Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Labor is strengthening protections for Victorian homebuyers, giving them confidence when making the biggest purchase of their lives: a safe, high-quality, affordable home.

The Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) now has strong new powers to protect consumers.

Victoria will be home to a new TAFE teacher academy dedicated to upskilling and attracting teachers to strengthen the state's TAFE workforce – and with it tackling one of the biggest barriers to growing the skilled workforce our economy needs.

July 7, 2026 – Nairobi, Kenya – At the 26th Annual General Meeting of the African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), President William Ruto of Kenya issued a clarion call for Africa to strengthen its financial institutions and fund its development on its own terms. The meetings, which took place in Nairobi from 30 June to 3 July, proceeded under the theme: “Empowering Africa: Risk Managed, Growth Unlocked”.

“For years, we have called for a fairer global financial architecture, one that stops mispricing African risk and making our capital needlessly expensive. That call remains right. But Africa cannot wait for reform elsewhere. While the world debates reform, Africa must build,” Ruto said at a gala dinner at State House held to commemorate ATIDI's 25th anniversary.

President Ruto endorsed the establishment of the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), an initiative launched by Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) in April 2026. The NAFAD aims to call African institutions to work together to strengthen the continent's risk-sharing mechanisms, to reduce the continent's borrowing costs, and to unlock domestic capital at scale for Africa's development.

Africa holds nearly USD4 trillion in long-term domestic savings through pension funds, insurance assets, and central bank reserves. Much of this capital is, however, invested overseas, despite Africa facing an annual financing gap of more than USD400 billion.

“Africa does not suffer from a shortage of capital. Africa suffers from a shortage of institutions capable of transforming risk, mobilising savings and connecting them to productive investment,” President Ruto said.

Kenya pledges increased support

President Ruto said that NAFAD would help plug this USD400bn financing gap by leveraging the collective strengths of the continent's leading multilateral financial institutions to catalyse increased domestic and global investment.

At the heart of NAFAD is the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI), which brings continental powerhouses like the AfDB, Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, ATIDI, and others. President Ruto announced that, in support of the alliance, the Government of Kenya had approved the establishment of its Secretariat in Nairobi.

He singled out ATIDI's strategic role in the alliance. “Within this Alliance, ATIDI occupies a uniquely strategic place. Investment follows confidence, and confidence follows credible risk mitigation.”

He called for ATIDI's recapitalisation to USD2 billion, noting that every dollar invested in the continent's guarantee architecture has the potential to mobilise ten dollars more in private capital.

“Today, I invite every Member State represented here to join Kenya in launching the Nairobi Capital Compact on African Economic Sovereignty. The Compact rests on five commitments: to progressively recapitalise ATIDI, to strengthen the AAMFI, to mobilise Africa's domestic capital, to expand our guarantee and risk-sharing capacity, and to build globally competitive African multilateral financial institutions,” he said.

Kenya remains a strategic market for ATIDI, with the organization's solutions unlocking more than USD7 billion in investments across energy, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, and trade sectors.

To deepen that partnership, President Ruto announced that Kenya will, subject to the necessary national processes, progressively increase its shareholding in ATIDI from USD25 million to USD65 million. He also presented ATIDI with the title deed for land for the construction of its permanent headquarters.

A legacy worth protecting

In his address at the AGM's opening ceremony, ATIDI CEO Manuel Moses reflected on the silver jubilee. He said that the organization had “demonstrated that African solutions are often best placed to address Africa's unique challenges and opportunities.”

Since its inception, ATIDI has catalysed more than USD93 billion in private investment across Africa through innovative risk mitigation instruments like political risk and credit insurance that strengthen investor confidence. Its shareholder base, meanwhile, has grown from seven founding members to 24 African countries, 13 institutional members and 1 non-African member state. It also remains one of Africa's highest rated insurers, having consistently maintained an investment grade rating with major global credit rating agencies since its founding.

“We have built our success on the ability to combine world-class standards with a deep understanding of African markets, designing solutions that reflect local realities while meeting the expectations of global investors,” he remarked.

This is a legacy worth protecting, he argued, highlighting the critical need for African countries to continue honouring ATIDI's preferred creditor status (PCS). ATIDI relies on its preferred creditor status to ensure that member states prioritise obligations to it even during financial distress. This is what underpins investor confidence in ATIDI's guarantees and is “fundamental to the business model”, Moses explained.

Moses expressed confidence in the institution's financial strength, underwriting capacity, and strategic direction, citing its strong 2025 results.

In 2025, ATIDI recorded strong financial performance, with total exposure increasing to USD9.2 billion from USD8.9 billion in 2024, profit for the year rising by 20% to USD71.4 million, total assets growing by 20% to USD1.06 billion, and total equity increasing by 12% to USD883 million.

“Against a backdrop of continued global uncertainty and the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic, ATIDI delivered another year of resilient growth in 2025, with strong results across insurance revenue, investment income and total equity,” he said.

In his address, Professor Kelly Mua Kingsly, Chairman of the Board of Directors at ATIDI, argued that Africa's economic advancement hinges on boosting investor confidence. The continent's vast natural resources or attractive demographics may capture investors' interest, but projects will not be financed unless investors have the confidence to commit funds.

“Africa's greatest asset is confidence. If capital is the engine of development, confidence is its fuel. That is where ATIDI has found its unique purpose. We do not merely mitigate risk. We create confidence,” he said.

Leaders urge increased private investment

A central feature of the AGM was the Leaders' Panel, which explored how Africa can build a more resilient and self‑sustaining development finance ecosystem amid shifting global capital flows, rising debt pressures, and growing demand for infrastructure and industrial investment.

Speaking on the panel, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), called for greater support to African financial institutions. He highlighted the role of institutions such as ATIDI in making Africa's high‑potential industries more attractive to local investors, many of whom continue to deploy their funds overseas due to persistent misperceptions of risk on the continent.

The African Development Bank Group has recently decided to increase its participation in the capital of ATIDI five-fold, becoming the largest institutional shareholder of ATIDI.  AfDB will also support the growth of membership in ATIDI. President Tah stated AfDB is “also mobilizing our partners to provide support to African countries who are not yet members of ATIDI to join ATIDI and to help them to pay for their participation in the capital of ATIDI.”

“The challenge before us is not a lack of capital or opportunities, but a persistent mispricing of the African risk, and this is leading to excessive cost of capital in the continent”, President Tah said. “Under the NAFAD framework, our ambition is clear: to unlock Africa's capital by combining domestic and international resources while strengthening our financial sovereignty. This is how we will create jobs, accelerate industrial transformation, and build a more prosperous, resilient, and financially sovereign Africa.” President Tah also stated that within the NAFAD architecture, ATIDI plays an indispensable role.

President Tah urged leaders and policymakers to maintain a laser focus on creating an environment conducive to private investment. “This is why the African Development Bank Group is evolving from a traditional project financier into a catalyst for markets. We want to be the solution Bank for the Africa we want” he said. “Together with ATIDI and through guarantee and blended finance, we are demonstrating that every dollar of public finance can mobilise significantly more private capital for infrastructure.” President Tah added.

Professor Kithure Kindiki, Kenya's deputy president, echoed the call for stronger private‑sector participation in Africa's economic development, citing the fiscal constraints and debt pressures facing many African governments.

“The public sector doesn't have enough resources to undertake some of the ambitions that we have, so that money will have to come from private investments,” he said.

The second day of the AGM was dedicated to investment promotion and business development and featured in-depth presentations on macroeconomic developments and proposed projects in Cameroon and Kenya. Projects in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, water, agriculture and transport were showcased.

The programme also included a series of curated Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) meetings designed to connect investors, businesses and public sector stakeholders.

About ATIDI

The African Trade Insurance Agency (commonly known as African Trade & Investment Development Insurance – ATIDI) was founded in 2001 by African States to cover trade and investment risks of companies doing business in Africa. The organisation notably provides Political Risk, Credit Insurance and Surety Insurance. Since inception, ATIDI has supported USD93 billion worth of investments and cross border trade into Africa. It is rated A by both Standard & Poor's and Moody's, which reflects the organization's robust financial position and strong risk management practices. In recognition of its growing impact, ATIDI was named the Development Finance Institution (DFI) of the Year at the 2025 African Banker Awards. For further information: www.atidi.org

July 7 2026 – Andy Burnham, who is expected to become UK Prime Minister later this month, will be forced to scrap the triple lock on pensions and this should be a wake-up call for Britain's retirement savers, warns the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory organisations.

The warning from Nigel Green of deVere Group comes as the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest long-term assessment concludes that Britain faces difficult choices over public spending, with an ageing population, rising healthcare costs and mounting debt placing increasing strain on the public finances.

The fiscal watchdog estimates that retaining the triple lock will cost around £15.5 billion more by the end of the decade than linking the state pension to earnings alone, while state pension spending could rise from around 5% of GDP today to close to 9% by the 2070s if current policy is maintained.

Nigel Green says the political commitment to protect the triple lock is unlikely to survive those fiscal realities indefinitely.

He says: “The triple lock has become politically untouchable, but economics has a habit of catching up with politics.

“I don't believe the question is whether it eventually changes. The question is when.

“The pressure won't disappear because governments wish it away. Britain is getting older, healthcare spending is climbing, defence demands are increasing and debt interest remains elevated.

“Every Prime Minister and Chancellor will be looking for room to manoeuvre, and the state pension will inevitably be part of that conversation.”

The triple lock guarantees that the state pension rises each year by whichever is highest: inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5%. Introduced in 2011, it has substantially lifted pension incomes and helped reduce pensioner poverty.

At the same time, it has become one of the fastest-growing long-term commitments on the government's balance sheet.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that demographic change alone will place sustained pressure on public finances over coming decades, with pensions and healthcare accounting for much of the increase in age-related spending.

Nigel Green believes those structural forces will become increasingly difficult for any government to ignore.

“Andy Burnham may honour the commitment during this Parliament. I think he'll come under enormous pressure to rethink it in the next. Fiscal arithmetic doesn't negotiate. If the government wants to preserve spending elsewhere without imposing ever-higher taxes, every major spending commitment comes under scrutiny.”

He continues: “History shows that no policy guarantee lasts forever. Governments adapt to changing economic conditions.

“Retirement planning built on the expectation that politicians will always preserve today's promises is taking a risk that many people don't fully appreciate.”

The deVere CEO argues that the debate extends well beyond politics.

He says: “This is really about financial resilience. Millions of people understandably see the state pension as a dependable foundation for retirement. It should remain an important part of retirement income, but it should never be the whole plan.

“If the triple lock is eventually diluted, replaced or redesigned, many retirees could discover that the income they expected simply doesn't materialise. Waiting until that happens is the worst possible strategy.”

Private retirement provision is already under pressure. Automatic enrolment has increased workplace pension participation dramatically over the past decade, yet many households remain on course for retirement incomes well below their expectations, particularly if they rely heavily on minimum pension contributions.

The OBR has also highlighted inadequate private pension saving as a growing long-term fiscal risk alongside the rising cost of the state pension itself.

Nigel Green says: “This should be a wake-up call. People need to think beyond the state pension and beyond political promises.

“Building diversified retirement wealth through long-term investing has never been more important.

“The uncomfortable reality is that retirement security increasingly rests with individuals rather than governments.

“Public finances are under pressure across the developed world. Britain is not unique in this regard.

“People who act early have options. They have time for compound growth to work in their favour, they can diversify globally, and they can adjust their plans as circumstances evolve.”

He concludes: “The triple lock has provided valuable protection for pensioners. But prudent financial planning has never been about assuming today's policies will still exist tomorrow.

“It's always been about preparing for change before change is forced upon you.”

deVere Group is one of the world's largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients.  It has a network of offices around the world, more than 80,000 clients, and $14bn under advisement.

Four years after kangaroo-skin soccer shoes lingered on the margins of the world's biggest soccer tournament, the material has effectively disappeared from elite play following a global campaign that persuaded every major athletic shoe brand to abandon the wildlife trade.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lionel Messi of Argentina, Kylian Mbappé of France, Erling Haaland of Norway, Harry Kane of England and all other elite athletes on the pitch are donning football boots made from fabrics other than kangaroo skins, according to the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action. It appears that just one player—Junnosuke Suzuki of Japan—had any plans to wear skins made from kangaroos, signaling a remarkable cultural and marketplace shift in the core equipment for hundreds of millions of people in 190 countries who play the game.

Since launching the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign in 2020, the organizations have secured commitments from every major athletic shoe manufacturer in the world to end the use of kangaroo skins. In 2025-26 alone, Adidas, ASICS, and Umbro joined Nike, Puma, New Balance, and Sokito in abandoning kangaroo parts, while Mizuno announced its intention to stop (though its pace of action is maddeningly slow). These companies, until very recently had dozens of models of kangaroo-skin shoes sold to hundreds of millions of players in more than 190 nations, driving the commercial killing of two million kangaroos across their native range in Australia.

“With their footwear choices, the world’s elite players are signaling to hundreds of millions of soccer enthusiasts that kangaroo-skin soccer shoes are as archaic as film cameras, fax machines, and phone books,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy.

Of the 1,248 players on the official tournament rosters, just one player from Japan indicated he may use a shoe model made with kangaroo skin. Japan was eliminated in a prior round, meaning that the late rounds are free of kangaroo-based shoes. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, kangaroo-skin soccer cleats were already in steep decline, accounting for only a tiny fraction of goals scored during the tournament. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they have effectively vanished.

For the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action, the disappearance of kangaroo leather from soccer's grandest stage marks the culmination of a six-year international campaign to persuade athletic shoe manufacturers to stop sourcing the skins of wild kangaroos for soccer cleats. The shift represents one of the most consequential corporate animal-welfare victories in the history of professional sports.

A pivotal moment came in 2025 when Center for a Humane Economy president Wayne Pacelle traveled to Nuremberg to address Adidas shareholders and leadership at the company's annual meeting. The response by Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden caused spontaneous applause when he told Pacelle the company had stopped sourcing kangaroos for shoes and was exiting production. ASICS came next followed by Mizuno pledging to stop and then Umbro, completing a cascade of corporate commitments that transformed the industry.

“Just a few years ago, the world's biggest athletic brands were helping to drive demand for the commercial slaughter of wild kangaroos,” added Pacelle. “Sourcing products from slain native wildlife for the biggest sport in the world was a prescription for mass killing of iconic kangaroos.”

The campaign succeeded through a combination of corporate engagement, filmmaking, shareholder and consumer education, investigative work, and legislative action.

“The companies selling these shoes marketed innovation, performance, and style. We wanted people to see what that innovation was built on: a cruel and inhumane night slaughter of millions of kangaroos and their young,” said Jennifer Skiff, campaign leader and director of international programs for the Center for a Humane Economy. “We were up against an industry that was telling lawmakers and global corporations that the kangaroo kill was ethical and humane. There's nothing humane about shooting a mother in the dark, bludgeoning the joey in her pouch, and leaving the one at her foot to starve or be taken by a predator.”

The organizations said the absence of kangaroo-skin cleats from the 2026 World Cup should be viewed not as an isolated sports-industry trend, but as a milestone in a larger global movement toward a more humane economy—one that rewards technological innovation while reducing dependence on the exploitation of animals.

ABOUT

Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state, and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. X: @AWAction_News

The Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. X: @TheHumaneCenter

The Redress Design Award — the world's leading sustainable fashion design competition —announces eight finalists representing regions across Asia, Europe, and Middle East

[6 July 2026, Hong Kong] Asia-focused environmental NGO Redress, dedicated to reducing clothing's negative environmental impacts since 2007, announces the eight Redress Design Award 2026 emerging sustainable fashion designer finalists, who out-designed hundreds of applicants globally. Representing seven regions across Asia, Europe, and Middle East, and proving diverse circular design solutions for both common and complex textile waste including factory excess, clothing waste, and furniture waste, they will soon showcase their collections at the globally-anticipated Grand Final Fashion Show in Hong Kong in September 2026 to bring tangible solutions to a mounting global textile waste crisis.

Supported by Lead Sponsor, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), the Redress Design Award is the world's leading sustainable fashion design competition that showcases, educates, and empowers designers. Alumni from the competition represent 40+ regions worldwide.

Fashion's waste problem, and the solutions needed, are critical: an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste are generated annually by the fashion industry. However, the global textile industry is only 0.3% circular.

Waste under the spotlight – as designers from seven regions unite on the global stage

Representing Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, the finalists were selected due to their distinct circular design talents working across a wide range of waste streams:

July 7, 2026. The recent European Commission's move to prioritise European operators in allocating spectrum for direct-to-device connectivity services, the development of Europe's IRIS² constellation, and Germany's planned €35 billion investment in defence space capabilities are all part of Europe's strategic push to reduce its reliance on foreign space services.

Experts argue, however, that building infrastructure is only part of the challenge: for sovereign space networks to remain competitive, they have to utilize and scale optical communication.

“If Starlink remains the only widely available commercial space network using optical communications, European operators will inevitably turn to it for superior speeds and data security. Optical data transfer stopped being a next-gen technology for specialized missions and is now becoming a matter of strategic and market advantage,” said Laurynas Mačiulis, CEO of Astrolight. “This is especially relevant as data and connectivity workloads become more demanding and time-sensitive, with mega-constellations, growing defense use of space, and plans for orbital AI datacenters driving this trend.”

Unlike traditional radio frequency, optical communication uses narrow and highly focused beams of light that enable up to 100 times higher data transmission rates and make links harder to detect, jam, or intercept. Laser communication can also reduce dependence on congested radio frequency spectrum, where operators face regulatory scrutiny, licensing delays, and interference bottlenecks.

According to Novaspace, global satellite connectivity demand will increase more than 11 times between 2024 and 2034. At the same time, less than 10% of all data generated in orbit currently reaches Earth, largely because of limited downlink bandwidth and scarce spectrum availability in conventional communication systems.

Europe is already moving in the direction of optical connectivity. IRIS², a planned European sovereign satellite constellation, is expected to use optical inter-satellite links, while HydRON is planned as a multi-orbit optical data transport network. But experts say a gap may remain between programme-level optical capability and wider commercial use.

“IRIS² and HydRON are important steps, but for optical communication to move from individual programmes to a comprehensive and resilient communications backbone, Europe must also build the industrial and commercial layer around them: proliferated inter-satellite optical links, optical ground stations, and user-segment technologies at scale,” said Dalius Petrulionis, CTO of Astrolight. “This infrastructure will enable real-time, secure data transfer from space to ground, supporting faster decision-making and emergency response, stronger defence capabilities, and commercial services with higher operational and economic value. It is a critical step for Europe to establish a competitive and autonomous presence in space for years to come.”

In its recent report, Building a European Competitive Edge in Space, the Centre for European Policy Studies argued that Europe has a highly capable but dispersed space ecosystem that still struggles to scale and compete in areas such as satellite manufacturing and secure connectivity.

“Europe already has the talent and strong technical foundations to lead in optical communication,” said Mačiulis. “The next step is making sure that, as Europe's sovereign space architecture scales, the optical communication layer scales with it. That is how European critical and commercial users can get a competitive alternative to foreign space connectivity services.”

In April 2026, Astrolight joined a Kepler Communications-led team to provide its ATLAS-X laser communication terminal for ESA's HydRON. The network will support applications such as 6G connectivity and aims to advance secure, high-capacity space communications and strengthen Europe's competitiveness in next-generation connectivity infrastructure.

About Astrolight

Founded in 2019 by an ex-founder and CTO of Kongsberg Nanoavionics, Laurynas Mačiulis, together with co-founders from leading European laser companies, Astrolight aims to provide end-to-end optical connectivity solutions by building complete and self-contained hardware for space, ground, and marine operational domains. Astrolight designs and manufactures advanced optical communication terminals for space-to-Earth, space-to-space, ship-to-ship, and ground-based links, leveraging full vertical integration of its technology stack to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and faster development cycles.

7 July 2026 – On behalf of partners, Equinor has awarded contracts worth around NOK 6 billion for four subsea projects. They are part of the first of several planned subsea development waves, in which contracts are being coordinated to increase pace and reduce costs for subsea developments on the Norwegian continental shelf.

“We envisage around 75 subsea developments towards 2035. To realise these resources, we need to develop smaller discoveries faster and at a lower cost than today. This requires significant changes in how we plan and execute subsea projects. Our ambition is to halve both costs and execution time through simpler processes and standardised solutions together with our partners and suppliers,” says Gunnar Nakken, senior vice president for projects and subsea on the Norwegian continental shelf in Equinor.

Together, the four projects will contribute between 130 and 220 million barrels of oil equivalent to future production from the Norwegian continental shelf.

“We are strengthening competition and predictability and giving suppliers the opportunity to deliver on several projects at the same time. It is essential to reduce costs, and the response from the industry confirms significant improvement potential. We will now scale this collaboration to make marginal discoveries profitable and maintain activity levels on the Norwegian continental shelf,” says Jannicke Nilsson, chief procurement officer.

These are the contracts:

• TechnipFMC will deliver subsea production systems for Brime, Omega Sør and Tyrihans Nord. They will also install rigid pipelines on the Troll field. The linepipe will be supplied by Tenaris.
• OneSubsea will deliver the subsea production system for the TWIN project, as well as umbilicalsfor all the projects.
• Ocean Installer has been awarded the contract for marine operations. They will install and connect the subsea facilities, control cables and flexible pipelines.
• NOV will deliver flexible pipelines to Omega Sør, Tyrihans Nord and Brime.

“This is equipment with long lead times, so we need to invest early if we are to halve the time from discovery to production. We order standard equipment that can be used by later projects if one of the projects in the first wave is not sanctioned by the partnership or approved by the authorities,” says Nakken.

The relevant subsea projects are:

• TWIN, which will be tied back to Troll A
• Omega Sør, which is planned to be tied back to Snorre A
• Tyrihans Nord, which is planned to be produced via the Kristin platform
• Brime, which is planned to be tied back to Gullfaks C via Visund Sør existing template on the seabed.

So far, only the TWIN project has been sanctioned by the owners and in accordance with the Petroleum Act the partnership has sent notification to the Ministry of Energy regarding the development. The remaining projects will be processed and sanctioned in accordance with the decision-making processes of the partnerships and the authorities.

Projects in wave 1:

TWIN is the third step in a phased development of the gas cap in Troll West.

• The partnership has decided to invest just over NOK 4 billion in the project, which will contribute around 11 billion standard cubic metres of gas.
• The project consists of two wells in a new template and a pipeline connected to existing subsea facilities. The control cable and MEG line will be extended to the new development.
• The gas will be produced via Troll A before being sent to Kollsnes.
• TWIN stands for Troll West Increased gas recovery North – increased recovery of gas in the northern part of the gas cap in Troll West.
• Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 30.55% (operator), Petoro AS 55.93%, A/S Norske Shell 8.19%, TotalEnergies EP Norge AS 3.69% and ConocoPhillips Skandinavia 1.64%.

The other projects are currently in the early phase.

Brime is planned to be developed with four wells drilled from a template tied back to an existing subsea template at Visund Sør. From there, the wellstream, which is mainly gas, will be sent to Gullfaks C for processing before being transported onwards to Kårstø for export.

Brime also provides the basis for a possible phased development of Nøkken, planned as sidetracks from two of the wells at Brime.
Recoverable volumes in Brime are estimated at 16–34 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 74.66% (operator), Petoro AS 25.34%.

Omega Sør is an oil discovery made near the Snorre field in spring 2026, with recoverable volumes then estimated at between 25 and 89 million barrels.

The discovery is planned to be developed with a template and a Cap-X production satellite connected to existing subsea facilities. The oil is planned to be produced via Snorre A before being shipped to market via Gullfaks.
Partnership: Equinor Energy AS 31% (operator), Petoro AS 30%, Harbour Energy Norge AS 24.5%, INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS 9.6%, Vår Energi ASA 4.9%.

Tyrihans Nord is a discovery from 1984 that is planned to be developed with two wells in a new template connected to the existing production pipeline between the Tyrihans subsea field and the Kristin platform in the Norwegian Sea. From there, the gas will be sent onwards to Kårstø.

Volumes are estimated at between 20 and 30 million barrels of oil equivalent, mainly gas.

Study finds that higher temperatures in winter are leading to increased hospital admissions for mental health disorders among children and young people, which are expected to increase with climate change.

A major new analysis of around 720,000 hospital presentations of people aged 0–24 in NSW has found that hotter than normal winter days are linked to a significant rise in acute mental health disorders, with further scenario modelling suggesting a significant rise in heat-attributable admissions by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.

Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the study showed that increased risk was observed in both cold and warm seasons, but high temperatures in winter were associated with increased hospital admissions for mental health disorders among children and young adults, with rises in presentations for schizophrenia, eating disorders, and deliberate self-harm only observed in cold seasons.

Overall, heat accounted for over eight percent of admissions in cold seasons and almost three percent in warmer seasons. The risks during cold seasons were more pronounced for female patients and young adults.

“This is a somewhat unexpected finding. Conventional wisdom would suggest the greatest impacts would be in summer, when it’s the hottest. Instead, it was hot winter weather that was associated with the highest risks of presentations,” said lead author Dr Wen-Qiang He, an epidemiologist from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre.

Using hospital presentation data, the study also conducted scenario modelling, predicting that by the last decade of this century, heat-attributable admissions could rise by six percent under low emission scenarios, almost eight percent under medium emission scenarios, and almost 21 percent under high emissions.

The findings come just as Australia experiences a hotter-than-normal lead up to winter, with many parts of Australia recording early winter maximums and Sydney recording the hottest June on record since 1859.

“Hotter-than-normal weather, which is becoming more frequent because of climate change, is already affecting the mental health of some of our most vulnerable young people,” said Dr He.

“Our findings suggest these impacts are likely to grow as the climate continues to warm, making mental health an increasingly important consideration in climate adaptation and public health planning.”

While the researchers didn't examine the biological mechanisms directly, they said there could be several plausible explanations.

“Emerging research suggests heat can affect brain function and neural connectivity, with children and young people potentially more vulnerable because their brains are still developing.”

“Another possibility is that our bodies are adapted to expect cold conditions in winter. When temperatures suddenly spike, people may overheat because they're using heavier bedding and clothing, and that can disrupt sleep and place additional stress on the body's ability to regulate temperature.”

The researchers’ climate modelling is based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), which map climate change scenarios by greenhouse gas emissions.

Research: He, W., Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Heat Exposure and Hospital Admissions for Mental Health Disorders in a Changing Climate. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2026.05.001

Declaration: The authors declare no competing interests. The research was funded by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator grant (NN-APP1197940), Financial Markets Foundation for Children (NN) and New South Wales Ministry of Health-funded Luminesce Alliance (W-QH).

6 July 2026 – Equinor has reached an agreement with bp to acquire its interest in the Bay du Nord project offshore Canada, increasing Equinor’s ownership to 100%.

The transaction reflects bp’s ongoing portfolio simplification and provides Equinor with increased flexibility to continue maturing the project towards final investment decision (FID) planned for early 2027.

“Over the past few years, we have strengthened Bay du Nord by improving the business case and reducing key risks. This transaction reflects our confidence in the project as we continue maturing it towards a final investment decision. We will seek opportunities to bring in partners as part of the project's further development”, says Philippe Mathieu, Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production International.

Bay du Nord is located in the Flemish Pass basin, approximately 500 kilometres offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The development concept is based on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) with subsea tiebacks and broader resource potential across the basin.

The project has advanced to front-end engineering and design (FEED), with continued work focused on strengthening capital efficiency, execution planning, and overall project robustness. Constructive engagement with provincial and federal governments has supported progress through key milestones and will remain important as the project continues to advance.

Equinor will continue maturing the project towards a final investment decision, currently targeted for early 2027, subject to market conditions, regulatory approvals and internal approvals.

Project facts

• Discovery: Bay du Nord 2013, Cambriol 2020
• Location: Approximately 500 km east of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Basin: Flemish Pass
• Water Depth: 600–1,170 metres
• Discoveries included in the initial phase: Bay du Nord and Cambriol
• Potential future tiebacks: Cappahayden, Harpoon, and Baccalieu
• Concept: Phased subsea development tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO)
• Estimated recoverable resources (initial phase): >400 million barrels of oil
• Investment: ~CAD $14 billion
• Final Investment Decision: planned 2027
• First Oil (expected): 2031.