Category: European Union

  • MIL-OSI Security: Two Defendants Arrested in Serbia for Allegedly Directing Interstate Stalking and Harassment of Los Angeles-Based Critic of China’s President

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    LOS ANGELES – Serbian law enforcement authorities have arrested two foreign nationals, Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom, at the request of the United States, the Justice Department announced today.

    The United States today unsealed its criminal complaint alleging that Cui and Miller coordinated and directed a conspiracy to harass, intimidate, and threaten a Los Angeles resident (the victim) who had been publicly critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    According to court documents, beginning in October 2023, Cui and Miller enlisted two individuals (Individual 1 and Individual 2) inside the United States to carry out a plot to prevent the victim from protesting President Xi’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2023. The victim had previously made public statements in opposition to the policies and actions of the PRC government and President Xi.

    Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 1 and Individual 2 were affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

    In the weeks leading up to the APEC summit, Cui and Miller directed and coordinated an interstate scheme to surveil the victim, to install a tracking device on the victim’s car, to slash the tires on the victim’s car, and to purchase and destroy a pair of artistic statutes created by the victim depicting President Xi and President Xi’s wife.

    A similar scheme took place in the spring of 2025, after the victim announced that he planned to make public an online video feed depicting two new artistic statutes of President Xi and his wife. In connection with these plots, Cui and Miller paid two other individuals (Individual 3 and Individual 4), approximately $36,500 to convince the victim to desist from the online display of the statues. Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 3 and Individual 4 were also affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.

    A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    If convicted, Cui and Miller face the following maximum penalties: five years in federal prison for conspiracy and five years in federal prison for interstate stalking.

    The FBI is investigating the case. The United States thanks the Ministry of Justice of Serbia, the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, and the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office of Serbia for the assistance in this matter. The United States will seek extradition of Cui and Miller and looks forward to working in partnership with the Republic of Serbia’s Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.          

    Assistant United States Attorneys David Ryan, Chief of the National Security Division, and Amanda B. Elbogen of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section, along with Trial Attorneys Leslie Esbrook and Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case, with valuable assistance provided by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin P. Taibleson for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Trial Attorney Goran Krnaich of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI: BTCC Exchange Pioneers Bitcoin Donations at Successful Legends Golf Day Charity Event Hosted by Red Eagle Foundation

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

    VILNIUS, Lithuania, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BTCC, the world’s longest-serving crypto exchange, has redefined charitable giving at the Red Eagle Foundation’s Legends Golf Day by enabling, for the first time in the foundation’s history, Bitcoin donations that bypassed traditional financial constraints while raising substantial funds for disadvantaged children.

    The event, held on April 24, 2025 at The Shire London, marked a historic milestone as BTCC enabled the first-ever Bitcoin donation option for the Red Eagle Foundation, revolutionizing how attendees could contribute to charitable causes. Participants could easily donate Bitcoin through QR codes available throughout the venue, transcending traditional banking limitations.

    The event featured an impressive lineup of ten Tottenham Hotspur legends, including Glenn Hoddle, Teddy Sheringham, Ossie Ardiles, Pat Jennings, Paul Miller, Michael Hazard, John Pratt, David Howells, John Lacey, and Mark Falco. Professional golfer Lucy Robson challenged participants as the “Beat the Pro”, and Team Barrington James took home the championship.

    A highlight included Glenn Hoddle sharing stories from his illustrious career and offering insights on the current Tottenham Hotspur team in a Q&A session hosted by former Chelsea player and sports television pundit Scott Minto.

    “BTCC brings a whole new donation method to traditional charity events, allowing more people in need to benefit from the power of cryptocurrency,” said Aaryn, Head of Branding at BTCC Exchange.

    “As pioneers in the cryptocurrency space, we believe it’s our responsibility to use innovative technology to create positive social impact. We’re happy to provide continuous support to our partner Red Eagle Foundation and look forward to launching more CSR initiatives as our exchange grows,” Aaryn added.

    The successful introduction of cryptocurrency donations represents just the beginning of BTCC’s expanded commitment to social responsibility. The exchange plans to leverage blockchain technology to address various social challenges while continuing to support organizations like the Red Eagle Foundation that make a meaningful difference in society.

    As a token of appreciation for its loyal community, BTCC will also be launching a giveaway featuring a signed shirt by Glenn Hoddle. Supporters are encouraged to stay tuned for more details on the exchange’s X (Twitter).

    About BTCC Exchange

    Founded in 2011, BTCC is one of the most established cryptocurrency exchanges, providing secure and reliable crypto trading services. The exchange continues to innovate its services for its 7.04 million traders worldwide while maintaining a strong commitment to community service and corporate social responsibility.

    Official website: https://www.btcc.com/en-US

    X: https://x.com/BTCCexchange

    Media Contact: press@btcc.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: VSORA Raises $46 Million to Bring World’s Most Powerful AI Inference Chip to Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Europe’s only provider of more powerful, energy-efficient and cost-effective AI Chips than other solutions from global market leaders
    • Funding will enable VSORA to produce its cutting-edge AI chip in 2025

    PARIS, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VSORA, a French innovator and the only European provider of ultra-high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) inference chips, today announced that it has successfully raised $46 million in a new fundraising round.

    The investment was led by Otium and a French family office with additional participation from Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital and co-financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.

    In citing their reasons for investing in VSORA, all recognize that VSORA is poised to establish itself as a global leader in AI chips by redefining cost-effective, high-performance AI inference deployment at scale with a purpose-built architecture that overcomes inherent GPU limitations.

    “This funding marks a pivotal moment for VSORA as we accelerate our mission to revolutionize AI chips and ensure Europe’s technological sovereignty in AI computing,” says Khaled Maalej, VSORA Founder and CEO. “It will drive the finalization of our technology and the launch of our production, enabling VSORA to play a crucial role as the sole alternative to non-European chip designers. We are grateful for our investors’ trust and look forward to continuing our collaboration with industry leaders to bring our chip to market.”

    The new funding will support the production stage of VSORA’s Jotunn8 (J8) chip targeted for silicon in 2025. VSORA has forged partnerships with global semiconductor industry leaders, ensuring access to cutting-edge technologies and production capabilities that meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

    In parallel, VSORA continues to move forward with strategic stakeholders to prepare for the industrialization phase, paving the way for the emergence of a key global European player in AI chip innovation.

    “In a market dominated by global giants like Nvidia, VSORA is a unique opportunity for France and Europe, home to world-class engineering talent,” comments Gaspard de Veyrac, Principal at Otium. “Otium is proud to provide them with the means to realize their ambitions. With this funding, VSORA has the necessary tools to reshape the future of AI computation and secure a significant position in the global AI chip market.”

    VSORA and Jotunn8
    Founded in France, VSORA is working to reshape the future of AI inference by revolutionizing AI processing with its unique chip engineered for superior performance and efficiency and set to redefine AI inference processing. It is designed for key applications such as generative AI—ChatGPT, for instance—in data centers, autonomous driving, robotics and edge AI.

    The explosive growth of AI and generative AI applications has ignited an urgent demand for high-performance, cost-effective inference solutions. AI inference—the process of deploying trained AI models to generate real-time insights and predictions—is projected to grow at a 16% CAGR from $124 billion in 2025 to $255 billion in 2030.

    The Jotunn8 (J8) chip shatters performance barriers of conventional GPUs, delivering concrete performance that surpasses today’s AI chips from global-leading industry players. Specifically, J8 delivers more than three times the performance of existing solutions while consuming less than half the power. This significant leap in efficiency addresses the critical challenges of deployment cost, cost per query and energy consumption in large-scale AI deployment.

    Offering 3,200 teraflops of compute power, the J8 chip shatters the performance barriers of conventional GPUs, delivering real-world performance that surpasses today’s AI accelerators.

    Unlike traditional accelerators optimized for training, VSORA’s technology focuses on inference making it ideal for latency-sensitive applications. It increases throughput and reduces the processing cost and cost per query.

    About VSORA
    VSORA provides high-performance silicon solutions for AI data center inference, autonomous driving, robotics and edge AI applications. Founded in 2015 by a team of DSP experts, AI scientists and engineers with a long history of successes, VSORA has offices in France and Taiwan.

    Connect with VSORA:
    Website: www.vsora.com
    Email: info@vsora.com
    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vsora/

    About Otium
    Otium is a long-term investment holding company founded in 2009 by Pierre Edouard Sterin. With €1.6 billion ($1,892 billion) in assets as of December 31, 2024, spread across more than 1,310 investments—including the Smartbox group and stakes in French unicorns PayFit and Owkin—Otium invests amounts ranging from a few hundred thousand euros to several tens of millions of euros. Companies are funded at every stage of their development, from seed funding to growth capital, and Otium takes either majority or minority stakes with no holding period constraints. Otium pursues a diversification strategy by financing projects in tech, industrials, leisure, healthcare, hospitality and real estate. Otium invested €255 million in 2024. www.otiumcapital.com

    About Omnes Capital
    Omnes is a leading private equity firm dedicated to energy transition. With over €6.7 billion ($7,580 billion) in assets under management, our teams support long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs through our four core businesses: renewable energy, sustainable cities, deep tech and co-investment. For over 20 years, Omnes has been applying its expertise to help businesses grow in more than 15 countries, with a particular focus on sustainable development. As part of its approach as a responsible investor, the company has created the Omnes Foundation to support non-profit organizations working for children and young people in the fields of education, health, social and economic integration. www.omnescapital.com

    About EIC Fund
    The European Innovation Council Fund from the European Commission is an agnostic Fund: it invests across all technologies and verticals, and all EU countries and countries associated to Horizon Europe. It provides the investment component of the EIC Accelerator blended finance. The European Investment Bank acts as investment adviser to the EIC Fund.

    The EIC Fund aims to fill a critical financing gap and its main purpose is to support companies in the development and commercialisation of disruptive technologies, bridging with and crowding in market players, and further sharing risk by building a large network of capital providers and strategic partners suitable for co-investments and follow-on funding.

    The Fund pays particular attention to the empowerment and support of female founders as well as the ambition to reduce the innovation divide among EU countries.
    https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-fund_en

    For more information, contact:
    Nanette Collins
    Public Relations for VSORA
    nanette@nvc.com

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI Africa: South Africa’s frogs and reptiles get their own list of names in local languages

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Fortunate Mafeta Phaka, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher of herptile-human interactions, North-West University

    Naming all the creatures and plants in nature is no small task. Fortunate Phaka is a zoologist who has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of naming and classification of frogs and reptiles in nine South African cultures. The list includes 136 frog and 407 reptile species that have been scientifically described. He explains why it’s important to record all the species names that people use in their own languages.


    Why did you study the indigenous names of frogs and reptiles?

    I am interested in the interactions between wildlife and people. These interactions include, for example, how people use wildlife in figures of speech, harvesting of wildlife for consumption, and of course how animals are assigned names.

    If everyone’s names for things are known and shared, the ideas behind the names can also be shared, appreciated and valued.

    Conservation planning is improved by consideration of different wildlife perspectives, which is revealed partly by the names that different people give wildlife.

    Knowing local names can provide assurance that people from different cultural backgrounds are talking about the same species.

    In South Africa, for example, there are 11 official spoken languages and scientists use Latin names for species. Most people aren’t familiar with the scientific names.

    That’s why we extended the list of scientific, Afrikaans and English names of South African frogs and reptiles to include names in the country’s other nine official languages.

    How did you go about it, and what did you find?

    The project started as a pilot study in 2016, carried out in the Zululand area of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, where frog biodiversity is high and Indigenous cultural practices are still part of everyday life. Results of the pilot were published as a book in 2017 and as a scientific publication in 2019.

    Following the success of the pilot study, I collected responses from 287 South African Indigenous language speakers (aged between 25 and 57) using an online questionnaire and in-person interviews while on field trips, and reviewed 18 scientific articles, dissertations and books to study naming practices even further.

    The study shed light on the way people group animals (folk taxonomy) and how that compares with the way scientists group them (scientific taxonomy).

    It became clear that Indigenous language names were often assigned based on unique features of frogs or reptiles, such as the sound they make, how they move or where they are found. Most of these names group several species together based on their similarities. This meant most frog and reptile species did not have Indigenous language names that were unique to them. For example, zoologists have named eight different Reed Frog species from South Africa but these eight species were assigned one Indigenous name that groups them together.

    Male Painted Reed Frog (Umgqagqa opendiwe in IsiZulu) calling. Fortunate Phaka, Author provided (no reuse)918 KB (download)

    The organised way of assigning Indigenous names to animals has some similarities to how scientists assign names that are unique to each species. For example, the Grass Frog species are grouped together under the scientific genus Ptychadena, and in IsiZulu the same species are grouped under the name Uvete. These similarities meant we could combine scientific naming practices with Indigenous naming practices to give each species a unique name in multiple languages.

    To ensure the unique Indigenous names remained familiar to speakers of respective languages, we added descriptive terms to the existing general Indigenous names to make them specific, instead of coining an entirely new name. For example in IsiZulu the general name Umgqagqa (used for all Reed Frogs) became Umgqagqa opendiwe (specific name for the Painted Reed Frog). And several other descriptive terms were added to Umgqagqa to distinguish between the eight Reed Frog species of South Africa.

    The author learning isiZulu names from safari guides in Zululand. Dr Edward Netherlands, Author provided (no reuse)

    Why does it matter to record the Indigenous names of species?

    Conservation hasn’t been doing a good job of being inclusive. Knowing Indigenous names and the local perspectives behind those names is a good way to start being aware of the multiple other perspectives. Conservation should ultimately be to everyone’s benefit.

    For a long time wildlife guidebooks have had very few Indigenous language names in them. With increased recording of Indigenous names, any South African would be able to open a wildlife guide and read a name in any of our 11 official spoken languages. Hopefully one day we can have more books like the Bilingual Guide to the Frogs of Zululand (IsiZulu version: Isiqondiso Sasefilidini Esindimimbili Ngamaxoxo AkwelaKwaZulu) that make it possible for you to read about your favourite wildlife in your preferred language.

    Has this been done for other groups of animals or plants?

    Birds and plants are two groups that have received this kind of attention.

    A recent scientific publication has worked on IsiZulu names for all South African birds and another publication studied the morphology of IsiZulu bird names. There has also been work on IsiXhosa insect names, and there has been a SeSotho animal word list published online. Indigenous names for African wildlife have received sporadic attention in the past, but with the recent increases in calls for consideration of Indigenous knowledge there has been increasing focus on understanding these names and using them.

    Do you have some favourite names?

    I have a lot of favourites but there are some names that stand out, like Senana (Sepedi general name for Rain Frogs) and Lebololo (Sepedi name for Puff adder). These names have the same root word or sound throughout most of the Indigenous South African languages and I am curious about how this happened. Rain Frogs are also called Senanatswidi in Sepedi and tswidi is an onomatopoeic reference to the whistling sound that Rain Frogs make.

    – South Africa’s frogs and reptiles get their own list of names in local languages
    – https://theconversation.com/south-africas-frogs-and-reptiles-get-their-own-list-of-names-in-local-languages-254643

    MIL OSI Africa

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Appeal to find relatives of local Second World War hero John Baskeyfield

    Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent

    Published: Tuesday, 29th April 2025

    An appeal has been launched to find relatives of Burslem’s Second World War hero, Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield.

    The Burslem hero was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his remarkable courage during the largest airborne landing in military history – into Nazi-occupied Netherlands.  

    During the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, Lance Sergeant Baskeyfield, known as Jack, single-handedly manned two anti-tank guns and refused to leave his post. 

    Jack was a very dear friend of George and Anne Price. Their grandson, Andrew Felton, is trying to find relatives of the war hero who was killed at the age of 21, ahead of events Stoke-on-Trent City Council is planning around Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day to commemorate Mr Baskeyfield. 

    Mr Felton said: “My Grandad George and Nana Anne spoke often about Jack, and always with deep affection and reverence. 

    “I never forgot their stories, which sparked my interest in his incredible bravery at Arnhem during World War II. 

    “A few years ago, I started researching Jack’s remarkable service in the South Staffordshire Regiment after he signed up aged 19. 

    “Last September, I travelled to the Netherlands to join the 80th anniversary commemorations of Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem. 

    “It was very sobering and humbling visiting the places I had read about where so many brave men fell. Walking from the John Frost Bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem to where Jack had last stood in Oosterbeek, commemorated by the Jack Baskeyfield Tree, was hugely poignant. 

    “It would be wonderful to trace any of Jack’s relatives so they can join the special events being planned to honour this very special man during the City Centenary year.” 

    Councillor Lyn Sharpe, Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, said: “Our city is proud of Lance Sergeant John Baskeyfield. His bravery will never be forgotten in Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. 

    “We hope any relatives can be found so they can be part of the special events we’re holding later this year in his memory.” 

    The events in November are expected to include an expanded exhibition in the Spitfire Gallery at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery with items Jack’s family gifted to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, and an Act of Remembrance at the Jack Baskeyfield memorial at Festival Retail Park. 

    Any relatives can email sot100@stoke.gov.uk to find out more about the event. 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Global: Cyberattacks: how companies can communicate effectively after being hit

    Source: The Conversation – France – By Paolo Antonetti, Professeur, EDHEC Business School

    In its latest annual publication, insurance group Hiscox surveyed more than 2,000 cybersecurity managers in eight countries including France. Two thirds of the companies in the survey reported having been the victim of a cyberattack between mid-August 2023 and September 2024, a 15% increase over the previous period. In terms of potential financial losses, Statista estimated that cyberattacks cost France up to €122 billion in 2024, compared to €89 in 2023 – a 37% rise.


    A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!

    The main forms of cyberattacks on French businesses, the recommendations for how companies can protect themselves, and the technical and legal responses they can adopt are well documented.

    However, much less is known about appropriate communications and public relations responses to cyberattacks. The issues at stake are critical. When a company is the target of a cyberattack, should it systematically accept responsibility, or can it instead claim to be a victim to protect its reputation? A wrong answer can aggravate the situation and undermine the confidence of customers and investors.

    Positioning as a victim

    Our recent research questions the assumption that accepting causal responsibility should be the norm after a cyberattack: we show that positioning oneself as a victim can be more effective in limiting damage to one’s image – provided claims of victimhood are deployed intelligently.

    There is evidence that firms need a strategy to present themselves effectively as victims of cybercriminals. Some firms, such as T-Mobile and Equifax, have in the past paid compensation to consumers while refusing to accept any responsibility, essentially presenting themselves as victims.

    Similarly, the large French telecommunications operator Free presented itself as a victim when communicating about the large-scale cyberattack that affected its operations last October, which may have had an impact on its image. The UK’s TalkTalk initially framed itself as a victim of a cybercrime but was later criticized for its inadequate security measures.

    Victimhood and sympathy

    Clumsily declaring itself as the sole entity to blame or the sole victim of a cyberattack – which is what interests us here – can be risky and backfire on a company, damaging its credibility rather than protecting its reputation.

    When companies present themselves as victims of cybercrime, they can elicit sympathy from stakeholders. People tend to be more compassionate toward businesses that depict themselves as wronged rather than those that deny responsibility or shift blame. In essence, this strategy frames the organization as a target of external forces beyond its control, rather than as negligent or incompetent. It leverages a fundamental social norm – people’s instinctive tendency to support those they see as victims.

    But claims of victimhood must align with public expectations and the specific context of the breach. They should not be about shirking responsibility, but about acknowledging harm in a way that fosters understanding and trust. The following approaches and choices can help.

    • align with public perception

    The reactions of stakeholders often depend on their understanding of the situation. If the attack is perceived as an external and malicious act, it is crucial for a company to adopt a consistent stance by emphasizing that it itself has been a victim. But if internal negligence is proven, claiming victim status could be counterproductive. The swiftness of a company’s response, the level of transparency and the relative stance taken are all part of a good strategy.

    • express support for stakeholders

    Adopting a position of victimhood does not mean denying all responsibility or minimizing the consequences of an attack. The company must show that it takes the situation seriously by expressing empathy and commitment to affected stakeholders. It must pay particular attention to those affected inside the organization: a claim of victimhood should be part of an apology or a message expressing concern. An effective message must be sincere and oriented toward concrete solutions.

    • consider reputation

    We find that it is easier for companies to claim victimhood persuasively if they are perceived as virtuous. This reputation can be due to a positive track record in terms of corporate social responsibility or because they are a not-for-profit institution (e.g. a library, a university or a hospital). Virtuous victims generate sympathy and empathy, and this is also reflected after a cyberattack.

    • highlight the harmfulness and sophistication of the attack

    The results of our study also show that public acceptance of victim status is more effective when the cyberattack is perceived to be the work of highly competent malicious actors. It is also important for a company to persuade the public that the attack harmed the company, while keeping the main focus of the response on the public.

    • don’t complain

    It is essential to distinguish between legitimate claims of victim status and communication that could be perceived as an attempt to exonerate oneself. An overly plaintive tone could undermine a company’s credibility. The approach should be factual and constructive, focusing on the measures taken to overcome the crisis.

    • test reactions before communicating widely

    Companies’ responses to a cyberattack can vary depending on the context and the public. It is best to assess different approaches before embarking on large-scale communication. This can be done through internal tests, focus groups or targeted surveys. Subtle differences in the situation can cause important shifts in how the public perceives the breach and what the best response might be.

    Our study sheds light on a shift in public expectations about crisis management: in the age of ubiquitous cybercrime, responsibilities are often shared. Poorly managed communication after a cyberattack can lead to a lasting loss of trust and expose a company to increased legal risks. Claiming victim status effectively, with an empathetic and transparent approach, can help mitigate the impact of the crisis and preserve the organization’s reputation.


    This article was written with Ilaria Baghi (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia).

    Paolo Antonetti ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

    ref. Cyberattacks: how companies can communicate effectively after being hit – https://theconversation.com/cyberattacks-how-companies-can-communicate-effectively-after-being-hit-255061

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – on the Middle East [as delivered; scroll down for all-English and all-French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie la présidence française d’organiser cette réunion au niveau ministériel sur le Moyen-Orient, y compris la question palestinienne.

    La région traverse des bouleversements fondamentaux, marqués par la violence et la volatilité, mais également porteurs d’opportunités et de potentiel.

    Au Liban, le cessez-le-feu et l’intégrité territoriale doivent être respectés et tous les engagements doivent être mis en œuvre.

    En Syrie, nous devons poursuivre nos efforts pour accompagner le pays sur la voie d’une transition politique inclusive de toutes les composantes de la population syrienne – une transition qui garantisse la reddition de comptes, favorise la réconciliation nationale, et jette les bases du redressement à long terme de la Syrie ainsi que de son intégration future au sein de la communauté internationale. 

    Cela inclut la situation dans le Golan syrien occupé, qui demeure précaire en raison de violations majeures de l’Accord de désengagement des forces de 1974 – notamment la présence continue des Forces de défense israéliennes dans la zone de séparation, ainsi que leurs multiples frappes contre des sites au-delà de la ligne de cessez-le-feu.

    À travers le Moyen-Orient, les populations réclament et méritent un avenir meilleur – et non des conflits et des souffrances sans fin.

    Nous devons agir ensemble pour faire en sorte que cette période de turbulences et de transition réponde à ces aspirations – et qu’elle apporte justice, dignité, droits, sécurité, et une paix durable.

    Cela commence par la reconnaissance de deux faits fondamentaux : 

    Premièrement, la région se trouve à un moment charnière de son histoire. 

    Et, deuxièmement, que toute paix vraiment durable au Moyen-Orient dépend d’une question centrale.

    Un élément essentiel que ce Conseil de sécurité a affirmé et réaffirmé, année après année, décennie après décennie : une solution à deux États, Israël et la Palestine, vivant côte-à-côte dans la paix et la sécurité, avec Jérusalem comme capitale des deux États.

    Mr. President,

    Today, the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance. 

    The political commitment to this long-standing goal is farther than it has ever been.

    As a result, the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to live and peace and security have been undermined – and the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinians have been denied – while they endure Israel’s continued presence that the International Court of Justice has found unlawful. 

    And since the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, it has gotten worse on every front.

    First, the unrelenting conflict and devastation in Gaza – including the utterly inhumane conditions of life imposed on its people who are repeatedly coming under attack, confined to smaller and smaller spaces, and deprived of lifesaving relief. 

    In line with international law, the Security Council has rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce its territory. 

    Gaza is — and must remain — an integral part of a future Palestinian state.

    Second, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli military operations and the use of heavy weaponry in residential areas, forcible displacement, demolitions, movement restrictions, and settlement expansion are dramatically altering demographic and geographic realities. 

    Palestinians are being contained and coerced.  Contained in areas that are subject to increasing military operations and where the Palestinian Authority is under growing pressure – and coerced out of areas where settlements are expanding. 

    Third, settler violence continues at alarmingly high levels in a climate of impunity, with entire Palestinian communities facing repeated assaults and destruction, sometimes abetted by Israeli soldiers.

    Palestinian attacks against Israelis in both Israel and the occupied West Bank also continue.

    Mr. President,

    The world cannot afford to watch the two-State solution disappear. 

    Political leaders face clear choices — the choice to be silent, the choice to acquiesce, or the choice to act.

    Mr. President,

    In Gaza, there is no end in sight to the killing and misery.

    The ceasefire had brought a glimmer of hope – the long-sought release of hostages and delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief.

    But those embers of opportunity were cruelly extinguished with the shattering of the ceasefire on 18 March. 

    Since then, almost 2,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes and military operations – including women, children, journalists, and humanitarians.

    Hamas also continues to fire rockets towards Israel indiscriminately – while the hostages continue to be held in appalling conditions. 

    The humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip has gone from bad … to worse … to beyond imagination.   

    For nearly two full months, Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and commercial supplies, depriving more than two million people of lifesaving relief. 

    All while the world watches.

    I am alarmed by statements by Israeli government officials about the use of humanitarian aid as a tool for military pressure.

    Aid is non-negotiable. 

    Israel must protect civilians and must agree to relief schemes and facilitate them.

    I salute the women and men of the United Nations and all other humanitarian workers – especially our Palestinian colleagues — who continue to work under fire and in incomprehensibly difficult conditions.

    And I mourn all of the women and men of the United Nations who were killed – including some with their families.

    The entry of assistance must be restored immediately — the safety of UN personnel and humanitarian partners must be guaranteed – and UN agencies must be allowed to work in full respect of humanitarian principles:  humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

    There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid – including through the vital work of UNRWA.

    We need the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

    And we need a permanent ceasefire.

    It’s time to stop the repeated displacement of the Gaza population – along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.

    And the trampling of international law must end.

    I call on Member States to use their leverage to ensure that international law is respected and impunity does not prevail.

    This includes for the 19 March incident for which Israel has now acknowledged responsibility in firing on a UN guesthouse, killing one colleague and injuring six others … the 23 March killing of paramedics and other rescue workers in Rafah … as well as many other cases.

    There must be accountability across the board.

    Mr. President,

    Advisory proceedings are ongoing at the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel, as an occupying Power and a Member of the United Nations, in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    In February, the United Nations Legal Counsel submitted a written statement to the Court – and yesterday, she made an oral statement before the Court – both of which on my behalf.

    The statement to the Court includes points that I have made on a number of occasions.

    Specifically, that all parties to conflict must comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

    That Israel, as an occupying Power, is under an obligation to ensure food and medical supplies of the population.

    That Israel has an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    That humanitarian, medical and United Nations personnel must be respected and protected.

    And I emphasize the obligation under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its personnel, including the absolute inviolability of United Nations premises, property and assets – and the immunity from legal process of the United Nations. 

    Such immunity applies to all UN entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including UNRWA – a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.
    I call on Member States to fully support all of these efforts. 

    Mr. President,

    In this period of turmoil and transition for the region, Member States must spell out how they will realize the commitment and promise of a two-State solution.

    This is not a time for ritualistically expressing support, ticking a box, and moving on.

    We are past the stage of ticking boxes – the clock is ticking.

    The two-State solution is near a point of no return. 

    The international community has a responsibility to prevent perpetual occupation and violence.

    My call to Member States is clear and urgent:

    Take irreversible action towards implementing a two-State solution.

    Do not let extremists on any side undermine what remains of the peace process.

    The High-Level Conference in June, co-chaired by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an important opportunity to revitalize international support.

    I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-State solution before it is too late.

    At the same time, the Palestinian Authority needs stepped-up and sustained support – politically and financially.  This is crucial to ensure the continued viability of Palestinian institutions, consolidate ongoing reforms, and enable the PA to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.

    Mr. President,

    At this hinge point of history for the people of the Middle East – and on this issue on which so much hinges – leaders must stand and deliver. 

    Show the political courage and exercise the political will to make good on this central question for peace for Palestinians, Israelis, the region and humanity.

    Thank you.

    ***
    [all-English]

    Mr. President, Excellencies,

    I thank the French presidency for convening this ministerial-level meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

    The region is undergoing fundamental shifts, marked by violence and volatility but also opportunity and potential.

    In Lebanon, the ceasefire and territorial integrity must be respected and all commitments implemented.

    In Syria, we must keep working to support the country’s path towards a political transition that is inclusive of all segments of the Syrian population – one that ensures accountability, fosters national healing, and lays the foundation for Syria’s long-term recovery and further integration into the international community. 

    This includes the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan — which remains precarious with significant violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, with the continued presence of the Israel Defense Forces into the area of separation and their several strikes targeting locations across the ceasefire line.

    Across the Middle East, people demand and deserve a better future, not endless conflict and suffering.

    We must collectively work to ensure that this turbulent and transitional period meets those aspirations — and delivers justice, dignity, rights, security and lasting peace.

    It starts by recognizing two fundamental facts: 

    First, that the region is at a hinge-point in history. 

    And, second, that truly sustainable Middle East peace hinges on one central question.

    On a core issue that this Security Council has affirmed and re-affirmed decade after decade, year after year:  a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

    Mr. President,

    Today, the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance. 

    The political commitment to this long-standing goal is farther than it has ever been.

    As a result, the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to live and peace and security have been undermined – and the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinians have been denied – while they endure Israel’s continued presence that the International Court of Justice has found unlawful. 

    And since the horrific 7 October terror attacks by Hamas, it has gotten worse on every front.

    First, the unrelenting conflict and devastation in Gaza – including the utterly inhumane conditions of life imposed on its people who are repeatedly coming under attack, confined to smaller and smaller spaces, and deprived of lifesaving relief. 

    In line with international law, the Security Council has rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce its territory. 

    Gaza is — and must remain — an integral part of a future Palestinian state.

    Second, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli military operations and the use of heavy weaponry in residential areas, forcible displacement, demolitions, movement restrictions, and settlement expansion are dramatically altering demographic and geographic realities. 

    Palestinians are being contained and coerced.  Contained in areas that are subject to increasing military operations and where the Palestinian Authority is under growing pressure – and coerced out of areas where settlements are expanding. 

    Third, settler violence continues at alarmingly high levels in a climate of impunity, with entire Palestinian communities facing repeated assaults and destruction, sometimes abetted by Israeli soldiers.

    Palestinian attacks against Israelis in both Israel and the occupied West Bank also continue.

    Mr. President,

    The world cannot afford to watch the two-State solution disappear. 

    Political leaders face clear choices — the choice to be silent, the choice to acquiesce, or the choice to act.

    Mr. President,

    In Gaza, there is no end in sight to the killing and misery.

    The ceasefire had brought a glimmer of hope – the long-sought release of hostages and delivery of lifesaving humanitarian relief.

    But those embers of opportunity were cruelly extinguished with the shattering of the ceasefire on 18 March. 

    Since then, almost 2,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes and military operations – including women, children, journalists, and humanitarians.

    Hamas also continues to fire rockets towards Israel indiscriminately – while the hostages continue to be held in appalling conditions. 

    The humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip has gone from bad … to worse … to beyond imagination.   

    For nearly two full months, Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and commercial supplies, depriving more than two million people of lifesaving relief. 

    All while the world watches.

    I am alarmed by statements by Israeli government officials about the use of humanitarian aid as a tool for military pressure.

    Aid is non-negotiable. 

    Israel must protect civilians and must agree to relief schemes and facilitate them.

    I salute the women and men of the United Nations and all other humanitarian workers – especially our Palestinian colleagues — who continue to work under fire and in incomprehensibly difficult conditions.

    And I mourn all of the women and men of the United Nations who were killed – including some with their families.

    The entry of assistance must be restored immediately — the safety of UN personnel and humanitarian partners must be guaranteed – and UN agencies must be allowed to work in full respect of humanitarian principles:  humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.

    There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid – including through the vital work of UNRWA.

    We need the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

    And we need a permanent ceasefire.

    It’s time to stop the repeated displacement of the Gaza population – along with any question of forced displacement outside of Gaza.

    And the trampling of international law must end.

    I call on Member States to use their leverage to ensure that international law is respected and impunity does not prevail.

    This includes for the 19 March incident for which Israel has now acknowledged responsibility in firing on a UN guesthouse, killing one colleague and injuring six others … the 23 March killing of paramedics and other rescue workers in Rafah … as well as many other cases.

    There must be accountability across the board.

    Mr. President,

    Advisory proceedings are ongoing at the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel, as an occupying Power and a Member of the United Nations, in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    In February, the United Nations Legal Counsel submitted a written statement to the Court – and yesterday, she made an oral statement before the Court – both of which on my behalf.

    The statement to the Court includes points that I have made on a number of occasions.

    Specifically, that all parties to conflict must comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

    That Israel, as an occupying Power, is under an obligation to ensure food and medical supplies of the population.

    That Israel has an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    That humanitarian, medical and United Nations personnel must be respected and protected.

    And I emphasize the obligation under international law to respect the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its personnel, including the absolute inviolability of United Nations premises, property and assets – and the immunity from legal process of the United Nations. 

    Such immunity applies to all UN entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including UNRWA – a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.

    I call on Member States to fully support all of these efforts. 

    Mr. President,

    In this period of turmoil and transition for the region, Member States must spell out how they will realize the commitment and promise of a two-State solution.

    This is not a time for ritualistically expressing support, ticking a box, and moving on.

    We are past the stage of ticking boxes – the clock is ticking.

    The two-State solution is near a point of no return. 

    The international community has a responsibility to prevent perpetual occupation and violence.

    My call to Member States is clear and urgent:

    Take irreversible action towards implementing a two-State solution.

    Do not let extremists on any side undermine what remains of the peace process.

    The High-Level Conference in June, co-chaired by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an important opportunity to revitalize international support.

    I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-State solution before it is too late.

    At the same time, the Palestinian Authority needs stepped-up and sustained support – politically and financially.  This is crucial to ensure the continued viability of Palestinian institutions, consolidate ongoing reforms, and enable the PA to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.

    Mr. President,

    At this hinge point of history for the people of the Middle East – and on this issue on which so much hinges – leaders must stand and deliver. 

    Show the political courage and exercise the political will to make good on this central question for peace for Palestinians, Israelis, the region and humanity.

    Thank you.

    ***
    [all-French]

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie la présidence française d’organiser cette réunion au niveau ministériel sur le Moyen-Orient, y compris la question palestinienne.

    La région traverse des bouleversements fondamentaux, marqués par la violence et la volatilité, mais également porteurs d’opportunités et de potentiel.

    Au Liban, le cessez-le-feu et l’intégrité territoriale doivent être respectés et tous les engagements doivent être mis en œuvre.

    En Syrie, nous devons poursuivre nos efforts pour accompagner le pays sur la voie d’une transition politique inclusive de toutes les composantes de la population syrienne – une transition qui garantisse la reddition de comptes, favorise la réconciliation nationale, et jette les bases du redressement à long terme de la Syrie ainsi que de son intégration future au sein de la communauté internationale. 

    Cela inclut la situation dans le Golan syrien occupé, qui demeure précaire en raison de violations majeures de l’Accord de désengagement des forces de 1974 – notamment la présence continue des Forces de défense israéliennes dans la zone de séparation, ainsi que leurs multiples frappes contre des sites au-delà de la ligne de cessez-le-feu.

    À travers le Moyen-Orient, les populations réclament et méritent un avenir meilleur – et non des conflits et des souffrances sans fin.

    Nous devons agir ensemble pour faire en sorte que cette période de turbulences et de transition réponde à ces aspirations – et qu’elle apporte justice, dignité, droits, sécurité, et une paix durable.

    Cela commence par la reconnaissance de deux faits fondamentaux : 

    Premièrement, la région se trouve à un moment charnière de son histoire. 
    Et, deuxièmement, que toute paix vraiment durable au Moyen-Orient dépend d’une question centrale.

    Un élément essentiel que ce Conseil de sécurité a affirmé et réaffirmé, année après année, décennie après décennie : une solution à deux États, Israël et la Palestine, vivant côte-à-côte dans la paix et la sécurité, avec Jérusalem comme capitale des deux États.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Aujourd’hui, la promesse de la solution des deux États court le risque de s’effilocher au point de disparaître.

    L’engagement politique en faveur de cet objectif de longue date n’a jamais été aussi ténu.

    De ce fait, les droits des Israéliens et des Palestiniens de vivre en paix et sécurité ont été mis à mal – et les aspirations nationales légitimes des Palestiniens ont été niées – alors qu’ils continuent de subir une présence israélienne que la Cour internationale de justice a jugée illicite.

    Depuis les effroyables attaques terroristes perpétrées par le Hamas le 7 octobre, la situation s’est aggravée sur tous les fronts.

    Premièrement, avec le conflit incessant et la dévastation que subit la bande de Gaza : les conditions de vie sont absolument inhumaines, les habitants sont la cible d’attaques à répétition et sont confinés dans des espaces de plus en plus réduits et privés d’une aide vitale.

    S’appuyant sur le droit international, le Conseil de sécurité a rejeté toute tentative de changement démographique ou territorial dans la bande de Gaza, y compris tout acte visant à réduire le territoire.

    Gaza fait partie intégrante d’un futur État palestinien et doit le rester.

    Deuxièmement, en Cisjordanie occupée, y compris Jérusalem-Est, les opérations militaires israéliennes et l’emploi d’armes lourdes dans des zones résidentielles, les déplacements forcés, les démolitions, les restrictions de circulation et l’expansion des colonies transforment radicalement les réalités démographiques et géographiques.

    Les Palestiniens sont cantonnés dans certains endroits et contraints d’en quitter d’autres. Ils sont cantonnés dans des zones où les opérations militaires se multiplient et où l’Autorité palestinienne est soumise à des pressions croissantes, et contraints de quitter les zones où les colons étendent leur emprise.

    Troisièmement, la violence exercée par les colons se poursuit dans un climat d’impunité, parfois avec la complicité de soldats israéliens, et atteint des niveaux alarmants : des communautés palestiniennes tout entières sont agressées et victimes de destructions à répétition.

    Les attaques menées par des Palestiniens contre des Israéliens en Israël et en Cisjordanie occupée se poursuivent également.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Le monde ne peut pas se permettre de voir la solution des deux États s’évanouir.

    Les dirigeants politiques ont le choix : se taire, acquiescer ou agir.

    Monsieur le Président,

    À Gaza, rien ne laisse entrevoir la fin de la tuerie et des souffrances.

    Le cessez-le-feu avait apporté une lueur d’espoir : la libération des otages, tant attendue, et l’acheminement d’une aide humanitaire vitale.
    Hélas, cette lueur d’espoir s’est éteinte avec la rupture du cessez-le-feu le 18 mars.

    Depuis, les frappes et les opérations militaires israéliennes ont fait près de 2000 morts parmi les Palestiniens dans la bande de Gaza, y compris des femmes, des enfants, des journalistes et du personnel humanitaire.

    Le Hamas continue également de tirer des roquettes sur Israël sans discernement – tandis que les otages sont toujours détenus dans des conditions épouvantables.

    Déjà mauvaise, la situation humanitaire dans la bande de Gaza n’a fait qu’empirer et dépasse aujourd’hui l’entendement.

    Depuis près de deux mois, Israël bloque les livraisons de nourriture, de carburant, de médicaments et de marchandises, privant ainsi plus de deux millions de personnes d’une aide vitale.

    Et ce, au vu et au su du monde entier.

    Je suis alarmé par les déclarations de représentants d’Israël concernant l’utilisation de l’aide humanitaire comme moyen de pression militaire.

    L’aide humanitaire n’est pas négociable.

    Israël est tenu de protéger les civils ; il doit accepter les programmes d’aide et en faciliter l’exécution.

    Je rends hommage au personnel des Nations Unies, femmes et hommes, ainsi qu’à tous les autres agents humanitaires, en particulier à nos collègues palestiniens, qui continuent à travailler malgré les frappes et dans des conditions inouïes.

    Et je pleure toutes les femmes et tous les hommes des Nations Unies qui ont été tués – y compris certains avec leurs familles.

    L’acheminement de l’aide doit être rétabli immédiatement, la sécurité du personnel des Nations Unies et des partenaires humanitaires doit être garantie et les entités des Nations Unies doivent pouvoir travailler dans le plein respect des principes humanitaires : humanité, impartialité, neutralité et indépendance.

    Il ne doit y avoir aucune entrave à l’aide humanitaire, notamment au travail vital que fait l’UNRWA.

    Il faut que tous les otages soient libérés immédiatement et sans conditions.

    Et il faut un cessez-le-feu permanent.

    Il est temps de mettre un terme aux déplacements répétés de la population de Gaza, ainsi qu’à la question des déplacements forcés en dehors de Gaza.

    Et il faut cesser de bafouer le droit international.

    J’engage tous les États Membres à user de leur influence pour que le droit international soit respecté et que l’impunité ne l’emporte pas.

    Je veux parler notamment de la frappe du 19 mars contre une résidence des Nations Unies, qui a fait un mort et six blessés parmi nos collègues et pour laquelle Israël a désormais reconnu sa responsabilité … de l’attaque du 23 mars, dans laquelle du personnel paramédical et d’autres secouristes ont trouvé la mort à Rafah … et de bien d’autres encore.

    Aucun acte ne saurait rester impuni.

    Monsieur le Président,

    Une procédure consultative a été engagée à la Cour internationale de Justice sur les obligations d’Israël, Puissance occupante et membre de l’ONU, en ce qui concerne la présence et les activités des entités des Nations Unies dans le Territoire palestinien occupé et en lien avec celui-ci.

    En février, la Conseillère juridique de l’ONU a soumis en mon nom une déclaration écrite à la Cour, et hier, elle a fait une déclaration orale devant la Cour, également en mon nom.

    Cette déclaration reprend des points que j’ai soulevés à plusieurs reprises.

    En particulier, le fait que toutes les parties au conflit sont tenues de s’acquitter des obligations que leur impose le droit international, y compris le droit international humanitaire et le droit international des droits humains.

    Qu’Israël, Puissance occupante, est tenu d’assurer l’approvisionnement de la population en produits alimentaires et fournitures médicales.

    Qu’il est tenu d’accepter les programmes d’aide et d’en faciliter l’exécution dans le Territoire palestinien occupé.

    Que le personnel humanitaire et médical, ainsi que le personnel des Nations Unies, doit être respecté et protégé.

    Je tiens à insister sur l’obligation faite en droit international de respecter les privilèges et immunités des Nations Unies et de leur personnel, y compris l’inviolabilité absolue des locaux, des biens et des avoirs des Nations Unies, ainsi que l’immunité de juridiction des Nations Unies.

    Cette immunité s’applique à toutes les entités des Nations Unies dans le Territoire palestinien occupé, y compris l’UNRWA, organe subsidiaire de l’Assemblée générale.

    J’engage les États Membres à soutenir tous ces efforts.

    Monsieur le Président,

    En cette période de tourmente et de transition pour la région, les États Membres doivent énoncer clairement comment ils concrétiseront l’engagement qu’ils ont pris et la promesse qu’ils ont faite quant à la solution des deux États.

    Ce n’est pas le moment d’exprimer rituellement son soutien, de cocher une case et de passer à autre chose.

    Nous avons dépassé le stade des cases à cocher : le temps presse.

    Pour la solution des deux États, le glas a presque sonné.

    La communauté internationale a la responsabilité d’empêcher l’occupation et la violence perpétuelles.

    L’appel que je leur lance est urgent et sans équivoque :

    Prenez des mesures irréversibles pour concrétiser la solution des deux États.

    Ne laissez pas les extrémistes de tout bord saper ce qu’il reste du processus de paix.

    La Conférence de haut niveau qui se tiendra en juin, co-présidée par la France et le Royaume d’Arabie saoudite, est une véritable occasion de revitaliser le soutien international.

    J’encourage les États membres à aller au-delà des affirmations et à réfléchir de manière créative aux mesures concrètes qu’ils prendront pour soutenir une solution viable à deux États avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    J’encourage les États Membres à traduire les paroles en actes et à réfléchir de manière créative pour déterminer les mesures concrètes qu’ils prendront pour soutenir une solution viable de deux États – avant qu’il ne soit trop tard.

    Parallèlement, l’Autorité palestinienne a besoin d’un soutien accru et durable, tant sur le plan politique que financièrement parlant. C’est une condition essentielle pour garantir la viabilité des institutions palestiniennes, asseoir les réformes engagées et permettre à l’Autorité palestinienne d’exercer de nouveau toutes ses responsabilités dans la bande de Gaza.

    Monsieur le Président,

    À ce moment charnière de l’histoire pour les peuples du Moyen-Orient – et vis-à-vis de cette question dont dépendent tant de choses – les dirigeants doivent concrétiser leur promesse.

    Faites preuve de courage et de volonté politiques, tenez vos engagements vis-à-vis de cette question centrale pour la paix : pour les Palestiniens, les Israéliens, la région et l’humanité tout entière.

    Je vous remercie.

    MIL OSI United Nations News

  • MIL-OSI: DePoly to launch 500-tonne-per-year showcase plant to give yesterday’s plastics a new purpose, as it secures $23M

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Zurich, April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Every year, millions of tons of PET and polyester waste end up in landfills or are incinerated, yet sustainable recycling solutions remain limited. Today, DePoly – the leading sustainable PET-to-raw-material recycling company – announces the upcoming launch of a 500-tonne-per-year showcase plant in Monthey, Switzerland this summer, representing a critical step in the company’s journey from laboratory breakthrough to industrial-scale implementation.

    The facility will demonstrate DePoly’s proprietary process that converts PET and polyester waste into virgin-quality raw materials without fossil fuels. Imagine a world where discarded items – from polyester shirts to water bottles – are not wasted anymore but resources transformed back into the building blocks for new products. After all, revolutionizing an industry isn’t just about creating new technology – it’s about proving it works at scale.

    DePoly co-founders (L to R) Christopher Ireland, Samantha Anderson and Bardiya Valizadeh.

    DePoly’s technology has already demonstrated its commercial impact through collaborations with some of the world’s leading companies—not only in fashion, like Odlo, but also in cosmetics and the broader consumer goods industry, including innovators such as PTI. Through these partnerships, DePoly has validated the quality of its recycled monomers by transforming PET waste into new bottles, high-performance textile fibers, and cosmetic packaging. This proves that DePoly’s recycled materials can meet, and even exceed, the highest standards of purity and performance across a wide range of industries.

    By delivering oil-equivalent monomers, DePoly’s technology sets a new benchmark for circularity, offering a genuine alternative to virgin materials. “The upcoming showcase plant validates our roadmap to creating a truly circular plastics market. Following our pilot and showcase plant, our next goal is to scale our operations to industrial size with a first of a kind commercial plant based on our technology,” said Samantha Anderson, Co-founder & CEO of DePoly.

    DePoly is ramping up with world-class innovators, bold thinkers and cutting-edge know-how—taking their pilot victory to industrial scale demands nothing less than unstoppable ambition.The company is planning to build a commercial plant in 2027 that will process significantly larger volumes of PET and polyester waste – a major leap in redefining recycling and advancing the circular economy, as DePoly strives to become the global leader in sustainable, circular plastics.

    Shredded PET samples.

    To further accelerate this expansion, DePoly has secured a total of $23 million in seed funding with MassMutual Ventures joining a second closing of its round. The expanded investor base positions DePoly as one of the biggest recycling technology companies in Europe, with more than $30 million raised across two rounds and grants. MassMutual Ventures joins existing investors, including Founderful, ACE & Company, Angel Invest, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BASF Venture Capital, Beiersdorf Venture Capital, and Syensqo.

    “DePoly’s proven technology is a game changer addressing a crucial industrial and societal challenge. This raise and the showcase plant opening are advancing DePoly’s position as a leader in plastics recycling,” said Alix Brunet, Europe Lead at MassMutual Ventures.

    David Hanf, who joined DePoly in 2024 as CFO, brings extensive experience from European scale-ups including Smava and Thermondo—Germany’s largest B2C heat service company. Both an entrepreneur and an executive, he adds: “We are convinced our technology is one of the fastest to scale and will allow us to compete with virgin pricing at scale, a key factor for success. We are happy to have expanded our investor base to the US with MassMutual Ventures as we want to build a global champion.”

    By transforming discarded plastics into high-quality raw materials, DePoly reduces reliance on fossil resources, minimizes waste, and paves the way for a circular materials industry. Recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and a winner of the 2024 Top 100 Swiss Startup Award, DePoly proves that sustainable innovation is not only possible – it’s happening now.

    Ends

    Media images can be found here

    About DePoly
    DePoly is a cleantech company transforming polyester and PET waste into valuable raw materials. Using patented technology, DePoly breaks down plastic and textile waste into the building blocks for new, high-quality PET and polyester—reducing waste, cutting reliance on fossil fuels, and advancing circularity across multiple industries. DePoly was named a 2024 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and won the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2024. Learn more at www.depoly.co.

    About MassMutual Ventures 
    MassMutual Ventures (MMV) is a multistage global venture capital firm investing in climate technology, financial technology, enterprise SaaS, healthtech and cybersecurity companies. With teams based in London, Singapore, and Boston, MMV manages over $1 billion in investment capital across the globe. We help accelerate the growth of the companies we partner with by providing capital, connections, and advice. With our deep expertise and extensive network, MMV helps entrepreneurs build compelling and scalable companies of value. For more information, visit www.massmutualventures.com/

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-Evening Report: 50 years after the ‘fall’ of Saigon – from triumph to Trump

    30 April 1975. Saigon Fell, Vietnam Rose. The story of Vietnam after the US fled the country is not a fairy tale, it is not a one-dimensional parable of resurrection, of liberation from oppression, of joy for all — but there is a great deal to celebrate.

    After over a century of brutal colonial oppression by the French, the Japanese, and the Americans and their various minions, the people of Vietnam won victory in one of the great liberation struggles of history.

    It became a source of inspiration and of hope for millions of people oppressed by imperial powers in Central & South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

    Civil war – a war among several
    The civil war in Vietnam, coterminous with the war against the Western powers, pitted communists and anti-communists in a long and pitiless struggle.

    Within that were various strands — North versus South, southern communists and nationalists against pro-Western forces, and so on. As various political economists have pointed out, all wars are in some way class wars too — pitting the elites against ordinary people.

    As has happened repeatedly throughout history, once one or more great power becomes involved in a civil war it is subsumed within that colonial war. The South’s President Ngô Đình Diệm, for example, was assassinated on orders of the Americans.

    By 1969, US aid accounted for 80 percent of South Vietnam’s government budget; they effectively owned the South and literally called the shots.

    Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough U.S. goods! Image: www.solidarity.co.nz

    US punishes its victims
    This month, 50 years after the Vietnamese achieved independence from their colonial overlords, US President Donald Trump declared April 2 “Liberation Day” and imposed some of the heaviest tariffs on Vietnam because they didn’t buy enough US goods!

    As economist Joseph Stiglitz pointed out, they don’t yet have enough aggregate demand for the kind of goods the US produces. That might have something to do with the decades it has taken to rebuild their lives and economy from the Armageddon inflicted on them by the US, Australia, New Zealand and other unindicted war criminals.

    Straight after they fled, the US declared themselves the victims of the Vietnamese and imposed punitive sanctions on liberated Vietnam for decades — punishing their victims.

    Under Gerald Ford (1974–1977), Jimmy Carter (1977–1981), Ronald Reagan (1981–1989), George H.W. Bush (1989–1993) right up to Bill Clinton (1993–2001), the US enforced the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917.

    The US froze the assets of Vietnam at the very time it was trying to recover from the wholesale devastation of the country.

    Tens of millions of much-needed dollars were captured in US banks, enforced by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The US also took advantage of its muscle to veto IMF and World Bank loans to Vietnam.

    Countries like Australia and New Zealand, to their eternal shame, took part in both the war, the war crimes, and imposing sanctions and other punitive measures subsequently.

    The ‘Boat People’ refugee crisis
    While millions celebrated the victory in 1975, millions of others were fearful. The period of national unification and economic recovery was painful, typically repressive — when one militarised regime replaces another.

    This triggered flight: firstly among urban elites — military officers, government workers, and professionals who were most closely-linked to the US-run regime.

    You can blame the Commies for the ensuing refugee crisis but by strangling the Vietnamese economy, refusing to return Vietnamese assets held in the US, imposing an effective blockade on the economy via sanctions, the US deepened the crisis, which saw over two million flee the country between 1975 and the 1980s.

    More than 250,000 desperate people died at sea.

    Đổi Mới: the move to a socialist-market economy
    In 1986, to energise the economy, the government moved away from a command economy and launched the đổi mới reforms which created a hybrid socialist-market economy.

    They had taken a leaf out of the Chinese playbook, which under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping (1978 –1989), had moved towards a market economy through its “Reform and Opening Up” policies.  Vietnam saw the “economic miracle” of its near neighbour and its leaders sought something similar.

    Vietnam’s economy boomed and GDP grew from $18.1 billion in 1984 to $469 billion by 2024, with a per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) of $15,470 (up from about $300 per capita in the 1970s).

    After a sluggish start, literacy rates soared to 96.1 percent by 2023, and life expectancy reached 73.7 years, only a few short of the USA.  GDP growth is around 7 percent, according to the OECD.

    An unequal society
    Persistent inequality suggests the socialist vision has partially faded. A rural-urban divide and a rich-poor divide underlines ongoing injustices around quality of life and access to services but Vietnam’s Gini coefficient — a measure of income inequality — puts it only slightly more “unequal” as a society than New Zealand or Germany.

    Corruption is also an issue in the country.

    Press controls and political repression
    As in China, political power resides with the Party. Freedom of expression — highlighted by press repression — is severely limited in Vietnam and nothing to celebrate.

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rates Vietnam as 174th out of 180 countries for press freedom and regularly excoriates its strongmen as press “predators”.  In its country profile, RSF says of Vietnam: “Independent reporters and bloggers are often jailed, making Vietnam the world’s third largest jailer of journalists”.

    Vietnam is forging its own destiny
    What is well worth celebrating, however, is that Vietnam successfully got the imperial powers off its back and out of its country. It is well-placed to play an increasingly prosperous and positive role in the emerging multipolar world.

    It is part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the ASEAN network, and borders China, giving Vietnam the opportunity to weather any storms coming from the continent of America.

    Vietnam today is united and free and millions of ordinary people have achieved security, health, education and prosperity vastly better than their parents and grandparents’ generations were able to.

    In the end the honour and glory go to the Vietnamese people.

    Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz

    I’ll give the last word to Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Vietnamese people who reached out to the United States, and sought alliance not conflict. He was rebuffed by the super-power which had a different agenda.

    On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh square:

    “‘All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’

    “This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free.

    “… A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent.

    “For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country — and in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilise all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.”

    And, my god, they did.

    To conclude, a short poem attributed to Ho Chi Minh:

    “After the rain, good weather.

    “In the wink of an eye,

    the universe throws off its muddy clothes.”

    Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.

    Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

    MIL OSI AnalysisEveningReport.nz

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chancellor speech at Global Innovate Summit 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Chancellor speech at Global Innovate Summit 2025

    The Chancellor delivered the keynote speech at the Global Innovate Summit 2025 on 29 April.

    Thank you Janine, and good afternoon everyone.

    It’s a pleasure to be here today to mark the 11th year of UK FinTech Week …

    … brought together once again by Innovate Finance…

    …who continue to champion tirelessly our FinTech sector.

    As Chancellor, I’ve always said it’s my job to back the builders…

    … back the wealth creators…

    …and the job creators.

    So my job is to back all of you in this room.

    After all, it’s thanks to your work that the UK is a world leader in FinTech.

    When I was working at the Bank of England 20 years ago…

    …FinTech was in its infancy…

    …an offshoot of financial services…

    …and there was certainly no such thing as FinTech week.

    But times have changed, the industry has changed.

    Last year, the UK’s FinTech sector attracted $3.6 billion of investment – more than any other country bar the US.

    Almost half of Europe’s FinTech unicorns are based here in Britain…

    …and roughly a third of all UK unicorns are FinTechs – a higher share than anywhere else.

    Companies like Allica Bank and Zilch, who were both recently named among the fastest growing companies in Europe by the Financial Times …

    …Or Zopa, for whom 2024 marked another year of extraordinary economic growth.

    Last week when I was in Washington for the IMF Spring Meetings…

    … I spoke to industry, legislators, and policymakers…

    …as well as US firms already operating here in the UK.

    I set out our strengths as an open trading nation with trade links around the world…

    …and as a nation that can provide political and financial stability and certainty to businesses…

    …in an uncertain world.

    The UK has a long history of breaking new ground in Financial Services.

    We were the first country to develop uniform Open Banking standards…

    …and we were one of the first countries to establish a system for near-instant digital payments with the Faster payments system in 2008.

    In my Mansion House speech last year, I published the National Payments Vision…

    … setting out the government’s ambition for seamless account-to-account payments…

    …and demonstrating our commitment to a regulatory environment that cares about managing the burden we put on businesses.

    Something that we will build in with the consolidation of the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA.

    The UK is Europe’s leading hub for investment…

    …raising more equity capital than the next three European exchanges combined last year.

    I am committed to building on these strong foundations…

    …with an ambitious programme of reforms.

    Last September I chose to extend the UK’s generous venture capital schemes…

    … the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme…

    …which – alongside the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme – offer generous tax reliefs…

    …in return for investing in British business.

    And we will soon publish the final Pension Investment Review, ahead of the introduction of the Pension Schemes Bill…

    …where we will legislate to unlock up to £80 billion of investment into companies like yours…

    start-up, scale-up, and fast growing businesses.

    …delivering a major consolidation of the Defined Contribution market and the Local Government Pension Scheme…

    …so that pension funds have sufficient scale to invest in growing industries like FinTech.

    I am determined to make sure that the UK remains one of the best places in the world for FinTechs to start-up, scale-up and to list…

    …benefitting from our stable and liquid markets.

    Last July, the FCA implemented a fundamental rewrite of the UK’s Listing Rules, the biggest reforms in a generation.

    These new rules now put the UK in line – or in many cases ahead – of other global markets in giving companies the flexibility to pursue their growth ambitions…

    …backing their aspiration…

    …and allowing them to raise large amounts of capital more easily.

    And for those companies who want to remain private for longer, we are developing the new Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System – or PISCES…

    …which we will legislate for next month.

    This is a brand new type of stock exchange for trading private company shares…

    …supporting private companies to scale and grow…

    …and providing a steppingstone to IPO.

    Finally, we’ve reformed the rules to allow greater investment research to be produced on UK listed companies…

    …and reducing the burdens imposed on public companies through the UK’s Corporate Governance Code.

    I want the UK to be a place where you can take risks…

    …innovate and experiment…

    …and find new ways to deliver for your customers.

    When I met with senior leaders from across the FinTech sector last month…

    …you told me about the importance of getting the balance of regulation right…

    …especially on digital assets.

    I agree.

    While the UK will always be committed to high international standards…

    …I am determined that our regulatory framework supports economic growth.

    That’s why I’m delighted that we are today publishing draft legislation for the UK’s comprehensive regulatory regime for cryptoassets…

    …engaging with all of you to ensure that the final legislation – planned for later this year – delivers for government and most importantly for the industry…

    …and makes the UK a great place for digital asset companies to invest and innovate.

    For the UK to be a world-leader in digital assets…

    …international cooperation is vital.

    Which is why I discussed continued U.S. and UK engagement with Secretary Bessent last week…

    …including further dialogue at the upcoming UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group in June…

    …to support the use and responsible growth of digital assets…

    …maintaining the deep historic relationship between the world’s two largest financial centres through this period of significant technological change.

    Regulation must support business, not hold it back.

    Our regulators were among the first to embrace and develop sandboxes…

    …including the Digital Securities Sandbox, where I’m delighted that we already have a broad range of firms all looking at different proposals for tokenising our financial markets.

    Last November, I announced that this government will issue a Digital Gilt Instrument…

    …an entirely new debt instrument…

    …using distributed ledger technology…

    this will enable us to experience first-hand the benefits of digital technologies in debt issuance.

    And I know that there is appetite to go further.

    Last week, Secretary Bessent and I also discussed how our officials could explore opportunities to support industry to innovate cross-border…

    …in line with proposals put forward by US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce about a transatlantic sandbox for digital securities…

    …potentially allowing greater digital collaboration between capital markets in New York and London.

    I’ve talked about what we’ve already done, and some ideas for the future.

    Financial services is one of the key growth-driving sectors in the UK’s modern industrial strategy…

    ….with FinTech as a priority growth opportunity…

    …and I look forward to publishing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy at my upcoming Mansion House address…

    …which I can today confirm will take place on the 15th July.

    At Mansion House last year I set out my vision on economic growth…

    …and the new approach required to build sustainable growth…

    …on a platform of stability.

    At Mansion House this year I’ll talk about how we can go further and faster in realising that growth.

    By publishing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy…

    …I will set out our strategy for the rest of this parliament and beyond…

    …building on our strengths in areas including capital markets, insurance and asset management…

    … supporting firms to innovate by ensuring they can access and develop the talent they need…

     …and promoting the UK as a great place to do business globally.

    Backing the builders in FinTech means improving outcomes for businesses and consumers…

    …revolutionising how we invest and trade…

    And driving growth and prosperity, here in the UK.

    It’s incredible how far Fintech has come in the past decade…

    And I’m enormously optimistic about the future.

    From the huge growth of the sector that has already taken place…

    …to the passion, drive and commitment I see from all of you to make FinTech a huge UK success story…

    …it is clear that our job in government is to back you, back the builders, back the change makers all the way.

    And I am ready to do just that.

    Thank you very much.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives re-open to public

    Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

    Local history enthusiasts are being encouraged to book a visit to ‘Explore Your Archive’ as Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives re-opens today (29 April) for in-person research visits at the Town House on Broad Street.
     
    The Archives have been closed to the public for almost a year to allow the team to carry out a major collection move from Old Aberdeen House to the Town House. Preparations began in November 2023 with a huge stocktake of the collection, when staff and a group of 20 volunteers recorded details of every item in every storeroom. One of the most formidable tasks was labelling over 7,000 individual boxes. The preparations also included checking that delicate items would be suitable for transportation, and wrapping and protecting a wide variety of materials, including glass slides from Second World War Red Cross hospitals, maps, oversized volumes and ledgers, and thousands of architectural plans.

    Over 9,000 individual items, including archive boxes, bankers boxes, crates, wrapped volumes and plans, were moved over 20 days of heavy lifting, multiple trolley loads and several flights of stairs – all fuelled by 136 packs of biscuits! Volunteers logged 1,549 hours helping with the move.

    The largest tasks for volunteers was an appraisal of 120 files of Aberdeen School Board correspondence sent from teachers and Aberdeen residents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Volunteers reviewed and listed the bundles of letters, reducing the collection from seven storage shelves to two, using professional criteria to weed out items of little historic value. Detailed information on the collection of letters has been recorded in the Archives catalogue and the material is available to researchers.

    A new storeroom at the Town House is now home to several core collections, such as the school admission registers and logbooks, building warrants, council minutes for Aberdeenshire and the Port of Aberdeen records (Aberdeen Harbour Board). A selection of photographic images from this collection showing the technological changes that have taken place on the quayside over the past 100 years will be going on display at the Art Gallery from Saturday 7 June.  

    Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council culture spokesman, said, “The Archives are a valuable resource for all kinds of research. It’s a tremendous source of pride for us in Aberdeen that we care for the oldest and most complete collection of burgh records in Scotland, dating back to 1398. They are recognised by UNESCO as being of outstanding historical importance to the United Kingdom. It’s very exciting that the Archives team has set up a new storeroom at the Town House where the public can access these remarkable collections, which really are a the gateway to the written history of the north-east of Scotland.”
      
    A new Access Guide to the Archives at the Town House is now available, along with a new Visual Guide containing details of what to expect on a visit to the Archives at the Town House. Both can be found on the Plan Your Visit pages of the Archives, Gallery & Museums website https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/plan-your-visit/town-house-archives 

    Phil Astley, Team Leader – Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives, will be giving a free lunchtime talk on the Port of Aberdeen archives – ‘A Haven for History’ on Wednesday 7 May at 12.30pm. 
    https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/lunchtime-talk-haven-history-port-aberdeen-archives 

    From the Archive: Aberdeen Harbour opens at Aberdeen Art Gallery on 7 June. The exhibition continues until 11 January, open daily, admission free https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/AAGM/whats-aberdeen-art-galleries-and-museums/archive-aberdeen-harbour

    The collections of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives contain a wealth of documents and records dating from the 12th century to the present day, relating to the rich history and heritage of the City of Aberdeen and the three ancient counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine. They include burgh records, burial records, church records, business records and school records. 
     
    Visits to the Archives should be booked in advance by emailing archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk. More information can be found at: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/aberdeen-city-and-aberdeenshire-archives/visitor-information  
      
    Read about the Archives move at https://aberdeenarchives.blogspot.com/

    Follow Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest news about reopening. 

    Image: Phil Astley, Team Leader – Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Archives, and  Councillor Martin Greig, pictured in the Charter Room at the Town House
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Security: Prolific board game shoplifter sentenced following Met Police investigation

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A prolific shoplifter who stole more than £3,000 worth of board games, books and toys from a shop in Haringey has been convicted following a Met Police investigation.

    Paul Mangal, 58 (30.03.67), of Hornsey Rise Gardens in Haringey, repeatedly targeted a Waterstones store on The Broadway in Crouch End between April 2023 and February this year.

    He appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 29 April, where he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

    He was also issued with conditions not to enter Crouch End or Hornsey for two years, and is banned from being in possession of a suitcase in these areas.

    In September last year, officers from the local policing team in north London increased patrols in The Broadway, regularly visiting staff and security teams at large retailers and independent shops.

    It was through these relationships they were made aware of Mangal, with staff at Waterstones informing officers of the many thefts he was committing.

    Working with the store, officers carried out a month-long operation throughout January to gather CCTV footage and other evidence to identify Mangal.

    The officers were alerted by staff on Sunday, 23 February, when he’d again entered the store and made off with several items in a suitcase.

    He was arrested a short distance from his home in Hornsey and charged the following day.

    He appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 24 February, where he pleaded guilty to a total of 23 charges of theft and was bailed.

    Sergeant James Elliott, of the local policing team in north London, who led the investigation, said:

    “We’ve recognised that shoplifting is something local people and businesses in Haringey are concerned about, and we are stepping up our efforts to tackle it.

    “Through building strong relationships with staff at this branch of Waterstones, we were able to identify Mangal by assessing his patterns of offending, which appeared to ramp up before, during and immediately after Christmas, then almost daily up until his arrest.

    “Sadly, we know some businesses on The Broadway are being targeted so often, many have stopped reporting thefts to police, so I hope the success of this case will encourage more to work closely with us so we can remove the most prolific shoplifters from our streets.”

    As well as relationship building and doubling the number of officers on the ward since February, Sergeant Elliott and his team are visiting retailers daily to offer reassurance and ensure they feel more confident when it comes to reporting incidents.

    Through these proactive measures, the number of thefts in the area has reduced by 35 per cent since December last year.

    There are now plans to introduce Live Facial Recognition (LFR) patrols to identify offenders, and during the summer months, officers will be out on bicycles so they’re able to react quicker to shoplifting incidents when they occur.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Universal Periodic Review 49: UK Statement on Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Universal Periodic Review 49: UK Statement on Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Statement by the UK’s Ambassador for Human Rights to the UN, Eleanor Sanders, at Lao PDR’s Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    Thank you Mr Vice President.

    The United Kingdom welcomes the Lao PDR’s engagement with UN human rights mechanisms and its efforts to address human rights challenges. We are pleased with the inclusion of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in Laos’ action plans.

    However, the UK remains concerned over restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and religion. We are also concerned by limited land rights for vulnerable communities and the worsening issue of human trafficking linked to serious organised crime.

    We urge the Government to act on these issues and uphold its international obligations. In particular, we recommend that Laos;

    1. Takes immediate steps to protect and promote civic space, ensuring that all individuals can freely exercise their rights without fear of reprisal.

    2. Ensures that development projects respect the rights of affected communities, including noting the principle of free, prior and informed consent.

    3. Implements its international obligations under the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children and to collaborate with regional and international partners to address this issue.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI: Changes in the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The Supervisory Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS, a subsidiary of Coop Pank AS, decided today, 29 April 2025, to appoint Marko Privoi as a new member of the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS. Privoi’s term of office will commence on 12 May 2025 and will last for three years.

    Marko Privoi has been working in the insurance sector since 1997. For the past 19 years, he has held various positions at the Estonian branch of ADB Gjensidige, and prior to that, he worked for 8 years at ERGO Insurance SE. Marko Privoi graduated from TTK University of Applied Sciences in 1988.

    Marko Privoi does not hold any shares or bonds of Coop Pank.

    Raivo Piibor will continue as a member of the Management Board of Coop Kindlustusmaakler AS.

    Coop Pank, based on Estonian capital, is one of the five universal banks operating in Estonia. The bank serves 213,000 daily banking customers. Coop Pank leverages the synergy between retail and banking sectors, bringing everyday banking services closer to home. The bank’s strategic owner is the domestic retail chain Coop Eesti, which operates a network of 320 stores.

    Additional information:
    Katre Tatrik
    Head of Communications
    Phone: +372 5151 859
    E-mail: katre.tatrik@cooppank.ee

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Moody’s left LHV Group’s ratings unchanged

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The rating agency Moody’s Investors Service affirmed AS LHV Pank’s and AS LHV Group’s raitings, leaving LHV Pank’s long-term deposit rating to A3 level (with positive outlook) and LHV Group’s long-term issuer rating to Baa3 (with a positiive outlook). These ratings indicate LHV’s strong financial position and capitalization as well as express the expectation of further strengthening of solidity.

    Moody’s has assigned AS LHV Group long-term issuer ratings:

    • Long-term issuer rating Baa3
    • Senior unsecured rating Baa3
    • Outlook of the ratings is positive

    Moody’s affirmed the raitings assigned to AS LHV Pank:

    • Long- and short-term counterparty risk assessment of A3(cr)/Prime-2(cr)
    • Long- and short-term counterparty risk rating of A3/Prime-2
    • Long-term bank deposit rating A3
    • Short-term bank deposit rating Prime-2
    • The long-term deposit rating carries a positive outlook

    Additional information: www.moodys.com

    LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, LHV Kindlustus, and LHV Bank Limited. The Group employs over 1,160 people. As at the end of March, LHV’s banking services are being used by 465,000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV have 113,000 active customers, and LHV Kindlustus is protecting a total of 174,000 clients. LHV Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the Group, holds a banking licence in the United Kingdom and provides banking services to international financial technology companies, as well as loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.

    Priit Rum
    Communications Manager
    Phone: +372 502 0786
    Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Latest statement on electrical substation fire | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    A Westminster City Council spokesperson said:

    “We have been supporting around 40 residents since they were evacuated from their homes early this morning. Two rest centres were immediately set up to provide residents with refreshments and support from housing and welfare officers. We will continue to offer support until those affected can return to their homes.”

     Information about road closures and available support can be found here.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New cryptoasset rules to drive growth and protect consumers

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    New cryptoasset rules to drive growth and protect consumers

    Changes support innovation while cracking down on fraudsters

    • Clear new rules to give investors confidence and protect consumers
    • Chancellor also reveals discussions with US about supporting the use and responsible growth of digital assets, as Government works in national interest to drive growth through Plan for Change

    Firms offering services for cryptoassets like Bitcoin and Ethereum will be subject to new, clear rules, boosting investor confidence and driving growth through the Plan for Change.  

    At a major summit in London to mark UK Fintech Week, the Chancellor revealed that the UK has published draft legislation for regulating cryptoassets – better protecting millions of people across Britain. 

    Around 12% of UK adults now own or have owned crypto, up from just 4% in 2021. But too often, consumers have been left exposed to risky firms and scams. 

    Under the new rules, crypto exchanges, dealers and agents will be brought into the regulatory perimeter — cracking down on bad actors while supporting legitimate innovation.  Crypto firms with UK customers will also have to meet clear standards on transparency, consumer protection, and operational resilience — just like firms in traditional finance. 

    The Chancellor also revealed that the UK and US will use the upcoming UK – U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group to continue engagement to support the use and responsible growth of digital assets.  

    This follows discussions in Washington between the Chancellor and the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, where they also discussed opportunities to support businesses to innovate on both sides of the Atlantic. This includes looking at ideas for how we could allow for greater collaboration on digital securities between the UK and US, including the proposals put forward by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce for a transatlantic sandbox for digital securities. 

    Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:

    Through our Plan for Change, we are making Britain the best place in the world to innovate — and the safest place for consumers. Robust rules around crypto will boost investor confidence, support the growth of Fintech and protect people across the UK.

    Today’s announcement sends a clear signal: Britain is open for business — but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability.  

    The Chancellor also announced that the government will publish the first-ever Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy on 15 July, alongside her Mansion House speech. This will support the financial services sector’s long term growth, with Fintech identified as a priority sector, and help it finance investment and growth across the UK. 

    The government will bring forward final cryptoasset legislation at the earliest opportunity, following engagement on the draft provisions with industry. 

    More information

    • The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consumer research found that around 12% of UK adults owned crypto in 2024, up from 4% in 2021.
    • The 2023 Treasury consultation proposed bringing a wide range of cryptoasset activities — including exchanges and custody services — within the UK’s financial services regulatory perimeter.
    • The government remains committed to making the UK a global hub for digital asset technologies, aligned with the Plan for Change to drive growth, innovation and security.
    • Read the draft legislation and accompanying policy explainer.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI: Nokia Corporation’s Board of Directors’ Assembly Meeting Decisions and Dividend

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Nokia Corporation
    Stock Exchange Release
    29 April 2025 at 16.15 EEST

    Nokia Corporation’s Board of Directors’ Assembly Meeting Decisions and Dividend 

    Composition of the Board and Committees
    In its assembly meeting, the Board of Directors of Nokia Corporation elected Sari Baldauf as Chair and Timo Ihamuotila as Vice Chair of the Board.
    The following Board members were elected to the Board’s Committees:

    • Thomas Dannenfeldt was elected as Chair and Pernille Erenbjerg, Lisa Hook and Mike McNamara as members of the Audit Committee.
    • Timo Ihamuotila was elected as Chair and Sari Baldauf, Pernille Erenbjerg and Thomas Saueressig as members of the Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee.
    • Thomas Dannenfeldt was elected as Chair and Timo Ahopelto, Sari Baldauf and Elizabeth Crain as members of the Personnel Committee.
    • Kai Öistämö was elected as Chair and Timo Ahopelto, Mike McNamara and Thomas Saueressig as members of the Technology Committee.
    • Elizabeth Crain was elected as Chair and Sari Baldauf, Lisa Hook, Timo Ihamuotila and Kai Öistämö as members of the Strategy Committee.

    Dividend
    The Board of Directors has resolved, on the basis of the authorization by the Annual General Meeting 2025, on a dividend of EUR 0.04 per share. The dividend will be paid to a shareholder registered in the Company’s shareholders’ register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy. on the record date of the payment, on 5 May 2025. The dividend will be paid on 12 May 2025. The actual dividend payment date outside Finland will be determined by the practices of the intermediary banks transferring the dividend payments. Following this announced dividend, the Board’s remaining asset distribution authorization is a maximum of EUR 0.10 per share.

    About Nokia
    At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

    As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

    With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

    Inquiries:
    Nokia Communications
    Phone: +358 10 448 4900
    Email: press.services@nokia.com
    Maria Vaismaa, Head of External Communications

    Nokia
    Investor Relations
    Phone: +358 931 580 507
    Email: investor.relations@nokia.com  

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: cBrain aims to create and lead two new global solution niches

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Company Announcement no. 05/2025

    cBrain aims to create and lead two new global solution niches

    Copenhagen, April 29, 2025

    The faster-than-anticipated shift in the government IT market toward COTS government software presents new strategic opportunities for cBrain. As a result, cBrain (NASDAQ: CBRAIN) has announced to adjust its growth strategy during the first half of 2025 to capitalize on these market changes.

    Consequently, the growth strategy is extended by adding a focus on two market niches with global potential. Utilizing a strong financial position, cBrain is now building two new units, dedicated to achieving global leadership in two global solution areas, referred to as Paperless Ministry and Environmental Permitting.

    Solid development in Denmark and internationally

    cBrain has entered the year as planned with continued development in Denmark and international markets.

    In January, cBrain announced an agreement to deliver the F2 Digital platform for the new Danish Ministry of Resilience and Preparedness. The F2 solution was configured for the ministerial work, ready-to-go-live, in 3 weeks.

    In March cBrain announced the successful delivery of the F2 Digital platform for the Danish Energy Agency. F2 has been configured as a grant management solution to support the heat pump subsidy program. At launch the agency said the new solution exceeded all expectations, with almost 70% of all applications being processed fully automatically, and the first 930 citizen applications approved within only minutes of launching the subsidy program.

    In Germany, cBrain continues deploying F2 with the agency that administrates public pensions. Several thousand users have gone live during the first months of the year, and cBrain has won a new tender extending the scope of work.

    In Romania, cBrain’s partner has won a public tender to deliver a new national platform for administrating citizen pensions. F2 is now being configured as the case management and processing kernel, supporting close to 100 different administrative processes and integrating with multiple other systems. cBrain sees the project as a milestone both technically and strategically, demonstrating the power of the F2 Service Builder and the early success of the F2-for-Partner strategy.

    Taking leadership within Paperless Ministry and Environmental Permitting

    The long-term cBrain growth strategy is founded on a vision and a business case to provide standard software for government. Working in close collaboration with Danish government for 15 years, cBrain has invested more than 450,000 hours in developing the F2 platform.

    Today, almost all Danish ministries, and more than 75 Danish authorities in total, use F2 as their digital platform. Internationally, cBrain has delivered F2 to government organizations across five continents. With Denmark ranked number one in the United Nations E-Government Survey for the past eight years, this offers cBrain a strong first-mover advantage and a solid reference position.

    Leveraging the F2 software platform, cBrain is executing an ambitious international growth plan with the aim of becoming a global leader in the fast emerging market for Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software built for government.

    With the 2024 Annual Report, cBrain stated that the transition from custom-built IT solutions to standardized platforms seems to emerge faster than anticipated. This assumption seems to be continuously validated throughout the spring. An increasing number of competitors are repositioning themselves as COTS suppliers, and the White House issued an executive order in April directing the administration to prioritize the procurement of commercial off-the-shelf solutions rather than procuring custom products and developing systems.

    The faster-than-anticipated shift in the government IT market toward COTS government software presents new strategic opportunities for cBrain. As a result, cBrain has announced an adjustment to its growth strategy during the first half of 2025 to capitalize on these market changes.

    The core of cBrain’s growth strategy is built on serving large government clients, securing steady, sustainable growth through long-term software subscriptions, and accelerating international growth through the F2-for-Partners concept.

    The growth strategy is now being extended by adding a focus on two market niches with global potential. Utilizing a strong financial position, cBrain is now building two new units, dedicated to achieving global leadership in two global solution areas, referred to as Paperless Ministry and Environmental Permitting.

    The F2 Paperless Ministry Solution

    cBrain has built a strong home market position in Denmark. This position has been achieved by taking leadership as the supplier of the F2 Paperless Ministry solution, which today is the digital platform for almost all Danish ministries.

    In the autumn 2024 the Danish government announced 3 new ministries, and in January cBrain announced that all 3 new ministries have now chosen F2 as their digital platform. The F2 ministry solution was installed and configured, ready to go live within only 3 weeks. The new ministerial projects demonstrate the power of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) for government solutions and consolidate cBrains unique position in the Danish market.

    Building from the paperless ministry leadership position, cBrain has successfully been able to expand outside the ministerial solution niche into the broad Danish government market. Today serving more than 75 Danish government organizations with a large catalog of citizen-facing solutions, from tax solutions and auditing to grants management, inspections, licensing, and family affairs.

    A key pillar of the expanded growth strategy is to replicate the Danish success by establishing bridgeheads in new international markets, based on a focused, vertical go-to-market approach centered around the Paperless Ministry offering. The ultimate goal is to achieve global niche leadership, thereby securing a strong foundation for future growth.

    cBrain is currently testing and validating the new strategic Paperless Ministry initiative, with market initiatives in Europe and Africa.

    In Europe, cBrain is still working to establish contacts with ministries in selected countries. In Africa, the initial market activities have led to a pilot project, where the Danish Paperless Ministry solution was configured and made ready to go live for a Kenyan ministry in just 10 weeks.

    cBrain is now developing a go-to-market plan for the African region, working closely with Danish embassies in Africa and aligning with the UNDP Digital Offer for Africa strategy. This builds on the partnership with UNDP announced in November 2024. cBrain sees the African Paperless Ministry solution, leveraging Danish government experience, as a unique tool to help African governments achieve fast digital transformation.

    Environmental Permitting

    As a second pillar of its expanded growth strategy, and in parallel with the Paperless Ministry initiative, cBrain has launched an ambitious initiative to position the F2 Environmental Permitting solution as a strategic niche offering, aiming to take a leading international market position.

    The importance of environmental assessment and permitting is growing worldwide. Government review and permitting processes are required for many infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, mines, factories, and power plants. In April 2025, the White House issued an executive order stating that executive departments and agencies shall make maximum use of technology in environmental review and permitting processes for infrastructure projects of all kinds.

    In close collaboration with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), cBrain has developed an F2 based Environmental Permitting solution that eliminates the use of paper-based applications and accelerates case processing time and quality.

    In July 2024, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a report to Congress that assesses and recommends technologies to improve environmental reviews and permitting processes. In this report, the cBrain F2 Platform is highlighted as a successful process and AI tool for environmental permitting.

    cBrain therefore views environmental permitting as a potential niche entry point into the U.S. market, at both the federal and state levels, supporting its decision to invest in this area as the second pillar of its expanded growth strategy.

    cBrain maintains its financial guidance for 2025

    cBrain has provided financial guidance for the year, with an expected revenue growth of 10-15% and EBT (Earnings Before Tax) of 18-23%. cBrain maintains its financial guidance for 2025.

    The allocation of leadership and delivery resources to support the new niche initiatives may temporarily slow current activities. However, the expanded growth strategy is expected to drive new business and accelerate overall growth over time. Depending on the pace of success, executing the expanded growth strategy therefore introduces uncertainty to the 2025 revenue outlook, both on the upside and downside.

    In the 2025 budget cBrain has allocated extra one-time costs to market expansion of approximately 4 million Euro to support the revised strategy. These costs are fully included in the financial outlook for 2025 but are conditional on the validation to ensure disciplined growth.

    Best regards

    Per Tejs Knudsen, CEO

    Inquiries regarding this Company Announcement may be directed to

    Ejvind Jørgensen, CFO & Head of Investor Relations, cBrain A/S, ir@cbrain.com, +45 2594 4973

    Attachment

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: The treasure of trusteeship

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    The treasure of trusteeship

    David Holdsworth delivers speech at Trustee Exchange 2025.

    Good afternoon. 

    I’m delighted to join so many of you here today at the annual Trustee Exchange.  

    This is the event in the calendar dedicated to promoting and developing trustees, and I’d like to extend my thanks to Civil Society for once again bringing us all together.  

    Because, put simply, without you, there would be no charity sector.  

    What you achieve – individually and collectively – for society, is nothing short of staggering. 

    A figure used a lot is £94 billion.

    That’s the annual turnover of the charity sector in England and Wales.

    It’s a huge figure – so huge that it’s hard to really imagine what that means, on the ground, in people’s lives. 

    Well – it means game-changing medical trials – like the one recently funded by the charity Spinal Research – a paralysed woman regaining the use of her hands so that she can now brush her young daughter’s hair.

    It means that the osprey – that magnificent bird of prey – which was once driven to near extinction in the UK – is now thriving, with over 250 nesting pairs living in Britain today. 

    It means that 30 million more people across the world now have access to a safe, working toilet. 

    It means that families with seriously ill children in hospital can stay close by in free, purpose-built accommodation. 

    And it means that, on average, two lives are saved at sea every single day by RNLI volunteers.   

    These a just a few examples of what has been made possible by the charity sector, and the steadfast custodianship of its trustees.  

    So please, take a moment to reflect on your own contribution to the countless and varied achievements of charities across the years.  

    I can assure you, your work does not go unnoticed by us or the public. 

    So ensuring the Commission supports you as trustees in maximising your charities’ impact is vital – and that’s what I want to discuss today. 

    It won’t come as news to you that the entire charitable sector is scaffolded by the enthusiasm, generosity, and capability of its trustees. 

    So making trusteeship an attractive prospect – both for current trustees, and for new recruits – is absolutely vital for us. 

    I’ve been in post at the Charity Commission now for nine months, and in this time have had the pleasure of visiting a great range of charities in England and Wales.  

    I don’t need to tell anyone here today that times remain challenging for the sector as a whole. 

    Charities are on the front line, dealing with the fall out from unpredictable global politics and shifting world orders. 

    From providing aid in warzones such as Ukraine and the Middle East, to running vital services here in the UK, the sector consistently steps in to meet need – wherever it finds it. 

    All the while, charities continue to grapple with higher running costs, a challenging environment for fundraising and increasing demand for their services. 

    In the face of these challenges, many trustees are being forced to make difficult decisions about the future of their charity.  

    Against this backdrop, you might assume morale among the charities I’ve visited would be low.   

    But I’ve found the opposite to be true.  

    The trustees I’ve spoken to are realistic about the challenges they face, but overwhelmingly optimistic about the resilience of their charity to weather them.  

    They are the embodiment of public spirit.  

    Trustee research 

    Just today we have published the results our new research with ProBono Economics into the experience of trustees in England and Wales.  

    It found that the vast majority of trustees are immensely positive about their experience. Something that you and most of us who are or have been trustees of course already knew. 

    They reported multiple benefits from their role, ranging from professional benefits to a greater sense of personal connection, purpose and fulfilment.  

    Eight in ten trustees would be likely to recommend the role to others.

    Most trustees feel positive about board dynamics, and their relationships with staff. 

    Most report feeling that they are having a positive impact on the world, and that they’re more connected to their community as a result. 

    One in three said that their role expanded their social circle.  

    And the benefits don’t stop there. 

    Trustees who are still of working age found that the role supported their career development, while two thirds of trustees said they enjoyed the opportunity to use their skills in a new context. 

    More than half have served on their boards for four years or more, underlining the loyalty and dedication of many trustees.   

    The full report – which I’d encourage you to read on our website – gives us a detailed snapshot of the sector and includes useful information about the demographics of trusteeship. 

    We are seeing positive movement towards gender parity, with 43% of trustees now being female. 

    This represents a welcome shift from our last research in 2017, when just 36% were women. So more to do, but progress.  

    Over half of all trustees are retired, with the average age being 65.  

    Although there are proportionately fewer younger people involved in trusteeship, for those who do, there seem to be multiple benefits.

    Over half of trustees under 30 said that their role supported their career development.  

    White people are overrepresented on charity boards compared to their proportion of the overall population, and by that same measure, there are fewer trustees from ethnic minorities as compared with the national average.  

    This is a challenge we need to collectively address, but again, as with the gender breakdown, there are some positives to take away from the new research.  

    For example, there are proportionally more Black trustees aged under 60 than in the general under age 60 population (7% compared to 5%), indicating that we are seeing the green shoots of a move towards greater ethnic parity among trustees.  

    Which is not to say there isn’t active work the sector needs to undertake to address the challenge! 

    Reassuringly, of the trustees we spoke to, the vast majority reported feeling confident in their role. 

    More than nine in ten reported understanding their roles and responsibilities (95%) and feeling qualified to fulfil them (93%).    

    However, the findings suggest some boards could benefit from more people with certain skills or expertise.  

    A quarter of respondents reported accessing legal expertise externally, suggesting a possible lack of relevant skills at board level.   

    While most trustees report their board had significant finance skills and experience, this was also the skillset with the second greatest reliance on external sources.    

    Elsewhere, only a quarter of boards reported any significant experience in marketing, campaigning and anti-fraud skills. 

    Collectively, these findings demonstrate the importance of helping charities to recruit people with a broader range of skills, backgrounds and experience – ultimately strengthening their charity’s governance. 

    While we must always work collectively on ensuring the pipeline of trustees remains flowing, I don’t accept there is any kind of ‘crisis’ in trusteeship.  

    Of the 60 million people in England and Wales, more than 800,000 are trustees. 

    And this figure has remained broadly stable over time.   

    So, as the old saying goes, you really are never more than 6 feet away from a charity trustee.  

    And, casting the Commission as Pied Piper – in this analogy that I’m beginning to regret – we want to lead trustees on the path to good governance. 

    Because, although trustees are plentiful, our work at the Commission does indicate that there are charities on the register with a smaller number of trustees on their board – around 11% of charities have fewer than three trustees, according to our 2023 Annual Returns.  

    Although this does not necessarily mean they are inquorate, very small trustee boards can have the potential to increase risk factors relating to dominance, lack of independence and conflicts of interest.     

    This, along with the skills gaps within existing boards, demonstrates the continued need for widening the base of trustees.  

    Along with the sector, it’s vital that we respond to these findings and help inspire a pipeline of people willing to serve as volunteer trustees into the future. 

    The big question, then, is how? 

    Widening access to trusteeship 

    In this space, it would be remiss of me not to mention the sad demise of Getting on Board last year.  

    For twenty years, the organisation played a vital role in encouraging new talent into trusteeship and its contribution will be sorely missed in the sector. 

    We must all take up this mantle, and work proactively to encourage others to become trustees. 

    Because, in fact, the very best advert for trusteeship is you.  

    Most of you tend to be quite shy about the amazing work you do – after all, it’s simply not very British to shout our achievements from the rooftops is it? 

    But one of the best ways to encourage trusteeship is by being a walking, talking advert for the role.  

    By being more open – talking more – and celebrating the amazing work you do, you can publicly demonstrate the opportunities trusteeship presents. 

    Don’t underestimate the power of your own story. 

    We also know that there is work to be done on improving trustee recruitment practices, so that new wells of talent can be tapped. 

    The new data from PBE suggests that most charities rely strongly on their existing networks to recruit trustees.  

    One in three charity trustees was asked to join the board directly by the Chair, while only 6% of trustee recruitment came from advertising. 

    Of course, informal networking and personal recommendations can be invaluable, especially when charities are stretched for time. 

    But this may come at the expense of casting the net wider, to recruit trustees who could bring different skills and perspectives to the board. 

    Looking beyond existing supporter bases, with fair and open recruitment practices, will help the sector engage a broader pool of trustee talent. 

    To help charities with this endeavour, we’ll be publishing refreshed guidance on finding new trustees – CC30 – in the coming months.  

    We’ll be providing updated advice around the recruitment process and how to recruit further afield. Reach Volunteering’s digital platform being a great tool, for example, especially as its services are offered free of charge for smaller charities.  

    Please, do take five minutes to read it and think about the ways in which you can apply the guidance in your own charity. 

    The Voluntary Principle 

    I know that for some, one solution to recruitment difficulties would be to pay trustees for their service, thereby attracting a wider range of candidates to roles. 

    In fact, our director of policy and communications, Paul Latham, took part in a panel discussion on the matter here at Trustee Exchange this morning. 

    One argument for paying for trustees is that it would broaden the role’s appeal, particularly amongst currently underrepresented groups. 

    But, according to research from the volunteer recruitment charity Reach, the data shows that for age, ethnicity, gender and sexuality this does not hold true.  

    Voluntary service has proven to be no barrier to diversity when it comes to trustee recruitment. 

    At this point, I would like to be clear, however, that no one should feel as though they can’t afford to participate in trusteeship.  

    And that is one reason we’ve also published a new, separate guide on trustee expenses. 

    The Commission is clear that expenses do not constitute trustee ‘payments’ and that trustees are entitled to have their reasonable expenses reimbursed by the charity. 

    This can include childcare, travel costs and meals when acting on behalf of their charity. 

    In this way, trustees can undertake their voluntary duties without worrying that that it will put them out of pocket.    

    But while we heard some cogent arguments in favour of paying trustees at the panel today, to my mind, none can truly stand up to what’s at stake here.  

    Which is why I want to be very clear – it’s the Commission’s belief that voluntary trusteeship underpins the public’s trust in charity. 

    And public trust is particularly important when you consider the fact that charities in England and Wales rely on public donations of almost 60 billion every year.

    The research consistently backs this up.  

    Charity trust is currently at a 10-year high – and time and again we are told that what matters most to people is knowing how their donation is spent. 

    Rightly or wrongly, the public’s positive perception of charity is intrinsically linked with the concept of voluntary service, of doing good for others, not to gain financially, but in return for the personal rewards I mentioned earlier. 

    In our research into public trust in charities in 2023, most people said they were more inclined to trust a charity run by volunteers, than one run by paid professionals.  

    Put simply, voluntary trusteeship is the lynchpin of the public’s trust in charity – and we must guard it fiercely.  

    We already know that the vast majority of trustees undertake their duties voluntarily.  

    There are an incredible 800,000 trustees on our register, filling almost a million trustee positions. Of those, only a very small proportion receive any kind of payment. 

    Last year, fewer than one in ten charities declared they were paying trustees, and in most of these cases, it was for providing goods or services. 

    But some charities will be faced with decisions about whether to pay one or more trustee, whether for the role itself or as payment for goods and services. It is vital that charities get these decisions right, and boards fulfil legal duties and responsibilities carefully. 

    We’ve recently refreshed and revised our guidance on the topic – CC11 – with the aim of making it easier for trustees to know what is expected of them when making this decision. 

    Conclusion  

    But as I draw to a close, I want to return my focus to the present – and to the three quarters of a million-strong community of trustees that we currently have on our register.   

    As our research released today has shown, it’s a role like no other – one that asks a lot of its incumbent – but also one that repays this effort with interest. 

    What you all have built, in your individual organisations, and as civic society – is truly remarkable. 

    It must be nurtured, cherished and defended. 

    And with your dedication, commitment and public spirit, I can’t think of a better group to do so.  

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) v1.1

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    News story

    Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) v1.1

    An updated version of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) is available.

    An updated version of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM), referred to as v1.1, has been published on GOV.UK.

    RAM v1.1 has been created following feedback from industry on RAM v1, which was published on 23 December 2024.  

    Simplifications informed by the value chain  

    PackUK carried out a RAM simplification sprint in February 2025. The aim of the sprint was to reduce complexity of the RAM and increase the viability of producers being able to fully complete RAM assessments in 2025.   

    The sprint involved gathering feedback on the first iteration of the RAM and offering up simplifications, which have been incorporated into the newly released v1.1.  

    The sprint was positively received by industry. A broad range of stakeholders contributed a variety of comments and content suggestions for v1.1, including targeted feedback from retailers and brands with large and complex product portfolios.      

    The suggestions were cross-referenced against industry standards and technical feedback was sought from industry material associations to ensure accuracy and consistency.     

    On 8 April 2025, PackUK sent a final technical draft of RAM v1.1 out to packaging producers. The technical draft aimed to provide stakeholders with as much lead in time as possible, ensuring they can apply the guidance in 2025.     

    What this means

    The RAM methodology will enable large packaging producers to assess the recyclability of their household packaging and produce a red/amber/green output which will inform the level of fee modulation payable for that material from year 2 of pEPR.  

    Producers are required to apply the methodology for household packaging placed on the market from 1 January 2025, with the first reporting deadline being 1 October 2025.   

    Only large producers (also known as ‘large organisations’) must report their recyclability assessment data. Find out about small and large producers.  

    You only need to collect and report recyclability assessment data if you are responsible for household packaging.  

    Join the Circular Economy stakeholder forum   

    At the May stakeholder forum, we will deliver a presentation on RAM v1.1. There will also be an opportunity for stakeholders to ask in-depth questions and relay feedback.   

    • date: Tuesday 6 May 2025  

    • time: 2:30pm to 4pm  

    • registration: Please register for the forum on Microsoft Teams Live  

    Please direct any questions about RAM v1.1 to the EPRCustomerService@defra.gov.uk

    Updates to this page

    Published 29 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canadian delegation traveling to Europe to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    Remembering those who fought for peace and freedom.

    29 April 2025 – Ottawa, ON – Veterans Affairs Canada

    In the fall of 1944 and through the spring of 1945, Canadian soldiers served in Western Europe helping to liberate the Netherlands from German occupiers. Town by town, canal by canal, their perseverance paved the road to liberation and the eventual surrender of the remaining German forces. The friendship between the Netherlands and Canada has been shaped by our shared history and has only grown stronger over the years. 

    To mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, an official Government of Canada delegation will leave Canada in late April and return on 7 May 2025 following commemorative events and ceremonies.

    The delegation will include more than 20 Second World War Veterans and their families, some of them returning to the country they helped free 80 years ago, along with representatives of Veterans’ organizations and department officials. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces will also participate in events and ceremonies in the Netherlands.

    On 2 May 2025, the Government of Canada will co-host a ceremony at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery that will be live streamed on Veterans Affairs Canada’s “Canada Remembers” Facebook page .

    From 2-5 May 2025, visitors to Orange Park in Apeldoorn will be invited to stop by the Canada House Pavilion for an opportunity to learn about Canada’s military service around the world and enjoy some Canadian hospitality.

    All Canadians share a responsibility to keep Veterans’ stories alive, recognize the cost of war and honour their sacrifices that led to the privileges and peace we know today. 

    Join the conversation on social media by using the hashtags #CanadaRemembers  or visit veterans.gc.ca/CanadaRemembers.

    MIL OSI Canada News

  • MIL-OSI: Applied Announces New AI-Powered Accounting Automation Solution

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Chicago, IL., April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Systems® today announced Automated Statements, an AI-powered statement recording and reconciliation application for direct bill commissions and agency bill payables launching in fall 2025. Natively embedded in Applied Epic’s General Ledger, Automated Statements will allow users to simply upload direct or agency bill statements in any format and leverage AI to extract data for matching and reconciliation to policies and plans in Applied Epic, creating step-change efficiency value for the direct bill and agency bill revenue processes.  

    Automated Statements centralizes and automates accounting workflows within Applied Epic to accelerate time-consuming reconciliation workflows and improve quality and confidence in an agency’s financial data. Covering more than 90% of certified P&C and Benefits carriers, Automated Statements in Applied Epic enables data extraction from statements received in any format, including scanned images, PDF, CSV, advanced matching to plans and policies, and financial data recording or reconciliation, depending on direct or agency billing methods. Statements can be submitted to the Applied Epic General Ledger for suspended or reconciled statements with a single click, saving staff time. AI-powered accounting automation in Applied Epic helps finance and accounting teams reconcile the statement of record with ease, ensuring their business, people, and carrier partners are paid quickly and accurately while reducing back-office costs to drive more profitable revenue growth.   

    “Applied has been at the core of agencies’ accounting and financial workflows since its inception, and with the introduction and rapid growth of digital payments with Applied Pay the past couple of years, there is a clear opportunity and demand to create more automation value for the back office,” said Chase Petrey, president, Applied Pay, Applied Systems. “Direct bill commissions and agency bill payables are two of the most common and time-consuming tasks for finance and accounting teams, and by integrating our differentiated solution directly into their management system’s general ledger, we are going to immediately create step change efficiency gains and make the process of money movement simpler and faster than ever.”

     # # #

    The Applied products and logos are trademarks of Applied Systems, Inc., registered in the U.S.

    About Applied Systems
    Applied Systems is the leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and the innovation leader, Applied is the world’s largest provider of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied’s people and products enable millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Vodafone Business and Fortinet Expand Global Partnership to Secure Hybrid Work

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Vodafone Business expands its converged networking and cybersecurity services powered by the Fortinet Unified SASE solution to new global markets.
    • Vodafone Business has been also designated “Fortinet Global Partner” due to its expertise in designing, deploying, and managing secure connected enterprise solutions globally.

    LONDON and SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

    News Summary

    Vodafone Business and Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced an expanded global partnership, extending the reach of their converged networking and cybersecurity services to additional countries across Europe and Asia, as well as the United States. Together, the two companies are helping businesses deliver on the connectivity needs of today’s hybrid workforce and confront the growing volume and sophistication of cyberthreats by converging networking and security into a single, seamless service.

    Large and medium-sized enterprises in Germany and in other European markets as well as multinational businesses served through Vodafone Business International can now benefit from Vodafone Business Secure Networking Services.

    These services integrate Fortinet’s industry-leading software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) and FortiSASE cloud-based security solutions to help organizations secure their networks. They provide employees with the same secure, reliable access to their work applications regardless of their location all with a single view across network health visibility, performance dashboards, and customizable reports. With connectivity across 192 countries, Vodafone Business offers the scale and reach needed to support secure digital transformation worldwide.

    Today’s announcement, with Vodafone Business attaining the “Fortinet Global Partner” status, underscores both companies’ commitment to supporting regional and international organizations across their IT and operational technology (OT) environments. The value proposition also helps enterprises in meeting cybersecurity compliance standards and requirements.

    This milestone comes amid a surge in cybersecurity incidences, including malware, data breaches, and social engineering, which rose significantly in the European Union in the first half of 2024, according to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).

    Marika Auramo, CEO of Vodafone Business, said: “Cybersecurity is an increasing concern for our customers both in-country and cross-border. The breadth and depth of our global partnership with Fortinet means we can provide customers with the benefits of new digital connectivity to more places whilst ensuring that their digital assets, employees, partners and users are protected.”

    Joe Sarno, Executive Vice President, International Sales, Fortinet added: “As organizations digitize and scale across borders, secure connectivity is no longer optional—it’s essential. Our expanded partnership with Vodafone enables us to deliver unified SASE solutions that combine advanced security with exceptional performance so enterprises can confidently connect users, devices, and apps anywhere in the world.”

    Under the Vodafone Business and Fortinet partnership, businesses can purchase integrated services tailored to their needs and supported by Vodafone Business cybersecurity and managed network service experts. Customers can choose from four management options, including 24×7, co-managed network and security, various service-level guarantees, and professional services, including service discovery, design, implementation, and training.

    By combining their global reach and deep security expertise, Vodafone Business and Fortinet empower companies to detect and respond to threats swiftly, reducing risk while protecting operations and customer trust.

    Notes to Editors
    Vodafone Business and Fortinet will work together to further enhance sovereign compliant network operations center (NOC) and secure operations center (SOC) services. Vodafone Business recently opened a cybersecurity center in Düsseldorf, Germany, which will be home to more than 100 cybersecurity experts to help protect enterprise customers of all sizes from online threats.

    Increased automation and AI networking experiences as part of Vodafone Business Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Platform is another area of focus for Vodafone Business and Fortinet. NaaS meets customer digital transformation needs by bringing together Vodafone’s software-based connectivity products and services, including SD-WAN, SASE/SSE, and Wireless and Fixed Internet Transport Services. It gives customers, or Vodafone Business managed services teams on their behalf, greater flexibility to buy, configure, and manage services to meet their specific dynamic business and AI application demands.

    Vodafone Business Secure Networking offers organizations several future-proofed managed solutions connecting their users, devices, and machinery. They are:    

    • Vodafone Business Secure Firewall with Fortinet delivers a comprehensive managed security service to set up, operate, run, manage, and maintain customer firewalls in a highly secure manner.
    • Vodafone Business Secure SD-WAN with Fortinet, which is ideal for organizations that need to ensure that their operations meet security and compliance regulation, and who need a secure, reliable, and agile network as they embrace the advantages of moving workloads to the cloud. 
    • Vodafone Business FortiSASE is aimed at customers looking to adopt flexible, robust, and secure hybrid work.

    More information around the partnership and Vodafone Business’ offerings can be found here

    Contact details

    About Vodafone Group
    everyone.connected

    Vodafone is a leading European and African telecoms company. We provide mobile and fixed services to over 340 million customers in 15 countries, partner with mobile networks in over 45 more and have one of the world’s largest IoT platforms. In Africa, our financial technology businesses serve almost 83 million customers across seven countries – managing more transactions than any other provider.

    Our purpose is to connect for a better future by using technology to improve lives, businesses and help progress inclusive sustainable societies. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

    For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com follow us on X at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.

    About Fortinet
    Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere our customers need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with esteemed organizations from both the public and private sectors, including Computer Emergency Response Teams (“CERTS”), government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs

    Copyright © 2025 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet’s trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, the Fortinet logo, FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiASIC, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, FortiAgent, FortiAI, FortiAIOps, FortiAgent, FortiAntenna, FortiAP, FortiAPCam, FortiAuthenticator, FortiCache, FortiCall, FortiCam, FortiCamera, FortiCarrier, FortiCASB, FortiCentral, FortiCNP, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiCSPM, FortiCWP, FortiDAST, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiDeceptor, FortiDeploy, FortiDevSec, FortiDLP, FortiEdge, FortiEDR, FortiEndpoint FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFirewall, FortiFlex FortiFone, FortiGSLB, FortiGuest, FortiHypervisor, FortiInsight, FortiIsolator, FortiLAN, FortiLink, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiNDR, FortiPAM, FortiPenTest, FortiPhish, FortiPoint, FortiPolicy, FortiPortal, FortiPresence, FortiProxy, FortiRecon, FortiRecorder, FortiSASE, FortiScanner, FortiSDNConnector, FortiSEC, FortiSIEM, FortiSMS, FortiSOAR, FortiSRA, FortiStack, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiTrust, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLM, FortiXDR and Lacework FortiCNAPP. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments. 

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI: Administrative Agreement Concluded with the Bank of Lithuania

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    UAB Urbo Bankas („Bank“), company code 112027077, address: Konstitucijos pr.18B, Vilnius.

    The Bank of Lithuania (BL) conducted a targeted scheduled inspection to assess the Bank’s compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) prevention requirements. The inspection revealed violations and deficiencies.

    The Bank acknowledged the identified violations, submitted a remediation plan, and committed to addressing all legal violations and operational shortcomings identified during the inspection. The Bank also informs that a significant portion of the deficiencies identified by BL have already been remedied, and actions to strengthen AML/CTF prevention procedures are ongoing.

    In view of this, the BL accepted the Bank’s proposal to enter into an administrative agreement and imposed the following measures:

    • A warning was issued for deficiencies in internal control procedures related to the roles and responsibilities of the Bank’s departments, conflict of interest management, and informing management about relevant AML/CTF risks;
    • A fine of EUR 290,000 was imposed for violations and deficiencies related to determining the purpose and intended nature of business relationships with clients, the nature of clients’ activities, enhanced due diligence, and procedures and measures for monitoring business relationships and transactions.

    It is emphasized that the Bank has not identified any cases where the deficiencies noted by BL had an impact on its clients or where the Bank was used for AML/CTF purposes.

    More information: Mr. Igor Kovalčuk, Member of the Board, Director of Legal and Compliance Service, Deputy Head of Administration. Phone: + 370 686 34122, email: igor.kovalcuk@urbo.lt

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI Global: My Cypriot grandfather was one of millions of foreign servicemen who fought for Britain. Now I’m telling their stories

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christiana Gregoriou, Professor in English Language and Stylistics, University of Leeds

    The second world war veteran community is far more ethnically diverse than many people realise, with over 3 million foreign servicemen serving with the British armed forces during the conflict.

    Second world war memoirs are vital records of how these servicemen remembered the war. They offer insights into their relationship to trauma and resilience and their search for meaning in life.

    May 8 2025 is the 80th anniversary of VE Day. As we mark it, it’s important that we celebrate this ethnic diversity and highlight how much this community’s memoirs can teach us about the joy of making sense and finding lessons, however challenging life may be.

    My research into second world war memoirs uses original archival materials including the memoir of my grandfather, Cypriot sergeant Phylactis Aristokleous (British Army). He was a prisoner of war (PoW) and one of the thousands of colonised Cypriots who volunteered to serve in the army’s Cyprus regiment at the time.


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    My colleague George Rodosthenous is currently adapting my grandfather’s memoir into a theatrical monologue. It will form the basis of a lecture-performance which will tour Yorkshire heritage sites in May as part of a week commemorating VE Day. All are welcome to attend.

    Though his story is one of deprivation and difficulty, Aristokleous’ war experience was also one he took huge pride in. He believed his time had been beneficial and felt a strong need to share his story with others.

    Memoirists are narrators of the history they bore witness to. Though their stories appear to be individual and personal, they are in constant dialogue with their readers, and with each other, informed by experience that is rich, historic and detailed.

    The stories in these memoirs are part of a web of experiences shared with and influenced by others. Read collectively, a culturally dominant story emerges of survival and determination.

    The war experience

    My grandfather believed that serving in the allied forces and writing about his experiences in his memoir shaped the rest of his life. He claimed that his war experiences determined his outlook and prepared him for the life he led after service. All the while, he was aware that his time had also split his sense of self into parts – some of which he left “behind”.

    Even though this positivity might well be more of a feature of his character rather than the war experience itself, it is nevertheless telling. Aristokleous selected many individual incidents to write about, and my analysis of his memoir focuses on them. He acknowledged that only some of them were incidents he had witnessed firsthand; the rest were stories that others had shared with him.

    The authenticity of the stories he shared tended to be driven by his belief that collectively, and in the war specifically, groups of people from the same nations behaved in the same sort of way.

    In one instance, for example, he accepted the authenticity of a story about Australians being courageous only on the basis of him witnessing a random Australian being courageous at a different point in time entirely. The story concerned two Australians who – after killing a German guard – shot each other so they would not be arrested. He believed this story because of an incident he witnessed himself – an Australian PoW who avenged the killing of an innocent British PoW by killing the German guard responsible, only to then be killed himself.

    Even though my grandfather’s stories were compellingly told and retold over the course of several decades, writing them down helped him organise and conceptualise them into a narrative life-story. In so doing, he added unlikely connections between incidents across his life and PoW journey. He made sense of incidents that happened at one point in place and time by linking them to another place and time entirely.

    In one chapter, for example, he talked about winning bread in a raffle, a moment he linked back to having previously asked God for forgiveness for having given a hungry British sergeant dry biscuits that were not his to give away. He deemed his winning a response to prayer.

    He also drew on analogies for the prisoner experience found in the natural world, which speaks to his dehumanisation during that time. There’s the story of a prisoner’s pet-crow, Jack, for example, who hid cheese the PoWs gave him in the snow for when he needed it. From this, he suggested that the PoWs needed to do the same themselves. These connections helped him to construct sense and rationale around what he went through, and even find closure and catharsis.

    Analysis of his many anecdotes also reveals a tendency to dissociate, by using “we” instead of “I”, for instance. He also distanced himself from what was happening by using direct quotes from others in mostly foreign languages. This lends his stories an air of authenticity.

    The memoir also uses proverbs specific to his Greek Cypriot culture. This enabled him to find another purpose to his stories – to turn them into life lessons for others, particularly his own children and grandchildren.

    An enduring legacy

    Most of the second world war veteran community is no longer with us. But their experience in the form of memoirs is, and so is the enduring legacy they left behind.

    The most cynical of us may argue that life is chaotic, futile and devoid of meaning, but what these memoirs, and my grandfather, may teach us is that we can craft ourselves a narrative to help make sense of it.

    Perhaps most importantly, this multicultural veteran community serves as a powerful reminder that, despite the global conflict they endured, it was through diverse nations uniting across ethnic lines, that they were able to defend their freedom, lives and livelihoods from those who sought to destroy them.

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

    ref. My Cypriot grandfather was one of millions of foreign servicemen who fought for Britain. Now I’m telling their stories – https://theconversation.com/my-cypriot-grandfather-was-one-of-millions-of-foreign-servicemen-who-fought-for-britain-now-im-telling-their-stories-252697

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: Co-working spaces aren’t just about convenience – they bring a whole range of benefits for employees and communities

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mariachiara Barzotto, Senior Lecturer in Management Strategy and Organisation, University of Bath

    Master1305/Shutterstock

    When you think of co-working spaces – where workers from different industries come together to share a convenient workplace – you might picture a group of young freelancers hunched over laptops. But today’s co-working spaces have evolved into something more powerful – particularly in a world still reshuffling office work practices in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

    As workplaces adapt to new ways of operating, from hybrid to “digital nomadism”, co-working spaces can do more than simply offer flexibility. They can support workers’ wellbeing and work–life balance by enhancing a sense of community, building trust and new friendships, and encouraging continuous learning.

    Research I undertook with colleagues shows these spaces may also play a role in addressing societal challenges. They can provide support for workers with family or caring responsibilities and enhance digital connectivity in under-served areas by offering faster, stable internet access. They can also encourage knowledge-sharing around new technology – while reducing the need for long commutes, which brings environmental benefits.

    Other research shows that co-working staff tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction and wellbeing, particularly compared with those working at home. There are various reasons for this.

    The ability to choose how and where to work, to exchange knowledge with others on-site, and to avoid long commutes all contribute to better mental health, happiness and wellbeing.

    Productivity can also be boosted by, for example, the social support and interactions encouraged by open architecture and flexible workstations, as well as by a workplace that is much closer to home.

    Some co-working spaces have gone a step further, integrating childcare, wellness programmes and even care for older dependants. One example is COWORCare, a European initiative linking co-working spaces with family support such as kindergartens and elderly-care services. This helps parents (especially mothers) participate more fully in the labour market.

    Workers often need to update their skills to stay competitive. While informal learning happens in traditional offices too, co-working spaces can offer advantages by connecting professionals, entrepreneurs and freelancers across industries. This encourages knowledge-sharing between sectors.

    Many also host training sessions, workshops and networking events, making it easier to develop skills than when working from home or in more homogeneous office settings.

    Some of these spaces also create opportunities, both formal and informal, for young people to learn from more skilled and experienced workers. They can also help youngsters who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) into the workforce.

    This all matters because the shift to greener and more digital economies – known as the “twin transition” – is creating both opportunities and risks. Many workers, especially in rural and older populations, could be left behind without access to training or digital infrastructure. Co-working spaces specifically for older people are ideally placed to address this.

    Such spaces can act as “infrastructures of care” by helping workers feel like part of a community. Perhaps one of the most underrated benefits of co-working is how it can combat loneliness and boost morale for staff who might otherwise be working from home or face a long commute to their employer’s office.

    Remote working can be lonely – and people in the early stages of their career can miss out on chances to learn from more experienced workers.
    fizkes/Shutterstock

    During the pandemic, many people realised how much they missed casual chats and social interaction. Co-working can bring that back – even for remote workers. In fact, co-working spaces can create the kind of “light-touch” community that encourages inclusion without being overwhelming.

    Left-behind places

    Co-working isn’t just for buzzing city centres. Some of the most exciting developments are happening in small towns and rural areas.

    Governments across Europe are supporting this shift. Ireland’s Connected Hubs scheme has built a national network of remote-working hubs, aiming to revitalise rural communities and reduce the urban-rural divide.

    These hubs can provide better internet than workers may have at home, and keep talented young people in the region. They can also spark local entrepreneurship, especially when paired with funding and mentoring. For example, the Youth Re-Working Rural project across Norway, Italy, Spain, Greece, Latvia and Slovenia supports youth and creative industries through co-working and digital training.

    But these spaces aren’t a silver bullet. Our research also shows they are most effective when public investment simultaneously targets specific areas.

    This could be extending high-speed broadband to rural areas, improving transport connections and providing vocational and digital skills training. Policies that support back-to-work programmes – for example, mentoring for unemployed people, parents returning after career breaks, or those who have lost jobs reintegrating into the labour market – are crucial, alongside access to affordable housing.

    Co-working spaces can be part of the solution to making work better – not just more convenient and efficient, but more human. They can improve wellbeing, encourage new skills, and bring life back into places that have been left behind after traditional local industries declined.

    Rethinking the future of work in the face of multiple transitions – digital, green and demographic – means also thinking about the kind of spaces that make learning, connection and wellbeing possible.

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

    ref. Co-working spaces aren’t just about convenience – they bring a whole range of benefits for employees and communities – https://theconversation.com/co-working-spaces-arent-just-about-convenience-they-bring-a-whole-range-of-benefits-for-employees-and-communities-255281

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: No whistleblower is an island – why networks of allies are key to exposing corruption

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kate Kenny, Professor of Business and Society, University of Galway

    Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen speaks at a conference in 2022. Kimberly White/Getty Images for SumOfUs

    Whistleblowers – people who expose wrongdoing within their organizations – play a crucial role in holding governments and corporations accountable. But speaking up can come at a cost. People who report misconduct often face retaliation, job loss or legal threats, making whistleblowing risky and challenging. And when legal protections for whistleblowers are weakened, the risks only grow.

    That’s exactly the situation many workers face today.

    In the U.S., a Trump administration executive order threatens to effectively strip thousands of federal workers’ rights to whistleblower protection. The executive order is part of a larger effort to reclassify civil servants as “at-will” workers who can be sacked at any time for any reason. While federal workers have enjoyed protection against whistleblower reprisal for decades, those safeguards are now under threat. And this comes as private-sector whistleblowers have increasingly faced reprisal, too.

    Yet while the risks are real, whistleblowing isn’t impossible. Indeed, after researching whistleblowing for over 10 years, I’ve observed that insiders who successfully sound the alarm often do so with help − by partnering with allies who can amplify their message and help shield them from retaliation.

    Meet the ‘regulators of last resort’

    My new book, “Regulators of Last Resort: Whistleblowers, the Limits of the Law and the Power of Partnerships,” tells the stories of whistleblowers from Facebook, Amazon, Theranos, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and Ireland’s public electricity service. In each case, the worker suffered reprisal and was aggressively silenced. In each case, they persisted, and allies emerged to help.

    For Facebook employee Frances Haugen, finding an ally meant teaming up with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, a specialist in tech who had been writing about Facebook’s misdeeds for some time. When Haugen decided to go public about the social media platform’s knowing exploitation of teenagers and its awareness of the violence incited by poorly regulated non-English versions of its site, Horwitz was pivotal in orchestrating when and how the newspaper articles would appear, helping maximize their impact and granting Haugen control over how her story was told.

    This partnership was no accident; Haugen chose the reporter and tech expert carefully. “I auditioned Jeff for a while,” she later told a reporter. “One of the reasons I went with him is that he was less sensationalistic than other choices I could have made.”

    Indeed, many whistleblowers disclose with the wrong journalist, leaving themselves open to attack.

    At Theranos – a multibillion-dollar biotech company that turned out to be a fraud – a lawyer “friend of a friend” gave whistleblower Erika Cheung critical advice about disclosing to a regulator. This was a lifeline for the recent graduate, who feared for her career and safety after being threatened by bosses and lawyers and warned to stay silent and obey her nondisclosure agreement. Meanwhile, Cheung had no money for formal legal representation. It was that call to the lawyer that made all the difference, Cheung told me. “He said, ‘You can whistleblow.’”

    Her contact explained that if she disclosed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, she could avail of whistleblower protection and break her NDA. She would have to do it right and focus on the details: to highlight Theranos’ “regulatory noncompliance” and demonstrate the firm was violating the rules for proficiency testing. But all it would require of Cheung was a simple email to the right organization.

    Finally, my research also detailed the many colleagues at Amazon who supported whistleblowing manager Chris Smalls in disclosing risks to life and health during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. When Smalls was fired for speaking out and subject to racist language in internal memos about the incident that were later leaked, his close colleague Derrick Palmer described his response. “I was appalled,” Palmer said. “I just knew that they wanted to – pretty much – silence the whole effort. Anyone speaking out. That was how they were going to treat them, moving forward. Including myself.”

    Labor leader Chris Smalls speaks during a conference in Chicago, Ill., in 2022.
    Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    This strengthened Palmer’s determination to help Smalls. Meanwhile, the leaked memo prompted letters of support and emails “from people from all over the country – Amazon workers, non-Amazon workers, that just want to help advocate as well,” as Smalls put it. In the days and weeks after, workers held demonstrations at Amazon facilities all across the U.S., with banners declaring solidarity with the New York warehouse whistleblowers.

    No whistleblower is an island

    These allies often go overlooked when the media focuses on whistleblowers. But their support is critical, particularly in an era when protections for workers who speak up are coming under increasing threat worldwide.

    Organizing whistleblowing allies involves strategy, and some nonprofit and civil society groups have become experts in this domain. Leading the way is the U.S. Government Accountability Project and its “information matchmaking” approach. The idea is simple: Whistleblowers need a whole team of other people – from experts to members of the public – on their side. And this takes planning.

    For years, lawyer-activists like those at the Government Accountability Project have been treating whistleblower protection and support efforts as holistic campaigns that entail a media operation and networking effort, as well as a legal defense.

    Take the example of Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center – a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractor – who encountered and disclosed medical misconduct and critical failures. Dana Gold at the Government Accountability Project supported her whistleblowing with other activists, enlisted civil society groups and politicians in the cause, helped land newspaper articles in The Guardian and The New York Times, and even arranged a New Yorker podcast in which Wooten told her story.

    The information went viral, and multiple investigations ensued. Within a year, the Department of Homeland Security directed ICE to formally end its contract with the Irwin County Detention Center, citing the revelations made public by Wooten and some of the detained women.

    None of this is straightforward. In most whistleblowing disputes, the organization holds the balance of power. It has the files, the witnesses and the money to pay good lawyers. I’ve found that whistleblower allies must work with whatever limited resources they can marshal to give themselves an advantage. This means engaging influential people who might help, including pro bono lawyers, specialists who can give evidence, concerned regulators and beat journalists. In short, what is necessary is experts across all domains who are interested in the story and willing to help. And it’s the collective effort that matters.

    Even with this support, however, whistleblowers don’t have it easy. In many high-profile cases where a disclosure is made public and a whistleblower is clearly vindicated and recognized as a courageous truth-teller, they can suffer afterward. Potential employers can balk at the prospect of hiring a whistleblower, even a celebrated one. And vindictive organizations can and do continue retaliating, even years after a story has dropped off the front pages.

    Whistleblower allies and their strategies don’t offer a magic bullet. But they can help tip the balance of power, bringing public opinion to bear on an employer bent on reprisal or a government intent on coddling the powerful.

    Kate Kenny 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. No whistleblower is an island – why networks of allies are key to exposing corruption – https://theconversation.com/no-whistleblower-is-an-island-why-networks-of-allies-are-key-to-exposing-corruption-250721

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: Almost Zion: Remembering a short-lived Jewish state in New York

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Adam L. Rovner, Director of the Center for Judaic Studies, University of Denver

    Twin bridges spanning the Niagara River lead from Tonawanda to Grand Island, New York — the proposed site of ‘Ararat.’ Kevin Menschel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    At dawn on Sept. 15, 1825, a burst of cannon fire shook the ramshackle buildings of Buffalo, New York. Families raced down the main street to witness a grand ceremony, following a parade of soldiers, clergymen, Freemasons, musicians and Seneca tribesmen, including their venerable chief, Red Jacket. All surged toward St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the frontier town’s only grand edifice.

    Inside, a crowd of Christians, Jews and Native Americans were already packed together to witness the founding of Ararat, a tract of land on nearby Grand Island that was intended to be the first autonomous Jewish city-state in almost 1,800 years.

    Ararat’s 400-pound cornerstone, engraved with a central Jewish tenet of faith from the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, rested inside the church. When the swell of the organ died down, former diplomat, political power broker and playwright Mordecai Manuel Noah – the man who had dreamed up Ararat – rose to his feet.

    Today, this marker is one of the few surviving signs of the proposed settlement.
    Adam Rovner

    Described as a “stout … gentleman, with sandy hair, a large Roman nose, and … red whiskers,” Noah had draped himself for the ceremony in fur-trimmed robes borrowed from a theater. He triumphantly announced the reestablishment of “the Government of the Jewish Nation … under the auspices and protection of the constitution and laws of the United States of America.”

    Noah also welcomed Native Americans, whom he – like many Americans at the time – mistakenly believed were “the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel.” In addition, he granted equal “rights and religious privileges” to the “black Jews of India and Africa,” disclosing a rare-for-his-time sensitivity toward Jews of color.

    A portrait of Mordecai Noah by 19th-century painter John Wood Dodge.
    Smithsonian American Art Museum via Wikimedia Commons

    But Noah’s utopian ark sank with barely a trace. Not a single Jew heeded his call to settle Ararat. Noah himself abandoned ship when his calls for a Jewish republic were rebuffed by religious leaders. All that he left behind was the cornerstone.

    As a scholar who scours archives to trace connections between literature and history, I’ve seen how Noah’s efforts to found a Jewish statelet have fascinated students of both American and Zionist history.

    Noah was only the first of many modern thinkers to propose establishing Jewish territories far from the biblical land of Israel. In the 20th century, organizations seeking a humanitarian solution to Jewish persecution considered carving out enclaves the world over, including lands in today’s Kenya, Angola, Madagascar, Tasmania and Suriname.

    ‘City of refuge’

    Noah wielded considerable influence in early 19th-century America through his roles as a political party boss, helming various daily newspapers, and as a popular playwright. But he was also a marginalized outsider at a time when there were fewer than 500 Jews in Manhattan, the young republic’s largest city.

    Noah used his press pulpit to demand equality for Jews, even proposing himself as a presidential candidate. He remained one of few high-profile American Jews throughout his life, urging other citizens to acknowledge that one’s faith and patriotism need never be at odds. Yet antisemitic slurs dogged him throughout his career.

    After witnessing the persecution of Jews in Europe during his diplomatic travels, Noah hoped Ararat would be a territorial solution to religious oppression.

    ‘Noah’s Ark,’ by 19th-century American painter Edward Hicks.
    Philadelphia Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons

    In some ways, his efforts hearkened back to the origins of America itself. Instead of the Mayflower, Noah invoked the symbolic ark of his biblical namesake – “Ararat” is the biblical name of the mountain where the ark came to a rest after the flood. In the role of the Puritans, he cast European Jewry. And instead of Plymouth Rock, he landed on Grand Island. As the cornerstone of Ararat proclaimed, the settlement was to be a “city of refuge for the Jews” – one that Noah hoped would grow to become a state and be admitted to the American republic.

    In his speeches, Noah imagined that Ararat would allow European Jews to escape persecution while simultaneously fulfilling America’s need for immigration, industry and financial capital. He also believed that his purchase of 2,555 acres of Grand Island would prove a lucrative personal investment: The recently completed Erie Canal, he reasoned, would make Buffalo a major port.

    Failure to launch

    At the time of Noah’s proposal, the Zionist movement – the modern political program for Jewish national self-determination – had not yet coalesced. Most Jews at the time believed that founding a Jewish state in the land of Israel was a pipe dream, or worse. God had expelled their ancestors from the Holy Land in 70 C.E., they believed, so taking matters into their own hands and rebuilding a Jewish state there would be blasphemy.

    Noah hoped to sidestep those theological objections by locating a Jewish polity in the promised land of America, not the biblical promised land. Nonetheless, Jewish leaders dismissed his vision as contrary to God’s will. The chief rabbis of England and France publicly condemned Noah’s plan, and the September 1825 ceremony in Buffalo proved Ararat’s high point.

    Though ridiculed in the press for Ararat’s failure, Noah took a philosophical view:

    I … stand as the pioneer of the great work, leaving others to complete it. … When sneers and mockery shall have had their day … then my motives and objects will have been duly estimated and rewarded.“

    The front page of one of Mordecai Noah’s books, published in 1819.
    Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons

    Birth of Zionism

    Noah quickly resumed his career as a journalist and emerged as a kind of ambassador, penning articles and delivering speeches that linked Jewish and Christian America. To Christians, he explained Jewish practices. To his brethren, he demonstrated the fundamental compatibility between the ideals of Judaism and the United States, assuring them that America “is the country which the Almighty has blessed,” a land in which Jews “may repose in safety and happiness.”

    Yet Noah never abandoned his plans for Jewish self-government and ultimately advocated national repatriation to areas of Palestine, then under Ottoman control. In 1845 he published a short book, “Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews.” A young journalist whom he had befriended, Edgar Allan Poe, praised Noah’s proposal for a Jewish return to the biblical land of Israel as “extraordinary [and] full of novel and cogent thought.”

    Noah did not live to see his dreams fulfilled. After his death in March 1851, nearly 50 years passed before another playwright and journalist resurrected the idea of Jewish political autonomy: Theodor Herzl.

    Herzl’s vision laid the groundwork for the establishment of the state of Israel. Today, he is considered the father of Zionism, with his image paraded on Israeli Independence Day.

    Paradoxically, Noah is remembered today thanks only to the spectacular failure of his American Zion.

    Adam L. Rovner 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. Almost Zion: Remembering a short-lived Jewish state in New York – https://theconversation.com/almost-zion-remembering-a-short-lived-jewish-state-in-new-york-253534

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: Whooping cough is making a comeback, but the vaccine provides powerful protection

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Annette Regan, Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles

    Infants can get vaccinated against whooping cough starting at 6 weeks of age. Hill Street Studios/Corbis via Getty Images

    Whooping cough, a bacterial infection that can be especially dangerous for babies and young children, is on the rise. Already in 2025 the U.S. has recorded 8,485 cases. That’s compared with 4,266 cases during the same period in 2024.

    Like measles, which is also spreading at unprecedented levels, whooping cough, more formally known as pertussis, can be prevented by a safe
    and effective vaccine. But with anti-vaccine sentiment increasing and cuts to immunization services, vaccination rates for whooping cough over the past two years have declined in children.

    The Conversation asked epidemiologist Annette Regan to explain why pertussis has become so prevalent and how families can protect themselves from the disease.

    What is pertussis and why is it dangerous?

    Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Researchers in France first identified the B. pertussis bacterium in 1906. The first recorded epidemic of pertussis is thought to have occurred in Paris in 1578.

    Infection can cause an acute respiratory illness characterized by severe and spasmodic coughing spells. The classic symptom of pertussis is a “whoop” sound caused by someone trying to breath during a bad cough. Severe complications of pertussis include slowed or stopped breathing, pneumonia and seizures. The disease is most severe in young babies, although severe cases and deaths can also occur in older children and adults.

    Some doctors call pertussis “the 100-day cough” because symptoms can linger for weeks or even months.

    The World Health Organization estimates that 24.1 million pertussis cases and 160,700 deaths occur worldwide in children under 5 each year. Pertussis is highly contagious. Upon exposure, 80% of people who have not been previously exposed to the bacterium or vaccinated against the disease will develop an infection.

    Fortunately, the disease is largely preventable with a safe and effective vaccine, which was first licensed in the U.S. in 1914.

    Whooping cough causes violent fits of coughing that can make it difficult to inhale.

    How do cases last year and this year compare with past years?

    During the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, pertussis cases were lower than usual. This may have been a result of limited social contact due to social distancing, masking, school closures and lockdown measures, which reduced the spread of disease overall.

    In the past two years, however, pertussis cases have surpassed figures from before the pandemic. In 2024, local and state public health agencies reported 35,435 pertussis cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – a rate five times higher than the 7,063 cases reported in 2023 and nearly double the 18,617 cases reported in 2019 prior to the pandemic.

    Between October 2024 and April 2025, at least four people in the U.S. have died of pertussis: two infants, one school-age child and one adult.

    Why are pertussis cases rising?

    Although vaccines have resulted in a dramatic decline in pertussis infections in the U.S., incidence of the disease has been rising since the 1990s, except for a brief dip during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Before the start of routine childhood vaccination for pertussis in 1947, its rates hovered between 100,000 and 200,000 cases per year. With vaccines, rates plunged under 50,000 annually by the late 1950s and under 10,000 per year in the late 1960s. They reached a low of 1,010 cases in 1976.

    Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, however, the U.S. and several other countries have been seeing a steady resurgence of pertussis cases, which have exceeded 10,000 cases in the U.S. every year from 2003 to 2019. They dropped again during the pandemic until last year’s resurgence.

    There is no single explanation for why cases have been rising recently, but several factors probably contribute. First, pertussis naturally occurs in cyclic epidemics, peaking every two to five years. It is possible that the U.S. is headed into one of these peaks after a period of low activity between 2020 and 2022. However, some scientists have noted that the increase in cases is larger than what would be expected during a usual peak.

    A public health worker processes blood samples during a whooping cough outbreak in Ohio in December 2010.
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

    Some scientists have noted that this apparent resurgence correlates with a change in the type of vaccine used in children. Until the 1990s, the pertussis vaccine contained whole, killed B. pertussis bacteria cells. Whole-cell vaccine can stimulate a long-lasting immune response, but it is also more likely to cause fever and other vaccine reactions in children.

    In the 1990s, national vaccine programs began to transition to a vaccine that contains purified components of the bacterial cell but not the whole cell. Some scientists now believe that although this partial-cell vaccine is less likely to cause high fevers in children, it provides protection for a shorter time. Immunity after whole-cell vaccination is thought to last 10-12 years compared with three to five years after the partial-cell vaccine. This means people may become susceptible to infection more quickly after vaccination.

    Vaccination rates are also not as high as they should be and have started falling in children since 2020. In the U.S., the percent of kindergartners who are up to date with recommended pertussis vaccines has declined from 95% during the 2019-20 school year to 92% in the 2023-24 school year. Even fewer adolescents receive a booster dose.

    How can people protect themselves and their families?

    Routine vaccination for children starting in infancy followed by booster doses in adolescents and adults can help keep immunity high.

    Public health experts recommend that children receive five doses of the pertussis vaccine. According to the recommendations, they should receive the first three doses at 2, 4 and 6 months of age, then two additional doses at 15 months and 4 years of age, with the aim of providing protection through early adolescence.

    Infants younger than 6 weeks are not old enough to get a pertussis vaccine but are at the greatest risk of severe illness from pertussis. Vaccination during pregnancy can offer protection from birth due to antibodies that pass from the mother to the developing fetus. Many countries, including the U.S., now recommend that women receive one dose of pertussis vaccine between the 27th and 36th week of every pregnancy to protect their babies.

    To maintain protection against pertussis after childhood, a booster dose of pertussis vaccine is recommended for adolescents at 11 to 12 years of age. The CDC recommends that all adults receive at least one booster dose.

    The pertussis vaccine’s protction wanes over time, so public health experts recommend a booster around age 11 or 12.
    SELF Magazine via flickr, CC BY

    Because immunity declines over time, people who are in contact with infants and other high-risk groups, such as caregivers, parents and grandparents, may benefit from additional booster doses. When feasible, the CDC also recommends a booster dose for adults 65 years and older.

    Vaccine safety studies over the past 80 years have proven the pertussis vaccine to be safe. Around 20% to 40% of vaccinated infants experience local reactions, such as pain, redness and swelling at the vaccination site, and 3% to 5% of vaccinated infants experience a low-grade fever. More severe reactions are much less common and occur in fewer than 1% of vaccinated infants.

    The vaccine is also highly effective: For the first year after receiving all five doses of the pertussis vaccine, 98% of children are protected from pertussis. Five years after the fifth dose, 65% of vaccinated children remain protected.

    Booster vaccination during adolescence protects 74% of teens against pertussis, and booster vaccination during pregnancy protects 91% to 94% of immunized babies against hospitalization due to pertussis.

    Families can talk to their regular health care providers about whether a pertussis vaccine is needed for their child, themselves or other family members.

    Annette Regan receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Global Vaccine Data Network.

    ref. Whooping cough is making a comeback, but the vaccine provides powerful protection – https://theconversation.com/whooping-cough-is-making-a-comeback-but-the-vaccine-provides-powerful-protection-254647

    MIL OSI – Global Reports