Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

14 September 2026 – Following the recent escalation of fighting in western Yemen, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that its teams remain in Mocha, supporting the General Hospital.

Over the past few days, many people have fled the city, including health staff from most hospitals. With several health facilities currently not functioning, the staff who remain at the General Hospital are a vital source of medical care for people in Mocha.

The needs are high and go far beyond trauma care. Around 30 MSF healthcare workers are doing their utmost to help keep essential services running in the hospital, including maternity and paediatric care, as well as treatment for a range of other medical needs, including cholera. Their work is saving lives.

For this work to continue, the medical and humanitarian mission must be respected. Medical facilities, vehicles and staff must be protected so that people can safely access the care they need. This is also essential to ensure that patients in critical condition can be safely referred when the treatment they need is not available locally.

We are looking for ways to reinforce our team in Mocha, but this is not straightforward. The situation remains highly uncertain and is stressful for both the population and our teams. We are closely monitoring developments and engaging with the relevant authorities on the need to protect medical and humanitarian activities.

MSF has been supporting the provision of care in Mocha since 2018. Today, as yesterday, our focus remains clear: to ensure that people in Mocha can continue to access essential medical care despite the current uncertainty.

TESTIMONY: From Australian Lou Cormack, MSF country coordinator in Yemen:

“Our teams have been present in Mocha and the surrounding area since 2018. Our work focuses on improving access to paediatric and maternal healthcare, a lifeline for many women and children in an area where access to such care is a daily challenge.

In Mocha, we support the General Hospital through the direct presence of MSF teams, as well as through broader support to the hospital and Ministry of Health staff. Outside the city, we also support maternal and paediatric healthcare in two primary healthcare centres in the region: Mafraq, east of Mocha, and Khawkhah, to the north. In these two facilities, our support includes funding, training, medical equipment and supplies. We do not have permanent MSF teams based there.

The rapid evolution of the situation this week, including the swift advance of Ansar Allah forces and their control of most of the western coast, has had a major impact on both medical activities and the needs of the population in recent days.

Just a few days ago, our teams in Mocha were preparing to reopen our former field hospital in the city to treat patients, including providing trauma stabilisation, in response to the fighting taking place east of Mafraq and the gradual arrival of displaced people in Mocha.

We had already started providing water to displaced people arriving in the city, as well as finalising the setup of cholera isolation and treatment units in Khawkhah and Mocha. We were also increasing our ambulance fleet to refer critical patients to Aden, as hospitals there were at capacity.

The rapid advance of Ansar Allah forces has fundamentally changed the situation. Within hours, the hospitals providing trauma services on the western coast were evacuated, while large numbers of people fled Mocha towards the south and Aden, including healthcare workers from the city's hospitals. The General Hospital in Mocha was no exception.

Our team remained in Mocha, but we had to scale back and reorganise our activities and focus on one immediate priority: doing everything possible to keep essential medical services at the General Hospital running.

So far, thanks to the commitment of Yemeni doctors, gynaecologists, nurses and other healthcare workers, we have been able to maintain a minimum level of essential care, including deliveries, emergency care and intensive care. As of today, around 30 healthcare workers remain present at the hospital. This may not seem like many, but their work is saving lives.

When the city was taken, dozens of patients were still hospitalised in the maternity and paediatric wards. It was essential to maintain their care while continuing to receive patients requiring urgent treatment. On that day, hospital teams cared for two patients who arrived in the paediatric and maternity emergency departments, performed two emergency caesarean sections, and continued caring for seven patients in intensive care and ten babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, in addition to dozens of other patients and babies in the regular wards.

The situation remains extremely challenging. As of 11 September, almost all other healthcare facilities in the city had stopped functioning, largely because their staff had left. There is currently no possibility of referring patients, either within the city or to Aden.

The medical needs were already enormous before the latest escalation. They are even greater now.

We are looking for ways to reinforce our team in Mocha, but this is not straightforward. The situation remains highly stressful for both the population and our teams. There were further bombardments overnight, and there is still considerable uncertainty about what may happen in the coming hours and days.

For us to continue providing care, our medical and humanitarian mission must be respected. Medical facilities, vehicles and staff must be protected so that people can safely access the care they need. This is also essential to allow patients in critical condition to be referred safely when the treatment they need is not available locally. Any threat to the medical mission puts the provision of essential healthcare at risk and may jeopardise our ability to continue working in Mocha. Without these basic guarantees, we simply cannot do our job: treating people and saving lives.

We do not know what will happen next. What we do know is that medical needs are enormous and go far beyond trauma care. We will continue to do our utmost to support the population and maintain access to essential healthcare for as long as we can.”

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 https://msf.org.au/

Source: Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Four shortlisted sites are being considered for the March 15 National Memorial in Christchurch.

The affected community (families of the 51 shuhada and the injured) have been closely involved in the process to identify potential sites and are currently being asked for their feedback. The four potential sites are in Central Ōtākaro, South Ōtākaro, South Rolleston Avenue and Victoria Lake.

“It’s absolutely crucial that the affected families have time to consider the sites and tell us what they think,” says Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae, Secretary for Culture and Heritage.

“The impacts of that dreadful day were felt throughout Christchurch, Aotearoa and further afield. But they were most keenly felt by those who lost people or were injured.

“Our nation responded to the events of March 15 with love, compassion and unity. That is something we can be proud of as a country.

“Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage will continue to work closely with Christchurch City Council, the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and mana whenua to find an appropriate site and establish the memorial.”

The site selection process includes identifying sites, asking the affected community for feedback before Christchurch City Council make an offer of site(s). After an offer, a preferred site will be selected by the Ministry. No decisions have yet been made about a preferred site, or sites.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua

14 September 2026

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua has published near-final versions of four Deposit Takers Act 2023 (DTA) standards, consultation submissions, and the questions that existing banks and non-bank deposit takers will need to answer if they are applying for a DTA licence. The standards cover Liquidity, the Depositor Compensation Scheme, Lending, and Incorporation outside New Zealand. The Reserve Bank has also published near-final supporting guidance.

“Publishing this information now gives deposit takers more time to plan for compliance,” Assistant Governor Financial Stability Angus McGregor said.

The near-final drafts reflect consultation feedback from deposit takers. We expect any further changes will be minor adjustments to improve clarity and consistency across the full suite of DTA standards to be issued in May 2027. The licensing questions published today are also unlikely to change significantly before they are finalised in May 2027.

Licensing under the DTA

The DTA licensing process opens on 1 June 2027. Banks and non-bank deposit takers currently regulated by the Reserve Bank must apply to be relicensed under the DTA. The process for regulated entities has been streamlined to focus on requirements that change under the DTA while recognising each entity's compliance with existing prudential requirements.

New entrants can also apply for a DTA licence from 1 June 2027 but will complete the full licensing process. All New Zealand deposit takers licensed under the DTA will be able to call themselves banks.

“We encourage new entrants considering their licensing options to contact us to discuss application pathways during the transition to the DTA,” Mr McGregor said.

The Reserve Bank will publish near-final versions of four more DTA standards by the end of this year and issue all but the crisis preparedness standards by the end of May 2027, a key milestone for DTA implementation.

The DTA supports a stable financial system that New Zealanders can trust through the Depositor Compensation Scheme, proportionate regulation of deposit takers under a unified regime, and better crisis management.

More information

• Consultation submissions and our response
• DTA standards and licensing

Source: ESET New Zealand

14 Sept 2026

Kiwi consumers and businesses are being warned they could unwittingly hand over passwords, financial information or download malicious software after new cybersecurity data found ChatGPT search results routinely directing users to high-risk websites already classified as unsafe.

The use of AI assistants has surged in NZ, with four out of five New Zealanders now using the technology and ChatGPT becoming the country's most downloaded free iPhone app last year.1

Local experts say the new findings from ESET, Europe's largest cybersecurity company, have raised concerns about the growing reliance on AI tools to find products, software and information online, with users assuming links provided in an AI response have already been checked for safety.

The sites identified included fake online stores, cryptocurrency scams and imitation login pages, while researchers monitoring ChatGPT results over the past 30 days also found responses linking to malicious computer code capable of stealing information or compromising a user's device.2

Scott Leman, ESET NZ country manager, says the findings challenge the assumption that a website or download is safe simply because it has been provided by an AI assistant.

“Kiwis are increasingly using AI to tell them where to buy something, what software to download or which website to visit.

“The risk is that we start placing blind faith in the answers these tools provide. Someone asks an AI tool for help, follows the link it provides and ends up on a fake login page, scam website or malicious download.

“Because that recommendation has come from a tool they trust, they may be less likely to question whether the destination itself is genuine or safe.

“What this data shows is that users cannot assume a link is safe simply because ChatGPT has provided it.”

Leman says the growing use of AI as a search and recommendation tool means links it generates should be treated with the same caution as those received through email, text messages or social media.

“If the destination is a fake Microsoft login page or an imitation retail site, the consequences can be very real.

“A user could enter their username and password, provide financial information or download something harmful without realising they have been directed to a fraudulent site.”

The findings come as ESET data also shows over a third (35%) of cyber threats detected across its New Zealand user base in July were phishing-related.3

Phishing attacks seek to trick people into following a link, opening a document, scanning a QR code or entering sensitive information into a fake website designed to appear legitimate.

Leman says the combination of AI-generated online risk and AI's increasing ability to accelerate cyber attacks represents a significant change in the threat environment.

“We have reached a tipping point. AI isn't simply making phishing emails more convincing, it is also changing the way people find and trust information online.

“An AI-generated answer is not automatically a security endorsement of the website, application or download it recommends.”

Leman says AI is also allowing newly discovered security weaknesses to be weaponised far more quickly, dramatically accelerating the process of analysing newly released security updates and identifying the flaws they are designed to fix.

“For years businesses could reasonably assume that when a new security weakness was discovered there would be some time to understand it, fix it and protect themselves.

“That breathing space is disappearing. AI can now analyse a newly released security patch, work backwards to identify the flaw it was designed to fix and help turn that information into a working attack extremely quickly.

“In one recent test involving a browser security update, an advanced AI model was able to analyse the patch and produce a working exploit in less than an hour. That is work which historically required specialist expertise and considerably more time.”

Leman says the rapidly accelerating pace is shown in analysis from the Zero Day Clock, a global project tracking software vulnerabilities confirmed as exploited in real-world attacks.

Its data shows the median period between public disclosure of a security flaw and its exploitation has fallen from 771 days in 2018 to zero days in 2026.4

A zero-day median means attackers are typically exploiting these weaknesses by the time they become publicly known, leaving organisations little or no opportunity to install a security update before attacks begin.

“The significance for businesses is that the window they have to install a security update before attackers can act on the underlying flaw is becoming extraordinarily short.”

Leman says the threat is compounded by AI also making phishing scams more convincing and increasingly difficult for users to identify.

“For years people were told to look for obvious warning signs such as spelling mistakes, poor grammar or an email which simply didn't sound right.

“Those clues haven't disappeared, but they are becoming much less reliable. AI can create a polished email in seconds, write it in natural language and tailor it to a particular company, employee or situation.

“That means someone can be presented with something which looks completely legitimate and still be handing an attacker the keys to their account or business.”

Leman says another misconception is that installing antivirus software alone provides protection against these attacks.

“Antivirus remains an essential first line of defence, but not every modern cyber attack involves a virus.

“If someone receives what looks like a genuine Microsoft 365 message, follows a link and enters their username and password into a convincing fake login page, the attacker may then have legitimate credentials.

“There may be no virus file for antivirus software to find because the criminal is effectively walking through the front door using the user's own key.”

Once inside an email account, an attacker may be able to monitor conversations, access files, impersonate the account holder or use the compromised account to target others.

Leman says once an attacker gains legitimate access to an email account, a relatively simple phishing attack can quickly escalate into significant financial loss.

“An attacker could see that an invoice is about to be paid and then send another email from the genuine account saying the bank details have changed.

“The customer has little reason to suspect anything is wrong because the message has come from the same email address and may even form part of an existing conversation. By the time either side realises what has happened, the money may already be gone.”

Leman says the accelerating threat environment is particularly challenging for SMEs, which often lack dedicated security teams able to continuously monitor suspicious activity.

“AI is creating a race between attackers and defenders. Attackers are using it to move faster, identify vulnerabilities and develop convincing attacks, but defenders are also using AI to analyse activity, uncover threats and respond more quickly.

“For newly discovered vulnerabilities, automated patching is becoming increasingly important. The faster attackers can turn a vulnerability into an attack, the less time businesses have to close that gap.

“For smaller businesses, continuous monitoring and rapid response are becoming increasingly important, particularly as the window to detect and contain an attack gets shorter.

“As attacks accelerate, the ability to detect and respond is becoming just as important as trying to prevent them in the first place.”

“When attackers were moving at human speed, delays were already a problem, as AI increasingly allows attacks to operate at machine speed, businesses and consumers can no longer assume they will have time on their side.”

Notes

1. InternetNZ, Aotearoa Internet Insights 2025. (n.d.). https://internetnz.nz/new-zealands-internet-insights/new-zealands-internet-insights-2025/

2. ESET global telemetry, 30-day monitoring period. Researchers analysed URLs and other content appearing in ChatGPT outputs, categorising detections including links to potentially unwanted applications (PUA URLs), URLs already blocklisted by ESET security systems and malicious scripts either produced or referenced in responses.

3. ESET New Zealand threat telemetry, July 2026. Phishing-related threat categories accounted for 34.9% of all threats detected across ESET's New Zealand user base during the month.

4. Zero Day Clock. (n.d.). Zero day clock. https://zerodayclock.com/

Source: Porirua City Council

Voting packs will start to be delivered to letterboxes this week for Porirua’s by-election.

The Onepoto General Ward by-election is taking place after Mike Duncan died suddenly in June. Five candidates have put their names forward – you can read their profiles and watch their candidate videos at https://poriruacity.govt.nz/your-council/mayor-councillors/elections-2026/information-for-voters/by-election-candidates/.

Voting closes at 12 noon on Friday 16 October. Porirua’s Deputy Electoral Officer Jack Marshall says voters need to have their say on who represents them around the Council table. As with Porirua’s three-yearly local body elections, the by-election will be under the Single Transferable Voting system, meaning you can rank candidates in order of preference.

All the information on STV can be found at https://poriruacity.govt.nz/your-council/mayor-councillors/elections-2026/information-for-voters/by-election-candidates/.

“We’re at a real time of change in Porirua, and around the country, when it comes to local government and the challenges we’re facing,” Jack says.

“Keep an eye out for your voting papers and make sure you cast that vote.”

Completed voting papers can be returned via one of 19 orange voting boxes placed around the Onepoto General Ward in supermarkets and libraries, or posted in a post box.

It’s also not too late to enrol. Go to https://vote.nz to do it and then get in touch with the Council elections team to cast a special vote – elections@poriruacity.govt.nz.