess the impact of the services they have delivered by measuring and comparing results.

The Government is also progressing work to establish a Social Investment Fund that will directly commission outcomes for vulnerable New Zealanders and work with community, non-government organisations and iwi providers.

The fund will be managed by the Social Investment Agency and will serve as a testing ground for innovation which – when successful – can be applied more broadly to the social sector.

Initially the fund will be small and targeted, but I anticipate it will grow over time and become an increasingly important vehicle for empowering innovation and testing new approaches. My ambition is that the fund will eventually be an effective vehicle not just for Government investment in changing people’s lives, but also as a home for funding from philanthropists, investors and anyone who wants to deploy their money in service of social good.

Not every initiative it funds will be successful, but that is the point of a testing ground, to identify what works and, just as importantly, what does not. Better to fail fast in a test environment and learn from the results than to keep doing the same thing that history has shown does not deliver results.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is a government that is intent on making a difference. We are not going to keep doing things simply because that is the way they have always been done. We want to make New Zealand a better place for everyone, particularly our most vulnerable citizens.

We know change can be unsettling and we know we are asking a lot of you and your colleagues in the public service.

At the same time that we’re making savings across the public sector, we’re not just asking you to deliver business as usual, we’re challenging you to think and operate differently. For me, wrestling with that reality conjures up a phrase attributed to that great New Zealand pioneer, Ernest Rutherford: We haven’t got the money, so we’ll have to think.

I am confident in your ability to rise to the challenge.

What I am hearing from many public servants is that you welcome the opportunity to think differently about how we tackle some of our biggest and most entrenched challenges.

That does not surprise me. I know the reason most, if not all of you, joined the public service is to serve your fellow New Zealanders and contribute to making New Zealand a better place.

I encourage you to be bold and put forward your best advice. I also encourage you to work as closely and openly as you can with those you are seeking to serve – local decision makers, iwi and Māori providers, as well as the private sector. Central government does not have a monopoly on good ideas.

Together, we have an opportunity to reduce welfare dependency, improve health, raise educational achievement, lower rates of offending and address increasing rates of inequality. Without adding to the spaghetti of bureaucracy.

Let’s seize that opportunity with both hands. Thank you.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Birmingham Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Gun and Drug Charges

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Birmingham man has been sentenced for gun and drug crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced Damion Deonte Wade, 24, to 120 months in prison after Wade pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.

According to the plea agreement, on April 11, 2023, Birmingham Police officers stopped a vehicle for having a tinted windshield; Wade was driving. Officers saw drugs, drug paraphernalia, and firearms in plain view. Officers searched the vehicle and recovered two digital scales, methamphetamine, fentanyl, a Mak-47, a Glock 10mm extended magazine and an AK-47 magazine.

ATF investigated the case along with the Birmingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darius Greene prosecuted the case.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Rosebud Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting Fellow Inmate and Possessing a Sawed-Off Shotgun

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

PIERRE – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte has sentenced a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault With a Dangerous Weapon and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. The sentencing took place on October 21, 2024.

Kobe Ryan Running Bear, a/k/a Kobe Running Bear-Espinoza, age 21, was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Running Bear was indicted by a federal grand jury in September of 2023. He pleaded guilty on July 24, 2024.

The convictions stem from two separate incidents which occurred in July of 2023 within the boundaries of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation. On July 4, 2023, Running Bear was driving a vehicle faster than the posted speed limit in Mission, South Dakota. A law enforcement officer observed Running Bear and initiated a traffic stop, but Running Bear accelerated and attempted to flee. During the pursuit, Running Bear threw a short shotgun from his vehicle. The shotgun was recovered by law enforcement and Running Bear was subsequently apprehended. The short shotgun had a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length and was not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Running Bear will forfeit ownership of the firearm to the United States.

On July 29, 2023, Running Bear was an inmate at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Adult Correctional Facility. At one point, Running Bear and another man attacked a fellow inmate and assaulted him with a pencil.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.

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

This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson prosecuted the case.

Running Bear was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Indictment Returned in June 2023 Armed Carjacking

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

            WASHINGTON – Vincent Jones, 29, of Washington, D.C., was indicted today on charges of armed carjacking, armed robbery, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, for robbing the victim at gunpoint outside of a McDonald’s Restaurant, at 3901 Minnesota Ave. in Northeast D.C., in June of 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           According to the government’s evidence, on June 16, 2023, the defendant and two accomplices approached the victim near the parking lot, pointed firearms at him, demanded that he “give it up,” and forcibly took his keys, bag, and cash. The defendant and one accomplice then fled in the victim’s vehicle while the third accomplice fled in a separate car.

           This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Cocuzza and Jacob Green of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Alexandria woman pleads guilty to intentionally striking a victim with her car while fleeing the Fort Belvoir Exchange

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Alexandria woman pled guilty today to assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm.

According to court documents, on Dec. 29, 2022, Alexis Amani Smith, 28, entered the AAFES Main Exchange at Fort Belvoir and began to steal several items of merchandise. Smith then walked past the final point of purchase with five items – perfume and earrings valued at $342.99 – without paying.

After Smith exited the Exchange with the merchandise, a loss prevention officer (LPO) of the Exchange approached Smith, questioned her about her apparent theft of merchandise, and requested identification. A verbal altercation ensued. Smith placed the stolen merchandise on the floor, then quickly exited the Exchange and entered her vehicle in the Main Exchange parking lot.

The LPO followed Smith to the parking lot to obtain the vehicle license plate number. While the LPO was standing directly in front of Smith’s vehicle, Smith accelerated the vehicle, striking the LPO’s knees and shins. The LPO placed her hands on the hood of Smith’s vehicle to maintain her balance while yelling for Smith to stop. Smith accelerated again, sending the LPO onto an adjacent vehicle and then onto the pavement. Smith continued to accelerate and left the Main Exchange.

As a result of the vehicle strike, the victim suffered injuries to both her knees, her forearm, and her shoulder.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 12, 2025, and faces up to 10 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. accepted the plea.

The Fort Belvoir Department of Emergency Services provided valuable assistance on this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Durham is prosecuting the case. Former Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys M. Kyle Richardson and Margarita Pendarvis provided substantial assistance in the prosecution of the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:24-cr-168.

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Only purchase safe and legal e-bikes: new Government safety campaign urges public
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

A new safety campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of buying faulty and unsafe e-bikes, e-scooters and components such as batteries has been launched
Campaign image for DBT’s Buy Safe, Be Safe campaign

New campaign urges public to buy safe e-bikes and e-scooters and avoid rogue online sellers

E-bike and e-scooter causing fires every two days according to London Fire Brigade

New Product Regulation Bill beginning work to tackle dangerous goods sold online

A new safety campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of buying faulty and unsafe e-bikes, e-scooters and components such as batteries has been launched today (Thursday 24 October).

The Department for Business & Trade’s new “Buy Safe, Be Safe” campaign has been designed to urge the public to buy safe e-bikes and e-scooters and avoid rogue online sellers.

E-bikes can be a cheap, healthy and modern method of travel throughout our towns and cities. However, unsafe e-bikes have resulted in hundreds of deadly fires and injured dozens of people across the UK. In 2023, the London Fire Brigade a fire every two days as a result of e-bike and e-scooter-related fires.

Many of these fires are caused by parts incompatible with e-bikes and scooters, as well as the purchase of defective or poorly manufactured parts sold by rogue online sellers.

The campaign focuses on three key areas encouraging consumers to only buy safe products from reputable sellers, only replace items with products recommended by the manufacturer and finally to seek professional help when converting or repairing e-bikes and e-scooters.

The Department is partnering with retailers, manufacturers as well as online marketplaces, trade associations, consumer groups and businesses to promote the campaign. Find out more about the campaign here.

Product Safety Minister Justin Madders said:

E-bikes can be a great way to travel around the city, but we’ve all seen the tragic stories of unsafe e-bikes and e-scooters causing dangerous fires and taking lives.

That’s why we’re urging everyone to check what you’re buying, check where you’re buying it from and ensure it’s safe to use.

Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood said:

E-bikes have transformed our urban areas by giving people an accessible and healthy way to travel, but this is being ruined by a handful of untrustworthy online retailers.

These rogue sellers not only risk bringing defective and dangerous batteries into people’s homes, but undermine confidence in active travel as a whole.

That’s why I’m delighted that we are launching this campaign to make sure that people have peace of mind buying e-bikes and e-scooters from reliable sources.

Under current laws, e-scooters are banned on public land from use except in Government rental trial areas, while e-bikes are legal to use across the country but must not exceed an output of 250 watts or travel faster than 15.5 mph.

The public can expect to see an ongoing social media campaign including how-to video guides, as well as information materials being made available for retailers to use in stores and online to support consumers.

The campaign comes off the back of wider efforts to tackle dangerous goods being sold in online marketplaces. In September, the Government unveiled the new Product Regulation and Metrology Bill aimed at allowing the UK to take charge of its product regulations, boosting consumer safety and helping to further grow the economy.

The Bill will also address the sharp rise in safety concerns around e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries and how they are sold via online marketplaces. The Bill will enable Government to better protect consumers who have for too long been at the mercy of unscrupulous suppliers, holding sellers and the online marketplaces to account if they fail to meet their responsibilities.

And it will ensure products sold online or placed on the UK market are safe, while enabling market enforcement officials to clamp down on the sale of the product or the sellers where they are not.

London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner for Prevention and Protection, Craig Carter, said:

E-bikes and e-scooters are a green and sustainable way to travel around our city. However, e-bikes and e-scooters can pose a significant fire risk and particularly the batteries used to power them have become one of London’s fastest-growing fire risks. They have destroyed homes and families have sadly lost loved ones in these fires.

From our investigations, we know many of the fires we’ve attended have involved second-hand vehicles or the bike has been modified using parts bought online.

At this time, there is not the same level of regulation of products for e-bikes and e-scooters sold via online marketplaces or auction sites when compared to high street shops, so we cannot be confident that products meet the correct safety standard. We understand that people are trying to save money, but if you spot a deal that looks too be good to be true, it probably is.

Halfords Head of Quality, Chris Hall, said:

E-bikes offer numerous benefits for a healthier, greener commute. When e-bikes are purchased from reputable retailers, they’re properly certified and safe to use. Our priority is to ensure that everyone can enjoy the benefits of e-bikes without compromising on safety. The fire safety issues we’ve seen are linked to poorly manufactured, uncertified products typically bought online, as well as the use of incompatible components.

Lesley Rudd, chief executive of consumer safety charity, Electrical Safety First said:

E-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries are generally safe when purchased from reputable manufacturers and used correctly. However, poor-quality products – often sold via online marketplaces – improper charging, or misuse can cause ferocious fires and pose a serious risk to the buyer. Safety starts with where you shop. Sticking to reputable sellers will provide confidence that your e-bike is safe and manufactured to a high standard.

It’s equally as important to ensure you use a charger that is designed to be compatible with your battery to avoid the risk of overcharging which may destabilise the battery and lead to a fire. We also urge consumers considering converting their push bike into e-bike to source a high-quality kit and that it is installed by a competent professional.”

Inga Becker-Hansen, Product Safety Advisor at the BRC, said:

The popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters has greatly increased the number on our streets and in our homes. These products provide a convenient method of transport for many of us. However, consumers should ensure they purchase from reputable and responsible retailers, who will ensure that appropriate batteries are used and all necessary safety standards are met. We urge the public to follow government guidance and take appropriate storage and maintenance measures to ensure the safety and longevity of their purchases.

Find full details about the ‘Buy Safe, Be Safe’ campaign here

For our information on buying safely, how to store your product safely and best practice for charging, you can also find more information from the London Fire Brigade’s #ChargeSafe campaign.

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Published 24 October 2024
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Travel tips for a less laborious Labour weekend on the roads
Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

As people gear up to make the most of the first long weekend in several months by hitting the road, headed for their favourite holiday spots, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is encouraging everyone to drive safe and plan ahead to avoid the busiest times on state highways across Auckland and Northland.

NZTA has updated its Holiday Journeys interactive travel planner for Labour weekend. The tool shows predicted traffic conditions for popular routes in Auckland, Northland and further afield over the long weekend, based on travel patterns from previous years.

Holiday Journeys(external link)

NZTA Regional Manager Maintenance and Operations for Auckland and Northland, Jacqui Hori-Hoult, says where possible, people should aim to travel outside the busiest periods.

“In Northland, delays are predicted on State Highway 1 at Whangārei for northbound traffic from late Friday morning, right through until around 7pm that evening, with the heaviest traffic expected between 2pm and 6pm. Delays for southbound traffic are spread across the weekend, on Friday afternoon, Saturday from mid-morning through to lunch and an hour and half either side of lunch on Sunday. Traffic is busy for much of the day on Monday, with the worst expected between 11am and 3pm.

“Traffic is expected to be busy on SH1 between Puhoi and Wellsford between noon and around 7.30pm on Friday, and again between 10.30am and 2pm on Saturday. Southbound, people can expect delays on Monday between 10am and 6.30pm, with the worst predicted between noon and 6pm,” Ms Hori-Hoult says.

“Further south, people should expect traffic across the weekend for travel northbound between Bombay and Manukau. Those travelling in the opposite direction can expect delays between 10.30am and 7.30pm on Friday, particularly between 11.30am and 6.30pm, and again between 9am and 2pm on Saturday, with the heaviest traffic expected between 11am and 1.30pm.”

Because predicted travel times can change based on traffic incidents, weather or driver behaviour, people should visit the Waka Kotahi Journey Planner website for real-time travel information, traffic cameras, and updates on delays, roadworks and road closures before they travel.

Journey Planner(external link)

While most work stops before busy holiday travel periods like the Labour Day long weekend to minimise disruption to people’s journeys, the State Highway 16 Newton Road westbound on-ramp will be closed from 9pm on Friday 25 October to 5am on Tuesday 29 October to allow crews to work around the clock replacing the bridge joints.

Labour weekend closure for Newton Rd westbound on-ramp(external link)

There will also be lane and speed restrictions on Newton Road, with traffic flow maintained in both directions. Piwakawaka Street will be one way during this time, with entry from Newton Road only. The pedestrian path from Newton Road to Takau Street will also be closed.

Ms Hori-Hoult says everyone should take extra care when travelling over the holiday weekend due to increased traffic volumes, congestion, tiredness and people driving in unfamiliar environments.

“We can all take simple actions to stay safe. That means checking your car is safe before your journey, keeping your speed down, driving sober, watching for the signs of fatigue and sharing the driving.

Allow plenty of time. You’re on holiday, there’s no need to rush.

“Drive to the conditions – whether it’s the weather, the road you’re on, the time of day or the volume of traffic on the roads.

“Keep a safe following distance from vehicles in front so you can stop safely and take regular breaks to stay alert.”

Tips for safe driving on your Labour Weekend holiday

Plan ahead. Use our Holiday Journey Planner to find out when the peak traffic times will be and time your travel to avoid them.

Labour day weekend holiday journeys(external link)

Drive to the conditions, allow plenty of time and take regular breaks to stay alert.
- Be patient when driving this summer so everyone can relax and enjoy the holidays together.
- Keep a safe following distance from vehicles in front so you can stop safely.
- Drive to the conditions – whether it’s the weather, the road you’re on, the time of day or the volume of traffic on the roads.
- Take regular breaks to stay alert.
- Allow plenty of time. You’re on holiday, there is no need to rush.
- For more information, check out our helpful holiday driving tips:
  Driving in the holidays(external link)
Vehicle safety
- Your vehicle must be safe to drive before you set off on your summer holiday.
- Check that the Warrant of Fitness or Certificate of Fitness is up-to-date on any vehicle you plan to drive, including rentals.
- There are basic checks you can do yourself, including:
  - Tyres – minimum tread is 1.5mm but the more tread, the better the grip.
  - Lights – check that all lights work so your vehicle is visible in poor light.
  - Indicators – ensure all indicators work so people know which direction you are moving.
  - Windscreen and wipers – check for wear and tear so you can see the road safely.
- For more information on self-checks, visit our Check your car web page:
  Check your car – safety basics(external link)
MIL OSI New Zealand News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: MOH AND HSA CONTINUE TO STEP UP ENFORCEMENT AND CRACKDOWN ON E-VAPORISERS OFFENCES

Source: Asia Pacific Region 2 – Singapore

From 1 July to 30 September 2024, 3,840 persons were caught and issued composition fines for possession or use of e-vaporisers, a 52% increase from the previous quarter. These include 743 cases of students caught vaping that were referred by schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), 591 cases caught during community enforcement patrols, 44 cases detected through enforcement operations in the vicinity of IHLs, and 16 cases detected at checkpoints.

2. The Ministry of Health (MOH), Health Sciences Authority (HSA), Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Ministry of Education (MOE) are working together to ramp up efforts to tackle the problem of vaping. We also continue to work with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), National Environment Agency (NEA) and National Parks Board (NParks) to intensify enforcement on multiple fronts, including at the checkpoints, online platforms and in the community, schools and IHLs.

Enforcement in the community

3. HSA has been actively monitoring online content to identify persons who vape in public, and use or pose with e-vaporisers in photographs or videos. In July and August 2024, HSA identified and issued composition fines to five such offenders – four males and one female, aged 13 to 34, who posted videos and photographs of themselves with e-vaporisers on their Instagram and TikTok accounts. All the offending posts have been removed.

4. In September 2024, HSA also took enforcement action against a 49-year-old man who vaped in an MRT cabin. The incident was captured on social media. HSA raided the offender’s home in Tampines where one e-vaporiser and several drug paraphernalia were found. The man was also wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and is currently assisting HSA and CNB in investigations.

5. HSA has continued to intensify its community enforcement efforts and maintained a strong presence at major, high-profile events. HSA issued composition fines to about 200 individuals at the Formula 1 race weekend in September 2024 and more than 50 individuals at an outdoor music event in Sentosa in August 2024 for e-vaporiser offences. A total of 253 persons were caught through these targeted operations.

Enforcement at checkpoints

6. From 1 July to 30 September 2024, HSA and ICA conducted several joint operations at the air, land and sea checkpoints, checking more than 4,000 travellers. Of these, 16 persons were caught in possession of e-vaporisers.

7. On 17 July 2024, a 32-year-old male Malaysian driver who was driving a Malaysia-registered lorry was stopped by ICA at the Tuas Checkpoint. The driver had attempted to smuggle more than 20,000 e-vaporisers and components with a street value of more than $300,000 into Singapore. The driver was detained and handed over to HSA for further investigations. While under investigation, he attempted to leave Singapore illegally, and was caught by ICA on 19 July 2024. He was sentenced to 28 weeks of imprisonment on 28 August 2024 for offences under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act 1993 and Immigration Act 1959.

8. It is illegal for travellers to bring prohibited tobacco products like e-vaporisers into Singapore. Travellers found with e-vaporisers or their components will be fined. Transport companies and drivers bringing prohibited tobacco products into Singapore will be subjected to enforcement actions. Convicted foreigners will be deported and barred from re-entering Singapore.

Enforcement against suppliers, online advertisements and sales of e-vaporisers

9. HSA’s targeted enforcement against suppliers of e-vaporisers over the past few months have also resulted in continued disruptions to the illegal supply chain. These include:

a) On 7 July 2024, HSA conducted a successful enforcement operation at Paya Lebar, targeting an e-vaporiser distribution ring involving foreign domestic workers. HSA officers intercepted 10 individuals – eight buyers, as well as two female sellers, aged 44 and 39, before any transaction took place. Eight e-vaporisers and assorted components, as well as illegal medicines intended for sale were seized. The two sellers are currently assisting in investigations.

b) On 21 August 2024, HSA disrupted an e-vaporiser distribution network at Tampines, seizing over 2,000 e-vaporisers and components with a street value exceeding $39,000. Eight individuals, aged 26 to 35, were caught distributing e-vaporisers in their vehicles at an open-air carpark. All eight individuals are currently assisting in investigations.

10. In the same quarter, HSA also worked with the administrators of local e-commerce and social media platforms to remove more than 1,900 listings of e-vaporisers and components. This is more than three times the number compared to the same period in 2023.

Continued school and public education efforts

11. HPB continues to raise awareness and highlight the harms and illegality of vaping through its campaign ‘Vape is a toxic friend you don’t need’. This year’s edition was rolled out from end July 2024, and was pushed out across multiple platforms, from outdoor advertisements to digital and social media channels. To further educate the public and dispel widespread misconceptions, HPB has introduced a dedicated “Vaping mistruths” section on its vape-free webpage on HealthHub. The new tab serves as a resource to debunk common myths surrounding vaping, and provide information about the health risks and legal implications associated with e-vaporisers.

12. HPB also works with schools to educate students in primary and secondary schools on the benefits of a nicotine-free lifestyle through assembly skits. From July to September 2024, HPB reached almost 37,000 students through these skits.

13. HPB also provides cessation support and strategies to quit for students who are caught vaping through onsite counselling by Student Health Advisors, as well as QuitLine, a tele-counselling service. From July to September 2024, about 830 youths received smoking and vaping cessation counselling.

14. Schools and IHLs have stepped up on preventive education to reinforce anti-vaping messages and the importance of maintaining a nicotine-free lifestyle. Students are educated that e-vaporisers are banned, and the harmful impact of vaping on individuals, families and the society.

15. In Physical Education and Science lessons, students learn about the health effects of tobacco products, and the harmful substances in them. Common myths about vaping are also covered in Science lessons. Character and Citizenship Education lessons equip students with the ability to recognise impulsive and addictive behaviours that harm one’s mental and physical wellbeing and provide strategies for self-control and managing negative peer influences. To encourage early help-seeking, students are encouraged to inform a trusted adult if they are concerned about their classmates’ behaviour.

16. Parents can refer to information on Parent Hub to educate their children about the harms of vaping.

Penalties for e-vaporiser-related offences in Singapore

17. Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, the possession, use or purchase of e-vaporisers carries a maximum fine of $2,000. Offenders who are given the opportunity to settle their offences out of Court via a Notice of Composition are strongly encouraged to do so. Those who fail to do so before the due date of the Notices will face harsher consequences in Court.

18. It is an offence to import, distribute, sell or offer for sale e-vaporisers and their components. Any person convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, or imprisonment of up to six months or both for the first offence, and a fine of up to $20,000, or imprisonment of up to 12 months or both for the second or subsequent offence. All prohibited tobacco items will be seized and confiscated.

19. 21 persons aged between 14 and 48 years old were convicted in Court from 1 July to 30 September 2024 for selling e-vaporisers and related components in Singapore. The total fines amounted to more than $150,000. Please refer to Annex A for details.

20. Members of the public who have information on the illegal possession, use, purchase, import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of e-vaporisers can contact HSA’s Tobacco Regulation Branch at 6684 2036 or 6684 2037 during office hours (Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm).

21. Information pertaining to prohibited tobacco products in Singapore is available on the HSA website. Persons who need help to quit vaping can join the I Quit programme.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

HEALTH SCIENCES AUTHORITY

23 OCTOBER 2024

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government awards new 10-year bus contract to LibertyBus23 October 2024 The Government of Jersey has awarded a new 10-year contract to LibertyBus, part of Tower Transit Group, following a comprehensive two-stage tender process. The contract reflects the Government’s commitment… Read more
Source: Channel Islands – Jersey

24 October 2024

The Government of Jersey has awarded a new 10-year contract to LibertyBus, part of Tower Transit Group, following a comprehensive two-stage tender process. The contract reflects the Government’s commitment to providing sustainable, high-quality public transport for Islanders and visitors.

LibertyBus, the current operator of bus services in Jersey, was selected for offering best value for money and a range of service improvements that align with the Island’s environmental goals.

The Government would also like to acknowledge the high quality of the three shortlisted bids and the strong interest shown in this contract, reflecting the importance of Jersey’s public transport system.

Highlights of the contract are:
- The introduction of 22 ultra-low emission, high-capacity buses, which will replace older vehicles within the first 12 months of the agreement. The remaining fleet will undergo refurbishment in the early stages of the contract, ensuring improved comfort and reliability.
- Over the life of the contract, LibertyBus has committed to a complete fleet renewal in alignment with the Government of Jersey’s carbon-neutral strategy.
- To further enhance services, LibertyBus will exceed the number of routes and service frequencies required by the tender, providing a record high number of services to the island’s residents.
- To improve customer experience, new self-service ticketing machines will be installed at Liberation Station, while faster ticketing systems will be rolled out across the bus fleet, ensuring quicker and more efficient boarding for passengers.
Constable Andy Jehan, Minister for Infrastructure, said: “This new contract reflects the Government’s commitment to improving public transport while supporting our carbon-neutral ambitions. We are pleased to continue our partnership with LibertyBus and look forward to seeing the positive impact of the new buses and service for Islanders.”

Samuel Ribeiro, Managing Director of Tower Transit, commented: “We are delighted to have renewed the partnership with the Government of Jersey to continue to provide exceptional bus services for the next 10 years. This agreement will see continued investment in fleet replacement, including zero-emission vehicles. Our aim is to build on the network of services and support the GoJ’s plans to deliver increased modal shift over the next decade.”

Clint Feuerherdt, CEO & Managing Director of Kelsian Group added: “The UK sees Jersey as a model case for successful bus franchising”, and we are proud to have contributed to its ongoing success. We will continue to utilise our leading experience in zeroemission solutions to deliver a world class transport experience, tailored to the Jersey community.”

This contract cements LibertyBus’ role in supporting the Island’s transport needs while contributing to Jersey’s environmental goals
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Mayo — Update to the Mayo, Yukon October 15, 2024 investigation

Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Content warning: The following news release contains information about a sexualized assault which may be distressing.

On October 15, 2024 Mayo RCMP Detachment initiated an investigation into a home invasion, sexualized assault and theft of motor vehicle. On October 19, Yukon RCMP advised that the perpetrator believed to have committed these offences, was arrested.

William Dean Ryan Vaneltsi, 34 years old, of no known address, was arrested in Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, and has been charged with the following offences: Sexual Assault, Forcible Entry, Kidnapping, Unlawful Confinement, Assault with a Weapon, Assault Cause Bodily Harm, Break, Enter and Commit Indictable Offence, and two counts of Breach of Probation.

Shortly after being arrested, Mr. Vaneltsi became sick, and was taken to the hospital. This individual was remanded in Yellowknife on the evening of October 22. Mr. Vaneltsi received a six-day remand order and remains in the hospital in the custody of the North Slave Correctional Center. Yukon RCMP expect to return Mr. Vaneltsi to Whitehorse for a court appearance, once he is cleared medically to fly.

The name of the victim will be under a publication ban. Yukon RCMP continue to investigate the theft of the vehicle from Mayo. If you have any information about this crime or any other crimes please contact Mayo RCMP at (867) 996-5555. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Our thoughts are with the victim at this time. Please consider the following supports available in the Yukon if you or someone you know may be in need.

SART: The Yukon’s Sexualized Assault Response Team (SART) provides a safe and confidential network of services focused on the needs and choices of individuals. SART is available to people of all genders, ages, and sexual orientations who have experienced sexualized assault.

Website: https://yukon.ca/en/sartyukon/home

Phone: 1-844-967-7275 (available 24/7)

Victim Services: Victim Services provides services and help for victims of sexualized violence and all other crimes, regardless of whether or not the victim has reported the crime, a charge has been laid, or there has been a conviction.

Website: https://yukon.ca/en/legal-and-social-supports/supports-victims-crime/find-out-about-victim-services

MIL Security OSI –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Broadlands Road blocked following crash, Broadlands

Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

Police are responding to a two vehicle crash at the intersection of Broadlands Road and White Road, Broadlands, Taupo.

The crash was reported around 1pm.

The road is blocked and motorists are advised to take an alternate route.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Call for information – Hit and runs – Darwin

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Northern Territory Police are calling for information after two suspicious hit and runs this morning.

Around 6am, police received a report that a small silver hatchback had struck a motorcyclist on McMinn Street, Darwin City, before fleeing the scene.

The 30-year-old male rider suffered serious grazing to his leg and was conveyed to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.

A short time later, police received report that a small silver hatchback had struck another rider on Iliffe Street, Woolner.

In this instance, the occupants of the vehicle allegedly attempted to rob the fallen rider before being confronted and fleeing the scene.

The 43-year-old male rider suffered minor grazing and was also conveyed to Royal Darwin Hospital.

Police deployed to the area but the vehicle is yet to be located.

Detectives from Serious Crime are currently investigating and police believe the hit and runs were intentional.

Police urge anyone who witnessed the incidents, or who has dash cam or CCTV footage, to contact police and quote reference number P24293700.

Anonymous reports can also be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.

MIL OSI News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Industrial sector reports steady operations from Q1 to Q3

Source: China State Council Information Office

China’s industrial sector logged stable growth in the first three quarters of 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday.

The country’s equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. Industries such as electronics, nonferrous metals, chemicals and automobiles accounted for nearly half of the industrial production growth seen in the first three quarters, the ministry said.

During the period, the value-added output of the automobile industry increased 7.9 percent year on year, ministry data shows.

Following a boost to the country’s consumer goods trade-in program, the consumption of electronic and digital products registered a significant increase. From January to September, the value-added output of companies in China’s electronic information manufacturing sector with a main annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars) grew 12.8 percent year on year.

Mobile phone shipments in the domestic market reached 220 million units, up 9.9 percent from the same period last year, the data shows.

The country also continued to optimize its industrial structure. Production and sales of new energy vehicles increased 31.7 percent and 32.5 percent respectively, and China took on more than 70 percent of the world’s green shipbuilding orders.

In the first eight months, the operating income margin of China’s “little giant” firms with a main annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan was 7.5 percent — higher than the average level of industrial firms, the ministry said.

“Little giant” firms are the novel elites of small and medium-sized enterprises that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and hold cutting-edge technologies.

The data also shows that there were more than 4.09 million 5G base stations in China at the end of September.

MIL OSI China News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Mechanism paves way for economic recovery globally

Source: China State Council Information Office

This photo shows a view of the Kazan Kremlin in Kazan, Russia, Oct 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Greater collaboration and stronger coordination among BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as other new members — will greatly enhance their economic growth and fortify the multilateral trading system, according to market watchers and business leaders.

Established in 2006 as BRIC (South Africa was added in 2011), the group has become a key platform for countries of the Global South to get united and strengthen themselves through cooperation in fields such as security, economy, finance and agriculture.

The BRICS mechanism expanded with new members in January this year, marking the further internationalization and diversification of the cooperation mechanism, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Analysts said that by capitalizing on their shared strengths, these influential emerging economies have the potential to lead a more dynamic global economic recovery. Through expanded trade, investment and technological innovation, BRICS countries can fuel growth not only domestically but also on a global scale.

Following its expansion earlier this year, BRICS is becoming increasingly attractive to developing nations, as the platform promotes cooperation in areas such as international production capacity, trade in goods and services, and cross-border investment, said Jiang Shixue, vice-president of the Beijing-based China Society of Emerging Economies.

Sharing similar views, Rasigan Maharajh, chief director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa, said BRICS supports these countries in enhancing their industrial capabilities, developing digital economies and fostering innovation.

Highlighting that BRICS countries have vast markets and diverse economies, providing opportunities for increased trade between member nations, Xu Xiujun, a senior research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that by reducing trade barriers and promoting intra-BRICS trade deals, more members could access new markets and boost exports of goods and services in the coming years.

China’s foreign trade with the other BRICS countries reached 4.62 trillion yuan ($652.47 billion) in the first three quarters of 2024, an increase of 5.1 percent year-on-year, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China exports mainly construction machinery, trains, building materials, manufacturing equipment, electronics, textiles, garments and household appliances to other BRICS markets.

Chinese-made passenger vehicles and solar cells have also become popular in countries like Brazil, South Africa, the UAE and Egypt in recent years, according to customs statistics.

In addition to metal, crude oil, natural gas and grains, other BRICS countries’ shipments to China include passenger aircraft, timber, agricultural products, steel, cotton, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

Lyu Daliang, director of the GAC’s department of statistics and analysis, noted that goods trade among BRICS countries makes up only about 10 percent of their total foreign trade, indicating significant growth potential.

“As cooperation within the BRICS family deepens and extends into new areas, both bilateral and multilateral economic and trade exchanges are expected to see significant positive progress,” he said.

The emphasis on trading, investing in each other’s markets and collaborating on technological innovations, industrial transformation and the digital economy has become a driving force for growth within the BRICS countries, said Egyptian Ambassador to China Assem Hanafi.

Echoing that sentiment, Chen Jianwei, a researcher at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics’ Academy of China Open Economy Studies, said that by collectively leveraging the power of the digital era, BRICS nations can successfully navigate the complexities of modern manufacturing transformation.

Chen said that these initiatives will not only enhance the bloc’s internal trade volume but also strengthen their trade relationships with the rest of the world.

Encouraged by these factors, Dong Wei, vice-chairman and CEO of COFCO International, a subsidiary of Beijing-based COFCO Corp, said the group will deploy more resources in BRICS countries like Brazil and South Africa to purchase agricultural products, carry out technology transfers and invest in agriculture and transportation-related infrastructure facilities in the years ahead.

COFCO International, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, currently conducts agricultural trade with more than 10 African countries and is one of the largest integrated grain traders in South Africa. “We will expand our agricultural product operations in other BRICS countries,” said Dong.

MIL OSI China News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: An outdoor camping adventure is calling!

Source: Auckland Council

Epic views, great camping options at affordable prices, and taking in the outdoors in all its glory – sound like a dream? Make it your reality at any one of Auckland’s 28 regional parks, boasting over 30 campgrounds between them! That’s right, an outdoor adventure is calling, and it’s here in Auckland’s backyard!

The beauty of camping in Auckland is the accessibility – you don’t have to travel too far. Plus, with fees starting at $17 per night for adults and $6.50 for children at our main campgrounds, Auckland camping is an affordable way to holiday at some of our region’s most scenic locations.

Whether you’re a freedom camper, a glamper or a total camping newbie – we’ve got you covered. Your next Auckland-based outdoor adventure awaits – so get booking now!

I’m keen – where do I start?

It’s easy as, all you have to do is choose your preferred spot from the list of regional parks on Auckland Council’s website. Are you looking for a coastal, farm or forest experience? Each campsite listing contains photos of the park, and you can click through to specific photos and information about the different types of camping available.

To make it even simpler, the camping booking site includes a calendar showing availability so you can instantly see dates to choose from. You’ll also find a handy park brochure with a map, information about tracks, interesting features in the area, and important alerts. For most campgrounds you can drive right up to your selected camping area, so you don’t have to lug your gear long distances. However, be aware some campgrounds take a bit more effort to reach, such as the Mita Bay campground at Mahurangi Regional Park (West), which is accessible by foot, and the campground at Waitawa Regional Park, which can only be accessed by sea kayak. Remember to check the access prior to booking to understand the location of the campground.

Be an early bird and book ahead

All our regional parks are precious taonga, each with their own unique features, but over the summer some are busier than others and get booked out quickly. Fortunately, regional park campsites can be booked up to six months in advance, so it’s a good idea to set a reminder on your phone and book your spot as soon as you can so you don’t miss out!

The booking calendar for each campground also shows how many spaces are available, which is handy if you’re planning on camping with a larger group (note there are some group size limits over the summer). And you can book up to seven glorious nights. If your plans change, no worries! You can make unlimited amendments to your booking, or cancel (with a full refund), up to two days before the date of your arrival.

Before you leave home

When you book your stay at a regional park campground, you’ll be emailed instructions including a combination code to get through the gate into the campground. Make sure you note it down on your phone or on a piece of paper before you leave in case mobile reception is patchy at your destination.

Make sure you note down the combination code of your campground before leaving home

The main access gates for regional parks are locked overnight (daylight saving hours are generally 6am-9pm, and 6am-7pm for the rest of the year), so if you’re arriving in the evening, be sure to take note of the closing hours so you don’t end up carting your gear to the campground by foot. When staying, remember if you need to pop out for supplies, the access code will not open the main park gate.

Choose your camping experience – from rugged to glamping

If you’re up for a truly outdoors camping experience, many of Auckland’s regional parks supply only the bare basics – including the classic kiwi long drop! Be sure to read up on the facilities available at specific campgrounds, so you can choose the camping style that best suits your needs.

All campgrounds have drinkable water available (although sometimes you will need to boil it first), but many of the campsites at regional parks don’t have flushable toilets or shower blocks. These rugged campgrounds are a lot more spacious and less populated than commercial campgrounds, offering a truly remote outdoors experience. If that’s a step too far though for you or your fellow camping newbies, Shakespear Regional Park has flushable toilets and two cold showers onsite.

If camping in comfort is more your thing, many of the vehicle-based campgrounds allow campervan and caravans as well but check the rules before booking. Or bypass the regional park entirely and stay in a fully furnished glamping tent at either Ōrewa Beach Holiday Park, Whangateau Holiday Park or Martins Bay Holiday Park.

Do your research on the park so you pack the right gear

Make sure you read up on prime leisure activities at your location. For example, if you’re heading to a great surf beach like Omaha Beach, the kids will want boogie boards for catching waves and riding down the campground’s famous hill, and you’ll all want beach shoes for rock pooling.

While it is possible to fish at some regional parks, it’s strictly prohibited at parks that are also marine reserves. Some parks have access to extensive walking and mountain-bike tracks, golf and disc golf courses and did we mention the birdlife? Also, don’t forget your book from Auckland Libraries for some relaxing reading in the sun.

Be a tidy Kiwi

When you arrive at your site, be sure to follow the rules. Stay off sign-posted wahi tapu areas (sites which are sacred to Māori), and steer clear of restricted conservation areas where birds may be nesting.

Remember that lighting open fires is prohibited across all public areas in the Auckland region, and that noise must be kept to a minimum in regional parks after 9pm.

Also please dispose of all your rubbish correctly in the designated bins if available or take your rubbish home with you.

So, what are you waiting for? Your adventure awaits!

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

January 25, 2025