NewzIntel.com

Category: Europe

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Statement on latest position on waste service industrial action

    Source: City of Birmingham

    Published: Wednesday, 9th July 2025

    Statement from Cllr John Cotton, leader of the city council –

    “Throughout this process the council has sought to be reasonable and flexible, but we have reached the absolute limit of what we can offer. It is well known that the council has an equal pay risk, we have been negotiating since before Christmas but have now run out of time.

    “We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service. This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it.

    “Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery. We must be fair to all our staff, and I will not repeat the mistakes of the past by making decisions that would ultimately result in further cuts to services and the sale of more council assets. 

    “Successive administrations have failed to close off the council’s equal pay liabilities, costing the people of Birmingham hundreds of millions of pounds and that must end now. 

    “We need to deliver a better waste service; creating an efficient, improved service is a crucial part of our need to become financially sustainable and is what the people of Birmingham need. We cannot delay this any longer.  

    “So, we will be communicating with our staff and trade unions as to next steps. Voluntary Redundancy remains on the table, as do opportunities for training and redeployment across the council.

    “We have worked really hard to end this dispute and we apologise for all the disruption and appreciate residents’ patience. This is a service that needs to be improved into one that the residents of Birmingham deserve and I am committed to ensuring that happens.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States

    Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

    Helen Prejean has been one of the most high-profile opponents of the death penalty for decades. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty Images

    Thirty years ago, the film “Dead Man Walking” had its debut in movie theaters around the United States. It was a box office hit, and critics lavished it with praise. Lead actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, the spiritual adviser to a death row inmate played by Sean Penn.

    But the film’s impact went far beyond the artistic realm. It exposed a mass audience to a perspective on the death penalty informed by the Catholic faith of a devout, if somewhat unconventional, nun.

    The actual Sister Helen had published her memoir, “Dead Man Walking,” two years before, raising her profile as an activist against the death penalty. Recalling her experience outside the execution chamber of Elmo Patrick Sonnier, one of the people she counseled, Prejean later wrote, “I touched him in the only way I could. I told him: ‘Look at my face. I will be the face of Christ, the face of love for you.’”

    She made it her mission to show that “everybody’s worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done in their life.” As she once told an interviewer, “Jesus said, ‘Love your enemy.’ Jesus didn’t say, ‘Execute the hell out of the enemy.’”

    That belief was featured prominently in the film and offered a counterpoint to the popular tough-on-crime rhetoric of the 1990s. Back then, 80% of the American public supported capital punishment.

    Today, that is no longer true. Support for the death penalty has declined to around 50%.

    As a death penalty scholar, I have studied those changes. The church’s anti-death penalty teaching has helped provide both a moral foundation and political respectability for those working to end the death penalty.

    The 1995 film was inspired by Prejean’s memoir.

    Church teachings

    But that teaching is relatively new in the church, dating back to the past half-century. For most of its history, the Catholic Church did not oppose the death penalty.

    During the Middle Ages, the church endorsed the execution of heretics and held firm that secular authorities could and should put people to death for serious crimes. And in the early 20th century, Vatican City’s penal code permitted the death penalty for anyone who attempted to kill a pope. Pope Paul VI changed that in 1969.

    When John Paul II became pope a decade later, he pushed the church further away from its historic embrace of the death penalty, calling it “cruel and unnecessary.” And in 2018, under Pope Francis, the Vatican revised the section on capital punishment in the Catechism, the summary of Catholic doctrine.

    The death penalty “is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and deprives “the guilty of the possibility of redemption,” the new version says. This teaching committed the church to work for its abolition.

    In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Francis stated that the death penalty is “inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.” In 2024, he again called for “the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation.”

    Impact in the US

    The changed situation of capital punishment in this country is largely attributable to a change in the strategy and tactics of the abolitionist movement. Instead of talking about the death penalty in abstract terms, activists began to focus on the day-to-day realities of its administration.

    Today, advocates in what I have called the “new abolitionism” focus on the prospect of executing the innocent, racial discrimination in capital sentencing, and the financial costs associated with the death penalty. Among Catholics working to end the death penalty, however, the moral questions about state killing have long been a central focus.

    The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops focused on morality in its own campaign to end capital punishment, which was launched in 2005. And from time to time, popes have made special appeals to government officials in the U.S., asking them to spare the life of someone awaiting execution.

    A seminarian attends a public hearing in Connecticut in 2011 on legislation to replace capital punishment with life in prison for certain murders.
    AP Photo/Jessica Hill

    Legal historian Sara Mayeux argues that Catholic anti-death penalty activism in the U.S. has been less intense than anti-abortion work. Nevertheless, the impact of the church is reflected in the fact that in the past 50 years, Catholic support for capital punishment fell more than it did among evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Black Protestants and other religious groups.

    In December 2024, as the term of President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, was coming to a close, the Catholics Mobilizing Network, which advocates against capital punishment, called on the president to commute the sentences of the 40 people then on federal death row. Francis, too, publicly prayed for their sentences to be commuted.

    Biden did so for 37 federal death row inmates, changing their sentences to life in prison without parole.

    Anti-death penalty superstar

    As the church’s official position against capital punishment has evolved, Prejean has been a consistent voice asking Americans to recognize and respond to the humanity of all those touched by murder. She is, in words I am sure she would resist, a superstar in the movement, thanks to her countless public appearances, interviews, protests and actions to lobby legislators.

    Sister Helen Prejean talks to detainees during a discussion of ‘Dead Man Walking’ at Department Of Corrections Division 11 in Chicago.
    AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

    In 2021, she wrote, “I’m on fire to abolish government killing because I’ve seen it far too close-up, and I have a pretty good idea by now how it works – or doesn’t.”

    Thirty years ago, “Dead Man Walking” gave its viewers a chance to see capital punishment “close-up.” It didn’t preach or hit anyone over the head with an overtly abolitionist message. Instead, it asked viewers to see the death penalty from many sides and make up their own minds about whether anyone should be put to death, even for the most horrible crimes.

    Between then and now, America has undertaken precisely the kind of conversation about capital punishment that the film exemplified and inspired.

    Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States – https://theconversation.com/how-the-catholic-church-helped-change-the-conversation-about-capital-punishment-in-the-united-states-260481

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States

    Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

    Helen Prejean has been one of the most high-profile opponents of the death penalty for decades. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty Images

    Thirty years ago, the film “Dead Man Walking” had its debut in movie theaters around the United States. It was a box office hit, and critics lavished it with praise. Lead actress Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen Prejean, the spiritual adviser to a death row inmate played by Sean Penn.

    But the film’s impact went far beyond the artistic realm. It exposed a mass audience to a perspective on the death penalty informed by the Catholic faith of a devout, if somewhat unconventional, nun.

    The actual Sister Helen had published her memoir, “Dead Man Walking,” two years before, raising her profile as an activist against the death penalty. Recalling her experience outside the execution chamber of Elmo Patrick Sonnier, one of the people she counseled, Prejean later wrote, “I touched him in the only way I could. I told him: ‘Look at my face. I will be the face of Christ, the face of love for you.’”

    She made it her mission to show that “everybody’s worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done in their life.” As she once told an interviewer, “Jesus said, ‘Love your enemy.’ Jesus didn’t say, ‘Execute the hell out of the enemy.’”

    That belief was featured prominently in the film and offered a counterpoint to the popular tough-on-crime rhetoric of the 1990s. Back then, 80% of the American public supported capital punishment.

    Today, that is no longer true. Support for the death penalty has declined to around 50%.

    As a death penalty scholar, I have studied those changes. The church’s anti-death penalty teaching has helped provide both a moral foundation and political respectability for those working to end the death penalty.

    The 1995 film was inspired by Prejean’s memoir.

    Church teachings

    But that teaching is relatively new in the church, dating back to the past half-century. For most of its history, the Catholic Church did not oppose the death penalty.

    During the Middle Ages, the church endorsed the execution of heretics and held firm that secular authorities could and should put people to death for serious crimes. And in the early 20th century, Vatican City’s penal code permitted the death penalty for anyone who attempted to kill a pope. Pope Paul VI changed that in 1969.

    When John Paul II became pope a decade later, he pushed the church further away from its historic embrace of the death penalty, calling it “cruel and unnecessary.” And in 2018, under Pope Francis, the Vatican revised the section on capital punishment in the Catechism, the summary of Catholic doctrine.

    The death penalty “is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and deprives “the guilty of the possibility of redemption,” the new version says. This teaching committed the church to work for its abolition.

    In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Francis stated that the death penalty is “inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.” In 2024, he again called for “the abolition of the death penalty, a provision at odds with Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation.”

    Impact in the US

    The changed situation of capital punishment in this country is largely attributable to a change in the strategy and tactics of the abolitionist movement. Instead of talking about the death penalty in abstract terms, activists began to focus on the day-to-day realities of its administration.

    Today, advocates in what I have called the “new abolitionism” focus on the prospect of executing the innocent, racial discrimination in capital sentencing, and the financial costs associated with the death penalty. Among Catholics working to end the death penalty, however, the moral questions about state killing have long been a central focus.

    The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops focused on morality in its own campaign to end capital punishment, which was launched in 2005. And from time to time, popes have made special appeals to government officials in the U.S., asking them to spare the life of someone awaiting execution.

    A seminarian attends a public hearing in Connecticut in 2011 on legislation to replace capital punishment with life in prison for certain murders.
    AP Photo/Jessica Hill

    Legal historian Sara Mayeux argues that Catholic anti-death penalty activism in the U.S. has been less intense than anti-abortion work. Nevertheless, the impact of the church is reflected in the fact that in the past 50 years, Catholic support for capital punishment fell more than it did among evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Black Protestants and other religious groups.

    In December 2024, as the term of President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, was coming to a close, the Catholics Mobilizing Network, which advocates against capital punishment, called on the president to commute the sentences of the 40 people then on federal death row. Francis, too, publicly prayed for their sentences to be commuted.

    Biden did so for 37 federal death row inmates, changing their sentences to life in prison without parole.

    Anti-death penalty superstar

    As the church’s official position against capital punishment has evolved, Prejean has been a consistent voice asking Americans to recognize and respond to the humanity of all those touched by murder. She is, in words I am sure she would resist, a superstar in the movement, thanks to her countless public appearances, interviews, protests and actions to lobby legislators.

    Sister Helen Prejean talks to detainees during a discussion of ‘Dead Man Walking’ at Department Of Corrections Division 11 in Chicago.
    AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

    In 2021, she wrote, “I’m on fire to abolish government killing because I’ve seen it far too close-up, and I have a pretty good idea by now how it works – or doesn’t.”

    Thirty years ago, “Dead Man Walking” gave its viewers a chance to see capital punishment “close-up.” It didn’t preach or hit anyone over the head with an overtly abolitionist message. Instead, it asked viewers to see the death penalty from many sides and make up their own minds about whether anyone should be put to death, even for the most horrible crimes.

    Between then and now, America has undertaken precisely the kind of conversation about capital punishment that the film exemplified and inspired.

    Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How the Catholic Church helped change the conversation about capital punishment in the United States – https://theconversation.com/how-the-catholic-church-helped-change-the-conversation-about-capital-punishment-in-the-united-states-260481

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Derailment at Denbigh Hall South Junction

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Derailment at Denbigh Hall South Junction

    Investigation into a derailment at Denbigh Hall South Junction, near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, 26 June 2025.

    The derailed train at Denbigh Hall South Junction (image courtesy of Network Rail).

    At around 12:27 on 26 June 2025, the front bogie of an out-of-service London Northwestern Railway passenger train derailed at Denbigh Hall South Junction on the West Coast Main Line. The derailment occurred on a switch diamond crossing at approximately 15 mph (24 km/h) as the train travelled north on the up slow line shortly after leaving Bletchley station. There were no reported injuries to the four members of staff on the train, however some lines through the junction remained out of use until 16:05 on 29 June 2025 for train recovery and infrastructure repair.

    The train had earlier encountered a technical problem, while forming a southbound passenger service, making it unable to depart southwards from platform 4 at Bletchley. However, it was operational if driven northwards from the opposite end, allowing it to be moved away from the platform. A failed on-track machine had been stabled earlier that day on the only signalled route from the north end of platform 4, so staff at Rugby Rail Operating Centre decided to allow the train to travel in the wrong direction on the up (southbound) slow line. This wrong direction movement required the signaller to instruct the driver to pass the north end platform signal at danger and travel to Denbigh Hall South Junction without the protection normally afforded by the signalling interlocking. The intention was the train would then cross onto the down slow line at the junction and return it to normal signal control for its onward journey northwards to Kings Heath depot near Northampton.

    Our investigation will determine the sequence of events which led to the derailment and will include consideration of:

    • the actions of those involved and any factors that may have influenced them
    • how out of course movements are determined and validated
    • the management of the staff involved in the accident, including the preparation through training and assessment of those undertaking such movements
    • any relevant underlying factors which might have contributed to the derailment.

    Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

    We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website. You can subscribe to automated emails notifying you when we publish our reports.

    Updates to this page

    Published 9 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: INNOPROM-2025: New Horizons of Industrial Development

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    The 15th anniversary industrial exhibition INNOPROM continues its work in Yekaterinburg. Today the pavilions opened their doors to all categories of visitors, and the flow of guests has noticeably increased. The trend of this year’s exhibition is the demonstration of advanced developments that have already proven their effectiveness in real production conditions.

    The delegation of the Polytechnic University takes part in key events of the business program, where current issues of industrial development, innovative technologies and scientific and technical cooperation are discussed.

    Thus, at the Polytechnic stand, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Federal State Autonomous Institution “Digital Industrial Technologies” and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

    The document, which envisages cooperation between the parties in order to implement joint expert and analytical activities aimed at highlighting the results and stimulating the development and effective application of advanced digital and production technologies, artificial intelligence technologies in industrial sectors of the Russian Federation economy, was signed by the director of the organization Eduard Shantayev and the chief designer for the key scientific and technological development area of SPbPU “System Digital Engineering”, director of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering” Alexey Borovkov.

    Alexey Borovkov also took part in the events of the INNOPROM business program, including the session “Fast. Complex. Precise. How additive technologies accelerate industrial development.” The participants discussed the prospects for industry growth due to increased demand for additive technologies and materials, tools for interaction between business, science and the state, as well as successful cases of implementing such technologies in industry.

    During his speech, Alexey Ivanovich spoke about a world-class project carried out in the interests of the Fuel Division of the Rosatom State Corporation – the development of a digital twin of a VVER-1000 fuel assembly (FA) with an anti-debris filter and mixing grids.

    The optimized design of the anti-debris filter and the geometry of the mixing grids of the fuel assembly was developed in six months and, in contrast to the original product, is 10 times more efficient, the speaker emphasized.

    Alexey Borovkov also presented the developments of the Polymer Composite Materials laboratory of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering”, including demonstrators of overprinting and induction welding technologies for thermoplastic composite materials, as well as automated laying out of thermoplastic unidirectional prepregs.

    According to Alexey Borovkov, overprinting technology is ideal for working with engineering polymers due to the absence of a number of technological limitations and is of great interest for integration into large technological chains: laying out – stamping – printing.

    An award ceremony was held at the Polytechnic stand. For his great contribution to the development of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, the General Director of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region Vladimir Shchelokov received the “For Merits” badge of distinction. The honorary award was presented to him by the Scientific Secretary of SPbPU Dmitry Karpov.

    SPbPU is an active member of the Union. The University improves the quality of personnel training in the military-industrial complex, as well as in the field of scientific research and educational services. The Union participates in the implementation of federal target programs and technology platforms to achieve leadership in the leading high-tech sectors of the economy: aviation and engine building, rocket and space industry, nuclear power complex, shipbuilding, electronic and radio-electronic industry and others. The Union includes more than 100 enterprises and organizations.

    It is a great honor for me to receive this award. I would like to express my gratitude for the fruitful cooperation with the Polytechnic University. A distinctive feature of your university is the ability to implement projects, and visual confirmation of this can be seen at the exhibition stand. There is much to learn from the Polytechnic University. And I am sincerely proud of our friendship, – said Vladimir Shchelokov.

    In turn, Vladimir Shchelokov awarded the director of the Center for Scientific and Technological Partnership and Targeted Training of SPbPU Oleg Ipatov with a commemorative medal “80 Years of the Great Victory”.

    This year, INNOPROM pays special attention to machines, units, machine tools and robotic systems that are actively used in various industries today. The technological potential of SPbPU is presented at a separate stand. Here, visitors can get acquainted with innovative developments that have undergone practical testing and are ready for implementation in industrial production.

    At the exhibition, a team from the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures (LLMS) of IMMiT demonstrated electric arc 3D printing. Right before the eyes of the audience, a “Laval nozzle” was created – a gas channel of a special profile designed to accelerate the gas flow to supersonic speeds.

    The printing technology is based on melting metal wire using an electric arc. This approach allows for high-speed production of products: up to 2.2 kg/h for aluminum alloys and up to 6 kg/h for steel. The key advantage is the absence of restrictions on the shape of the part: the manipulator easily moves along the rail system and follows the growth of the product, which allows for the implementation of the concept of an open production cell.

    The laboratory carries out a full cycle of implementation of additive technologies – design and launch of 3D printing installations, personnel training, technical support and production support.

    Mikhail Kuznetsov, Head of the Laser and Additive Technologies Research Laboratory at the Institute of Metallurgy and Metallurgy at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, spoke about the laboratory’s work at INNOPROM: At the exhibition, we presented the “Nomad” laser cladding complex, samples made using laser welding and additive technologies. Of particular interest are the hip joint cups. The samples were made as part of R&D in close cooperation with the Armalit JSC company with the participation of the Vreden Institute of Traumatology and are evidence of how modern solutions can effectively work to address the challenges of import substitution and technological sovereignty of the country. We held a number of productive meetings with industry representatives and engineering centers from different regions of Russia. It is especially valuable that enterprises from a wide variety of industries, from aircraft manufacturing to medicine, are interested in our technologies. This indicates a high degree of versatility and applied significance of our solutions.

    The Polytechnic University was also represented in the international agenda of the forum. Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Computer Technology and Information Systems of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Leading Researcher of the Gazpromneft-Polytech Scientific and Educational Center, Analyst in the project “Automation of Seismic Data Processing Using Artificial Neural Networks” Sergey Khlopin took part in the round table “Russian-Chinese Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Field of Development and Implementation of High Technologies”. As part of the session “Projects and Technologies in the Field of Intellectual Production”, he made a report “Current Models for the Implementation of Digital Technological Projects in the Field of Geological Exploration”. Sergey Vladimirovich spoke about the cooperation between SPbPU and Chinese partners.

    Sergey Khlopin, commenting on the results of his speech, noted: This year, INNOPROM-2025 became a platform for demonstrating the start of the work process of Gazpromneft-Polytech REC specialists in the field of AI application for geological exploration. One of the key tasks that the models being created will be aimed at solving in the future is the labor-intensive manual processing of seismic information. In tests, the model shows accuracy comparable to classical methods on linear data, but significantly exceeds them in cases with nonlinear dependencies, which are more common in practice. However, the project has just started, so the team faces various difficulties during development. Neural networks do not always give the correct result. We are solving the problem of the relevance of the data received.

    Since 2018, Polytech has implemented more than 20 contracts for research and development work with 12 of the largest industrial and research companies in China. The most active cooperation is in the field of telecommunications and IT technologies, aviation industry, automotive industry and new materials. During the discussion of the interaction of the Gazpromneft-Polytech REC with an industrial partner, Sergey Khlopin demonstrated the successful experience of implementing a scientific project aimed at the practical application of the results of industrial operation. He also emphasized the importance of further developing cooperation and expressed confidence in the formation of reliable partnerships with representatives of the PRC in an alliance with an industrial partner.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) in regular operation

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) in regular operation

    Updated: July 9, 2025 19:31 Xinhua
    The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. A freight train fully loaded with communication equipment, auto parts and other goods left Chongqing on Wednesday, marking the regular operation of the China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train. After exiting China through the Khorgos port in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it will pass Azerbaijan and Georgia before arriving in Türkiye and other European countries. [Photo/Xinhua]
    The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train departs from Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
    The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) Middle Corridor Ultra-Express Block Train awaits departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, July 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Southsea beach set to double in size

    Source: City of Portsmouth

    Southsea’s beach between the Pyramids and the Coffee Cup café in Eastney will be rebuilt this winter when more than one million tonnes of shingle is imported by dredger between October 2025 and March 2026.

    The significant increase will see the beach double in size when shingle is dredged locally from the Solent near the Isle of Wight and deposited onto the beach by a pipeline from the dredger.

    Similar work was undertaken on a smaller scale earlier this year during beach import work along the beach in front of Southsea Common.

    Southsea Coastal Scheme Project Executive Marc Bryan said:

    “We’ve chosen to build a larger shingle beach in this area because they’re great at absorbing wave energy which in turn helps reduce erosion and protects homes and businesses from coastal flooding.

    “The new beach will adapt to rising seas and our changing climate while still providing the required standard of protection.

    “It will be easily maintained and can be topped up if needed in the future.”

    Initial works will start in October 2025 with the installation of a new outfall extension from Canoe Lake.

    From November 2025, a one metre diameter pipeline will be laid across the beach to the west of South Parade Pier to discharge the new shingle.

    During the shingle discharging, access to the beach will be limited for safety reasons with some stepped access over the pipeline available.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE and Zhejiang Communication University Strengthen Partnership in Creative Education

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: State University “Higher School of Economics” –

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    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Fatal fire in Lewisham

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Met Officers are supporting the London Fire Brigade in an investigation following the death of a boy in a fire in Lewisham.

    Police were called to Lewisham Road, SE13 at 23:54hrs on Tuesday, 8 July following a report of a fire in a flat.

    Officers attended with the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service.

    Sadly, despite the best efforts of the emergency services, a 12-year-old boy died at the scene. His family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

    A woman, aged 54, was taken to hospital by paramedics. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing.

    Detective Chief Inspector Danian Reid, from the Met’s local investigations team in south east London, said: “This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with everyone involved.

    “We continue to work alongside investigators from the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire.

    “We understand the impact this will have on the community and there will be local neighbourhood officers, and other emergency services, in the area as enquiries continue.”

    The cause of the fire is being investigated by the London Fire Brigade but is not believed to be suspicious at this stage.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Chinese State-Sponsored Hacker Arrested on U.S. Warrant

    Source: US FBI

    China’s Ministry of State Security allegedly directed theft of COVID-19 research and confidential information regarding American policy makers

    HOUSTON – A 33-year-old Chinese national has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in U.S. computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021, including the reckless and indiscriminate HAFNIUM campaign that compromised thousands of computers worldwide.

    Authorities took People’s Republic of China (PRC) national Xu Zewei (徐泽伟) into custody in Milan, Italy, as he departed a plane from China at the request of the United States.

    Xu is charged along with PRC national Zhang Yu (张宇), 44, in a now unsealed nine-count indictment returned in November 2023. They were both involved in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021 at the direction of officers of the PRC’s Ministry of State Security’s (MSS) Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB), according to the indictment.  

    The charges allege MSS and SSSB are PRC intelligence services responsible for PRC’s domestic counterintelligence, non-military foreign intelligence and aspects of the PRC’s political and domestic security. When conducting the computer intrusions, Xu worked for Shanghai Powerock Network Co. Ltd., one of many “enabling” companies in the PRC that conducted hacking for the PRC government, according to the charges. 

    “The indictment alleges that Xu was hacking and stealing crucial COVID-19 research at the behest of the Chinese government while that same government was simultaneously withholding information about the virus and its origins,” said Nicholas Ganjei, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. “The Southern District of Texas has been waiting years to bring Xu to justice and that day is nearly at hand. As this case shows, even if it takes years, we will track hackers down and make them answer for their crimes. The United States does not forget.”

    “This arrest underscores the United States’ patient and tireless commitment to pursuing hackers who seek to steal information belonging to U.S. companies and universities,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. “The Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable for threatening our cybersecurity and harming our people and institutions.”

    “While the world was reeling from a virus that originated in China, the Chinese government plotted to steal U.S. research critical to vaccine development,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. “Xu Zewei, an alleged hacker acting on behalf of China’s primary spy agency, targeted COVID-19 data using sophisticated cyber techniques and tradecraft. His landmark arrest by FBI Houston agents in Italy proves that we will scour the ends of the Earth to hold criminal foreign adversaries accountable.”

    According to court documents, in early 2020, Xu and his co-conspirators hacked and otherwise targeted U.S. based universities and leading immunologists and virologists conducting ground-breaking research into COVID-19 vaccines, treatment and testing. The charges allege Xu and others reported their activities to officers in the SSSB who were supervising and directing the hacking activities. For example, on or about Feb. 19, 2020, Xu allegedly provided an SSSB officer with confirmation that he had compromised the network of a research university located in SDTX. On or about Feb. 22, 2020, the SSSB officer directed Xu to target and access specific email accounts (mailboxes) belonging to virologists and immunologists engaged in COVID-19 research for the research university, according to the allegations. Xu later allegedly confirmed for the SSSB officer he acquired the contents of the researchers’ mailboxes.

    Beginning in late 2020, Xu and his co-conspirators exploited certain vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, a widely used Microsoft product for sending, receiving and storing email messages, according to the charges. Their exploitation of Microsoft Exchange Server was allegedly at the forefront of a massive campaign targeting thousands of computers worldwide and known publicly as “HAFNIUM.”

    In March 2021, Microsoft publicly disclosed the intrusion campaign by state-sponsored hackers operating out of China. In July 2021, the United States and foreign partners attributed the HAFNIUM campaign to the PRC’s MSS, which they and private sector cybersecurity leaders condemned as “indiscriminate,” “reckless,” “irresponsible” and “destabilizing.”

    The charges allege victims of Xu’s exploitation of Microsoft Exchange Server were a university located in SDTX and a law firm with offices worldwide, including in Washington, D.C. After exploiting computers running Microsoft Exchange Server, Xu and his co-conspirators allegedly installed web shells on them to enable their remote administration. According to the indictment, these web shells were specific to HAFNIUM actors at the time. As with the earlier COVID-19 research intrusions, Xu and Zhang allegedly worked together on the HAFNIUM intrusions under the supervision and direction of SSSB officers. For example, on or about Jan. 30, 2021, Xu confirmed to Zhang that he had compromised the university’s network, according to the charges, and on or about Feb. 28, 2021, updated an SSSB officer on his successful intrusions. This SSSB officer then directed Xu to obtain a list of other, successful intrusions from a second SSSB officer, according to the allegations. The charges allege unauthorized access to the law firm’s network allowed Xu and his co-conspirators to steal information from mailboxes and search them for information regarding specific U.S. policy makers and government agencies. Their search terms allegedly included “Chinese sources,” “MSS” and “HongKong.”

    The announcement of charges against Xu is the latest describing the PRC’s use of an extensive network of private companies and contractors in China to hack and steal information in a manner that obscured the PRC government’s involvement.  Operating from their safe haven and motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China allegedly cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government. This largely indiscriminate approach can result in more victims in the United States and elsewhere, more systems worldwide left vulnerable to future exploitation by third parties, and more stolen information, often of no interest to the PRC government and, therefore, sold to other third-parties.

    In April 2021, the Justice Department announced a court-authorized operation to remediate hundreds of computers in the United States left vulnerable by HAFNIUM actors.

    Xu is charged with two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to do which all carry possible prison terms of up to 20 years in federal prison. The indictment also includes conspiracy to cause damage to and obtain information by unauthorized access to protected computers, to commit wire fraud and to committing identity theft as well as two counts of obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers. If convicted on any of those charges, he could receive up to five years, while intentional damage to a protected computer carries a maximum 10-year-possible sentence on either of two counts as charged. For the aggravated identity theft, he could receive another two years which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed. All convictions would also have the potential of up to $250,000 as a possible fine.

    Zhang remains at large. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).

    The FBI’s Houston Field Office is conducting the investigation.   

    SDTX Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Mark McIntyre and John Marck and Deputy Chief Matthew Anzaldi of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Francesco Fedele, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

    A Georgia Tech University course links art and artificial intelligence. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images

    Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

    Title of course:

    Art and Generative AI

    What prompted the idea for the course?

    I see many students viewing artificial intelligence as humanlike simply because it can write essays, do complex math or answer questions. AI can mimic human behavior but lacks meaningful engagement with the world. This disconnect inspired the course and was shaped by the ideas of 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger. His work highlights how we are deeply connected and present in the world. We find meaning through action, care and relationships. Human creativity and mastery come from this intuitive connection with the world. Modern AI, by contrast, simulates intelligence by processing symbols and patterns without understanding or care.

    In this course, we reject the illusion that machines fully master everything and put student expression first. In doing so, we value uncertainty, mistakes and imperfection as essential to the creative process.

    This vision expands beyond the classroom. In the 2025-26 academic year, the course will include a new community-based learning collaboration with Atlanta’s art communities. Local artists will co-teach with me to integrate artistic practice and AI.

    The course builds on my 2018 class, Art and Geometry, which I co-taught with local artists. The course explored Picasso’s cubism, which depicted reality as fractured from multiple perspectives; it also looked at Einstein’s relativity, the idea that time and space are not absolute and distinct but part of the same fabric.

    What does the course explore?

    We begin with exploring the first mathematical model of a neuron, the perceptron. Then, we study the Hopfield network, which mimics how our brain can remember a song from just listening to a few notes by filling in the rest. Next, we look at Hinton’s Boltzmann Machine, a generative model that can also imagine and create new, similar songs. Finally, we study today’s deep neural networks and transformers, AI models that mimic how the brain learns to recognize images, speech or text. Transformers are especially well suited for understanding sentences and conversations, and they power technologies such as ChatGPT.

    In addition to AI, we integrate artistic practice into the coursework. This approach broadens students’ perspectives on science and engineering through the lens of an artist. The first offering of the course in spring 2025 was co-taught with Mark Leibert, an artist and professor of the practice at Georgia Tech. His expertise is in art, AI and digital technologies. He taught students fundamentals of various artistic media, including charcoal drawing and oil painting. Students used these principles to create art using AI ethically and creatively. They critically examined the source of training data and ensured that their work respects authorship and originality.

    Students also learn to record brain activity using electroencephalography – EEG – headsets. Through AI models, they then learn to transform neural signals into music, images and storytelling. This work inspired performances where dancers improvised in response to AI-generated music.

    The Improv AI performance at Georgia Tech on April 15, 2025. Dancers improvised to music generated by AI from brain waves and sonified black hole data.

    Why is this course relevant now?

    AI entered our lives so rapidly that many people don’t fully grasp how it works, why it works, when it fails or what its mission is.

    In creating this course, the aim is to empower students by filling that gap. Whether they are new to AI or not, the goal is to make its inner algorithms clear, approachable and honest. We focus on what these tools actually do and how they can go wrong.

    We place students and their creativity first. We reject the illusion of a perfect machine, but we provoke the AI algorithm to confuse and hallucinate, when it generates inaccurate or nonsensical responses. To do so, we deliberately use a small dataset, reduce the model size or limit training. It’s in these flawed states of AI that students step in as conscious co-creators. The students are the missing algorithm that takes back control of the creative process. Their creations do not obey AI but reimagine it by the human hand. The artwork is rescued from automation.

    What’s a critical lesson from the course?

    Students learn to recognize AI’s limitations and harness its failures to reclaim creative authorship. The artwork isn’t generated by AI, but it’s reimagined by students.

    Students learn chatbot queries have an environmental cost because large AI models use a lot of power. They avoid unnecessary iterations when designing prompts or using AI. This helps reducing carbon emissions.

    The Improv AI performance on April 15, 2025, featured dancer Bekah Crosby responding to AI-generated music from brain waves.

    What will the course prepare students to do?

    The course prepares students to think like artists. Through abstraction and imagination they gain the confidence to tackle the engineering challenges of the 21st century. These include protecting the environment, building resilient cities and improving health.

    Students also realize that while AI has vast engineering and scientific applications, ethical implementation is crucial. Understanding the type and quality of training data that AI uses is essential. Without it, AI systems risk producing biased or flawed predictions.

    Francesco Fedele does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. AI and art collide in this engineering course that puts human creativity first – https://theconversation.com/ai-and-art-collide-in-this-engineering-course-that-puts-human-creativity-first-256673

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: ​​​​​​​‘Do not invest in US gas exports’ Greenpeace warns EU, backed by new report

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    ‘Do not invest in US gas exports’ Greenpeace warns EU, backed by new report

    Brussels – As European leaders and companies are pushing for increased imports of US liquefied gas (LNG), a new report by Greenpeace USA, Earthworks, and Oil Change International highlights the climate threats and financial risks posed by five major new liquefied gas export projects proposed for the US Gulf Coast, most of them still awaiting a final investment decision.[1]

    “What we found was crystal clear – any further investment in LNG is not compatible with a livable climate,” said Andres Chang, Senior Research Specialist at Greenpeace USA and lead author of the report. “The massive growth in infrastructure along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast has already created significant public health and ecosystem impacts, threatening entire coastal communities. But it doesn’t stop there. We believe this report shows that, if built, these projects would put global climate goals even further out of reach.”

    The report analyses five major US LNG projects – Venture Global CP2, Cameron LNG Phase II, Sabine Pass Stage V, Cheniere Corpus Christi LNG Midscale 8-9, and Freeport LNG Expansion – and finds that each would fail the climate test derived from models in the US Department of Energy’s 2024 LNG Export public interest studies.[2] Each would increase greenhouse gas emissions by edging out renewable energy and driving up global fossil fuel use, undermining the world’s ability to meet the Paris Agreement targets and driving more frequent and intense extreme weather events. The report suggests that future US administrations could therefore revoke export authorisations issued under current US President Trump.

    Pressured by Trump and facing the threat of sweeping tariffs, the EU Commission is proposing increased LNG imports.[3] It has also agreed to look into direct public investments by the EU and its member states in gas export facilities outside the EU – including potentially the five US LNG projects analysed in this report – in its Affordable Energy Action Plan released in February 2025.[4]

    “Increasing US gas imports will deepen Europe’s dependence on the US, making the EU and national governments even more vulnerable to Trump’s political extortion. EU leaders must break free from fossil fuel dependency and take control of Europe’s future by investing in a renewable, secure and peaceful energy system. A ban on all new fossil fuel projects in the EU would be the right first step, certainly not funding projects abroad,” said Thomas Gelin, Greenpeace EU climate and energy campaigner.

    Another result of Trump’s pressure is the calls by some Member States and other EU policymakers to weaken the EU methane regulation, which was adopted just last year, in order to continue importing US liquefied gas despite the fact that its production – mostly coming from fracking – is associated with particularly high methane emissions.[5][6]

    “This report adds to a rapidly growing body of evidence that financing U.S. LNG is not a sound decision for insurers, investors, or purchasers – something the EU and America’s Asian allies must keep in mind as President Trump pressures them to increase their imports of U.S. LNG under threat of sweeping tariffs. Countries with climate commitments, such as those in the EU, should be very wary of the climate cost of importing US LNG,” said Dr Dakota Raynes, Senior Manager of Research, Policy, and Data at Earthworks.

    European energy companies have already signed long-term purchase agreements for four of the projects analysed in the report. These contracts extend well beyond 2035, the year by which Europe must phase-out fossil gas if it is serious about meeting its international climate commitments. These companies include SEFE (Germany), BASF (Germany), GASTRADE S.A. (Greece), DTEK (Ukraine), TotalEnergies (France), PKN Orlen (Poland), Gap (Portugal) and Equinor (Norway) – several of which are fully or partially state-owned.[7] 

    “Fossil fuel dependency has long externalized its true costs, forcing communities to bear the burden of pollution, sickness, and economic instability,” says James Hiatt, founder and director of For a Better Bayou. “For decades the oil and gas industry has known about the devastating health and climate impacts of its operations, yet it continues to expand, backed by billions in private and public financing. These harms are not isolated – they’re systemic, and they threaten all of us. This report is a call to conscience. It’s time we stop propping up deadly false solutions and start investing in a transition to energy systems that sustain life, not sacrifice it.”

    Greenpeace calls on EU leaders to stop new long-term purchase agreements for liquefied gas and drop the proposal for direct financial investments in gas export facilities. Instead, the EU should impose a ban on all new fossil fuel projects, including new liquefied gas import terminals, stop all public investments in fossil fuel infrastructure and agree to end fossil gas by 2035 at the latest.

    ENDS

    Notes

    Read the full report: Failing the climate test: LNG projects awaiting final investment decision do not stand up to US Government analysis

    Read the European media briefing

    Watch the press conference recording

    [1] At the time of drafting of the report, all five were awaiting a final investment decision. On June 24, 2025, Cheniere Corpus Christi LNG announced a positive final investment decision.

    [2] December 2024 | ENERGY, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF US LNG EXPORTS

    [3] Trump says EU must buy $350B of US energy to get tariff relief – POLITICO

    [4] Action Plan for Affordable Energy 

    [5] The Member States are: Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Hungaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

    [6] Liquefied natural gas carbon footprint is worse than coal | Cornell Chronicle

    [7] Source: Sierra Club US LNG Export Tracker, date as of 4 June 2025

    Contacts

    Greenpeace International Press Desk: [email protected], +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)

    Katie Nelson, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA, [email protected], +1 (678) 644-1681, (GMT -8)

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Brian O’Neill, Professor of Practice, International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

    The Department of Homeland Security and FBI are reportedly using polygraphs aggressively to identify dissenters. standret/Getty Images

    The Trump administration has recently directed that a new wave of polygraphs be administered across the executive branch, aimed at uncovering leaks to the press.

    As someone who has taken roughly a dozen polygraphs during my 27-year career with the CIA, I read this development with some skepticism.

    Polygraphs carry an ominous, almost mythological reputation among Americans. The more familiar and unofficial term – lie detector tests – likely fuels that perception. Television crime dramas have done their part, too, often portraying the device as an oracle for uncovering the truth when conventional methods fail.

    In those portrayals, the polygraph is not merely a tool – it’s a window into the soul.

    Among those entering government service, especially in national security, the greater anxiety is not the background check but passing the polygraph. My advice is always the same: Don’t lie.

    It’s the best – and perhaps only – guidance for a process that most assessments have concluded is a more subjective interpretation than empirical science.

    Why the polygraph persists

    Polygraphs are “pseudo-scientific” in that they measure physiological responses such as heart rate, blood pressure and perspiration. The assumption is that liars betray themselves through spikes in those signals. But this presumes a kind of psychological transparency that simply doesn’t hold up. A person might sweat and tremble simply from fear, anger or frustration – not deceit.

    There also are no specific physiological reactions associated with lying. The National Academy of Sciences in 2003, and the American Psychological Association in a 2004 review, concluded that the polygraph rests more on theater than fact. Recent assessments, published in 2019, have reached the same conclusion.

    Accordingly, polygraph results are not generally admissible in U.S. courts. Only a handful of states – such as Georgia, Arizona and California – permit their use even under limited conditions. And they typically require that both parties agree to admission and a judge to approve it. Unconditional admissibility remains the exception, not the rule.

    And yet, inside many national security agencies, polygraphs remain central to the clearance process – a fact I observed firsthand during my time overseeing personnel vetting and analytic hiring within the intelligence community.

    While not treated as conclusive, polygraph results often serve as a filter. A candidate’s visible discomfort – or the examiner’s subjective judgment that a response seems evasive – can stall or end the hiring process. For instance, I know that government agencies have halted clearances after an examiner flagged elevated reactions to questions about past drug use or foreign contacts, even when no disqualifying behavior was ultimately documented.

    The FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building in Washington in 2016.
    AP Photo/Cliff Owen

    In some cases, an examiner’s suggestion that a chart shows an anomaly has led otherwise strong applicants to volunteer details they hadn’t planned to share – such as minor security infractions, undeclared relationships, or casual drug use from decades earlier – that, while not disqualifying on their own, reshape how their trustworthiness is perceived.

    The polygraph’s power lies in creating the conditions under which deception is confessed.

    A predictable pattern

    No administration has been immune to the impulse to investigate leaks. The reflex is bipartisan and familiar: An embarrassing disclosure appears in the press – contradicting official statements or exposing internal dissent – and the White House vows to identify and punish the source. Polygraphs are often part of this ritual.

    During his first term, Trump intensified efforts to expose internal dissent and media leaks. Department guidelines were revised to make it easier for agencies to obtain journalists’ phone and email records, and polygraphs were reportedly used to pressure officials suspected of talking to the press. That trend has continued – and, in some areas, escalated.

    Recent policies at the Pentagon now restrict unescorted press access, revoke office space for major outlets and favor ideologically aligned networks. The line between legitimate leak prevention and the surveillance or sidelining of critical press coverage has grown increasingly blurred.

    At agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, polygraphs are reportedly being used more frequently – and more punitively – to identify internal dissenters. Even “cold cases,” such as the leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs opinion ahead of its overturning of Roe v. Wade, have been reopened, despite prior investigations yielding no definitive source.

    Government reaction varies

    Not all leaks are treated the same. Disclosures that align with official narratives or offer strategic advantage may be quietly tolerated, even if unauthorized. Others, especially those that embarrass senior officials or reveal dysfunction, are more likely to prompt formal investigation.

    In 2003, for example, the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity – widely seen as retaliation for her husband’s criticism of the Iraq War – triggered a federal investigation. The disclosure embarrassed senior officials, led to White House aide Scooter Libby’s conviction for perjury, later commuted, and drew intense political scrutiny.

    Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, rides in the backseat of a limousine on Oct. 27, 2005, in McLean, Va.
    Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Leaks involving classified material draw the sharpest response when they challenge presidential authority or expose internal disputes. That was the case in 2010 with Chelsea Manning, whose disclosure of diplomatic cables and battlefield reports embarrassed senior officials and sparked global backlash. Government reaction often depends less on what was disclosed than on who disclosed it – and to what effect.

    A narrow set of disclosures, such as those involving espionage or operational compromise, elicit broad consensus as grounds for prosecution. But most leaks fall outside that category. Most investigations fade quietly. The public rarely learns what became of them. Occasionally, there is a vague resignation, but direct accountability is rare.

    What the future holds

    Trump’s polygraph campaign is not likely to eliminate leaks to the press. But they may have a chilling effect that discourages internal candor while diverting investigative energy away from core security priorities.

    Even if such campaigns succeed in reducing unauthorized disclosures, they may come at the cost of institutional resilience. Historically, aggressive internal enforcement has been associated with declining morale and reduced information flow – factors that can hinder adaptation to complex threats.

    Some researchers have suggested that artificial intelligence may eventually offer reliable tools for detecting deception. One recent assessment raised the possibility, while cautioning that the technology is nowhere near operational readiness.

    For now, institutions will have to contend with the tools they have – imperfect, imprecise and more performative than predictive.

    As a former US intelligence officer, I am required to submit any written draft, before sharing it with other persons, for prepublication review. I submitted this draft to CIA’s Prepublication Review Board, which responded on 11 June: “No classified information was identified. Therefore, no changes are required for publication or sharing with others.”

    – ref. Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities – https://theconversation.com/trump-administrations-lie-detector-campaign-against-leakers-is-unlikely-to-succeed-and-could-divert-energy-from-national-security-priorities-259128

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Greens join protest to shut down Glasgow company shipping gas for Russia

    Source: Scottish Greens

    09 Jul 2025 External Affairs

    Putin’s enablers are not welcome in Scotland.

    More in External Affairs

    Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer has joined members of the Ukrainian community in Scotland and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign at a protest outside the Glasgow HQ of shipping company Seapeak, over their role in helping Russia to export gas despite the sanctions placed on it over Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    Seapeak has been found to still ship over $5.5 billion of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) each year.

    Ross Greer will be speaking at the rally in Glasgow today. He has previously demanded that the UK Government sanction Seapeak, but Labour Ministers have so far refused to take action. 

    Ross said:

    “It is appalling that the UK Labour government refuses to shut Seapeak down. People across Scotland are horrified when they learn that a company based here continues to fund Russia’s war machine. For as long as Seapeak remains untouched from sanctions, they will continue to ship gas out of Russia, throwing a lifeline to Putin’s war economy as a result.”

    In 2022, Ross was sanctioned by the Russian government for his work in solidarity with Ukraine. 

    Ross said:

    “Earlier this year, I wrote to UK Ministers, demanding that they shut down Seapeak’s UK operations. Despite the overwhelming evidence shared with them, they would not take action. They continue to allow Russia to profit from shipping operations here in the UK whilst claiming to stand with Ukraine.

    “Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and much of their country is left in ruins from Putin’s illegal invasion. If we were in Ukraine’s position, we would rightly be furious that our so-called allies were allowing complicit businesses like Seapeak to stay open. It is time to end this scandal and prove that Putin’s enablers are not welcome in Scotland.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Regeneration of 291 Harrow Road secures planning consent | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    • Westminster City Council’s 291 Harrow Road development secured planning approval from the planning committee last night (Tuesday July 8th).
    • 144 new homes will be developed in the centre of London. Of these, 50% will be affordable or for Adult Social Care at social rent, with the remaining homes available for the market.
    • The development will comprise three buildings at 15, 10 and five storeys in height and will embrace passive principles in design, creating a highly efficient, low-carbon scheme.
    • Those principles will help to achieve a 70% sitewide carbon reduction over the baseline.
    • The site was part of the former Harrow Road wing of St Mary’s Hospital prior to its redevelopment in the 1980s.

    The latest housing development from Westminster City Council received approval from planning committee last night, the latest phase in the creation of more than 100 new homes.  

    Across three separate buildings, the 291 Harrow Road development will deliver 144 homes with 50% affordable housing. A total of 48 will be affordable homes, 24 will be Adult Social Care units at social rent and 72 homes will be available for private sale.

    The site was part of the former Harrow Road wing of St Mary’s Hospital prior to a period of redevelopment in the 1980s.

    At the Westminster City Council planning committee on July 8, the development secured approval by three votes to two. 

    Cllr Ellie Ormsby, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Renters, said:

     “291 Harrow Road presents a fantastic opportunity for us to deliver a greater number of high-quality homes for social rent – a necessary step considering there are over 6,000 households on Westminster’s housing waiting list – while also delivering on our ambitious sustainability commitments as one of the capital’s greenest developments. 

    “Moreover, a large proportion of these homes, a sixth of the total number, are allocated for use by adult social care services, where we are seeing growing demand. We’re excited to develop a building which embraces inclusivity and delivers for the diverse needs across our community.”

    Designs for 291 Harrow Road embrace the ‘Be Lean, Clean, Green and Seen’ energy hierarchy which utilises a fabric first approach to maximise reduction in energy through passive design measures. New, high efficiency servicing equipment and efficient façades will minimise the energy usage of the building.

    The scheme will make use of air source heat pumps and solar photo photovoltaic panels to maximise the use of renewable energy. It is anticipated that across the site build, and once occupied, 291 Harrow Road will achieve a 70% sitewide reduction over the baseline for the proposed development, far exceeding the Greater London Authority target of 35%.

    Westminster City Council has committed to 50% affordable housing across its development projects, made up of social rent and London Living Rent.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Qingdao hosts first SCO conference on cooperation in standardization

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    QINGDAO, July 9 (Xinhua) — The first conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on standardization cooperation was held in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on Tuesday, marking the establishment of the first standardization cooperation mechanism within the SCO to provide institutional guarantees for such cooperation within the organization.

    The event was jointly initiated by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart).

    The conference participants held an in-depth exchange of views on the creation of a mechanism for cooperation in the field of standardization within the SCO, strengthening cooperation on standardization in key areas, creating an information platform on standardization and building capacity in this area.

    Following the event, the Qingdao Initiative was adopted to strengthen cooperation between national standardization bodies of the SCO member states.

    As experts point out, the conference will help to build an information platform for SCO member states on standardization, facilitate the creation of working groups on cooperation in the field of technical standards in key areas, promote cooperation on standardization within the SCO in such important areas as artificial intelligence and low-altitude economics, and facilitate the alignment of standards between the countries of the organization. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: China’s Foreign Ministry urges EU to take more objective and rational approach to China

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday called on the European Union (EU) to take a more objective and rational approach to China and pursue a more positive and pragmatic policy toward it.

    Mao Ning made the statement at a regular press conference, commenting at the request of the media on recent statements by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding relations between China and the EU.

    Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, Mao Ning stressed that this is an important year for continuing the good traditions of bilateral relations and opening the way for their future development.

    The diplomat called on the EU to truly develop a more objective and rational understanding of China and pursue a more positive and pragmatic policy towards it.

    “China hopes that the EU will realize the need to rebalance its own thinking, not the trade and economic relations between China and the EU,” Mao Ning said.

    “In the current unstable global environment, we hope that the EU will meet China halfway, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, properly manage differences and frictions, and promote the sustainable, healthy and stable development of China-EU relations,” she added. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: UK Hotel accommodation for migrants in Lords spotlight

    Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)

    Members discussed the use of hotel accommodation for migrants, including costs, conditions, and future plans.

    Read a transcript of this question https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2025-07-01/debates/49B60F8E-9CA4-4EBF-AF31-CF0C8592D721/MigrantsHotelAccommodation

    Catch-up on House of Lords business:

    Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords
    Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/

    Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media:

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Chinese universities deepen educational cooperation with Central Asian countries

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    XI’AN, July 9 (Xinhua) — When Dilnaz from Kazakhstan received her master’s degree in late June this year, her entire student life in China flashed before her eyes. During her two years of master’s studies, she had the opportunity to study at two campuses of Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU): one in Almaty and the other in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province (Northwest China), a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers.

    Studying in two countries was an amazing and unforgettable experience, Dilnaz said. It was made possible by the launch of an international education program two years ago at SZPU, a renowned engineering university in China.

    Let us recall that in May 2023, within the framework of the first China-Central Asia summit, an agreement was signed between NWPU and the Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi /KazNU/ to open a Kazakhstani branch of NWPU. Already in October of the same year, eight Kazakhstani students, including Dilnaz, became the first master’s students of this branch in Almaty. They studied in the specialties of materials science, information and communication engineering, computer science and technology, which are the strongest disciplines at NWPU.

    In recent years, as China deepens cooperation with Central Asian countries under the Belt and Road Initiative, education has become a key area of bilateral cooperation. A number of Chinese universities have opened branches in Central Asian countries, giving new impetus to the development of higher education cooperation between China and Central Asia.

    For example, in July 2024, a branch of Beijing Language and Culture University was officially opened in Kazakhstan, and in the same month, a branch of Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University was opened in Tashkent, which became the first Chinese university branch in Uzbekistan. In May of this year, Xi’an University of Architecture and Civil Engineering and Osh Technological University of Kyrgyzstan (OshTU) signed an agreement in Xi’an to establish an architectural institute at OshTU.

    In the more than 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries, bilateral relations have achieved leaps and bounds, as evidenced by the continuous strengthening of political mutual trust and the intensification of trade and economic exchanges and people-to-people contacts, which has created conditions for the opening of branches of Chinese universities in Central Asian countries, noted Gu Wei, a research fellow at the Institute of International Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

    According to her, the entry of Chinese universities into the international arena with the establishment of foreign branches meets the needs of Central Asian countries in training highly qualified personnel and will contribute to the deepening of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries.

    In May 2025, SZPU, together with KazNU, established the China-Kazakhstan Elite Engineering Institute, signing an agreement on joint training of bachelors in artificial intelligence under the “2 2” scheme with the issuance of double diplomas. This project became a new breakthrough for the two universities in the field of training specialists, creating a new architecture of high-level international cooperation.

    “These achievements clearly demonstrate the deep coordination and joint development of the parties in the field of training specialists and scientific and innovative activities, actively promoting cultural mutual enrichment and scientific cooperation,” noted Vice-Rector of SZPU Yue Xiaokui.

    As the Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China Huai Jinpeng reported in May at the first Meeting of Ministers of Education “China-Central Asia”, at present more than 18 thousand young people from Central Asia are studying in Chinese universities. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: China, Egypt Should Deepen Strategic Coordination for Common Interests: Chinese Premier

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) — China and Egypt, as important members of the Global South, should further strengthen strategic coordination to safeguard common interests, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday upon his arrival in Cairo for an official visit to Egypt at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly.

    Noting that China and Egypt are ancient civilizations, the Chinese premier said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties nearly 70 years ago, the two countries have remained close friends who support each other and strategic partners with a shared destiny.

    In recent years, under the strategic leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, China-Egypt relations have flourished, their traditional friendship has become stronger over time, political mutual trust has deepened, practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, and multilateral coordination has become increasingly close and effective, he said.

    According to Li Qiang, the two countries have created a model of solidarity, unity, self-reliance, mutual benefit and mutual support for major developing countries.

    He noted that last year, the two heads of state met twice and reached an important consensus on advancing the construction of a China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era, which opened up new opportunities for bilateral relations.

    As global changes accelerate unseen in a century and various challenges emerge, China and Egypt, as key members of the Global South, should also jointly promote peace and prosperity, the Chinese premier said.

    Li Qiang noted that China is willing to work with Egypt to deepen cooperation in all fields under the strategic leadership of the two heads of state, continuously enrich the content of the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, give strong impetus to development and national revival, and actively promote regional and global peace and stability.

    The Egyptian prime minister and senior government officials met Li Qiang at the airport and held a welcoming ceremony in his honor. Before arriving in Egypt, the Chinese premier attended the 17th BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: 70 percent of Chinese companies registered in Kazakhstan operate in Almaty — media

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Almaty, July 9 /Xinhua/ — Seventy percent of all Chinese companies registered in Kazakhstan operate in Almaty, the Kazinform news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a speech by Almaty Deputy Akim Olzhas Smagulov at the Qazaq Invest Forum-2025.

    The official said that Almaty is ready to become a key investment conductor for Chinese partners. The exemplary relations between the leadership of the two countries and the full support of the Almaty city administration create a solid foundation for long-term cooperation.

    “Today, about 70 percent of all Chinese companies registered in Kazakhstan are successfully operating in Almaty. More than a third of all trade in Almaty is with our Chinese partners, it exceeds 8 billion dollars,” O. Smagulov noted.

    He also reported that there is significant potential for expanding cooperation in absolutely all areas, primarily in the field of high-tech production with high added value. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: All forest fires in Russian Transbaikalia have been extinguished

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Vladivostok, July 9 (Xinhua) — Forest fires in Russia’s Zabaikalsky Krai, which have been raging since the start of the fire season, have been completely extinguished, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing the region’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

    The fire season in 2025 in Zabaikalsky Krai was declared on March 24, when the first forest fire occurred in the region. Since then, the forest fire service has extinguished 665 fires on an area of 2.6 million hectares in the region. As of the morning of July 9, there is not a single fire in Zabaikalsky Krai.

    A regional emergency regime was in effect in the forests of the region from April 7 due to wildfires. A federal emergency regime was introduced in Zabaikalsky Krai on April 23. On July 5, the Governor of Zabaikalsky Krai, Aleksandr Osipov, lifted the emergency regime in the forests of the region, which had been in effect since April due to the fire hazard. At the end of June, the region extended the restriction on staying in the forests until July 10 inclusive. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Nine killed in western India bridge collapse

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    NEW DELHI, July 9 (Xinhua) — At least nine people were killed and more than six injured on Wednesday when several vehicles fell into a river after a bridge collapsed in India’s western Gujarat state, local police said.

    A section of the 40-year-old Gambhira Bridge collapsed on Wednesday morning, disrupting road connectivity between Anand and Vadodara.

    Police said nine bodies had been recovered from the river. The injured were taken to a local hospital. –0–

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: The EBA consults to amend its technical standards on own funds and eligible liabilities

    Source: European Banking Authority

    The European Banking Authority (EBA) today launched a public consultation to amend the EU Delegated Regulation on own funds and eligible liabilities. The proposed key amendment is the shortening of the timeframe to process the applications to reduce own funds and eligible liabilities instruments under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR), with the aim of simplifying processes. The consultation runs until 9 October 2025.

    Leveraging on the experience that competent and resolution authorities have gained during the past few years, and to allow institutions more flexibility in their capital planning, the EBA is proposing to shorten the timeframe to process the applications to reduce own funds and eligible liabilities instruments from four to three months. The initiative is in line with the EBA’s commitment in 2021 to monitor how the submission and assessment of applications is implemented in practice. In addition, the simplified procedure for the reduction of MREL eligible liabilities for liquidation entities is removed from the RTS, in line with recent amendments of the Level 1 text. 

    Consultation process

    Responses to the consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the “Submit response” button on the consultation page.

    All contributions received will be published after the consultation closes, unless requested otherwise. The deadline for the submission of comments is 9 October 2025.

    A public hearing on this consultation will take place via conference call on 2 September 2025 from 9:00 to 10:00 CEST. Deadline for registration is 28 August 2025 at 16:00 CEST.

    Legal basis and background

    The 2021 update of the RTS on own funds and eligible liabilities instruments, among other changes, extended the timeframe to reduce own funds and eligible liabilities instruments from three to four months. The extension was necessary to cater for the more complex assessment that competent and resolution authorities needed to undertake.

    The industry considered the four-month timeline too long in 2021 and the EBA committed to monitoring the implementation. As a result of the monitoring, in 2024, the EBA considered that competent and resolution authorities had gained the necessary experience and were able to process applications within a shorter period. 

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Press release – Parliament condemns Russia’s brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians

    Source: European Parliament 3

    In a resolution, MEPs strongly condemn Russia’s ongoing war crimes in Ukraine, expressing firm support for the investigations of the International Criminal Court.

    The text, approved on Wednesday by 507 votes in favour, 77 against, and with 45 abstentions, states that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was launched in February 2022, has shattered peace and stability in Europe and gravely undermined global security. It underscores that Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to European security. MEPs emphasise that Russia bears sole responsibility for its war of aggression and that there can be no impunity for violations of human rights, war crimes, or other breaches of international law committed by Russian forces and officials. They also express deep outrage at Russia’s brutal attacks on civilians and the indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, stressing that the systematic and deliberate targeting of civilians and, in particular, the deportation of children may constitute a genocidal strategy orchestrated by Moscow.

    More than 70 000 Ukrainians are missing

    With the human cost of Russia’s war rising day by day, the resolution states that Russia is still committing heinous war crimes against innocent civilians. According to the Ukrainian authorities, approximately 16 000 Ukrainian civilians are currently known to be detained in Russia and the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, although the real figures are likely to be significantly higher. MEPs also highlight that more than 70 000 Ukrainians – including civilians, children, and military personnel – are officially listed as missing. They strongly condemn the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by Russian forces, which they say constitutes war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. They also express full support the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigations into the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia and welcome the recent agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

    Russia must be pressured to end its war of aggression

    Saying that all those responsible for war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine must be held accountable, MEPs also urge Russia to agree immediately to implement a comprehensive ‘all-for-all’ exchange of POWs. They believe that in order to pressure Russia to end its war of aggression, beginning with a sustained ceasefire, substantially more effective military, economic, political and diplomatic efforts and measures must be applied by the EU and like-minded partners. They also urge the EU to push ahead with the confiscation of immobilised Russian state assets in order to support Ukraine, saying that the legal pathways to do so are available, and that the lack of action is an inexcusable failure on the part of European governments.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Press release – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia must step up reforms

    Source: European Parliament 3

    Three reports adopted on Wednesday highlight the urgent need for EU-related reforms, effective use of the Growth Plan and a decisive stance against foreign interference.

    Albania

    MEPs highlight Albania’s broad political consensus and strong public support for joining the EU, alongside full alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy. While welcoming Albania’s aim to complete accession talks by 2027 and the progress already made, MEPs stress the urgent need to intensify reforms. Key priorities include strengthening judicial independence, combating corruption and organised crime, and protecting fundamental rights. Enhancing media pluralism and transparency remains crucial to build public trust, say MEPs.

    The report notes ongoing political polarisation marked by confrontational rhetoric and calls for more constructive and inclusive political dialogue. It also urges authorities to continue their efforts to safeguard judicial independence and increase accountability.

    Quote

    Rapporteur Andreas Schieder (S&D, AT) said: “In this term’s first report on Albania, we welcome the rapid progress the ‘accession front-runner’ has made over the past years. Albania is a strong and reliable partner in foreign policy, and has taken remarkable steps in all areas such as justice, anti-corruption and environmental protection. To reach its goal of full EU membership by 2030, it is crucial to keep up the good work by broadening the economic model, creating jobs and improving the social welfare model, as well as implementing a comprehensive and inclusive electoral reform. Albania’s future lies within the EU.”

    The report was adopted by 502 votes in favour,120against, and 64 abstentions.

    Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Parliament reaffirms its strong support for BiH’s EU accession bid, emphasising a merit-based process aligned with the Copenhagen criteria and grounded in the country’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Welcoming the European Council’s decision to open accession negotiations with BiH amid the changing geopolitical landscape following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, MEPs acknowledge key reforms but express concern over stalled progress and weak implementation. The report calls for implementation of the necessary constitutional and electoral reforms, and for efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law, and to fight corruption and organised crime.

    MEPs strongly condemn divisive rhetoric and secessionist policies, particularly those promoted by Milorad Dodik and the Republika Srpska leadership, calling on the EU to take decisive action, including targeted sanctions, to counter destabilising forces threatening the country’s stability and European security. The report also stresses concerns about malign foreign interference and disinformation campaigns by foreign actors, notably Russia and China, that erode public trust in the EU.

    Quote

    Rapporteur Ondřej Kolář (EPP, CS) said: “The future of the Balkans lies within Europe, not under Russian domination. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the most difficult situation in Europe after Ukraine, and we must find a way to help it achieve full integration into Western structures. Developments in BiH demonstrate every day that we must strive for peace, stability, and development, because if we let up, we may once again face war and destruction.”

    The report was adopted by 459 votes in favour, 130 against, and 63 abstentions.

    North Macedonia

    The report underlines that enlargement should be a merit-based process based on the Copenhagen Criteria and calls on North Macedonia to enact the necessary reforms

    MEPs welcome the new €750 million Reform and Growth Facility, commending North Macedonia’s ambitious agenda. They urge it to adopt a strong focus on reform implementation, particularly in public administration, governance, the rule of law, and anti-corruption policy. Noting worsening trends in high-level corruption and low public trust in the judiciary, they call for stronger judicial independence, more accountability, and adequate resources for oversight bodies.

    The Parliament is deeply concerned that North Macedonia and other EU accession countries in the Western Balkans are being particularly hard hit by foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. It is also alarmed by the roles of the Hungarian Government and the Serbian Government in advancing China’s and Russia’s geopolitical objectives, states the resolution.

    Quote

    The rapporteur Thomas Waitz (The Greens, AT) said: „Today we adopted the first North Macedonia country report since 2022. As rapporteur, I worked tirelessly for a well-balanced and impartial report on the democratic progress of this country. North Macedonia has been a frontrunner in the region, showing real commitment to EU values, including a historic name change and bold reforms. But its accession has been unfairly blocked for too long due to bilateral disputes, fuelling public frustration and disillusionment with the EU. I call on all political parties in North Macedonia to engage in constructive dialogue to reach the required consensus, which would strengthen the country’s multi-ethnic character and accelerate EU progress.“

    The report was adopted by 461 votes in favour, 121 against, and with 107 abstentions.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Major milestone for Armada Way regeneration

    Source: City of Plymouth

    The first section of the Armada Way regeneration scheme will open on Thursday 31 July heralding a major milestone on this transformative project.

    Plymouth City Council is working with the City Centre Company on plans to open up zone 1A around the Phoenix Fountain together with the new amphitheatre and performance space, which will become home to happenings and pop up events such as bands playing or live performances.

    Paving in this part of the scheme is complete and this week, granite seats for the amphitheatre arrive. So far 29 trees have been planted, the first of 400 specimens of plants are going into the ground and two beds of wildflower turf are already bursting with blooms to attract bees and other pollinators.

    Existing stonework – including two heraldic lions – have been given a thorough facewash ahead of the big day.

    City Centre Champion Councillor Mark Lowry said: “We are cracking on with the job and like many people, I’ve been blown away by the change that is happening on a daily basis.

    “We are investing millions in a project that is changing the face of the city centre and has already led to companies and organisations directly investing here as they like what they see.

    “That said, we appreciate it has not been easy for the businesses and would like to thank them for their continued understanding and patience.”

    The project team and contractors have done everything in their power to minimise disruption to businesses. Temporary bridges have been built across paving work to the entrances of premises to make sure that the public can get in and out of the  shops and banks.

    Noisy and disruptive work has been taking place in the evenings to ensure minimal impact to businesses and our contractor dowses dusty areas of work wherever possible.

    Businesses are also sent a weekly update letting them know what work is coming.  There is a business liaison officer retailers can contact if they have any specific concerns they have about how the project is progressing.

    New areas featuring high quality granite footways have already been reopened along the western footpath north of Cornwall Street and are on a rolling programme over the next few weeks.

    Repaving paths has been complicated by the fact that much of the utilities – such as broadband and electricity cables – were not installed as deeply as they should have been and some unrecorded services are just below the existing surfacing.

    Contractors have had the added headache of relaying paths without causing power cuts or system failures for shops.

    Councillor Lowry added: “It’s been a challenge but the contractors and the project team have risen to it. Work is still powering on in other zones, but we wanted to pause for a moment and mark this achievement.

    City Centre Company Chief Executive Steve Hughes added: “We have been impressed with the pace and progress of the work and have been delighted with the level of interest it has created in the city centre.

    “We know it has not always been easy for the businesses during the work but Old Town Street and New George Street saw a big increase in footfall and investment interest once that scheme had finished and I am confident this will happen here. It is going to be a game changer.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: DfE Update: 9 July 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Correspondence

    DfE Update: 9 July 2025

    Latest information and actions from the Department for Education about funding, assurance and resource management, for academies, local authorities and further education providers.

    Applies to England

    Documents

    DfE Update further education: 9 July 2025

    HTML

    DfE Update academies: 9 July 2025

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    DfE Update local authorities: 9 July 2025

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    Details

    Latest for further education

    Article Title
    Information Adult skills fund: updates to rules and guidance for 2025 to 2026
    Information Maths and English condition of funding
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    Latest information for academies

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    Latest information for local authorities

    Article Title
    Information Adult skills fund: updates to rules and guidance for 2025 to 2026
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    Published 9 July 2025

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  • Are flash floods directly linked to climate change?

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    The catastrophic flash floods in Texas a couple of days earlier, triggered by extremely heavy rainfall, which caused over 100 deaths and widespread destruction, have once again raised a pressing question- are flash floods directly linked to climate change? Successive research by environmental agencies corroborates this, saying climate change is a significant factor in the increased risk, frequency and intensity of floods in several parts of the world.

    Research suggests human-caused climate change is driving more and more extreme weather conditions, which include extremely heavy and sometimes untimely rains, which directly contribute to flooding, especially when proper city planning is not in place.

    Studies say warmer temperatures cause a more moisture-laden atmosphere, which turns into more intense rainfall with increased frequency. The recent Texas floods were found to have been made significantly worse by climate change, as atmospheric conditions favoured slow-moving thunderstorms, which caused heavy rains in the same area for hours. Warmer global temperatures have increased the atmosphere’s capacity to hold moisture, resulting in heavier and more concentrated rainfall events that can overwhelm drainage systems and waterways.

    In layman’s terms, climate change leads to higher global temperatures and warmer air holds more moisture. Climate-related researches say with every one-degree Celsius rise in temperature, the atmosphere’s capacity to hold more water vapour rises by about 7%.

    It can be understood from the fact that the recent very heavy rainstorms in Texas delivered about 20% more rainfall than they did in the late 1950s, a time when global temperatures were considerably lower, according to the National Climate Assessment. As climate change continues to warm the planet, extreme rainfall events in Texas are projected to become even more frequent in the coming decade, as highlighted in a 2024 report by the state’s climatologist. The worry is that it’s not just Texas, but across the US, the heaviest storms are predicted to produce more rain as the Earth continues to warm.

    Such storms can trigger deadly flooding far inland, which was on full display in 2024 when Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding across Appalachia. Similarly, in 2021, flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida claimed dozens of lives in the Northeastern US. According to the National Climate Assessment, more than one-third of the estimated 230 billion dollar in inland flood damage in the US between 1988 and 2021 would not have occurred without climate change.

    Storms increase the likelihood of intense and short-duration rainfall in several parts of the globe, which is becoming a major trigger for flash floods. Moreover, climate change also gives rise to sea levels and constantly rising sea levels invariably exacerbate coastal flooding, which seriously threatens human populations and physical assets-infrastructure in the coastal regions.

    In fact, across the US, Europe and other parts of the globe, similar patterns are observed with coastal and inland states facing flood risks due to tropical storms, hurricanes and prolonged rainfall events. In the US, riverine floods are also a concern, especially along major waterways like the Mississippi. In many areas, deforestation, wetland loss and poorly planned development have also disrupted natural drainage systems, reducing the landscape’s ability to buffer heavy rains.

    Like the United States, Europe is also grappling with more frequent and severe flooding. In 2021 and successive years, devastating floods in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and others highlighted the region’s exposure to extreme weather.

    Climate change is intensifying heavy rainfall events across the continent, particularly in Central and Western Europe. Uncontrolled urban expansion, river channelization and reduced natural water retention due to agricultural and industrial development have made many European regions more prone to flooding. In mountainous areas, rapid snowmelt and glacial lake outbursts, both linked to rising temperatures, also contribute to sudden floods.

    Studies have shown that climate change has increased the likelihood and intensity of heavy rainfall events in both the US and Europe. For example, in Europe, research indicates that human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood of the intense rainfall that caused recent floods in Central Europe. Similarly, in the US, climate change has been linked to more extreme rainstorms and increased flood risk.

    Despite the growing risks, many communities around the country are still not planning for more intense rainstorms as they build roads, floodways, and storm infrastructure. Local governments around the country rely on historical rainfall records from concerned agencies.

    Another factor that may be contributing to the severe floods, however, is human activity and land-use change. Most of the recent floods in Central Europe are river floods, which makes the links between the flooding and climate change less straightforward.

    Central Europe’s devastating floods were made worse by climate change, which scientists say offers glimpses of a bleak future for the world’s fastest-warming continent. In fact, Europe is the fastest-warming continent. The last five years were on average around 2.3°C warmer than the second half of the 19th century, according to the Copernicus Climate Service.

    Addressing these challenges requires a multi-pronged approach. In the short term, improving early warning systems, emergency response mechanisms and public awareness can help save lives. Upgrading drainage infrastructure, reinforcing levees and dams and integrating green infrastructure like rain gardens, permeable pavements and restored wetlands are essential for long-term flood resilience. Urban planning must prioritize flood risk zones, restrict construction in vulnerable areas and promote sustainable land use.

    And at a broader scale, reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains critical to mitigating the root cause of climate-driven floods. International cooperation, climate adaptation funding and policy reforms are necessary to prepare communities for the escalating risks posed by a warming world. Without decisive action, not only the US and Europe, but the majority of countries across the globe are likely to see floods becoming an even more destructive and persistent threat in the decades ahead. Without more ambitious climate action, global warming is expected to reach around 3°C by the end of the century, which would be much more disastrous to the humanity.

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Peter Kyle’s speech at Google Cloud Summit London

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Peter Kyle’s speech at Google Cloud Summit London

    Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Peter Kyle, delivered a speech at Google Cloud Summit London on Wednesday 9 July 2025.

    Thank you for having me, and thanks also for acknowledging the GOV.UK App, which I’m sure you’ve all downloaded.

    If you haven’t already, then you should be doing so now. And I don’t if you’re looking down at your phones while I’m speaking, if what you’re doing is downloading the GOV.UK App – which is already outselling the Bible on the app store, I’m reliably told.

    When I came into office a year ago, I was told to deliver an App, with a digital wallet, with a chatbot, and with a digital driving licence attached to it, I was told it couldn’t be done in one parliament, that it couldn’t be done in one 5 year period.

    My response was I’m sure Google and others don’t take that long to design and deploy their technology. Let me see a timeline.

    The timeline came back to me a week later, and it was now 3 years.

    We did all of this, the start of the deployment of GOV.UK App, within one year of government.

    Within 15 months, all of those services I’ve just outlined will be deployed and put to the benefit of citizens right around the country.

    And that for me is a source of huge pride, because we’ve used technology to wrap services around individual citizens needs.

    Right now, as all of you know, too often citizens are being wrapped around the needs of services themselves.

    And this is a profound change as we go forward.

    Now, sometimes I’m accused of being “too close to big tech”.

    And I could have no better place to have this argument out on the table with you now.

    In May, The Guardian criticised me for meeting with the sector 70% more than my predecessor. Now, to this crime, I plead guilty.

    In truth that was just 28 times over the course of a 6-month period, that equates to around twice a week over that time.

    As Technology Secretary I simply will not apologise for meeting with technology companies – that is the job.

    Just as meeting with the families of victims of social media, regulators, founders, overseas governments and the creative sector, it’s all part and parcel of what I’m paid to do on behalf of the people’s government.

    But I don’t do these meetings just because I’m paid to do it.

    I do them because they matter:

    keeping children safe or from social media – it matters;

    making sure Britain is the best prepared for developments at the frontier of AI – that matters;

    and securing better deals for the taxpayer for the billions of pounds spent every year on software, cloud services, devices and information technology – that matters.

    So today, I’m here to acknowledge our agreement for an entirely new way of working with Google – and how that will impact our public services.

    It’s an agreement that recognises our value as the UK government as a huge client to their organisation.

    And how important their technology is to help us deliver the changes to public services to make them more in-touch and more in-tune with citizens. And better value for money for taxpayers.

    The agreement signals and signifies our determination to exploit the full potential of a partnership between government and Google, with much more collaboration between their UK AI lab, DeepMind, and my own AI developers in my department, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with a new digital centre of government.

    We’ve already used Gemini to build “Extract”, a specialist AI tool to help councils convert decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes.

    It could be pivotal in our plans to stop bureaucracy from holding up the construction and ultimately help us build 1.5 million homes that we’ve pledged over this parliament.

    We know that tools using the same technology are capable of transforming Whitehall itself, the NHS, and other essential services that millions of people across our country rely on.

    So, with more hands-on support, I can’t wait to see what our 2 teams deliver together.

    Google are also aiming to train up 100,000 public sector professionals with the skills that they need to use this technology by 2030.

    That’s going to help us hit the target the Prime Minister set earlier this year, where we’ve committed to double the number of digital experts across government…

    …essential to shaking up decades old processes and making public services work in the way people expect services to work in the 2020s – whether that’s in the NHS, policing, benefits or tax.

    And, perhaps most importantly, we are looking to the sector to help shake off the legacy technology that costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune and leaves us vulnerable to outages and to cyberattacks.

    More than one in 4 public sector systems run on this “ball and chain” tech – rising to 70% in some police forces and NHS trusts.

    With contracts signed decades ago, and a high costs of exit, we’ve seen a few tech companies really taking liberties with the public sector.

    In the worst cases, contracts have made it impossible for public sector organisations to move on. They’ve locked up their data up in vulnerable, archaic servers…

    …only to have the price of maintaining the tech hiked up, year-on- year, with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

    Now, as Technology Secretary, I am determined to break free from these costly chains once and for all.

    Through agreements like this we can transition public sector organisations trapped by the ball and chain of legacy products and services, and to migrate to the cloud.

    That move alone will liberate public service organisations and use the latest technology, and more freely explore the wider market moving forward. That is what I am determined to do.

    All in all, this partnership could see Google invest hundreds of millions of pounds in Britain’s public sector technology.

    Helping to deliver my ambition to bring the public services people use every day, drag it into the 21st century.

    Without deals like this in place, we had hundreds of public sector organisations…

    …police forces, NHS trusts, local councils, government departments and many, many more…

    They were simply just going it alone in negotiations with big tech companies.

    And they just don’t have the experience and market clout they need to drive the best deal for taxpayers.

    They end up paying the full shop-front rate or even being entirely mis-sold tech that doesn’t work for them in the first place.

    But they’re all buying on behalf of the same client: you, the British taxpayer.

    And that taxpayer is footing the bill for an annual £21 billion for buying the same technology time and time again.

    That’s why I’m determined to secure a new deal for buying tech for the British taxpayer.

    For too long, too many governments haven’t done enough to build the positive business relationships that Britain needs to prevent the taxpayer being short changed when it comes to procuring tech – from healthcare services, policing systems right through to benefits processes, and bin collections, right down to street sweeping.

    Just as with Google on this strategy, when I negotiate with Tech companies, I am negotiating on behalf of the British taxpayer.

    Britain will be using technology in more areas and more than ever before.

    So, my message to big technology companies is clear: bring us your best ideas, bring us your best tech, and bring it at the best price.

    In return, you’ll get access to the biggest client in the country, one that will be increasingly intelligent and increasingly digital.

    And as we start to operate as a more intelligent buyer of technology, new opportunities are going to emerge.

    The first one that I’m pushing for, is to make sure that, whenever possible, UK technology companies- large and small – get a fair shot at winning a contract.

    Our upcoming marketplace – the national digital exchange – will make sure more and more UK tech companies can get their slice of the £21 billion pie.

    That means more money for companies operating here in the UK, workers and founders.

    It will help us to achieve the economic growth upon which Britain’s future prosperity lies. And it will improve the public services on which British citizens depend.

    Now I want to acknowledge the foresight of Google in signing this key agreement, and I want more to follow. I want it to stimulate many similar co-operation agreements with the full range of international and domestic technology companies.

    That is in the interests of higher economic growth, more jobs, better public services and greater value for taxpayers.

    Thank you very much for having me along today.

    Updates to this page

    Published 9 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –