Source: Oxfam Aotearoa

• Top six fossil fuel corporations expect Q2 profits to nearly double Q1 levels. Annual profits for 2026 are set to exceed the previous 21 months combined.
• Emissions from five fossil fuel corporations were enough to cause about 1 in 4 heatwaves between 2000 and 2023, which would have been virtually impossible without climate change.
• A tax on the richest oil and gas corporations could raise up to $400 billion in its first year, enough to cover annual climate adaptation costs in low- and middle-income countries.

The world’s six biggest fossil fuel corporations are expected to nearly double their combined net income in the second quarter of 2026, jumping from $23 billion in the previous quarter to $45 billion, reveals new Oxfam analysis ahead of their earnings announcements. New data also finds that the emissions of these corporations have significantly magnified the frequency and severity of heatwaves this century.

The projected full-year profits of BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies amount to $147 billion, more than their combined profits over the previous 21 months (Q2 2024 to Q4 2025). Among the biggest winners, Chevron is expected to report that it has quadrupled its profits to $1,200 a second in the last three months, while ExxonMobil’s profits are expected to have tripled to $1,800 a second.

Oil and gas corporations share an outsized responsibility for the climate crisis. New Oxfam analysis of academic data published in Nature finds that the emissions from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies were sufficient to cause around 1 in 4 heatwaves reported globally between 2000 and 2023 – heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without human-made climate change. Using S&P Capital Trucost data, Oxfam estimates that Big Oil was responsible for $60 billion in environmental damage last year.

The findings come as record-breaking heatwaves scorch South Asia, Europe and North America, killing tens of thousands of people. Meanwhile, West African countries are struggling with devastating monsoons and floods that have upended thousands of lives and destroyed vital infrastructure across the region.

Yet rather than scaling back fossil fuel production and accelerating the transition to renewable energy, the six largest fossil fuel corporations plan to increase oil and gas production by 14 percent by 2030 compared to 2024 levels, equivalent to pumping an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.

“Fossil fuel corporations are making a killing, literally and figuratively. As extreme heat, floods and storms devastate communities across the world, the industry is preparing another bonanza of profits. Families are paying the price three times over: through destroyed homes and harvests, through soaring energy prices, and through a cost-of-living crisis worsened by dependence on fossil fuels. Big Oil’s greed is incompatible with a livable planet and unless governments rein it in, they will make a mockery of international climate targets,” said Oxfam’s Climate Policy Lead Mariana Paoli.

Oxfam estimates that a tax on the profits of the largest fossil fuel corporations could raise up to $400 billion globally in its first year, enough to cover annual climate adaptation costs in the Global South. An additional excess profits tax on all corporations could generate up to $681 billion globally.

“While Big Oil fuels extreme weather events, rich countries are refusing to increase the public climate finance that poorer countries urgently need to cope with the climate crisis,” said Paoli. “Until governments make the richest polluters pay, fossil fuel corporations will keep driving us deeper into climate chaos. Taxing the richest polluters could help close the gap in funding for climate adaptation and speed the transition towards renewable energy. Fossil fuel corporations must feel the heat, not us.”

Political momentum for taxing the richest polluters is growing. Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Austria have called for a new windfall tax on energy profits. In Australia, where Oxfam research found that one in three coal, oil and gas corporations are paying no corporate income tax, many members of Parliament are speaking out in support of a 25 percent export tax on gas, with strong public support.

Research in 60 countries found that 28 percent of them have implemented a temporary windfall tax on excess profits from fossil fuel companies in recent years, with a further 13 percent supportive. Just 12 percent are explicitly against the measure.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead, Nick Henry, said, “Fossil fuel companies have a global responsibility for climate change. The New Zealand Government should be holding these rich polluters to account and making them pay the cost of their climate damage.”

Oxfam’s research is based on S&P Capital IQ’s consensus estimates compiled from financial analysts’ forecasts. The six largest fossil fuel corporations are due to publish their second-quarter earnings over the coming week. The projected surge in profits reflects the sharp rise in oil prices following the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran.

Methodology note

Comprehensive investigation

Peer-reviewed analysis

Heatwave deaths and West African flooding

Oxfam estimate

UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2025

Oxfam’s rich polluter profit tax model

EU finance ministers’ letter

Oxfam Australia’s Freeloaders report

Government-support country mapping

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Source: Save the Children

Two thirds of children across Western Europe [1] were exposed to extreme heatwaves between 1 January and 14 July this year, according to new data from Save the Children as temperatures soar and record wildfires ravage parts of Europe. [2]

The child rights organisation said that the number of children impacted by extreme heatwaves during that six-and-a-half-month period was already three times the figure from the whole of 2025 – and more than any entire year since 2003.

Save the Children analysed satellite imagery of surface temperatures covering every part of the world. The aid agency defined an extreme heatwave as three consecutive days experiencing a temperature in the top 1% of all those recorded in that location in the previous 30 years.

The data is particularly stark given the majority of the time period in the analysis covers winter and spring in Western Europe, when temperatures are lower. This suggests that findings for the entire 12 months of 2026 will be even more severe, Save the Children said.

In Germany, the number of children exposed to extreme heat in the first six months of this year was larger than the past five years combined. [3]

In the UK, 10 million children – three quarters of the child population – have been exposed to extreme heat in the first six months of this year. This is more than the total for any single year in the past 30 years. [4]

Children already affected by inequality or discrimination – such as those living in poverty, refugees or children with disabilities or underlying health conditions – are at a unique disadvantage, Save the Children said.

Zainab, 16, a child campaigner with Save the Children UK, said:

“For many people, particularly those living with chronic illnesses, this heat is not simply uncomfortable, it is dangerous. For some, a heatwave means an ice cream, a day in the park or turning on a fan. For others, it’s dehydration, exhaustion, dizziness and pain. Medication can become harder to manage. Existing illnesses becoming more severe.

“I know that because I live it. I have lived with Type 1 diabetes for most of my life. When temperatures rise, managing my health becomes harder. My body does not get to experience extreme heat as a minor inconvenience. The climate crisis does not stay outside my window. It enters through my body. Climate change does not affect everyone equally, but when the temperature rises, inequality rises with it.”

Human-induced climate change is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, drought and wildfires more frequent and severe. Save the Children’s findings reveal that across the globe, extreme heatwaves now reach substantially more children than a generation ago. In the 1990s and 2000s, around one in 10 children worldwide [5] were exposed to an extreme heatwave each year. In the 2020s so far, that average has increased to one in seven children [6]. Two of the four worst years since 1990- the start of the period examined – were in the past three years.

A report by Save the Children and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel last year found that almost a third of the world’s children born in 2020 – about 38 million – would be spared a lifetime’s “unprecedented” exposure to extreme heat [7] if we can meet the 1.5 degrees C warming target by 2100.

The health risks of dangerous heat to young children are acute, due to their ongoing physical development and lower capacity for body temperature regulation. During heatwaves, children are at a high risk of electrolyte imbalance, fever, respiratory disease, and kidney disease. [8]

This kind of unprecedented heat is also disrupting children’s education. In June, schools in France and the UK were forced to close or alter timetables to protect children from dangerous heat as temperatures surged.

Matilde Angeltveit, Senior Advisor and Global Climate Advocacy Lead at Save the Children, said:

“Over the past few months, we have seen the climate crisis unleash unbearable heat on children and families across Europe. Heat like this damages children’s health, disrupts their sleep and schooling, and brings basic services to a standstill. We also fear that crops will fail and food prices surge due to the heat at a time when families are already struggling to cope.

“Children are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme heat, yet they have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis. We know by now that we urgently need to adapt to this situation – but children need us to put their lives, rights and needs front and centre.

“While we need this today, ultimately, in order to safeguard children’s futures, we need to see a rapid phase out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy in an equitable and fair way. We know that this is in our power, and if we do it in the shrinking time window available to us, children’s exposure to these dangers will be curbed dramatically.”

Save the Children is calling for the recognition of children’s unique vulnerabilities to climate change, the delivery of high-quality, affordable funding to lower-income countries, including financing to cut emissions, and the urgent phase out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels.

As the world’s leading independent child rights organisation, Save the Children works in over 100 countries, tackling climate change across everything we do and putting children at the heart of climate action.

Notes:

More information available here on 28 July.

[1] Countries included in Western Europe in data set: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

[2] Methodology available here – full data available on request

[3] Full data available on request

[4] Methodology available here – full data available on request

[4] an average of 200 to 230 million children

[5] 360 million children

[6] For the research in the Born into the Climate Crisis 2 report by Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Save the Children, scientists have defined a heatwave as: when the daily Heat Wave Magnitude Index of that year exceeds the 99th percentile of pre-industrial Heat Wave Magnitude Index distribution for the specific climate model grid cell. The Heat Wave Magnitude Index measures how intense a heatwave is during a year. It looks at the hottest stretch of at least three days in a row when temperatures are much higher than what was normal before industrial times. The higher the number, the more extreme the heatwave.

[7] Born into the Climate Crisis, Save the Children and Vrije Universiteit Brussel

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.

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27 July 2026

PSNA has today challenged the Prime Minister to explain why his government has not revealed how New Zealand voted at the International Criminal Court on Friday when ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan was ousted from his role after intense Israeli/US lobbying.

Khan is under attack from Israel and the US because he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa spokesperson Rinad Tamimi says Israel and the US intensified their lobbying and diplomatic bullying after an ICC Judicial Panel established to examine the evidence on claims of sexual abuse against Khan declared they were ‘unanimously of the opinion that the factual findings by OIOS (the ICC evidence collecting body) do not establish misconduct or breach of duty under the relevant legal framework’.

Israel and the US rejected the ICC legal ruling and demanded a vote of all member states of the ICC to remove Khan. That vote was held on Friday and Khan removed from office.

“The key question for Mr Luxon is ‘Did we capitulate to Israel/US pressure, or did we stand up for the ICC’s legal processes?” Tamimi says.

“We are not able to make any judgement on the allegations against Mr Khan, but New Zealand should have voted against his expulsion and insisted a proper judicial process be followed”

“Did we?” asks Ms Tamimi.

“In October last year, Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued a formal statement, with Nordic ministers in Stockholm, to ‘reaffirm our unwavering support for the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court’.”

“Did Mr Peters we waver on Friday?”

“New Zealand has already failed numerous times to uphold international law in the face of Israeli/US pressure. We want an assurance the Coalition didn’t throw in the towel again”

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27 July, 2026:

“We are deeply alarmed by reports coming out of Nablus in the last days including that of Israeli forces storming Nablus Specialised Hospital, alongside clashes elsewhere in the governorate that have killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.

These violent incidents in Nablus are not isolated. They sit within a wider pattern of Israeli raids, state-sponsored settler violence, the disruption of essential services, and mounting pressure on civilians and healthcare.

When armed forces enter a hospital, the impact is immediate: fear, interruption of care, delayed treatment, and added risk for already vulnerable patients.

The protection of healthcare facilities must be respected. They must remain accessible to people in need. It is unacceptable for hospitals, ambulances, staff, and patients to be targeted by violence anywhere in Palestine.”

Filipe Ribeiro, Head of Mission, MSF Palestine

For more context on MSF’s work in the West Bank read: “The impossible reality of life in the West Bank”

MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au

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Source: Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA)

PSNA has written to the Prime Minister today urging the government to vote against the removal of the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, and instead insist that proper judicial process be followed regarding allegations made against him.

“This is a pivotal moment for the International Criminal Court and New Zealand must stand up for our values and our support for international law” says PSNA Spokesperson Rinad Tamimi. “We are not making any judgement on the allegations against Mr Khan, but New Zealand must insist a proper judicial process be followed”

When allegations were made against Khan, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), was asked by the president of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to gather evidence from the alleged victims.  Between November 2024 and December 2025 more than 5,000 pages of evidence was gathered. The ICC then established a Judicial Panel, comprising three eminent judges selected by the Bureau of the ASP, to analyse the evidence. 

After doing so this Judicial Panel declared they were “unanimously of the opinion that the factual findings by OIOS do not establish misconduct or breach of duty under the relevant legal framework”.

Tamimi says that Now Israel and the US are rejecting the Judicial Panel findings.

“They are blatantly lobbying to remove Karim Khan because he sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’.”

This intensive Israel/US diplomatic bullying has succeeded in having the Judicial Panel findings set aside in favour of a decision to remove Karim Khan being made by the full Assembly of State Parties (ASP) in which New Zealand will vote.

“Karim Khan’s position must be decided through a legal process, not a political process dictated by Israeli/US lobbying” says Tamimi. “New Zealand has already failed numerous times to uphold international law in the face of Israeli/US pressure.”

“They must not throw in the towel again.”

“In October last year, Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued a formal statement, with Nordic ministers in Stockholm, to ‘reaffirm our unwavering support for the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court’.”

“You can’t pick and choose when you will support international law, and when you can disregard it,” says Tamimi. “New Zealand must do the right thing at the ICC this week.”

Rinad Tamimi

National Spokesperson

PSNA

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Vietnam’s leading international F&B exhibition – 30 years of partnering with businesses to create sustainable value

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

What Went Wrong

Eight months ago, the world was told the war on Gaza was over. A ceasefire. A hostage exchange. A twenty-point plan, endorsed by the UN Security Council, backed by a new international body with a grand name: the Board of Peace. Officials queued up to call it historic. For people who have spent two years burying their children in scraps of cloth because there was nothing else, “historic” felt, for a moment, like it might mean something.

It hasn’t.

The plan on paper

The framework that became Security Council Resolution 2803 promised a lot: an end to hostilities, the return of every hostage, a surge in humanitarian aid, and a phased path toward Palestinian self-governance in Gaza under international supervision. The living hostages came home within days. That part worked, because it was the part the guarantors actually wanted to work.

Everything harder than that has stalled.

The plan on the ground

Since the ceasefire was declared, Israeli strikes inside Gaza have killed more than a thousand Palestinians. Six people were killed in a single week this month alone: a drone strike on a displacement camp, gunfire elsewhere in the Strip while the word “ceasefire” sat in quotation marks in every report describing it. Israeli forces now control roughly 80 percent of the territory, expanding steadily beyond the line the truce was supposed to fix in place. Families near that line are being pushed from their homes again, in what is meant to be peace.

Ninety percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure lies in ruins. Hospitals, water systems, schools, mosques and churches are gone or unusable. The famine that a tightened blockade produced hasn’t been undone by a piece of paper signed in Washington. Aid still moves at the pace the occupying power allows it to move.

And the political horizon the plan promised Palestinian governance, a route to statehood, a say for Palestinians in their own future has quietly narrowed to something else entirely. One version on offer involves “alternative safe communities”: walled compounds under Israeli military control, each holding twenty to twenty-five thousand people, administered rather than governed. Another version, unveiled with a straight face by a property developer, imagined Gaza’s ruins rebuilt as seaside resorts and skyscrapers, a real-estate pitch delivered over a mass grave. Neither is self-determination. Both were drawn up without the people whose lives they claim to plan.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, settler violence keeps climbing and the Palestinian Authority grows weaker by the month, sidelined and discredited in the eyes of the people it’s supposed to represent.

So what went wrong?

Not one thing. The same thing that has gone wrong for decades: a peace process built to manage the appearance of a conflict rather than resolve its cause. Disarmament is demanded of the side under siege before occupation is lifted from the side doing the besieging. Reconstruction is promised, then re-imagined as real estate. Self-governance is offered, then redefined as supervised containment. A body called the “Board of Peace” is chaired by the same government that has spent two years arming one side of the war it claims to be ending.

This is not a plan that failed by accident. It is a plan that was never built to deliver what it promised because delivering it would have meant treating Palestinians as a people with a right to determine their own future, not a population to be managed until the cameras move on.

What doesn’t go wrong

What has never wavered, through every ceasefire and every collapse of one, is Palestinian sumud steadfastness. People who have lost everything and are still refusing to leave. Journalists are still filming. Doctors are still operating without anaesthetic. Families still naming their newborns after the ones they buried, so the name carries on.

Solidarity from the outside doesn’t get to be passive while that continues. It means saying plainly, in public, what went wrong and who kept it that way and it means not letting the word “ceasefire” launder what is still, by any honest reading of the last eight months, an occupation tightening its grip under a different name.

The plan on paper was never the point. The plan on the ground is the one Palestinians are still living through. That is where solidarity has to meet them.

— Palestine Forum of New Zealand

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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Media OutReach Newswire – 17 July 2026 – Competition authorities from BRICS countries have established a task force to conduct a joint sector inquiry into the global grain trade, marking a new step in cooperation on competition policy across international agricultural markets.

The decision was announced during the discussion “Competition Development in Global Grain Trade: Joint Efforts of BRICS Countries”, organized by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre on the sidelines of the 23rd Session of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy in Geneva.

The event included a closed meeting of BRICS competition authorities and a public panel featuring researchers, academics and representatives of international organizations.

Discussions focused on competition in global grain markets, the growing influence of financialization and digitalization across agricultural value chains, and policy tools to improve market transparency. Participants also reviewed the findings of a joint report prepared by the BRICS Competition Centre and UNCTAD (link: https://www.bricscompetition.org/ru/grainreport) , first presented at the 9th BRICS International Competition Conference in Cape Town in 2025.

A coordinated market study

The central outcome of the meeting was the establishment of a BRICS task force that will coordinate a joint sector inquiry into global grain trade within the framework of the BRICS Working Group on Food Markets.

The task force will be co-chaired by Diogo Thomson, President of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), and Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairperson of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA).

Thomson welcomed the initiative and proposed making competition in global grain trade a key topic at the next BRICS International Competition Conference, scheduled to take place in Brazil in 2027.

“Brazil is the only jurisdiction that has launched an investigation into digital grain trading platforms such as Covantis. I therefore strongly welcome this sector inquiry, which will help us better understand the impact of digitalization across grain supply chains and the risks it may create for competition. I also support using the BRICS Competition Centre as the coordination platform for this work,” he said.

Momtaz said one of the main conclusions of the BRICS-UNCTAD report was the significant role speculative activity plays in global grain markets.

“One of the key findings of the report presented by the BRICS Competition Centre is the extent to which speculative factors influence global grain trade. The most effective response is greater market transparency. We should not accept a situation where farmers receive only a small share of the value they create while consumers in Egypt pay excessively high prices for bread. Where does this margin accumulate, and who ultimately benefits from it? These are the questions our sector inquiry should answer,” he said.

He also proposed that the task force develop a common AI-powered price monitoring tool covering BRICS grain markets.

“Such a tool would provide the information needed for market analysis and become an important complement to the joint sector inquiry,” Momtaz added.

From analysis to policy recommendations

Hardin Ratshisusu, Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Commission of South Africa, said the study should contribute to the implementation of the BRICS Grain Exchange initiative endorsed by BRICS leaders in the Kazan Declaration (2024) and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration (2025).

“The proposal to establish a BRICS Grain Exchange should become one of the key recommendations of the sector inquiry as an innovative mechanism for restoring competition in global grain trade. Our objective is not merely to identify market problems but to develop practical recommendations that can ultimately be submitted to the leaders of our countries,” he said.

Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, said competition authorities should play a central role in designing the institutional framework of the future exchange.

“The BRICS Grain Exchange should not become another formal institution. It must serve as a practical mechanism for improving competition and market transparency. Competition authorities are uniquely positioned to identify the institutional features that will allow the exchange to achieve these objectives,” he said.

Growing international role

Frédéric Jenny, Chairmanof the OECD Competition Committee, said the initiative demonstrated the growing international role of BRICS competition authorities.

“This project illustrates how BRICS competition authorities are becoming drivers of the global competition agenda. In the past, they largely followed the lead of developed jurisdictions. That is no longer the case. There are very few examples worldwide of such close cooperation between competition authorities. This applies not only to joint market studies, but also to enforcement cooperation and competition advocacy. Rather than acting individually, you have found both the mechanisms and the political will to work together,” Jenny said.

The task force will now begin developing the methodology and work plan for the joint inquiry. Its findings are expected to provide policy recommendations aimed at strengthening competition, improving transparency in global grain trade, and supporting future BRICS initiatives in agricultural markets.

Hashtag: #BRICSCompetition

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– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

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Hong Kong Secures Exclusive Three-Year Deal with Tahaluf for LEAP East; Set to Return to HKCEC in 2027, Reinforcing the City’s Global I&T Leadership

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA)

PSNA is accusing Foreign Minister Winston Peters of staying silent on the explosive UN Independent Commission report on Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children so it wouldn’t interfere with his first meeting with the new US ambassador – pictured above.

“It’s clear to us the two are linked” says PSNA National spokesperson Rinad Tamimi. “Winston Peters would see this as clever politics but his refusal to condemn Israel’s targeting of Palestinian children has betrayed New Zealand values in favour of obeyance to Israel and the US.”

In the report released by the United Nations Independent Commission late last month, in the leadup to Peters’ first meeting with the ambassador, Israel is accused of deliberately killing Palestinian children in Occupied Gaza and the Occupied West Bank using sniper rifles and quadcopter drones. (ref. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/coi-report-23jun26/ )

Doctors on medical missions in Gaza reported to the commission that it appeared Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers were engaged in a “game” of target practice with “different body parts being targeted on different days”.

The comprehensive report, drawing from multiple sources, details horrendous war crimes against Palestinian children, including the horrific killing of Hind Rajab, and calls on all countries to take immediate action to protect Palestinian children and hold Israel to account.

“This report is sickening and heartbreaking reading” says Ms Tamimi. “New Zealanders know what’s going on and they know our government is complicit”

“Polls repeatedly show New Zealanders favour sanctions against Israel (41% yes, 27% no) but Winston is playing to his NZ First base which is the most opposed to sanctions”

“We are living in a time of great shame for this country. Our people are on the right side but our Foreign Minister is on side with the genocide”

“In light of the latest UN report PSNA is renewing its call for the government to withhold visas from all Israeli military personnel and hold Israel to account for its cruelty and its war crimes.”

As UN Independent Commissioner Chris Sidoti says:

“Anyone who has served in the Israeli Forces in Gaza since October 2023 should be considered a suspect in relation to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide”

“We agree,” says Ms Tamimi.

Rinad Tamimi
National Spokesperson
PSNA.

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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 July 2026 – The inaugural LEAP East 2026 was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (8-10 July), gathering more than 35,000 technology professionals, policymakers and investors from 30 countries and regions. The three-day event, the first LEAP summit staged outside Saudi Arabia, featured over 340 speakers, 450 exhibitors and over 400 investors, covering cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, deep tech, smart cities and new energy industries.

“This turnout speaks volumes about the global appeal of LEAP East and the strength of our shared vision,” said Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) at the opening ceremony of the event. “I am particularly delighted to note that this conference will continue to be held in Hong Kong in the coming three years.”

Other top government officials attending the opening ceremony included Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSARG and Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia.

The event underscored the deepening partnership between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, and highlighted Hong Kong’s role as a unique gateway connecting the Chinese Mainland with the world.

“Hong Kong is perhaps the only city in the world that connects seamlessly to both the Chinese Mainland and the rest of the world at the same time,” Mr Chan said. “Working under the common law system, we have robust protection for intellectual property. As a free port, capital, goods, talent and data freely flow in and out of this city. Simple, low tax is a standing feature of our regime. And we are one of the safest, most stable cities anywhere in the world. These are the foundations on which businesses, talent and creativity thrive.”

Mr Chan invited Saudi and Gulf enterprises to use Hong Kong as an international fundraising and risk-management platform, and expressed the HKSAR’s commitment to further strengthening co-operation with Saudi Arabia in innovation, infrastructure, green technology, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and professional services.

“Innovation needs capital, and Hong Kong is where capital and ideas meet. This is the heart of our ‘Finance+’ strategy – using finance as a powerful enabler to drive the real economy,” Mr Chan said.

Professor Sun noted that the HKSARG’s efforts in promoting innovation and technology (I&T) are bearing fruit. He said the number of start-ups in Hong Kong has surged by 40% since 2021, reaching 5,200 in 2025. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster was ranked first globally in the Global Innovation Index 2025 and Hong Kong ranked fourth globally in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025, and second globally in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026.

Hong Kong also topped the world in IPO (initial public offering) in 2025, with 119 listings raising some US$35 billion, including many world tech champions.

Professor Sun also met with Mr Alswaha to exchange views on I&T collaborations between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

“This international gathering reflects the rising global I&T momentum, and Hong Kong is proud to serve as a ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’ for international exchanges,” Professor Sun said.

Meanwhile, Mr Chan revealed that he plans to lead a Hong Kong delegation to Saudi Arabia later this year, bringing leading companies in infrastructure, green tech, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, plus professionals in the finance, investment and professional services sector, to explore concrete projects and further partnership.

https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/
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https://www.instagram.com/brandhongkong

Hashtag: #hongkong #brandhongkong #asiasworldcity #LEAPEast #I&T #innovation

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At Shenzhen Port Global Supply Chain High-Quality Development Conference 2026
Unlocking Global Network Synergies to Build a Stable and Efficient Supply Chain

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 July 2026 – At the Shenzhen Port Global Supply Chain High-Quality Development Conference 2026, Midea Group (Midea), the global smart home and technology giant, and Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (Hutchison Ports), the world’s leading port investor, developer, and operator, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Guided by the shared vision of “Benefitting from New APEC Opportunities, Forging a New Future for Port and Shipping Cooperation”, the two parties will deepen their global strategic partnership over the next two years, combining their respective strengths and resources to co-create a highly resilient, efficient, and mutually beneficial global supply chain ecosystem.

In response to the evolving global trade landscape, these two industry leaders are actively collaborating to bring together their strategic assets and global networks. Midea’s expanding manufacturing footprint overseas seamlessly aligns with Hutchison Ports’ extensive network of global port resources, establishing a perfect synergy particularly in key markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam and Mexico. As Midea accelerates its international expansion, its global logistics requirements are experiencing robust growth. This partnership will secure global maritime logistics corridors for Midea, ensuring stable and efficient delivery. Concurrently, Midea’s continuously growing cargo volumes will significantly boost throughput across Hutchison Ports’ terminals, in turn attracting more international shipping routes to call at its facilities.

Lewis Fu, President of Midea International, said “Under our globalisation strategy, securing reliable logistics services is fundamental to Midea’s sustained business growth. We are delighted to deepen our collaboration with Hutchison Ports. Through practical initiatives, such as data integration and priority lanes during peak seasons, we can further enhance supply chain synergy and operational efficiency. This gives us full confidence in steadily achieving our global shipping target of 1.5 million TEUs by 2027.”

Eric Ip, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports, said “As a world-leading technology enterprise, Midea Group is an incredibly valued strategic partner for Hutchison Ports. Midea’s massive and rapidly growing export volumes will inject strong momentum into our terminals. By leveraging our high-efficiency operational standards, advanced digital capabilities, and tailored service frameworks, we will provide reliable logistical support for Midea’s global expansion, establishing a new benchmark for industry collaboration.”

Under the MoU, this deepened collaboration will initially be launched using Hutchison Ports’ Yantian International Container Terminals (YANTIAN) as a key strategic anchor point, focusing on the following areas:

• Green Logistics and Digitalization Construction: Both parties will actively explore sustainable transport solutions that comply with local regulations and authorities. By integrating Midea’s business system with YANTIAN’s terminal operating system, they will achieve real-time information sharing and seamless workflow connectivity, significantly enhancing cargo handling and transport efficiency.

• Port Operation Support: Addressing industry choke points such as peak-season logistical delays and capacity constraints, Hutchison Ports will open priority lanes for Midea during peak seasons. This will expedite the pick-up, return, and reloading of Midea’s cargo, ensuring highly efficient dispatch operations and reinforcing the stability of Midea’s supply chain.

• Port Extension Services and Multimodal Transportation: The partners will jointly develop rail freight solutions connecting inland Chinese ports to YANTIAN, alongside comprehensive terminal logistics support including container yards, warehousing, and other value-added services.

Looking ahead, Midea and Hutchison Ports aim to progressively scale up the successful collaboration model established at YANTIAN across Hutchison Ports’ vast global network. Both parties will continue to strengthen their strategic alignment on a global level, jointly exploring innovative green and digital logistics solutions to set a new benchmark for smarter, greener, and more resilient global supply chains.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

Naming a Long-Standing Pattern

For decades, Palestinians have described a particular kind of hostility that doesn’t fit neatly into existing categories of discrimination. It isn’t quite the same as Islamophobia, since not all Palestinians are Muslim. It isn’t quite the same as general anti-Arab racism, since it attaches specifically to Palestinian identity, history, and political claims. 

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

•             Easing oil prices have strengthened New Zealand’s outlook and reduced the risk of a prolonged inflation shock
•             Lower fuel costs and stronger than expected economic momentum have put New Zealand’s recovery back on firmer footing
•             Geopolitical risks remain a key watchpoint, but the immediate threat to household spending and business costs has eased.

New Zealand’s economic outlook has markedly improved in recent months, with falling oil prices easing pressure on inflation, household budgets and business costs, according to ASB’s latest Economic Forecast Update.

ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley says the sharp decline in global oil prices has materially changed the outlook since ASB’s March forecast: https://www.asb.co.nz/content/dam/asb/documents/reports/quarterly-economic-forecasts/asb-forecast-update_mar26a.pdf

“The New Zealand economy has shown greater resilience than many expected in the face of global uncertainty and higher fuel prices,” says Nick.

“While geopolitical risks remain elevated, falling oil prices have significantly reduced one of the biggest risks to growth and inflation this year.”

Global oil prices have dropped sharply from their March peaks amid hopes that negotiations between Iran and the United States will ease disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz. While shipping through the Strait remains disrupted and energy infrastructure has been damaged, fuel prices have declined substantially in recent months, reducing pressure on inflation and easing the squeeze on household spending.

“Higher fuel prices were starting to crowd out household spending and lift business costs across the economy,” says Nick.

“Those pressures are now easing substantially. Consumers are likely to feel more confident than they did earlier in the year, and businesses have greater certainty about their cost environment.”

The New Zealand economy entered 2026 with stronger momentum than previously estimated. GDP rose 0.8% in the March quarter, while revised 2025 data showed growth was stronger than previously thought and becoming more broad-based across the economy.

However, Nick says elevated fuel prices and heightened uncertainty are still expected to weigh on activity through the middle of 2026.

“The recovery has not been derailed, but it has been delayed. Household spending, business investment and some export sectors are still feeling the effects of the oil shock, and the labour market remains soft.”

Inflation remains a key focus. ASB forecasts annual CPI inflation will rise to around 4.1% in the June 2026 year, driven largely by earlier fuel price increases. However, falling oil prices are expected to ease inflation pressure through the second half of the year and into 2027.

“The inflation outlook remains highly uncertain and depends heavily on developments in the Middle East,” says Nick. “But the recent fall in oil prices means inflation now looks considerably less challenging than it did a few months ago.”

The changing inflation outlook is expected to give the Reserve Bank more time to assess economic conditions before raising interest rates. ASB Economists now expect the Official Cash Rate to remain on hold until September before gradually increasing through late 2026 and early 2027.

Looking ahead, ASB expects the recovery to continue gradually, supported by resilient commodity prices, recovering tourism and lower fuel costs, although geopolitical risks remain elevated. Dairy and meat export sectors continue to benefit from strong global demand, while tourism has recovered to 93% of pre-COVID visitor levels.

“The outlook has improved, but uncertainty remains high,” says Nick.

“It would only take one significant geopolitical shock to reverse recent gains, so businesses and households still need to prepare for a range of possible outcomes. For now, though, the recovery appears to be back on track.”

MIL OSI

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 July 2026 – Saudi Arabia’s Elm Company will take part in LEAP East Hong Kong 2026 as Business Solutions Partner, the company has announced, ahead of the event’s opening on 8 July 2026, marking its push to deepen ties with governments, tech ecosystems and businesses across APAC.

LEAP East, taking place 8-10 July at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, is co-organised by Tahaluf, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), with the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as Government Partner. The event marks the flagship technology conference’s first edition outside Riyadh.

Elm powers the national digital infrastructure behind more than 30 million users, operates over 170 large-scale digital projects, and enables more than 2 billion digital transactions annually across the government platforms it builds and runs. The company’s work has contributed to a national government digital service maturity index of 86 percent in 2025, among the highest globally.

The company’s capabilities span artificial intelligence, data analytics, smart cities, digital identity and financial technology, developed through three decades of partnership with the Saudi government across security, health, transport and finance. Elm has also extended the model regionally, with active engagements including compliance and inspection platforms in Oman, national archiving and ERP systems in Jordan, judicial digital transformation in Iraq, and finance sector modernisation in Syria.

Four Elm executives will speak across LEAP East’s flagship stages. Majed Al Otaibi, Chief Government Products Officer, opens on 8 July with a Main Stage fireside chat, “Ambition at Infrastructure Scale: How Saudi Turns Digital Vision into Operational Reality”, running 12:00-12:20pm. Other Elm leaders will address AI in software engineering, growth in emerging digital economies, and smart and sustainable city development across the DeepFest, Ecosystem Xchange and Orbital stages.

Elm’s investment and partnerships teams will participate in the event’s Tech Investor Program, engaging directly with technology companies, institutional investors and startups exploring collaboration or market entry into Saudi Arabia. The company has invested more than USD60 million across 20 companies and completed strategic acquisitions exceeding USD33 million across eight deals, a track record it says underpins its appetite for further partnerships across APAC.

Hashtag: #Elm

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

MIL OSI