NewzIntel.com

Category: European Union

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: 90,000+ images on Manchester’s new local image website

    Source: City of Manchester

    Manchester Libraries local image website has been revamped to offer an expanded and improved collection of historic and contemporary images of its people, streets and buildings.

    Thanks to a £100,000 funding award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in January 2024, Manchester Libraries has been able to develop the new Manchester Image Archive and to hire a project manager to oversee it.

    Currently hosting more than 90,000 images, the upgraded website features a much larger archive with the additional 12,000 images catalogued by a dedicated team of volunteers and through partnership work with The Museum Platform.

    The improved system makes it easier than ever to search and discover images of local landmarks, people, and events. Some of the new and improved features include advanced search tools and high-quality image downloads and interactive features to allow users to share memories with libraries and to create their own library of images.

    Additional features include:

    • Larger digital images with zoom functionality
    • An improved and intuitive user interface
    • Simplified and powerful search tools
    • Commenting feature to share memories or provide us with new information
    • Create and share your own galleries of your favourite images
    • Streamlined licensing functions so you can purchase images with ease
    • A blog area exploring our collection

    Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure said:

    “We have been developing this new collection since May last year and have partnered with a great team at The Museum Platform to help us build this new resource. We are thrilled to be able to offer a bigger and better website for all to use and thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and the support of the National Lottery funding we have been able to create a resource that will benefit generations to come.”

    Explore the Manchester Image Archive website here 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Over £69 billion confirmed for council budgets

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Final Settlement confirms over £69 billion government funding for councils, a 6.8% cash-terms increase in Core Spending Power 

    More than £69 billion in funding for England’s councils has been confirmed today as the government delivers on its commitment to restore trust and stability in public services.   

    Following the provisional Settlement in December, today’s final Settlement provides a 6.8% in cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power compared to 2024-25. With increased demand and running costs rising, this money is a lifeline and will guarantee no council sees a decrease in their Core Spending Power.   

    Families across the country rely on crucial council services such as social care, which is why the government is providing up to £3.7 billion additional funding to social care authorities to deliver this. This includes an £880 million uplift to the Social Care Grant, compared to 2024-25.  

    A new £270 million Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant will support the national roll out of vital family help, keeping children safe and ensuring they get the best start in life as set out in the Plan for Change.  

    While fundamental change cannot happen overnight, the government is working at pace with the sector to deliver the ambitious reform needed to spread power, money and resources more fairly across the country.   

    Today, £60 million has also been confirmed to fund long-term improvements to the local government sector over the next year, including empowering mayoral areas leading the devolution revolution in delivering local priorities and supporting councils’ financial reporting with a fit and legal audit system to ensure transparency.  

    Rebuilding the sector from the ground up is a crucial step towards the national Plan for Change to bring better value for money, sustained economic growth and fix our country’s public services.  

    The government has maintained the 5% referendum principles on council tax increases – the same level set by the previous administration- to protect taxpayers from excessive increases. 

    Unlike previous years, this government has introduced a stricter approach to the inherited arrangements that allowed councils to request higher council tax increases if they need Exceptional Financial Support and see increases as critical to maintaining their financial sustainability. 

    This approach puts taxpayers at the forefront, for example by only agreeing increases where councils are amongst the lowest existing levels for tax. In fact, taxpayers in these areas are still expected to be paying less than the average council tax compared to similar councils. This approach has limited the number and scale of additional increases, with the government not agreeing where councils have asked to increase council tax by a very high amount or by high amounts in successive years. 

    Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said:   

    Councils deliver vital services across the country – driving growth and local economies and providing a lifeline for those that need it most.  

    Through our Plan for Change we are determined to fix the foundations of local government; investing where it is needed, trusting local leaders and working together to deliver growth, better health and social care services and the affordable homes people need. 

    Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon OBE said:   

    We have been clear we will fix the foundations of local government. That means an end to short-term solutions and instead rebuilding the sector to put councils on a more stable and secure footing.    

     >Local leaders play a crucial role in delivering the day-to-day services communities across the country rely on, which is why we want to work with them towards a fairer funding model that tackles regional inequality and prioritises outcomes for local people.

    This final Settlement marks an important step towards a government focused on efficiency, value-for-money and a community first approach. For the first time, a new £600 million Recovery Grant will help support places most in need, which maximises public spending to ensure it delivers more meaningful outcomes.   

    The sector is already having its say via an open consultation on how to best streamline the outdated funding model and distribute taxpayer’s money more fairly, based on an updated assessment of need, enabling every council to deliver high quality services to their communities.   

    As part of handing local leaders more power and control of their funding, the government will end outdated processes and bureaucracy of bidding for different funding pots and bring forward the first multi-year settlement in a decade in 2026-27 to provide certainty and economic security to councils setting budgets.    

    The provisional settlement consultation was open for 4 weeks and closed on 15 January 2024.    

    Notes to Editors   

    Further details on all of the above, including allocations for individual councils can be found on the Final Local Government Finance Settlement page 2025-26 here.   

    See the Deputy Prime Minister’s full Written Ministerial Statement here: Written statements – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament   

    The Final Settlement will be debated in the House of Commons on Wednesday 5th February.  

    The government’s consultation on funding reform from 2026-27 can be found here, and remains open until 12 February.     

    Two statutory reports have also been published:   

    A record number of councils asked the government for support this year to help them set their budgets, and a record number of these councils have asked for additional council tax increases to aid their financial recovery. 

    For councils that require Exceptional Financial Support, the government has considered requests from councils for bespoke council tax referendum principles on a case-by-case basis and has agreed bespoke referendum principles for six local authorities. All six of the councils have been clear they will not be able to set a balanced budget without government support. The government has not agreed to all requests and has not agreed to any request in its entirety, to reduce the impact on taxpayers. In the areas where we have made the difficult decision to allow limited council tax rises,  we expect that no taxpayer will see their bills reach higher than the average compared to similar authorities. 

    Core Spending Power is a measure of the resources available to local authorities to fund service delivery. It sets out the money that has been made available to councils through the local government finance settlement.   

    The government confirmed unringfenced allocations of the £515m of funding announced at the provisional local government finance settlement to support to local government meet the increased costs of directly employed staff arising from changes to employer National Insurance Contribution (NICs).   

    The previous government’s referendum threshold for council tax will be maintained at 3% with 2% for the adult social care precept to protect local taxpayers.    

    Several grants including the Rural Services Delivery Grant and the Services Grant will be repurposed. The government will ensure the impact of rurality on the cost of service delivery and demand is reflected in the public consultation next year. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power. No council will see a reduction.  

    Councils will also receive over £1 billion in total through the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packing scheme (pEPR) which will cover the existing costs they incur for managing household packaging waste, provide additional funding for new legal duties, and support much needed investment in the waste and recycling industry.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Digital mental health technologies guidance launched to help manufacturers and safeguard users

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    New guidance helps manufacturers navigate medical device regulations and protect users of digital mental health technologies.

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has today issued new guidance to help manufacturers meet UK medical devices regulations and ensure digital mental health technologies are effective, reliable and acceptably safe.

    From mental health apps, AI-powered assessments, and virtual reality therapy, digital mental health technologies are increasingly used by individuals and the NHS to support mental health.

    Digital mental health technologies that diagnose, prevent, or treat conditions using complex software must meet medical device standards to ensure they are effective and acceptably safe, just like any other medical device. Manufacturers may be unsure how medical devices regulations apply to software, which products are regulated, how they are assessed, and what evidence is required.

    This new guidance explains:

    • How to define and communicate the intended purpose of a digital mental health technology
    • When a digital mental health technology is considered a medical device under UK law.
    • How risk classification is determined, ensuring proportionate regulation for different types of technologies.

    For people using mental health apps, this means greater confidence in the tools they rely on.

    Rob Reid, Deputy Director of Innovative Devices at the MHRA, said:

    Effective and acceptably safe digital tools have huge potential to improve mental health support, making help more accessible than ever. This new guidance aims to support safe access to these important tools by clarifying when a product needs regulatory approval and the steps developers must take. Maintaining clear and proportionate regulatory standards will ensure that the public can trust these technologies and benefit from the safe, effective mental health support they can provide.

    The guidance is one of the outputs from a three-year Wellcome-funded project, launched in 2023, to explore the regulation of digital mental health products. Developed by the MHRA, with input from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), NHS experts, researchers, healthcare professionals, and people with lived experience, it aims to meet both clinical and real-world needs, to address the growing mental health crisis in the UK.

    Mark Chapman, Director of HealthTech at NICE, said:

    Providing more detailed guidance to the developers of digital mental health technologies helps us to ensure that technologies being considered for NICE assessments have received an appropriate level of regulatory scrutiny to assure their safety. There are many types of technologies available, and it is important people can understand how regulations apply to different products. This guidance will help inform our evaluations and ensure that NICE is able to publish useful, usable, and timely guidance that allows people with mental health conditions to access safe and effective innovations faster.

    Professor Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, which funded the project, said:

    With millions of people around the world held back by mental health problems, digital mental health therapies have huge potential to be scalable and accessible.

    It is not easy to navigate between over and under regulation in this area. In a fast-moving and continuously evolving digital space, these thoughtful guidelines appear well positioned to strike a pragmatic balance between making digital mental health technologies accessible to those with a range of mental health needs whilst also ensuring they are safe, effective and as transparent as possible.

    Manufacturers of digital mental health technologies should review the guidance to ensure compliance before bringing their products to market.

    The full guidance is available on the MHRA website: Digital mental health technology: qualification and classification

    Notes to editors

    1. Digital mental health technologies (DMHT) are software and digital products that support mental health and wellbeing. They can be websites, internet-based platforms or applications (apps) to be used with non-medical technology, such as computers, mobile phones, fitness wearables, and virtual reality (VR) headsets, or medical technology, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) headsets. They can be available as direct-to-consumer products intended for patients and the public or used with a referral or supervision from healthcare or educational professionals, as part of the blended delivery of mental health care. Some DMHT qualify as medical devices and therefore need to be regulated as such to ensure effectiveness, reliability and acceptable safety. The new guidance provides clarity on three key areas. First, it explains how to define the intended purpose and functionality of a digital mental health technology (DMHT). Second, it sets out which types of DMHT qualify as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and therefore require regulation. Finally, it outlines how these technologies are classified based on risk, with Class I devices being low-risk and self-certified, while higher-risk devices (Class IIa, IIb, or III) require assessment by an Approved or Notified Body to obtain regulatory certification.

    2. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.

    3. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

    4. For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or call on 020 3080 7651. 

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Civil/crime news: privacy notices on legal aid application forms

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Our legal aid application forms are being updated after revisions to the privacy notices.

    Which forms are affected?

    Changes have been made to privacy notices on all legal aid forms across both criminal and civil legal aid.

    How has the privacy notice been changed?

    Changes have been made to the privacy notices on all legal aid forms that we make available on GOV.UK and via our systems such as CCMS and CCQ. The privacy notice now includes reference to Advantis Credit Ltd. who took over the contract for Crown Court means testing (CCMT) debt collection and enforcement services on behalf of the Legal Aid Agency from the previous supplier Marston Holdings Ltd. with effect from 3 February 2025.

    Will old forms still be accepted?

    Previous versions of the application forms will continue to be accepted until 5 May 2025 so providers have time to adjust and to allow software vendors time to update their case management systems.

    Show all clients updated privacy notices

    Your clients need to be aware of the updated privacy notices. This is especially important if you are submitting the older version of the form. It means directing your clients to the new privacy notices when you are collecting personal information. These privacy notices are on the new forms and you can use the links at the end of this article to help you.

    Updated forms

    Controlled work application forms

    Civil legal aid application forms

    Criminal legal aid application forms

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Initial findings of our e-discovery review

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Our Interim Director of Legal Services Matthew Wagstaff provides an update on our ongoing review of our use of e-discovery software.

    We use software to help identify evidence and other relevant material for use in our criminal investigations and prosecutions.

    This ensures we can process very large amounts of digital material across our cases and is line with the approach taken by most law enforcement agencies.   

    At present, the SFO is reviewing our current and past use of this software.  

    A sufficiently large amount of work has been undertaken as part of this review so that I can now provide a substantive update. Some of this work is ongoing. 

    Our current system  

    The SFO currently uses the software OpenText Axcelerate (“Axcelerate”). 

    As with many software programs, it is usual to find and patch software issues from time to time.  

    Recently, we finished applying a technical fix to Axcelerate after our staff identified an “encoding issue” affecting the way some words appeared in documents ingested into the system.    

    This work took some months but is now complete and the issue has been corrected.  

    We have already informed all relevant defendants about this fix across our cases in court and will continue to share information with future defendants in the normal way via pre-trial proceedings.   

    We remain confident in the efficacy and integrity of our system.  

    Our past system  

    With input from the Attorney General’s Office and His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (“HMCPSI”), the SFO has also commenced a review of our past use of software called Autonomy Introspect (“Autonomy”). 

    The issue we have identified with this software is different. The version of Autonomy used by the SFO in the past had some specific rules that governed the way search terms had to be constructed to identify variations of the word being searched.  

    The way Autonomy’s search function worked was explained in two cases at court, and we have also discussed it with the independent body that reviews our work, HMCPSI.    

    The SFO, like all prosecutors, has a legal obligation to disclose material to any convicted defendant which might cast doubt upon the safety of that person’s conviction and to undertake enquiries to ascertain whether such material exists.   

    We take this obligation very seriously and we recognise that, although we have not seen any evidence of this yet, this issue with search terms could have resulted in relevant and disclosable material being missed.  

    Therefore, we have decided to look back at our Autonomy cases to see how search terms were constructed and used by our case teams in the past. This work is well underway and we have now completed an initial review of every relevant case, prioritising cases where defendants are serving custodial sentences.  

    As a result, we have identified many cases which were clearly not affected by the issue. However, in some cases, further enquiries are needed and so we have not yet reached a decision as to whether those cases were affected or not. This work is ongoing and will likely involve some searches being re-run on some cases. 

    In all cases we have reviewed to date, we have not seen any material which undermines the safety of any conviction. 

    A dedicated senior working group at the SFO, led by Interim Director of Legal Services Matthew Wagstaff, is coordinating this review with independent input from the Attorney General’s Office and HMCPSI.  

    The work of the senior working group is also being overseen by an independent oversight group. 

    We are contacting defendants and their legal teams, where we have address details for them, to update them on this process, setting out in detail the action we have taken.   

    If you think this should include you – and you or your lawyer have not already been contacted by us – you can reach us at public.enquiries@sfo.gov.uk.  

    We are committed to continuing to publish relevant information and we expect to provide a further update in the coming months.   

    Q&A  (For reactive use with media/stakeholders and to support SFO leads internally)

    What software is involved in these reviews? 

    There are two types of software involved in these reviews. The first is Autonomy Introspect, which is no longer used by the SFO. The second is OpenText Axcelerate which remains our current e-discovery software.  

    What are the issues with the software?  

    A feature of the SFO’s version of Autonomy Introspect was that when search terms were run certain punctuation marks were treated as “tangible” characters as opposed to “non-tangible” characters. The characters in question were:  

    • % – Percentage symbol 

    • @ – At symbol 

    • / – Forward slash 

    • : – Colon  

    • . – Full stop 

    • £ – Pound sign 

    Tangible characters are ones which a search function looks for, whilst non-tangible are ones which are ignored. The result as far as Autonomy was concerned is that where one of the tangible characters appeared adjacent to a word which was being searched for it would be treated as two completely different words. For example, a search for “bribe” would not return an instance when it is directly followed by a full stop (e.g. “bribe.”).  

    Our guidance and training took this into account when setting out how to operate the software. But it emerged that search terms used on cases did not always account for this feature.  

    With Axcelerate, a case team identified that an “encoding” setting meant a limited number of searches were potentially ineffective. This was because additional characters were added when text was copied which subsequently affected searches.  

    What action have you taken?  

    We are reviewing how search terms were used historically on Autonomy Introspect by teams. Where necessary we will be re-running search terms and dip-sampling the results to check whether any material was missed which might now cast doubt on the safety of the conviction. 

    In the case of Axcelerate, teams have re-run searches, informed defence teams as appropriate and developed and tested a permanent fix for all searches. This has been successfully implemented.  

    When were these concerns identified?  

    We became aware in September 2022 on the G4S case that searches undertaken with Autonomy Introspect needed to be re-run with revised search terms.  

    HMCPSI, the independent inspectorate, was aware of the issue during its recent inspection of disclosure at the SFO.  

    In February 2024, the team investigating the London Mining case identified the “encoding” concern with Axcelerate  

    What happens next? 

    We will be contacting those parties affected and their legal teams to share details of the reviews which have been undertaken.  

    We will publish further updates on the progress of this work when appropriate.  

    Will you make public the number of cases the Autonomy issue affects?   

    We will publish only accurate information, that we have verified is correct. The number of cases we are looking at has changed as we have conducted our review and determined which cases are within scope, and it may change again. We may publish our final figures once this work is complete.   

    How many Axcelerate cases does this affect?  

    The Axcelerate issue has been resolved. We will not provide this figure, as this would reveal the SFO’s covert caseload.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: WFP and Ministry of Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief call for urgent investment into anticipatory action in Bangladesh

    Source: World Food Programme

    DHAKA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) released the “State of Anticipatory Action 2024” report, this week, highlighting the importance of anticipatory action in disaster risk management.

    The report outlines significant progress made in 2024 while emphasising the urgent need to address funding and coverage gaps to safeguard vulnerable communities in Bangladesh from escalating climate-related disasters.

    “By providing cash support before Cyclone Remal, we reduced the damage to coastal communities and protected livelihoods while ensuring people had essential resources”, said Razwanur Rahman, Director General of the Department of Disaster Management under MoDMR. “Similarly, Anticipatory Action support during the July floods helped prevent big economic losses.”  He added that the MoDMR plans to expand anticipatory action to cover more disasters, improve early warning tools and increase community-level involvement.

    Anticipatory action has proven to be critical in reducing the impact of extreme climate. In 2024, Bangladesh made significant strides in anticipatory action within its disaster management framework.  The government’s increasing integration of anticipatory action, notably its inclusion in the 2019 standing orders on disaster, was further strengthened by the activation of 15 anticipatory action initiatives. These activations covered 20 districts and reached nearly 430,000 people ahead of monsoon floods, flash floods, cyclones, and heatwaves.  A multi-stakeholder technical working group was established to better align activities with national priorities.

    The integration of tools like El Niño forecasts and other predictive models into anticipatory planning enabled more timely and targeted responses.  These efforts were supported by the mobilization of US$ 10.4 million for anticipatory action activities, with multilateral donors playing a crucial role in funding. 

    Despite these achievements, the report identifies critical gaps that must be urgently addressed. For 2025, a significant funding shortfall persists with more than half the needs underfunded (US$ 42 million). The largest funding needs are for monsoon floods (US$ 24 million), cyclones (US$ 10 million) and flash floods (US$ 8 million).

    Additionally, over 54 percent of households in need were left unsupported in 2024, with those affected by flash floods experiencing an 88.2 percent coverage gap. The need to expand coverage remains pressing.

    Looking ahead, the report identifies 23 districts for coverage, including those impacted by cold waves, landslides, droughts and heavy rainfall. Over 4.1 million households face potential exposure to major hazards, with 2.7 million households likely to experience significant impacts.

    To address these challenges, the report recommends exploring risk pooling, anticipatory action insurance and multi-year funding commitments to ensure long-term sustainability.

    “While the report underscores significant progress in institutionalising and operationalising anticipatory action in Bangladesh, challenges in the form of funding and coverage persist. By addressing these gaps through enhanced coordination, innovative financing and expanded coverage, Bangladesh can solidify its position as a global leader in anticipatory action”, said Riccardo Suppo, Head of Programme, WFP Bangladesh. He also thanked the European Union, Germany, Ireland, UN CERF, KOICA and other donors for supporting anticipatory action efforts in Bangladesh.

    #                          #                              # 

     

    About WFP: 

    The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. 

    Follow us on X @wfp_bangladesh, Facebook @WFPinBangladesh, Instagram @wfp_bangladesh  

     ng AA efforts in Bangladesh.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: UK The remediation of dangerous cladding – Public Accounts Committee

    Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)

    The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is holding a two-part evidence session on the remediation of dangerous cladding on Monday 3rd February at 3.30pm. The National Audit Office reported in November 2024 that up to 60% of buildings with dangerous cladding had not yet been identified. It highlighted hundreds of thousands of residents who have no idea when their building will be made safe, with many continuing to suffer significant emotional and financial distress.

    The session’s first panel will hear from the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign on the current experience of residents. Other likely topics to be discussed with housing sector representatives include how to accelerate remediation in social housing, strengthening enforcement and paying for remediation.

    The Committee will then move into its second panel to question senior Government and Homes England officials. The panel will likely see scrutiny of Government plans for identifying buildings with dangerous cladding. Current estimates are the 9,000 to 12,000 buildings over 11m will need remediating. At the time of the NAO’s report, only just under 5,000 buildings had been identified, with work yet to start on around a third of these.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEIQnGOdS0

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: U.S. Sixth Fleet hosts MAKO Challenge 2025

    Source: United States Navy

    The MAKO series is designed to provide Reserve Sailors with hands-on experience in a Maritime Operations Center (MOC) overseeing forces at the Operational Level of War (OLW).  

    “U.S. Sixth Fleet is hosting this year’s MAKO Challenge to provide Reserve Sailors with the experience and skills necessary to establish and operate a Maritime Operations Center in the event of a crisis or large-scale conflict,” said Rear Adm. Jason ‘PADI’ Naidyhorski, vice commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet. “Given the threats we face in the Sixth Fleet area of operations, our Reserve Sailors have to be ready on Day One to step into scenarios like this at a moment’s notice.” 

    Reserve Sailors from U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF), Fleet Forces Command (USFF), U.S. Second Fleet, U.S. Fourth Fleet, U.S. Fifth Fleet, and U.S. Tenth Fleet are also participating in the exercise. 

    The MAKO series of exercises is conducted annually to provide Reserve Sailors with realistic training in MOC procedures, preparing them to support their active-duty counterparts in both exercises and real-world contingencies.  

    Over the course of the four-day exercise, Sailors enhance warfighting readiness through hands-on training in MOC watchstanding, briefing commanders, and establishing operational planning teams and cross-functional planning teams in support of the Fleet Commander’s Decision Cycle. 

    Both the Chief of Naval Operations’ 2024 Warfighting Instructions and Chief of Navy Reserve’s 2024 Strategic Guidance prioritize readiness for the possibility of large scale conflict, in which the MOC construct would play a critical role in operations.  The MAKO series of exercises has been tailored to prepare for Reserve Sailors this contingency in accordance with this guidance. 

    Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in coordination with Allied and interagency partners, to advance U.S. national interests and promote security and stability in Europe and Africa. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: USS Mount Whitney Holds Change of Command

    Source: United States Navy

    Capt. Colin Price relieved Capt. Matthew Kiser and assumed duties as the ship’s commanding officer in a ceremony aboard the ship. Vice Adm. J. T. Anderson, commander of U.S. Sixth Fleet, and Striking and Support Forces NATO, presided over the ceremony and delivered remarks about Kiser’s time aboard the Mount Whitney.

    “One unique aspect of serving as the commanding officer of the U.S. Sixth Fleet flagship is how the ship and crew represent the U.S. Navy in Europe and Africa, participating in many exercises, key leader engagements, and strengthening our relationships with allies and partners,” Anderson said. “Capt. Kiser built a great team that accomplished all we could ask of them.”

    Kiser, a graduate of Texas A&M University and a native of Bedford, Texas assumed command in April 2023. During his tour, he led the flagship of U.S. Sixth Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO while participating in several exercises and activities, including Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2023 and 2024, Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 23, as well as support to Joint Task Force 406 as it conducted multi-national maritime crisis response and contingency planning.

    During his speech that he gave in the change of command ceremony, Kiser credited the success of his tour to the hard work that Mount Whitney Sailors exhibited.

    “I couldn’t be prouder of our Team 20 Sailors and Civil Service Mariners, and their achievements over the last two years,” Kiser said. “It has been a privilege as commanding officer to witness the hard work and dedication in supporting command and control exercises and activities with our partner branches in the U.S. armed forces and our allies in NATO.

    “My time is highlighted by the efforts of Team 20 that went into demonstrating our new capability to support two separate staffs embarked simultaneously while each were engaged with their own mission – on the only ship that can do this in the world. I am eager to watch the ship’s continued progress over the next several months as the Mount Whitney gets back out to sea.”

    Price is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in systems engineering. He was commissioned in 2001, and designated a Naval Aviator in January 2004.

    As a junior officer he was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 137 in Lemoore, California, with deployments embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), and as a global war on terror support assignment as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operator in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

    In August 2005, he participated in Joint Task Force Katrina providing humanitarian assistance to the citizens of New Orleans. In 2015, after completion of Navy Nuclear Power training he was assigned as the 25th executive officer of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

    “I want to express my sincere congratulations to Capt. Kiser for a job well done and for the great service he did for our nation and Navy,” Price said. “It is an honor and pleasure to assume the watch from you. I promise to take exemplary care of your Sailors and ship.”

    Mount Whitney, forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy operates with a combined crew of U.S. Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

    U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is the U.S. 6th Fleet flagship, homeported in Gaeta, and operates with a combined crew of U.S. Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Community groups urged to submit funding bids

    Source: Scotland – City of Perth

    Perth & Kinross Council is focusing participatory budgeting in four localities that face significant challenges and have a need for targeted community investment.

    The £100,000 funding will be split over four targeted localities as follows:

    • Central and North Perth: £47,837
    • Coupar Angus, Meigle, and Alyth: £18,846
    • South Crieff: £16,625
    • Rattray: £16,690

    Bids must be community-led and focus on tackling poverty and alleviating the cost of living crisis in these areas.

    Applications can be made online now.

    Successful applicants are expected to demonstrate how they will target these localities, though some beneficiaries may come from outside these areas.

    Applications can also include costs towards upskilling and resourcing volunteers to support the delivery of projects aimed at tackling poverty and the cost of living.

    Councillor Tom McEwan, convenor of Perth and Kinross Council’s Housing and Wellbeing Committee, said: “Tackling poverty is a priority for this Council and this is a great opportunity for community groups to access financial support for projects in their areas.

    “It does not take long to apply and I would urge community groups across all areas to make sure they submit their bids by the end of the week.

    “Residents will then have the chance to vote for the projects they think will make the biggest difference to their communities.”

    All bid will be screened and eligible applications will be put to the public vote, with the successful bids announced on 7 March 2025.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Steam toys take centre stage at pumping station event

    Source: City of Leicester

    STEAM-POWERED toys, boats and trains will take centre stage at Leicester’s Abbey Pumping Station later this month.

    Tickets are now on sale for the popular Steam Toys in Action event, which will give visitors the chance to go back in time and enjoy a nostalgic day out, with a wide range of steam-powered toys and vintage vehicles on display.

    Historic fire engines, vintage buses, a milk float and an old electric bread van will be amongst the vehicles on show at the event on Sunday 23 February, while visitors will also be able to see the pumping station’s magnificent beam engine in full steam.

    There will be rides on the steam-powered narrow-gauge railway (50p charge), with the grand opening of the Forget Me Not mini railway – built and maintained by the dedicated volunteers of the Leicester Museums Technology Association – taking place at 2pm.

    The pumping station’s café will be open for refreshments, while a vintage coal-fired chip van will be selling freshly-fried chips.

    Steam Toys in Action runs from 12 noon until 4.30pm on Sunday 23 February at the Abbey Pumping Station.

    Tickets can be bought online at a reduced price of £6 for adults, £2 for children (no charge for the under-fives) and £5 for students and those aged 60 and over. A family ticket (two adults, two children) is £15 when bought in advance.

    Tickets bought on the door are £7 for adults, £3 for children, £6 for concessions and £18 for a family ticket.

    For more information about Steam Toys in Action, visit leicestermuseums.org/Steam-Toys-2025 or call the Abbey Pumping Station on 0116 299 5111.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Parking charges at Leeds parks set to fund better parks facilities

    Source: City of Leeds

    Parking charges at five Leeds parks will be introduced on 10 February, to fund necessary maintenance and better facilities at the parks.

    The five parks are Golden Acre Park, Otley Chevin, Roundhay Park (including Mansion Lane), Temple Newsam and Middleton Park (where charges will apply at the Urban Bike Park only).

    Like councils across the UK, Leeds City Council is facing unprecedented budget challenges, needing to find over £100million in savings over the next financial year. Simultaneously, significant investment is needed to ensure that Leeds’s much-loved parks continue to be safe and welcoming spaces for residents and visitors.

    The decision was therefore made to introduce a small parking charge at the five sites, set at £4 for a full day. There will also be the option to purchase a year’s season ticket for £80, equating to just over £1.50 per week, which can be used across all Leeds City Council’s parks.

    Blue badge holders will continue to park for free.

    All the investments required to introduce the parking charges will be funded by the income generated through the charges themselves, including the new ticket machines. It is anticipated that the costs will be recouped from the income generated by the charges within six months.

    The money raised will also fund car park surface improvements, bay marking, signage, safe access for pedestrians and ongoing maintenance. This is to make the sites more welcoming, accessible, safer and easier to navigate and park in.

    Cycle parking will be added at the car parks as part of the scheme and electric vehicle charging infrastructure will be considered and implemented where possible.

    Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, said: “Leeds City Council looks after over 4,000 hectares of parks and green spaces. Sadly, without a sustainable funding stream, the much-loved spaces will deteriorate, resulting in health and safety risks. This is why we have taken the decision to introduce parking charges at these five parks in Leeds, starting 10 February.

    “We are keeping the charges nominal, equivalent to or less than a return ticket on the bus, and parking will remain free for blue badge holders.

    “I’d also like to reiterate that the funding required to introduce these charges, such as new ticket machines, will all be paid for by the charges themselves.

    “By maintaining our wonderful parks and green spaces, we are providing spaces for communities in the city to be active and to play and helping to improve mental and physical health across all ages.”

    Parking payments will be accepted at the machines using a contactless bank card or via the PayByPhone parking app. Season tickets will be available to purchase online (at https://bit.ly/ParkingLCC) or using cash or card in some community hubs and libraries and in some of the council’s retail units and cafés within the parks.

    The charges will be:

    • £1 up to 2 hours.
    • £2.50 for half a day
    • £4 for a full day
    • Season ticket: £10 per month or £80 per annum
    • Free for blue badge holders

    The charges will apply seven days a week between 8am – 8pm.

    ENDS

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: GB Energy: Labour’s broken promises will hurt North East of Scotland

    Source: Scottish Greens

    03 Feb 2025 Climate

    Labour must not break its promise to workers in Aberdeen and beyond.

    More in Climate

    People in the North East of Scotland will not forget it if Labour’s GB Energy fails to deliver on promised jobs for Aberdeen, says Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman.

    The comments come as the boss of Keir Starmer’s energy company has revealed that it could take 20 years for the promised jobs to be created.

    At the general election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar promised “lower bills, more jobs, greater energy security”, but today Scotland discovered that Labour had yet again over-promised in their desire for power. Now Scotland could have to wait decades to feel any benefit.

    This is just the latest failure by Labour to make good on its promise to working Scots to make household bills cheaper. In August 2024, The UK Government dumped a key election promise to cut energy bills by £300 a year, and when questioned by MPs at Westminster in October, the boss of GB Energy was unable to say when GB Energy would reduce household bills.

    Scottish Greens MSP for North East, Maggie Chapman said:

    “Labour promised that GB Energy would finally cut energy bills while creating hundreds of new jobs in Aberdeen, but it’s looking increasingly likely that neither of these things will happen.

    “GB Energy looks like yet another Westminster white elephant that is designed by businessmen for businessmen. If it is not lowering bills or creating jobs then what will it do?

    “Energy bills are too high and are stretching people to their limits. We must get away from a broken and destructive system that means sky high bills for households and families and chaos for our climate.

    “People were told that they were voting for change at the election, but it’s clear that Starmer and Sarwar have no intention of delivering it.

    “Time and again, this Labour government has shown that it cannot be trusted. It has already chosen to plunge pensioners into fuel poverty by cutting winter fuel payments, kept the cruel two-child cap and betrayed millions of working class WASPI women. Are workers in Aberdeen the next to be betrayed?

    “Scotland deserves so much better than this. We have masses of unlocked potential in our skilled workforce, and vast renewable resources. We need politicians to invest in our communities and our skills and put people and planet before profit.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Regulator investigates charities over conflicts of interest

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry to examine ongoing regulatory concerns regarding the trustees’ management and administration of Solev Co Limited.

    SOLEV CO LIMITED – 254623 was established in 1967 with general charitable purposes. The regulator’s primary concerns focus on related-party transactions recorded in the charity’s accounts and whether conflicts of interest have been managed appropriately, particularly given that the trustees were, until recently, all part of the same family. The previous trustees were all closely related.  Trustees are expected to act in the best interests of the charity and properly manage any conflicts of interest.

    The inquiry will also investigate why the charity has not submitted accounts and annual returns within the statutory timeframe for the past five years and is currently in default with their 2023 and 2024 accounts, which is a legal obligation for trustees.

    The Commission has also opened an inquiry into HATZLOCHO LIMITED – 1082076 to examine similar concerns. The charity’s purposes include advancing the Orthodox Jewish faith, and relieving poverty.

    Both inquiries will examine the administration, governance and management of the charity, in particular the extent to which:

    • the trustees have complied with their statutory reporting duties including the submission of the charity’s annual reports and accounts to the Commission
    • the trustees have acted in accordance with their legal duties, with particular regard to the composition of the trustee board, the management of the charity’s finances, related party transactions and conflicts of interest and/or loyalty
    • any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity are a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees

    The Commission may extend the scope of either inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.

    It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.  

    ENDS

    Notes to editors

    1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society. Find out more: About us – The Charity Commission – GOV.UK
    2. The Charity Commission opened  statutory inquiries into the charities under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 as a result of its regulatory concerns that there is or has been misconduct and/or mismanagement in their administration. The inquiry into Solev Co Limited (254623) opened on 13 December 2024. The separate inquiry into Hatzlocho Limited (1082076) opened on 19 December 2024.
    3. A statutory inquiry is a legal power enabling the Commission to formally investigate matters of regulatory concern within a charity and to use protective powers for the benefit of the charity and its beneficiaries, assets, or reputation. An inquiry will investigate and establish the facts of the case so that the Commission can determine the extent of any misconduct and/or mismanagement; the extent of the risk to the charity, its work, property, beneficiaries, employees or volunteers; and decide what action is needed to resolve the concerns.
    4. Please note that the Commission has not made any conclusions, and the opening of the inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing.

    Press office

    Email pressenquiries@charitycommission.gov.uk

    Out of hours press office contact number: 07785 748787

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: National Waste Crime Survey 2024-25 launched

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    The third National Waste Crime Survey (NWCS) is now open for three weeks to understand the scale, impact, and deterrence of waste crime across England

    The Environment Agency is calling on industry and the public to take part in its third National Waste Crime Survey, launched today (Monday 3 February), to gain a greater understanding of waste crime across England.

    Taking the time to respond to our survey is crucial in making England’s approach to tackling waste crime and waste management safer and efficient, and helping us crack down on criminality. The public’s awareness and experience will help the Environment Agency in taking the most effective action against waste criminals.

    The Environment Agency uses the insight that industry and the public provides through the survey to: 

    • Measure the perceived scale and impact of waste crime in England 
    • Understand deterrents that could prevent people from committing waste crime 
    • Gauge public and industry willingness to report waste crimes 
    • Assess the effectiveness of action taken by us and our partners to reduce waste crime.  

    Insights from the survey are crucial in shaping the Environment Agency’s strategic priorities, and the actions taken have resulted in the total number of illegal waste sites in operation falling to 344 last year – the lowest total figure on record. It has never been more important to gather more information on waste crime to ensure this number continues to fall – not least since it is estimated to cost the economy in England a staggering £1 billion annually.   

    Steve Molyneux, Deputy Director of Waste and Resources Regulation at the Environment Agency, said:

    With an estimated 18% of waste illegally managed we know that activities like illegal waste burning and shipping, mis-describing waste, and operating illegal sites cost the economy £1 billion a year.

    Our National Waste Crime Survey is crucial for understanding the scale of these crimes and gathering insights from those directly affected. I encourage everyone impacted by waste crime to take part.

    Your insight will enable us to continue to target waste criminals, stopping them from impacting our environment, communities, the legitimate waste management industry, and the economy.

    Waste Minister Mary Creagh said:  

    Waste criminals are a scourge on society, affecting rural and urban communities equally.

    They make huge profits at the expense of the law-abiding majority, by not paying tax – not to mention the costs of cleaning up after them and making people feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods.

    I urge people to take part in the Environment Agency’s survey to help us crack down on waste criminals and protect the environment.

    The Environment Agency encourages all stakeholders to participate and help promote the survey to others who can help.

    The survey is open for three weeks from 3 February 2025 and can be accessed online.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: INVL Renewable Energy Fund I will publicly offer EUR 8 million of bonds via REFI Energy

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The INVL Renewable Energy Fund I managed by INVL Asset Management, the leading alternative asset manager in the Baltics, will start the public offering of an EUR 8 million bond issue on 4 February through REFI Energy, a company it owns. The bonds will be offered to private and institutional investors in the Baltic countries. The proceeds will go to refinance previously issued bonds.

    The bond issue has a maturity of 2.5 years. The fixed interest rate on the debt securities will be set in the range of 7.5% to 8.5% and announced at completion of the offering. Interest will be paid quarterly to investors. The INVL Renewable Energy Fund I will provide guarantees to all holders of the bonds.

    “The fund continues actively developing renewable energy projects – the construction of solar power plants – in Romania and Poland. A successful offering of the new bonds will allow us not only to carry out the planned projects but also to reduce debt costs by refinancing bonds issued in 2023,” says Liudas Liutkevičius, Managing Partner of the INVL Renewable Energy Fund I.

    The bonds of the company owned by the INVL Renewable Energy Fund I will be offered to investors from 4 February until 1 p.m. on 17 February. The manager and distributor of the public bond offering is Šiaulių Bankas. The certified advisor to the issuer is the law firm TGS Baltic, while the bondholders’ trustee is the company Audifina. Within 3 months of the completion of the offering, the debt securities will be listed on the First North alternative securities market operated by Nasdaq Vilnius.

    More details about the bonds issue and the offering process are available at www.invlrenewable.com  in the section for Investors relations

    An online webinar for investors and question-and-answer session will be held on 10 February at 10 a.m. The link to the presentation is here. The presentation will be held in English.

    The fund’s company REFI Energy raised EUR 3.5 million from investors in late June 2023 in a private placement of 2-year 9.5% fixed-rate bonds. In September of the same year, the company entered the public bond market and raised EUR 4.5 million in a public offering of bonds with the same maturity. Those bonds, offered only in Lithuania, have a yield of 10%. Both issues were carried out under the General Terms and Conditions for EUR 8 million of REFI Energy Bonds.

    The INVL Renewable Energy Fund I is focusing on the Polish and Romanian markets, where the fund’s managers see big growth potential. Total capacity of the fund’s portfolio of projects in development in these markets is 388 MW.

    In Romania, the fund is investing in projects for 8 solar plants with a combined capacity of 356 MW. In Poland, it is developing solar park projects with over 32 MW of capacity. Investments in the projects in Romania and Poland are expected to exceed EUR 258 million. Construction of all the solar parks in those countries should be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2027.

    To date the INVL Renewable Energy Fund I has raised EUR 73.9 million from investors through investment units and bonds. 

    About the INVL Renewable Energy Fund I 

    The INVL Renewable Energy Fund I was established on 20 July 2021 by INVL Asset Management, the leading alternative asset manager in the Baltic States, as a sub-fund for informed investors. It invests in early- and mid-stage renewable energy projects (solar), including the construction of new power plants, the development and/or acquisition of the infrastructure necessary for the operation of power plants, and effective management of existing power plants in the European Union and member states of the European Economic Area. 

    INVL Asset Management is part of Invalda INVL, the leading Baltic asset management group.

    Further information:
    Liudas Liutkevičius
    Managing Partner of the INVL Renewable Energy Fund I
    liudas.liutkevicius@invl.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: StoneX Completes Acquisition of Octo Finances

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON and PARIS, Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StoneX Group Inc. (the “Company”; NASDAQ: SNEX) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Octo Finances SA (“Octo Finances”), which will further expand the Company’s offering in fixed income and strengthen its capabilities in Europe.

    “We’re thrilled to officially welcome Octo Finances to StoneX Group and believe the company will provide us with significant new capabilities. Our joint planning is well underway, and we are excited by the opportunities for growth for the combined business in Europe,” said Anthony Di Ciollo, Global Head of Fixed Income at StoneX.

    Octo Finances is a leading fixed income broker based in Paris, France. The company has expertise in bond and convertible sales, debt capital markets and credit research, having published over 75,000 reports since their founding in 1991.

    About StoneX Group Inc.

    StoneX Group Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates a global financial services network that connects companies, organizations, traders and investors to the global market ecosystem through a unique blend of digital platforms, end-to-end clearing and execution services, high touch service and deep expertise. The Company strives to be the one trusted partner to its clients, providing its network, product and services to allow them to pursue trading opportunities, manage their market risks, make investments and improve their business performance. A Fortune 100 company headquartered in New York City and listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (NASDAQ:SNEX), StoneX Group Inc. and its more than 4,500 employees serve more than 54,000 commercial, institutional, and payments clients, and more than 400,000 retail accounts, from more than 80 offices spread across six continents. Further information on the Company is available at www.stonex.com.

    About Octo Finances SA

    Octo Finances SA is a premier fixed income brokerage firm based in Paris, France, specializing in bond and convertible sales, debt capital markets, and credit research. Established in 1991, Octo Finances has built a robust client base that includes banks, insurance companies, private debt funds, mutual funds, and private wealth managers. With a commitment to delivering exceptional client service and market insights, Octo Finances continues to be a trusted partner in the financial services industry.

    Investor inquiries:
    Kevin Murphy
    (212) 403 – 7296
    kevin.murphy@stonex.com

    SNEX-G

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sophos Completes Secureworks Acquisition

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    OXFORD, United Kingdom and ATLANTA, Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophos and Secureworks® (NASDAQ:SCWX), two global cybersecurity pioneers that have innovated and redefined services and technology solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced the completion of Sophos’ acquisition of Secureworks. The all-cash transaction values Secureworks at approximately $859 million. With the completion of the acquisition, Secureworks’ common stock has ceased trading on Nasdaq. Sophos is backed by Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm.

    With this acquisition, Sophos is now the leading pure-play cybersecurity provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, supporting more than 28,000 organizations of all sizes worldwide. The combination will enable Sophos to deliver an unparalleled security operations platform, featuring hundreds of built-in integrations for adaptive protection, detection and response for mitigating cyberattacks. The open and scalable platform helps organizations, especially those with diverse IT estates, safeguard current and future technology investments, providing greater operational efficiencies and return on cybersecurity spend. Sophos X-Ops is also expanding its threat intelligence and security services capabilities with the addition of the Secureworks Counter Threat Unit™ and security operations and advisory teams.

    As a channel-first cybersecurity provider, Sophos remains unwavering in its commitment to deliver cutting-edge security services and technologies that empower our global community of resellers, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs). This includes expanding their reach, enhancing operational scalability and providing stronger defenses to the countless organizations that need the ability to effectively defend against today’s constant and complex cyberattacks.

    “The market is embracing MDR as a clear means to deliver positive cybersecurity outcomes, and this has meant rapid growth in the category,” said Joe Levy, CEO, Sophos. “Sophos is differentiated by our very mature competencies in ransomware detection, malware analysis and threat actor tradecraft. These defenses are further augmented by Sophos’ native artificial intelligence (AI), first innovated by our globally peer recognized AI team nearly a decade ago, and embedded in our MDR, endpoint, network, email, and cloud security to more effectively neutralize and stop threats. With the integration of Secureworks, our expanded services and product portfolio will provide even stronger end-to-end security solutions that will include identity threat detection and response (ITDR), next-gen SIEM and managed risk, all in a single open platform.

    “We will also be able to further advance our AI, threat intelligence and attack research through more diverse and deeper global telemetry that is analyst-tuned for the real-world. At every level, we are very excited about this next accelerated chapter for Sophos.”

    Available Now
    In the near term, Sophos and Secureworks are operating business as usual, working with our respective channel partners, MSPs and MSSPs worldwide to distribute our existing security services and technology. Both companies’ sales and customer experience groups will operate to support existing customers, assist with renewals and develop current and new business opportunities. Sophos protects more than 600,000 customers worldwide with its portfolio of MDR, endpoint, network, email, and cloud security solutions that integrate and adapt to provide real-time defense through the Sophos Central platform.

    Transaction Details
    Under the terms of the agreement, Sophos acquired Secureworks in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $859 million. Secureworks shareholders, including Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), will receive $8.50 per share in cash. This represents a 28% premium to the unaffected 90-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Sophos, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC., Barclays, BofA Securities, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors and provided debt financing for the transaction. Piper Sandler & Company and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to Secureworks, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel.

    About Sophos
    Sophos is a global leader and innovator of advanced security solutions for defeating cyberattacks. The company acquired Secureworks in February 2025, bringing together two pioneers that have redefined the cybersecurity industry with their innovative, native AI-optimized services, technologies and products. Sophos is now the largest pure-play Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider, supporting more than 28,000 organizations. In addition to MDR and other services, Sophos’ complete portfolio includes industry-leading endpoint, network, email, and cloud security that interoperate and adapt to defend through the Sophos Central platform. Secureworks provides the innovative, market-leading Taegis XDR/MDR, identity threat detection and response (ITDR), next-gen SIEM capabilities, managed risk, and a comprehensive set of advisory services. Sophos sells all these solutions through reseller partners, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) worldwide, defending more than 600,000 organizations worldwide from phishing, ransomware, data theft, other every day and state-sponsored cybercrimes. The solutions are powered by historical and real-time threat intelligence from Sophos X-Ops and the newly added Counter Threat Unit (CTU). Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com. 

    Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
    This communication includes certain disclosures which contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including but not limited to certain statements related to the merger of the wholly-owned subsidiary of Sophos, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation (“Parent”) with and into Secureworks Corp. (the “Company”), with the Company continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent (the “Merger”). In most cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “confidence,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “outlook,” “should,” and “would,” or similar words or expressions that refer to future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements, including certain statements regarding the Merger and its effects, are based largely on information currently available to our management and our management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although we believe our expectations are based on reasonable estimates and assumptions, they are not guarantees of performance. There is no assurance that our expectations will occur or that our estimates or assumptions will be correct, and we caution investors and all others not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Important factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations include but are not limited to: (i) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the completion of the Merger; (ii) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (iii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including but not limited to acts of terrorism, outbreaks of war or hostilities or the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health issues, as well as management’s response to any of the aforementioned factors; (iv) the impact of inflation, rising interest rates, and global conflicts, including disruptions in European economies as a result of the Ukrainian/Russian conflict and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the relationship between China and Taiwan and ongoing trade disputes between the United States and China; (v) there may be liabilities that are not known, probable or estimable at this time or unexpected costs, charges or expenses; (vi) those risks and uncertainties set forth under the headings “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as such risk factors may be amended, supplemented or superseded from time to time by other reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) from time to time, which are available via the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Neither Parent nor the Company undertakes to update, and expressly disclaim any obligation to update, any forward-looking statements, whether resulting from circumstances or events that arise after the date the statements are made, new information, or otherwise. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we may have expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict those events or how they may affect Parent or the Company.

    Media Contacts
    Kelly Kane, Director of Public Relations, Americas: Kelly.Kane@sophos.com 
    Samantha Powers, VP of Public Relations: Sophos@walkersands.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Parkinson’s disease market across 7MM to grow at 8.9% CAGR during 2023-33, forecasts GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Parkinson’s disease market across 7MM to grow at 8.9% CAGR during 2023-33, forecasts GlobalData

    Posted in Pharma

    The Parkinson’s disease (PD) market across the seven major markets (7MM*) is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9% from $3.4 billion in 2023 to $7.9 billion in 2033, driven by the introduction of 10 pipeline products, the increased adoption of novel levodopa delivery methods, and the rising prevalence of PD due to the aging population across the 7MM, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s latest report, “Parkinson’s Disease: Seven-Market Drug Forecast and Market Analysis,”  anticipates an increase in sales across most currently marketed PD drug classes. Specifically, levodopa therapies, catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, dopamine agonists, monoamine oxidase B (MOA-B) inhibitors, other antiparkinsonian agents, and PD dementia agents.

    Among the pre-existing drug-classes, the agents targeting PD dementia are expected to see the greatest growth with a CAGR of 24.5% during the forecast period. Additionally, the launch of 10 late-stage pipeline therapies—including two disease-modifying therapies (DMT) and several symptomatic treatments targeting diverse PD needs—will collectively drive an estimated $3.5 billion in sales by 2033.

    Lorraine Palmer, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The treatment of PD dementia is consistently rated one of the highest unmet needs by key opinion leaders (KOLs) and high-prescribers. Currently, there is only one agent, rivastigmine, indicated for the treatment of PD dementia within the 7MM. However, it is anticipated that two agents—Anavex’s blarcamesine and Irlab Therapeutics’s pirepemat—targeting PD dementia will launch by 2033.”

    The expansion of the levodopa delivery system AbbVie’s Produodopa/Vyalev across the 7MM (following its launch in Japan in 2023, expansion into the 5EU in 2024, and anticipated launch in the US in 2025) is expected to drive it into the highest-grossing PD treatment by 2033, with projected sales of $1.2 billion by 2033. This also reflects strong enthusiasm from KOLs regarding its broader availability.

    Palmer adds: “The anticipated launch of Roche/Prothena’s prasinezumab and Annovis Bio’s buntanetap as the first DMTs for PD will reshape the treatment space. These treatments aim to address the underlying biology of the disease by targeting α-synuclein aggregation, a key factor in disease progression. While KOL opinions are divided on their efficacy, the introduction of these DMTs will be an important step towards addressing the field’s most pressing unmet need. Therefore, it is expected that these two therapies alone will make up a large portion of the market come 2033. GlobalData forecasts sales of $1.5 billion by 2033.”

    GlobalData’s analysis also highlights the growing prevalence of PD, with diagnosed cases expected to increase from 2.6 million in 2023 to 3.1 million by 2033 across the 7MM. The number of treated cases is forecasted to rise in parallel, from 1.9 million in 2023 to 2.3 million in 2033, reflecting the aging population within the 7MM.

    However, the patent expiry of key therapies including Nuplazid (pimavanserin), Rytary (carbidopa/levodopa), Ongentys (opicapone), and Xadago (safinamide mesylate) is expected to curtail the market growth. Collectively, the therapies anticipated to lose their patent protection within the forecast period accounted for $1.1 billion in 2023 sales across the 7MM but are forecasted to decline to $202.8 million by 2033.

    Palmer concludes: “The PD market is extremely dynamic. However, the next decade is promising transformative growth. With the expansion and launch of groundbreaking therapies, particularly DMTs and novel mechanisms of action to address PD dementia and motor complications. The late-stage pipeline is well positioned to meet the needs of a growing patient population.”

    *7MM = The US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Kinshasa’s traffic cops run an extortion scheme generating five times more revenue than fines

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Raúl Sanchez de la Sierra, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

    Commuting in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, presents challenges for its 17 million residents. Massive traffic jams and unsafe driving cause chaos on the roads, leading to long delays.

    The chaos has become a pressing concern for residents. Reaching Gombe, Kinshasa’s central business district, for instance, can take up to five hours from surrounding neighbourhoods.

    When he came to power in January 2019, President Felix Tshisekedi promised to combat Kinshasa’s traffic chaos by targeting road infrastructure. This included constructing an interchange and flyover. One-way traffic was introduced on certain streets. These have had little effect. Kinshasa’s traffic issues persist.

    While congestion in the capital is usually blamed on poor infrastructure, there are some harder-to-see causes. As social science researchers, we set out to understand what institutional factors might be behind the city’s gridlock.

    In a recent paper, we analysed an illegal revenue-generating scheme inside Kinshasa’s traffic police agency involving a coalition of traffic police agents, their managers and judicial officers. We studied the role this scheme plays in the city’s traffic conditions.

    Under the scheme, known as the quota system, station managers (police commanders) assign street agents a daily quota of drivers to escort to the station, often based on fabricated allegations.

    Our findings and analysis provide insights into how the quota system causes traffic jams and accidents, undermining the police agency’s mandate of traffic regulation. We also detail how corruption operates as a coordinated system rather than as isolated acts of individual misconduct.

    The problem

    Like many traffic police agencies worldwide, Kinshasa’s traffic police are tasked with managing key intersections and enforcing traffic rules.

    Similar to many other civil servants in the Democratic Republic of Congo, police officers earn meagre salaries – around US$70 monthly. Anecdotal observation suggests that the police service lacks funds for basic necessities such as fuel or communication costs. Low resources have contributed to police officers extracting funds from drivers, partly for personal profit, partly to cover the costs for their police work.

    A major way in which this is done is through a specific scheme involving traffic police agents. We found that station managers assign different street agents a daily quota of drivers to bring to the station.

    To meet this quota, agents often use brute force and have the discretion to invent infractions that they report at the police station. The dilapidated state of most cars in Kinshasa helps police officers with this task.

    At the station, agents pass the allegations to judicial officers, who have the power to issue charges – or demand bribes so drivers avoid formal penalties. Many drivers try to avoid this extortion by developing relationships with influential protectors. These are people who can intervene on a driver’s behalf and are often high-placed security officers or politicians.

    Our research

    After three years of qualitative fieldwork, we built trust with a large number of individuals inside and around the traffic police agency. This enabled us to design data collection systems in 2015 to study the traffic police agency’s practices.

    We relied on the cooperation of 160 individuals and generated the following data:

    • direct observations of over 13,000 interactions between officers and drivers at intersections

    • station records of 1,255 escorted vehicles, including bribe negotiations and outcomes

    • traffic flow and accident data from 6,399 hourly observations.

    To quantify the cost of this scheme on public service, we added an experiment: we collaborated with police commanders to reduce the daily quotas for some teams and days.

    We encouraged commanders to temporarily cut their teams’ quotas in half. Reducing quotas could be expected to lower corruption demands on agents, reducing corruption overall. It would also enable agents to focus more of their time on managing traffic – an outcome later confirmed by our findings.

    To ensure this approach worked, we compensated commanders for the private income losses they would experience due to the quota reduction, which we carefully estimated before implementing the study. This compensation is not unlike traditional anti-corruption incentives routinely used across the world, except that rather than it being targeted at street-level agents, it targeted the node of this particular scheme: the police commanders.

    What we found

    1. The scheme generates large illicit revenue. The traffic police agency’s real revenue is five times larger than its official income from fines. We found that 68% of the illicit revenue generated through the quota scheme came from bribes paid by drivers after they’d been escorted to the station. The rest of the illicit revenue comes from street-level bribes outside of this quota scheme.

    2. The revenue raised relies on extortion at police stations. Judicial police officers had the power to threaten to issue arbitrary charges. We found that, first, 82% of the allegations were unverifiable by third parties. Second, the amount raised in station bribes was strongly linked to whether a driver was able to call a powerful “protector”.

    3. Extortion in police stations relies on the street agents’ power to arbitrarily escort drivers. These agents use their discretion to fabricate allegations and/or physical force to bring drivers to the station. When a driver was not seen making an infraction, force was more likely to be used.

    Overall, this means that the scheme hinged on a coalition of managers, agents and judicial officers.

    Through the reduction in the quota scheme levels, our scheme also revealed some social costs of this scheme. We found two important results.

    Worse traffic: the quota scheme was accountable for a significant share of traffic jams and accidents observed at street intersections from where the agents operate. Partly through their induced absence and partly through their behaviour, the police officers also create numerous traffic jams and accidents. While this is suggestive rather than conclusive, our estimates suggest that 40% of traffic jams at the main intersections of the city are due to the scheme.

    Diluted incentives to respect the law: the scheme made it less likely that drivers would respect the law. They could be escorted to a police station regardless of whether they complied with the traffic code.

    Why the findings matter

    Our study, which provides rare, detailed evidence of how corruption operates, has three policy implications.

    1. Target officials’ managers, rather than the officials themselves. Visible corruption is only the tip of the iceberg, and hinges on relationships of power and coalitions inside the state.

    2. Limit the discretion of judicial officers to charge the public, or that of agents to escort drivers to police stations arbitrarily.

    3. Incentivise “good” corruption. Encouraging station officials to take a significant share of fines for genuine infractions could give agents an incentive to escort drivers who actually break traffic rules. However, the trade-offs between traffic flow, safety and compliance must be carefully weighed, as quotas tied to fines could worsen congestion.

    Raúl Sanchez de la Sierra is a co-founder of Marakuja Kivu Research, a data collection organization specialized in data collection in war-torn zones especially eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    Kristof Titeca is an associate Senior Research Fellow at the Egmont Institute in Belgium.

    Albert Malukisa Nkuku and Haoyang (Stan) Xie do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Kinshasa’s traffic cops run an extortion scheme generating five times more revenue than fines – https://theconversation.com/kinshasas-traffic-cops-run-an-extortion-scheme-generating-five-times-more-revenue-than-fines-246786

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former soldier jailed over spying offences

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A former soldier who sparked a nationwide manhunt after escaping from prison has been jailed for spying offences.

    His conviction and sentencing follows an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which found he had been sharing sensitive military information with Iranian agents.

    Daniel Khalife, 23 (27.09.01) was sentenced on Monday, 3 February at Woolwich Crown Court to a total of 14 years and three months’ imprisonment for espionage and terrorism offences. He was previously convicted of these offences in November 2024, following a trial at the same court.

    Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “This sentence reflects the gravity of the offences committed by Khalife. The threat to the UK from states such as Iran is very serious, so for a soldier in the Army to be sharing sensitive military material and information with them is extremely reckless and dangerous.

    “I’d like to reiterate my praise to all those who worked on this investigation – those who looked into Khalife’s activity in sharing information with the Iranians, but also the many colleagues from agencies and police forces who assisted us after his escape from prison.

    “It was thanks to a combination of fantastic support from the public, along with some brilliant police work that we were able to find and arrest Khalife after his escape and make sure he faced justice.

    “This outcome and sentence should serve as a warning to others that the illegal sharing of information in this way will be treated extremely seriously by security services and police, and we will use the full force of the law against those who put the UK’s security at risk.”

    An investigation into Khalife began in November 2021 after he anonymously contacted MI5 twice that month to say that he had established contact with Iranian agents and wanted to become a ‘double agent’. The details, however, were passed to police and they identified that Khalife was the person behind the calls and that he was a soldier in the Army based at Staffordshire Barracks.

    Khalife was arrested in January 2022, and police seized various devices and documents from his room. The ensuing investigation found Khalife was in possession of various sensitive documents and information – including details of soldiers who were attached to highly sensitive military units. They also found evidence that Khalife had made contact with Iranian agents and had passed sensitive military information to them over the preceding two-and-a-half years.

    Khalife was due to be charged with offences in January 2023, however he was reported as missing by his Army unit in early January 2023. When his room was searched, what appeared to be a potential improvised explosive device was found, along with a note, indicating that Khalife had left as he feared he was going to be charged when he returned on bail. On 26 January 2023, Khalife was spotted at a leisure centre in Staffordshire and was subsequently arrested and charged.

    In September 2023, while awaiting trial, Khalife escaped from HMP Wandsworth. Police were informed and following a three-day manhunt – which involved hundreds of officers from across the Metropolitan Police, as well as support from police forces across the country and colleagues from various other agencies including those at ports and borders – Khalife was found and arrested in Northolt.

    When he was giving evidence during his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, on 11 November, Khalife pleaded guilty to escaping from HMP Wandsworth.

    On 28 November, he was found guilty of passing on information to Iran, contrary to section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, for which he was sentenced on Monday, 3 February to six years imprisonment.

    Khalife was also found guilty of eliciting or attempted to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000. He was sentenced to six years’ consecutive (consisting of five years custodial, with an additional year on licence).

    Khalife was also sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment for his prison escape – again to be served consecutively – meaning he was sentenced to a total of 14 years and three months. Khalife will also be subject to notification requirements under part 4 of the Counter Terrorism Act, 2008 for 15 years.

    Khalife was found not guilty by the jury of creating a bomb hoax at the Army barracks in Staffordshire.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kate McMahon, Historian of Global Slavery, Smithsonian Institution

    John Warner Barber’s ‘Death of Capt. Ferrer,’ 1839. Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    On the night of July 1, 1839, 53 enslaved Africans revolted aboard the slaving schooner La Amistad – Spanish for “Friendship” – while they were being shipped to a plantation in Puerto Príncipe, Cuba.

    Kidnapped and trafficked from modern-day Sierra Leone to Havana on a larger vessel, they had been transferred to the smaller La Amistad to reach Puerto Príncipe.

    A 25-year-old man named Sengbe Pieh led the rebels, who suffered 10 fatalities in the fray. They still managed to kill the captain, Ramon Ferrer, and take control of the ship, ordering the surviving crew to return them to Sierra Leone. But the crew instead sailed the vessel north, where it was captured in Long Island Sound.

    With the rebels detained in Connecticut, their fate would be decided by the state’s legal system.

    A remarkable set of 22 drawings reveal the faces of these rebels, providing a rare glimpse into their humanity when they were affirming their right to live free.

    I served as the lead historian and researcher for an exhibition where three of these portraits are now on display, “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World,” at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

    Few images exist

    In 1808, the United States, along with a host of other countries, banned the participation of its citizens in the transportation of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas. Nonetheless, at least 2.8 million Africans were brought to the Americas between 1808 and 1866, primarily to work on sugar plantations in Brazil and Cuba. Shippers, plantation owners, merchants and crews reaped massive profits.

    But historians know very little about the individuals aboard these slave ships. More often than not, their existence was reflected in numbers on ledgers and spreadsheets. Their birth names, birth dates, family histories – anything that would have humanized them – were hard to come by.

    Portraits of enslaved people from the 19th century were also unusual. Enslavers often viewed them as mere chattel and not worth the expense and effort of commissioning a painting. If they did appear in art, it was in the background as loyal servants, helpless victims or stereotypical brutes.

    Putting faces to the names

    That’s what makes these drawings, created by Connecticut artist William H. Townsend during the trial, so remarkable.

    ‘Fuli,’ by William H. Townsend.
    Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

    Historians don’t know exactly why Townsend decided to draw them, only that he lived locally and sat in the courtroom during the trial. In 1934, these portraits were donated to Yale University’s Beinecke Library by one of Townsend’s descendants.

    While his motivations for drawing these portraits remain unclear, the humanity he depicted is clear. The expressions of his subjects often evoke both their resistance and their desire for freedom.

    Fuli, one of several captives who had stolen water on board the vessel and had been ordered flogged by Captain Ferrer during the voyage, gazes at the viewer with a solemn, self-possessed air. It’s easy to imagine him as a leader steeled by all the suffering he experienced over the course of his journey.

    Marqu – or Margru – was one of the three young girls who were aboard the Amistad. In her portrait, she gently smiles – a glint of a personality that’s persevered despite the trauma of the voyage and her time spent in prison awaiting trial.

    Marqu, drawn by William H. Townsend, was one of three enslaved girls aboard the Amistad.
    Library of Congress

    Grabo – or Grabeau – was second-in-command to Pieh in the revolt. He was a rice planter and was married at the time of his capture, and was enslaved to repay a debt his family owed. In his portrait, he gazes with his eyebrows raised – inquisitive, proud and at ease.

    Lights of freedom

    Despite their different facial expressions, the three appear to be united in their collective determination to be agents in their own liberation. In Pieh’s words: “Brothers, we have done that which we purposed. … I am resolved it is better to die than to be a white man’s slave.”

    Grabo, second-in-command of the rebels aboard the Amistad, drawn by William H. Townsend.
    Library of Congress

    The lawyers hired by abolitionists to represent the 53 surviving rebels – Roger S. Baldwin, Theodore Sedgwick and Seth Staples – argued that they rebelled because “each of them are natives of Africa and were born free, and ever since have been and still of right are and ought to be free and not slaves.”

    Eventually, the case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court found that because the captives aboard the Amistad were free at the time of their capture in Long Island, they could not be considered property of Spain.

    The verdict became a landmark case for litigating the illegal slave trade, which continued to expand over the next two decades until finally ending in the 1860s. The Amistad rebels inspired other captives: In 1841, as the American ship Creole traveled between Richmond, Virginia, and New Orleans, those on board revolted, wresting control of the ship and sailing it to the Bahamas, where they eventually gained their freedom.

    These portraits, like the testimony in court and the revolt onboard the Amistad, bring the massive, messy, contested story of slavery down to the scale of individual humans. Their visages call upon present and future generations to collectively imagine not only the horrors of the slave trade, but also the power of individual dignity and collective resistance.

    They light the darkness – in the 1840s and in the world today.

    Kate McMahon 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. Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad – https://theconversation.com/rare-portraits-reveal-the-humanity-of-the-slaves-who-revolted-on-the-amistad-245133

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Notification of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Noerresundby, Denmark, 3 February 2025
    Announcement no. 05/2025

    According to Article 19 of the Market Abuse Regulation, persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them must give notice of their transactions with RTX shares to RTX and to the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority. RTX hereby publishes such notifications.

    The transactions by COO Hans Henrik Petersen are documented in the attached PDF appendix.

    RTX A/S

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Latest CarGurus Brand Campaign Celebrates Life’s Big Deal Moments, Like Buying or Selling a Car

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The “Big Deal” campaign pays tribute to the momentous experience of car shopping, along with the trusted digital tools from CarGurus that help consumers find the best deal on their big deal

    BOSTON, Feb. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CarGurus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CARG), the No. 1 visited site for shopping, buying, and selling new and used cars1, today announced the launch of its latest national brand campaign, “Big Deal”, recognizing the important role cars play in people’s lives and the significance of making the right decision during a purchase or sale. The new spots empathize with the big decisions drivers make along the buy/sell journey to reach their ideal outcome, underscoring CarGurus’ role in helping consumers find the best deal on their big deal.

    “CarGurus has joined drivers along this important journey for nearly two decades, developing the best tools and information to help consumers feel confident in their decisions as a growing share prefer to do more online before going to the dealership,” noted Dafna Sarnoff, CarGurus Chief Marketing Officer. “As a result, CarGurus has earned the trust of tens of millions of monthly users who turn to our site to make sure they find the best deal for their needs.”

    CarGurus is the No. 1 most visited car-shopping site1, connecting buyers to the best deals by providing complete vehicle history and unbiased deal ratings on the largest selection of new and used vehicles in the U.S.2 Added tools like price drop alerts and the ability to finance in advance enable confident decision-making in one of the biggest purchases of a person’s life. The platform also supports sellers with car pricing tools and the ability to instantly receive multiple offers to sell their car either completely online or through a local dealer in select markets, empowering them to choose the best deal.

    “Although CarGurus makes the process easy with all the tools and information you need to get the best deal, we don’t want to lessen the gravity of the purchase and its significant impact on people’s lives. Buying or selling a car is a huge decision, an emotional experience that we wanted to reflect in this campaign,” said Carter Collins, Partner and Managing Director of Bindery. “Beyond the excitement of working with the No. 1 most visited car shopping site1, partnering with the CarGurus team has been one of our most rewarding and close-knit experiences to date.”

    The “Big Deal” campaign will run across TV networks and connected TV providers. The spots will be supplemented with digital and social executions, including influencer programs throughout the year. View the full campaign video library here: https://cargur.us/19jlLY.

    Creative Credits:

    CarGurus

    • Dafna Sarnoff, Chief Marketing Officer
    • Evan Jones, Creative Director
    • Allison Conroy, Brand Marketing Director
    • Carli Riibner, Sr Brand Marketing Specialist
    • Maggie Meluzio, Director of Public Relations

    Creative and Production – Bindery

    • Carter Collins, Partner, Managing Director
    • Kim Devall, Executive Creative Director
    • Laura Hockstad, Producer
    • Chris Hilk, Editor

    Production – Ruffian

    • Bubble & Squeak, Director
    • Robert Herman, Founder, EP
    • Leslie Vaughn, Line Producer
    • Paul Meyers, Director of Photography
    • Craig Pinckes, 1st Assistant Director

    Production Services – Habitant

    • Arturo Arroyo, Managing Director
    • Montserrat Becerril, Chief of Staff
    • Elizabeth Tapia, Head of Production
    • Ivan Perez, Executive Producer
    • Andrea Fumero, Line Producer
    • Rodrigo Sánchez, Production Manager

    Color + VFX – Trafik

    • Daniel de Vue, Senior Colorist
    • Ali Soofi, Assistant Colorist
    • Geoff Linville, Color Producer
    • Greer Bratschie, Head of Production
    • Karena Ajamian, Executive Producer
Ciaran Birks, VFX Producer
    • Jaime Aguirre, Flame Lead
    • Ben Fall, Flame Assist

    Animation and Text Graphics – Buff Motion

    Sound – Antfood

    • Wilson Brown, Partner, Executive Creative Director
    • Sue Lee, Executive Producer
    • Joshua Heath, Creative Lead
    • Dalton Harts, Composer, Mix Engineer
    • Linton Smith, Mix Engineer
    • Trevor Haimes, Senior Producer
    • Charlie Blasberg, Music Supervisor
    • Katie Hansen, Production Coordinator

    About CarGurus, Inc.

    CarGurus (Nasdaq: CARG) is a multinational, online automotive platform for buying and selling vehicles that is building upon its industry-leading listings marketplace with both digital retail solutions and the CarOffer online wholesale platform. The CarGurus platform gives consumers the confidence to purchase and/or sell a vehicle either online or in-person, and it gives dealerships the power to accurately price, effectively market, instantly acquire, and quickly sell vehicles, all with a nationwide reach. The company uses proprietary technology, search algorithms and data analytics to bring trust, transparency, and competitive pricing to the automotive shopping experience. CarGurus is the most visited automotive shopping site in the U.S.1

    CarGurus also operates online marketplaces under the CarGurus brand in Canada and the United Kingdom. In the United States and the United Kingdom, CarGurus also operates the Autolist and PistonHeads online marketplaces, respectively, as independent brands.

    To learn more about CarGurus, visit www.cargurus.com, and for more information about CarOffer, visit www.caroffer.com.

    CarGurus® is a registered trademark of CarGurus, Inc., and CarOffer® is a registered trademark of CarOffer, LLC. All other product names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

    ¹ Similarweb: Traffic Report [Cars.com, Autotrader, TrueCar, CARFAX Listings (defined as CARFAX Total visits minus Vehicle History Reports traffic)], Q3 2024, U.S.
    ² Compared to Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com (YipitData as of September 30, 2024), and CarFax (Joreca as of September 30, 2024)

    Media Contact:
    Maggie Meluzio
    Director, Public Relations & External Communications
    pr@cargurus.com

    Investor Contact:
    Kirndeep Singh
    Vice President, Investor Relations
    investors@cargurus.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f1267674-ed08-44a3-a107-cde3ff19ccdb

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ASML reports transactions under its current share buyback program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ASML reports transactions under its current share buyback program

    VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands – ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) reports the following transactions, conducted under ASML’s current share buyback program.

    Date Total repurchased shares Weighted average price Total repurchased value
    27-Jan-25 – – –
    28-Jan-25 – – –
    29-Jan-25 – – –
    30-Jan-25 91,825 €705.85 €64,814,704
    31-Jan-25 89,575 €723.57 €64,814,150

      
    ASML’s current share buyback program was announced on 10 November 2022, and details are available on our website at https://www.asml.com/en/news/share-buybacks

    This regular update of the transactions conducted under the buyback program is to be made public under the Market Abuse Regulation (Nr. 596/2014).

    Media Relations Contacts Investor Relations Contacts
    Monique Mols, phone +31 6 528 444 18 Jim Kavanagh, phone +31 6 1524 9925
      Pete Convertito, phone +1 203 919 1714
      Peter Cheang, phone +886 3 659 6771

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Celebrating our city’s rich history through storytelling

    Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

    As part of National Storytelling Week, Edinburgh 900 invites people and communities to share their connection with the capital city.

    As part of National Storytelling Week, the Edinburgh 900 programme invites individuals, communities, and historians to share and explore their unique connections to the city’s fascinating past.

    The Edinburgh and Scottish Collection at Central Library boasts one of the world’s largest and most unique collections of materials on Edinburgh, including rare books, maps, prints, photographs, and more.

    Through a dedicated website users can access images and maps from the collection online. Our Town Stories features curated stories across various themes and partners with organisations to highlight Edinburgh’s rich and diverse past.

    As part of the Edinburgh 900 celebrations, Our Town Stories offers an engaging and interactive journey through the city’s heritage with dynamic maps and timelines. These tools highlight significant objects, photographs, and people from the collections of Libraries, Archives, Archaeology Services, and Museums and Galleries. Over the coming months, more Edinburgh 900 themed captivating stories will be unveiled that span the centuries, offering new insights into Edinburgh’s evolution from the 1100s to the modern-day.

    Some highlights already published include:

    Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said:

    These stories delve into the pivotal moments in Edinburgh’s history, shedding light on the people, places, and events that have helped shape our extraordinary city.

    Our Town Stories makes exploring Edinburgh’s past easy—its interactive map brings the city’s rich history to life with images and maps from our collections. Whether you’re zooming in on a familiar street or discovering hidden corners of the city, this tool connects you with Edinburgh’s heritage in an accessible way.

    If you’re inspired and have a personal, historical, or cultural story to share that could enhance our understanding of Edinburgh’s past, we’d love to hear from you. Your contribution could become part of our ongoing narrative, helping to celebrate the city’s identity, creativity, and resilience, ensuring that Edinburgh’s 900-year story is preserved for future generations.

    For more information or to contribute your story, please get in touch at informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk You can also join the Edinburgh Collected community archive and contribute your pictures and memories to help shape the city’s collective history.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Key takeaways from the Cityforum 2025 Digital Policing Summit

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Exploring challenges and opportunities in innovation for delivering safer streets.

    In recent months, the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE) worked closely with Cityforum to help organise its latest event, the 2025 Digital Policing Summit. Held at BT HQ in London on January 22, the event brought together policymakers, police leaders, government representatives, industry experts and academics.

    Following the recent death of Cityforum founder Marc Lee, this was a poignant event that continued his vision of providing a platform for open discussions and collaborative problem-solving on some of the most pressing challenges facing policing today. From tackling complex societal issues to the challenge and opportunity of artificial intelligence (AI), the conversations were thought provoking and mission driven.   

    Annette Southgate, Head of ACE, joined a panel on sustainable implementation: from research to scalable delivery and mission impact at local, regional, and national levels, while Andy Loukes took to the stage with Stan Gilmour from ACE’s Vivace Community to share our learnings from the work that we have already done on the Safer Streets mission.

    Andy’s presentation featured a compelling case study from ACE’s toolbox, which was well received by attendees.  

    Here are our four key takeaways from the event for delivering the Safer Streets mission: 

    1. Local innovation is crucial 

    One of the strongest themes was the importance of local innovation with speakers emphasising that relying on national solutions often slows progress. Local forces are driving change by quickly adopting new technologies and tailoring them to meet their needs, but this too causes challenges as localised technology procurement is neither sustainable nor secure by design.

    ACE’s case study shared the need to encourage local innovation, start small and then scale fast, applying innovation to forces across the country.  

    There was much discussion of how the new National Centre of Policing will support and scale up this local innovation while allowing police forces to continue to deliver their local priorities – and a recurring theme was that: 

    “Operational independence is not the same thing as organisational independence” 

    2. Scalability: aligning the enablers 

    The challenge of how to embed systemic learning and scale capabilities from local successes into broader practice remains. Scaling solutions is a persistent challenge, not because innovation itself lacks scalability, but because the enablers – funding, infrastructure, standards, and decision-making structures – are often disconnected and siloed. 

    One speaker summarised the issue well: 

    “The safer streets challenge is how to get enablers at the strategic level coordinated, acting at speed, and with the right level of bureaucracy.” 

    And we should be better at sharing our knowledge of success. It’s often unclear who is innovating, where, and how effective those efforts are. Some forces adopt new technologies quickly and lead the way, but others lag behind, often due to limited visibility into what works. A common question raised was: 

    “If we know something works, why aren’t we telling everyone about it?” 

    Clearer knowledge-sharing mechanisms and centralised platforms are essential to track progress, evaluate outcomes,  maximise the impact of innovation, and allow for the coordination of investment in common enablers.  

    Greater collaboration and accountability structures can address this critical bottleneck – from a shared lexicon to standards that go beyond rigid technical specifications to include principles and flexible frameworks that adapt to various contexts.  

    3. Artificial intelligence: a balanced approach 

    AI was a key topic of discussion, with panelists debating its potential to enhance productivity and fill gaps in resource-constrained areas such as policing. AI can automate administrative tasks and free up officers for frontline duties, but public trust and careful implementation remain critical concerns. 

    The consensus was clear: 

    “AI shouldn’t replace people – it should empower them.” 

    The goal of applying AI isn’t zero crime but mitigating and preventing incidents while maintaining public confidence. AI must be implemented thoughtfully as a tool to complement human expertise rather than replace it. 

    4. Broadening the mission beyond policing 

    A particularly compelling point was the recognition that safer streets aren’t just a policing challenge. Achieving this goal requires collaboration across sectors, including education, probation, community services, and even the private sector. 

    Policing alone cannot address systemic issues such as serious violence or crime prevention. A coordinated, cross-departmental approach is essential to drive meaningful change. This shift in mindset could transform how resources are allocated and how partnerships are forged across sectors. 

    What’s ahead? 

    The Cityforum policing event reinforced the need for collaboration, alignment, and strategic approaches to innovation. From local-level successes to national strategies, the sector holds immense potential to drive change – but this requires breaking down silos and ensuring all enablers work in harmony. 

    At the heart of these discussions is a clear message: success lies in collaboration, knowledge sharing, and empowering innovation at every level. 

    ACE looks forward to contributing to these conversations and supporting initiatives that make a tangible difference for communities and policing teams alike. ACE is well placed to support forces with mission-driven innovation, in cross sector projects, to join up, de-risk and innovate, identifying and developing enablers to support the police in the future. 

    A huge thanks to the Cityforum team for another outstanding event! We look forward to the next one.

    Updates to this page

    Published 3 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Readout of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Call With the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence John Healey

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    Pentagon Spokesman John Ullyot provided the following readout:

    On January 31, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth held a call with his United Kingdom counterpart, Secretary of State for Defence John Healey. The two Secretaries committed to continuing the especially close coordination between the United Kingdom and the United States on defense issues, including our Warfighters deployed shoulder to shoulder to secure our shared interests. The two leaders discussed the need to increase Allied defense investment and industrial base capacity to strengthen NATO, as well as the situation in Ukraine and other pressing security issues.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Representation gaps and the rise of populism

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Laurenz Guenther, Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Economics, Bocconi University

    Shutterstock/Alejo Bernal

    The rise of rightwing populists continues across the west, leaving many wondering how mainstream parties can respond. Part of the picture is the failure of political parties to meet voters’ views on immigration with policy responses.

    Germany is a strong example here. In 2013, it had no notable rightwing populist party. Alternative for Germany (the AfD) did already exist, but it was neither populist nor strongly anti-immigrant. But immigration into Germany was increasing.

    In the years prior to 2013, several hundred thousand asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East entered the country each year. Many Germans wanted lower immigration but German political parties were not offering corresponding policies. The public and parliamentarians were already on a different page.

    To measure this disagreement, researchers asked representative samples of German parliamentarians and ordinary citizens the following question in 2013: “Should it be easier or harder for foreigners to immigrate?”

    They could choose from 11 responses, ranging from “0 – immigration for foreigners should be much easier” to “10 – immigration for foreigners should be much harder”.

    The results show that most Germans wanted to restrict immigration in 2013. Despite this public demand, nearly all parliamentarians from all the four major parties wanted to facilitate immigration.

    Immigration attitudes in 2013:

    How the representation gap emerged over immigration.
    L Guenther, CC BY-ND

    Two years later, in 2015, the refugee crisis began. Over the course of just a few years, two million asylum seekers entered Germany. In response, Germans viewed immigration as an increasingly important issue and increasingly voted based on their attitudes towards immigration. Because most Germans wanted lower immigration, this increased the demand for an anti-immigration party.

    During this time, the AfD changed its policy platform to become Germany’s only party that was clearly calling for much lower immigration. As a result, the AfD became the only party to represent the will of many Germans on the issue they considered most important.

    Immigration attitudes in 2017:

    From this perspective, it is not surprising that the AfD strongly increased its vote share in the 2017 election and became the first party to the right of the conservatives to ever enter the federal parliament.

    In my research, I found similar patterns are evident across Europe. In 27 countries, most political mainstream parties are much more in favour of immigration than the majority of their voters and citizens demand.

    The representation gap is not only systematic across countries but also across political issues and voter subgroups. On nearly all cultural issues, such as multiculturalism or gender relations, I found that voters are more conservative than their parliamentarians.

    Across Europe, the difference between the average voter and parliamentarian is as large as the difference between the average conservative and socialist parliamentarian.

    Even voters with the same level of education, or voters who are well-informed about politics, are much more culturally conservative than their representatives. Even immigrants themselves are much more opposed to immigration and multiculturalism than the average parliamentarian.

    While these cultural representation gaps have existed for a long time, it is the increase in their salience and perceived importance that contributes to the rise of rightwing populism. This is most strongly driven by the increased importance in immigration.

    These results matter because they can equip politicians with the information they need to win (back) voters. And on a deeper level, these findings raise the question whether mainstream parties need to adjust their policies on immigration.

    One important argument of mainstream politicians against populists is that once populists come to power they aim to establish dictatorships and then rule against the interest of the people. However, this argument rings hollow if mainstream parties are unwilling to acknowledge and act on the issues considered most important by the people.

    Laurenz Guenther receives funding from Bocconi University. He is affiliated with the Instutute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University.

    – ref. Representation gaps and the rise of populism – https://theconversation.com/representation-gaps-and-the-rise-of-populism-245871

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: St Albans Spring Festival – thousands expected at an exciting new street event in May

    Source: St Albans City and District

    Publication date:

    An exciting new street event is to be held in St Albans City Centre featuring free entertainment for everyone.

    The St Albans Spring Festival on Sunday 18 May will be a celebration of food, well-being, community spirit and sustainability.

    Thousands of people are expected at the street party which will take place from 11am to 5pm, with St Peter’s Street closed to traffic. 

    Among the attractions will be live music, arts and crafts, street theatre and dozens of stalls selling takeaway food, drink and other produce. There will be opportunities to learn, play and create with fun activities.

    To ensure accessibility, sighted guides and British sign language interpreters will be in attendance.

    St Albans City and District Council is organising the Festival and will also be bringing back its popular Christmas Cracker, the event which launches the festive season in the District. This will be held on Sunday 16 November.

    The St Albans Feastival, usually staged in September, will not take place this year with May’s Spring Festival being used instead to highlight the District’s hospitality businesses and tourism offering.

    Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Lead for Events, said:

    We have rearranged our street events to give our residents an excellent choice of things to do from May all the way through to November.

    Our Feastival was held in September, but there are a lot of things going on in the late summer, such as Pub in the Park, and it was felt May was a better date for an event.

    The Spring Festival will mark the start of the warmer months and with the Cracker in November, our events will book- end the outdoor season.

    During that time, from May through to November, there will be many other events, run by a host of organisations. Residents and visitors will have an abundance of opportunities to get out and about and socialise with their friends and neighbours.

    More details about the Spring Festival entertainment will appear in the Council’s social media channels in the run-up to the event.

    Among the other events to be held in the District this year are: 

    Hertfordshire County Show, Redbourn – Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May.

    Foodies Festival, Oaklands College, St Albans – Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June.

    Harpenden Carnival – Saturday 7 June.

    St Albans Half Marathon, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Sunday 8 June.

    Alban Day, a procession of giant puppets recreating the story of St Alban through the City to the Cathedral – Saturday 21 June.

    Highland Gathering, Rothamsted Park, Harpenden – Sunday 13 July.

    Comedy Garden, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 July.

    Classics on the Common, Harpenden – Wednesday 23 July.

    Pub in the Park, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Friday 5 to Sunday 7 September

    Harpenden Food and Drink Festival – Saturday 13 September

    Gin and Jazz Festival, George Street, St Albans – Friday 3 October.

    St Albans Cathedral Fireworks – Saturday 1 November

    St Albans Christmas Cracker, St Peter’s Street – Sunday 16 November.

    Harpenden Christmas Carnival – Sunday 23 November.

    Photo: scene from a street event last year.

    Media contact:  John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727- 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –