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  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israel’s evacuation warnings have been ‘misleading and inadequate’ – new analysis

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Analysis of more than a dozen Israeli evacuation warnings show how Lebanese civilians were given contradictory information and exposed to heightened danger 

    Some warnings issued in middle of night on social media and with only 30 minutes notice 

    Backdrop of comments from Netanyahu and others indicates that Israel considers Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets

    ‘This is not a warning, it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game’ – resident of Burj al-Barajneh

    ‘We’re extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm’ – Agnès Callamard

    The evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut and south Lebanon have been inadequate – and in some cases misleading – said Amnesty International.

    Amnesty analysed more than a dozen Israeli military evacuation warnings and conducted interviews with 12 residents who fled various districts in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh following the Israeli evacuation warnings on 27-28 September, including al-Laylaki, Hay El Sellom, Hadi Nasrallah highway and Burj al-Barajneh. Amnesty also interviewed three residents of villages in south Lebanon.

    Amnesty examined two warnings issued to residents of the crowded urban areas of Dahieh overnight on 27-28 September, after the attack that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrikes demolished entire residential buildings in the densely-populated area. Each warning identified three military targets and said that residents should evacuate a 500-metre radius around that location. The warnings were issued through the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson on X at night, without a clear timeline or details on safe routes. 

    In the two Dahieh warnings, maps published by the Israeli military alongside the evacuation warnings covering six different areas were misleading. In each case the area highlighted on the maps indicating the danger zone for civilians covered a much smaller area than the 500-metre radius that the Israeli military had advised civilians was the minimum distance civilians should evacuate. To be effective, warnings must give clear and timely instructions for civilians on moving away from military objectives that are going to be targeted, with information on safe routes and destinations.

    The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings to residents of approximately 118 towns and villages in south Lebanon between 1-7 October, following the start of its ground invasion. These warnings, which included towns that were more than 35 km from the border with Israel and outside the UN-declared buffer zone, do not – said Amnesty – make south Lebanon a free-fire zone.  

    Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid – or at least minimise – harm to civilians when carrying out attacks. This includes giving effective advance warning of attacks to civilians in affected areas unless circumstances do not permit. In any case, emphasised Amnesty, issuing warnings does not absolve Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimise harm to them.

    According to the UN, a quarter of Lebanese territory has been affected by evacuation warnings. 

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

    “The warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of Dahieh – the densely-populated southern suburbs of Beirut – were inadequate. 

    “Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports.

    “Instructing the residents of entire towns and villages in south Lebanon to evacuate is an overly-general warning that is inadequate and raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement. 

    “Regardless of the efficacy of the warnings, they do not mean that Israel can treat any remaining civilians as targets. 

    “Having spent the last 12 months investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, we’re extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm.

    “Amnesty International is calling on Israel’s allies, including the United States, to suspend all arms transfers and other forms of military assistance to Israel due to the significant risk that these weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law. 

    “The organisation is also calling for a suspension of all arms transfers to Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon.”

    Case studies – southern suburbs of Beirut

    Starting at 11:06 pm on 27 September, the Israeli military began to issue evacuation warnings to residents of Dahieh, a suburb in the south of Beirut. In the first warning, the Israeli military instructed residents via X to move 500 metres away from three buildings in the districts of al-Laylaki and al-Hadath, both densely-populated areas, alleging that residents are “located near Hezbollah interests”. The order did not give a timeframe for the evacuation. The map published alongside this warning highlighted an area around the buildings to indicate what was supposedly the 500-metre radius that residents should leave. However, the highlighted area in fact only covered approximately a 135-metre radius. While the map showed 30 buildings within the red circle, there are in fact 500 buildings within the 500-metre radius. The same is true for the evacuation warnings in the al-Hadath district: the areas highlighted on the maps warning residents to stay 500 metres away from the Sheet building and the al-Salam Complex, showed only at approximately 125m and 100m radiuses respectively.

    At around 12:36am, just an hour and a half later, local media reported an Israeli airstrike on al-Laylaki. Over the next hour and 10 minutes, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 further attacks on Dahieh, including on buildings and areas that had not received an evacuation warning. Fatima, a journalist who lives in al-Laylaki, told Amnesty that her brother called her at around 11:15pm while she was covering news of the strike on Nasrallah, warning her to leave the area. She said:

    “I jumped in the car and drove erratically … I arrived in al-Laylaki and found that everyone was acting as crazily as I was. If people could throw themselves off the balcony to leave faster [they would]. Screaming, running, cars honking, motorcycles, plastic bags … I quickly helped my parents down the stairs to my car, and I only took my cat with me … I currently have no belongings at all.”

    Fatima explained that al-Laylaki is a crowded residential area that remained fully populated until that night because it is on the outskirts of Dahieh and residents did not expect it to be targeted.  

    Abir, who lives with her mother close to al-Laylaki, told Amnesty that she could not immediately evacuate her house because her mother is older and sick, and needs to be carried down the stairs: 

    “It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms [throughout the bombardment].” 

    They were only able to leave a few hours later after a friend helped carry her mother down from the sixth floor.

    At 3am on 28 September, the Israeli military issued another evacuation warning via X to residents in the districts of Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, again in Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing them to move 500 metres away from three other identified buildings. The warning did not give a timeframe for evacuation and maps of the affected areas were similarly misleading, highlighting areas much smaller than the indicated 500 metre radius.  

    At 5:47 am, the National News Agency reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted al-Hadath and al-Laylaki as well as the Chouiefat and al-Kafaat districts in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which were not listed in the evacuation warning. Local media reported continued airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs throughout the day. 

    Taghreed, a resident of Hay el-Sellom, said that she had not heard about the Israeli warning and took the decision to flee after the major attack that killed Hassan Nasrallah. She told Amnesty: “We were hiding and couldn’t reach the television. I don’t have social media so I don’t know what the Israelis said.” 

    Ahmad, a resident of Burj al-Barajneh, also said that he made the decision to leave Dahieh immediately after the airstrike that killed Nasrallah, as he lives with his elderly parents. He said:

    “While we were still stuck on the road out of Dahieh, with all the ambulances trying to prioritise the wounded people, we heard about the warning on the radio in the van. I felt bitter. This is not a warning, it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game: ‘we will kill you and your family soon. Show us how you can escape’.”

    On 30 September, the Israeli military issued a warning to evacuate from the surroundings of residential buildings in al-Laylaki, Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh. The Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes just 30 minutes later. Similarly, on 3 October, at 10:51 pm, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the residents of Burj al-Barajneh, telling them to leave immediately. Local media reported a “heavy strike” minutes after the evacuation order was issued, and at least four attacks by 11:30 pm. 

    Under international law, Hezbollah and other armed groups must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating military objectives, including fighters, ammunition, weapons, and military infrastructure, in or near densely-populated areas. However, the presence of military objectives in populated areas does not absolve Israeli forces of their obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks as well as to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians, including civilians who fail to leave the area after an evacuation warning. Failure to provide effective advance warnings of attacks which may affect civilians, unless circumstances do not permit, and not taking all other feasible precautions to protect civilians, constitute violations of international humanitarian law. 

    Case studies – southern Lebanon

    On 1 October, the Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings to residents of southern Lebanon. The first, at 9:21 am, instructed residents not to move vehicles south of the Litani River “until further notice,” alleging that Hezbollah is using “the civilian environment and the population as human shields”. At 12:18 pm, the Israeli military instructed residents of more than 25 towns across southern Lebanon to evacuate and move north of the Awwali River, some 58 km from the border with Israel and about 30km farther than the Litani River, which marks the UN buffer zone created after the 2006 war. 

    On 2 October, at 9:11 am and then at 11:15 am, the Israeli military issued warnings for a further 24 towns and villages across southern Lebanon, telling residents to “save their lives and leave their homes immediately”, ordering them to move north of the Awwali River and saying that any movement south could expose them to danger. The Israeli military issued a similar warning at 12:49 pm on 3 October for a further 25 towns and villages, at 9:11 am on 4 October for a further 35 villages, and at 12:58 pm on 7 October for 25 additional villages. 

    None of the “orders” offered safe and effective evacuation information, just instructing residents to leave “immediately”. 

    Amnesty’s concerns about the warnings to civilians in south Lebanon are heightened by some statements from Israeli political and military leaders indicating that they considered Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets. Benjamin Netanyahu said on 27 September there is “a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage”. The Israeli Education Minister said on television on 21 September that there was no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon and that Lebanon “would be annihilated”. In June, the Israeli Defence Minister said that Israel is capable of returning Lebanon “to the stone age”. 

    The south Lebanon warnings and instructions that vehicles do not travel south of the Litani River also raise serious concerns over civilians’ access to essential supplies and services, including food, medication, healthcare and fuel. The mukhtar of Rmeich, a village south of the Litani river close to the border with Israel, which did not receive an evacuation warning but is within the area in which Israel has said vehicles are prohibited from travelling, told Amnesty that supplies in the town were rapidly dwindling. “The area is going to become destitute. How can we continue? It’s like they want to displace us,” he said.

    The conditions being created by Israel’s actions in south Lebanon risk forcibly displacing the majority of the civilian population there. One of the towns in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military warned must be evacuated is Ain Ebel, where the majority of residents are Christian and have no known affiliation with Hezbollah. 

    Rakan Diab, an Ain Ebel resident, told Amnesty that residents of the village were surprised when, on 1 October, Ain Ebel was included in the Israeli military’s evacuation warning on X. Shortly afterwards, the village mayor received a call from a person purporting to be a member of the Israeli military warning residents to flee within around 45 minutes because there were weapons in the village. “People panicked … we needed to pack and leave immediately,” Rakan Diab said, explaining how the majority fled to the nearby village of Rmeich and the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Red Cross facilitated safe passage for a convoy of around 100 cars from Rmeich to north of the Awwali River. 

    Year of Israel-Lebanon conflict

    Israel’s intensified military attacks in Lebanon began on 23 September. During the first day, Israeli forces carried out at least 1,600 attacks in areas across Lebanon, killing more than 500 people and injuring more than 1,800 in the first 24 hours. Hezbollah also launched more than 200 rockets towards Israel that day, with around 10 people sustaining shrapnel or debris wounds. 

    Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in ongoing cross-border hostilities since the group launched attacks into northern Israel following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Gaza last October. Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 2,083 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and at least 400,000 have crossed the border to Syria. 

    Since 8 October 2023, Hezbollah and other armed groups have launched thousands of missiles at northern Israel, killing 16 civilians. A further 12 civilians, all children, were killed on 27 July in an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. Around 63,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since 8 October. In one Hezbollah attack, on 12 November 2023, an anti-tank missile hit a group of electricity company workers who were doing infrastructure work near Dovev. One worker was killed and another lightly injured. In another attack, on 9 July, two civilians were killed when a missile hit their car while driving on highway 91 in the Golan Heights. In a statement released that day, Hezbollah took responsibility and said that it targeted the nearby Nafah military base in response to the assassination of one of its members. Many of Hezbollah’s rockets are unguided and cannot be aimed at a specific target. Firing inherently inaccurate rockets into areas where civilians are present are indiscriminate attacks, and thus violate international humanitarian law. Direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF urges for protection of civilians and medical staff amid Israeli bombardment in Lebanon

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    • Healthcare facilities are being forced to close in areas affected by airstrikes.
    • Our teams are working to ensure the continuation of care in our facilities, while also suspending some activities in heavily affected areas.
    • All warring parties must spare civilians, medical facilities, and medical personnel.

    Beirut – As Israeli attacks intensify in Lebanon, healthcare facilities in areas most affected by airstrikes are being forced to close. This is leading to devastating consequences for civilians and their access to healthcare.

    Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are working tirelessly to ensure the continuation of care in our existing facilities, while also scaling up our activities to address the needs emerging from the ongoing conflict. However, due to the intense Israeli airstrikes, we were forced to suspend some activities in highly affected areas. We continue to adapt our activities to provide people with much needed healthcare.

    MSF urges all warring parties to spare civilians, medical facilities, and medical personnel in Lebanon to ensure that vital healthcare services can adequately address people’s urgent medical needs.

    “Given the intensity of the violence, road damage, and the lack of guaranteed safety, we are currently unable to reach all affected areas in Lebanon despite the increasing medical and humanitarian needs,” says François Zamparini, emergency coordinator for MSF in Lebanon.

    Distribution of essential item kits in downtown Beirut, Aazarieh building shelter. October 2, 2024.
    Maryam Srour/MSF

    Last week, MSF was forced to completely close its clinic in the Palestinian camp of Burj el Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut. We also had to temporarily stop our activities in Baalbek-Hermel, northeast Lebanon. These are both areas heavily affected by the strikes.

    “We partially reopened our clinic in Hermel this week to ensure that patients receive their medications, providing them with a two-to-three-month stock of essential drugs, depending on the severity of their condition and medical risks,” adds Zamparini.

    Patients in these areas are already vulnerable, struggling to access the healthcare they desperately need. The closure of medical facilities has left them, specifically people living with chronic diseases, without the essential services they need.

    MSF medical teams also remain unable to operate properly in southern Lebanon due to a lack of safety guarantees for our medical personnel.

    “One of the hospitals we planned to support and had donated medications and trauma kits to, in Nabatiyeh, only a few kilometres away from the active frontlines, was hit on 5 October,” explains Zamparini.

    An MSF mobile medical team, which had been actively supporting general healthcare centres in Nabatiyeh and other areas closer to the Lebanese border since November 2023, has been forced to stop its activities. The team, which was once able to reach areas near the border, can no longer do so and is currently limited to operating only as far as Saida, which is about 50 kilometres north of the southern border, where needs are highest.

    In the last two weeks, Israeli strikes have claimed the lives of at least fifty paramedics. This brings the total number of healthcare workers killed since October last year to over a hundred, as reported by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Healthhttps://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-medics-hezbollah-hospitals-6c7f75c921c9deec0fa5c160ce639664#:~:text=The%20health%20ministry%20on%20Thursday,wounded%20in%20the%20intense%20fighting.. The heavy Israeli bombardments have also severely disrupted access to medical care across Lebanon. As of 1 October 2024, six hospitals and 40 general healthcare centres have closed their doors as the intensity of the fighting made it impossible to work without safety guarantees, according to OCHA.https://www.unocha.org/news/todays-top-news-lebanon-occupied-palestinian-territory-and-israel-syria-haiti-ukraine-eastern

    The armed conflict is worsening an ongoing humanitarian crisis, aggravating existing needs. Lebanon’s healthcare system was already overburdened by the country’s economic crisis, which has caused the emigration of many medical staff and strained the capacity and resources of medical facilities. Local health centres, already at capacity, are now facing increasing pressure as they try to meet the growing medical needs of displaced people.

    The scale of displacement in Lebanon significantly surpasses the country’s ability to provide adequate shelter, with over a million people displaced according to UNHCRhttps://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-s-grandi-appeals-urgent-humanitarian-support-and-end-bloodshed-lebanon. The majority of shelters people are seeking safety in are in dire conditions. To respond, MSF deployed 12 mobile medical teams across various regions of the country, including Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Saida, Tripoli, Bekaa, and Akkar. These teams are providing psychological first aid, general medical consultations, and mental health support, in addition to donating mattresses, hygiene kits, hot meals, and clean water. Nevertheless, people’s needs are far greater than what we are able to cover.

    “We must ensure the continuation of care for those in need,” emphasises Zamparini. “We urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law. Civilians and civilian infrastructure, medical facilities and medical personnel must not be targeted. Their safety must be guaranteed.”

    MSF’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon:

    In response to the ongoing escalation of conflict and intense Israeli bombing in Lebanon, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has deployed 12 mobile medical teams across various regions of the country, including Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Saida, Tripoli, Bekaa, and Akkar. These teams are providing psychological first aid, general medical consultations, medication, and mental health support. MSF is also distributing essential items such as blankets, mattresses, and hygiene kits, as well as supplying water by trucks to schools and shelters where displaced people have gathered. Additionally, we are offering hot meals and drinking water to hundreds of displaced families. MSF has also donated fuel and trauma kits to several hospitals, prepositioned 10 tons of medical supplies and trained over 100 healthcare workers in trauma care and mass casualty management across the country.

    About MSF in Lebanon:

    MSF is an independent international medical humanitarian organisation that provides aid and free healthcare to people in need, without discrimination. MSF first began to work in Lebanon in 1976, and its teams have worked in the country without interruption since 2008.

    In 2023, MSF teams worked in six locations across Lebanon, providing 13,609 free medical consultations for vulnerable communities, including Lebanese citizens, refugees, and migrant workers. MSF’s services include mental healthcare, sexual and reproductive healthcare, paediatric care, vaccinations, and treatment for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israel’s evacuation ‘warnings’ for civilians misleading and inadequate

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut and south Lebanon were inadequate, and in some cases also misleading, said Amnesty International today, highlighting that these warnings do not absolve Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimize harm to them.

    Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict have a clear obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid, or at least minimize, harm to civilians when carrying out attacks; this includes giving effective advance warning of attacks to civilians in affected areas unless circumstances do not permit.

    “The warnings issued by the Israeli military to residents of Dahieh, the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut, were inadequate. Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

    “Furthermore, instructing the residents of entire towns and villages in south Lebanon to evacuate is an overly general warning that is inadequate and raises questions around whether this is intended to create the conditions for mass displacement. Regardless of the efficacy of the warnings, they do not mean that Israel can treat any remaining civilians as targets. People who choose to stay in their homes or are unable to leave because members of their household have limited mobility, due to disability, age or other reasons, continue to be protected by international humanitarian law.  Israel must at all times abide by its obligations under international law, including by taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, wherever they are.”

    According to the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) one quarter of Lebanese territory has been impacted by evacuation warnings.

    Our analysis shows that not only did the warnings issued by the Israeli military include misleading maps, but they were also issued at short notice – in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began – in the middle of the night, via social media, when many people would be asleep, offline or not following media reports

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

    To be effective a warning must be timely and provide information on safe routes and destinations. Amnesty International examined two warnings issued to residents of the crowded urban area of Dahieh overnight on 27/28 September, after the surprise strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The airstrikes demolished entire residential buildings in the densely populated area. Each warning identified three military targets and requested that residents evacuate a 500-metre radius around that location. The warnings were issued through the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson on X (formerly Twitter), at night, without a clear timeline or details on safe routes.

    In the two warnings issued to residents of Dahieh, the maps published by the Israeli military alongside the evacuation warnings, covering six different areas, were misleading. In each of these cases the area highlighted on the maps to indicate the danger zone for civilians covered a much smaller area than the 500-metre radius that the Israeli military had advised civilians was the minimum distance civilians should evacuate.

    The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings to residents of around 118 towns and villages in south Lebanon between 1 -7 October, following the start of its ground invasion. These warnings, which included towns that were more than 35 km from the border with Israel and outside the UN-declared buffer zone, do not make south Lebanon a free-fire zone. 

    To be effective, warnings must give clear instructions for civilians on moving away from military objectives that are going to be targeted. While warnings can, in some circumstances, be general in character, the definition of what constitutes general does not include overly broad warnings that ask civilians to evacuate entire areas (see for instance the 1987 Commentary on Protocol I).  

    Israel’s warnings in southern Lebanon covered large geographical areas, raising concerns as to whether they were designed instead to trigger mass relocation. Principle 5 of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement states that, in all circumstances, authorities and international actors must abide by their obligations under international law so as “to prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to displacement of persons”.

    Methodology

    Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows began on 23 September with intense aerial bombardment of several areas across Lebanon, including the south, the Bekaa valley and Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. According to the Lebanese government, the number of displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes has risen to 1.2 million – the vast majority in the last three weeks alone.

    Amnesty International reviewed over a dozen evacuation warnings by the Israeli military and conducted interviews with 12 residents who fled Dahieh following the Israeli evacuation warnings on 27/28 September 2024, including al- Laylaki, Hay El Sellom, Hadi Nasrallah highway, and Burj al-Barajneh. The organization also interviewed three residents of villages in south Lebanon.

    Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab mapped the areas covered by Israel’s evacuation warnings to analyse the areas impacted by the strikes.

    In its analysis of these warnings, Amnesty International is not seeking at this time to determine whether Israel struck military objectives in their attacks, but rather to investigate whether or not the warnings that Israel issued were effective at protecting civilians and adhered to international law.

    Southern suburbs of Beirut: ‘This is not a warning, it’s torture’

    Starting at 11:06 pm on 27 September, the Israeli military began to issue evacuation warnings to residents of Dahieh.  In the first warning, the Israeli military instructed residents via X (formerly Twitter) to move 500 metres away from three buildings in the neighbourhoods of al-Laylaki and al-Hadath, both of which are densely populated areas, alleging residents there are “located near Hezbollah interests”. The order did not give a timeframe for evacuation. 

    The map published alongside this warning highlights an area around the buildings to indicate what was supposedly the 500-metre radius that residents should leave. However, the highlighted area in fact only covered approximately a 135-metre radius. While the map showed 30 buildings within the red circle, there are in fact 500 buildings within the 500-metre radius.

    Caption: A map published by the Israeli military on X misrepresents the area affected by an evacuation warning. The text over the red dotted line reads “500 metres” in Arabic, but the line covers approximately 135 metres.  

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the al-Laylaki neighborhood, in southern Beirut. The red circle shows the area highlighted by the Israeli military on the map published on social media. The wider area shows the full 500 metre radius impacted by the evacuation warning.

    The same is true for the evacuation warnings in the al-Hadath neighbourhood: the areas highlighted on the maps warning residents to stay 500 metres away from the Sheet building and the Al-Salam Complex, showed only approximately 125m and 100m radiuses respectively.

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the al-Hadath neighbourhood, in southern Beirut. The red circles show the area highlighted in the map published by the Israeli military on social media. The wider circles show the area impacted by the evacuation warning.

    At around 12:36am, just an hour and a half later, local media reported an Israeli strike on al-Laylaki. Over the next hour and 10 minutes, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 further strikes on Dahieh, including on buildings and areas that had not received an evacuation warning.

    Fatima, a journalist who lives in al-Laylaki, told Amnesty International that her brother called her at around 11:15pm while she was covering news of the strike on Nasrallah, warning her to leave the area:

     “I jumped in the car and drove erratically… I arrived to al-Laylaki and found that everyone was acting as crazily as I was. If people could throw themselves off the balcony to leave faster [they would]. Screaming, running, cars honking, motorcycles, plastic bags…I quickly helped my parents down the stairs to my car, and I only took my cat with me… I currently have no belongings at all.”

    Fatima explained that Al-Laylaki is a crowded residential area that remained fully populated until that night because it is on the outskirts of Dahieh and residents did not expect it to be targeted.  

    Abir, who resides with her mother close to al-Laylaki, told Amnesty International that she could not immediately evacuate her house because her mother is older and sick, and needs to be carried down the stairs: “It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms [throughout the bombardment].”  They were only able to leave a few hours later after a friend helped carry her mother down from the sixth floor.

    It was a night from hell. I laid my mother on the floor in the safest room, which is the old bathroom, we hid our heads with our arms 

    Abir, whose mother is older and sick and needed to be carried down from the sixth floor to be evacuated

    At 3am on 28 September, the Israeli military issued another evacuation warning via X to residents in the neighbourhoods of Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing them to move 500 metres away from three other identified buildings. The warning did not state a timeframe for evacuation and maps of the affected areas were similarly misleading, highlighting areas much smaller than the indicated 500 metre radius.  

    Caption: Satellite imagery shows the Burj al-Barajneh and al-Hadath, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The red circles show the area highlighted in the map published by the Israeli military on social media. The wider circles show the actual area impacted by the evacuation warning.

    At 5:47 am, the National News Agency reported that Israeli strikes targeted al-Hadath and al-Laylaki as well as the Chouiefat and al-Kafaat neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which were not listed in the evacuation warning. Local media reported continued strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs throughout the day.

    Taghreed, a resident of Hay el-Sellom, said that she had not heard about the Israeli warning and took the decision to flee after the major attack that killed Hassan Nasrallah. “We were hiding and couldn’t reach the television. I don’t have social media so I don’t know what the Israelis said,” she told Amnesty International.

    Ahmad, a resident of Burj al-Barajneh, also said that he made the decision to leave Dahieh immediately after the strike that killed Nasrallah, as he lives with his elderly parents. “While we were still stuck on the road out of Dahieh, with all the ambulances trying to prioritize the wounded people, we heard about the warning on the radio in the van. I felt bitter. This is not a warning; it’s torture. It’s a sadistic game: ‘we will kill you and your family soon. Show us how you can escape’.”

    On 30 September 2024, the Israeli military issued a warning to evacuate from the surroundings of residential buildings in al-Laylaki, Haret Hreik, and Burj al-Barajneh. The Israeli military launched a series of strikes just 30 minutes later. Similarly, on 3 October 2024, at 10:51 pm, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the residents of Burj al-Barajneh, urging them to leave immediately. Local media reported a “heavy strike” minutes after the evacuation order was issued, and at least four strikes by 11:30 pm.

    Under international law, Hezbollah and other armed groups must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating military objectives, including fighters, ammunition, weapons, and military infrastructure, in or near densely populated areas. However, the presence of military objectives in populated areas does not absolve Israeli forces of their obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks as well as to take all feasible precautions to spare all civilians, including civilians who fail to leave the area after an evacuation warning. Failure to provide effective advance warnings of attacks which may affect civilians, unless circumstances do not permit, and not taking all other feasible precautions to protect civilians, constitute violations of international humanitarian law.

    En masse evacuation warnings to residents of south Lebanon

    On 1 October, the Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings to residents of south Lebanon. The first, at 9:21am, instructed residents not to move vehicles south of the Litani River “until further notice,” alleging that Hezbollah is using “the civilian environment and the population as human shields.” 

    At 12:18 pm, the Israeli military instructed residents of over 25 towns across southern Lebanon to evacuate and move north of the Awwali River, some 58 km from the border with Israel and about 30km farther than the Litani River, which marks the UN buffer zone created after the 2006 war.

    On 2 October 2024, at 9:11 am and then at 11:15 am, the Israeli military  issued warnings for a further 24 towns and villages across southern Lebanon, telling residents to “save their lives and leave their homes immediately,” ordering them to move north of the Awwali River, and saying that any movement south could expose them to danger. The Israeli military issued a similar warning at 12:49 pm on 3 October for a further 25 towns and villages, at 9:11 am on 4 October for a further 35 villages, and at 12:58 pm on 7 October for 25 additional villages.

    None of the “orders” offered safe and effective evacuation, just instructing residents to leave “immediately”.

    Caption: A map showing the towns and villages impacted by evacuation warnings across southern Lebanon

    Amnesty International’s concerns about the warnings to civilians in south Lebanon are heightened by some statements from Israeli political and military leaders indicating that they considered Lebanese civilians and property to be legitimate targets.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said on 27 September 2024 there is “a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage”. The Israeli Education Minister said on television on 21 September 2024 that there was no difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon and that Lebanon “would be annihilated”. The Israeli Defense Minister has also previously warned in June 2024 that  Israel is capable of returning Lebanon “to the stone age”.

    “The massive loss of life in Lebanon in recent days raises fears that Israeli forces may be flouting their obligation to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians wherever they are, including through issuing effective warnings.  Having spent the last 12 months investigating Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, Amnesty International is extremely concerned that Israel may be seeking to replicate the approach it followed in Gaza, resulting in unprecedented civilian harm,” said Agnes Callamard.

    The south Lebanon warnings and the instructions that vehicles do not travel south of the Litani River also raise serious concerns over civilians’ access to essential supplies and services, including food, medication, healthcare and fuel.  

    The mukhtar of Rmeich, a village south of the Litani river close to the border with Israel, which did not receive an evacuation warning but is within the area in which Israel has said vehicles are prohibited from travelling, told Amnesty International that supplies in the town were rapidly dwindling. “The area is going to become destitute. How can we continue? It’s like they want to displace us,” he said.

    The conditions being created by Israel’s actions in south Lebanon risk forcibly displacing the majority of the civilian population there.

    One of the towns in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military warned must be evacuated is Ain Ebel, where the majority of residents are Christian and have no known affiliation with Hezbollah.

    Rakan Diab, an Ain Ebel resident, told Amnesty International that residents of the village were surprised when Ain Ebel was included in the Israeli military’s evacuation warning on X (formerly Twitter) on 1 October.  Shortly afterwards, the mayor of the village received a call from an individual purporting to be a member of the Israeli military warning residents to flee within around 45 minutes because there were weapons in the village.

    “People panicked… we needed to pack and leave immediately,” he said explaining how the majority fled to the nearby village of Rmeich and the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Red Cross facilitated safe passage for a convoy of around 100 cars from Rmeich to north of the Awwali River.

    “Amnesty International is calling on Israel’s allies, including the United States, to suspend all arms transfers and other forms of military assistance to Israel due to the significant risk that these weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.  The organization is also calling for a suspension of all arms transfers to Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon,” said Agnès Callamard.

    Background

    Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows began on 23 September. During the first day, Israeli forces carried out at least 1,600 strikes in areas across Lebanon, killing more than 500 people and injuring over 1800 in the first 24 hours. Hezbollah also launched more than 200 rockets towards Israel that day, with around 10 people sustaining shrapnel or debris wounds.

    Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in ongoing cross-border hostilities since the group launched attacks into northern Israel following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the occupied Gaza Strip in October 2023. 

    Israeli attacks on Lebanon since 7 October 2023 have killed at least 2083 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and at least 400,000 have crossed the border to Syria.

    Many of Hezbollah’s rockets are unguided and cannot be aimed at a specific target. Firing inherently inaccurate rockets into areas where civilians are present are indiscriminate attacks, and thus violate international humanitarian law. Direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians constitute war crimes.

    Since 8 October 2023, Hezbollah and other armed groups have launched thousands of missiles at northern Israel, killing 16 civilians. A further 12 civilians, all children, were killed on 27 July in an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. Around 63,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since 8 October.

    In one Hezbollah attack, on 12 November 2023, an anti-tank missile hit a group of electricity company workers who were doing infrastructure work near Dovev. One worker was killed in the attack, and another lightly injured.  

    In another attack, on 9 July 2024, two civilians were killed when a missile hit their car while driving on highway 91 in the Occupied Golan Heights. In a statement released that day, Hezbollah took responsibility and said that it targeted the nearby Nafah military base in response to the assassination of one of its members. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Supply blockade forces MSF to stop care for 5000 malnourished children in Sudan

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    • We were forced to stop outpatient care for 5,000 children with acute malnutrition living in Zamzam camp for displaced people at the end of September without the supplies necessary for care.
    • Warring parties have blocked the delivery of food, medicines, and supplies to Zamzam camp for months.
    • All parties to the conflict and their allies must do everything to facilitate the delivery of aid to Zamzam camp.

    Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to stop outpatient treatment for 5,000 children with acute malnutrition in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan, because the warring parties have blocked deliveries of food, medicines, and other essential supplies for months.

    As supplies ran low at the end of September, MSF was forced to stop care for 5,000 children on an outpatient basis, including 2,900 children with severe acute malnutrition. Only MSF’s 80-bed hospital remains functioning in the camp to treat children at the greatest risk of dying. 

    “There is an urgent need for a massive supply of nutritional products and food to help people, it is currently a catastrophic situation,” says Michel-Olivier Lacharité, MSF’s head of emergency operations. “MSF is calling on the various stakeholders, the governments, the allies of the parties to the conflict, the Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Joint Forces, to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to the camp.”

    Some limited supplies have arrived in recent weeks, including medical supplies that MSF was able to transport, but the quantities remain far too low to meet the needs of people suffering from malnutrition in Zamzam camp, which has a population of approximately 450,000.

    The crisis has attracted broader international attention as the IPC Famine Review Committee concluded in August that a famine was underway in Zamzam camp. MSF’s own malnutrition assessments found that 30 percent of children were malnourished in multiple surveys earlier this year, estimating that a child was dying of causes linked to malnutrition every two hours on average. As the current crisis also limits MSF’s ability to collect new data, the current rate of death among children is not known.

    “In the last few days, we’ve seen some positive signs, with trucks arriving after months of almost complete blockade around the camp. However, these quantities are insufficient,” says Lacharité. “These are positive signs, and we can see that the parties to the conflict recognise the seriousness of the situation and are starting to let trucks arrive. If we are to have a massive response, the aid agencies will also have to significantly step up their efforts and all diplomatic stakeholders negotiating with the parties to the conflict will have to convince them to ensure that this delivery continues over the coming months.”

    For example, providing a month’s worth of emergency food rations (around 500 calories a day per person) to the 450,000 people in Zamzam represents around 2,000 tons of rations. It would take 100 trucks a month to deliver them.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kamalanomics Continues To Crush Americans

    Source: US House of Representatives Republicans

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –

    Kamalanomics Continues To Crush Americans

    Washington, October 10, 2024

    American families are having to choose between filling up their gas tanks, heating their homes, or putting food on the table because of failed Kamalanomics. In September, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed Kamalaflation remains a tax on all Americans, and it isn’t going away anytime soon. Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, inflation has risen by 20.5%. The failed economic policies of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden continue to put Americans last. 
     
    MAKE NO MISTAKE: We cannot afford another four years of failed Far Left Democrat policies. We must return to the successful economic agenda Republicans implemented under President Trump which created the strongest economy in history and put Americans first. 
     
    KAMALANOMICS BY THE NUMBERS:

    • Inflation is a tax on ALL Americans. 
    • When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, inflation was at just 1.4%.
    • Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, inflation has risen by 20.5%.
    • Americans are paying more for just about everything because of inflation. Since Biden and Harris took office: 
      • Food at elementary and secondary schools 69.7%. 
      • Eggs are UP 69.2%. 
      • Motor vehicle insurance is UP 56.5%. 
      • Admission to sporting events is UP 46.4%.
      • Lodging away from home including hotels and motels is UP 42.4%.  
      • Gasoline (all types) is UP 38.4%.  
      • Baby food and formula are UP 31.0%. 
      • Veterinarian services are UP 29.9%. 
      • Cookies are UP 29.1%. 
      • Uncooked ground beef is UP 28.2%. 
      • Bakery products are UP 27.2%. 
      • Chicken is UP 25.0%. 
      • Airline fares are UP 24.5%. 
      • Bread is UP 23.9%. 
      • Pork chops are UP 23.0%. 
      • Lunchmeats are UP 22.3%.  
      • Milk is UP 16.2%.  
    • Americans are spending $13,300 more annually to buy the basics because of Kamalaflation, compared to three years ago.
    • Real wages remain lower than when Biden-Harris first took office.
    • Inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings were $397.90 when Biden-Harris took office and are now $384.29 – the Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts to 1982-1984 dollars – meaning Americans have seen a 3.4% decrease under Biden-Harris.
    • Kamalaflation outpaced wages for a majority of Biden’s presidency – both year-over-year real average hourly earnings and real average weekly earnings were negative for 25 months.
    • Interest rates have remained at a 23-year high.   
    • Nearly half of Americans consider themselves “broke.” 
    • Two-thirds of Americans report living paycheck-to-paycheck.
    • Americans need a six-figure salary to afford a typical home in nearly half of U.S. states
    • In September, the unemployment rate remained high, at 4.1%.
    • Over the past 12 months, 825,000 native-born Americans lost employment, while 1.2 million foreign-born workers found jobs.
    • There are over 6.8 million Americans who are unemployed which is up from a year ago at 6.3 million.
      • The labor force participation rate remains well below pre-pandemic levels. 
    • In September, the labor force participation rates decreased for the following demographics:
      • Women, 16 years and over.
      • White women, 20 years and over.
      • Black or African American women, 20 years and over.
      • Asian Americans. 
      • Hispanic or Latino Americans.
      • Hispanic or Latino men, 20 years and over.
      • Hispanic or Latino women, 20 years and over.
    • Since July of 2023 versus July of 2024, there has been a net zero job growth. 
    • In August, it was announced that 818,000 jobs that the Harris-Biden Administration claimed to have created aren’t there.
      • The BLS revised down its total tally of jobs created from March 2023 through March 2024 by 818,000.
      • This included 115,000 manufacturing jobs. 
      • The revision is the largest in 15 years. 
      • In addition to these revisions, the August jobs report revealed the employment in June and July combined is 86,000 lower than previously reported.
    • The Biden-Harris Administration deserves no credit for economic growth. 
      • Republican-led states are leading the way creating jobs and leading economic growth.
      • The latest state jobs report shows that 16 of the top 20 states for  jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and 16 of the states have Republican-controlled legislatures.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Senior Defense and Military Official Host a Background Briefing on Russia’s War in Ukraine

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: Hey, good afternoon. Can I have a quick comms check? Can you hear me ok?

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Great. All right. Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary. Thanks very much for joining us today for today’s background briefing and update on the situation in Ukraine.

    As you may be aware, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group originally scheduled for October 12th has been postponed, so we’ll provide updates on that in the near future regarding a date and location for the next UDCG session. However, we thought it would still be useful to provide you with an update on where things stand in Ukraine, to include US support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, and we’ll endeavor to host these background briefings on a fairly regular basis since many of you have requested them.

    As a reminder, today’s call is on background attributable to a senior defense official and a senior military official, not for reporting.

    Please note I will call on reporters try to get to as many of your questions as possible in the time we have available. And before we begin, I would ask you to please keep your phones on mute unless you’re asking a question. With that, I will turn it over to our senior defense official, followed by our senior military official for an opening.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Thanks. Thanks, everyone, for the opportunity to speak with you today. Certainly, I had hoped to brief you ahead of a leader level Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. But as I’m sure everyone understands, President Biden decided to remain in the United States to coordinate the response to Hurricane Milton.

    As you heard during the president’s bilateral meeting with President Zelenskyy on September 26th, the administration remains focused on surging security assistance and taking other steps through the end of the term to help Ukraine prevail. I want to begin with a brief discussion of some of our recent security assistance packages.

    The president exercised his authority on September 26th to ensure the $5.55 billion of remaining presidential drawdown, or PDA, authority did not expire before the end of the fiscal year, ensuring that the United States can continue supporting Ukraine with this authority. Preserving this authority will allow us to continue our steady support with security assistance to Ukraine via these PDA packages.

    In the 66th package announced on September 26th at a value of $375 million, the department will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent battlefield needs, including air to ground weapons, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

    President Biden also announced a $2.4 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package. This package will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems, and air to ground munitions as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements. Through this package, we will make a significant investment in Ukraine’s drone capability, providing thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles and providing components to enable Ukraine’s domestic production of drones.

    That support has been critical to augmenting Ukraine’s successes on the battlefield. Since February 2022, Ukraine has inflicted more than 600,000 casualties on Russian forces. In September of this year, Russia — Russian forces sustained more casualties in terms of both killed and wounded in action than in any other month of the war. Russian losses, again both killed and wounded in action, in just the first year of the war exceeded the total of all Russian losses — Soviet losses in any conflict since World War II combined.

    Ukrainian forces also have sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 32 medium to large Russian Federation navy vessels in the Black Sea, forcing Russia to relocate its Black Sea fleet away from Crimea. They have also destroyed more than two thirds of Russia’s pre-war inventory of tanks, forcing the Russian military to dig into Soviet era stockpiles and field tanks from World War II.

    And most recently, Ukrainian forces have used indigenously produced drones to strike Russian strategic ammunition depots at Toropets and Tihoretsk, making a serious dent in Russian supply lines. The total tonnage of ammunition destroyed in strikes on these facilities represents the largest loss of Russian and North Korean supplied ammunition during the war, with hundreds of thousands of rounds destroyed. Russian efforts to minimize risk to existing ammunition depots probably will force the Russian military to undertake inefficient adaptations that will slow delivery of ammunition to the front.

    Now, I am not, however, suggesting that Ukraine has an easy path to victory. Russia does continue to devote significant amounts of resources and, as I underscored earlier, lives toward a grinding campaign, redoubling its efforts in the east despite Ukraine’s offensive into Kursk. Russia has also demonstrated time and time again a willingness to do whatever it takes to attempt to force the Ukrainians to capitulate, including purposely targeting Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure.

    Despite these challenges, the United States and our allies and partners remain committed to supporting Ukraine as it defends against Russian aggression. Thank you, and I look forward to the questions.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you very much.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Just a couple of things that I’ll start out with and then happy to talk more specifics as we go into question and answer afterwards.

    But broadly speaking, no major changes in the overall strategy on either side. It’s an attritional strategy on the Russian side, and of course the Ukrainians are mounting a strong defense both on the ground and from an air defense perspective.

    For the battlefield itself, the two areas that remain most active are up in the Kursk area and then out in Donetsk. I would say that there have been overall minor changes to where the forward line of troops are on the battlefield in both of those areas.

    Up in Kursk, there have been some limited counterattacks by the Russians, but really no meaningful gains or exchanges of territory in the last several weeks. And then down in Donetsk, while the Russians did make some advances earlier in the summer, those advances have slowed compared to that time period. And again, I’m happy to go into some more specifics on that during question and answer.

    As far as long range strikes, we’ve seen some successful one way attack drone strikes by the — by the Ukrainians against ammo storage points in Russia. We’ve also seen some strikes against fuel facilities down in Crimea. We do think that those will have some impact on the battlefield. As most of you would understand, those sorts of deep targets, when they’re hit, there’ll be a delayed impact on how things are looking on the battlefield, but over time it certainly would manifest. So, we do think that those have been effective, and we’ll see when those effects manifest in a meaningful way on the battlefield.

    And then finally, I’ll just highlight Ukrainian air defense. The Ukrainians do continue to defend their skies with the capabilities that they have. It’s a tough fight, with a large number of attacks coming from the Russians each day, but the Ukrainians are doing a sound job of defending their critical infrastructure and defending at the front — on the front lines as well. We, of course, are keeping a very close eye on their inventories of weapons that they have to defend themselves and working that with our policy counterparts to try to increase the stocks that they have on hand for their — for their defense against those attacks.

    So, I’ll leave it at that as just a broad overview, and then I’d be happy to go into more detail or specifics during question and answer.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Great. Thank you very much to our senior defense official and our senior military official. First question will go to Associated Press, Lita Baldor.

    Q: Hi. Good afternoon and thank you both for doing this. Can you — you know, first of all,  can you address sort of — at the risk of beating a dead horse here, the Ukrainians continue to press for the permission of the US to do longer range strikes into Russia. Do you see a change in US policy on that coming, and/or do you see any shift that the US will give Ukraine something else that will sort of make up for not allowing that?

    And then just quickly, can you give us a sense of sort of how the — both countries are setting up for the winter months and whether one or the other can gain some sort of advantage with this — at this point this year? Thank you.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Great. So, Lita, on the long range strike issue, we have not changed the position on this. I think I’ve spoken with some of you about this before in terms of how we consider, you know, decisions on capability. We always look at kind of risks and benefits. And in this particular case, we certainly have to look at risks in terms of readiness.

    This is a — you know, a munition that has, you know, finite quantities. And we also, obviously, have to look at risks of escalation. But in terms of effectiveness, we also have to look at whether the quantities that exist, and again, they are limited, whether they would have the strategic effect.

    And we certainly know that many of the capabilities that are of greatest concern, particularly for glide bomb use, for instance, have actually moved out beyond ATACMS range. And we also know that we’ve seen tremendously effective Ukrainian strikes using their indigenously produced capabilities.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Lita, on the question of how they’re setting up for the winter months, I think the way I’d characterize it is I expect more of the same from the Russians. I expect them to continue to try to make incremental gains to try to attrit Ukrainian defenses.

    As I know that you’re aware, that’s a really tall task for them, and that’s why we’ve seen such incremental gains out of the Russians over the last while, despite, you know, a significant force ratio advantage in many places on the front. And so, as a — as the senior defense official mentioned, we do see a large and growing number of Russian casualties as they do this, but I think we’ll see more of the same. It’s kind of the Russian way of war, that they continue to throw mass into the — into the problem, and I think we’ll continue to see high losses.

    On the Ukrainian side, I think it’s a little bit more nuanced. And of course, it’ll be up to the Ukrainians on exactly how this plays out. But in general, I would characterize their thinking as a little bit deeper in time and space, and that they’re thinking certainly of how they defend through the winter months and at the tactical front, you know, where are the most defendable lines where they can impose the most costs on the Russians as the Russians advance.

    But I’d say that, in my estimation, the Ukrainians are thinking forward to the — 2025 and how they set themselves up for battlefield success then. And so, that includes things like ensuring that the additional brigades can come online as they increase their recruitment, as they get better equipment and training, reconstituting brigades that they’re cycling off the front line, and really building up their combat power for the future.

    So, I think that’s how I would characterize the Ukrainian approach. Certainly, they’re focused on how they get through the winter, but they’re thinking a little bit longer term about how they set conditions for success next year.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you both. Next question will go to Washington Post, Missy Ryan. Missy, are you there?

    Q:  Yeah, I’m here, but I actually think Alex Horton is — has a question that he’s going to ask.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. We’ll go to Alex in Ukraine.

    Q: Appreciate that. Yeah, this is for the SDO and Russian losses. You know, this sort of harkens back to Vietnam. It’s very General Westmoreland-ish to sort of characterize Russian casualties as some sort of metric for success. So, I was curious if you could put more meat on the bone on what we’re supposed to exactly take away from that when we know that, you know, in between Bakhmut and down all the way to Vuhledar, they’ve gained more territory than they have in the last two years. So, they are trading for bodies for space, and that seems to be working for them at least in terms of the space aspect. So, what exactly is the body count suggesting that is, you know, something we should take away from?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, Alex, thanks, and glad to hear that you’re reporting from Ukraine. I’ll look forward to seeing — to seeing your writing. I think that in terms of, you know, mentioning the Russian casualties is not to suggest that this is a definitive metric for the war, but it is an important factor. And, you know, certainly we do know that, you know, Putin is trying to avoid a mass mobilization because of the effect that would have on, you know, Russia’s domestic population.

    At this point, he has been able to significantly increase the pay of these voluntary soldiers, and he has been able to continue to field those forces without doing a major mobilization. And I think we’re just watching very closely how long that stance can actually be one that he can maintain. And I think it’s an important one for all of us watch very closely.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you very much. Next question will go to New York Times, Eric Schmitt. Eric, are you there? Ok, nothing heard, we’ll go to CBS, Charlie D’Agata.

    Q:  Yes. Thank you. I wanted to actually follow up from what Alex was saying. Those are extraordinary numbers, 600,000 casualties, and I’m more — paying attention to more casualties in September than exceeded any other month of the war. That in itself says something. Where are these casualties happening? Where is the ferocious fighting happening? As was already pointed out, the Russians are making ground. Is this on Russian territory? Is it along concentrated front lines? And is there a reason for an increase, or is just — is this just a spike in ferocity of the fighting in the past couple of months?

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yeah. Charlie, I’ll take the first answer to that and let the senior defense official fill in if she’d like. But I would say, you know, the Russians have been — as Alex mentioned, they’ve been attempting to move on the offensive, and they have had some success with taking minor amounts of terrain.

    And as they — the cost of taking that minor amount of terrain, particularly in Donetsk and down around Pokrovsk and Vuhledar, has been the substantial casualties that they’ve incurred there. So, they have attempted to overcome fires with mass of maneuver. And that, I think, is probably the — that is where I would say most of their casualties have come, is because of that offensive.

    I mean, if you look at the salient around Pokrovsk or pointing toward Pokrovsk, the number of Russian forces in there is astounding. It’s tens of thousands of forces that they’ve put into that very small area. And as you know, when you have that many forces in a very small area, indirect fire of any kind or any — or direct fire, for that matter, it’s a target rich environment. So, that’s what I think is the proximate cause or one of the leading proximate causes of those casualties.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you. Let’s go to —

    Q: Wait. Can I just follow up that? Is this artillery war that we’re seeing? Is this the kind of fight? And more to that point, as the time that I’ve spent in Ukraine, they were begging for more artillery shells. Where’s the equipment pinch if any, at the moment?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I’ll allow the senior military official to talk about kind of the nature of the fight. But we are co-chairing the Artillery Capability Coalition with France to support Ukraine’s artillery needs, both for today but also for the future. And what we have seen in the past six months of assiduous work to both increase production, and the US has really led the way here, with increased production of 155 millimeter artillery shells, but also in terms of, you know, increased procurement, increased donations from stocks, and the Czech initiative, which is really sourcing ammunition from around the world, we have seen a much more steady supply of artillery munitions for the Ukrainian forces, and it really has tangibly changed the situation on the battlefield from what you saw, you know, as much as a year ago in terms of the shortages that were being experienced. But there may be more detail from the SMO.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: I don’t know, Charlie, that I have too much to add except, yeah, there is, as you know, a huge amount of artillery that’s being exchanged back and forth.

    I would just note, and again, this is probably fairly obvious to all, that if you’re undergoing an artillery barrage while you’re on defense, that’s a little bit better than if you’re undergoing an artillery barrage while you’re on the offense and you’re exposed. You have to leave from, you know, the revetments that you’re hiding behind, the berms, etc., and move out across open terrain. So, I think that that — those two factors combine to add up to what we’re seeing in terms of casualty producing effects.

    Q: Thanks to both.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thanks. Let’s go to Chris Gordon, Air and Space Forces Magazine.

    Q:  Thanks, Pat. And thank you to the officials. For the senior military official, how are Ukraine’s F-16s being used? What sort of missions is Ukraine conducting with its F-16s, and how much are they still reliant on their Soviet era fleet?

    And then secondly for either official, the US announced last month it will train 18 Ukrainian F-16 pilots next year. Where will those pilots be trained? What’s the timeline for that training? What is the experience level of the pilots that will be trained? Could it include newer pilots, if we have any more fidelity on that announcement? Thank you.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, Chris, thanks. I’ll take the first part of the question. You know, I can’t go into a lot of detail on exactly how the Ukrainians are using their F-16s, except to say, you know, it is a different kind of weapon system, as you’re well aware, from the Soviet and Russian technology that they’ve employed in the past, and so there is a bit of a transition there.

    Our — you know, the overall recommendation is, whenever you’re adopting a new technology to make sure that you’re mastering it, you know how to use it, you’ve got the appropriate amount of experience with it before you try to do too much with it. And I’ll just leave it at that.

    You know, as far as how they’re — as far as how they’re employing it, etc., I really can’t go into those details here. But I do think that over time, as they increase their proficiency, as the numbers increase, as the pilots that the senior defense official will give you a little bit of background here on a second increases, you’ll see the battlefield effects that that platform is able to provide increase.

    And, you know, I would also just highlight, you know, the F-16 program, many of us seem to — we tend to think of it as what is its immediate impact going to be. But this is really about the long term security of Ukraine and how we set them up to be — interoperability with Western forces over the longer term and how they can defend their airspace over the longer term. So, some of it certainly is going to apply to the current battle, but I think of this as a much more longer term project.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Great. And the 18 pilots, this is really just the latest number of pilots that we are pulling into the F-16 training pipeline. As you may recall, the Air Force Capability Coalition is a co-led effort by the Netherlands, Denmark and the United States. And working with the Ukrainians and those allies, we actually work together to identify slots in multiple countries.

    So, the US is hosting some, but there’s other countries that host other pieces of the training pipeline, and that includes everything from, you know, the English language training that is typically necessary at the front end to basic pilot training to the more advanced F-16 pilot training. So, we work together to construct a pipeline that makes sense for the skill level of each individual pilot.

    And it is a mix. Some have been experienced pilots, and we still are, you know, receiving more experienced pilots, but there’s also those that do not have that kind of pilot training and experience.

    Q: Can I just clarify one thing you said there? Of those 18, are those a mix of countries, or are those all in the US?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: It’s — there’s a mix of locations for the different pieces of the training pipeline. And that’s true not just of the 18, that’s true across the board. And I won’t get into the specific details of exactly who is training in which location out of respect for operational security.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Thank you. Let’s go to NBC, Courtney Kube.

    Q:  Hey, I’m sorry. We had some technical problems on our end early, so forgive me if you’ve already addressed this. But can you tell us anything about the South Korean announcement that some North Korean troops may be joining Russia to fight in Ukraine? Have you seen any seen any indications of that, whether it’s individuals or equipment that’s moving in that direction?

    And then on the — on F-16s in general, I wonder has Ukraine I guess briefed you on the F-16 crash from several weeks ago on the cause of that yet? Can you share anything that you’ve learned on that?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I’ll just say on the question about the reports coming out, including the one from South Korea, we don’t have anything additional to add. In the past, we have spoken about the support that North Korea has provided Russia in terms of munitions. But I don’t have anything to add to this latest — this latest news report.

    And in terms of F-16s and the specific investigation, we would refer you to the Ukrainians on anything they may want to offer on that.

    Q: When you say you don’t have anything to add on the North Korea, I mean, do you — does that mean that the US doesn’t have any indications that’s true? Are you — I mean, are you — it’s from South Korea, a close US ally. So, I mean, is it that you just haven’t seen anything of that, or do you not think that it’s actually accurate?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I don’t have any other specific information to add beyond what you have seen in the — in the media reporting.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. Thank you very much. Let’s go to Defense News, Noah Robertson.

    Q: Hey, thank you both for doing this. I have two questions. The first is on the discussion of Ukrainian made drones that you had at the top. As early as this summer, some senior US military officials were saying, including in interviews that I did, about Ukrainian drones are more of a nuisance rather than a capability that could replace some of the precision strikes being provided by the US. I now hear a more positive tone coming from the two officials on this call. I’m wondering if you can describe, A, whether anything has changed with the advanced nature of their capabilities, or B, whether the Ukrainians are just getting better at integrating these capabilities in counter EW operations? And then I have a second question. Thank you.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL Noah, thanks. Thanks for the question. I certainly am more positive than some of that — some of the other officials that you are referencing. I do think the Ukrainian made drones are doing very well. And we’ve seen — you know, there’s clear evidence of that with some of the one-way attack drone. Attacks against the ammo storage points is a very easy example to leverage.

    I think — you know, I would say it’s a little bit of both. I would say that there’s some capability enhancements, and I wouldn’t want to go into the details of those for operational security reasons. But I know, of course, that the Ukrainians are rapidly innovating on the battlefield with their capabilities. The pressure of war will have that effect on any military. And so, there certainly are capability enhancements that have happened very rapidly.

    And also, they are getting just, you know, more sophisticated in their tactics, techniques and procedures. And so, I think it’s a combination of both of those things that have — if there has been an increase of effectiveness, which, again, I think it’s reasonable to say that there has, and that these will continue to improve in effectiveness over time. It’s for those two reasons.

    Q: A second question is on the provision of aid by China. I know to this point US officials in the Pentagon have described this as dual use aid. Kurt Campbell went out publicly and said that it went beyond that last month. Do you have indications that China is providing direct lethal aid, or has that still not changed?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, I don’t have any new information beyond what the administration has released previously on China’s support for Russia.

    Q: Is it fair to say that it’s increased at least?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: I think it depends on what time frame you look at. I wouldn’t be able to give you a specific sense of kind of quantitative or even qualitative over time. But certainly, we are concerned about China’s support for Russia in the midst of this horrific war.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok, we’ve got time for just a couple more. Let’s go to Fox News, Jen Griffin.

    Q: Thank you, Pat. I wanted to ask about the Ukraine Contact Group and whether the postponement or canceling has anything to do with the fact that it is harder and harder to get donations of weaponry. Anything that you can quantify in terms of difficulties in getting weaponry right now for Ukraine?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Absolutely not, Jen. I would say that this is really just all about the president wanting to take care of his responsibilities here in the United States as Hurricane Milton bears down on US territory, and it has absolutely nothing to do with international support.

    We were really looking forward to a host of countries participating and also making new donation announcements. So, I see continued very strong support from the donor community, both in terms of individual donations but also, increasingly, in terms of participation in these capability coalitions, where you see countries coming together to coordinate how they are making future procurements for Ukraine’s future force and giving Ukraine a better sense of predictability about its weapons supplies over time.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Ok. And last question. We’ll go to Bloomberg, Tony Capaccio.

    Q:  I think Tony just stepped away, so I’m going to take it for us if that’s ok, Natalia Drozdiak. Thanks so much for doing this. I just have two questions. For the SMO on Kursk, are you still confident that Ukraine can hold that territory through the winter, given the likely difficulties they’re going to have in terms of maintaining supply lines?

    And then secondly, for the senior defense official, about the aid package to support Ukraine’s drone production, was that the first time that the US was investing directly in Ukraine’s industrial production? And if so, have there been any sort of conditions set around that, like when it comes to preventing corruption or anything? Thanks.

    SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, thanks, Natalia. On the Kursk question, my assessment is that the Ukrainians will be able to maintain their position in Kursk for some amount of time here into the future, I think several months and potentially beyond. You know, the battlefield is ultimately unpredictable.

    But if I look at the combat power ratios, you know, you mentioned supply issues for the Ukrainians, I haven’t seen a significant supply issue on their side. I would tell you I’ve — I would argue that, because this is not the main area where major Russian combat formations have been operating, they have significant logistical issues on their side in terms of repositioning troops and organizing themselves to go on the offensive, etc.

    So, I still think — as I mentioned, there have been some uneven counteroffensives, some limited counteroffensives by the Russians, but there’s been nothing that would indicate to me that they’re ready to make a major play toward taking Kursk back. And I don’t think they’ll be able to do it anytime soon.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: So, in terms of your question about kind of investments in Ukrainian defense industry, we have cooperated with Ukrainian defense industry in the past. And I think it’s important to note that, with our Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative authorities, these are contracting mechanisms, so these are procurement mechanisms in which we have contract with companies. So, it’s a very um kind of rigorous way of accounting for the procurement. And we will do the same with this as we would do with any other procurement.

    And I would say that we — the experiences that we’ve had most recently with Ukraine defense industry in the context of the war that have been tremendously successful revolve around our — what we call our FrankenSAM project. So, it’s the project where we combined Soviet type air defense systems with Western technologies and munitions. And we actually partnered US companies with Ukrainian companies and engineers to devise this very creative way forward that has helped Ukraine deal with massive shortages in air defense interceptors and systems. So, from that experience, we took away a very positive sense of the possibilities of cooperating with Ukraine’s defense industry.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: All right. Well, thank you.

    Q: This is Phil Stewart. Is there any way — is there any way we could just clarify, because I think a lot of people are confused, if the senior defense official was confirming that there are North Korean soldiers fighting in — alongside Russia and Ukraine?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL: Sorry, Phil. No, I am just saying that the only information I have is this open source information, and I do not have additional information to offer.

    MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Right. In other words, we have nothing to corroborate those reports, if that makes sense. Ok. All right.

    Well, again, I want to thank our senior defense official, our senior military official. As a reminder, this discussion today was on background. Thank you for joining us. That’s all the time we have. Out here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Department of Labor finds Washington contractor transported farmworkers in unsafe vehicles by unlicensed drivers, housed them in moldy motel rooms

    Source: US Department of Labor

    KENNEWICK, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has debarred a Kennewick farm labor contractor from participating in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program for three years after finding the employer provided workers with unhealthy living conditions; transported them in unsafe vehicles driven by people without licenses or proper permits; withheld wages and made illegal pay deductions; told workers to falsify documents to mask violations of federal regulations; and denied U.S. workers access to jobs.

    An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Harvest Plus LLC, which provides agricultural labor to farms throughout Benton and Yakima counties, violated H-2A program requirements as follows:

    • Housed H-2A workers in unsafe, overcrowded conditions in moldy motel rooms.
    • Failed to reimburse H-2A workers for inbound and outbound transportation costs between their home country and Washington.
    • Allowed drivers without permits or licenses to transport workers in dangerous, dilapidated vehicles with broken or missing seatbelts and lights and inadequate seats.
    • Made unlawful pay deductions not stated in job orders, including for laundry expenses.
    • Failed to provide a copy of work contracts and did not state job orders’ actual terms and conditions.
    • Gave preference when contracting H-2A workers and failed to contact U.S. workers employed previously.

    The division also learned Harvest Plus tried to require workers to work beyond the H-2A certification periods and outside the period of employment allowed.

    The number of violations and their willful nature led the department to order the debarment of Harvest Plus from the H-2A program for three years. The division also assessed the employer $252,475 in civil money penalties.

    “The blatant disregard for federal regulations shown by Harvest Plus LLC put the safety and health of hundreds of temporary workers at serious risk,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “By debarring this employer from participating in the H-2A program, the U.S. Department of Labor has sent a clear signal that we will not turn a blind eye to such egregious actions. We will safeguard U.S. jobs and prevent unscrupulous employers from profiting while endangering vulnerable workers and denying them their hard-earned wages.”

    The department’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification maintains lists of employers debarred from the H-2A program for agricultural workers and the H-2B program for non-agricultural workers. 

    The Wage and Hour Division offers multiple compliance assistance resources, including an agriculture compliance assistance toolkit, to provide employers the information they need to comply with the law. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions using the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can communicate with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where they are from.

    Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hurricane Milton nears landfall on Florida’s west coast, disrupts energy infrastructure

    Source: US Energy Information Administration

    In-brief analysis

    October 9, 2024

    This TIE was updated with additional mapping.

    As of 8:00 a.m. eastern time on October 9, Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday as a major hurricane on the west coast of Florida with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, creating the potential for significant disruptions to energy infrastructure.

    Utilities in Florida are preparing for high volumes of power outages. High winds, flooding, and storm surge from Hurricane Milton might affect energy infrastructure such as power plants, power transmission and distribution lines, and fuel terminals.

    Trade press reports state that some retail gasoline stations in Florida are without fuel as demand increased prior to the hurricane. In a press conference on Tuesday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis indicated that the state was dispatching and staging fuel as needed. However, Florida does not have any refineries or gasoline pipelines that connect it to states with excess supply. Florida’s gasoline and diesel are delivered by truck or ship from domestic and international sources.

    Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

    The U.S. Coast Guard reports several ports in Florida are closed. Inbound and outbound vessel traffic to Port Tampa Bay, where over 17 million tons of petroleum- and natural gas-related products move through in a typical year, has ceased. More than 43% of Florida’s petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel for the state’s major airports, moves through Port Tampa Bay. The duration of the port closures and impacts from Hurricane Milton on trade movements for petroleum and natural gas remain uncertain.

    Hurricane Milton follows Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on the Florida Panhandle on September 26 and caused major power outages and damage to electricity infrastructure on its path from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains. Three other named storms have made landfall so far this hurricane season (Beryl, Debby, and Francine) as either Category 1 or 2 hurricanes.

    Much like Hurricane Helene, Milton’s forecasted path toward Florida’s west coast takes it away from the most prolific oil- and natural gas-producing areas near Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

    Press reports indicated earlier this week that Chevron closed its Blind Faith oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and evacuated all personnel from the facility in preparation for Hurricane Milton. The Blind Faith platform, which has a production capacity of 65,000 barrels per day, is approximately 160 miles southeast of New Orleans. However, as of Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had not reported that significant oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut in due to Hurricane Milton.

    To help analysts assess potential energy-related storm effects, EIA maintains energy disruption maps that display energy infrastructure and real-time storm information.

    Principal contributors: Matthew French, Paul Merolli

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and it’s not just stubbornness

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, Research Associate, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

    Evacuation is more difficult for people with health and mobility issues. Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

    As Hurricane Milton roared ashore near Sarasota, Florida, tens of thousands of people were in evacuation shelters. Hundreds of thousands more had fled coastal regions ahead of the storm, crowding highways headed north and south as their counties issued evacuation orders.

    But not everyone left, despite dire warnings about a hurricane that had been one of the strongest on record two days earlier.

    As Milton’s rain and storm surge flooded neighborhoods late on Oct. 9, 2024, 911 calls poured in. In Tampa’s Hillsborough County, more than 500 people had to be rescued, including a dozen people trapped in a flooding home after a tree crashed though the roof at the height of the storm.

    In Plant City, 20 miles inland from Tampa, at least 35 people had been rescued by dawn, City Manager Bill McDaniel said. While the storm wasn’t as extreme as feared, McDaniel said his city had flooded in places and to levels he had never seen. Traffic signals were out. Power lines and trees were down. The sewage plant had been inundated, affecting the public water supply.

    Evacuating might seem like the obvious move when a major hurricane is bearing down on your region, but that choice is not always as easy as it may seem.

    Evacuating from a hurricane requires money, planning, the ability to leave and, importantly, a belief that evacuating is better than staying put.

    I recently examined years of research on what motivates people to leave or seek shelter during hurricanes as part of a project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Natural Hazards Center. I found three main reasons that people didn’t leave.

    Evacuating can be expensive

    Evacuating requires transportation, money, a place to stay, the ability to take off work days ahead of a storm and other resources that many people do not have.

    With 1 in 9 Americans facing poverty today, many have limited evacuation options. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, many residents did not own vehicles and couldn’t reach evacuation buses. That left them stranded in the face of a deadly hurricane. Nearly 1,400 people died in the storm, many of them in flooded homes.

    When millions of people are under evacuation orders, logistical issues also arise.

    Two days ahead of landfall, Milton was a Category 5 hurricane. About 5 million people were under evacuation orders, and highways were crowded.

    Gas shortages and traffic jams can leave people stranded on highways and unable to find shelter before the storm hits. This happened during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 as 2 million Floridians tried to evacuate.

    People who experienced past evacuations or saw news video of congested highways ahead of Hurricane Milton might not leave for fear of getting stuck.

    Health, pets and being physically able to leave

    The logistics of evacuating are even more challenging for people who are disabled or in nursing homes. Additionally, people who are incarcerated may have no choice in the matter – and the justice system may have few options for moving them.

    Evacuating nursing homes, people with disabilities or prison populations is complex. Many shelters are not set up to accommodate their needs. In one example during Hurricane Floyd, a disabled person arrived at a shelter, but the hallways were too narrow for their wheelchair, so they were restricted to a cot for the duration of their stay. Moving people whose health is fragile, and doing so under stressful conditions, can also worsen health problems, leaving nursing home staff to make difficult decisions.

    At least 700 people stayed in chairs or on air mattresses at River Ridge Middle/High School in New Port Richey, Fla., during Hurricane Milton.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    But failing to evacuate can also be deadly. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven nursing home residents died in the rising heat after their facility lost power near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In some cases, public water systems are shut down or become contaminated. And flooding can create several health hazards, including the risk of infectious diseases.

    In a study of 291 long-term care facilities in Florida, 81% sheltered residents in place during the 2004 hurricane season because they had limited transportation options and faced issues finding places for residents to go.

    Some shelters allow small pets, but many don’t. This high school-turned-shelter in New Port Richey, Fla., had 283 registered pets.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    People with pets face another difficult choice – some choose to stay at home for fear of leaving their pet behind. Studies have found that pet owners are significantly less likely to evacuate than others because of difficulties transporting pets and finding shelters that will take them. In destructive storms, it can be days to weeks before people can return home.

    Risk perception can also get in the way

    People’s perceptions of risk can also prevent them from leaving.

    A series of studies show that women and minorities take hurricane risks more seriously than other groups and are more likely to evacuate or go to shelters. One study found that women are almost twice as likely than men to evacuate when given a mandatory evacuation order.

    If people have experienced a hurricane before that didn’t do significant damage, they may perceive the risks of a coming storm to be lower and not leave.

    Video from across Florida after Hurricane Milton shows flooding around homes, trees down and other damage. At least five people died in the storm, and more than 3 million homes lost power.

    In my review of research, I found that many people who didn’t evacuate had reservations about going to shelters and preferred to stay home or with family or friends. Shelter conditions were sometimes poor, overcrowded or lacked privacy.

    People had fears about safety and whether shelter environments could meet their needs. For example, religious minorities were not sure whether shelters would be clean, safe, have private places for religious practice, and food options consistent with faith practices. Diabetics and people with young children also had concerns about finding appropriate food in shelters.

    How to improve evacuations for the future

    There are ways leaders can reduce the barriers to evacuation and shelter use. For example:

    • Building more shelters able to withstand hurricane force winds can create safe havens for people without transportation or who are unable to leave their jobs in time to evacuate.

    • Arranging more shelters and transportation able to accommodate people with disabilities and those with special needs, such as nursing home residents, can help protect vulnerable populations.

    • Opening shelters to accommodate pets with their owners can also increase the likelihood that pet owners will evacuate.

    • Public education can be improved so people know their options. Clearer risk communication on how these storms are different than past ones and what people are likely to experience can also help people make informed decisions.

    • Being prepared saves lives. Many areas would benefit from better advance planning that takes into account the needs of large, diverse populations and can ensure populations have ways to evacuate to safety.

    Carson MacPherson-Krutsky works for the Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. She receives grant and contract funding for her work at NHC through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other funders.

    – ref. Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and it’s not just stubbornness – https://theconversation.com/evacuating-in-disasters-like-hurricane-milton-isnt-simple-there-are-reasons-people-stay-in-harms-way-and-its-not-just-stubbornness-240869

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and not just stubbornness

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Carson MacPherson-Krutsky, Research Associate, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

    Evacuation is more difficult for people with health and mobility issues. Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

    As Hurricane Milton roared ashore near Sarasota, Florida, tens of thousands of people were in evacuation shelters. Hundreds of thousands more had fled coastal regions ahead of the storm, crowding highways headed north and south as their counties issued evacuation orders.

    But not everyone left, despite dire warnings about a hurricane that had been one of the strongest on record two days earlier.

    As Milton’s rain and storm surge flooded neighborhoods late on Oct. 9, 2024, 911 calls poured in. More than 500 people were rescued in Tampa’s Hillsborough County. Tampa police helped more than a dozen adults and children from a flooding home after a tree crashed though the roof at the height of the storm.

    In Plant City, 20 miles inland from Tampa, at least 35 people had been rescued by dawn, City Manager Bill McDaniel said. While the storm wasn’t as extreme as feared, he said his city had flooded in places and to levels he had never seen. Traffic signals were out. Power lines and trees were down. The sewage plant had been inundated, affecting the public water supply.

    Evacuating might seem like the obvious move when a major hurricane is bearing down on your region, but that choice is not always as easy as it may seem.

    Evacuating from a hurricane requires money, planning, the ability to leave and, importantly, a belief that evacuating is better than staying put.

    I recently examined years of research on what motivates people to leave or seek shelter during hurricanes as part of a project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Natural Hazards Center. I found three main reasons that people didn’t leave.

    Evacuating can be expensive

    Evacuating requires a car, gas money, a place to stay, the ability to take off work days ahead of a storm and other resources that many people do not have.

    With 1 in 9 Americans facing poverty today, many have limited evacuation options. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for example, many residents did not own vehicles and couldn’t reach evacuation buses. That left them stranded in the face of a deadly hurricane. Nearly 1,400 people died in the storm, many of them in flooded homes.

    When millions of people are under evacuation orders, logistical issues also arise.

    Two days ahead of landfall, Milton was a Category 5 hurricane. About 5 million people were under evacuation orders, and highways were crowded.

    Gas shortages and traffic jams can leave people stranded on highways and unable to find shelter before the storm hits. This happened during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 as 2 million Floridians tried to evacuate.

    People who experienced past evacuations or saw news video of congested highways ahead of Hurricane Milton might not leave for fear of getting stuck.

    Health, pets and being physically able to leave

    The logistics of evacuating are even more challenging for people who are disabled or in nursing homes. Additionally, people who are incarcerated may have no choice in the matter – and the justice system may have few options for moving them.

    Evacuating nursing homes, people with disabilities or prison populations is complex. Many shelters are not set up to accommodate their needs. In one example during Hurricane Floyd, a disabled person arrived at a shelter, but the hallways were too narrow for their wheelchair, so they were restricted to a cot for the duration of their stay. Moving people whose health is fragile, and doing so under stressful conditions, can also worsen health problems, leaving nursing home staff to make difficult decisions.

    At least 700 people stayed in chairs or on air mattresses at River Ridge Middle/High School in New Port Richey, Fla., during Hurricane Milton.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    But failing to evacuate can also be deadly. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, seven nursing home residents died in the rising heat after their facility lost power near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In some cases, public water systems are shut down or become contaminated. And flooding can create several health hazards, including the risk of infectious diseases.

    In a study of 291 long-term care facilities in Florida, 81% sheltered residents in place during the 2004 hurricane season because they had limited transportation options and faced issues finding places for residents to go.

    Some shelters allow small pets, but many don’t. This high school-turned-shelter in New Port Richey, Fla., had 283 registered pets.
    AP Photo/Mike Carlson

    People with pets face another difficult choice – some choose to stay at home for fear of leaving their pet behind. Studies have found that pet owners are significantly less likely to evacuate than others because of difficulties transporting pets and finding shelters that will take them. In destructive storms, it can be days to weeks before people can return home.

    Risk perception can also get in the way

    People’s perceptions of risk can also prevent them from leaving.

    A series of studies show that women and minorities take hurricane risks more seriously than other groups and are more likely to evacuate or go to shelters. One study found that women are almost twice as likely than men to evacuate when given a mandatory evacuation order.

    If people have experienced a hurricane before that didn’t do significant damage, they may perceive the risks of a coming storm to be lower and not leave.

    Video from across Florida after Hurricane Milton shows flooding around homes, trees down and other damage. At least five people died in the storm, and more than 3 million homes lost power.

    In my review of research, I found that many people who didn’t evacuate had reservations about going to shelters and preferred to stay home or with family or friends. Shelter conditions were sometimes poor, overcrowded or lacked privacy.

    People had fears about safety and whether shelter environments could meet their needs. For example, religious minorities were not sure whether shelters would be clean, safe, have private places for religious practice, and food options consistent with faith practices. Diabetics and people with young children also had concerns about finding appropriate food in shelters.

    How to improve evacuations for the future

    There are ways leaders can reduce the barriers to evacuation and shelter use. For example:

    • Building more shelters able to withstand hurricane force winds can create safe havens for people without transportation or who are unable to leave their jobs in time to evacuate.

    • Arranging more shelters and transportation able to accommodate people with disabilities and those with special needs, such as nursing home residents, can help protect vulnerable populations.

    • Opening shelters to accommodate pets with their owners can also increase the likelihood that pet owners will evacuate.

    • Public education can be improved so people know their options. Clearer risk communication on how these storms are different than past ones and what people are likely to experience can also help people make informed decisions.

    • Being prepared saves lives. Many areas would benefit from better advance planning that takes into account the needs of large, diverse populations and can ensure populations have ways to evacuate to safety.

    Carson MacPherson-Krutsky works for the Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. She receives grant and contract funding for her work at NHC through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other funders.

    – ref. Evacuating in disasters like Hurricane Milton isn’t simple – there are reasons people stay in harm’s way, and not just stubbornness – https://theconversation.com/evacuating-in-disasters-like-hurricane-milton-isnt-simple-there-are-reasons-people-stay-in-harms-way-and-not-just-stubbornness-240869

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: DG Okonjo-Iweala welcomes “meeting of minds” on moving farm trade talks forward

    Source: World Trade Organization

    The Director-General said she detected a “meeting of minds” on an initiative from the Chair of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye, outlining two options for advancing the negotiations. 

    “I sense that there’s a willingness to try to break the gridlock on agriculture and to try and move the process forward,” she said.  “I also sense that people like the idea of meeting in various configurations with each other and trying to find common ground.”

    More than 50 members took the floor to voice their views on the Chair’s report outlining two options for advancing the negotiations.  The first option is based on group discussions, where members can form smaller groups to discuss specific issues and then feed their outcomes into broader talks at the Committee on Agriculture in special session (CoA SS) and its dedicated sessions. The second option is based on a facilitator-led process, whereby facilitators appointed by the Chair would guide inclusive discussions on various topics, provide updates and ensure members’ inputs shape substantive negotiations.

    DG Okonjo-Iweala said she sensed an “appetite” to see both options going forward but that a number of delegations have questions about the process and wanted clarity on several issues.  She said she and the Chair would convene a meeting to seek answers to those questions and then lay out a process and timelines for engagement for members’ consideration.

    Ambassador Acarsoy said members recognized the need to resume negotiations after recent setbacks this year at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi and the July General Council. Members emphasized that rebuilding trust is crucial for progress and agreed the status quo is undesirable, requiring fresh ideas to break the deadlock, he said.

    “So, the question before us today is how we take concrete steps forward,” Ambassador Acarsoy said. He also said some members support the idea of establishing “milestones” on the road to the WTO’s next Ministerial Conference (MC14) for achieving progress. He stressed that periodic meetings may be needed at the Heads of Delegations level, with senior officials where necessary, to help ensure progress on the most intractable issues.

    The Director-General noted members’ calls for updating and reforming WTO multilateral disciplines in agriculture, emphasizing that while agriculture is crucially important to the world, reform “hasn’t gone very far” in the past 25 years. She said: “We don’t want to continue to see agriculture as an issue that is put on the back burner. We want it to be the process that is alive.”

    DG Okonjo-Iweala voiced her support for the process proposed by the Chair. “We need to start somewhere,” she said. “We need to give the process that the CoA SS Chair just outlined a chance.” The Chair’s proposal, she added, offers members a fresh opportunity, respecting past mandates while considering new challenges such as climate change and water issues.

    DG Okonjo-Iweala said:   “I intend to accord as much time, importance, and priority to agriculture in the coming weeks and months, but that depends on you.”

    Share

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: PEUGEOT Completes its EV Line-up with the New PEUGEOT E-408: Unexpected from Every Angle, 100% Electric

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    CASABLANCA, Morocco, October 10, 2024/APO Group/ —

    PEUGEOT (www.PEUGEOT.com) completes its EV line-up, with a fully electric version of the PEUGEOT 408, following the launch of the plug-in hybrid version in 2022. The new PEUGEOT E-408 combines the unexpected allure of a fastback silhouette with zero emission efficiency, the thrill of a powerful 157 kW/210 hp motor, and the pleasure of the PEUGEOT electric driving experience, with up to 453 km range. When it comes to recharging, the process is made simple with the integrated trip planner. PEUGEOT also offers total peace of mind to its customers by providing the PEUGEOT E-408 with 8 years/160,000 km warranty through its ALLURE CARE programme.

    ALLURE: With its fastback silhouette and 100% electric powertrain, the PEUGEOT E-408 is an entirely unique offering in the market.

    EMOTION: The pleasure of 100% electric driving is amplified with the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® and its embedded trip planner.

    EXCELLENCE: The PEUGEOT E-408 completes PEUGEOT’s EV line-up, the widest of any mainstream manufacturer in the European electric market with 12 electric passenger cars and LCVs.

    By unveiling the PEUGEOT 408 in June 2022, PEUGEOT brought the allure of an unprecedented fastback silhouette to the top of the C segment. Unexpectedly different, the 408 stands out with its feline posture, dynamic lines offering an elevated driving position, and the premium sophistication of its design down to the finest details.

    The two electrified powertrains, PLUG-IN HYBRID 180 e-EAT8 and PLUG-IN HYBRID 225 e-EAT8, marked a first step in electrification for the 408. Earlier this year, the 48V HYBRID 136 e-DCS6 joined the 408 line-up. The new PEUGEOT E-408 takes this electric strategy to the next level with a zero-emission powertrain of 157 kW/210 hp paired with a 58,2 kWh (usable) NMC battery.

    The launch of the PEUGEOT E-408, with the opening of orders from 2nd October, marks the latest step in PEUGEOT’s ambition to become the mainstream EV leader in Europe. The new PEUGEOT E-408 will be built at the Mulhouse plant and benefits from the ALLURE CARE programme and is warranted for up to 8 years / 160,000 km, the longest of any European brand.

    ALLURE: AN UNEXPECTED AND DYNAMIC FASTBACK DESIGN

    The innovative and unexpected fastback design perfectly matches the modernity of the new PEUGEOT E-408. A platform that allows for total electrification without compromising on style, dynamism, or interior comfort.

    With an overall length of 4.69m and a width of 1.85m (with the mirrors folded), the PEUGEOT E-408 uses the multi-energy E-EMP2 (Efficient Modular Platform), notable for its wheelbase length of 2.79 m. This generous dimension allows the battery to be installed in the car’s underbody, under the floor between the wheels, thus preserving the cabin space and lowering the PEUGEOT E-408’s centre of gravity for dynamic road behaviour where pleasure drives progress.

    This architecture combines the dynamic elegance of a fastback, road behaviour worthy of the best saloons, and a slightly elevated driving position that enhances daily enjoyment, safety, and comfort.

    A feline posture

    With its wide tracks – 1.59 m at the front and 1.60 m at the rear – the PEUGEOT E-408 is firmly anchored to the road. Despite being elevated, this model offers a sleek and sporty profile thanks to a limited height of 1.49 m, which improves aerodynamics.

    The feline character of the PEUGEOT E-408 is highlighted by the unique and sharp treatment of the body surfaces, particularly noticeable towards the rear – with the ‘cat’s ears’, the boot lid, and the shape of the wings, creating sharp facets designed to play with the light.

    Side body and wheel arch protections extend into a robust black rear bumper, which, by cutting the body colour diagonally, accentuates the rear’s dynamism. The large 19-inch Graphite wheels with innovative design receive 225-50R19 tyres with very low rolling resistance (A+ class).

    A modern identity

    The body-colour treatment of the PEUGEOT E-408’s grille “dematerialises” it by blending it into the bumper’s overall shape – a sign of a generational change and the electrification era of the PEUGEOT range.

    The brand’s identity is more visible than ever through the sophisticated work on lighting. At the front, the LED technology allows for very thin – and very effective – headlights that form the PEUGEOT E-408’s look: a resolutely PEUGEOT look. The light signature extends downward with two LED strips in the shape of fangs plunging into the bumper. At the rear, PEUGEOT’s identity takes the form of the iconic three LED claws, inclined for even more dynamism.

    Five colours are available for the new PEUGEOT E-408: Okenite White, Obsession Blue, Selenium Grey, Elixir Red and Perla Nera Black.

    EMOTION: MORE THAN EVER, PLEASURE DRIVES PROGRESS

    Generous power, immediate torque… the 100% electric drive of the PEUGEOT E-408 offers pure driving pleasure. This is further amplified by the PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® and road behaviour, in true PEUGEOT tradition.

    A unique driving experience

    The incomparable PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® offers exceptional ergonomics. The compact steering wheel enhances driving pleasure by allowing unique agility and precision of movement. Positioned at eye level just above the steering wheel, the digital cluster includes a fully customisable and configurable 10-inch 3D digital panel.

    More than ever, driving pleasure is embedded in the new PEUGEOT E-408’s genes, with exemplary road handling, high-end ride comfort, and perfect manoeuvrability in the city, enabled by a curb-to-curb turning radius of 11.18 m. To improve vibrational comfort, the body rigidity is optimized by bonding structural elements.

    Performance contributes to driving pleasure

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 features a synchronous electric motor with permanent magnets developing 157 kW (210 hp) and a generous torque of 345 Nm. This motor is produced in France, in Trémery, by the STELLANTIS-NIDEC joint venture. The reducer it is associated with is manufactured by STELLANTIS in Valenciennes (France).

    The PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® with countless connected services*

    The 10-inch high-definition central screen allows you to control the PEUGEOT i-Connect® Advanced system, which comes standard on the PEUGEOT E-408 and offers efficient and effective TomTom connected navigation. For optimal readability, the map display covers the entire 10-inch touchscreen. As for system updates, they are carried out “over the air,” meaning directly through data transmission via the telecom network.

    Efficient navigation with a trip planner and optimised solutions. The navigation system includes a “trip planner” function that optimally plans routes to maximise the car’s range and facilitate recharging. To calculate the ideal route, the system takes into account numerous pieces of information, including the distance to be travelled, the battery charge level at the start, the desired battery charge level at the destination, speed, energy consumption, traffic, type of road, elevation, and of course, available charging stations near the destination.

    The e-Routes by Free2move Charge application is also accessible in the vehicle by connecting a smartphone to the PEUGEOT i-Connect® system. It optimises all trips by calculating the best route based on the vehicle’s range needs, the location of charging stations, traffic conditions, the distance to be travelled, etc.

    The mirroring function that connects the smartphone to the car’s infotainment system is wireless (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), and it is possible to connect two phones via Bluetooth simultaneously. Four USB-C ports complete the connected setup of the PEUGEOT E-408.

    The fully configurable i-toggles arranged under the central screen like an open book, provide a unique aesthetic and technology level in the segment. Each of the 5 customisable i-toggles offer a touch-sensitive shortcut to climate control settings, a phone contact, a radio station, an app launch… configured to the user’s choice. This can be customised for each driver, with up to 8 customisable profiles.

    A daily ally for more safety and ease, the “OK PEUGEOT” natural language voice recognition command allows access to all infotainment functions and ChatGPT. Like all the latest generation PEUGEOTs, the new PEUGEOT E-408 integrates the generative artificial intelligence ChatGPT, which responds, via voice command, to all requests, such as tourist information or generating a quiz to keep children occupied during a trip…

    The MyPEUGEOT® smartphone app is particularly practical and allows:

    • Launching or scheduling thermal preconditioning. Beyond comfort, this feature allows, when the vehicle is plugged in, to optimise range (faster convergence of the temperature setpoint during startup phases by anticipating the optimal operating temperature of the battery).
    • Consulting, scheduling, launching, or delaying battery charging.
    • Activating the welcome light sequence, for example, to locate the car in a crowded parking lot.

    A warm atmosphere inside the cabin

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 is designed as a high-end fastback in the C segment. It offers numerous features intended to fully enjoy the pleasure of travel and mobility.

    Inside the new PEUGEOT E-408, the LED ambient lighting (8 colours to choose from) behind the central screen, diffuses a soft light and contributes to the sophisticated cabin ambiance. The same

    light extends to the padded door panels, which are covered with either fabric, Alcantara® (RHD), or real stamped aluminum pieces (LHD), depending on the trim level.

    The thermal and acoustic comfort of the new PEUGEOT E-408 is optimised by the technologies implemented for the design and manufacture of its windows:

    • At the front and rear, the windows have a thickness (3.85 mm) above average.
    • At the front, the side windows are laminated (3.96 mm on GT) for better sound insulation and increased security.

    Of course, the air conditioning contributes to the thermal comfort of the occupants. The vents bringing fresh air into the cabin are positioned high at the front, and the rear passengers benefit from 2 air vents placed at the back of the central console.

    To ensure a healthy interior atmosphere, the PEUGEOT E-408 GT can be equipped with the optional AQS (Air Quality System), which continuously monitors the quality of the air entering the cabin and can automatically activate air recirculation. This serenity is complemented on the GT level by the Clean Cabin, an air treatment system with pollutant gas and particle filtration, with the air quality being displayed on the central touch screen.

    The new PEUGEOT E-408’s Hi-Fi Premium FOCAL® system is a result of over 3 years of co-design working with the high-end audio specialist. Complemented by ARKAMYS digital sound processing, the Hi-Fi Premium FOCAL® system consists of 10 speakers with exclusive patented technologies:

    • 4 TNF tweeters with inverted aluminum domes,
    • 4 woofers/midrange speakers with Polyglass membranes and TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) suspension of 165mm,
    • 1 Polyglass central channel,
    • 1 Power Flower™ triple coil oval subwoofer.
    • They are paired with a new 12-channel 690 W amplifier (boosted class D technology).

    Particularly enveloping, the front seats have obtained the AGR (Aktion für Gesunder Rücken) label awarded by an independent German association of ergonomics and back health experts. This label rewards both the ergonomics and the range of adjustments of the front seats. These can also have 10-way electric adjustments with two possible memory settings for the driver, 6  ways for the passenger, as well as 8-pocket pneumatic massage with 8 different programs, and heated seats.

    The seat design has been thought to highlight the quality of the materials used: mottled fabric, technical meshes, Alcantara, embossed leather, and nappa leather (for select markets). On the GT versions, they are adorned with an Adamite colour signature thread, which also outlines the dashboard, door panels, and padded console pads.

    Between the front seats, the central console’s arch extends to a space dedicated to wireless phone charging. Thus, the rest of the console is entirely dedicated to storage and practicality, with an armrest, 2 USB C ports (charge/data), 2 large-diameter cup holders, and up to 33 liters of various storage.

    The rear space is particularly generous, thanks to the long wheelbase of 2.79 m, making the new PEUGEOT E-408 the most spacious PEUGEOT for rear seated passengers: they benefit from 183 mm of leg room. The footwell, the space dedicated to the rear passengers’ feet under the first-row seats, is designed to maximise freedom of movement; the seat design and seating angle are

    intended to give passengers the opportunity to make the most of their space for optimal comfort during trips.

    Connectivity is not left behind with the presence, from the Allure level, of 2 USB C charging ports at the back of the central console.

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 offers a 2-part (60/40) bench seat with a ski hatch as standard. In the GT trim, it benefits from an immediate folding system of its 2 parts by operating two easily accessible controls from the trunk sides.

    The boot volume of the new PEUGEOT E-408 is particularly generous, offering 471 dm3  of loading capacity. With the rear seats folded, the space available is further increased to 1,545 dm3. Once the bench seatback is folded down, it is possible to load an object up to 1.89 m long. For daily practicality, the boot area is equipped with a 12V socket located on the right boot trim, LED lighting, a net and storage elastic, and bag hooks.

    EXCELLENCE: A CONSTANT QUEST FOR EFFICIENCY, SAFETY, AND QUALITY

    Efficiency was at the heart of the PEUGEOT teams’ concerns throughout the design and development of the PEUGEOT E-408.

    Designed for a smooth energy transition

    The aerodynamics of the new PEUGEOT E-408 (SCx: 0.66) received particular attention. Bumpers, front air intake, underbody screen, and lower rear guards for the the front wheels. The new PEUGEOT E-408 also receives a specific underbody forming an aerodynamic flat floor, the result is a low electricity consumption of 15.2 kWh / 100 km and up to 453 km WLTP combined range according to the WLTP cycle.**

    The PEUGEOT E-408 is equipped with a high-voltage battery of 58,2 kWh usable. With NMC 811 technology – 80% Nickel, 10% Manganese, 10% Cobalt – it benefits from increased energy density with 18 onboard modules. The new PEUGEOT E-408 offers a range of 453 km in the WLTP mixed cycle, meeting the needs of most C-segment customers, whose typical daily mileage is under 45 km (Industry data).

    Regenerative braking allows for a smoother driving experience. Using the paddles behind the compact steering wheel, the driver can easily activate regenerative braking in 3 levels, the left paddle increases regeneration, and the right one decreases it… The three regeneration levels are: Low (-0.6 m/s²) for sensations close to a thermal vehicle, Moderate (-1.3 m/s²) for increased deceleration when releasing the accelerator pedal and, Increased (-2.0 m/s²) for maximum deceleration when releasing the accelerator pedal and thus maximum regeneration. The last two levels automatically illuminate the rear stop lights.

    The driver can also choose between three drive modes, depending on their priorities. Normal is the default mode, setting the power at 140 kW (190 hp) and torque at 300 Nm, offering an ideal balance between dynamism and range. The Sport mode (157 kW/210 hp and 345 Nm) is available for maximum performance and activates automatically and temporarily during “kick downs.” The ECO mode (125 kW/170 hp, 270 Nm) favours range while preserving driving pleasure.

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 is equipped as standard with a heat pump, as well as heated steering wheel and seats, optimizing passenger thermal comfort while preserving battery energy. A simple and fast recharge. For AC charging, the new PEUGEOT E-408 is equipped as standard with an 11 kW three-phase charger. For DC charging via superchargers, the PEUGEOT E-408 accepts power up to 120 kW, allowing a charge from 20% to 80% of the battery in just over 30 minutes (under nominal battery temperature conditions) and recovering 100 km of range in just over 10 minutes. To optimise charging, the driver can program the lower and upper thresholds from the PEUGEOT E-408’s central screen. For example, from 20% minimum charge to 80% maximum charge.

    Something for everyone

    Two plug-in hybrid engines are also available on the PEUGEOT 408:

    PLUG-IN HYBRID 225 e-EAT8: 2-wheel drive / combination of a 180 bhp (132 kW) turbo engine and an 81 kW electric motor coupled with the e-EAT8 8-speed automatic gearbox / currently undergoing homologation.

    PLUG-IN HYBRID 180 e-EAT8: 2-wheel drive / combination of a 150 bhp turbo engine (110kW) and an 81kW electric motor coupled with the 8-speed e-EAT8 automatic gearbox / currently undergoing homologation.

    The Li-ion battery on both plug-in hybrid versions has a capacity of 12.4kWh. Two types of on-board chargers are available: a 3.7kW single-phase charger as standard and an optional 7.4kW single-phase charger.

    Estimated charging times are the following:

    • From a 7.4kW Wall Box (32 A) and with the 7.4kW single-phase on-board charger, fully charged in 1 hour 40 minutes.
    • From a reinforced socket (14 A) and with the 3.7kW single-phase on-board charger, fully charged in 3 hours 55 minutes.
    • From a standard socket (8A) and with the single-phase on-board charger (3.7kW), full charging takes approximately 7 hours 05 minutes.

    One hybrid engine is available on the PEUGEOT 408:

    HYBRID 136 e-DCS6: 2-wheel drive / combination of a 136 hp turbo engine (100kW) and a 48V battery coupled with the 6-speed e-DCS6 automatic gearbox.

    This PEUGEOT HYBRID 48V system, which consists of a new-generation 136 hp petrol engine coupled with a dual-clutch 6-speed gearbox that incorporates an electric motor. Thanks to a battery that recharges while driving, this technology offers extra torque at low revs and a reduction of up to 15% in fuel consumption (5.2 l/100 km in WLTP mixed cycle**). In urban driving, the new 408 Hybrid 136 e-DCS6 can operate up to 50% of the time in 100% electric zero-emission mode.

    Maximum safety for optimal peace of mind

    Onboard the new PEUGEOT E-408, a comprehensive set of latest-generation driving aids, powered by information gathered from 5 cameras and 3 radars, secure and ease driving, maneuvers, and travel. Some of these systems are directly derived from higher segments:

    • Adaptive cruise control with Stop and Go function and adjustable inter-vehicle distance setting.
    • Automatic emergency braking with collision risk alert: it detects pedestrians and cyclists, day and night, from 7 km/h to 140 km/h depending on the version.
    • Active lane departure warning with trajectory correction.
    • Driver attention alert detecting vigilance issues during long drives and at speeds above 65 km/h, using steering wheel micro-movement analysis.
    • Extended recognition and display on the digital cluster of traffic signs: stop, no entry, no overtaking, end of no overtaking, in addition to the usual speed-related signs.
    • Long-range blind spot monitoring (75 metres).
    • Rear traffic alert: during reverse, alerts of approaching danger nearby.

    A clear and straightforward range

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 is available in two trims: Allure and GT

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 is available in two versions: Allure and GT.

    The PEUGEOT E-408 Allure comes standard with: LED headlights, 19” alloy wheels, PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® with a customisable 10” digital instrument cluster, connected navigation with trip planner, OK PEUGEOT voice command, wireless mirroring Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 6-speaker audio system, heated driver seat and steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, rear parking camera and sensors, heat pump, etc.

    The PEUGEOT E-408 GT comes standard with, in addition to the Allure version’s equipment: Matrix LED headlights, front parking sensors, PEUGEOT i-Cockpit® with a customisable 10” digital instrument cluster, aluminum interior trims with customisable 8-colour ambient lighting, aluminum door sills, hands-free motorised tailgate, Drive Assist Plus package (Level 2 semi-autonomous driving), etc.

    Superior quality

    The new PEUGEOT E-408 is positioned at the top of the C segment, offering ergonomics, quality, finish, and equipment worthy of higher categories.

    As on all its 100% electric models, PEUGEOT will offer its PEUGEOT Allure Care program on the new PEUGEOT E-408, which covers the electric motor, charger, transmission, and main electrical and mechanical components for up to 8 years or 160,000 kilometers. PEUGEOT Allure Care complements the specific PEUGEOT warranty that already applies to the high-voltage battery for 8 years/160,000 km to provide comprehensive vehicle coverage. PEUGEOT Allure Care activates automatically and free of charge every 2 years or 25,000 kilometers after each maintenance performed within the PEUGEOT network.

    Owners of the PEUGEOT E-408 will benefit from reduced maintenance constraints, with a service program every 2 years or 25,000 kilometers.

    *Some services may require a subscription.

    ** WLTP cycle under approval 

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Tunnel expansion project in Vigo – E-001950/2024

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001950/2024
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Ana Miranda Paz (Verts/ALE)

    The Vigo government has announced the extension of a tunnel in the city centre. The tender for the original tunnel was awarded in 2020 for EUR 13.4 million, which rose to EUR 16.6 million in 2023. Despite initially being a two-year project, the tunnel remains unfinished, with completion now slated for 2026 and forecast to cost EUR 20 million, 63 % more than it was first budgeted at.

    • 1.Given that road-traffic alternatives have been in place for the past few years, and that one of the aims of the Green Deal is to reduce the use of private vehicles in city centres, would the Commission agree that these works are unnecessary and contradictory?
    • 2.The works are contingent on an increase in funding that will ostensibly come from a reallocation of EU funds, all for a project that will not improve the air quality in a city that exceeds the EU’s 2030 legal limits for pollution. Does the Commission plan to monitor this likely misuse of EU funds?

    Submitted: 3.10.2024

    Last updated: 10 October 2024

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: New sidewalk in Canning

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    Canning, Nova Scotia, October 10, 2024 — Construction is beginning on a new sidewalk in the Village of Canning after an investment of more than $700,000 from the federal government.

    This new 630 metres of sidewalk will run along Summer Street between J Jordan Road and Chapel Road. The sidewalk will connect to other sidewalks in the village to create a safe route to the downtown core, a daycare, schools, a residential development, and recreation opportunities.

    Quotes

    “Our government is committed to investing in infrastructure that increases opportunities for Canadians to navigate their communities without relying on their cars, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and less traffic congestion. This new section of sidewalk in Canning will connect people to key services in the village and promote a healthy lifestyle by making it safer and easier to get around Canning as a pedestrian.”

    Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

    “The Canning Village Commission continues to support our community with updated infrastructure in our village. The funding assistance from the federal and provincial governments helped ensure that the new sidewalk along Summer Street could be completed. This sidewalk will ensure a safe accessible route for all pedestrians within our community.”

    Angela Cruickshank, Canning Village Commission Chair

    Quick facts

    • The federal government is investing $718,009 in this project through the Active Transportation Fund (ATF). The province and the municipality previously contributed to this project.

    • Active transportation refers to the movement of people or goods powered by human activity. It includes walking, cycling and the use of human-powered or hybrid mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, e-bikes, rollerblades, snowshoes, cross-country skis, and more.

    • In support of Canada’s National Active Transportation Strategy, the Active Transportation Fund is providing $400 million over five years, starting in 2021, to make travel by active transportation easier, safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable.

    • The National Active Transportation Strategy is the country’s first coast-to-coast-to-coast strategic approach for promoting active transportation and its benefits. The strategy’s aim is to make data-driven and evidence-based investments to build new and expanded active transportation networks, while supporting equitable, healthy, active, and sustainable travel options.

    • Investing in active transportation infrastructure provides many tangible benefits, such as creating good middle-class jobs, strengthening the economy, promoting healthier lifestyles, ensuring everyone has access to the same services and opportunities, cutting air and noise pollution, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

    • The new Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) will provide an average of $3 billion a year of permanent funding to respond to local transit needs by enhancing integrated planning, improving access to public transit and active transportation, and supporting the development of more affordable, sustainable, and inclusive communities. 

    • The CPTF supports transit and active transportation investments in three streams: Metro Region Agreements, Baseline Funding, and Targeted Funding.

    • We are currently accepting Expression of Interest submissions for Metro-Region Agreements and Baseline Funding. Visit the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada website for more information.

    • The funding announced today builds on the federal government’s work through the Atlantic Growth Strategy to create well-paying jobs and strengthen local economies.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    For more information (media only), please contact:

    Sofia Ouslis
    Communications Advisor
    Office of the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
    Sofia.ouslis@infc.gc.ca

    Media Relations
    Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
    613-960-9251
    Toll free: 1-877-250-7154
    Email: media-medias@infc.gc.ca
    Follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
    Web: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

    Ruth Pearson
    Clerk/Treasurer
    Village of Canning
    902-582-3768
    village.canning@xcountry.tv

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Brampton resident pleads guilty for failing to declare over $227,000 USD at Canadian border

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    October 10, 2024      Niagara on the Lake, Ontario   Canada Border Services Agency/Royal Canadian Mounted Police   

    In early October 2023, two travellers arrived at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Queenston Bridge port of entry in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Both travellers declared that they did not have more than $10,000 cash with them. Upon secondary examination, CBSA officers found $227,453 USD concealed in the vehicle. It was determined at the time with the exchange rate to have a value of over $312,200 CDN.

    The CBSA seized the currency under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and detained the occupants for suspicion of smuggling under the Customs Act. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Unit then began a criminal investigation which identified the cash as belonging to the passenger of the car.

    Chandrakant Patel (56) of Brampton was charged with:

    • Fail to declare currency greater than $10,000.00 contrary to Section 12(1) of the PCMLTFA.

    On September 9, 2024, Patel pled guilty to the charge.

    The RCMP is committed to working with its partners to protect the residents and communities of Canada. Collaboration with the CBSA continues to provide positive results for Canada. The RCMP also acknowledges the hard work of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) for the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.

    Additional multimedia

    Quotes

    “The Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Program is committed to working with our partners, the CBSA and FINTRAC, on joint concerns and responsibilities. This investigation highlights our dedication to working together to stop money laundering across our country.”

    ~ Sgt. Lepa Jankovic, Non-commissioned Officer in charge, Niagara-on-the-Lake detachment.

    “Stopping currency obtained through proceeds of crime from crossing borders is part of the commitment of the Canada Border Services Agency to keep our communities safe. This seizure and investigation demonstrates the consequences for smugglers, and those perpetuating the cycle of organized crime.”

    ~ Christine Durocher, Regional Director General, Southern Ontario Region, Canada Border Services Agency

    Quick facts

    • For the latest enforcement statistics, visit Canada Border Services Agency seizures.

    • Travelling with CAD$10,000 or more? Sending it by mail or courier? Declare it.

    • The RCMP Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Unit is tasked with the prevention and detection of cross-border smuggling both to and from Canada. This unit supports four CBSA ports of entry and works jointly with the CBSA on larger criminal investigations that start at the port. The unit is also tasked with protecting the border area between the ports from Cobourg on Lake Ontario to Port Burwell on Lake Erie. The members of the unit will often be found in boats ensuring vessels are complying with reporting requirements when entering Canada. 

    • The CBSA works closely in an investigative capacity with its law enforcement partners such as the RCMP, and other domestic and international law enforcement partners, to combat the impact that cross-border criminal activity is having on our communities.

    • If you have any information related to smuggling, drug importation, trafficking, or possession, or wish to report other criminality, you can contact the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, the confidential CBSA Border Watch toll-free line at 1-888-502-9060 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), at any time.

    Contacts

    RCMP O Division (Ontario)
    Communications & Media Relations
    media.relations.rcmp-Ontario-relations.medias.grc@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

    Website: RCMP in Ontario
    X: @RCMPONT
    Facebook: RCMP.Ontario
    Instagram: rcmpontario
    YouTube: RCMPGRCPOLICE

    Canada Border Services Agency
    Media Relations
    media@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca 
    1-877-761-5945 or 613-957-6500

    Website:  http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
    X: @CanBorderSOR
    Facebook: CanBorder
    Instagram: CanBorder
    YouTube:  CanBorder

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canadian Coast Guard to start oil removal operation from historic shipwreck in Grenville Channel, British Columbia

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced the award of a $4.9 million contract to Resolve Marine to remove oil from historic shipwreck USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, which sunk in Grenville Channel (northern British Columbia). The Canadian Coast Guard is working closely with Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations and will be on scene to manage the response.

    October 10, 2024

    Victoria, British Columbia – The Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canada’s oceans and waterways, and is taking action to address the threat posed by wrecked, abandoned and hazardous vessels.

    Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced the award of a $4.9 million contract to Resolve Marine to remove oil from historic shipwreck USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, which sunk in Grenville Channel (northern British Columbia). The Canadian Coast Guard is working closely with Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations and will be on scene to manage the response.

    The M.G. Zalinski struck a rock near Pitt Island in 1946, while transporting army supplies and heavy fuel oil from Seattle, Washington, to Whittier, Alaska, as part of the war effort. Over the years, the Canadian Coast Guard has monitored the vessel and in 2013, removed all of the bulk oil that was accessible at that time. Since then, the ship’s structure has continued to deteriorate, causing previously inaccessible fuel tanks to collapse. This new state of deterioration poses a significant risk of releasing a large amount of oil into the marine environment.

    While the current amount of fuel upwelling from the shipwreck is minimal, the Canadian Coast Guard is taking action now to prevent long-term damage to areas of significant cultural value and to the marine environment.

    Resolve Marine will use a process called “hot tapping” to reduce the volume of fuel in the tanks. First, drainage valves are attached to the hull, then a hose will be connected to the valves and the fuel will be pumped out into holding tanks on a barge. The hot-tap method has been used successfully on shipwrecks for many years, including during the Canadian Coast Guard’s successful response to the historic Nootka Sound shipwreck, the MV Schiedyk, in 2021. Given the nature of the operation, there is a small risk of a release of oil while draining. Canadian Coast Guard personnel are on-site and ready to respond if needed.

    Work is scheduled to begin in mid October and is expected to take several weeks.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Salisbury, Moncton — Two individuals charged in connection with September 16 Alert Ready

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Two individuals have been charged in connection with a firearm-related incident that initiated an Alert Ready for the Salisbury and Moncton areas on September 16, 2024.

    On October 9, 2024, 19-year-old Zander Jones was arrested in Waterloo, Ontario. He was transported to New Brunswick where he appeared in Moncton Provincial Court on October 10, 2024, and charged with discharge of a firearm with intent. He was remanded into custody and is scheduled to reappear in court on November 13, 2024.

    On October 2, 2024, the 15-year-old boy who was previously arrested appeared in Moncton Provincial Court and was also charged with discharge of a firearm with intent. He was remanded into the custody of the courts, and is scheduled to reappear in court on October 15, 2024.

    The female youth, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested in Moncton on September 27, 2024. She was subsequently released on conditions.

    Another male youth who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested in Colpitts Settlement on September 16, 2024. He was subsequently released on conditions.

    Police are still trying to locate a fifth individual, 18-year-old Olivia Cotton, from Moncton, in connection with the ongoing investigation. She is described as being approximately five feet six inches (172 centimeters) tall and weighing approximately 97 pounds (44 kilograms). She has brown eyes and brown hair.

    Police also continue to search for a silver 2023 Ford F150 pickup truck. At the time of the incident, it was described as being covered in mud, with possible Nova Scotia licence plate HDC 958.

    Anyone who has information on Olivia Cotton’s whereabouts or the vehicle is asked to contact the New Brunswick RCMP at 888-506-RCMP (7267). Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips at http://www.crimenb.ca.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: California Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Law Enforcement with a Weapon and Other Charges During January 6 Capitol Breach

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

              WASHINGTON – A California man pleaded guilty on Oct. 9, 2024, to assaulting law enforcement with a weapon and other charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

              Jerry Daniel Braun, 70, of South El Monte, California, pleaded guilty to six felonies, including one count of civil disorder; two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, including one count involving the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon; one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; one count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and one count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

              In addition to the felonies, Braun also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building or Grounds and one count of committing an act of physical violence in a Capitol Building or Grounds. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly will sentence Braun on Jan. 27, 2025.

              According to the government’s evidence, Braun traveled from California to Washington, D.C., and attended the “Stop the Steal” near the Ellipse. Braun then made his way toward the Capitol building and arrived in the area near the Garfield Circle around 12:53 p.m. He then entered the restricted area and advanced with a crowd of rioters toward a police line on the West Plaza. Braun then made his way to the front of the crowd of rioters, lowered his head, and pushed with the crowd against the police line.

              At approximately 1:11 p.m., several rioters began to attack the line of police officers and dragged one officer into the mob. There, with the officer and rioters at his feet, Braun twice raised and swung a cane down at the individuals on the ground. Shortly after this incident, Braun approached a line of officers, pointed at them, and shouted, “F— you, traitor!” and “F— traitor. Traitor!” He then yelled, “We pay your f— pay!”

              At about 1:13 p.m., law enforcement reinforcements arrived to expel rioters from the restricted area of the Capitol. In an attempt to control the crowd, authorities established a line of bike rack barricades to push the crowd back. Some in the crowd, including Braun, attempted to wrestle a section of the barricades away from police. Braun then used his cane to strike the bike rack barrier multiple times.

              Later, at about 1:27 p.m., Braun picked up an eight-foot-long wooden 2×4 beam from the West Plaza and began to use the beam to point and thrust at police. On one occasion, Braun turned the beam vertically and used it to thrust into the line of police officers. Braun then used the beam to jab a person holding a camera wearing a helmet labeled “PRESS”. Braun then approached this person and struck them on the head with his left hand before again jabbing them with the beam.  Braun remained inside the restricted perimeter until at least 4:00 p.m.

              The FBI arrested Braun on April 12, 2022, in California.

              The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided valuable assistance.

              This case was investigated by the FBI’s Los Angeles and Washington Field Offices. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

              In the 45 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

              Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Road blocked, SH32, Whakamaru Road

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Whakamaru Road, State Highway 32, is blocked following a serious crash this morning.

    Emergency services are in attendance of a two-vehicle crash, reported at around 6.30am.

    Initial indications suggest there are serious injuries.

    The road is blocked, motorists are advised to follow diversions and expect delays.

    ENDS

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Red Pheasant First Nation — Saskatchewan RCMP responding to robbery with a firearm

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    Saskatchewan RCMP are currently responding to a report of a robbery with a firearm on Red Pheasant First Nation. An adult female has been taken to hospital with injuries described as non-life threatening. No other injuries were reported to police.

    Police advise that there are two suspects, a male and a female. They may be armed and are dangerous. The suspects were last seen driving a 2019 Dodge Ram truck, Warlock edition. The truck has the word “O’Brien” or “O’Brian” on the back window and Saskatchewan license plate 716 LWG. We do not have any further description of the suspects at this time.

    Investigators have reason to believe the suspects may be travelling to Saskatoon, but their current whereabouts are unknown. Saskatchewan RCMP continues to investigate.

    We are asking the public to report any suspicious activity or people in the Red Pheasant First Nation and Saskatoon areas to police. If anyone sees the vehicle matching the above description they are asked to contact their local police or police of jurisdiction immediately. Call 9-1-1 in emergencies or 310-RCMP in non-emergencies.

    We will provide an update when we have more information available. If an imminent risk to public safety is identified, we will notify the public.

    Report all information about this incident to your local police by calling 310-RCMP.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Niagara on the Lake — Brampton resident pleads guilty for failing to declare over $227,000 USD at Canadian border

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    In early October 2023, two travellers arrived at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Queenston Bridge port of entry in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Both travellers declared that they did not have more than $10,000 cash with them. Upon secondary examination, CBSA officers found $227,453.00 USD concealed in the vehicle. It was determined at the time with the exchange rate to have a value of over $312,200.00 CDN.

    The CBSA seized the currency under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and detained the occupants for suspicion of smuggling under the Customs Act. The RCMP Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Unit then began a criminal investigation which identified the cash as belonging to the passenger of the car.

    Chandrakant Patel (56) of Brampton was charged with:

    • Fail to declare currency greater than $10,000.00 contrary to Section 12(1) of the PCMLTFA

    On September 9, 2024, Patel pled guilty to the charge.

    The RCMP is committed to working with our partners to protect the residents and communities of Canada. Our collaboration with the CBSA continues to provide positive results for Canada. The RCMP also acknowledges the hard work of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) for the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.

    “The Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Program is committed to working with our partners, the CBSA and FINTRAC, on joint concerns and responsibilities. This investigation highlights our dedication to working together to stop money laundering across our country.”

    • Sgt. Lepa Jankovic, Non-commissioned Officer in charge, Niagara-on-the-Lake detachment.

    “Stopping currency obtained through proceeds of crime from crossing borders is part of the commitment of the Canada Border Services Agency to keep our communities safe. This seizure and investigation demonstrates the consequences for smugglers, and those perpetuating the cycle of organized crime.”

    • Christine Durocher, Regional Director General, Canada Border Services Agency, Southern Ontario Region

    Fast facts

    The RCMP Niagara-on-the-Lake Border Integrity Unit is tasked with the prevention and detection of the cross-border smuggling both to and from Canada. This unit supports four CBSA ports of entry by conducting larger criminal investigations that start at the port. The unit is also tasked with protecting the border area between the ports from Cobourg on Lake Ontario to Port Burwell on Lake Erie. The members of the unit will often be found in boats ensuring vessels are complying with reporting requirements when entering Canada.

    The CBSA works closely in an investigative capacity with our law enforcement partners such as the RCMP, and other domestic and international law enforcement partners, to combat the impact that cross border criminal activity is having on our communities.

    If you have any information related to smuggling, drug importation, trafficking, or possession, or wish to report other criminality, you can contact the Ontario RCMP at 1-800-387-0020, the confidential CBSA Border Watch toll-free line at 1-888-502-9060 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), at any time.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Arrington Introduces Resolution Exposing Kamala Harris’ Disastrous Energy Policies

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19)

    Washington, D.C. – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) introduced a resolution “strongly condemning Vice President Kamala Harris for championing policies that would exacerbate the national debt and reduce energy independence.”

    “Issuing 250 anti-energy executive orders, the Biden-Harris Administration led a whole-of-government attack on the oil and gas industry – an industry that employs 10 million people and accounts for almost 10 percent of our total economy – which have resulted in higher gas prices, a weaker economy, and more dependence on foreign sources of fuel,” said Chairman Arrington. “A Kamala Harris presidency would be much worse. As Senator, she was an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal, which would cost the federal government $93 trillion over 10 years and increase annual household energy costs by 31%. As a presidential candidate, she advocated to ban fracking, and, as Vice President, supported an $800 billion dollar EV mandate. I introduced this legislation to remind the American people that Kamala Harris’ energy policies would be disastrous for the American economy, threaten our energy and national security, and significantly increase energy costs for American consumers.” 

    “From day one, the Biden–Harris administration has been obsessed with banning gas stoves, gas cars, and other sources of clean, affordable energy—no matter the cost for families,” said Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action. “Americans shouldn’t forget: Vice President Kamala Harris is a vocal supporter of radical ‘Green New Deal’ policies that lower energy efficiency and drive up costs. Conservatives in Congress must follow Rep. Arrington’s lead and continue to call out Harris’s climate alarmist agenda and fight back against her war on American energy independence.”  

    Background:

    Chairman Arrington’s resolution lays out:

    • The Federal Government has a debt of $35 trillion, amounting to a 120 percent debt-to-gross domestic product ratio not seen since World War II;
    • Energy independence and security in the United States is critical to the national security of the United States;
    • In 2019, then-Senator from California, Kamala Harris, was an original cosponsor of S. Res. 59, a resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal, a proposal which, if implemented in its entirety, would cost the Federal Government $93,000,000,000,000 over 10 years;
    • A July 2019 analysis found that through 2040, the Green New Deal would reduce the annual employment in the United States by 1,200,000, reduce average annual household incomes by $7,964, and increase annual household energy costs by 31-percent, while having a negligible effect on reducing global surface temperatures;
    • Then-Senator Harris, as a candidate for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination, proposed her own climate plan that would cost American taxpayers approximately $10,000,000,000,000 over 10 years; 
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan called for a 100 percent electric vehicle mandate by the year 2035, banning combustion-engine vehicles, reducing automotive supply employment, and becoming more reliable on battery component and critical mineral imports from China;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan would significantly increase energy costs for consumers in the United States by banning extraction on Federal lands and phasing out all oil and natural gas production, even if renewable alternatives are not readily available to make up the energy demand needs of the United States;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan would double the financial contributions of the United States to the international Green Climate Fund;
    • Then-Senator Harris’s climate plan calls for the Federal Government to acquire millions of acres of private land in the United States; and
    • Then-Senator Harris said during a CNN town hall that she was ‘‘in favor of banning fracking.’’

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Transcript: World Mental Health Day Festival

    Source: US State of New York

    Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul participated in a fireside chat at The Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health Day Festival. World Mental Health Day was established on October 10, 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health. Since then, it has been observed every year with the aim of raising awareness in the global community about critical mental health agendas through collaboration with various partners to take action and create lasting change.

    VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and available in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

    AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

    PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor’s Flickr page.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: Good morning, everyone. Good morning, and thank you so much for joining us on this World Mental Health Day. We are excited to have this conversation with regard to mental health — America’s fraying social fabric — which is such a necessary and worthwhile conversation to have. And we are so glad to have with us Kathy Hochul, the 57th Governor of New York — first female Governor of New York.

    Governor Hochul: Yes. Thank you, everybody.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And not only do we have in her an advocate when it comes to mental health reform, but also with abortion rights and gun safety and beyond. But in particular, today we’re going to really talk about the status of mental health when it comes to our youth both in the State of New York and beyond, because a number of the initiatives that you’ve actually started are really a model that the rest of the country is looking at and implementing. And so, we just thank you so much for taking the time to have this really critical and necessary conversation.

    You know, it’s been said that if you’re not afraid, you’re not paying attention. And I think that is certainly true of these times when we think about — whether it’s natural disasters or the global conflict in Ukraine or Israel, and the slightly contentious election for President that we’re in the midst of — but all of these have ramifications when it comes to our young people. And I want to get to that larger crisis that’s taking place, but first I want to talk about — further compounding all of this — is that there are still lingering effects from COVID-19.

    Governor Hochul: That’s exactly right. I would put that at the top of the list of what maybe precipitated this unusual time in our history where we’re finding that childhood is no longer a time of joy. It is enormously stressful. And to see kids in middle school and high school in particular that are really devolving into a dark place — and this is not from me reading books. This is from me spending two years on the road convening young people in libraries and classrooms and different community centers all over the State, and asking them what’s going on. Why are these statistics that we’re seeing about — particularly young women contemplating suicide and actually following through with it — happening? The depression, the anxiety — all these parallel factors are going on at a time when people are not recovered from the pandemic.

    And I say that to adults and they don’t even think about it anymore because their resiliency was baked into them. As adults, you’ve been through a lot. When you are a 12-year-old or a 16-year-old, you don’t have those natural coping skills. And those kids today are still talking about the pandemic that we have put in the rear view mirror.

    But parallel with that was the rise in social media algorithms that are addictive. So, this was the imperfect storm that — the collision of which — has affected the mental health of our kids, and we have to do something about it because we’re the adults in the room, we’re the adults in their lives and they’re asking us, as one young woman said to me, “You have to save us from ourselves. We cannot put down the phones, we cannot break the addiction.” And I have to do something. I’m the first woman governor, but also I’m the first mom governor whose kids have gone through this, and I see so many family members and so, I applaud you. And also Project Healthy Mind for putting a spotlight on something that four or five years ago I don’t think there would have been as much interest in, but now even the Surgeon General has declared this a crisis. And we, in leadership positions, have no option but to act, and I’ve been doing this for years.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And when you talk about the stress, anxiety, uncertainty in particular that kids are feeling — give us an idea of some of the initiatives, some of the specific steps that your administration is taking.

    Governor Hochul: Well, number one, when I first became governor three years ago, I knew that there’s still a stigma about seeking help. I mean, I’ve been working on this in the addictive space — opioid addiction — and so people don’t want to get help. Mental health, it seems like you’re admitting a weakness if you seek help. I’m glad to see there’s been an evolution where more people are open about it and talking about it on social media platforms and podcasts, and programs like this that allow people to feel more comfortable with the fact that we’re all imperfect. Sometimes we need help at different points in our lives. But when it came down to what I could do as governor — $1 billion I put on the table. I said, “This means we’re serious.” The whole array of services, whether it’s in schools — which I think is one of the most important places [for there to be] mental health services and clinics inside our schools — to help kids who are starting to show signs of fraying from the stress. If we help them now, we don’t have to commit them to a lifetime of needing services and help later. So, it’s right in the classroom, all the way to dealing with the challenge of homelessness and mental health challenges on our subways — we have embedded teams that are professionals, they’re caring, I’ve met with them so many times, I’ve been there with them — they meet individuals who others may walk by and be afraid of and say, “You know, that person could do harm to myself or my baby in the stroller. I’m a senior citizen going to a doctor’s appointment.” There’s a fear that’s embedded in all of us when you see something that is unknown to you.

    So, let’s get people help. They do not deserve to live on the subways and in our streets; we get them supportive housing so there’s money involved in that as well; opening up more mental health beds.

    During the pandemic — people don’t know this — thousands of beds dedicated for providing mental health services in our hospitals were converted to COVID beds. And then afterward I said, “Well, why aren’t they all back online? I’m tracking the numbers. Why do we have such a shortage in places like New York City? Why is there a shortage of hospital beds available to treat people who need these services?” Well, it turns out that the reimbursement rates were higher for a hospital, more profit could be made if you kept them as non-psychiatric beds because those costs are higher.

    So I said, “That’s not okay.” I closed the gap so they can make the money they need to make on Medicaid provided beds, so that was taken care of. And also making those — bringing them back online. So it’s everything from the classroom to reducing the stigma in countless ways, programs like this, money for programming and supportive services.

    Everything we can think of, we’re trying to do. But my job is to make sure we don’t start another whole generation of young people who are held captive to these algorithms. We have nation leading legislation, and I’ll tell you, taking on the tech companies is not the easiest thing in life to do, but we forced them to adhere to what we’re saying in New York.

    In New York State, as a result of laws that I enacted just a few months ago and with the support of Common Sense Media and other great organizations and our advocates, no longer can social media companies unsolicited — and bombard young people with addictive algorithms without them asking for it. Their parents have to be okay with that. I don’t think too many parents are going to say that’s okay.

    They also cannot send notifications all night long to our kids who need a good night’s sleep. They’re exhausted. You don’t function at a high level as an adult, but certainly not a young person supposed to sit for eight hours a day and be paying attention when you haven’t slept at night because you cannot put down that addictive feature, which is your phone.

    And so that’s where we are now, and again, talking about what’s happening in schools. Stood up to the social media companies. We are a tech society. We are a tech state. We’re a tech city. I welcome the tech companies. This is not an ‘us against them,’ it is saying, “You know better. You are all executives who probably have children. Do you really want your kids to be seeing these dark images and being drawn into places?”

    You put in the word ‘suicide,’ it’s not teaching you how to get help and supportive and uplifting messages to help you heal, it teaches you how to commit suicide. That’s what I’m talking about. There are messages that are not appropriate for young people.

    They can, on their own, go to social media sites, but don’t be taking personal information you have collected about a child that you have gathered, and now use that to hold them captive. That’s the cycle we’re going to break here in the State of New York, and I hope every other state follows suit.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And these are, as you’ve said — yes, there’s applause there — first in the nation social media laws that you are taking to protect our children. But beyond that, you just finished a listening tour with regard to — I guess, that has informed some of your decisions to try to have this initiative to ban cell phones in schools. I’m curious what made you decide, “You know what, we have to do this,” and what has been the reaction, the feedback that you’ve been getting?

    Governor Hochul: Great question. Again, I wanted to hear from parents, teachers, students themselves, administrators, school boards, principals, everybody. So, these are the people I’ve been gathering.

    And what I have universally heard is that school districts and school boards don’t want to be the heavies. They know this should happen, and those who are courageous enough to go forward already, and some school districts have, I know Lackawanna in Western New York, where I was born in the City of Lackawanna, they’ve done it; there’s a number in Westchester; Schoharie County was the first that I could think of that had a widespread unveiling of this. They said it was hard at first, and parents were resistant. Teachers didn’t know what would happen, they didn’t want to be the cell phone police, they wanted to just teach. But they are the happiest school district in our state — I’m going to go out on a limb here. Because the school superintendent said to me, “We heard something we haven’t heard in years, children’s voices – children’s voices at lunch, physical education, in the hallways.”

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: They’re actually interacting with each other.

    Governor Hochul: They’re talking, they’re sometimes yelling at each other. Sometimes there’s things — he says, “They’re not always friendly.” But he says, “And they’re making eye contact with each other.” I mean, think about what happens when you spend your day like this. You lose those human interaction skills that we expect young people to graduate from school having developed. And what happens to an 18-year-old, who does not have that because we’ve allowed this phenomenon and this distraction all day long. And they don’t develop that. When they go to a workplace, they want to get a job at Hudson Yards and be part of a team and, and the creative collisions that come up with the brilliant ideas that New York City is known for. It’s not going to happen because we’ve not allowed them to emerge as fully functioning adults by letting this distraction – And teachers, I’ll tell you, when I say distraction — 74 percent of teachers in the United States of America say this is such a distraction they want them gone because they’re in competition. One teacher said, “I don’t even want to teach anymore. I’m in competition with this cell phone, and they’re not looking at me, they’re not paying attention. I’m trying to create a bond and a relationship with them. And I, by the end of this school year, I’ve thrown in the towel, I can’t do this anymore.” So the teachers want it. School districts want me to be the heavy. I said, “I get blamed for everything anyhow, just add it to the list, right?” It’s like, “I can take it, don’t worry about me.” So I said, “I’ll be the heavy because this is right.”

    The parents are the ones you worry about, right? And I’m a mom. My kids were in middle school during Columbine. So that shapes how you feel, that insecurity when the most, you know, your most precious person in the world to you is your child going off to kindergarten. And again, I still sometimes think about how I cried for days when my kid’s going off to kindergarten. Then they go off to college, it’s like, bye, give us a call once in a while.

    So, but, it’s hard. And when you see this — the shootings, the mass shootings, we did an event with Gabby Giffords yesterday on gun violence, and thank you for raising that. We have the toughest gun laws in the country, by the way, and the lowest — third lowest homicide rate by the — third lowest in the nation. So that’s another focus, but it ties into anxiety that parents have and they feel now that because they have to be connected with their kids all day long and, and especially if there’s a crisis on the school grounds. There’s the worst nightmare of all: a school shooter on the loose near your child. I also was thinking, well, maybe this is going be too hard for parents because, you know, it’s a lot to ask and they’re going to be worried.

    When I talk to law enforcement, and they said to me, “Tell the parents and we’ll tell them — if there is an active shooter on the grounds, in the building — the last thing you want your child to be doing is looking for their cell phone, starting to record things, talking to their friends, calling their parents.” He said, “They need to be focused on the adult in the room who will lead them to safety.” And that was my aha moment. I said, “You’re right. Parents need to know that.” So, there’s that safety issue, but also, my kids are adults now. They didn’t have cellphones in school. They’re — it did not happen during their era. Our job is not to raise kids. Our job is to raise adults. Fully functioning adults who know how to interact with others, who are not so attached to their parents every hour of the day throughout school. At some point, you do have to cut the cord. The apron strings as they used to say. No one knows what an apron is anymore, so I don’t say that. I had to make one at Home Ec because they wouldn’t teach us real skills, okay? I wanted to work on cars, with the guys in the shop, but they didn’t let us, okay? So, you have to cut the ties at some point.

    And one first grade teacher said to me, and I love talking to teachers, she says, “I’m fed up with the fact that every child, every six-year-old in my first grade class, has a smartwatch on that the parents send so they can be in touch with their child throughout the day, and they’re like, ‘Oh, the teacher was mean to me, Mommy.’”

    They said they’re getting phone calls from parents: “‘I just got sent to the office.’ Why are you sending my little girl to the office?” So, it’s not functioning. And so, parents, I know it’s hard because you need to go back to a time when you grew up, your parents did not keep track of you all day long. You did not have them as a crutch. And my God, if you forgot your lunch, two options: Borrow one of your friends, see if you can share a sandwich, or the next day, don’t forget. And you won’t forget the next day, right? Oh, because I hear that. “What if they forget their lunch? What if they have to make their after school plans?” Well, we’ll give them the phone back after school and maybe they’ll learn the skill of pre-planning their day. So, I want them to learn coping skills, resiliency and emerge as part of our New York State workforce — fully functioning — and we are the barriers because we’re not being the heavies and saying no, and that’s the path I’m on. I have to work with our Legislature. I have to do a lot more education on this because it’s a change. But, none of us had it and we turned out okay, right?

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: I want to switch gears here for a minute because we are talking about — obviously, in the news — the devastation from Hurricane Milton, and when it comes to national disaster relief, quite often we’re talking about money to build homes and jobs back again, food and all of that. But, when it comes to mental health assistance, what do you think the role of the state and federal government is at that point?

    Governor Hochul: They’re absolutely right about the devastation — so many New Yorkers have a connection to Florida, right? My father’s home, my sister’s home, my brother’s home and my aunt’s home — all in St. Petersburg, heavily damaged. My aunt’s home was already demolished two weeks ago. So, we have connections that are tighter than most other states, so I immediately sent our resources. I said, “Tell the governor we’re on our way.” And, we sent helicopters, search and rescue — 65 people are down there now, we’ll send more.

    So, there’s that side of it, but the trauma inflicted on a community after an event like this is something we cannot overlook. This is like a community that has gone through a mass shooting. I refer back to Buffalo again. We had to provide mental health services to the survivors of the Tops shooting when ten people were gunned down and slaughtered in a grocery store in 2022 because of the color of their skin, and that’s what that white supremacist 18-year-old said he was going to do.

    That community is trying to heal, but you need to provide services so we went in, our mental health teams went in to help them heal. The same thing should happen in communities where you see these people sobbing, standing their whole — everything they’ve built their whole lives, the baby pictures are in a puddle on the street and their wedding album and their clothes.

    It is so hard to see your whole life wiped away, and if we don’t think that has an effect on your mental health and your sense of security forever, then we are wrong. So, we need to be more intentional and provide resources to local social service agencies and say, “Once the storm is cleaned up, don’t assume their lives are cleaned up — that they’re back to normal.” And so, being sensitive to that in government is the smart way to do it. These people need our help and that’s what government is there to do.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: And we’re just about out of time, but I do want to ask one last question — which I think is a large overarching issue — which is, how do you destigmatize the idea of mental health? Because, a lot of people still — there is a fear or an embarrassment that I need a little help. I need to talk to somebody about this.

    Governor Hochul: That’s when you get the validators that people trust. It’s the hip hop artists, it’s the athletes, it’s the people that, people are watching their — I watch “Only Murders in the Building.” I mean, is that building actually here? I can’t find it. I keep walking around.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: I think it’s on the Upper West Side.

    Governor Hochul: Okay, I keep walking around trying to find it. I walk around the City all the time. No one knows it’s me, because I can put on a baseball hat and jeans and no one knows who I am, so it’s great. So, I’m always walking around doing things.

    But, more people who do that — I think because we are a society that’s impacted by influencers— Taylor Swift talks about it. I think that’s an important part of it because it’s really hard to break out of that, especially for men, I believe. But I’m really proud of even family members who say, “I have my weekly check in telehealth services with my therapist.” like, thank you. That’s smart, and tell your other friends you’re doing that.

    And I do think that the telehealth services help destigmatize. You don’t have to get up and go into an office and sit in a waiting room, and you might know somebody and you’re all kind of like — I think that’s a brilliant innovation that creates accessibility, even on your cell phone. I’ve got my appointment, I can talk to somebody.

    So, it has gotten much easier and stigma is a powerful negative force on people who should be seeking help. Whether it’s from fentanyl addiction, or opioid addiction. I did commercials on this when I was Lieutenant Governor, trying to destigmatize getting help for those addictions and services that are provided.

    Same thing with mental health. So, there’s not one answer, but forums like this, sharing information — I just talked about mental health on a podcast not long ago, and it’s getting out there. So, I will do my role. Anything I can do in state government, you know. Whether it’s public awareness campaigns, we always are doing this, but I’m open to ideas. I really am.

    We don’t have all the answers, and I want to be helpful. I want to be not just investing, the government investing the most money ever, but having the best results. And it is my state where people dealt with the epicenter of the pandemic, we have to recognize that.

    And we’re the ones who are very anxious about crime. I can tell everybody in the whole City that the crime rates, the murder rate in New York City is almost as low as it was in the 1960s. We have plummeted. Shootings are way down — but I can’t tell you to feel good about that. And that’s what we wrestle with. I want to change the psychology around this and it’s hard, but we have to take it on and say, “I want people to feel good about the City.” Not just, “I’m supposed to feel better because the numbers are down.” I don’t expect that. What I want to do is make people feel that they’re safer, that their kids are going to be okay. And just try to remove some of the stress that is part of everyday life here, because this is an extraordinary place.

    And the benefits so outweigh the negative, and we have to keep focusing on the positive — because life is good. And people sometimes just need a little bit of help, and pulling them upwards and letting them grow. Letting them just really flourish, you know? And mental health is such an important part, it’s the foundation of everything. It’s everything.

    Linsey Davis, ABC News: Well, I think that forums like this, conversations like this, are so helpful. And step one, two three, right? Just to talk about it.

    And we appreciate so much you taking this time — your leadership and the initiatives that you have in order to try to make things better in particular, not just for us, but for our youth. And by extension of our youth, for all of us as the adults. So, we thank you so much. And we thank all of you for being such very intensive listeners today.

    And we do want to remind everybody here — I say it to you as I say it to myself as well, that we have to keep mental health top of mind, right? That is just as important as any other aspect of our wellness.

    And so, again, on this mental health day. We just thank you all so much for taking the time to be together.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cole Mourns the Passing of Chairman Dave Hobson of Ohio

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Olivia Porcaro 202-225-6165

    Washington, D.C. – Today, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma released the following statement while mourning the passing of a former member of the Appropriations Committee and the one time subcommittee chair of Energy and Water, “Cardinal”, Dave Hobson of Ohio:

    “Dave Hobson was a legislator’s legislator and a master Appropriator. I first met him when he was a freshman Representative from his beloved Ohio and I was a young Executive Director of the NRCC. We struck up a friendship that spanned more than thirty years.

    “When I finally ran for Congress in 2002 Dave was one of the first Members of Congress to help me in the general election. And I recall him telling me, ‘Tom, when you get here I want you to think about joining the Appropriations Committee.’ I never forgot his wise advice.

    “Dave began educating me about the Appropriations process before I ever reached the committee. By happenstance we lived in the same building in Alexandria and we both generally left early and came home late, which gave us time to talk about the committee, how it worked and why I ought to try to get there. 

    “In the tough political year of 2008, Dave helped me while I chaired the NRCC. When he announced his intention to retire he told me, ‘Tom, don’t worry about my seat. I will make sure we have a candidate who will win it.’ He was as good as his word.

    “When I finally reached the Appropriations Committee Dave was gone, but he kept in touch and was an invaluable advisor, especially when I became Chairman of one of our most difficult subcommittees, “Labor H”. 

    “Dave Hobson was one of those old school legislators who the media and most Americans beyond his constituents never know. But he and Members like him make Congress work — reaching across the aisle, pushing for causes that matter to most Americans far more than the ideological slogans of the day and displaying personal decency and bipartisanship on a daily basis.

    “I extend my deepest sympathy to Dave’s beloved wife Carolyn and his extended family and many friends. We have lost a great public servant and a man of character, common sense and good humor. And, like all those who knew Dave, I have lost a good friend,” said Congressman Cole
     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: New West Wyalong key worker accommodation set to welcome health staff

    Source: New South Wales Government 2

    Headline: New West Wyalong key worker accommodation set to welcome health staff

    Published: 10 October 2024

    Released by: Minister for Regional Health

    Healthcare workers in West Wyalong can now access modern, fit-for-purpose accommodation, with three new units completed at West Wyalong Health Service, delivered as part of the NSW Government’s Key Worker Accommodation (KWA) Program.

    The three units are located on the hospital grounds, and will provide a safe, modern and comfortable place for healthcare workers who have relocated to West Wyalong and are still establishing themselves in the community.

    The pre-manufactured units were delivered in August, with the connection of services, furnishing, fencing and landscaping now complete. 

    Each unit is fully furnished and self-contained, and features a screened verandah, light-filled living and dining area, modern kitchen, bedroom with ensuite, and internal laundry.  Parking spaces and secure access are also provided.  

    West Wyalong Health Service is expecting the first occupants to move into the accommodation units shortly. 

    The Murrumbidgee Local Health District is one of three regional local health districts to benefit from the NSW Government’s $45.3 million investment to deliver accommodation for health workers under the KWA Program. 

    New accommodation units are also being delivered at Finley, Leeton and Narrandera, with units expected to be delivered to these sites before the end of the year.  

    Quotes attributable to Regional Health Minister Ryan Park: 

    “It’s exciting to see these units fully established on the West Wyalong Health Service site after being manufactured offsite and delivered on the back of trucks only two months ago.

    “Ensuring these units are available removes a barrier to finding accommodation for healthcare workers wanting to work at West Wyalong Health Service, meaning recruiting and retaining staff will be easier.

    “Recruitment is one of the biggest challenges facing rural and regional hospitals across Australia, which is why we are committing a further $200.1 million to increase key health worker accommodation in the state.”

    Quotes attributable to Labor Spokesperson for Cootamundra Stephen Lawrence MLC: 

    “Affordable, accessible accommodation is a key factor in attracting and retaining health workers and I am looking forward to the West Wyalong community welcoming the first workers into the units and the health service.

    “Investments like this underpin the Minns Labor Government’s focus on strengthening and supporting our highly skilled health workforce to ensure NSW’s regional and rural communities have access to high quality healthcare close to home.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Parks Canada – Backgrounder: Jasper National Park Reopenings

    Source: Government of Canada News

    Jasper is open to visitors. If you plan to travel to Jasper, check what’s open and available before you go. To simplify trip planning, Jasper National Park has launched an interactive map of what’s open, with information being updated regularly.

    Reopened areas have been assessed for fire danger and dangerous trees have been removed. When you are in reopened areas, be aware of your surroundings, because rain, snow and wind weather events could create unstable conditions.

    Jasper National Park area reopenings are supporting the path to recovery. Openings of interest include:

    • October 11, 2024: Maligne Road, including Opal Hills, Bald Hills, Jacques Lake, Moose Lake loop, Mary Shaffer trails, Overlander and the trail from 6th bridge to 5th bridge reopen. Many backcountry trails and campgrounds reopen and visitors may reserve their backcountry site on the Parks Canada Reservation System beginning at 2:00 p.m.  October 10, 2024.
    • September 20, 2024: Saturday Night Lake Loop Trail, Magic Ridge Trail, the Suburbs climbing area and pullouts on the Icefields Parkway reopen.
    • September 13, 2024: Snaring/Celestine Road reopen to Moberly Homestead. All day use areas from the Columbia Icefields to Honeymoon Campground, Wilcox Pass Trail, and the Pyramid Bench area trails including Marjorie Lake Trail and Discovery Trail reopen.
    • September 6, 2024: The Icefields Parkway (93N) reopens to cyclists. All pullouts and viewpoints reopen on Miette Road, including frontcountry trails Miette Mine and Sulphur Skyline. Along Highway 16, all highway pullouts, day use areas and trails are open. Talbot Lake, Jasper Lake, the climbing area at Morro Slabs, as well as Dorothy and Christine Lakes trails reopen.
    • September 1, 2024: Roadside privies along Highway 16, the Miette River Pullout, Overlander Trail, Jasper House and Hidden Valley reopen. Roadside privies on 93N, Goats and Glaciers, Stutfield Glacier and Tangle Falls reopen.
    • August 24, 2024: Reopening of many trails on the Pyramid Bench adjacent to the townsite.
    • August 23, 2024: 93N reopens to vehicle traffic.
    • August 20, 2024: Highway 16 fully reopens.
    • August 18, 2024: Miette Hot Springs reopens.
    • August 16, 2024: Town and transfer station re-entry for residents.
    • August 9, 2024: Highway 16 reopens to all traffic from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 93N from Saskatchewan River Crossing to the Icefields Centre also reopens.
    • August 4, 2024: Highway 16 is open during limited times to evacuated Jasper residents in BC to travel back to Alberta.
    • August 1, 2024: Highway 16 reopens to commercial traffic during limited times.

    Jasper National Park is Ready for Winter

    The reopening of the major visitor experience areas within Jasper National Park ensures that residents, Canadians and international visitors can plan to enjoy this iconic winter destination. Parks Canada supports winter events and outdoor recreation experiences like cross-country and downhill skiing, snowshoeing, skating, and flat-packed trails for walking and fat biking. Since the wildfire, much work has been done to assess sites and ensure their safe reopening and plans for winter are very much a part of this work. As a result, many of the Jasper’s typical winter activities will continue to be available again this winter.

    Reopening visitor offers and areas outside the town required removing hazards such as fallen trees, assessing trail conditions, repairing infrastructure, and restoring several services, including emergency response, visitor safety, garbage collection, washroom cleaning, human-wildlife coexistence, and facilities maintenance. Parks Canada has been working closely with tourism partners, the Municipality of Jasper and many other partners and agencies to make reopening possible.

     

    Stay Updated:

    Please visit the following suggested social media accounts and web pages for information including archival material and the latest updates on recovery and rebuild in Jasper and the Jasper Wildfire Complex:

    ·        Jasper National Park Facebook

    ·        Municipality of Jasper Facebook

    ·        What’s open in Jasper National Park

    ·        Jasper National Park important bulletins

    ·        Wildlife safety

    ·        Tourism Jasper

    ·        Rebuilding Jasper

    ·        Jasper Wildfire Complex information

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Biofuels and Batteries Gain From the System Dynamics Behind the Research

    Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    How Modeling Feedback Loops Informs Analysis and Decisions Across Decarbonization Technologies 

    NREL researchers Swaroop Atnoorkar (right), Shubhankar Upasani (center), and Guilherme Castelao look at data analysis. Photo by Agata Bogucka, NREL

    “When you look at renewable energy, not everything is linear,” said Swaroop Atnoorkar, an analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “Technologies often operate in complex systems with many moving parts in the background.”

    Atnoorkar relies on understanding the intricacies of clean energy systems in her research on biofuel economics and supply chains. Research like hers is a vital step in understanding how each decision made with any given technology could impact its evolution.

    But how do researchers examine the relationships between various factors within a given system, how they could change, and how those changes ultimately lead to different behaviors in the system over longer periods of time? And what exactly does this type of research inform?

    The answers to those questions may lie within a sophisticated modeling method known as system dynamics.

    Brief History of System Dynamics

    Since its creation in the 1950s by Jay W. Forrester, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, system dynamics has become a tried-and-true method for understanding the behaviors of complex systems in terms of stocks, flows, and the feedback loops that connect them.

    A simplified and generic example of a system dynamics model illustrates the complex interactions that could occur within a biofuel supply and production chain, featuring a feedstock, conversion pathway, and biofuel supply module. Graphic by Liz Craig, NREL

    Think of this relationship like planting crops such as corn.  The growth of corn in the field—a flow—is controlled by feedback processes including watering and nutrient availability. When the stock of corn is harvested, other feedback loops control the decomposition of residues and the return of nutrients to the soil.

    At the time Forrester developed it, system dynamics research was applied to corporate managerial questions at General Electric’s plants. Studying corporate managerial problems remained its primary application through the 1960s, until researchers broadened its uses to examine other larger-scale societal questions. Initially, these simulations of stock-flow feedback structures were conducted with command-line programs, visualized with hand-drawn diagrams, and showed how internal management decisions impacted the dynamics of inventory and human resource systems. Now, its applications include examining everything from public health to renewable energy systems.

    “Many of the early users of system dynamics knew its potential was far greater than its original business management use,” said Bobby Jeffers, acting laboratory program manager in NREL’s Energy Systems Integration directorate. “We are always trying to answer the question: ‘What are the feedback loops that really take hold of the system and cause it to go on some trajectory?’ We’re trying to encourage virtuous cycles that build on themselves while finding dampening cycles that allow things to grow sustainably.”

    Jeffers specializes in system dynamics research. He and other researchers at NREL, like Atnoorkar, now use computer modeling to explore the complex relationships between various elements of system structures.

    NREL program manager Bobby Jeffers leads a session during a workshop put together by the Energy Security and Resilience Program Office. Photo by Joe DelNero, NREL

    Snapshot of System Dynamics at NREL

    Atnoorkar is among the newer members of the research team working to find new ways to approach biofuel development at NREL.

    For the last decade, much of the work being done to gain insights into the biofuel market has utilized NREL’s Bioenergy Scenario Model (BSM), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). The System Dynamics Society Award-winning model tracks biofuel deployment and the effects of various influences on the biofuel market, such as changes in consumer demand, government policies, and land availability for feedstock. It dynamically models these elements as part of the U.S. domestic biofuels supply chain.

    “Factors like oil prices, biofuel demand, and the costs of resources are always fluctuating—sometimes unpredictably—and changes in each one creates different outcomes, especially at the national scale,” Atnoorkar said.

    NREL and BETO have historically used BSM to develop deployment strategies for advanced biofuels. Currently, it helps researchers like Atnoorkar develop insights into U.S. biofuels market growth and examine potential barriers to broader expansion of biofuel technologies. Among those technologies are those that create sustainable aviation fuels.

    System dynamics research at NREL helps inform development and policies surrounding sustainable aviation fuel that is used at airports across the United States. Photo from Getty Images

    “Many airports nowadays have sustainability goals, and they want to determine if those goals are feasible,” Atnoorkar said. “While the BSM does analysis for potential biofuels supply at the national scale, the analysis we do at the regional scale can also help ports and airports make decisions about their biofuel sourcing.”

    To that end, the system dynamics research being done at NREL has ultimately helped inform policy strategies surrounding low-carbon fuel standards. A major part of that research is the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge—a plan set forth by DOE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Transportation, and other federal agencies that aims to spur the expansion of commercial SAF production technologies.

    Critically, the SAF Grand Challenge is targeting at least a 50% reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and ramping up SAF supply to meet 100% of aviation fuel demand by 2050.

    “The BSM is now being used to investigate how we could reach those goals and what kinds of roadblocks may need to be overcome,” said Emily Newes, the NREL Strategic Energy Analysis Center’s Integrated Modeling and Economic Analysis Group manager.

    NREL Integrated Modeling and Economic Analysis Group Manager Emily Newes leads the teams studying supply chain and policy questions for aviation and maritime biofuels. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL

    Newes works extensively with the system dynamics models informing potential biofuel deployment, specifically the SAF Grand Challenge and biofuels for maritime applications. These models are answering questions about how changes in everything from the resources needed to build refineries to the different types of potential feedstocks ultimately affect the policies and decisions being made.

    “It helps inform us about what barriers there could be so that we can help find solutions—either through policy or the industry—to overcome them,” Newes said.

    System dynamics models are also informing NREL’s research in battery energy storage. A key modeling framework used in this space is the Lithium-Ion Battery Resource Assessment, or LIBRA, model. LIBRA is vital in NREL’s work in understanding the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries, which have become a key component to a future with more electric vehicles (EVs) on the road.

    “When we’re talking about the needs for manufacturing in this country and globally, you can’t just look at one technology at a time,” NREL’s supply chain analytics lead Maggie Mann said. “When we talk about batteries, we’re looking at how much cobalt, nickel, and lithium are needed to manufacture them, as well as the demand for those same materials for other technologies.”

    NREL’s system dynamics modeling examines supply chains for raw materials like the lithium used in electric vehicle batteries. Photo from Getty Images

    Mann was on the team that pioneered and developed the LIBRA model. It gives users the means to examine the long-term effects of changes in the battery supply chain for multiple EV battery types, consumer electronics, and utility-scale storage systems.

    Through examining elements such as the costs, raw materials, and changing policies at both the domestic and international scales, LIBRA is providing invaluable insights into the U.S. battery recycling supply chain. Those insights then inform manufacturing and industry practices as well as policy decisions in the clean energy sector.

    Along with the LIBRA model, supply chain researchers at NREL, like Mann, are also developing the Recursive Integrated Networks for Growth (RING) model, which supports NREL’s Mapping, Modeling, and Analysis Consortium (MMAC). This model, designed specifically for DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) office, calculates how each output can be cycled back into the supply chain itself. What does that mean?  

    “Say you want to look at how many batteries are manufactured, then go through their life, hit the end of their life, and you want to recycle them, so the raw materials and battery components go back into manufacturing,” Mann said. “System dynamics can allow for those types of recursive calculations and help us look out 10 to 12 years to see the total demand for manufactured batteries minus the raw materials that are recycled.”

    Both the RING and LIBRA models help researchers answer the critical question of “How much could recycling batteries affect the amount of new material we need to produce?” Each model helps inform the decisions behind battery production and policies through 2050 and quantify the impact that recycling can have on decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign resources.

    NREL Decision Support Analysis Group Manager Maggie Mann presents about her research to a group at the Coordinating Research Council’s Sustainable Mobility Workshop. Photo by Werner Slocum, NREL

    How Is System Dynamics Evolving at NREL?

    Much of the research Atnoorkar, Jeffers, Mann, Newes, and others do in supply chains is centered around system dynamics. Because of their broad lenses, models like BSM, LIBRA, and RING are often used to develop strategies for new technology deployment.

    In the case of BSM, bioenergy’s large, comprehensive nature makes it tougher to focus on smaller-scale system dynamics. That is why the team is working to modify it for limited-case, regional scenarios, using a new BETO-funded model called the Regional Bio-Economy Model (RBEM).

    “The main structure is the same,” Atnoorkar said. “But with RBEM, we are able to focus on biorefinery investment decisions in specific regions, such as marine biofuel production in coastal areas or aviation biofuel production in the immediate area around a major airport.”

    RBEM will enable researchers to examine the logic behind the feedback loops in those smaller systems. The team aims to publicly release this model in the next year or two.

    And while Atnoorkar and Newes are helping with the development of RBEM, Jeffers says NREL could look to system dynamics as a unique lens to broaden the scope of NREL’s research into a low-carbon energy system future.

    “I think we lead the world in showing what a decarbonized energy system could look like,” Jeffers said. “But system dynamics can help us realize this future by giving us a means to think about all the complex elements of economic, social, and environmental systems that influence the pathway to affordable, resilient, and secure decarbonization.”

    Explore NREL’s bioenergy, energy analysis, and grid modernization research.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Final 2023 Annual Electric Sales and Revenue Data

    Source: US Energy Information Administration

    Form EIA-861, Annual Electric Power Industry Report, and Form EIA-861S (the shortform) collect data from distribution utilities and power marketers of electricity. This survey is a census of all United States electric utilities. The short form is intended for smaller bundled-service utilities and has less detailed responses. This survey collects more data than the monthly counterpart, Form EIA-861M. Data are the individual surveys responses and are included in the files described below.

    Our survey page contains the current survey form, instructions, respondent portal, and frequently asked questions. Data from these files can be found throughout our publications, usually in aggregated form in our Electric Power Annual (EPA) report; State Electricity Profiles (SEP); Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price (ESR) report; Electricity Data Browser; and in some Today in Energy articles.

    Please refer to our Guide to EIA Electric Power Data and send any questions to InfoElectric@eia.gov.

    In 2012, we created Form EIA-861S to reduce respondent burden and to increase our processing efficiency; that year, about 1,100 utilities initially reported on this form instead of Form EIA-861. In 2020, the number of utilities increased to about 1,700 utilities. We reformatted the files for the years 1990–2011, but we didn’t change or update any data files. We reformatted the files to make them easier to understand and to match the format and titles of the current files.

    • Frame
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861S
      • Time frame: 2016 to present
      • Description: The data contain a complete list of all respondents from both forms and which files they have data in.
    • Advanced Metering
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861S
      • Time frame: 2007 to present
      • Description: The data contain number of meters from automated meter readings (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) by state, sector, and balancing authority. The energy served (in megawatthours) for AMI systems is provided. Form EIA-861 respondents also report the number of standard meters (non AMR/AMI) in their system.
      • Historical Changes: We started collecting the number of standard meters in 2013. The monthly survey collected these data from January 2011 to January 2017.
    • Balancing Authority
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2012 to present
      • Description: The data contain the list of balancing authorities and the states they operate in.
    • Delivery Companies
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2020 to present
      • Description: The data contain revenue, sales, and customer count by sector from utilities that deliver energy in Texas.
    • Demand Response
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2013 to present
      • Description: The data contain energy demand response programs by state, sector, and balancing authority. We collect data for the number of customers enrolled, energy savings, potential and actual peak savings, and associated costs.
    • Distribution Systems
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2013 to present
      • Description: The data contain the number of distribution circuits and circuits with voltage optimization by state.
    • Dynamic Pricing
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2013 to present
      • Description: The data contain the number of customers enrolled in dynamic pricing programs by state, sector, and balancing authority. Respondents check if one or more customers are enrolled in time-of-use pricing, real time pricing, variable peak pricing, critical peak pricing, and critical peak rebates.
    • Energy Efficiency
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2013 to present
      • Description: The data contain incremental energy savings, peak demand savings, weighted average life cycle, and associated costs for the reporting year and life cycle of energy efficiency programs.
    • Mergers
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2007 to present
      • Description: The data contain information on mergers and acquisitions.
    • Net Metering
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2001 to present
      • Description: The data contain cumulative installation count and capacity of generators that are net metered by technology, state, sector, and balancing authority. If available, the energy sold back to the grid is also reported. Technology types include photovoltaic (standard, virtual less than 1 megawatt, and virtual 1 megawatt or greater), wind, and other. Storage systems that are paired with net-metered photovoltaic (PV) are also captured. We make a state-level adjustment for missing PV capacity and to convert state total capacity to AC units for those respondents who report data in DC units; we use 0.8256 as a conversion factor to change DC to AC. For other energy sources, we have not established imputation procedures.
      • Historical Changes: Initially, data contained only the customer count. In 2007, energy displaced was added (later renamed to energy sold back). We added capacity of systems in 2010, and we divided this category by technology type: PV, wind, and other. In 2016, we added a question to the survey about whether the megawatts reported for the PV systems were in AC or DC units). Also in 2016, the survey divided PV to include virtual systems and storage systems paired with PV. Starting in 2020, Form EIA-861S respondents were imputed.
    • Non-Net Metering Distributed
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2010 to present
      • Description: The data contain cumulative values of generators that are not net metered and are under 1 megawatt in size (and not reported on Form EIA-860). Installations, total capacity, capacity owned, and capacity backup are reported in aggregate by state, sector, and balancing authority. Capacity is also reported by technology, state, sector, and balancing authority. Technology types include combustion turbine, internal combustion engine, fuel cells, hydroelectric, photovoltaic (PV), steam turbine, storage, wind, and other. Form EIA-861S respondents do not provide non-net-metering distributed data. A state-level adjustment is made for missing PV capacity and to convert state total capacity to AC units for those respondents who report data in DC units; we use 0.8256 as a conversion factor to change DC to AC, which uses the responses from the net-metering schedule. For other energy sources, we have not established imputation procedures.
      • Historical Changes: This schedule was referred to as distributed generation, and we renamed it to prevent double counting from net-metered systems (2016). Data on dispersed systems (systems not connected to the grid) were collected up to 2015. In 2016, we added data on fuel cells. Starting in 2016, these data were broken out by sector, and an adjustment to convert state total capacity to AC units for those respondents who report data in DC units; we use 0.8256 as a conversion factor to change DC to AC. Starting in 2020, Form EIA-861S respondents were estimated.
    • Operational Data
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 1990 to present
      • Description: The data contain aggregate operational data for the source and disposition of energy and revenue information from each electric utility.
    • Reliability
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2013 to present
      • Description:The data contain information on non-momentary electrical interruptions. If collected, utilities report the system average interruption duration index (SAIDI), the system average interruption frequency index (SAIFI), and the conditions under which these metrics are collected. We allow respondents to use IEEE standards or any other method. We created a short video to describe what is collected.
    • Sales to Ultimate Customers
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861S
      • Time frame: 1990 to present
      • Description: The data contain revenue, sales (in megawatthours), and customer count of electricity delivered to end-use customers by state, sector, and balancing authority. A state, service type, and balancing authority-level adjustment is made for non-respondents and for customer-sited respondents.
      • Historical Changes: In 2003, we created the transportation sector and removed the other sector. We made this change to separate the transportation sales and reassign the other activities to the commercial and industrial sectors as appropriate. Non-transportation customers previously reported under other, including street and highway lighting, are now included in the commercial sector. Previously, we referred to this file as retail sales.
    • Sales to Ultimate Customers, Customer-Sited
      • Time frame: 2002 to present
      • Description: The data contain revenue, sales (in megawatthours), and customer count of electricity delivered to end-use customers by state, sector, and balancing authority. These data aren’t collected on Form EIA-861; however, they are included in the state adjustments totals in the sales to ultimate customers file.
    • Service Territory
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861S
      • Time frame: 2001 to present
      • Description: The data contain names of counties and states in which the utility has equipment to distribute electricity to ultimate customers.
    • Short Form
      • Surveys: Form EIA-861 and Form EIA-861S
      • Time frame: 2001 to present
      • Description: The data contain revenue, sales (in megawatthours), and customer count of electricity delivered to end-use customers, by state and balancing authority. Respondents answer whether they have net metering, demand side management, and time-based programs.
    • Utility Data
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 1990 to present
      • Description:The data contain information on a utility’s North American Electric Reliability (NERC) regions of operation. The data also indicate a utility’s independent system operator (ISO) or regional transmission organization (RTO) and whether that utility is engaged in any of the following activities: generation, transmission, buying transmission, distribution, buying distribution, wholesale marketing, retail marketing, bundled service, or operating alternative-fueled vehicles.
      • Historical Changes: In 2010, we added the independent system operator (ISO) and regional transmission organization (RTO) regions.
    • Demand-Side Management (DSM)
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2001 to 2012
      • Description: The data contain energy efficiency incremental data, energy efficiency annual data, load management incremental data, load management annual data, annual costs, and the customer counts of price response and time response programs by sector.
      • Historical Changes: In 2007, we added the customer counts of price response and time response programs.
    • Green Pricing
      • Survey: Form EIA-861
      • Time frame: 2001 to 2012
      • Description: The data contain revenue, sales, and customer count by sector and state.
      • Historical Changes: Initially, data contained only the customer count. In 2007, revenue and sales were added.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: SuRo Capital Corp. Third Quarter 2024 Preliminary Investment Portfolio Update

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Continues to Execute on AI Strategy with Significant New Investments

    Net Asset Value Anticipated to be $6.50 to $7.00 Per Share

    NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SuRo Capital Corp. (“SuRo Capital”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, and “our”) (Nasdaq: SSSS) today provided the following preliminary update on its investment portfolio for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

    “For over a decade, SuRo Capital has been the public’s gateway to curated venture capital. This access, once reserved only for venture capitalists, has provided exposure to some of the largest, most compelling, and highly sought after private companies in the world before they become publicly traded. Our current portfolio offers exposure to the infrastructure for artificial intelligence, growing consumer brands, and exciting consumer and enterprise software names, among others,” said Mark Klein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SuRo Capital.

    Mr. Klein continued, “This year has been one of the most active investment periods for SuRo Capital in the last decade. During the quarter, we made a $17.5 million investment in OpenAI (via ARK Type One Deep Ventures Fund LLC), one of the largest artificial intelligence developers in the world, and increased our position in CoreWeave, an AI cloud computing provider, via a $5.0 million secondary transaction. Subsequent to quarter-end, we made a $12.0 million investment in VAST Data (via IH10, LLC), an AI infrastructure data platform focused on providing enhanced productivity and simple data management for the AI-powered world, and increased our investment in CoreWeave with an additional $5.0 million secondary,” said Mark Klein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SuRo Capital.

    “With these new investments and our existing investment in CW Opportunity 2 LP we have invested nearly $55.0 million into some of the leading AI infrastructure companies. Given AI’s significant addressable market, we believe dedicating a significant portion of our portfolio to AI infrastructure will prove to be successful for our shareholders,” Mr. Klein continued.

    “Finally, during the quarter, our Board of Directors approved a repurchase program of up to $35.0 million for our 6.00% Notes due 2026 and the issuance of up to $75.0 million of private 6.50% Convertible Notes due 2029, with an initial issuance of up to $25.0 million. We believe the refinancing of a portion of our current debt to a longer-dated convertible instrument with favorable terms strengthens our balance sheet, provides greater flexibility to invest capital beyond 2026, and will ultimately maximize shareholder value in the long term,” concluded Mr. Klein.

    As previously reported, SuRo Capital’s net assets totaled approximately $162.3 million, or $6.94 per share, at June 30, 2024, and approximately $212.0 million, or $8.41 per share, at September 30, 2023. As of September 30, 2024, SuRo Capital’s net asset value is estimated to be between $6.50 to $7.00 per share, based on presently available information.

    Investment Portfolio Update
    As of September 30, 2024, SuRo Capital held positions in 36 portfolio companies – 32 privately held and 4 publicly held, some of which may be subject to certain lock-up provisions.

    During the three months ended September 30, 2024, SuRo Capital made the following investments:

    Portfolio Company Investment Transaction Date Amount(1)
    OpenAI Global, LLC –
    ARK Type One Deep Ventures Fund LLC(2)    		 Convertible Equity via
    Class A Interest    		 9/25/2024 $17.5 million
    CoreWeave, Inc. Common Shares 9/26/2024 $5.0 million

    __________________
    (1)   Amount invested does not include any capitalized costs or prepaid management fees or fund expenses, if applicable.
    (2)   SuRo Capital is invested in the Convertible Equity of OpenAI Global, LLC through its investment in the Class A Interest of ARK Type One Deep Ventures Fund LLC.   ARK Type One Deep Ventures Fund LLC’s sole portfolio asset for Class A Interest holders is the Convertible Equity of OpenAI Global, LLC.

    During the three months ended September 30, 2024, SuRo Capital exited or received proceeds from the following investments:

    Portfolio Company Transaction
    Date    		 Quantity Average Net
    Share Price    (1)    		 Net
    Proceeds    		 Realized
    Gain/(Loss)
    Churchill Sponsor VII LLC 8/18/2024 N/A N/A $- $(0.3 million)
    OneValley, Inc. (f/k/a NestGSV, Inc.)(2) 8/29/2024 N/A N/A $3.0 million $(6.6 million)
    PSQ Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a PublicSquare) – Public Common Shares(3) Various 359,845 $2.82 $1.0 million $0.7 million
    SPBRX, INC. (f/k/a GSV Sustainability Partners, Inc.)(4) 9/30/2024 N/A N/A $0.4 million $(6.8 million)
    YouBet Technology, Inc. (d/b/a FanPower)(5) 8/22/2024 N/A N/A $- $(0.8 million)

    __________________
    (1)   The average net share price is the net share price realized after deducting all commissions and fees on the sale(s), if applicable.
    (2)   On August 29, 2024, SuRo Capital sold its remaining position in OneValley, Inc. (f/k/a NestGSV, Inc.).
    (3)   As of September 30, 2024, SuRo Capital held 1,616,187 remaining PSQ Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a PublicSquare) public common shares.
    (4)   On September 20, 2024, SPBRX, INC. (f/k/a GSV Sustainability Partners, Inc.) dissolved its business and made a final distribution.(5)   Investment made through SuRo Capital Sports, LLC.

    Subsequent to quarter-end through October 10, 2024, SuRo Capital made the following investments:

    Portfolio Company Investment Transaction Date Amount(1)
    CoreWeave, Inc. Series A Preferred 10/8/2024 $5.0 million
    VAST Data, Ltd. – IH10, LLC(2) Series B Preferred via
    Membership Interest    		 10/9/2024 $12.0 million

    __________________
    (1)   Amount invested does not include any capitalized costs or prepaid management fees or fund expenses, if applicable.
    (2)   SuRo Capital is invested in the Series B Preferred Shares of VAST Data, Ltd. through its investment in the Membership Interest of IH10, LLC. IH10, LLC’s sole portfolio asset is interest in the Series B Preferred Shares of VAST Data, Ltd. through a special purpose vehicle.

    SuRo Capital’s liquid assets were approximately $39.5 million as of September 30, 2024, consisting of cash and securities of publicly traded portfolio companies not subject to lock-up restrictions at quarter-end.

    As of September 30, 2024, there were 23,378,002 shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding.

    Convertible Note Purchase Agreement
    On August 6, 2024, SuRo Capital entered into a Note Purchase Agreement (the “Note Purchase Agreement”), by and between the Company and the purchaser identified therein (the “Purchaser”), pursuant to which we may issue up to a maximum of $75.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.50% Convertible Notes due 2029 (the “Convertible Notes”). Pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement, on August 14, 2024 we issued and sold, and the Purchaser purchased, $25.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the Convertible Notes (the “Initial Notes”). Under the Note Purchase Agreement, upon mutual agreement between the Company and the Purchaser, we may issue additional Convertible Notes for sale in subsequent offerings to the Purchaser (the “Additional Notes”), or issue additional notes with modified pricing terms (the “New Notes”), in the aggregate for both the Additional Notes and the New Notes, up to a maximum of $50.0 million in one or more private offerings.

    Interest on the Convertible Notes will be paid quarterly in arrears on March 30, June 30, September 30, and December 30, at a rate of 6.50% per year, beginning September 30, 2024. The Convertible Notes will mature on August 14, 2029, and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time or from time to time at our option on or after August 6, 2027 upon the fulfillment of certain conditions. The Convertible Notes will be convertible into shares of our common stock at the Purchaser’s sole discretion at an initial conversion rate of 129.0323 shares of our common stock per $1,000 principal amount of the Convertible Notes, subject to adjustments and limitations as provided in the Note Purchase Agreement.   The net proceeds from the offering of the Convertible Notes will be used to repay outstanding indebtedness, make investments in accordance with our investment objective and investment strategy, and for other general corporate purposes. The Note Purchase Agreement includes customary representations, warranties, and covenants by the Company.

    Subsequent to quarter-end, pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement, on October 9, 2024 we issued and sold, and the Purchaser purchased, $5.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the Additional Notes. The Additional Notes are treated as a single series with the Initial Notes and have the same terms as the Initial Notes. The Additional Notes are fungible and rank equally with the Initial Notes. Upon issuance of the Additional Notes, the outstanding aggregate principal amount of our Convertible Notes became $30.0 million.

    Note Repurchase Program
    On August 6, 2024, SuRo Capital’s Board of Directors approved a discretionary note repurchase program (the “Note Repurchase Program”) which allows the Company to repurchase up to 46.67%, or $35.0 million in aggregate principal amount, of our 6.00% Notes due 2026 (the “6.00% Notes”) through open market purchases, including block purchases, in such manner as will comply with the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As of September 30, 2024, we had repurchased 1,010,136 of the 6.00% Notes due 2026 under the Note Repurchase Program.

    Subsequent to quarter-end through October 10, 2024, we repurchased an additional 201,446 of the 6.00% Notes due 2026 under the Note Repurchase Program. The aggregate principal dollar amount of 6.00% Notes that may yet be repurchased by SuRo Capital under the Note Repurchase Program is approximately $4.7 million.

    Share Repurchase Program
    Under the Share Repurchase Program, the Company may repurchase its outstanding common stock in the open market, provided it complies with the prohibitions under its insider trading policies and procedures and the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act and the Exchange Act.

    Since inception of the Share Repurchase Program in August 2017, SuRo Capital has repurchased over 6.0 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $39.3 million. This does not include repurchases under various tender offers during this time period. The dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased by SuRo Capital under the Share Repurchase Program is approximately $20.7 million. The Share Repurchase Program is authorized through October 31, 2024.

    Preliminary Estimates and Guidance
    The preliminary financial estimates provided herein are unaudited and have been prepared by, and are the responsibility of, the management of SuRo Capital. Neither our independent registered public accounting firm, nor any other independent accountants, have audited, reviewed, compiled, or performed any procedures with respect to the preliminary financial data included herein. Actual results may differ materially.

    The Company expects to announce its third quarter ended September 30, 2024 results in November 2024.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Statements included herein, including statements regarding SuRo Capital’s beliefs, expectations, intentions, or strategies for the future, may constitute “forward-looking statements”. SuRo Capital cautions you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these statements. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the impact of any market volatility that may be detrimental to our business, our portfolio companies, our industry, and the global economy, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Risk factors, cautionary statements, and other conditions which could cause SuRo Capital’s actual results to differ from management’s current expectations are contained in SuRo Capital’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SuRo Capital undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.

    About SuRo Capital Corp.
    SuRo Capital Corp. (Nasdaq: SSSS) is a publicly traded investment fund that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies. The fund seeks to create a portfolio of high-growth emerging private companies via a repeatable and disciplined investment approach, as well as to provide investors with access to such companies through its publicly traded common stock. SuRo Capital is headquartered in New York, NY and has offices in San Francisco, CA. Connect with the company on X, LinkedIn, and at http://www.surocap.com.

    Contact
    SuRo Capital Corp.
    (212) 931-6331
    IR@surocap.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: VINCENT GELLE APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MOBILIZE FINANCIAL SERVICES, RCI BANQUE’S COMMERCIAL BRAND

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    October 10th, 2024

    PRESS RELEASE

    VINCENT GELLE APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MOBILIZE FINANCIAL SERVICES, RCI BANQUE’S COMMERCIAL BRAND

    Mobilize Financial Services announces the appointment of Vincent Gellé as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, effective October 4 th.

    This appointment is part of the new organization sought by Martin Thomas to ensure that Mobilize Financial Services, the financial arm of the Renault Group brands, meets the challenges of the sector and strengthens its position as market leader.

    Martin Thomas, CEO, Mobilize Financial Services: “Mobilize Financial Services is giving itself the means to write a new chapter in its development in a particularly demanding context. I’m delighted that Vincent Gellé, who has worked his way up through the Group in a variety of positions both in France and internationally, can continue to bring us his expertise in this new role.”

            

    Born in 1978, Vincent Gellé graduated from ESSEC business school in 2000. He joined RCI Banque in 2001, holding a number of financial and commercial positions in France and abroad.
    He began his career in the UK in 2001 with Renault Financial Services, before joining RCI Banque’s head office in 2005 as Financial Controller. From 2008, Vincent Gellé successively held the positions of Administrative and Financial Director in South Korea, then Group Performance Control Director. In 2016, he continued his career in Japan with Nissan’s Finance Department, then in Russia as Sales & Martketing Director of RN Bank.
    He then joined Mobilize Financial Services headquarters in France, where he has held the role of VP, Accounting and Group Performance Control since August 2023. He is a member of the RCI Banque Executive Committee.

    About Mobilize Financial Services   
    Attentive to the needs of all its customers, Mobilize Financial Services, a subsidiary of Renault Group, creates innovative financial services to build sustainable mobility for all. Mobilize Financial Services, which began operations nearly 100 years ago, is the commercial brand of RCI Banque SA, a French bank specializing in automotive financing and services for customers and networks of Renault Group, and also for the brands Nissan and Mitsubishi in several countries.  
    With operations in 35 countries and nearly 4,000 employees, Mobilize Financial Services financed more than 1,2 million contracts (new and used vehicles) in 2023 and sold 3,9 million services. At the end of June 2024, average earning assets stood at 54,9 billion euros of financing and pre-tax earnings at 553 million euros.   
    Since 2012, the Group has deployed a deposit-taking business in several countries. At the end of June 2024, net deposits amounted to 29,4 billion euros, or 50 % of the company’s net assets.   
    To find out more about Mobilize Financial Services: http://www.mobilize-fs.com/  
    Follow us on Twitter: @Mobilize_FS 

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –