Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

22 October 2025 – In September, a man lost his life in a tragic accident during a lifting operation at Equinor’s Mongstad refinery.

“The accident and the tragic outcome have had a deep impact on us. A colleague lost his life working for Equinor, and this is a reminder of the importance of the safety work we do alongside our suppliers,” says Jannicke Nilsson, executive vice president for safety, security and sustainability.

The deceased was contracted to the company Crane Norway, which provides crane and lifting services at Mongstad.

“We are investigating the accident along with the supplier to ensure that lessons are learned. We aim to continue and strengthen our long-term and systematic cooperation with the suppliers and other operating companies to improve safety,” Nilsson says.

Reduction in the number of personal injuries and serious incidents

Equinor's safety statistics reflect an overall, positive long-term trend.

At the end of the third quarter of 2025, the serious incident frequency per million hours worked (SIF) was 0.23, down from 0.27 in the second quarter. Serious personal injuries are also included in the serious incident statistics.

As of the third quarter, the total recordable injury frequency per million hours worked (TRIF) is 2.1 for the last 12 months, down from 2.2 at the end of the second quarter.

Four oil and gas leaks were recorded over the last 12 months, the lowest ever. These leaks are classified according to the degree of severity in relation to the discharge rate.

In March 2025, Equinor experienced a well control incident on a rig associated with the Bacalhau field off the coast of Brazil. The incident has subsequently been re-classified as serious.

There were no incidents with major accident potential in the third quarter.

Preventive work

Through the “Always Safe” annual wheel, Equinor works with operating companies and suppliers to enhance the understanding of factors that prevent safe work. The topic in the fourth quarter will focus on health and the working environment.

Equinor is continuing its work to prevent major accidents through extra efforts within management training and e-learning courses that are also available to the company's suppliers.

* As of the first quarter of 2025, SIF is being reported with two decimals to better reflect minor changes in the frequency.

22 October 2025. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is sounding the alarm on the intensifying cholera epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

New roles open for experienced professionals returning to work, with opportunities across regional ACT, QLD, NSW, NT, SA, TAS, VIC and WA.

22 October 2025 – Commonwealth Bank has expanded its Career Comeback Program nationally, opening new opportunities for professionals returning to the workforce after extended career breaks.

The program offers permanent roles and a structured 12-week support program, including onboarding, career coaching, mentoring, and flexible work arrangements – all designed to help participants transition back into meaningful careers. 

Program growth and success 

Launched in 2021 within CBA’s Institutional Banking & Markets (IB&M) division, the program has since grown to include yearly intakes of roles across Risk, Financial Crime, and Financial Services – and has achieved an impressive 92 per cent retention rate. 

Participants’ career breaks range from a few years to more than two decades. In 2021, Bronwyn Ayres-Munro joined the Non-Financial Risk and Conduct team after 21 years away, in a job-share arrangement with Margot Henville, who had also paused her corporate career for nearly 20 years. 

“The program gave me the confidence and direction I needed after taking a break,” says Henville. “It reassured me that my skills and experiences were valued. From my first day, I felt welcomed and supported. The best part was sharing the journey with others who understood the challenges of returning to work.” 

For alumni like Kristen Miller, now Director of Corporate Governance, the program has been transformative. 

“Returning to work after 10 years away was daunting, but the program recognised the whole person, not just a résumé. I joined as an Associate Director and am now a Director – proof that a strong comeback is absolutely possible.” 

Expanding to Regional Australia

Applications for the next intake opened this week (October 20), with CommBank offering up to 18 new roles across Institutional Banking and, for the first time, Retail and Business Banking, including CBA’s Regional and Agribusiness Banking (RAB) division.  

“Our people are central to our success and having a diverse and inclusive team means tapping into the strength and expertise of our full workforce to deliver greater value to our clients. Our Career Comeback program supports professionals with a wealth of experience and unique perspectives to return to work. As the program continues to expand across the organisation, I hope to see even more experienced professionals take on a rewarding career with CBA,” said Sinead Taylor, Group Executive Institutional Banking and Markets at CBA. 

Kylie Allen, Executive General Manager of Regional and Agribusiness Banking at CBA, says she’s excited to welcome the first participants to her division. 

“This marks an important step for our business. Regional and Agribusiness Banking is all about relationships, and Career Comeback candidates bring valuable experience and community connection. We’re proud to support professionals ready to relaunch their careers and contribute to the local business community through their impactful roles at CommBank.

“We’re open to candidates with strong commercial acumen, exceptional customer service and deep industry expertise – such as agribusiness, property or commercial – even if they haven’t previously worked as bankers. While full-time roles are preferred, we offer flexibility for the right candidate.

“As we continue to roll out the initiative nationally, its current success rate shows that with the right support, returning to work after a career break doesn’t have to be a setback – it can be a meaningful and empowering fresh start.”

Suzanne Jaques’ Career Comeback

Suzanne Jaques began her career as a Business Analyst with CBA in 2004, just two years after graduating from university. After gaining valuable experience, she decided to broaden her horizons and moved to the UK, where she worked for a decade. When Suzanne and her husband decided to start a family, they made the choice to leave their roles in London and return to Australia. Initially, Suzanne planned to take a five-year break until her son started school. However, the pandemic extended that break to ten years as she focused on raising her family.

When Suzanne decided to return to work, she quickly realised how challenging it was after such a long break. Competing against candidates with recent experience, she struggled to gain traction with recruiters and even considered going back to university to retrain. Everything changed when she discovered CBA’s Career Comeback Program. “I wasn’t a perfect fit, but I had the skills and hoped I’d at least get an interview. Luckily, I did – and it’s been an amazing opportunity,” Suzanne said.

“The options out there often mean taking a step backwards. This CBA opportunity lets you return where you left off, with the program’s support behind you. It gives you the confidence to step right back in. So it’s fantastic.”

Suzanne is now in CommBank's IB&M team, in a role that matches her experience, proving that with the right support, a career break doesn’t have to mean starting over.

Applications Now Open

CommBank is currently recruiting for a range of roles as part of the expanded program, including:

Associate Director roles across institutional sales, lending, trade finance, and debt markets and products
Private banker roles in Retail Banking
Agribusiness Bankers in the Regional & Agribusiness (RAB) team

In addition to seeking applicants from metropolitan centres across the country, the RAB team is looking for experienced bankers based in, or willing to relocate to: 

• Australian Capital Territory – Canberra; 
• New South Wales – Albury Wodonga, Central Coast, Gosford, Lismore, Newcastle, Orange, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga;  
• Northern Territory – Darwin; 
• Queensland – Cairns, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Townsville; 
• South Australia – Mount Barker, Mount Gambier; 
• Tasmania – Hobart; 
• Victoria – Albury Wodonga, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Warragul; and 
• Western Australia – Karratha. 

Applications close on Monday 10 November. Successful candidates will commence on Monday 23 February 2026. 

For more information on the CommBank Career Comeback Program, visit: commbank.com.au/careercomeback 

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the statement below following their meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.

“It was our pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Albanese to the Capitol today. Australia has long been a true friend of the United States, and it is our sincere hope that our relationship only continues to grow, most notably with the continuation of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) agreement and the recently announced critical minerals deal.

“Together, we will push back against adversaries like China that threaten us and our allies in the Indo-Pacific. We will work to ensure our critical mineral supply chains are free from Chinese coercion. And we will continue to bolster our security and economic cooperation for the benefit of both the Australian and American people.”

The platform brings together Sparta Curves, Sparta Knowledge, and Sparta Intelligence to eliminate inefficiencies across trading, analytics, and risk functions. By replacing manual updates, scattered tools, and inconsistent data, Sparta delivers clarity, control, and collaboration at unprecedented speed.

Customisation and collaboration sit at the heart of the platform. Users can tailor market curves with their own assumptions, override values, and apply desk-specific logic. At the same time, the platform keeps everyone – traders, analysts, and risk managers, working from the same set of aligned data. This creates a shared source of truth with no silos or version drift.

“Traders don’t need more data, they need clarity,” said Felipe Elink Schuurman, CEO and Founder of Sparta. “In the past, having exclusive data gave trading desks an edge. But once data became universal, the old tools like spreadsheets, manual inputs and siloed views started holding desks back. Sparta was built as the tool trading teams have always needed: real-time, collaborative and designed for the way commodity trading actually works. By combining pricing, insight, and predictive signals in one place, we’re giving desks the tools to move faster, align instantly, and make smarter trades.”

Sparta describes itself as “the future of commodity trading desks, built today.” Unlike legacy terminals, which were designed for yesterday’s workflows and often not built purposefully for commodity trading desks, Sparta’s platform is purpose-built for how modern trading teams operate, unifying everything from live pricing and market insight to predictive analytics in one structured system.

The Sparta Platform: Curves, Knowledge, Intelligence

• Sparta Curves delivers real-time futures, swaps, physical, and freight pricing from more than 30 trusted brokers, with live charting, analytics, and Excel and mobile integration.
• Sparta Knowledge links curated news, PRA data, and trader insights directly to pricing, filtering out noise with tailored feeds by region, exposure, and strategy, and aligning desks instantly with real-time outlooks, alerts, and expert commentary.
• Sparta Intelligence builds on this foundation with predictive analytics – arbitrage signals, blend margin models, freight tracking, and scenario testing – enabling desks to spot dislocations before the market reacts.

Together, these modules unlock a new level of desk performance:

• 90% less manual work (no more chasing broker calls and reconciling spreadsheets)
• 100% alignment (all teams working from one source of truth)
• Zero noise (only the signals that matter to your trades).

“Sparta is about clarity, control and collaboration,” added Schuurman. “We are replacing slow, siloed, legacy tools with a real-time platform that’s purpose-built for trading desks. And because we’ve lived this pain ourselves as traders, we know exactly what’s needed to transform the desk experience.”

About Sparta

Sparta is a leading provider of real-time market intelligence and analytics for global commodity traders. Our cutting-edge technology delivers actionable insights, price transparency, and data-driven decision-making tools, empowering traders to stay ahead in fast-moving markets. With a commitment to innovation and accuracy, Sparta serves a diverse client base, from independent traders to multinational corporations.

For more information, visit www.spartacommodities.com

22 October 2025. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling on governments around the world to drastically and urgently increase medical evacuations for thousands of patients who are unable to access the care they need in Gaza. These evacuations must be accompanied by a sustained effort to maintain the fragile ceasefire which has been violated multiple times, and ensure a massive, unrestricted influx of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

With medical evacuations from Gaza set to resume on 22 October following a suspension since 29 September, MSF is urging governments around the world to save lives by urgently and drastically increasing this vital lifeline. Israeli authorities must allow patients to leave to access the treatment they need, and ensure their right of return to Gaza.

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring genocide. The health system lies in ruins,” says Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, International President of MSF and an emergency doctor who has worked in Gaza. “Israeli forces attacked hospitals, reducing them to rubble; killed, detained and forcibly displaced medical staff; and systematically blocked supplies from entering the Strip.”

As of October 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 15,600 people – one in four of whom are children – are awaiting lifesaving medical evacuation from Gaza. Patients include those with complex trauma injuries caused by bullets and bombs, or life-threatening and chronic conditions such as cancer or kidney failure.  

“These patients cannot wait for the healthcare system to be rebuilt – they need urgent care today,” says Dr Abdelmoneim. “Between July 2024 and August 2025, at least 740 patients, including 137 children, died while waiting for medical evacuation. These were preventable deaths – caused not only by destroyed hospitals, but by political inaction.”

In an open letter addressed to heads of state, Dr Abdelmoneim, warns that the ceasefire alone will not end the ongoing medical and humanitarian catastrophe that Palestinians are enduring.

While more humanitarian assistance is starting to arrive, MSF is calling for it to be rapidly scaled up – including medical supplies, fuel, clean water, food, and shelter – to meet the staggering needs of two million people, many of whom are returning to the ruins of their former homes with winter fast approaching.

As of October 2025, the WHO has confirmed that only 14 out of Gaza's 36 hospitals were even partly functioning. None are fully operational following systematic and direct Israeli attacks, including ground offensives, tank shells, and airstrikes.

According to the Ministry of Health, 1,722 health workers have been killed. Just a week before the ceasefire, two MSF colleagues – an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist – were killed by an Israeli airstrike while on their way to work. In total, 15 MSF colleagues were killed in the past two years. An MSF orthopedic surgeon, Dr Mohammed Obeid, has been detained in harsh conditions since October 2024. We are urgently appealing for his release. The loss of health professionals is devastating for patients in Gaza.

“While some countries such as Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye and Jordan have carried their share of the responsibility, others have done almost nothing,” says Dr Abdelmoneim. “This inaction is indefensible.”

To underscore the scale of this inaction, MSF has published a ‘Medical Evacuation Leaderboard’, comparing countries’ efforts to facilitate patient evacuations from Gaza. The data reveals a stark imbalance: while a handful of countries have accepted thousands of patients, many governments who have the capacity to do more have accepted few patients, or none at all.  Australia has accepted one patient.

MSF is urging governments to:

• Maintain pressure to ensure the ceasefire is sustained and accompanied by a massive influx of unhindered humanitarian assistance.
• Drastically and urgently increase the number of medical evacuations from Gaza and use your influence to ensure Israel does not block medical evacuations.
• Prioritise evacuations based on medical urgency and clinical need including accepting adults and the elderly who make up 75 per cent of the waiting list.
• Fast-track visa and administrative processes for patients and accompanying caregivers to reduce life-threatening delays.
• Allow patients, especially children and vulnerable adults, to travel with their caregivers.
• Guarantee patients’ right to remain abroad, should they wish to, while also securing the right to a safe, dignified and voluntary return to Gaza.
• Provide dignified living conditions for patients and their caregivers, follow-up treatment, and rehabilitation services while abroad. Care must include much-needed mental health support for all patients and their caregivers.

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  

October 21 2025 – The sharp rise in UK government borrowing has created a fiscal squeeze that makes a tax raid on pensions in next month's Budget increasingly likely, warns Nigel Green, chief executive of global financial advisory giant deVere Group.

The warning comes as official figures show public borrowing reached £20.2 billion in September, the highest for that month in five years.

It brings total borrowing for the first half of the fiscal year to nearly £100 billion, significantly above forecasts, underscoring the growing challenge facing Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares for the November 26 Budget.

Nigel Green says the situation “sets the stage for a politically risky and economically damaging move against pension savings.”

“The numbers speak for themselves. Borrowing has surged far beyond expectations while growth remains flat and debt servicing costs are swallowing a larger share of national income,” he explains.

“When the Treasury finds itself under this kind of pressure, pensions are often first in line. They're seen as an easy source of revenue that can be tapped quickly, even if the long-term consequences are severe.”

He adds that this moment echoes past fiscal squeezes when governments turned to pension reforms and stealth taxes to plug gaps.

“From frozen allowances to lifetime limit changes, history shows that pensioners are the easiest targets. The political calculation is that they're less likely to shift their financial arrangements or take to the streets, but that calculation underestimates how much confidence and capital are destroyed in the process.”

The deVere chief warns that the economic backdrop makes the temptation to raise pension taxes particularly strong this year.

“Debt interest payments have exploded as inflation lingers and bond yields stay high. The government's borrowing costs are running tens of billions ahead of projections. Combine that with ambitious spending commitments and it becomes increasingly clear that the Treasury will be hunting for new revenue.”

He points to renewed discussion among policy circles about aligning tax rates on pension income with those on earnings and reducing higher-rate relief on contributions.

“These ideas resurface whenever fiscal space narrows,” says the deVere CEO.

“They are always framed as modernisation or fairness measures, but they amount to the same thing: taking more from savers who have already paid tax once on their income and have planned responsibly for their retirement.”

He stresses that while the Chancellor faces difficult choices, targeting pensions would be counterproductive.

“Undermining confidence in long-term saving would push future generations to rely more heavily on the state, not less. It would choke off investment flows into British industry that come from pension funds, weakening the country's growth potential just when it needs to be strengthened.”

The global financial adviser notes that deVere has already seen an increase in clients seeking to review their retirement strategies ahead of the Budget. “People can sense what's coming,” he says.

“When Treasury officials refuse to rule out tax rises, it usually means they are being discussed seriously behind closed doors. Anyone with retirement savings should be acting now to secure legitimate, government-approved solutions that protect their position before the rules change.”

He adds that the broader economic implications extend beyond pensioners.

“Higher effective taxation on retirement income depresses consumer spending among older households, which are a key driver of domestic demand. It also sends a damaging message to international investors about the UK's policy stability.

“When governments shift the goalposts too often, capital goes elsewhere.”

Nigel Green concludes: “Rachel Reeves faces the toughest Budget of her career, but raiding pensions would be a serious error. Britain's fiscal credibility depends on encouraging saving and investment, not punishing them.

The Chancellor must resist the short-term temptation to squeeze retirees to fix long-term structural issues. Once trust in the system is broken, it's almost impossible to rebuild.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) today welcomed the Legislative Council of Brunei Darussalam as its 182nd Member Parliament, thus becoming the last remaining national Parliament in Asia to join the IPU.

Brunei Darussalam’s accession follows a process of engagement with the IPU. The Legislative Council first attended the 149th IPU Assembly in 2024, where its delegation held discussions with IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong. Building on this initial dialogue, the Council subsequently undertook the necessary steps to formalize its membership, which was confirmed at the 151st IPU Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

With a population of 455,000, Brunei Darussalam is the smallest country in Asia. Its Legislative Council is composed of up to 45 members appointed to five-year terms, with 34 currently serving.

Women occupy 11.8% of seats. The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Abdul Rahman, has presided since 2015, while the Secretary General of Parliament, Ms. Huraini Hurairah, appointed in 2024, is among a growing cohort of women parliamentary Secretaries General in Asia.

The affiliation of Brunei Darussalam brings the IPU one step closer to universal membership of all the world’s national parliaments.

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 182 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes peace, democracy and sustainable development. It helps parliaments become stronger, younger, greener and more gender-balanced. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House:

“Australia is a stalwart ally of the United States in the Indo-Pacific and a key bulwark of our collective security and prosperity. A strong U.S.-Australia partnership is also vital to deterring aggression by China in the region. I was glad to see President Trump voice support for AUKUS, which is key to both America’s security and ensuring that the burden of collective defense is shared more broadly among partners and allies.  

“The U.S. must also continue to deepen its cooperation with Australia on critical minerals to secure resilient supply chains that reduce our dependence on China and strengthen our industrial base. China’s recent retaliatory steps to President Trump’s unilateral trade war underscore just how important this is. I look forward to seeing the details of the signed critical minerals agreement and how it advances our shared goals.

“The Indo-Pacific is watching whether America stands by its word. Congress will continue working with our allies to ensure that AUKUS and our broader strategic partnerships deliver on their promise of shared security and prosperity.”