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  • MIL-OSI USA: Markey, Padilla, Chu Join Union Workers to Announce Legislation to Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    Washington (July 16, 2025) – Today, on the heels of another harsh heat wave across California, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), and union workers from the United Farm Workers (UFW), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and United Steelworkers to announce their bipartisan, bicameral legislation to implement federal enforceable workplace heat stress protections.

    Co-leads of the legislation include Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Alma Adams (D-N.C.-12).

    To address the increasing risks from extreme temperatures, the lawmakers introduced the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act, legislation to protect the safety and health of indoor and outdoor workers who are exposed to dangerous heat conditions in the workplace. The legislation would protect workers against occupational exposure to excessive heat by requiring the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an enforceable federal standard to protect workers in high-heat environments with commonsense measures like paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, limitations on time exposed to heat, and emergency response for workers with heat-related illness. The bill also directs employers to provide training for their employees on the risk factors that can lead to heat illness and guidance on the proper procedures for responding to symptoms.

    The bill is named in honor of Asunción Valdivia, who died in 2004 after picking grapes for 10 hours straight in 105-degree temperatures. Mr. Valdivia fell unconscious, but instead of calling an ambulance, his employer told Mr. Valdivia’s son to drive his father home. On his way home, he died of heat stroke at the age of 53.

    “Even as heat waves become more frequent, longer-lasting, and more severe, red state politicians are rolling back heat protections and child labor protections across the country. It’s not rocket science—you cannot be pro-worker if you are anti-heat protection,” said Senator Markey. “Our legislation would provide workers with basic, effective protections: access to water, access to shade, time limits on high heat exposure, and procedures for emergency medical response. Every worker deserves to know when they clock in that they will return home safe at the end of their shift.  The thermometer is rising and the clock is ticking. Republicans want to sacrifice working Americans. Let’s save our workers instead.”

    “Asunción Valdivia’s death was completely preventable, yet his story is sadly not unique. As the planet continues to grow hotter, there is still no federally enforceable heat safety standard for workers. That’s not just dangerous for the farm workers and construction workers who work all day outside in the sun — it’s also dangerous for the factory and restaurant workers in boiling warehouses and kitchens,” said Senator Padilla. “Every family deserves to know that even on the hottest day, their loved one will come back home. A national heat safety standard would provide that peace of mind and finally give workers the safety they deserve.”

    “From farmhands to construction workers, America’s essential workforce is doing important work while under extreme heat conditions,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Temperatures continue to reach record highs in Nevada and across the United States. We must act now to protect our communities’ vital workers.” 

    “As we continue to experience record-breaking summer heat waves, we’re also seeing a distressing increase in cases of workers collapsing and even losing their lives due to excessive heat. I will never forget people like Asunción Valdivia or Esteban Chavez Jr., who passed away in Pasadena, California in 2022 after a day of delivering packages in 90-degree heat in a truck without air conditioning. Unfortunately, their tragic deaths were entirely preventable,” said Representative Chu. “Whether on a farm, driving a truck, or working in a warehouse, workers like Asunción and Esteban keep our country running while enduring some of the most difficult conditions—often without access to water or rest. To protect our workforce and save lives, we must pass this bill into law and establish comprehensive and enforceable federal standards addressing heat stress on the job.”

    “This summer, Americans across the country are grappling with some of the hottest temperatures on record. Yet workers in this country still have no legal protection against excessive heat—one of the oldest, most serious, and most common workplace hazards. Heat illness affects workers in our nation’s fields, warehouses, and factories, and climate change is making the problem more severe every year,” said Ranking Member Scott, House Committee on Education and Workforce. “This legislation will require OSHA to issue a heat standard on a much faster track than the normal OSHA regulatory process. I was proud to advance this important bill in 2022, and I urge Chairman Walberg and Committee Republicans to do so again this Congress. Workers deserve nothing less, particularly as heat-related illnesses and deaths rise.”

    “As we face record temperatures, it has never been more important that we protect our workers facing extreme heat in the workplace,” said Representative Adams. “Last year, a North Carolina postal worker Wendy Johnson lost her life to heat illness after spending hours in the back of a postal truck on a 95-degree day with no air conditioning. Her death was entirely preventable, and Wendy should still be with us today. I’m proud to introduce this bill so we can honor her memory and ensure every worker has the protections from extreme heat that Wendy deserved.” 

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2024 was the warmest year on record for the United States. The past decade, including 2024, was the hottest on record, marking a decade of extreme heat that will only get worse. Heat-related illnesses can cause heat cramps, organ damage, heat exhaustion, stroke, and even death. Between 1992 and 2017, heat stress injuries killed 815 U.S. workers and seriously injured more than 70,000. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth estimates hot temperatures caused at least 360,000 workplace injuries in California from 2001 to 2018, or about 20,000 injuries a year. The failure to implement simple heat safety measures costs U.S. employers nearly $100 billion every year in lost productivity.

    From 2011-2020, heat exposure killed at least 400 workers and caused nearly 34,000 injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work; both are likely vast underestimates. Farm workers and construction workers suffer the highest incidence of heat illness. And no matter what the weather is outside, workers in factories, commercial kitchens, and other workplaces, including ones where workers must wear personal protective equipment (PPE), can face dangerously high heat conditions all year round.

    The Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act has the support of a broad coalition of over 250 groups, including: Rural Coalition, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO, UNITE HERE!, Communication Workers of America, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Sierra Club, United Farm Workers, Farmworker Justice, Public Citizen, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Steelworkers, National Resources Defense Council, American Lung Association, and Health Partnerships.

    “Every worker safety rule in America is written in blood,” said UFW President Teresa Romero. “The UFW has been fighting for heat safety protections for decades. Over 20 years later, Asuncion Valdivia’s death still hurts. There are so many other farm workers — many whose names we do not know — who have also been killed by extreme heat on the job in the years since. Enough is enough. Every farm worker deserves access to water, shade, and paid rest breaks — it’s past time for Congress get this done.”

    “Too many workers – including AFSCME members – have lost their lives on the job as a result of blistering heat waves and record-breaking temperatures,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “As the number of heat-related illnesses and fatalities continue to rise, it is well past time we adopt nationwide safeguards to better protect the workers who maintain our infrastructure, keep our streets clean, harvest our food, and keep our economy moving. We at AFSCME thank Senator Padilla and Representative Chu for introducing the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act, which will ensure essential workers who brave the heat can do their jobs safely and effectively, and most importantly, make it home alive.”

    “For the Steelworkers Union, we represent workers in manufacturing settings and in a host of other areas where not only is it hot outside, but the areas that they work around are as hot as up to 3,000 degrees and they must wear protective equipment. The Asunción Valdivia Heat, Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act is important because it will provide a basic standard for not just outdoor, but indoor workplaces as well to ensure that there is proper rest breaks and the ability to stay cool. The Steelworkers are absolutely supportive of this bill and are going to work with Republicans and Democrats to ensure that heat illness is the last thing a worker should worry about,” said Roy Houseman, Legislative Director of United Steelworkers. 

    “Everyone deserves safe working conditions, but powerful corporations have not done enough to protect their workers from hot working environments, exacerbated by the climate crisis,” said Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO. “Extreme heat is increasingly causing indoor and outdoor workers to collapse or even die on the job, and our union family has already lost too many members to preventable, work-related heat illness. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) must issue a strong heat rule, not a weak one, to ensure workers have specific protections they need and to be able to raise unsafe working conditions without fear of retaliation.”

    “It’s long past time for meaningful legislation to protect Teamsters and other workers from the effects of prolonged heat exposure and dangerous heat levels while at work,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, and limitations on time exposed to heat are simple common sense steps that should be mandated immediately. Waiting to implement these measures is unacceptable and will result in the further loss of lives.”

    “Workers in America are facing unprecedented dangers from climate-driven heat and extreme weather, and things are only getting worse. It is far past time for a strong national standard to protect workers from illness and death caused by exposure to extreme heat. The provisions mandated in this bill, including temperature triggers, acclimatization, water, shade and paid rest breaks, would save countless lives. They represent a common sense and common decency approach that employers could quickly adopt. American workers deserve no less, and they urgently need it. Today, OSHA is in the final stage of issuing a final rule on this issue. It is imperative that the rule maintain the integrity and high standards called for in the Asuncíon Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act. We applaud Senators Padilla, Markey, and Cortez Masto and Representatives Chu, Adams, and Scott, as well as the dozens of Senators and Congresspersons who have joined them in this long effort. It’s time to bring a high quality, protective standard to the finish line for American workers,” said Ernesto Archila, Climate and Financial Regulation Policy Director, Public Citizen.

    “Every summer high temperature records get broken in states across the country, and while public health officials urge residents to stay inside and stay safe millions of workers have to report for work. From fields to warehouses, airports to schools, construction sites to manufacturing plants, and many more industries, too many workers are at risk of not getting home safely at the end of the day due to exposure to heat on the job. We know how to prevent these dangers. In fact, both outdoor and indoor workers in states like Oregon, California, and Maryland have strong, enforceable protections in place already. And in Washington, Colorado, and Minnesota at least some categories of workers are being kept safe from heat. But millions labor in other states where there are no protections; worker safety is left to the federal government in these states, and absent strong rules workers are left to protect themselves and hope for the best. We must extend workplace protections from heat to all workers. The National Employment Law Project thanks Senator Padilla and Representative Chu, as well as the dozens of Senators and Congresspersons who have cosponsored the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025,” said Anastasia Christman, Senior Policy Analyst, National Employment Law Project.

    The bill is cosponsored by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

    A one-pager on the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act is available here.

    A section-by-section of the bill is available here.

    Full text of the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Food prices increase 4.6 percent annually – Stats NZ media and information release: Selected price indexes: June 2025

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Press release – Danish Presidency debriefs EP committees on priorities

    Source: European Parliament

    Denmark holds the Presidency of the Council until the end of 2025. This text will be updated regularly as the hearings take place.

    Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

    On 15 July, Jacob Jensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, said that the Presidency will focus on easing the administrative burden for farmers while continuing to promote the green transition and animal welfare. Concluding the current negotiations on the common agricultural policy (CAP) simplification package and starting discussions on the post-2027 CAP will also be priorities.

    Several MEPs called for fair conditions between farmers inside and outside the EU in connection with the Mercosur Agreement and animal welfare. They asked how the presidency will help guarantee the EU’s protein and fertiliser self-sufficiency and support organic farmers. Others raised the issue of ensuring that the green transition does not compromise the agriculture sector’s sustainability.

    Regional Development Committee

    On 15 July, Danish Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre argued that cohesion policy should continue to play a crucial role in the EU budget, as the Presidency works on proposals for the next multiannual financial framework (MFF). She said that funding should also support competitiveness and be flexible in the face of unexpected events. Ms Bjerre highlighted the need to strengthen rule of law conditionality in the allocation of EU funds.

    MEPs agreed on the need to modernise cohesion policy and make it more flexible, but asked for the Presidency’s support in defending the policy’s core purpose – reducing inequalities between regions – and the role of regions and local authorities.

    Legal Affairs Committee

    On 15 July, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard stressed the need to boost EU competitiveness but also to protect common values while advancing the green and digital transition. He committed to make progress on draft bills on the protection of adults and insolvency, while promoting rules on parenthood.

    Morten Bødskov, Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, will strive to simplify existing rules for the benefit of EU businesses in the upcoming negotiations on sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations. Mr Bødskov also intends to advance the patent package and the “28th regime” initiative (a single set of EU rules to support innovation).

    MEPs inquired about plans to strengthen the rule of law, fight illegal migration and improve licensing, considering the planned withdrawal of the proposal on standard essential patents. They also asked for work to move ahead on the special tribunal for the crime of aggression, for measures to ensure that simplification does not lead to deregulation, and for efforts to balance rights and copyright in the context of new technologies.

    Foreign Affairs Committee

    On 15 July, European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre said that the Presidency wants to advance EU accession negotiations with all candidate countries. She also added that the EU must act more independently to ensure its security. The dialogue with Türkiye will continue, but its accession negotiations will remain on hold.

    MEPs called for more support for some candidate countries on their EU path. They also enquired on possible new strategic partners for the EU, given recent developments in relations with the US, and called for the deepening of relations with Latin America. They also asked what steps the Presidency intends to take to help the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

    Environment, Climate Change and Food Safety Committee

    On 15 July, Jacob Jensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, highlighted the need to simplify EU legislation for farmers and food producers, and to promote innovation through tools such as new genomic techniques, on which the Presidency aims to strike a deal with Parliament. He stressed the importance of making the EU’s agri-food sector more competitive while maintaining high standards of sustainability and food safety. Other priorities include an EU strategy for plant-based proteins, animal welfare, and action to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

    MEPs raised questions about the future of the CAP, demanding greater fairness, increased support for smaller farms, and clear targets for pesticide reduction. MEPs also enquired about trade agreements, such as with Mercosur, and a possible ban on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

    Lars Aagaard, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, stressed the importance of reaching an agreement on the EU 2040 climate target, to offer clear guidance for climate action, investment, and industrial competitiveness. He underlined the need for an agreement before the COP30 in Brazil on 10–21 November 2025, to show EU leadership and unity.

    Some MEPs raised concerns about energy affordability and the social impact of the new emissions trading system, while others stressed excessive flexibility would undermine the 2040 target.

    Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee

    On 15 July, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said the Presidency would prioritise work on the fight against serious cross-border and organised crime, action to improve victims’ rights, and police cooperation to counter migrant smuggling. The Presidency will also advance work on the directive and regulation to combat child sexual abuse.

    Torsten Schack Pedersen, Minister for Resilience and Preparedness, called for implementation of the “Preparedness Union” strategy to strengthen EU security, resilience and preparedness. The Presidency will advance work on the reformed EU civil protection mechanism, the stockpiling strategy and measures to protect critical infrastructure.

    MEPs asked the Presidency about progress on the directives on combating corruption and victims’ rights. According to the Justice Minister, work on both will continue promptly as a priority. MEPs and the Ministers also discussed law enforcement access to data, and measures against terrorism and online radicalisation.

    Kaare Dybvad, Minister for Immigration and Integration, emphasised the need to implement the Asylum and Migration Pact in full. The Presidency will work on proposals on safe third countries, safe countries of origin and a common approach to returns. He also mentioned the possibility of developing external partnerships and possible return hubs in third countries, stressing the need to uphold international law and human rights. Other priorities are action to combat migrant smuggling and the EU talent pool.

    On Migration and Asylum Pact implementation, MEPs asked about the solidarity platform, protection of human dignity, and cooperation with third countries. The minister replied that priority should be given to people in need of refugee status. Economic migrants must use legal channels, and those with no right to stay need to be returned to their home countries.

    Marie Bjerre, Minister for European Affairs, said the Presidency aimed to strengthen the link between respect for EU values and access to EU funds, enhance the Council’s rule of law dialogues, and support tools such as the Commission’s rule of law report. It will also work to reinforce the conditionality mechanism in the next long-term budget, by increasing funding for it and ensuring more automatic application.

    Some MEPs raised concerns about the situation in Hungary, and called for a stronger conditionality mechanism and better protection of media freedom and civil society. Others called for clarity on the definition of rule of law, and raised the issues of spyware use against journalists and the situation in Gaza.

    Employment and Social Affairs Committee

    On 15 July, Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen stressed that the Presidency would focus on investing in skills, fair labour mobility, strengthening social dialogue, and occupational health. She aims to advance the revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMRD) and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers. Minister for Social Affairs and Housing Sophie Hæstorp Andersen highlighted the need to improve independent living for persons with disabilities and to improve access to sustainable and affordable housing.

    MEPs highlighted the lack of legislative proposals in social areas and voiced concern about the future of the European Social Fund+. They stressed the need to strengthen the European Labour Authority, and addressed the working conditions of non-EU nationals, the lack of skilled workers, and the migration of qualified workers. Others asked for action on employment rights for persons with disabilities, the coordination of social security systems, and the European Child Guarantee.

    Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee

    On 15 July, Caroline Stage Olsen, Digital Affairs Minister, emphasised the need for action to boost investment and cut red tape. Special attention will be given to protecting minors online through firm Digital Services Act enforcement, new age verification rules and action to tackle addictive design. She supported postponing elements of the AI Act to give business, especially smaller companies, more time to comply.

    Morten Bødskov, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, stressed the Presidency’s intention to tackle customs challenges, unfair competition, slow growth and job loss. The minister also expressed strong support for the green transition and the need to advance work on simplification packages and regulatory burden reduction targets.

    MEPs asked about the Presidency’s plans to work on e-commerce, the posting of workers, attracting talent and the “28th regime” (a single set of EU rules to support innovation). They also enquired about digital policy loopholes and the Digital Fairness Act, and the need to advance negotiations on the late payments regulation and the European defence industrial strategy.

    Development Committee

    On 15 July, Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called for a stronger Team Europe approach, given the widening gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available. Presidency priorities include the Global Gateway, the Samoa Agreement, the EU-African Union (AU) Summit, human rights and the sustainable development goals. The Presidency will champion external action in negotiations on the next long-term EU budget.

    MEPs stressed the importance of development aid and the need to make sure foreign investment upholds human rights, while also voicing concern over irregular migration. They called for a broader EU presence at the next EU-AU Summit, and asked about the Presidency’s plan for the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

    Public Health Committee

    On 16 July, Sophie Løhde, Danish Minister for Interior and Health, highlighted the need to strengthen EU preparedness through efficient medical countermeasures, ensure better access to medicines, and address antimicrobial resistance. She shared the Presidency’s commitment to finalising the Council’s position on the critical medicines act, hoping an agreement with Parliament could be reached on the pharmaceutical package by the end of the year.

    MEPs quizzed the minister on medicine affordability, rare diseases, and healthcare workforce shortages. Some called for a greater focus on women’s health, action against PFAS contamination, and improved EU coordination of health and military crisis preparedness.

    Constitutional Affairs Committee

    On 16 July, European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre said the Presidency priorities were to advance a merit-based EU accession process and uphold the rule of law. She also highlighted the need to reinforce democratic resilience, for instance through the Commission’s Democracy Shield and improved transparency of foreign interests. The Presidency is also committed to strengthening interinstitutional cooperation and pursuing institutional reforms within the existing treaty framework.

    MEPs raised questions on the link between internal EU reforms and future accessions, the use of qualified majority voting to overcome institutional deadlocks, the right of inquiry, and electoral reform. Bjerre replied that the lack of consensus among member states on possible treaty changes made that a less feasible path.

    Security and Defence Committee

    On 16 July, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that one of the priorities was to continue to support Ukraine politically, militarily and financially, and work on integrating the Ukrainian defence industry into the EU one. This includes paving the way for Ukrainian companies to set up facilities in the rest of Europe. He also mentioned the need for Europe to be able to defend itself by 2030 by increasing its defence readiness and production, and freeing up defence financing.

    MEPs questioned the minister on a range of topics, including the use of frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction, a dedicated European defence fund, removing hurdles to support the Ukrainian defence industry, and the pros and cons of non-EU country access to EU defence funds.

    Fisheries Committee

    On 16 July, Jacob Jensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, said the Presidency would prioritise the green transition, simplification, including for the Ocean Pact, and better regulation of fisheries. They will also focus on fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea for 2026 to allow fishers to plan early.

    MEPs highlighted fleet renewal, the Baltic Sea’s herring situation and the MFF’s role in achieving sustainability, simplification, and climate goals. They expressed concern over the 24-metre fleet renewal restriction and called for specific funding mechanisms for the Ocean Pact. Finally, they welcomed the focus on 2026 fishing quotas and sustainability objectives.

    Transport and Tourism Committee

    Boosting competitiveness, easing the administrative burden, ensuring a green transition in transport and tourism, but also military mobility, are the main drivers of Danish presidency, said Thomas Danielsen, Minister of Transport on 16 July. He hoped to start talks with MEPs on passenger rights and rules on counting CO2 emissions, as well as to finish negotiations on railway capacity infrastructure. Morten Bødskov, Minister of Business, Industry and Financial Services, added the Presidency perspective on shipping transport and upcoming EU ports and maritime industry strategies.

    The majority of transport committee MEPs welcomed the Presidency priorities, the ambition to reach a Council position on weights and dimensions rules, while some questioned the focus on the green transition. On passenger rights, MEPs were frustrated with the Council decision to force into a tight deadline to reach a deal on future rules, and asked the minister not to forget the multimodal part of the package.

    Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee

    On 16 July, Minister for Environment and Gender Equality, Magnus Heunicke, outlined priorities including combating gender-based violence, promoting equal opportunities by involving men and boys, and strengthening LGBTQI equality amid rising hate and harassment. He announced that a Council meeting on 17 October would focus on equality and non-discrimination.

    MEPs raised concerns about the absence of an EU-wide consent-based definition of rape, the lack of progress on the revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive, the under-representation of women in government, and the stalled horizontal anti-discrimination directive. In response, Heunicke confirmed that there would be a discussion on a consent-based rape definition, and that finalising the Victims’ Rights Directive negotiations was a priority.

    International Trade Committee

    On 16 July, Minister for Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen named agreements on the revised general scheme of preferences (GSP) and the foreign investment screening review as being among his priorities. The phasing-out of Russian gas imports and ratification of the trade agreement with Mercosur are also high on the agenda. The Presidency will also work to negotiate a new trade relationship with the US, while being prepared for other scenarios.

    MEPs welcomed the priorities, particularly on concluding the Mercosur Agreement, phasing out Russian gas imports and concluding the revision of the GSP. Some MEPs also questioned the Presidency on how EU-Israel trade relations should evolve given the humanitarian situation in the Middle East.

    Culture and Education Committee

    On 16 July, Mattias Tesfaye, Minister for Education and Youth, said that Presidency wanted to make vocational education and training more attractive, ensure learning mobility, and focus on how the digitalisation affects learning outcomes. The Presidency will also prioritise negotiations on the next generation of Erasmus+ and on the European education area.

    Many MEPs expressed their concerns about the future of the Erasmus+ programme and enquired about the protection of children online, recognition of competences, and the safety of young students in the workplace.

    Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Minister for Culture, Media and Sports Policy, highlighted the need to prohibit the use of images, voice and other personal features in deepfakes or lifelike imitations. The EU Copyright Regulation should be updated to address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence to the cultural and creative sectors, either by guaranteeing fair remuneration for rights holders or by achieving the best possible conditions for licensing agreements. In sport, the Presidency promises to do more to uphold democratic values and integrity in the awarding of international sports events.

    MEPs asked for measures to help EU countries implement the European Media Freedom Act and highlighted the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. MEPs also raised issues such as protecting heritage against natural disasters and gender equality programmes in sport.

    Industry, Research and Energy Committee

    On 16 July, Caroline Stage Olsson, Minister for Digital Affairs, outlined two priorities: enhancing digital competitiveness and protecting minors online. She advocated for reducing the administrative burden on business and for strategic investment for a more sovereign Europe. She also highlighted work on enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA), stricter regulations for age verification and data protection, and the establishment of a competitiveness fund.

    Some MEPs stressed the need to reduce dependency on non-European tech companies and to balance regulation with simplification, to foster innovation while protecting consumers. Questions were asked about the impact of the DSA on free speech and privacy, and about investment in less connected regions.

    Troels Lund Poulsen, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, outlined four priorities: enhancing Europe’s defence capabilities, supporting Ukraine, fostering cooperation with NATO and strengthening the EU’s defence against hybrid threats. He also stressed the importance of the European defence industry programme (EDIP) to this end.

    Torsten Schack Pedersen, Minister for Resilience and Preparedness, focused on cybersecurity and highlighted three priorities: strengthening EU cyber resilience, framing a robust EU response to cyber crises, and simplifying the EU cyber legislation framework.

    MEPs enquired about the creation of a unified European defence market, the standardisation of defence products, and the need for joint procurement to enhance defence capabilities. Questions also focused on Baltic Sea security and measures to counter potential sabotage. Concerns were voiced about Europe’s dependency on non-European defence suppliers.

    Lars Aagaard, Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, emphasised the importance of a secure, clean and affordable energy supply, as well as of a stronger energy sector, focusing on renewable and clean energy produced locally. He called for an approach that would balance environmental protection with economic competitiveness and for Europe to phase out its dependency on Russian energy.

    Morten Bødskov, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs focused on competitiveness and highlighted the need for increased investment in green technologies and new critical technologies such as life sciences, artificial intelligence, biotech, and quantum. Mr Bødskov also stressed the need to simplify regulations to foster innovation and growth.

    MEPs stressed the need for a more efficient regulatory environment to foster innovation and competitiveness. They expressed concerns about high energy prices and highlighted the importance of investing in clean energy technologies and infrastructure to achieve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Several MEPs questioned the balance between environmental protection and economic competitiveness, and called for a more pragmatic approach to regulation that would not stifle innovation and growth.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Shaheen, Marshall Renew Bipartisan Push to Crack Down on Illegal Drug Activity on Social Media

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
    (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) today reintroduced the bipartisan Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act to require social media companies to work with federal agencies to combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs on their platforms. The Senators’ bipartisan bill would ensure that social media companies turn over basic information relating to illicit online fentanyl activity to federal agencies – empowering state and local law enforcement to use this data to combat fake fentanyl-laced pills and prosecute those who prey on America’s youth. 
    “In recent years, we’ve seen the startling role that social media has played in fueling the substance use disorder crisis impacting New Hampshire by making it easier for young people to get their hands on these dangerous drugs. It’s past time that Congress step in to put a stop to it,” said Senator Shaheen. “Our bipartisan bill would hold social media companies accountable to their obligation to keep our kids safe by requiring that they report illicit drug activity on their platforms and work with law enforcement to stop it. Families and communities across this country have dealt with enough heartbreak – as the substance use epidemic evolves, so must our response.” 
    The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act is named after two young men who both tragically lost their lives to fentanyl poisoning after purchasing a pill from social media. It is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Todd Young (R-IN). 
    In recent years, organized drug cartels have dominated fentanyl trafficking in the country, and they have set up large, sophisticated distribution networks online via social media. In investigating fentanyl-related poisoning and deaths in teenagers and young adults, law enforcement agencies have found an alarming rate of these deadly pills acquired through platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. Unfortunately, federal agencies do not have the data to intervene and prevent these illegal activities. The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act would require social media companies and other communication service providers to take on a more active role in working with federal agencies to combat the illegal sale and distribution of drugs on their platforms. This critical data will also empower state and local law enforcement to combat fentanyl, methamphetamine and fake fentanyl-laced pills and prosecute those who prey on America’s youth. Fentanyl remains the most dangerous drug threat facing Americans, and fatal poisonings are the fastest growing among adolescents, teenagers and young adults. After a decrease of deaths involving opioids from an estimated 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024, drug-related deaths are rising across the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
    Shaheen has spearheaded crucial legislation and funding to fight the substance use disorder epidemic, including through her leadership on the pivotal U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which funds the U.S. Department of Justice. Shaheen recently introduced her bipartisan Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act to help prevent youth opioid use and overdoses by establishing a new grant program that allows current or former Drug-Free Communities (DFC) coalitions to partner with schools to provide resources educating students about the dangers of synthetic opioids. Shaheen has also helped enact the FENTANYL Results Act to increase global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking and the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently schedules all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act to ensure law enforcement can keep them off the streets and hold drug traffickers accountable. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Mark Up of Military Construction-VA, Commerce-Justice-Science Bills

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ***WATCH: Senator Murray’s opening remarks***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following opening remarks as the committee meets to consider the draft fiscal year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies and Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations acts.

    Senator Murray’s opening remarks, as delivered, are below:

    “Thank you very much, Chair Collins.

    “We are here to resume consideration of the CJS bill and to take up the MilCon-VA bill—and I do want to thank our MilCon-VA subcommittee leaders, Senator Boozman, and Senator Ossoff for all of your hard work.

    “It is a good thing that by working together, we were able to put together a solid bill that invests in folks back home. This is the way the process should work: Senators coming together and finding common ground on common sense investments.

    “But I do have to acknowledge the elephant in the room here. It is no secret the path to advancing more of our bills is going to be harder because of the unprecedented, partisan rescissions bill that Republicans just passed.

    “It is extremely frustrating to see so many of the colleagues that have worked with us to pass funding bills turn around and vote to rip away the funding that we all agreed on.

    “I have never seen anything like it because the Senate has never done anything like it. We have never—until now—passed a purely partisan rescissions bill. It is a dangerous new precedent. And it poses some hard questions my colleagues across the aisle need to start answering. Because Russ Vought has not been subtle: round two of these partisan cuts are on their way soon. He said that this morning.

    “So, what do my colleagues want to do? Do they want to turn this into the Rescissions Committee? Because that is one path we could end up going down, and as of now we are one big, alarming step down it.

    “It is not the path I want go down. I want to see us turn back to what has historically made this Committee so powerful—and so worth being on—in the first place. Which is working together to advance bills that deliver for our constituents and get signed into law. And it is unfortunate that many members of this body have voted to make that a whole lot harder. That is the reality—and there is no ignoring it.

    “Now, I do believe our work here is as important as ever: writing bills that make the voice of the Senate, and the voices of our constituents heard, instead of letting Donald Trump and Russ Vought make the decisions with a forever CR. There is no doubt in my mind the bills that we negotiate—together—will be far preferable to the partisan House bills that cut like there’s no tomorrow or another slush fund CR.

    “We have already seen this President abuse the power from the last CR to ignore our bipartisan decisions, spend taxpayer dollars as he sees fit, and rob money from blue states—exactly as I warned about. We’ve already learned that lesson the hard way. We cannot throw in that towel again and let OMB hold up funding for our states or zero out projects we secured for folks back home. That’s part of why bipartisan bills are so important. But everyone has to understand, getting to the finish line always depends on our ability to work together in a bipartisan way. And it also depends on trust—trust.

    “And as I warned on the floor, bipartisanship doesn’t end with any one line being crossed, it erodes over time—bit by bit. And frankly, I am alarmed by how quickly that erosion is happening right now, over the last six months, and certainly over the last 24 hours.

    “We are racing in the wrong direction, and it is really on my colleagues across the aisle to decide if they are going to hit the brakes or go over the cliff. The question of whether forging a bipartisan path is hopeless or not will depend very much on whether this Committee is able to lock arms, and whether our colleagues will defend bipartisan deals from a budget chief who believes quite plainly that Congress—and appropriators—should have as little say as possible on federal spending.

    “I appreciate that two Republican members of this Committee ultimately took a principled stand against the partisan rescissions package, I really hope that more will join us in standing up for our power of the purse.

    “Now, turning back to the bills before us today—the MilCon-VA bill is one that I care very deeply about. As the daughter of a World War II veteran, the programs we fund in our MilCon-VA bill are very personal to me.

    “Doing right by our vets, getting them the care they need and the support they were promised, is a moral obligation. I’ll have more to say as we debate the bill—including areas I’d like to have done more.

    “But the bottom line is—it delivers the funding needed to support safe and updated infrastructure for our troops and their families and to keep our word to our veterans.

    “As the Chairman noted, we will also take up the CJS bill. I spoke last week about the serious concerns I share with Senator Van Hollen. And it is frustrating that after a bipartisan amendment was taken up, instead of advancing the bill, we recessed and are only now taking it back up with consideration of a partisan amendment.

    “My hope is that we can ensure the integrity of the process for the FBI site, and it’s protected along with the prerogatives of this committee. I am prepared to see what happens as this bill moves forward but will probably vote no if it does not get addressed.

    “With that, I will turn it back over to Chair Collins.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Marshall & Shaheen Reintroduce Bill to Crack Down on Illegal Drug Activity on Social Media

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

    Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), reintroduced the Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act, which would require social media companies and other communication service providers to take on a more active role in working with federal agencies to combat the illegal sale and distribution of drugs on their platforms. This critical data will also empower state and local law enforcement to combat fake fentanyl-laced pills and prosecute those who prey on America’s youth.
    “For four years, Joe Biden’s reckless open borders allowed fentanyl to flood our communities, creating a crisis in every state. We still lose a Kansan a day to fentanyl poisoning,” said Senator Marshall. “Cooper Davis was a bright young man from Johnson County who tragically died from a pill laced with fentanyl purchased on the social media platform: Snapchat. The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act requires social media platforms to report any drug activity on their platform to law enforcement. We will not rest in our fight until no Kansan loses their life to fentanyl poisoning.”
    “In recent years, we’ve seen the startling role that social media has played in fueling the substance use disorder crisis impacting New Hampshire by making it easier for young people to get their hands on these dangerous drugs. It’s past time that Congress step in to put a stop to it,” said Senator Shaheen. “Our bipartisan bill would hold social media companies accountable in keeping our kids safe by requiring that they report certain illicit drug activity on their platforms and work with law enforcement to stop it. Families and communities across this country have dealt with enough heartbreak – as the substance use epidemic evolves, so must our response.” 
    The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act is named after two young men who both tragically lost their lives to fentanyl poisoning after purchasing a pill from social media.
    Cooper Davis from Johnson County, KS, tragically lost his life to fentanyl poisoning in the summer of 2021. Cooper died after taking half a fake pill that contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, which was believed to be purchased from a Missouri drug dealer through the social media platform Snapchat. Following his passing, Cooper’s family launched the non-profit ‘Keepin’ Clean for Coop’ to keep his memory alive to save lives, raise awareness, and educate students and families.
    Devin Norring was a 19-year-old from Hastings, Minnesota, who unexpectedly died from fentanyl poisoning in 2020. In his honor, his family started the Devin J. Norring Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of dealers selling fake pills and other illicit substances online.
    The bill is cosponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Todd Young (R-Indiana), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota).
    “Fentanyl overdoses claim the lives of tens-of-thousands of Americans each year, many of whom suffered accidental poisonings after taking deadly pills marketed on social media platforms,” said Senator Grassley. “After successfully passing the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, Senate Republicans are continuing to advance legislation to combat America’s fentanyl crisis and save lives. Congress must hold Big Tech accountable for its ongoing role in the illicit drug trade.” 
    “Today, it is all too easy for drug dealers to target kids through social media platforms while Big Tech stands idly by. Devastation caused by fentanyl-laced pills is both tragic and preventable. We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to hold Big Tech accountable for the unlawful drug activity that takes place online,” said Senator Durbin. “By requiring social media companies to report illicit fentanyl trafficking occurring on their platforms, the bipartisan Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act will equip law enforcement with the information they need to actively fight fentanyl and protect the most vulnerable Americans, our kids.”
    “Fentanyl is devastating communities in Indiana and across our nation, and we need to do more to address the flow of these drugs, including distribution via social media, that are poisoning young Americans,” said Senator Young. “The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act will give law enforcement officials more tools to combat the illegal sale and distribution of drugs.” 
    The legislation is supported by the families of Cooper Davis and Devin Norring, as well as National HIDTA Directors Association, Snapchat, Partnership for Safe Medicine, the U.S. Deputy Sherriff’s Association, The Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, Mothers Against Prescription Drug Abuse, the Community Anti-Drug Coalition Association, the Alexander Neville Foundation, the National FOP, and the Kansas Sheriffs Association.
    “Our family continues to be extremely grateful for Senator Marshall and his colleague’s dedication to this legislation. We are both honored and saddened to have another name, Devin Norring, added to this bill,” said Libby Davis, Mother of Cooper Davis. “However, the harsh reality is that there are thousands of other teenagers’ names that could be added to this bill because they too lost their lives in this same tragic way. Each with a story demonstrating that this can happen to ANY FAMILY. We, as parents and grandparents, do so many things to keep our kids safe, from baby gates, car seats, and seatbelts, to bike helmets, sunscreen, and vaccinations. This is no different. We need our legislators to come together and get this bipartisan bill across the finish line so that countless children can be saved, theirs being no exception.”
    “Our family & the Devin J. Norring Foundation wholeheartedly support the Cooper Davis & Devin Norring Act – legislation that serves as a critical step toward protecting families from the deadly threat of fentanyl sold through social media,” said The Family of Devin J. Norring & the Devin J. Norring Foundation. “This bill honors the lives of Cooper and Devin by holding tech companies accountable and giving law enforcement the tools they need to respond to this crisis. No parent should have to search for answers in a system that shields predators. It’s time for truth, transparency, and action.” 
    Click here to read the full bill text.
    Background:

    In recent years, organized drug cartels have dominated fentanyl trafficking in the country, and they have set up large, sophisticated distribution networks online via social media.
    In investigating fentanyl-related poisoning and deaths in teenagers and young adults, law enforcement agencies have found an alarming rate of these deadly pills acquired through platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. Unfortunately, federal agencies do not have the data to intervene and prevent these illegal activities.
    The Cooper Davis Act would require social media companies and other communication service providers to take on a more active role in working with federal agencies to combat the illegal sale and distribution of drugs on their platforms. This critical data will also empower state and local law enforcement to combat fake fentanyl-laced pills and prosecute those who prey on America’s youth.
    Fentanyl remains the most dangerous drug threat facing Americans, and fatal poisonings are the fastest-growing among adolescents, teenagers, and young adults.
    After a decrease of deaths involving opioids from an estimated 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024, drug-related deaths are rising across the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: The beauty of coral reefs is key to their survival – so we came up with a way to measure it

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tim Lamont, Research Fellow, Marine Biology, Lancaster University

    Why do people care about coral reefs? Why does their damage cause such concern and outrage? What drives people to go to great lengths to protect and restore them?

    Of course, it’s partly because of their ecological importance and economic value – but it’s also because they are beautiful. Healthy coral reefs are among the most visually spectacular ecosystems on the planet – and this beauty is far from superficial. It underpins cultural heritage value, supports tourism industries, encourages ocean stewardship and deepens people’s emotional connections to the sea.

    But how can such beauty be measured? And when it is destroyed, can it be rebuilt?

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    Traditionally, many coral reef monitoring and restoration programmes overlook their beauty, considering it too subjective to measure. And as a team of scientists, that frustrated us. We knew that to most effectively draw on this key motivator for coral conservation, we had to be able to measure beauty.

    In some ways, it’s an impossible task. But our new study grapples with this challenge, delivering a way of quantifying the aesthetic value of a coral reef, as well as measuring its recovery when previously damaged reefs are restored.

    Our international team of marine scientists has been working at the Mars coral restoration programme (the largest project of its kind) in central Indonesia. Here, local communities and international businesses have collaborated for over a decade, rebuilding reefs that were once decimated by dynamite fishing. This illegal fishing method uses explosives to stun and kill fish for easy collection, while shattering coral reefs into rubble – wiping out entire reef communities in seconds.

    This Indonesian project has already successfully regrown coral reefs. But we wanted to explore whether this programme had been able to recreate the visual appeal of a natural reef ecosystem.

    We took standardised seabed photos using settings that automatically adjust white balance and colour to compensate for underwater light conditions. This enabled us to capture accurate colours under consistent shallow-water conditions across healthy, degraded and restored reef sites.

    Then we conducted online surveys with more than 3,000 participants, asking them to compare pairs of photographs and choose which they found more beautiful – enabling us to derive a rating for each photograph. Our results showed that people from very different backgrounds consistently shared similar opinions on which reefs were beautiful.

    Whether respondents were young or old, from countries with coral reefs or without, or had different levels of education and familiarity with the ocean, they tended to favour images with high coral cover, vibrant colours and complex coral structures. This suggests there is a shared human appreciation for the beauty of thriving reefs.

    We also used these ratings to train a machine-learning algorithm based on AI to reliably predict people’s visual preferences for photographs of different coral habitats.

    The results of people’s survey responses and the machine learning algorithm were the same. Images of restored reefs were consistently rated just as beautiful as those of healthy reefs, and far more aesthetically pleasing than degraded reefs. This is encouraging, and important. It shows that efforts to rebuild these charismatic ecosystems can recreate the beauty that makes them so highly valued.

    Tracking recovery

    We found that beauty was strongly linked to the number of colours present in the picture, the proportion of the image taken up by living coral, and the complexity of shapes exhibited by the corals. Meanwhile, images showing grey rubble fields of dead corals with little life were consistently rated lowest.

    Our results suggest that promoting a range of different coral colours and shapes will not only help marine life, but also restore the visual, cultural and tourism value of thriving coral reefs. Reef restoration experts can achieve this by choosing donor corals – healthy corals transplanted to degraded sites to aid recovery – to add colour and variety to the reefs they plant.

    This also means that coral reef recovery can be tracked using simple photo-based monitoring, like that used in our study.

    Coral reefs need long-term care to help them survive, thrive and maintain their beauty and ecological function. To ensure that initial restoration gains are not quickly lost, such efforts need to be paired with ongoing monitoring and maintenance. Any tourism development around restored reefs also needs to be managed carefully and sustainably.

    Restoration and sustainable tourism practices can help protect and sustain the ecological and social benefits of beautiful, healthy reefs. Ultimately, restoring beautiful reefs will be crucial for communities that rely on marine tourism, and for inspiring people to care for the ocean.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

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    Tim Lamont receives funding from the Royal Commission of 1851 and the Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

    Gita Alisa receives funding from Friends of Lancaster University in America and Sheba Hope Advocate Program.

    Tries Blandine Razak receives funding from the Pew Charitable Trust and the Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

    – ref. The beauty of coral reefs is key to their survival – so we came up with a way to measure it – https://theconversation.com/the-beauty-of-coral-reefs-is-key-to-their-survival-so-we-came-up-with-a-way-to-measure-it-261013

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: UK to lower voting age to 16 – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future health of British democracy

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Andrew Mycock, Chief Policy Fellow, University of Leeds

    The UK government has announced that the voting age will be lowered to 16 at the next election as part of a wider effort to restore trust in and “future-proof” democracy.

    Votes at 16 has grown from a niche concern to become a salient – if contentious – issue supported by most UK political parties and electoral reform groups. The Conservative party remains a holdout – but has never acknowledged the contradiction of its continued opposition to the universal lowering of the voting age while empowering the Scottish and Welsh parliaments to enact the measure during its time in government.

    This is a policy response to concerns about declining youth democratic engagement since the late 1990s. Since 1997, the UK general election turnout rate for those aged 65 years and over has consistently been at least 20 percentage points higher than for those aged 18-24.

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    Some opponents argue that the Labour government is lowering the voting age to 16 for its own electoral interest, but we should remember this was a clearly stated election manifesto commitment. Votes at 16 was part of the package that delivered Labour to government in 2024 on a huge majority.

    That said, public opinion remains steadfastly opposed. The government will need to handle this tension carefully, ensuring that 16- and 17-years-olds are not treated as second-class members of the electorate as this debate pushes forward.

    For and against

    As when the voting age was universally lowered to 18 in 1969, the case for change has pivoted on perceptions of maturity and markers of adulthood. There was considerable political and public consensus in the 1960s that 18 was the appropriate age of majority and enfranchisement. This link has endured, and many people continue to think under 18s are too socially and politically immature to vote responsibly or regularly.

    Supporters of reform emphasise the need to align enfranchisement with other rights realised before or at age 16 – such as paying tax, medical consent, working, autonomy to make decisions about future education and work lives, and undertaking military (if not frontline) service.

    Opponents respond by noting the age of majority remains 18, and that the minimum age for many protective and social rights, such as marriage and leaving full-time education, has been pushed upwards to 18 in the past decade or so.

    But while 18 remains the legal marker of adulthood, transitions from youthhood to adulthood have become extended and complex. There is no single age point at which young people realise all the social and economic rights and responsibilities associated with adulthood.

    Biological maturation extends from late-stage childhood until early adulthood (mid-20s). Traditional markers of adulthood such as financial independence, owning a property, or getting married and having children are occurring later in life than in previous generations.

    It is more than 50 years since parliament last reflected and reviewed how society understands, and frames, issues of adulthood and citizenship linked to the ages of majority and enfranchisement. Lowering the voting age to 16 offers a timely opportunity to do so again.

    Extensive parliamentary debate lies ahead as this bill makes its way through to becoming law. MPs should take that time to discuss and build consensus around what British democracy should offer young people, and how enfranchisement should be conceptualised for future generations.

    Lowering the age is just the start

    Now that 16- and 17-year-olds are part of the electorate, we can hope that political parties will improve their responsiveness to the interests of young people.

    Unfortunately, where the voting age has already been lowered, we’ve not yet seen parties address their skewed decision-making, representation or electoral behaviour, which continues to favour older voters. The average age of elected representatives has remained around 50 years of age in all UK national and devolved parliaments, and higher in local government. Few young people join political parties or are active in their campaigning.

    There is also significant evidence that, regardless of whether the voting age has been lowered or not, young people are not appropriately supported to be politically and media literate to understand how and when to vote, and to make informed and independent voter choices.

    So, lowering the voting age should only be the first step in a more concerted effort to improve political literacy and democratic engagement as young people grow up. This should begin in primary, not secondary, school and continue through further and higher education.

    Elected representatives should hold regular school surgeries where they meet children and young people, and listen and respond to their issues and concerns. Young people need to learn to discuss political issues in school settings, and political parties should host election hustings in schools and colleges. Young people should also be involved in decision-making in their schools and communities.

    Lowering the voting age offers an opportunity to reinvigorate how we host elections to ensure young people enjoy voting for the first time – and encourage their future participation.

    Making electoral registration automatic, as the government has promised, will help. But joining the electoral roll is a significant civic moment in young people’s lives. Schools should host electoral registration ceremonies where pupils are welcomed into the electorate by local elected representatives, and automatically given a voter authority certificate so they have an appropriate piece of voter ID.

    Political parties need to embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity that voting age reform presents to secure the future health of British democracy.

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

    – ref. UK to lower voting age to 16 – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future health of British democracy – https://theconversation.com/uk-to-lower-voting-age-to-16-a-once-in-a-generation-opportunity-to-secure-the-future-health-of-british-democracy-261411

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Why some ‘biodegradable’ wet wipes can be terrible for the environment

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel James Jolly, PhD candidate, University of East Anglia

    Daniel James Jolly, CC BY-NC-ND

    Have you felt disgust when taking a walk along the riverside or plunging into the sea to escape the summer heat, only to spy a used wet wipe floating along the surface? Or shock at finding out that animals have died choking on plastic products or that the seafood we eat may be contaminated with microfibres?

    These pollutants are common in our waterways because of the mismanagement of sewage and inappropriate disposal that flush hygiene products and microfibres into rivers and oceans. In the UK alone, more than 11 billion wet wipes are thrown away annually. Wet wipe litter was found on 72% of UK beaches in 2023.

    They persist because they’re made of plastic, a durable material that won’t easily degrade. Plastic can last for decades to hundreds of years. Therefore, governments and manufacturers are eagerly encouraging the use of non-plastics as more “sustainable” alternatives, with the UK banning plastic in wet wipes in 2024.

    These textiles can be made from plant or animal fibres such as cotton and wool, or they may be chemically and physically modified, such as rayon or viscose. They are often labelled “biodegradable” on product packaging, suggesting they are environmentally friendly, break down quickly, and are a safe alternative to plastics. But is this really the case?

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    My research focuses on investigating the environmental impact of these non-plastic textiles and their persistence in waterways. My colleagues and I have found that some non-plastic microfibres can be just as problematic or even more harmful than plastic.

    While non-plastic textiles are not as long-lived as plastics, with many composting within weeks to months, they can last long enough to accumulate and cause damage to plants, animals and humans. Studies by scientists at the University of Stirling show that biodegradable wet wipes can last up to 15 weeks on beaches, where they can act as a reservoir for faecal bacteria and E.coli. Other studies have highlighted non-plastic textiles lasting for two months or more in rivers and oceans, where they break up into hundreds of thousands of microfibres.

    Non-plastic wet wipes can cause as much an environmental hazard as plastic ones.
    Adam Radosavljevic/Shutterstock

    These microfibres are so prevalent in waterways that they have contaminated animals across the food chain, from filter-feeding mussels and oysters to top predators such as sharks and the seafood we eat.

    They are also found in remote locations as far away as the Arctic seafloor and deep sea, thousands of miles from civilisation. These discoveries highlight that non-plastics last longer than we think.

    The dangers of non-plastics

    Once exposed to aquatic life, non-plastic microfibres can be easily ingested or inhaled, where they can become trapped in the body and cause damage. During their manufacture, textile fibres can be modified with various chemical additives to improve their function, such as flame retardants, antibacterials, softeners, UV protection and dyes.

    It is known that several toxic synthetic chemicals, including the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA), are used for this purpose. These additives can be carcinogenic, cause neurotoxic effects or damage hormonal and reproductive health.

    Researchers like me, have only just begun to explore the dangers of non-plastics. Some have shown that non-plastic microfibres and their additives can damage the digestive system, cause stress, hinder development and alter immune responses in animals such as shrimp, mussels, and oysters. However, other studies have shown little to no effect of non-plastic microfibres on animals exposed to them.

    We do not yet know how much of a threat these materials are to the environment. Only the manufacturers know exactly what’s in the textiles we use. This makes it hard to understand what threats we are really facing. Nevertheless, assumptions that non-plastics are environmentally friendly and an easy alternative to plastic materials must be challenged and reconsidered.

    To do this, we need to push for greater transparency in the contents of our everyday items and test them to make sure that they are truly sustainable and won’t harm the world around us. So next time you are browsing the supermarket aisles and come across a pack of “biodegradable” or “environmentally friendly” wet wipes, just question, are they really?

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Daniel James Jolly receives funding from the University of East Anglia, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, and the NERC ARIES doctoral training pathway as part of his PhD studentship.
    He is a student member of the UK Green Party.

    – ref. Why some ‘biodegradable’ wet wipes can be terrible for the environment – https://theconversation.com/why-some-biodegradable-wet-wipes-can-be-terrible-for-the-environment-258836

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Poland recalls ambassador to Hungary over asylum dispute

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BUDAPEST/WARSAW, July 17 (Xinhua) — Poland has officially recalled its ambassador to Hungary, the Polish Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

    Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski told the Polish Press Agency that the mission of Ambassador to Hungary Sebastian Kenczyk officially ended on July 15. “There is currently a temporary chargé d’affaires in Budapest,” Wronski said, signaling a reduction in the level of Poland’s diplomatic presence in Hungary.

    Warsaw described the decision as a response to a “hostile act against the Republic of Poland,” referring to Hungary’s decision to grant political asylum to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski.

    Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry State Secretary Levente Magyar acknowledged the downgrade in diplomatic relations in a statement on Wednesday, expressing regret over the developments but calling them temporary.

    “This unfortunate step is the result of a gradual deterioration in our political ties – an unprecedented case in the history of our relations with any partner in Central Europe,” L. Magyar noted.

    The current case highlights the growing political rift between two countries that once closely aligned their positions on many EU policy issues. –0–

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

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • Piyush Goyal engages with Indian Missions abroad to boost global trade

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal held a virtual meeting on July 16, with Heads of Commercial Wings in 74 Indian Missions across 61 countries to strengthen India’s global trade and commercial engagement strategy. The interaction, conducted via video conference, focused on reviewing trade promotion activities and addressing market access challenges.

    During the meeting, key Indian Missions presented detailed insights into their trade promotion efforts, sectoral developments, and challenges related to market access. Shri Goyal acknowledged the Missions as critical pillars of India’s economic diplomacy, emphasizing their role as the first point of contact for promoting Indian exports and fostering stronger ties with host countries.

    The Minister urged the Missions to proactively gather trade intelligence, including updates on market trends, regulatory frameworks, and sectoral developments. He highlighted the importance of sharing innovative strategies and best practices that have successfully boosted trade and attracted investment to India. Shri Goyal stressed the need to focus on four key performance indicators—Investment, Trade, Tourism, and Technology—as outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as pillars of India’s growth.

    The discussion also covered the importance of regular trade advisories to identify demand-supply gaps and opportunities for Indian exporters. The Minister called for strategic interventions to address market access barriers, such as non-tariff barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade. He emphasized enhanced alignment between the Missions and the Department of Commerce through data-driven planning and effective use of digital platforms like the DGFT Trade Connect Portal.

    Goyal also urged collaborative efforts to support India’s objectives in multilateral forums like the World Trade Organization, particularly in areas such as agriculture, public stockholding for food security, and fisheries subsidies. The meeting addressed operational challenges, including the need for adequate resources, efficient posting of commercial officers, and improved coordination to support initiatives like Make in India and Production Linked Incentive schemes.

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Colonization devastated biodiversity, habitats and human life in the Pacific Northwest

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Meaghan Efford, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia

    Burrard Inlet, known traditionally as səl̓ilwəɬ (Tsleil-Wat) in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language, has been the heart of the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) since time immemorial.

    An image of part of Burrard Inlet and the City of Vancouver taken from the International Space Station in April 2022.
    (NASA)

    The inlet is a water system that wraps through and around what we now know today as the city of Vancouver on the coast of British Columbia. The ecosystem is home to essential habitat for species like Pacific herring, Pacific salmon and harbour seals.

    Burrard Inlet is also host to many commercial, industrial and urban developments and interests. This includes the Port of Vancouver, one of the largest marine ports in Canada and the terminal end of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Today, more than 2.5 million people call the area home and it’s a popular tourism spot.

    This is relatively new, however. Colonization and urbanization have caused intense change and damage since Europeans first settled in the area in around 1792, with most changes occurring since the 1880s.

    Through a collaborative research project between the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the University of British Columbia, engineering consultant firm Kerr Wood Leidal and Mitacs Canada, we assessed the impact of colonization on the Burrard Inlet ecosystem since Europeans first settled in the area.

    When we look at the cumulative effects of specific events, we are adding the individual impacts of each event together to get a fuller picture of how colonialism impacted the ecosystem.

    How we tracked change over time

    We chose four sources of stress to the ecosystem to assess for this research:

    1) The impact of smallpox on the ancestral Tsleil-Waututh population and the resulting health of the inlet.

    2) The impact of settler fisheries, including Pacific salmon and Pacific herring.

    3) The impact of settler hunting on land animals, including deer.

    4) The impact of urbanization on the health of the ecosystem.

    We used an ecosystem modelling software program called Ecopath with Ecosim, and modelled how these events impacted the inlet ecosystem between 1750-1980. We found there was a significant decrease in biomass (how much of a given organism is in an ecosystem) and available habitat.

    We focused on 12 animal groups based on another collaborative project that focused on traditional Tsleil-Waututh diets.

    To do this, we drew on multiple sources of data, including Tsleil-Waututh traditional ecological knowledge, archeological data, historical and archival work and ecological resources.

    By combining these different sources of information, we can address gaps in each data source and weave together information to paint a fuller picture of ecological change over time.

    An aerial photo of the Burrard Inlet’s North Shore and the Maplewood Mudflats taken by a Tsleil-Waututh field survey team by drone during a kelp survey in August 2020.
    (Tsleil-Waututh Nation)

    What we found

    Our research highlights how shoreline change from events like the construction of the Port of Vancouver resulted in the loss of more than half of the intertidal habitat that clams, crabs, birds and fish rely on.

    Along with over-harvesting, this has resulted in a dramatic population decline for these species. Clams and other bivalves have also become unsafe to eat due to pollution.

    Over-fishing has been a huge problem. Forage fish, including Pacific herring, eulachon, surf smelt and Northern anchovy, collectively experienced a 99 per cent decline in biomass.

    Pacific herring was completely wiped out by dynamite fishing, and only recently returned.

    Pink salmon and chum salmon both experienced more than 40 per cent losses in biomass due to over-fishing. White sturgeon were almost wiped out.

    Mammals didn’t fare any better: three-quarters of the deer and elk populations and over one-quarter of the harbour seal population in the area around the inlet were lost to hunting.

    Smallpox had a devastating effect on Salish communities throughout the region. The loss of lives caused dramatic change in the ecosystem because it reduced how much food was taken out of the ecosystem significantly.

    The smallpox epidemics only touch the surface of how colonization impacted Indigenous lives. Other events that we didn’t include in the model — like the Residential School system and the Reserve System, for example — severely limited or criminalized stewardship activities that Tsleil-Waututh and other Nations have been using to take care of their territory for millennia.

    Tsleil-Waututh stewardship and sovereignty

    Tsleil-Waututh people are specialists in managing and stewarding the marine, tidal and terrestrial resources of the inlet’s ecosystem. Tsleil-Waututh salmon stewardship sustainably maintained a chum salmon fishery for almost 3,000 years.

    The research questions, priorities and direction of our project were established through frequent collaborative meetings. This approach ensured Tsleil-Waututh co-authors and colleagues were involved in every step of the research.

    This kind of community-driven work is complex. It is also incredibly valuable for understanding ecosystem change over time. Without the leadership and knowledge of Tsleil-Waututh knowledge-holders, this research would have had massive data and knowledge gaps and the work would have much less significance.

    This is an example of transdisciplinary research: research that is interdisciplinary, that draws on multiple disciplines for data and methods and is grounded in community from the beginning.

    Our research shows that colonialism has had a devastating impact on habitats and biodiversity in and around Burrard Inlet. This is not just an ecological story, but a human story that speaks to the wide-reaching impacts of colonization. It is an intertwined story that shows how harmful colonization and rapid urbanization can be, both to humans and to the ecosystems we call home.

    Meaghan Efford received funding from Mitacs Canada through a collaborative project with Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

    – ref. Colonization devastated biodiversity, habitats and human life in the Pacific Northwest – https://theconversation.com/colonization-devastated-biodiversity-habitats-and-human-life-in-the-pacific-northwest-260791

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chief of the Air Staff speech at Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Chief of the Air Staff speech at Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 2025

    Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton’s speech at the Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 17 July 2025

    Susannah thank you very much and Dave thank you A – for being here and B – for giving such a great presentation, I am now starting to doubt the fact that I took out the animal videos from last year out of my presentation.

    As you heard yesterday this is the last appearance for me as the CAS at the Global Air Space Chiefs Conference and I am going to miss it. This conference provides a fantastic opportunity for us to get to know each other, build relationships, and most importantly to share ideas.

    Combined with RIAT and the invitation to our crews, to our industries, and to our spouses, this always feels like a very special event. 

    You might remember that two years ago I showed this picture of Caitlin and me on holiday in Greece as a mechanism to try and build a rapport or relationship. I got in trouble because I hadn’t cleared it with her before I showed it but I’m doing it again, it’ll be fine.

    I wanted to start today by saying a huge thank you to the global air and space chief community for your friendship and support over the two years while I’ve been chief and particularly over the last year.

    Some of you know that Caitlin was not at RIAT last year as she underwent a pretty aggressive form of chemotherapy, and that camaraderie and support that I felt from this international community was incredible. It’s those bonds of friendship and understanding that will sustain us both in peacetime and in war.

    I am pleased to say that Caitlin is doing well and she’ll be back at RIAT.

    And for those of you who are wondering she is still a divorce lawyer. So, if she hands you her business card you should be afraid, if she hands your spouse her business card – be very very afraid!

    Two years ago in 2023 when I stood on this stage, the war in Ukraine was just over a year old and my key conclusion was that after 3 decades of peace dividend and fighting impressive counter-terrorism campaigns globally, we – the Royal Air Force and other air forces needed to change if we were going to avoid the kind of war that we saw playing out in Ukraine. 

    Our response to this demand for change intellectually was to update our air operating concept. At the heart of it is this idea of decision superiority supported by agility, integration, and resilience.

    Roll forward a year, last year we focused on deterrence. In whatever way you describe it, warfare is costly, and I argued that our job as military leaders was to stop these wars from starting.

    I also explained last year where our priorities lay in terms of developing the capabilities to ensure we could deter the kind of fight we’ve seen in Ukraine.

    It started with command and control. Capabilities to counter the A2 AD threat. Integrated area missile and defence and agile combat employment. And taking a leaf out of Dave’s book I also showed you this picture of my good friend Patrick Sanders, shortly after he finished being the head of the British Army at Glastonbury. I’m pleased to say that Patrick has gone past his Glasto phase and is now a successful podcaster and it’s really good, I can really recommend it. But Patrick was in the news again last weekend with a warning that we should head as we think about the pace of change.

    As you heard from the Minister, last month the UK published its Strategic Defence Review, a vision about making Britain safer, secure at home, and strong abroad. It played back to us much of the logic and analysis we’ve talked about in conferences like this for several years. As you’ve heard today, it focuses on warfighting readiness, it’s clear about putting NATO first, and using defence as and engine for growth, with UK innovation driven by lessons from Ukraine, and a whole of society response.

    This is a radical shift for the UK.

    And all of that is before The Hague Summit where many of our allies signed up to spend significantly more on Defence.

    This is a watershed moment for the UK and the West.

    Throughout my whole career Defence budgets have shrunk, armed forces have got smaller. I was at RAF Cranwell recently talking to our officer cadets about to graduate and coming out into their next phase of training and into the Air Force. I told them that they are entering an air force that none of us have known. An Air Force where budgets are growing, and numbers are increasing.

    Last year, I also talked about the high low mix and its importance and autonomous collaborative platforms, and you’ve heard about that from the minister this morning.

    I got Jim Beck our Director of Capability, who we saw yesterday, to promise in front of all of you he would deliver this year the first of a family of ACPs that would improve the lethality and survivability of our crewed platforms.

    I want to pay tribute to Jim today and the wider team for delivering in April this year StormShroud.

    It is an impressive capability that was delivered with a different attitude towards risk both in terms of its acquisition and in the terms of the way it’s operated.  It also delivered through collaboration with warfighters, traditional defence industry, and new entrants to it.

    I am enormously proud of what Jim, the team and the wider team have done to deliver it, and I am enormously pleased that what SDR sets out is a direction of travel that we have been on as air forces for several years.

    But the SDR is clear, and I’m clear that we have to do this quickly, and we can’t do it on our own.

    To borrow a phrase from my great friend Jabba Steur the Dutch chief, we need to be ready to fight tonight, tomorrow, and together.

    These alliances, that these conferences help build are incredibly important to us, and frankly the alliance with the United States of America is the most important of all.

    Arthur Tedder and Tooey Spatz, the first Chief of Staff for the US Air Force, forged a relationship during the second world war that sustained them through peace. Today the relationships we form in peacetime need to sustain us through war.

    This year has seen many of us in this room flying alongside our US friends and fighting alongside them globally.

    But is not just about working together as allies, this evolving battlespace demands that we work together across all 5 domains, and that’s why that is the theme of this conference how do we integrate air and space power into this evolving battlespace.

    I want to use 3 stories from the past, present and future to illustrate why this is important and what lessons we might draw about how we do it.

    Now looking round the room, I think quite a lot of us in the room remember the early days in our career the end of the Cold War.

    Every self-respecting junior officer would have read Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising.

    In it, NATO face the task of repelling Russian aggression from Eastern Europe through or by, as Tom said,

    ‘…penetrating the most concentrated SAM belt the world had ever known.’

    In Tom Clancy’s day that was a job for Air Forces it required large packages of aircraft, it was what our flag exercises, Red Flag, Green Flag, Maple Flag, were all about. Honing our Large Force Employment skills – we relished the opportunity; we loved flying and fighting alongside the very best from other nations.

    I’m sure just the mention of it evokes warm memories at the time when it was the air force that we knew and loved, when we had more hair, slimmer waists, and we didn’t groan when we got out of chairs.

    This was air power’s World Cup. I was also going to say this was, for our American audience, it’s like the World Series, but I found out that Donald Trump seems to recognise Soccer is the more important game, and if you’re going to have a world event you do have to invite people from other countries to it, just saying. Sorry Dave!

    This was a complex mission and attrition was expected. In Tom Clancy’s novel, more than a dozen of the most technologically advanced aircraft the West had were lost on that first mission. In the 1980s we had the mass to cope with that kind of level of attrition. Today, we know that this is going to require more than just brilliant air forces. Even the most ardent advocate of air power, Dave Deptula agrees.

    In Tom Clancy’s time, other terrestrial domains lacked the tools to be able to really influence this fight. Space and cyber weren’t even nascent capabilities.

    Today, not only is it feasible to integrate effects across multi domains, it is essential. And this is hard, it’s hard to do it on a national level, trying to do it multi-nationally, across a continent is exponentially more difficult but it is the challenge of our generation, and our adversaries know that and they’re trying to emulate us. Fortunately, however they are showing us how not to do it.

    When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it looked like integrated multi-domain operations. With two combined armies, supported by strategic fires, tactical and strategic air power provided by VKS, land launched, sea launched, air launched cruise missile, electronic warfare, and critical space and cyber effects, surely that was integrated?

    But the reality is Russia’s sees air power differently to the west, in the western way of warfare, air power is at the heart of the way we fight. In Russia it’s about supporting the land campaign, and we know as Justin Bronkin and Dag Henrikson have pointed out that Russia has always struggled to integrate air power emissions to deliver strategic effect. So in those first few hours and days after the war started, what we saw was Russia’s actions were stove pipped, they were deconflicted in time and space and fratricide both electronically and kinetically was commonplace. But three years and a million causalities later, Russia is learning. And we have to learn too, as General Patton said,

    Our job as air chiefs is to educate our aviators and our commander so that we are ready for the next Storm Rising. There’s no way I could write it.

    I’ve stood on this stage and said, that we should not image that Ukraine is the way in which we would fight in the future. Ukraine is a 19th Century war, fought with 20th Century tactics and 21st Century weapons.

    What we need to do is fight 21st Century war, with 21st Century capabilities, and 21st Century thinking.

    2025 has given for us some examples of how this air led innovation and integration can make a difference. We’ve heard about Ukraine’s audacious attack against Russia’s strategic assets and operations in Iran have really shown us what exquisite air power integrated with other multi-domain effects can do at both the strategic and campaign level.

    But when the war starts, we know that it’s going to be a dynamic environment, and so whilst the tactics and the targets might be the same as they were in Tom Clancy’s day, the threat has changed, and the tactics need to change too.

    There’s breadth, scale, depth coupled with three years of operational experience mean the threat is much greater than it was in Tom Clancy’s time. And so the tactics need to change, and we need an integrated approach.

    We need space, cyber, land, sea, and air to work together.

    We know space will deliver PNT, we know it will deliver ISR, we know it will deliver battle damage assessment, but it can also be used to disrupt our adversaries’ communications. We can shield our own forces from their satellites.

    Cyber can disrupt and degrade C2 systems.

    The maritime environment might deliver fires or air defence.

    The land domain might launch Stromshroud, project special forces or launch attacks against key targets.

    We get this right; we create control of the air. We might be limited in time and geography, but it opens up the opportunity for our forces to target and exploit other opportunities.

    But no plan survives contact with the enemy and we need a mechanism to adapt and react, to ensure that we’re able to exploit opportunities and make the right decisions at the right time in this complex environment.

    In the UK we’ve developed NEXUS, it’s our combat cloud and it will form part of the digital targeting web the minister talked about this morning and it’s through that that we’ll deliver the tempo and deliver that all domain C2. But C2 is about more than the network, it’s about our commanders, our decision making and our training. We’ve got challenge in NATO in particular, how do we command and control in a dynamic environment, multi-domain operations when we’re structured by component and organised by components or geography.

    NATO’s land component commander argues that it’s the Army’s task, the Army should, alone deal with the counter A2 AD threat in Kaliningrad. He might be right in that specific environment, but it’s not proven or tested. It would be like me saying that actually it’s air power that should be the soul force that blunts Russian attacks into NATO territory. We need to lift ourselves out of these historic rivalries and reductive arguments and think about how we deliver truly integrated multi-domain effects.

    How do we set the board at risk in the way Dave said yesterday to make sure we are ready for the next Storm Rising.

    We can learn lessons from other campaigns and operations and the next panel will talk about some of those. But I think we need to test, to train, and to educate our people.

    In the real world, exercises like Bamboo Eagle provide high-end, multi-domain, multinational and long-range exercises where we can test ourselves against these kinds of scenarios. Red Flag has always been the pinnacle air exercise, in this case Red Flag was just the starter to the main course which was exercise Bamboo Eagle.

    175 aircraft from Canada, the UK, Australia, and the US. In an operation that ranged right across the indo-pacific. But we don’t just need to rely on the real world anymore, the synthetic environment provides us with opportunities to test and train in ways we’ve not been able to before.

    In the UK, we’ve developed Gladiator, a synthetic, multi-domain environment that connects national and international components so they can mission rehearse the most complex of multi-domain operations that we are unable to imagine.

    Earlier last year, in Exercise Cobra Warrior, the weather meant that we were unable to conduct some of the flying that we intended, quite a common thing in the UK.

    What we did was, we flew the mission in Gladiator. The full COMAO flew real-time, and then the combined synthetic and real picture that came from that was fed into the was fed into the ops centre which allowed our C2 and ISR teams to test themselves as though it had been for real.

    We can no longer wait to find out what we know and adapt when the war starts.

    For those, like Dave and Shawn Harris who have walked the corridors of the USAF’s School of Advanced Air and Space Power Studies, they’ll see this quote.

    We need to provide those opportunities for our people, so that they are ready for the next Storm Rising.

    The Americans have shown the way with Bamboo Eagle and the phenomenal capability off the coast of California, but I think we need something like this in Europe too.

    Somewhere where we can bring our Armies, Navies, and Air Forces together. Where we can test the land component commander’s assertion that he can alone address the counter A2 AD task in Kaliningrad. Where we can find out how do we command and control multi-domain effects in NATO when we’re organised by components.

    We have talked and sat around the NATO Air Chiefs table about creating some airspace we can turn on and off over the North Sea. But for our agencies and our airlines it’s all a bit too difficult.

    Now to be fair, North Sea might not be the right place. Our friends in Sweden and Finland have got a lot of space and are keen to help. What I would like to do is to see our European and NATO forces pool our resources and create that capacity and capability here in Europe.

    So let me sum up.

    We have to be ready for this next Storm Rising.

    We know it is going to be harder than it was in Tom Clancy’s day.

    Fighting a bespoke, exquisite air campaign that’s not integrated into this evolving battlespace will lead to campaign failure.

    What we need is genuinely integrated multi-domain effects, at this operational and strategic level not just at the tactical level where we know that we excel. How we do that is through thinking and practice. We can do some of that in synthetic environment and that also allows us an opportunity to exploit some of those tools that Keith and others talked about yesterday. But we need to do it in the real world too, so we can identify the frictions and fix them.

    I’ll be honest, I don’t know the answer to this NATO conundrum about command and control and how we do that command and control integrated action and deliver multi-domain effects when we’re organised by component. But the answer to it starts with thinking and practice, and it’s through that we will be able to deter, to fight and to win – tonight, tomorrow and together.

    Thank you very much.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: New AvidXchange Report Shows Finance Teams More Prepared Than in 2020—But Still Investing to Weather Uncertainty

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AvidXchange, Inc. a leading provider in accounts payable (AP) automation software and payment solutions for mid-market businesses and their suppliers, today announced the results of its 2025 Economic Sentiment Survey, conducted via Pollfish.

    The survey of 709 finance professionals reveals a key shift: 67% feel more prepared to handle today’s economic uncertainty than they did in 2020, crediting increased technology investment and hard-earned experience. Many are continuing to double down on digital tools to stay agile amid inflation, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing market volatility.

    Economic Concerns Still Weigh Heavily

    While confidence is growing, post-Covid hangover remains. 86% of finance professionals express concern about the current state of the economy, with nearly half taking actions like cutting discretionary spending. Additionally, 50% say they are “very concerned” about the likelihood of a recession, and 22% expect one to hit within the next 12 months.

    Tariffs and inflation are also reshaping financial planning:

    • 83% report supplier cost increases due to inflation
    • 52% say tariffs have led to moderate forecast adjustments
    • Nearly 1 in 3 organizations are sharing those costs with customers

    These findings reflect a market still in flux—and the pressure on finance leaders to respond swiftly and strategically.

    Technology Fuels Financial Readiness

    Despite uncertainty, tech investments are enabling confidence. Seven in 10 finance professionals say technology is critical to their ability to respond to changing conditions, and 72% say tools implemented early in the pandemic are paying off today.

    In fact, 49% say they are more likely to invest in AI and automation specifically because of ongoing economic uncertainty. Top areas of focus include:

    • AI and machine learning (48%)
    • Data security and compliance tools (44%)
    • Collaboration and workflow tools (36%)

    Finance teams are embracing technology not just to cut costs—but to enable smarter, faster decisions.

    Finance Professionals Emerge as Strategic Partners

    The survey findings point to a fundamental shift in how finance is viewed: from operational support to strategic leadership.

    Nearly 30% of teams are conducting scenario planning and financial modeling, while 27% are focused on strengthening supplier relationships—clear signals of a proactive, future-focused mindset.

    With better tools and a broader mandate, finance leaders are stepping into roles that directly shape business direction, resilience, and growth.

    Momentum in a Shifting Economy

    Though 52% of respondents expect volatility to continue into 2026, the overall tone is one of momentum. Finance professionals are moving from reactive to proactive, leaning into their role as stewards of strategy, stability, and innovation.

    “Finance teams aren’t just adapting—they’re planning smarter, automating faster, and driving strategic decisions across the business,” said Dan Drees, President at AvidXchange. “This research reinforces what we’re seeing in the market—technology is a critical enabler for companies looking to drive efficiency and fuel growth.”

    To read the full report visit https://www.avidxchange.com/resources/finance-teams-economic-volatility/.

    About AvidXchange®
    AvidXchange (Nasdaq: AVDX) is a leading provider in accounts payable (AP) automation, offering intelligent AP software and payment solutions specifically designed for mid-market businesses and their suppliers. With 25 years of industry experience, AvidXchange modernizes the way businesses manage their expenses and payments by offering AI-enhanced software coupled with support from experts. Empowering over 8,500 growth-driven businesses, AvidXchange increases efficiency, control, and visibility in financial operations and has securely processed payments to more than 1.3 million suppliers through its proprietary payment network over the past five years. For more information, visit avidxchange.com.  

    Media Contact:
    Alexis Riddick
    Public Relations Manager
    pr@avidxchange.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: New AvidXchange Report Shows Finance Teams More Prepared Than in 2020—But Still Investing to Weather Uncertainty

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AvidXchange, Inc. a leading provider in accounts payable (AP) automation software and payment solutions for mid-market businesses and their suppliers, today announced the results of its 2025 Economic Sentiment Survey, conducted via Pollfish.

    The survey of 709 finance professionals reveals a key shift: 67% feel more prepared to handle today’s economic uncertainty than they did in 2020, crediting increased technology investment and hard-earned experience. Many are continuing to double down on digital tools to stay agile amid inflation, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing market volatility.

    Economic Concerns Still Weigh Heavily

    While confidence is growing, post-Covid hangover remains. 86% of finance professionals express concern about the current state of the economy, with nearly half taking actions like cutting discretionary spending. Additionally, 50% say they are “very concerned” about the likelihood of a recession, and 22% expect one to hit within the next 12 months.

    Tariffs and inflation are also reshaping financial planning:

    • 83% report supplier cost increases due to inflation
    • 52% say tariffs have led to moderate forecast adjustments
    • Nearly 1 in 3 organizations are sharing those costs with customers

    These findings reflect a market still in flux—and the pressure on finance leaders to respond swiftly and strategically.

    Technology Fuels Financial Readiness

    Despite uncertainty, tech investments are enabling confidence. Seven in 10 finance professionals say technology is critical to their ability to respond to changing conditions, and 72% say tools implemented early in the pandemic are paying off today.

    In fact, 49% say they are more likely to invest in AI and automation specifically because of ongoing economic uncertainty. Top areas of focus include:

    • AI and machine learning (48%)
    • Data security and compliance tools (44%)
    • Collaboration and workflow tools (36%)

    Finance teams are embracing technology not just to cut costs—but to enable smarter, faster decisions.

    Finance Professionals Emerge as Strategic Partners

    The survey findings point to a fundamental shift in how finance is viewed: from operational support to strategic leadership.

    Nearly 30% of teams are conducting scenario planning and financial modeling, while 27% are focused on strengthening supplier relationships—clear signals of a proactive, future-focused mindset.

    With better tools and a broader mandate, finance leaders are stepping into roles that directly shape business direction, resilience, and growth.

    Momentum in a Shifting Economy

    Though 52% of respondents expect volatility to continue into 2026, the overall tone is one of momentum. Finance professionals are moving from reactive to proactive, leaning into their role as stewards of strategy, stability, and innovation.

    “Finance teams aren’t just adapting—they’re planning smarter, automating faster, and driving strategic decisions across the business,” said Dan Drees, President at AvidXchange. “This research reinforces what we’re seeing in the market—technology is a critical enabler for companies looking to drive efficiency and fuel growth.”

    To read the full report visit https://www.avidxchange.com/resources/finance-teams-economic-volatility/.

    About AvidXchange®
    AvidXchange (Nasdaq: AVDX) is a leading provider in accounts payable (AP) automation, offering intelligent AP software and payment solutions specifically designed for mid-market businesses and their suppliers. With 25 years of industry experience, AvidXchange modernizes the way businesses manage their expenses and payments by offering AI-enhanced software coupled with support from experts. Empowering over 8,500 growth-driven businesses, AvidXchange increases efficiency, control, and visibility in financial operations and has securely processed payments to more than 1.3 million suppliers through its proprietary payment network over the past five years. For more information, visit avidxchange.com.  

    Media Contact:
    Alexis Riddick
    Public Relations Manager
    pr@avidxchange.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: HS2 6-monthly report to Parliament: July 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Written statement to Parliament

    HS2 6-monthly report to Parliament: July 2025

    Review of High Speed Two (HS2) including programme governance, delivery update, benefits, community impacts, land and property.

    Overview

    Today (17 July 2025) I am publishing this government’s second update to Parliament on the progress of High Speed Two (HS2).

    In my previous report, I set out the difficult position that we inherited. HS2 has suffered from repeated cost increases and delays for too long. Although there have been external factors outside of the programme’s control, it has also been mismanaged. It is now clear that cost estimates were overly optimistic and the programme moved to construction too quickly when designs were still immature. Delivery of the programme has not been sufficiently controlled, with a poorly performing supply chain that was insufficiently incentivised. There have been repeated changes in policy, scope and funding and excessive costs incurred in achieving environmental and planning compliance. This means delayed benefits and cost increases incurred on HS2 have diverted billions of pounds from other vital transport priorities.

    This is unacceptable, the cycle of cost increases and delays must be broken and I am determined to achieve this. The project is now under new leadership, and I have tasked HS2 Ltd’s new CEO, Mark Wild, with leading a comprehensive reset of the programme. He is making progress, but this is a huge task, and we need to ensure he has a robust plan for delivering the programme to completion in a controlled way and at the lowest reasonable cost. To this end, the department will work with him and HS2 Ltd over the coming months to advise me on the decisions needed to reset HS2, with the aim of providing an updated delivery baseline and funding envelope in 2026. Until this work is completed, this government is not in a position to say with confidence how much HS2 will cost or when it will be delivered. That is a deeply unsatisfactory position, but it is necessary to complete the hard work we have embarked upon.

    Effective ministerial oversight will be at the heart of this reset. The Rail Minister and I meet regularly with Mark Wild to assess progress and in March, I chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Task Force with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, focusing on completing the programme in a controlled way. In June, I appointed Mike Brown as the new Chair of the HS2 Ltd Board to help us drive effective oversight and accountability on the programme. Both Mark Wild and Mike Brown have experience in major project recovery from Crossrail, which will be invaluable to this task. Mike’s immediate priorities will include supporting Mark and strengthening the challenge that the Board provides to HS2 Ltd, to complement ministerial oversight.

    The reset needs to be guided by the lessons learned from HS2’s delivery to date. In June, I published the major transport projects governance and assurance review, led by James Stewart. This report set out recommendations and actions that we are taking to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, helping to bring HS2 under control and to improve the delivery of future infrastructure projects.

    The government’s determination to now see this programme delivered as efficiently as possible is underpinned by the allocation of £25.3 billion (nominal prices) of funding over 4 years in the Spending Review, as set out in the financial annex.

    Despite the evident challenges, HS2 Ltd, its suppliers and over 33,000 workers have maintained steady progress on construction, achieving major delivery milestones since my last report.

    HS2 will foster economic growth in support of this government’s mission. Research commissioned by HS2 Ltd has found that the prospective arrival of HS2 is already leading to redevelopment around new HS2 stations, demonstrating the early potential of this scheme to act as a catalyst for investment in businesses, new jobs and homes. The research estimates that the programme will deliver economic uplifts of £10 billion in the West Midlands and £10 billion around Old Oak Common station in west London over the next 10 years. 

    Delivering an HS2 station at Euston remains a priority to realise the programme’s benefits. Following our commitment to funding the tunnelling required to bring HS2 to central London, we continue to work with key partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for the Euston station campus alongside significant levels of local development, including housing and life sciences institutions. In parallel, we recently announced that a Euston Delivery Company will be established to oversee the development of the whole Euston campus, which will comprise the new HS2 station, an upgraded Network Rail station and enhancements to the London Underground station and local transport facilities, along with a significant level of development. We welcome the joint venture that The Crown Estate has announced with Lendlease, our development partner at Euston. As set out in the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, we are exploring the use of private capital to design, build, finance and maintain the HS2 station.

    Finally, beyond individual rail schemes, the rail network must be viewed as a whole. HS2 will play a key part in our ambition to improve rail for passengers, with its services and benefits extending far beyond London and Birmingham, including the capacity it releases for other regional and London services.

    Delivery update

    Schedule and cost

    As I set out in the House of Commons on 18 June, based on Mark Wild’s initial advice, I see no route by which trains can be running by 2033 as previously planned. Mark has committed to establishing and delivering to a new baseline in 2026. Once this work is complete, we will have an agreed estimate of how much the project will cost and when it will be delivered.

    Whilst the reset is ongoing, the department is managing HS2 Ltd through strengthened in-year controls, including challenging targets and metrics to deliver within annual budgets. To drive in-year delivery performance, an enhanced level of governance and assurance has also been implemented, reflecting the recommendations of James Stewart’s review.

    This year, HS2 Ltd has rescheduled some work to ensure it operates within its annual financial settlement.

    Expenditure

    To the end of April 2025, £40.5 billion (nominal prices) had been spent on the HS2 programme. This is provided in more detail in the financial annex, based on data provided by HS2 Ltd.

    Spend to date information covers the period up to the end of April 2025. Unless stated otherwise, all figures are presented in nominal prices.

    Following the recent conclusion of the Spending Review, the department has reached a settlement with HM Treasury to fund the delivery of HS2, with £25.3 billion (nominal prices) covering financial years 2026 to 2027 to 2029 to 2030.

    This funding will enable the reset of the HS2 programme under the leadership of Mark Wild, addressing longstanding delivery challenges. It will enable HS2 to move forward with a more secure delivery plan and will support progress at the lowest reasonable cost.

    This settlement will support the continued delivery of Phase 1, providing funding for works from Old Oak Common to Birmingham Curzon Street and Handsacre Junction, Euston Tunnels and Approaches and Euston Station enabling works.

    The HS2 programme is currently in a period of high spend, with much of it in active construction. The department expects HS2 Ltd’s expenditure to become noticeably lower over the next Spending Review period as delivery of the programme progresses.

    The department has updated its reporting of historic programme expenditure from 2019 prices to nominal prices. Once the programme reset is complete and a new baseline agreed, HS2 Ltd will also uplift the price base for programme reporting and for the revised cost estimate. The department will consider how often the price base should be uplifted until the end of the programme.

    Construction progress

    Over 70% of HS2’s 32 miles of bored and mined tunnels between London and Birmingham have now been completed.

    Construction is progressing across the route, with active works underway on 44 viaducts, 126 bridges, 75 embankments and 60 cuttings.

    The Northolt Tunnels, which will link Old Oak Common Station to West Ruislip, were recently completed. Constructed in 2 phases – East and West – the tunnels were excavated using 4 tunnel boring machines (TBMs). TBMs Sushila and Caroline completed mining the western section in April 2025, while mining on the eastern section, led by TBMs Emily and Anne, was completed at the end of June 2025.

    In May, the first Bromford Tunnel broke through, connecting Warwickshire to Birmingham, marking the completion of the first section of the 3.5-mile tunnel.

    In April, a 14,500-tonne box structure that will carry the high-speed line was successfully installed under the A46. The installation utilised innovative civil and structural engineering techniques, which involved constructing the box on land before pushing it across a guiding raft over 64 metres into place.

    Over 8.5 million cubic metres of soil have been excavated, representing 73% of the total planned earthworks.

    In February, the first viaduct in the Delta Junction in North Warwickshire was completed, marking both a significant milestone in the construction of HS2 in the region and the first use of an innovative giant cantilever system in the UK.

    At Interchange Station in Solihull, enabling works have commenced on site, including surveys and ground investigations to inform the detailed design.

    The ‘systems and service’ tender was launched in February 2025 for the Automated People Mover (APM), which will provide connectivity between Interchange Station, the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham International Station and Birmingham Airport.

    At Curzon Street Station in central Birmingham, piling works continue to progress with only the western section remaining. For this financial year, the focus will be on completing the design before construction starts next year. The updated Schedule 17 planning consents for the revised station designs were approved by Birmingham City Council on 8 May 2025. Schedule 17 of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017 establishes a process for the approval of matters related to the design and construction of the railway. It requires HS2 Ltd to seek approval from the appropriate planning authority, in this case, Birmingham City Council. This approval shall allow HS2 Ltd to construct the station with improvements to the visuals of the station and refinements to the long-term maintenance requirements. 

    At Old Oak Common Station in west London, the tunnel boring machines are being assembled with preparations currently underway to enable their launch towards Euston in spring 2026.

    In November 2024, we reached a key milestone with the award of the rail systems contracts worth around £3 billion in current prices. The contracts commenced in February 2025, but work on site will not start until main works civils are largely complete. Procurement of the Washwood Heath Depot and the National Integrated Control Centre continues.

    Lessons from the contracting failures of HS2’s main works programme have been firmly embedded in the systems contracts. The design of rail systems is more advanced at this stage than it was for main works civils, giving better cost certainty. HS2 Ltd has established an alliance with stronger incentives to ensure suppliers share risk, allowing us to manage costs better and drive performance. The contracts require fewer consents to be granted as well.

    Mobilisation on the rail systems contract has started and timelines are being developed in line with the wider programme challenges noted elsewhere in this report. There will be a formal review at the end of the design stage to make sure all parties are ready to start work on site, again learning from main works civils.

    Euston

    The department continues to work with key partners to develop affordable, integrated plans for the Euston station campus. In parallel, enabling works are continuing to ready the HS2 station site for the main construction programme.

    In terms of the delivery model, the government announced in its 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy that a Euston Delivery Company will be established to oversee the development of the whole Euston campus. The new delivery model will involve a changed role for HS2 Ltd but will go much broader than that to address historical challenges at the site. HS2 Ltd will remain a key partner, continuing to carry out important work at Euston.

    The department also continues to work with partners to examine available delivery and private finance options that will realise the great regeneration potential of the Euston area alongside the improvement of transport links.

    Specifically, the department is exploring options for various elements of the programme to be funded through a combination of private finance, development receipts, and potential local contributions such as tax increment financing, with a degree of residual public funding. The department has been engaging closely with HM Treasury and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority as it continues to develop its plans, and has appointed specialist advisors to ensure it has access to expert support.

    As we progress our plans to reinitiate delivery, we are embedding the recommendations of James Stewart’s review through the new delivery model and working closely with partners to manage risks sensibly and collectively. We will continue to work with key partners with the aim of restarting design later this year. No final decisions have been made regarding the preferred mechanisms to securing funding and finance, including private finance options; further details will be shared in due course.

    The delivery of HS2 has continued during this period to be the subject of both legal and planning challenges, which have added significant cost, uncertainty and potential for delay. It is right that there are checks and balances embedded in our legal and planning systems to ensure local interests are considered when national projects are implemented. There is, however, the risk that these rights are used to frustrate the delivery of consented projects, with legal challenges and planning powers used in a way that drives up costs to both local and national taxpayers, rather than protecting local interests. 

    The HS2 planning and environmental regime set out in the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017 has been subject to multiple attempts at legal challenge from other public bodies, most recently in relation to the extension of the Bromford tunnel in North Warwickshire – with a judgment delivered in the project’s favour.  Since Royal Assent for the act, there have been 9 legal challenges brought by other public bodies. In almost all of these cases, the courts have ultimately found in the project’s favour, but not in time to avoid significant uncertainty, costly delays, or additional legal costs for both parties – the majority of which has unfortunately had to be borne by local taxpayers.

    In the same time period, there have also been 25 costly and time-consuming appeals relating to the HS2 planning regime. Almost all of these appeals have ultimately been determined in HS2’s favour. The government continues to monitor this issue closely and will consider further interventions where appropriate, alongside its wider work on planning reform.

    Fraud investigation

    We are aware of the claims made in relation to a labour supplier on part of the route. The allegations concern inflated invoices and improper PAYE charges, potentially defrauding taxpayers. HS2 Ltd treats all whistleblower allegations seriously and an investigation was launched earlier this year into these allegations. Furthermore, HS2 Ltd has formally reported the allegations to HMRC and HS2 Ltd’s contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI has implemented additional monitoring and controls.

    Benefits

    Housing

    Despite all the challenges, HS2 represents a significant plank of the government’s Plan for Change, our growth and housing missions, and our ambition to deliver infrastructure that works for the whole country. 

    HS2 provides an unparalleled opportunity to build new homes, create jobs and attract investment. The redevelopment of land around the new HS2 stations will enable the ideal conditions for business, new jobs and homes and will act as a catalyst for further investment and wider growth.

    In the West Midlands, HS2 is estimated to support directly 4,000 new homes around Curzon Street Station and 3,000 new homes around Interchange Station as part of the Arden Cross development in Solihull. Additionally, research from a February 2024 report suggests that HS2 will add £10 billion to the West Midlands economy over the next 10 years and help generate over 41,000 additional homes.

    In west London, local partners estimate that HS2 will, in the long term, support the delivery of up to 25,500 new homes around Old Oak Common station, including 9,000 new homes as part of the first phase of development at Old Oak West. Separate research from March 2025 estimates that HS2 will add £10 billion to the west London economy over the next 10 years and support 22,000 additional homes. Around Euston in central London, HS2 will support the delivery of thousands of new homes and the development of a new ‘knowledge quarter’.

    There could also be new housing opportunities along the West Coast Mainline between London and the West Midlands, at places that gain improved local services as a result of network capacity released by HS2. Decisions have not yet been made by the government on where these additional services will run.

    Jobs and skills

    In addition to long-term ambitions, HS2 is contributing to economic growth now. The programme is currently supporting over 33,000 jobs and over 3,400 UK businesses in the supply chain across the country, including over 2,500 small and medium-sized enterprises.

    HS2 is also helping to break down barriers to opportunity and training a skilled workforce for the UK’s wider rail and construction industries. The programme is attracting new and diverse people to the industry. Having created over 1,800 apprenticeships and supported over 5,000 previously unemployed people back into work on the project since 2017, the programme is helping to bridge the skills gap and tackle unemployment along the HS2 construction corridor. By drawing on and developing world-class skills, HS2 will leave a positive skills legacy that will develop and strengthen the country’s construction workforce for the years to come.

    Environment

    Updated designs for ecological mitigation over the past six months have seen further progress made on the target to achieve ‘no net loss’ to biodiversity by the end of the construction programme. At the end of 2024 to 2025, the position for area-based habitats has improved while designs for hedgerows and watercourse habitats remained on track to deliver a net gain in biodiversity.

    HS2 Ltd is also seeking to reduce the whole-life carbon emissions associated with construction of HS2 by 50%, aiming to maximise productivity and cost-saving measures to achieve this goal. At the end of 2024 to 2025, the programme had so far achieved a 33.8% reduction in carbon against that 50% target.

    Community impacts, land and property

    Appointment of a new independent commissioner

    I am pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Herga as the independent High Speed Rail Residents’ and Construction Commissioner, following an open competition.

    The commissioner is responsible for holding HS2 Ltd and the government accountable to their commitments to treat those people directly affected by the HS2 scheme with sensitivity and respect. The commissioner also makes themselves available to intervene in unresolved land and property disputes, as an objective and independent voice, focussing on timely settlement to save costs on both sides. This new role combines the previous roles of HS2 Construction Commissioner and HS2 Residents’ Commissioner.

    Community engagement performance

    HS2 Ltd received 1209 complaints during 2024 to 2025, an increase of 102 when compared to the previous year. At this stage of the programme, the vast majority of complaints are construction-related, with over half about traffic and transport impacts and about one-third related to noise and vibration impacts. Where communities have complaints, HS2 Ltd seeks to resolve issues quickly. Over the last financial year, HS2 Ltd resolved 100% of urgent complaints within 2 working days and resolved 96% of all other complaints within 20 working days or less.

    Local funds

    The HS2 project is mitigating some of the impacts of construction on local places through the Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund.

    As at June 2025, over £19 million has been channelled through these funds towards 353 local community projects.

    Land and property on the former Phase 2b Eastern Leg

    I am today formally lifting the safeguarding directions for the former Phase 2b Eastern Leg (between the West Midlands and Leeds), removing the uncertainty that has affected many people along the former route. Safeguarding along the former Phase 2b Western Leg (between Crewe and Manchester) is not being changed as part of this, and an update on future plans for safeguarding on this section will be provided in due course alongside broader plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

    One small area to the south of the existing station in central Leeds, previously required for the new HS2 station, will remain safeguarded to allow for potential enhancements to the existing station, including for onward travel.

    I have also today closed the Rural Support Zone, Express Purchase, Rent Back, and the Need to Sell property schemes along the former Phase 2b Eastern Leg. Existing applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

    Removing safeguarding along the majority of the former HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg means we are now able to initiate a programme to dispose of over 550 properties on the former Eastern Leg that are no longer required. We expect disposals on the open market to begin in 2026. Before then, former owners whose property was acquired under statutory blight will have the opportunity to reacquire their former property at the current market value.

    We will dispose of land and property in a sensible and sensitive way, ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and avoiding disruption to local property markets.

    I have deposited the safeguarding directions and relevant documents in the House libraries.

    Programme governance

    Programme reset

    Following Mark Wild’s arrival as the new HS2 Ltd CEO in December 2024, I commissioned him to set out a plan to deliver the remaining HS2 infrastructure in a safe, controlled and efficient manner and bring the new railway into operational use, for the lowest reasonable cost to the taxpayer. Mark gave me his initial diagnosis at the end of March and I expect him to advise me further over the coming months.

    His initial assessment summarises the currently uncontrolled state of the programme and the significant challenge of achieving a programme reset that minimises delays and stops further cost increases. He also confirmed his view that, based on the current scope and delivery strategy, it is not possible to deliver HS2’s opening stage between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street within the stated range of 2029 to 2033, and that the funding envelope set by the previous government will not be sufficient. If interventions are not enacted, costs will rise and delivery will be further delayed.

    As such, it is now the work of Mark and his team to put in place measures to bring the railway into service as quickly and cost effectively as possible, with government support and constructive challenge. As part of his work, Mark will advise me on updated estimates to give the government and taxpayers certainty over HS2’s costs and schedule – breaking the cycle of cost increases and overruns.

    The HS2 reset will involve:

    • setting a new realistic cost and schedule baseline within which we can complete the programme
    • resetting the commercial relationship with HS2’s principal civil works suppliers to drive increased productivity and control cost
    • making sure HS2 Ltd has the right skills and capabilities to deliver the remaining work, including improvements to setup, operating model, leadership, culture, effectiveness and capabilities
    • improving how the department and wider government sponsors the delivery of HS2, drawing on the findings and recommendations from James Stewart’s independent review and the department’s own work on lessons

    The scale and complexity of resetting the programme is a major challenge. Mark Wild carried out a similar process as the CEO of Crossrail, putting the project back on track and delivering a successful opening of the Elizabeth line in 2022. It is important we take this opportunity to get it right, which is why the reset will take time and involve close working between HS2 Ltd, DfT and the rest of the government. The ambition is for an updated and assured full baseline to measure performance in 2026.

    In parallel, the department plans to publish an updated programme business case in 2026, once agreed cost and schedule estimates are available.

    Oversight

    On 18 March 2025, I chaired a meeting of the reconvened Ministerial Task Force for HS2. I was joined by the Rail Minister, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Wild and other senior leaders from HS2 Ltd and across the government to scrutinise initial plans on resetting the programme and delivering HS2 at the lowest reasonable cost.

    On 31 March 2025, Sir Jon Thompson stepped down as HS2 Ltd Chair. On 18 June, I was pleased to announce Mike Brown as the new Chair of HS2 Ltd. Mike Brown brings decades of experience in delivering major transport projects as former TfL Commissioner, and member of the team that turned Crossrail into the Elizabeth Line. He will lead the Board and work with Mark Wild on the urgent priority to reset the project.

    It is clear from Mark Wild’s assessment that HS2 Ltd currently falls far short of having the capability and culture needed to deliver the programme effectively. Mike Brown has been tasked with strengthening the HS2 Ltd Board to more effectively support and challenge Mark Wild in conducting the reset of HS2 and the safe delivery of Phase 1 at the lowest reasonable cost. To support strengthened board oversight, a recruitment exercise has been launched to appoint new non-executive directors to bolster board capability and capacity.

    I would like to thank Elaine Holt for leading the Board in her capacity as Deputy Chair over the period from 1 April to 13 July.

    We have also enacted temporary arrangements which establish additional control measures and monitoring to ensure the programme is managed properly. This will bridge the period leading to the formal reset of the programme.

    Capturing, applying and sharing lessons

    Following my last report, the major transport projects governance and assurance review, led by James Stewart, has concluded. It has provided important lessons that can be applied to HS2, the department’s other capital projects and infrastructure schemes across the government.

    Most major programmes experience difficulties in their delivery. However, the failures seen on HS2 are extreme, with costs increasing continuously over many years and very rapidly since the start of construction. There is no single explanation for these failings – they span across its lifecycle from conception through to delivery and from governmental sponsorship, through planning and consenting, to how the government has orchestrated its delivery between HS2 Ltd and the construction supply chain.  

    We have worked closely with HM Treasury and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) to identify lessons from the HS2 programme.

    The department is applying the lessons from James Stewart’s and other reviews, including embedding the lessons into the HS2 programme reset plan and in developing and delivering other transport and wider infrastructure projects.

    High ambition at inception

    Early decisions resulted in an exceptionally high-specification and high-speed railway, which drove higher costs and meant that tried and tested approaches could not be relied upon. In future programmes, opportunities for reducing cost based on the minimum acceptable design should be explored and use of bespoke or cutting-edge specifications should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

    Scope changes

    Since HS2’s inception, the scope of the programme has been progressively reduced. Scope reductions have been in part a result of cost increases, but have added to delivery challenges and left the residual scheme over-specified in relation to the benefits it will deliver. 

    To address both of these lessons, the department has contributed to the Office for Value for Money’s study into the governance and budgeting arrangements for ‘mega projects’ to make sure that lessons from HS2 are applied to the wider government’s approach to infrastructure delivery.

    Governance

    Governance has evolved through the lifetime of the project and in the light of pressures; however, it has not been sufficiently effective in identifying and managing the scale of challenges, including in relation to cost management and capability. We have implemented a series of changes in the governance of the programme to respond to James Stewart’s recommendations. We held the first shareholder board on 28 May, which provided strategic-level oversight of the programme from the Permanent Secretary, Mark Wild, HS2 Ltd special directors, the senior responsible officer, interim HS2 Ltd chair and senior DfT and HMT Officials. A renewed programme and performance board now meets monthly to focus on the effective delivery of Phase 1 (including Euston) against agreed schedule, cost and scope.

    Cost estimation

    Since the inception of the project, internal and external experts have comprehensively scrutinised cost estimates. However, despite this, estimates have consistently proven to be wrong.

    Last year, HS2 Ltd and departmental officials jointly concluded a comprehensive external review of the current approach to cost estimation and programme control. HS2 Ltd has been implementing an action plan to strengthen these vital areas of project control. A priority of the HS2 reset is setting a new, realistic and assured baseline of cost and schedule within which we can complete the programme. In addition, our progress to date means that evidence based on past experience, rather than forecast estimates, can be utilised to inform current and future delivery of the programme, including ongoing progress on civils delivery and the recent letting of the systems contracts.

    To validate this new estimate, there is also work underway to verify the civil work delivered to date and its cost. This will allow the programme to validate true delivery costs against the original estimates. This information, combined with continued investment in collating benchmarking data from international comparators, will give us a more reliable ‘should cost’ model for the remainder of the programme. This ‘should cost’ model will enable a more accurate assessment of the reasonableness of assumptions in the cost estimate.

    We have learnt that realistic ranges, rather than single target costs, should be set at the early stage of projects. Ranges should only narrow when there is sufficient certainty from external data, such as contract prices. We will adopt an approach that uses robustly verified or benchmarked cost data, with ranges and sensitivity analysis, when taking future programme investment decisions. HS2 will lead the way in ensuring that cost analysis is rigorously incorporated into the design of later procurements and decisions. In parallel, the government has made significant improvements in the analysis of investment benefits in recent years.

    Challenges of building large-scale infrastructure

    Meeting environmental standards and planning requirements has presented a significant challenge to the delivery of the project and has added to cost. It is now clear that the early stages of HS2 scheme development underestimated the planning and regulatory challenges of designing and building a new high-speed railway whilst meeting the expectations of local planning and highway authorities, and complying with the latest safety, security and environmental standards. The granting of consents has been subject to routine challenge, and the need for expensive mitigations to meet legal obligations (such as the bat mitigation structure at Sheephouse Wood in Buckinghamshire) has increased the cost of delivering the railway. 

    The government is already implementing far-reaching reforms to ensure economic infrastructure can be delivered more efficiently. To strike a better balance between avoiding costs and delays on agreed schemes whilst allowing local scrutiny, Ministers will be able to intervene more actively in the process within the existing planning framework, utilising the reforms in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill once enacted, as well as considering whether further alterations to the HS2 planning framework could bring benefits for efficient infrastructure delivery and to taxpayers more generally.

    Capability challenges

    Costs have increased in part due to insufficient capability in HS2 Ltd and the supply chain in delivering a project of this scale. There has been insufficient focus on the client relationship, too many of HS2’s resources were allocated to the wrong place and contract management and project control were not effective. This led to uncontrolled costs and extremely poor productivity and performance from the supply chain. We will be working with Mark Wild and the Board of HS2 Ltd to address the areas where challenges have been identified, such as the need for Mark Wild to put in place a high-calibre and enduring leadership team and to reshape the organisation to deliver efficiently. This will be a priority in the programme reset.

    Ineffective incentives

    HS2 Ltd’s current commercial contracting strategy has not proved effective at controlling costs and fairly attributing responsibility for risks. The contract incentives have focused on providing positive incentives against target costs; however, as costs escalated and changes arose, the incentivised cost targets were exceeded, leading to no positive incentive to deliver at lower cost. Some risks which should have been borne by suppliers have also been transferred to taxpayers. In the future we need incentives and risk allocation that deliver for taxpayers as well as supplier shareholders. This work is being embedded through our engagement across the government, to ensure major infrastructure projects are based on effective commercial contracts and incentives going forward.

    Financial annex

    The information on HS2’s overall spend to date and budget is now being provided in nominal (cash) terms following a commitment made by the department to the Public Accounts Committee to express the costs of the programme in a more up-to-date price base and better capture the inflation incurred since 2019. The government will provide further details on the 2025 to 2026 position in cash terms as part of the standard main estimates report to Parliament.

    Historic and forecast expenditure

    Nominal prices, including land and property.

    Phase Overall spend to date (£ billion) 2025 to 2026 budget (£ billion) 2025 to 2026 forecast (£ billion) 2025 to 2026 variance (£ billion)
    Phase 1 total 37.9 7.1 7.1 0.0
    Civils 26.4 5.4 5.4 0.0
    Stations 2.3 0.6 0.6 0.0
    Systems 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.0
    Phase 1 indirects 3.5 0.4 0.4 0.0
    Land and property Phase 1 3.6 0.3 0.3 0.0
    Former Phase 2 2.6 0.1 0.1 0.0
    Overall total 40.5 7.2 7.2 0.0

    Notes for the table:

    [1] The figures set out in the table have been rounded to aid legibility. Due to this, they do not always tally.

    [2] Spend to date for Phase 1 includes a £0.6 billion liability (provision) representing the department’s obligation to purchase land and property.

    [3] To enable comparison with the figures presented in the December 2024 Parliamentary Report which were in 2019 prices, the equivalent total overall spends to date on Phase 1 and on Former Phase 2 in 2019 prices are £33.11 billion and £2.5 billion respectively and the 2025 to 2026 budgets for Phase 1 and for Former Phase 2 in 2019 prices are £5.4 billion and £0.1 billion respectively.

    HS2 spending review settlement

    Settlement for total spending review period (2026 to 2030): £25.3 billion (nominal prices).

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Apple Arcade launches special crossover events featuring SpongeBob SquarePants

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple Arcade launches special crossover events featuring SpongeBob SquarePants

    UPDATE July 17, 2025

    This month, players can dive into special crossover events featuring SpongeBob SquarePants in Snake.io+ and Crossy Road Castle, available exclusively on Apple Arcade. Characters and locations from the iconic series arrive in limited-time events in the two popular games on the service. Fans of the absorbent and yellow and porous pal can also check out a brand-new endless mode in SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit, where they’ll test their skills in increasingly difficult levels to top the leaderboard.

    Apple Arcade brings together more than 200 games and offers exclusive events created in collaboration with some of the industry’s top developers. Iconic characters and fan-favorite games come to life in new ways on the service, bringing a whole new level of fun to players that’s free from ads and in-app purchases.

    Snake.io+ by Kooapps
    In Snake.io+, the hit battle royale game, players can slither their way underwater as they complete a series of missions to unlock four unique skins inspired by SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and Plankton. This limited-time event is available now and ends August 25.

    Snake.io+ by Kooapps.

    Crossy Road Castle by Hipster Whale
    Crossy Road Castle, the popular co-op platforming party game, is launching a fun update that will have players racing through 40 Bikini Bottom-themed levels as SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, or Sandy — collecting Krabby Patties and avoiding jellyfish. The Krabby Patty Kollectathon event kicks off July 21, followed by the Jellyfish Jam that runs August 4 through August 17.

    Crossy Road Castle by Hipster Whale.

    SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit by Nickelodeon
    Launching today, players can dive into a brand-new endless mode in SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit, a side-scrolling action game where SpongeBob jumps, bounces, slides, and fly-kicks through colorful and dynamic levels. The update will have players test their skills in increasingly difficult levels with no checkpoints and no extra lives to see who can top the leaderboard.

    SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit by Nickelodeon.

    These fun crossover events follow the special appearances of global sensation Bluey in Fruit Ninja Classic+ and Paddington in Crayola Create and Play+ this summer, only on Apple Arcade.
    • Fruit Ninja Classic+ by Halfbrick Studios: The exclusive collaboration with Bluey runs until September 19, bringing four fun-filled events that transform Fruit Ninja Classic+ with Bluey-themed wands, wand powers, dojos, and Easter eggs for fans of all ages to enjoy.
    • Crayola Create and Play+ by Red Games Co.: Paddington brings a suitcase full of creativity to Crayola Create and Play+ through August 26. Explore a British-inspired world designed just for his visit: Whether decorating a suitcase or enjoying a scoop of marmalade ice cream by the sea, this magical summer holiday promises creativity, curiosity, and countless moments of joy.

    Pricing and Availability

    • Apple Arcade is available for $6.99 (U.S.) per month with a one-month free trial. Customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV receive three months of Apple Arcade for free.1
    • Apple Arcade is part of Apple One’s Individual ($19.95 U.S.), Family ($25.95 U.S.), and Premier ($37.95 U.S.) monthly plans, with a one-month free trial.2
    • Arcade Originals are playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro. App Store Greats are available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.
    • An Apple Arcade subscription gives a family of up to six unlimited access to all the games in its catalog.
    • Availability for the 200+ games across devices varies based on hardware and software compatibility. Some content may not be available in all areas.

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    1. This offer is available to new subscribers only. One subscription covers one Family Sharing group. The offer is good for three months after eligible device activation. The plan automatically renews until cancelled. Restrictions and other terms apply.
    2. The Apple One free trial includes only services that are not currently used through a free trial or a subscription. The plan automatically renews after the trial until cancelled. Restrictions and other terms apply.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UKHO highlights role of seabed mapping in enabling ocean action

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    UKHO highlights role of seabed mapping in enabling ocean action

    The UKHO recognises the impact seabed mapping has on enabling ocean action on World Hydrography Day and at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice in June.

    Seabed mapping is the foundational data set for almost all marine activity, it informs safer navigation, sustainable development and management, and smarter decisions about how we use our oceans.

    In recent weeks, the science of hydrography and seabed mapping has been at the forefront of the marine community with the month of June hosting both World Hydrography Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference held in Nice.

    Critical to the safe passage of vessels by providing data used to produce navigational charts, seabed mapping is also key for sectors such as offshore energy, fishing and aquaculture, defence, environmental protection and telecommunications.

    Seabed mapping: enabling ocean action

    Recognising the importance of hydrography in our understanding of the ocean, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) established World Hydrography Day which takes place on 21 June each year.

    This year, the IHO selected ‘Seabed Mapping: Enabling Ocean Action’ as the theme, identifying how critical seabed data is to the future of our ocean.

    To celebrate this year’s World Hydrography Day, the UKHO unveiled a new video highlighting the importance of seabed mapping and how it enables marine science, defence, planning, environmental sustainability and the Blue Economy. As a global player, the UKHO enables ocean action by sharing seabed data to make decisions with confidence.

    Underlining how integral seabed data is for a vast range of marine activities, the video demonstrates the importance of supporting the sustainable use of our ocean for future generations.

    Learn more about the value of seabed mapping and how it enables ocean action by watching the video:

    Seabed Mapping: Enabling Ocean Action │ UK Hydrographic Office

    UN Ocean Conference – ‘Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action’

    The importance of seabed mapping in enabling ocean action was also identified at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice and attended by the UKHO. The conference, held between 9 and 13 June 2025, set out to accelerate action and mobilise stakeholders to find a way to use and conserve the ocean sustainably, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 (‘Life below water’).  

    The UN Ocean Conference resulted in a new political declaration, ‘Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action.’ The declaration outlines the need for a variety of collaborative actions, including the key part seabed mapping plays in enabling the conservation and sustainable use of our oceans.

    In paragraph 28, the UNOC declaration summarises:

    We emphasize the critical need for national ocean accounting and mapping of coastal and marine ecosystems, and of the ocean floor, as appropriate, to inform policy decisions, development planning, integrated coastal zone management, and conservation planning.

    Contributing as part of the UK delegation, the UKHO participated in an official IHO side-event in collaboration with many other organisations, such as UNESCO Ocean, Gouvernement Monaco, the French Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOM), the National Hydrographic Agency (Nigeria), Norwegian Mapping Authority, and Schmidt Ocean Institute.

    UK delegation at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, June 2025

    David Parker, Head of Hydrographic Programmes, and Koen Vanstaen, International Hydrographic Portfolio Manager, attended the event on behalf of the UKHO where they discussed the benefits of improved coordination through the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping (UK CSM) and held meetings with our partners from across the globe attending the event.

    Developing a collaborative seabed mapping community

    Led by the UKHO, the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping was set up to establish and support a collaborative seabed mapping community. The UK CSM coordinates the collection, management and access of publicly funded data, resulting in a network of stakeholders and an infrastructure that enables proactive action in support of the UN Ocean Decade.

    The UK CSM brings together over 30 public sector organisations in the UK with an interest in marine geospatial information and data. The community seeks to optimise the investment being made into publicly funded data programmes. It ensures this data is then available to better understand the marine environment, supporting activities such as national security and infrastructure, safe and efficient maritime trade, and sustainable environmental and resource management.

    Find out more about the UK Centre for Seabed Mapping, led by the UKHO by watching our video:

    UK Centre for Seabed Mapping (UK CSM) │ UK Hydrographic Office

    Through its administration of the UK CSM, the UKHO is actively engaging in actions to support the critical need for seabed mapping data, as set out by the UNOC in Nice this June, further contributing to protecting our oceans and unlocking their value for future generations.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: NRS celebrates socio-economic investment

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    NRS celebrates socio-economic investment

    Almost £20 million funding was invested to help NRS communities grow and thrive in 2024/25.

    NRS has supported 149 projects to bring positive social change to benefit people living in communities across the UK – from Caithness to the tip of North Wales, down to the Bristol and English Channels.

    Every £1 of the £2,287,696 NRS has invested unlocked another £8.23 in match funding, elevating the community support to over £18.8m. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority also directly supported four transformational projects with a share of over £900,000 – taking the total to almost £20m.

    David Calder, head of sustainability and socio-economics for NRS Dounreay, said:

    Our UK wide footprint enables us to play a key role in working in partnership with other public sector and increasingly private sector organisations with community benefit obligations in addressing a variety of social and economic challenges and opportunities.

    This partnership investment approach enables us to align with regional and national priorities while creating meaningful impact where it matters most – in our communities.

    Alan Krailing, head of sustainability for NRS Sites, added:

    Our mission goes beyond decommissioning and site restoration – we want to shape the future for generations to come.

    The first step to building a sustainable legacy is investing in our communities to create shared value and resilient and thriving economies that meet local needs. Our socio-economic programmes are bringing this legacy to life by creating a ripple effect of social impact across the UK.

    NRS funding helped 215 new or growing businesses, awarded 70 start-up grants and created 142 jobs to develop thriving and resilient economies in remote, rural communities. Six graduates were placed or retained in employment, as well as projects supporting over 10,000 training opportunities, 15 apprenticeships, 900 employment opportunities and 160 work experience placements, improving access to sustainable incomes.

    With over 9,000 voluntary hours and more than 33,000 individual health and well-being interventions, people of all ages have been empowered to work toward long-term solutions to social challenges. These efforts have not only improved outcomes but also fostered stronger, more resilient communities.

    Some examples of the projects supported include:

    Caithness Business Fund: A £50,000 contribution to the £150,000 Future Skills apprenticeship grant scheme has tackled skills shortages and driven investment in new opportunities for SMEs and young people in the North Highlands – a region on the cusp of becoming a renewable powerhouse for the UK and beyond.

    During its first year in operation the scheme has supported seven apprentices and stimulated business growth.

    Prysor Angling Association: £65,000 funding has revitalised a café, community hub and created four jobs on the banks of Trawsfynydd Lake in the heart of Eryri National Park, North Wales. School children are learning about conservation and biodiversity in the lakeside classroom and gaining essential life skills whilst they cast off on the Fishing for Schools programme.

    A new bird hide and three accessible fishing platforms have improved the leisure offer to all. Three EV Chargers and a 50 KW solar array are generating income to offset running costs and help support the organisation becoming self-reliant, sustainable and carbon neutral.  

    Tumbledown Farm: £85,000 funding helped to create a carbon neutral forest school at a 27-acre former farm owned by Weymouth Town Council. The new building provides community led learning, employment and well-being opportunities for local schools, families and people with additional needs in an inclusive, nurturing greenspace.

    We are incredibly proud of being a good neighbour to the schools, clubs, community groups nearest NRS sites where funding has helped to meet the local needs of 82 grass roots organisations.

    Watch the video below to find out much more.

    NRS socio-economic impact 2024-2025

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: San Antonio Man to Spend 65 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting Three Children

    Source: US FBI

    SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced to 65 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting three young children.

    According to court documents, Charles Alexander Lopez, 30, stated in a group chat on the instant messaging app Wickr that he was engaged in the sexual abuse and exploitation of minor children in October 2023. He posted two images and a video to the group on Oct. 24, 2023, along with a message stating, “My conquest for the day.” The two images depicted a male toddler whom Lopez had just sexually assaulted, while the video depicted a portion of the sexual assault itself.

    An FBI Online Covert Employee (OCE) interacted with Lopez through a private chat, through which Lopez disclosed details of another sexual assault victimizing a female toddler a few days prior and that he has sexually exploited a non-verbal autistic male child as well. On Oct. 26, 2023, FBI San Antonio executed a federal search warrant for the home and person of Lopez, seizing electronic devices used to produce, distribute and possess child pornography.

    Lopez admitted to sexually exploiting a male toddler, using his smartphone to produce and share Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). He also provided the names of other children he sexually assaulted and exploited, stating that he had sexually assaulted 15 minors since he was 10 years old and produced CSAM of approximately five different children.

    Lopez was arrested on Oct. 27, 2023, and on Nov. 15, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted him for three counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2025, to the three sexual exploitation charges. On July 14, Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra sentenced Lopez to 65 years in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release. Ezra also ordered Lopez to pay $150,000 in restitution to three minor victims.

    “Individuals like this, who take every opportunity to prey on helpless children simply cannot remain free in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas. “This defendant has spent two-thirds of his life as a child predator, sexually assaulting, exploiting and forever altering the lives of vulnerable and defenseless children to fulfill his selfish and vile choices.”

    “There is no place in our society for those who prey on the most vulnerable among us,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for FBI San Antonio.” The FBI San Antonio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, together with the United States Attorney’s Office, will relentlessly pursue every lead to investigate violent crimes against children and bring their perpetrators to justice.”

    FBI San Antonio investigated the case, assisted by a referral from FBI Albany.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Minister for the Armed Forces speech at Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Minister for the Armed Forces speech at Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 2025

    Minster for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, speech at the Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference 2025 on 17 July 2025.

    Good morning everyone.

    It’s a year ago that I last stood in this spot as a new Minister. Some of you will not be able to remember me because I have more grey hair than I had, certainly at this time last year.

    But it was a privilege to welcome colleagues from around the world a year ago and it is a privilege to be able to do exactly the same again today.

    The Secretary of State sends his apologies that he can’t be with us today – some of you may have spotted there has been some news going on in the UK over the past few days – and he continues to explain the situation that we inherited there.

    But having worked alongside him in Opposition as the Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces, and now over the last year, I’ll do my best to fill his considerable shoes that he has.

    But let me first begin by saying a few words about Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, for his incredible service as the Chief of the Air Staff and now as we look ahead to his new role as Chief of the Defence Staff.

    Sir Rich has served our nation with considerable distinction for 37 years.

    Of the 31 individuals who have been CAS since the creation of the RAF in 1918, he has been the first non-pilot to do so, an engineer by trade.

    In leading the Royal Air Force, he has upheld the highest traditions of respect, integrity and excellence, and he’s normally done so with a cheeky smile on his face as well – for those who know him.

    And at a time when our recent Strategic Defence Review has heralded the beginning of a new era for UK deterrence and defence, I can think of no-one better to lead our people through the critical changes ahead.

    Congratulations on your fully-deserved appointment, Rich. I look forward to carrying on working with you.

    And of course, Rich’s boots are not easily filled. And so although there was a very competitive shortlist for the new Chief of the Air Staff, it was fiercely competitive, we were very fortunate to have an outstanding candidate in Air Marshal Harv Smyth.

    Harv, we have urgent and important work to do as we seek to implement the Strategic Defnece Review and I’m going to look forward to continuing to work strongly with all our RAF colleagues.

    And it was just a year ago, we had a General Election. It feels in Britain like there’s a lot of politics going on at the moment, and a lot of change. And that has been a year when defence has rarely been off the front pages.

    From the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, to the modernisation of the UK Armed Forces set in motion, not just by the General Election, but by the Strategic Defence Review that follows.

    But what the news headlines don’t always show are the efforts and the achievements of the people that stand behind the headlines that work every single day to protect our nation and our allies.

    The men and women of our Armed Forces, and if I look around the room, the collective men and women of our Armed Forces, from an alliance that spans the globe of friends and allies – those men and women carry out their duties every single day with superb professionalism and precision, they go above and beyond to keep their nations, our nations, and all our partners safe, and in doing so, they not only create the environment where we can better protect our own homeland from Russian aggression, they are working to support friends and allies the world over.

    The UK Armed Forces have flown over 500 sorties, for example, and moved 9 million tonnes of freight to help the people and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    And I’m minded, at times like this, when there are so many people in uniform ahead of us, that at this very moment there are brave Ukrainian pilots in the sky above their country trying to keep Ukraine safe from Putin’s illegal aggression. There are brave men and women who I met at the INTERSTORM graduation for the training of Ukrainian pilots – many of whom were very frank and honest about their chances of survival.

    That bravery is something that you all know, because it’s the bravery you see in your own people. But it is something that we, and myself as a politician, need to talk more about. Because we spend a lot of our time talking about kit and equipment and it is absolutely right – and I will do so in this speech, as a spoiler alert – but we need to talk more about our people.

    Notwithstanding autonomy and uncrewed systems, we need to value the men and women who not only serve in the sky, but on the ground, in the laboratories and workshops, that keep our air forces on a global basis the incredible power that they are.

    It was those brave men and women who also were active recently in the Middle East, evacuating over 220 British nationals and their dependants out of Tel Aviv, including a 3 month old baby and a 91 year old pensioner, to protect them from missile attacks.

    It’s particularly important in these times of increasing insecurity that we do recognise that dedication of our people, and that is why, unapologetically, this government talks about renewing the contract between the nation and those who serve.

    Everyone around the world will have a similar formulation. It may be slightly worded differently, it may be translated in a slightly different word order. But fundamentally, we need our nations to value our people more, and if we can do that we have a stronger defence by default even if we spend not a single extra penny on it. Because our people are only as strong as the nation that stands behind them.

    So after awarding UK service personnel their biggest pay rise for 20 years and giving them another above inflation pay rise this year, we are delivering a generation of renewal of military accommodation, with at least £7 billion of funding for this in this parliament. For those international visitors who have not stayed in some British military accommodation for a while, let me tell you it is not good enough. That is not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for our people, and we are fixing it.

    And that’s why we are going to continue to put people at the heart of our defence unapologetically.

    Now, I know that the pace of change in our Armed Forces in the UK and collectively is matched by many of our international friends who are doing exactly the same.

    But we are only at the start of the transformation and the RAF is at the heart of that.

    The Strategic Defence Review set out our blueprint to reshape and revitalise UK defence in a new geopolitical era of threat.

    Britain now has a absolutely clear NATO-first defence policy and it is pivotal to our future security.

    But it is only right that Europe steps up to take on more of the heavy lifting for its own defence and protection.

    At the recent Hague Summit, European leaders came together and did precisely that.

    As well as a pledge to spend 5% of GDP on national security, the UK announced the biggest strengthening of our nuclear posture in a generation, including the purchase of a dozen F-35As and a commitment to join NATO’s nuclear Dual Capable Aircraft mission, giving the RAF a nuclear role for the first time since the end of the Cold War and complementing our own sovereign Continuous At Sea Deterrent which we declare, in full, to the defence of NATO.

    Driving the modernisation of the RAF will be a relentless focus on innovation. For well over a century, the UK has been a leader in shaping and pioneering air power.

    From the founding of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912, and the new technologies of the interwar years, radar, air defence systems, the Second World War saw air power tested and developed like never before. Yet the pace of change did not stop after the peace came.

    The jet age defined deterrence in new terms, transforming speed, reach, and altitude, and while the post-Cold War era has given us precision weapons, global ISTAR and unparalleled situational awareness.

    Today, we stand on the verge of another profound leap forward in which autonomy, AI, and digitisation will define the bounds of the sky. One of the key takeaways from me from the SDR is that we’re not just developing niche autonomous units at the periphery of our military. Every single unit across every single service in the UK will be moving to a system of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous systems. That is a substantial change in not just fighting doctrine, in training, in how our people come together, in how we procure, it is a fundamental change in how we will fight and how we will deter.

    We will deliver £1 billion in an integrated Targeting Web. So any sensor, any effector, any target can be struck. That is a fundamental change in how we build an integrated force, regardless of the cloth that you are wearing.

    Times change, but the victors in the race to dominate air power are always those who adapt first and adapt fast.

    Innovation, speed and agility, the ability to out-think, out-perform and out-manoeuvre the enemy, are the capabilities and challenges we must harness.

    But let us make no mistake, our adversaries are doing exactly the same, and they are seeking to hack our phones to learn what we are doing to outpace them as well.

    That means the UK and our Allies must compete harder to have control of the air and to fight in new ways.

    Now I mentioned the war in Ukraine earlier, and one of the things that that is showing us is that getting new technology into the hands of warfighters fast can give you an edge on the battlefield.

    It is also a central message of the new UK defence policy.

    Our SDR calls for investment in Autonomous Collaborative Platforms to ensure the future of UK air combat air. And that can sound, to the voters I represent in Plymouth, a little bit like science fiction.

    But making the case that that already exists, and telling the story of systems like StormShroud is vital to building the public support we need for this new era of autonomous systems as well.

    StormShroud is designed to disrupt enemy radar at long range, and this fleet of new autonomous wingman drones will increase fighter jet survivability, and boost our warfighting power.

    As an uncrewed system, integrated into our new digital targeting web, it also frees up personnel to perform other vital frontline missions.

    And there are other ways in which StormShroud provides glimpses of the future.

    As we spend more on the military in the coming years, something that as a group of friends we are all doing, Defence will increasingly become a potent engine for economic growth. An argument we must make over, and over, and over again. It is a licence to operate – Defence is an engine for growth.

    StormShroud has already created hundreds of skilled jobs around the UK, with the promise of 1,000 more in the future.

    And it is in contrast to the failing procurement system we inherited, StormShroud is an example of good practice.

    It has gone from factory to front-line in record time, signalling how we want to streamline procurement in the future. And I suspect that the UK is not alone in wanting to make procurement faster on a global basis.

    Our policy is NATO-first, but it’s not NATO-only.

    The Euro-Atlantic, Indo-Pacific and Middle East are inseparably connected.

    And with that, I welcome our friends from the GCAP International Government Organisation.

    Through GCAP, Italy, Japan and the UK are developing a supersonic stealth fighter jet.

    The programme means our nations can come together, not just to defend the Euro-Atlantic, but to support our values on a global stage. That will bring together our industrial bases, and make sure we are being able to provide the deterrence that we need well into the future.

    And this time last year, just as we were kicking off the SDR, I received a lot of questions on GCAP and our position on it and a year later, I’m absolutely proud to stand on the same stage and say that GCAP is progressing well.

    It already supports 3,500 UK jobs, and 1,000 apprenticeships.

    Last week, we cut the ribbon on GCAP’s new headquarters in Reading, where hundreds of skilled personnel will be based, and the Defence Secretary met with counterparts from Italy and Japan to plan the next phase of this programme.

    And at a time of rapidly changing technology, it’s also essential we upgrade not just those at the tip of the spear that are able to deliver kinetic effect, it’s also vital  we upgrade our airborne early warning and control capabilities.

    The E-7 Wedgetail will provide the improved performance we are looking for offering greater speed, range, endurance and crew capacity.

    And by improving detection, it provides early warning of more challenging threats at greater distances, increasing the time available for offensive and defensive action, so boosting the lethality, survivability and resilience of our Joint Force.

    Wedgetail also has a growth path to meet the expected threat over the next 20 years and beyond and for those at RIAT, look forward to seeing her in the sky above the incredible air show there.

    So, to conclude.

    The story of air power has always been one of constant innovation, imagination, and adaptation. That has not changed today.

    But we must evolve again, to stay ahead of those who threaten our security. And that does mean moving on from some traditional doctrines and embracing the new. Embracing autonomy is a fundamental challenge for all our air forces, for all our procurement systems, for politicians who might be easier to make a case of a pilot in the sky, but by improving our lethality, by increasing it, we increase our deterrence. And with increased deterrence, we make more strategic dilemmas for those who seek to challenge the international order, who seek to challenge our freedom, and the liberty that our people enjoy.

    The SDR has fired the starting pistol on that reform of the UK Armed Forces, and, having read many of the reviews undertaken by our Allies in recent months, I know similar themes are present in the new emerging defence policies that our Allies in this room are developing as well. More collaborative platforms, working together, more investment in our Armed Forces, more focus on our people. It is precisely in these ways that we will be stronger in the future, to keep not only the UK secure at home and strong abroad, but to make sure we do so in support of all our Allies as we all face similar threats from similar adversaries who fundamentally want to attack our values  and our position in the world. The people in this room today have a key role in defending all those values and all our people, thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for the pace of change that you are instigating, and keep going. Thank you very much.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: The Riverside Company Closes Value Fund II at $750 Million Hard Cap

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CLEVELAND, NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Riverside Company, a global investment firm focused on lower middle market investments, announced the successful final close of its Riverside Value Fund II (RVF II) at its hard cap of $750 million. RVF II was significantly oversubscribed and closed at more than double the size of its predecessor fund RVF I, which held a final close in June 2023 at $350 million. RVF II closed the fund five months after its initial launch in February 2025.

    The Riverside Value Fund (RVF) seeks to invest in North American businesses that compete in durable, growing end markets and that have the potential for significant growth and operational transformation. RVF provides flexible capital solutions to support businesses in transition or at an inflection point. The fund targets investments in a wide range of industries, and its current portfolio includes companies in the business services, specialty manufacturing, value-added distribution and financial services sectors, among others. The RVF team works closely with its management partners to implement aggressive top- and bottom-line growth plans for each of its portfolio companies.

    “We are humbled by the trust placed in us by this highly experienced and thoughtful group of existing and new investors in RVF II, and we are grateful for the strong performance delivered by our partner companies which enabled us to achieve this milestone,” said Riverside Managing Partner Sean Ozbolt. “We’re fortunate to partner with investors who share our value-driven philosophy and our focus on operational excellence as a catalyst for sustainable growth.”

    Joining Ozbolt in leading the RVF investment team are Managing Partner Ron Sansom and Partners Andrew Fohrer and Craig Kahler. In addition to its dedicated investment and operating team based in Los Angeles, RVF leverages the depth and breadth of Riverside’s global platform, including its highly experienced, 23-person origination team and its extensive group of more than 50 operating professionals.

    “The lower middle market offers a wide range of companies navigating complex or transitional situations, including carve-outs, family-owned business transitions, challenging integrations, leadership changes or other inflection points,” said Riverside Co-CEO Stewart Kohl. “RVF’s platform is built to identify these hidden gems, unlock overlooked value and work with management partners to implement hands-on operational strategies that accelerate both revenue and quality of earnings.”

    Over the last twelve months, RVF completed transactions totaling more than $1 billion in enterprise value, including three new platform investments, five add-on acquisitions and one exit. The firm also continues to expand its partnership with Ownership Works, implementing broad-based employee equity ownership plans at several of its portfolio companies. Thus far, more than 1,100 employees of RVF partner companies have earned an equity stake in their businesses.

    “The RVF team now has a proven track record of identifying value in complex situations or companies in transition which led to successfully raising this second fund,” said Riverside Co-CEO Béla Szigethy. “We’re thrilled so many LPs, both new and existing, in turn recognized the value of RVF. An oversubscribed fund is a testament to their faith in Riverside – and we’re honored to have those investors join us on this journey.”

    The Riverside Company
    The Riverside Company is a global investment firm focused on being one of the leading private equity and flexible capital options for business owners and portfolio company employees at the smaller end of the middle market by seeking to fuel transformative growth and create lasting value. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has made more than 1,000 investments. The firm’s international private equity and flexible capital portfolios include more than 140 companies. For more information, visit www.riversidecompany.com.

    Holly Mueller 
    Marketing Consultant
    The Riverside Company
    216.535.2236 
    hmueller@riversidecompany.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ILUS Provides Update on Disclosure Status and OTC Markets Listing

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, NY, July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ilustrato Pictures International Inc. (OTC: ILUS) (“ILUS” or the “Company”), a mergers and acquisitions company focused on acquiring and scaling businesses in the public safety and industrial sectors, today provided an update regarding the status of its financial disclosures and listing position on the OTC Markets.

    As previously communicated to shareholders, ILUS consolidates multiple subsidiaries, including publicly traded companies, within its financial reporting. As a result, any downstream delays, such as audit transitions, accounting changes, or filing delays at the subsidiary level, have a direct impact on ILUS’s ability to complete its consolidations and audits in a timely manner.

    Over the past two years, ILUS has managed a significant number of moving parts, including new acquisitions, divestitures, a complex acquisition unwind, and the mid-period sale of its subsidiary Quality Industrial to a Nasdaq-listed company. These events, combined with a change in auditors and the need to address legacy SEC comments on historical filings, have unfortunately delayed the ILUS’s 2024 audited financial statements.

    ILUS is actively working with its audit team and is in discussions with the SEC to cure prior comments through its upcoming financial disclosures. Based on professional guidance, ILUS has been advised not to file unaudited interim financials, but instead to file fully audited financials when complete. While this is the correct regulatory approach, it creates a short-term conflict with OTC Markets rules, which prohibit companies from having multiple overdue filings. As a result, ILUS may be temporarily moved to the OTC Expert Market until the updated filings are submitted.

    ILUS is targeting completion of its filings before the beginning of Q4 and reiterates that any such OTC downgrade would be temporary and procedural.

    Management is evaluating the potential filing of a Form S-1 registration statement with the SEC, either shortly after or concurrently with those filings. ILUS may also submit a listing application to Nasdaq, given its view that remaining on the OTC Markets provides limited value to shareholders and has become a constraint on long-term growth.

    “Disappointingly, we found ourselves in a perfect storm,” said CEO Nicolas Link. “We were navigating multiple acquisitions, some of which came with inherited accounting issues, while also addressing our own outstanding SEC comments. During this period, we changed auditors, unwound a prior acquisition that required reinstated financials, and completed the sale of a subsidiary mid-period, forcing us to halt consolidation partway through the year. All of this created a highly complex and resource-intensive audit environment. We couldn’t begin the parent-level audit work until the downstream issues were resolved, which only occurred a few months ago. Now, the team is fully focused on completing the process, and it’s our top priority.”

    “Filing a registration statement and pursuing a Nasdaq application is a significant task, but one we’ve successfully managed several times within the group. While it may take time to clear comments and become effective, it’s an essential step. We cannot stay on the OTC indefinitely; it offers little strategic value and imposes costs without benefit. It’s time to complete this chapter, resolve SEC matters once and for all, and give management the ability to fully execute our 2026 roadmap and unlock the value we’ve worked hard to build.”

    If necessary, ILUS will also file the appropriate forms to return to its previous OTC tier immediately following its updated filings. Regardless of the path, ILUS confirms it will not remain on the OTC Expert Market longer than necessary and intends to operate either on the main OTC tier or a national exchange as soon as possible.

    ILUS is working diligently to complete the required audits and filings and will continue to provide shareholders with updates as progress is made.

    For further information on ILUS, please see its communication channels:
    Website: https://ilus-group.com
    X: @ILUS_INTL
    YouTube: @ILUSInternational
    Email: IR@Ilus-Group.com
    Source: ILUS

    Forward-Looking Statement

    Certain information set forth in this press release contains “forward-looking information”, including “future-oriented financial information” and “financial outlook”, under applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements). Except for statements of historical fact, the information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements and includes, but is not limited to, the (i) projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the sale of the shares being offered hereunder; (iii) the expected development of the Company’s business, projects, and joint ventures; (iv) execution of the Company’s vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future M&A activity and global growth; (v) sources and availability of third-party financing for the Company’s projects; (vi) completion of the Company’s projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration; (vii) renewal of the Company’s current customer, supplier and other material agreements; and (viii) future liquidity, working capital, and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management’s beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has provided guidance to issuers regarding the use of social media to disclose material nonpublic information. In this regard, investors and others should note that we announce material financial information via official Press Releases, in addition to SEC filings, press releases, Questions & Answers sessions, public conference calls, and webcasts also may take time from time to time. We use these channels as well as social media to communicate with the public about our company, our services, and other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, considering the SEC’s guidance, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on the following social & media channels: Website: https://ilus-group.com X: @ILUS_INTL

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: When grief involves trauma − a social worker explains how to support survivors of the recent floods and other devastating losses

    Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Liza Barros-Lane, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Houston-Downtown

    Rain falls over a makeshift memorial for flood victims along the Guadalupe River on July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. AP Photo/Eric Gay

    The July 4, 2025, floods in Kerr County, Texas, swept away children and entire families, leaving horror in their wake. Days later, flash floods struck Ruidoso, New Mexico, killing three people, including two young children.

    These are not just devastating losses. When death is sudden, violent, or when a body is never recovered, grief gets tangled up with trauma.

    In these situations, people don’t only grieve the death. They struggle with the terror of how it happened, the unanswered questions and the shock etched into their bodies.

    I’m a social work professor, grief researcher and the founder of The Young Widowhood Project, a research initiative aimed at expanding scholarship and public understanding of premature spousal loss.

    I was widowed when I was 36. In July 2020, my husband, Brent, went missing after testing a small, flat-bottomed fishing boat called a Jon boat. His body was recovered two days later, but I never saw his remains.

    Both my personal loss and professional work have shown me how trauma changes the grieving process and what kind of support actually helps.

    To understand how trauma can complicate grief, it’s important to first understand how people typically respond to loss.

    Grief isn’t a set of stages

    Many people still think of grief through the lens of psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief, popularized in the early 1970s: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

    But in fact, this model was originally designed for people facing their own deaths, not for mourners. In the absence of accessible grief research in the 1960s, it became a leading framework for understanding the grieving process – even though it wasn’t meant for that.

    Despite this misapplication, the stages model has shaped cultural expectations: namely, that grief ends once people reach the “acceptance” stage. But research doesn’t support this idea. Trying to force grief into this model can cause real harm, leaving mourners feeling they’re grieving “wrong.”

    In reality, mourning is often lifelong. Most people go through an acute period of overwhelming pain right after the loss. This is usually followed by integrated grief, where the pain softens but the loss is still part of everyday life, returning in waves.

    Although grief is unique to each person and relationship, researchers have found that mourners often strive to a) make sense of the death; b) adjust to a world without their loved one; c) form an ongoing connection with their deceased loved one in new ways; and d) figure out who they are without their loved one.

    It’s difficult and at times disorienting work, but most people find ways to carry their grief and keep living.

    Julia Mora embraces her granddaughter, Isla Meyer, during a vigil for Texas flood victims on July 11, 2025.
    AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

    When grief and trauma collide

    However, some losses carry an extra layer of pain, confusion and trauma.

    Sudden, unexpected, accidental, violent or deeply tragic deaths – like those experienced during the recent floods – can lead to what researchers call traumatic bereavement: grief that is disrupted by the traumatic nature of the death.

    People experiencing traumatic bereavement often endure a longer and more intense acute grief period. They may be haunted by disturbing images, nightmares or relentless thoughts about how their loved one died or suffered. Many wrestle with dread, spiritual disorientation and a shattered sense of safety in the world.

    Some of these deaths are also considered “ambiguous” – unclear or unconfirmed loss – such as when a body is never recovered or is too damaged to view. Without physical confirmation, mourners often feel stuck in disbelief and helplessness.

    This was true in my case. Not seeing my husband’s body left a part of me suspended between knowing and not knowing. I knew he had died but couldn’t fully believe it, no matter how much I lived with the reality of his absence. For a long time, I caught myself repeating these words every morning: “Brent is dead. Brent is dead.”

    In many cases, these reactions aren’t short term. Many people affected by traumatic loss remain overwhelmed and sometimes physically and emotionally impaired for years. Symptoms may taper over time, but they rarely disappear entirely.

    Supporting mourners

    Traumatic bereavement can feel unbearable. Many mourners struggle with intense, long-lasting reactions that can leave them feeling helpless, altered or even unrecognizable to themselves. They may appear withdrawn, forgetful or emotionally drained because their systems are overwhelmed. Coping can look messy or self-destructive, but these are often survival strategies, not conscious choices. I’ve also seen how those same struggles become more survivable when mourners don’t have to carry them alone. If you’re supporting someone through traumatic loss, here are three ways to help.

    • Make space for the horror. Listen without flinching. Acknowledge the full weight of what happened and how terrifying and unjust the loss was. This means saying things like, “This should never have happened,” or “What you went through is beyond words.” It means staying present when the mourner speaks about what haunts them. Let them know they don’t have to carry this alone. You may feel the urge to say something hopeful such as, “At least the body was recovered,” but there is no silver lining in these cases. Instead, say: “There’s nothing I can say to fix this, but I’m not going anywhere.”

    • Help them find others who can understand. Trauma can be isolating. Mourners often feel uniquely overwhelmed or confused. Support groups, peer companions and therapists trained in treating grief and trauma can offer the kind of recognition and validation that even the most devoted friend may not be able to provide.

    • Take care of yourself, too. Being present for someone in deep grief takes energy, especially if you were personally affected by the loss. Stay connected to replenishing people, practices and routines. If you don’t, you may begin to experience trauma, too. Taking care of yourself will help you remain grounded so that you can show up.

    I believe supporting someone through traumatic bereavement is one of the most meaningful things you can do. You don’t need perfect words or a plan. What sustains them won’t be advice or solutions, but your simple, powerful act of staying.

    Liza Barros-Lane 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. When grief involves trauma − a social worker explains how to support survivors of the recent floods and other devastating losses – https://theconversation.com/when-grief-involves-trauma-a-social-worker-explains-how-to-support-survivors-of-the-recent-floods-and-other-devastating-losses-260908

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Over 2 million rare fish fry have been released into the Irtysh River in China this year

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) — A total of 2.085 million fingerlings of five rare fish species, including common taimen, burbot and Siberian grayling, have been released into the Irtysh River basin in Altay Prefecture of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region this year, according to the region’s department of agriculture and rural affairs.

    As the department added, approximately 1.2 million more fry of three species of commercial fish were released into Lake Urungu on the territory of the district this year.

    This is a key step in the efforts of local authorities to restore and protect aquatic biological resources, as well as improve the ecological environment of water bodies, the department said in a statement.

    The Altai District has six national-level zones for the conservation of aquatic product germplasm resources, where 360 million fish fry can be grown per year. Thanks to the ecological restoration system formed with the release of fish fry as one of the main methods, the fish population in the district increased by 10 percent year-on-year in 2025, the department noted.

    The water quality in the Irtysh River basin has remained at class I for the third year in a row, said department official Qu Hong.

    Let us recall that the Irtysh River flows through the territories of three countries: Kazakhstan, Russia and China. It originates from the southern slope of the Altai Mountains, flows into the Ob and carries its waters to the Arctic Ocean. -0-

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

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Quantum computers are coming, and the Netherlands is ready

    Source: Government of the Netherlands

    News item | 17-07-2025 | 14:49

    Whenever you share sensitive information, caution is essential. Strong passwords and two-step verification offer protection. But what if a new technology could soon render that security ineffective? That’s exactly what quantum computers are capable of. Fortunately, the Netherlands is a leader in this field, as we demonstrated in the run-up to the NATO Summit.

    Image: ©TU Delft
    Part of a facility used to create qubits.

    Quantum computers explained

    So what exactly does this technology involve? Quantum computers operate differently from the computers we know today. Instead of bits that are either 0 or 1, they use qubits that can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. That may sound abstract, but it has far-reaching implications. Quantum computers can solve certain mathematical problems much faster than traditional computers. And it just so happens that complex mathematics forms the basis of almost all current forms of encryption – the secure way to protect information.

    Threat

    The biggest threat is that in a short time quantum computers will be able to crack existing security methods such as RSA (an algorithm developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adleman), which is widely used in internet security, email encryption and digital signatures. What would take an ordinary computer millions of years could take a powerful quantum computer just minutes. This means that information encrypted today could potentially be accessed in the future. A dangerous scenario is ‘store now, decrypt later’, where malicious actors intercept encrypted data now, such as state secrets, medical records or financial information. Although they cannot read this data today, they store these files in anticipation of quantum technology that can break the encryption. No wonder the European Commission has emphasised in its roadmap that the digital future must be quantum-safe.

    Solution

    Post-quantum cryptography offers a solution. This is cryptography based on mathematical problems that are believed to be unbreakable even by a quantum computer. Dutch central government’s Quantum-Secure Cryptography programme is working on tools to manage the risks quantum technology poses to cryptography in a timely manner. When it comes to information and communication security, the Dutch quantum technology ecosystem also offers an additional measure: quantum key distribution. This method enables two parties to share secret cryptographic keys with each other, and any attempt to eavesdrop immediately triggers an alert. As a result, the sender and receiver instantly notice if someone is trying to spy and can break the connection. The key cannot be intercepted or copied unnoticed, something that is possible with traditional cryptographic keys.

    Netherlands sets the tone at pre-NATO Summit event

    To keep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and Security safe in the quantum era, a pilot project has been launched to experiment with the complementary use of quantum key distribution.

    It involves a trial set-up of a quantum network, which has been used to investigate a number of cases for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, enabling the method to be tested in an isolated environment. The significance of this became clear during the pre-NATO Summit event ‘Securing the Future.’ Here, the ministries gave a presentation with a live demonstration showing that the Dutch government now has an operational quantum network, and demonstrating how quantum key distribution and post-quantum cryptography work in a complementary way. This made quantum-secure communication tangible and showed that it is no longer just a future prospect but is already working in practice.

    The pilot is a joint initiative of several ministries, including the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in partnership with Quantum Delta NL, Q*Bird, RINIS, Sogeti, the Ministry of Justice and Security’s ICT organisation and Eurofiber.

    International quantum computing

    The European Commission has presented its roadmap for a quantum-safe digital future. The Netherlands is ready to lead by example, by investing in strengthening cryptographic resilience through research and testing in quantum technology, and fostering close collaboration between government organisations, academia and businesses. Together, we are building a digital infrastructure that will remain secure for generations to come.

    Urgency

    The urgency is clear: once quantum computers truly breakthrough in a few years, all government networks and systems must be quantum-secure. This means switching to post-quantum cryptography – encryption that can withstand attacks from quantum computers. It also requires targeted investment in quantum technologies like quantum key distribution and careful choices about what data we should already be protecting against future decryption. Because what appears secure today could be out in the open and up for grabs tomorrow.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: El Salvador: Community-led mangrove restoration through Green Life Insurance

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    This case study was collected through a Call for Good Practices on Reducing Risk across SDG Transitions, launched by the UNDRR Focal Points Group in 2024.

    SDGs addressed: 13 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 10

    Coastal Barra de Santiago has lost 60 % of its mangroves in 50 years. The Green Life Insurance initiative, driven by Davivienda Seguros and the ARISE leader FUNDEMAS, channels part of each policy premium into community restoration. With technical support from GIZ and permits from the Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources (MARN), residents-led by the women’s association AMBAS-have restored 8 ha and planted 26 200 mangroves, sequestering 1 892 t CO₂ and improving habitat across the 11 500-ha Ramsar site.

    Innovation & Success Factors

    • Finance-nature link – insurance premiums fund measurable ecological gains.
    • Women-centred governance empowers AMBAS (60 % female workforce) and secures local buy-in.
    • Outcome-based payments tie funding to survival rates and canopy growth.

    Key impacts

    • Disaster-risk reduction – mangroves buffer storm surge, erosion and flooding.
    • Livelihoods – 70 families receive paid restoration work and nursery jobs.
    • Carbon storage – 1 892 t CO₂ captured.
    • Biodiversity – habitat revived for fish, birds and turtles; fish stocks rising.
    • Replication pipeline – plan to restore 10 ha more and replicate model in Honduras & Costa Rica.

    Lessons learned for replication or adaptation

    1. Community ownership sustains effort; locals plan, plant and monitor.
    2. Tying finance to ecological metrics secures long-term funding.
    3. Public-private-community governance speeds permits and aligns incentives.
    4. Gender focus increases impact and ensures broad social acceptance.
    5. Baseline & monitoring data from GIZ proved vital for adaptive management.

    Other resources / Explore further

    Organisations involved

    • Private sector: Davivienda Seguros (insurer & funder)
    • UN system: UNDRR via ARISE Private Sector Alliance
    • National NGO: FUNDEMAS (ARISE El Salvador leader)
    • Government: Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources (permits)
    • Technical partner: GIZ (capacity-building, biodiversity monitoring)
    • Community group: Asociación de Mujeres de la Barra de Santiago (AMBAS)

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: DLNR News Release – Seeking Community Input for Maui Nearshore Marine Management, July 16, 2025

    Source: US State of Hawaii

    DLNR News Release – Seeking Community Input for Maui Nearshore Marine Management, July 16, 2025

    Posted on Jul 16, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom

     

    STATE OF HAWAIʻI

    KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

     

         JOSH GREEN, M.D.
    GOVERNOR

    KE KIAʻĀINA

     

    DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES

    KA ‘OIHANA KUMUWAIWAI ‘ĀINA

     

    DAWN N.S. CHANG
    CHAIRPERSON

     

     

    SEEKING COMMUNITY INPUT FOR MAUI NEARSHORE MARINE MANAGEMENT

     

     

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    July 16, 2025

      

    MAUI COUNTY, Hawai‘i – Maui residents are called to join the conversation and provide feedback on a revised draft proposal developed for Maui’s nearshore waters, ensuring healthy reefs and abundant resources for future generations. The DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) Holomua Marine Initiative is hosting two upcoming information exchange sessions on the proposal.

    The community-nominated Maui Navigation Team has worked collaboratively with DAR for more than two years to create draft management recommendations with the Maui community, which were first shared to the public through a series of Information Exchange Sessions hosted in September of 2024. The navigation team is grateful to everyone who attended these sessions and took time to share their manaʻo and feedback. Based on the comments received during these initial sessions, the navigation team has further revised the proposal to reflect the priorities and needs communicated to it by the Maui community and is seeking additional input.

    Please save the date, RSVP at https://bit.ly/holomuarsvp and join one of these upcoming sessions:

    • Pukalani: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 – 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
      Mayor Hannibal Tavares Pukalani Community Center
      91 Pukalani St., Pukalani
    • Kīhei: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 – 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
      Kīhei Community Center
       303 E Lipoa St., Kīhei

     

     

    The Holomua Marine Initiative first launched on Maui in October of 2022 with a series of public talk-story sessions to learn more about community management priorities and concerns regarding the status of Maui’s nearshore resources. Holomua is an inclusive, bottom-up approach to marine resource management that is community-driven and incorporates local ecological and cultural knowledge.

    When the process first launched, the Maui community nominated members to form a navigation team, which is a 16-member hui of Maui fishers, community leaders, cultural practitioners and scientists who were tasked to co-develop a nearshore management plan with support from DAR. The team members bring decades of experience with Maui’s nearshore resources and knowledge of local fishing practices. The team represents 10 of the 12 Maui moku.  

    The navigation team’s management proposal for Maui includes strategies that are centered around the Holomua Marine Initiative’s four main pillars for effective management: 1) place-based planning, 2) pono practices, 3) monitoring and 4) restoration. Some key topics in the draft proposal include fishing rules geared toward reducing unsustainable fishing practices, improved enforcement and strengthening compliance, creating a habitat restoration area and addressing land-based threats to the nearshore reefs such as injection wells and sedimentation.

    The draft recommendations offer a holistic approach to nearshore marine management for Maui, and balance the need for conservation and restoration of resources like fish and corals, while also allowing sustainable harvest to continue feeding Maui families.

     

     

    # # # 

     

    RESOURCES 

    (All images/video courtesy: DLNR) 

     

    For information and updates: Holomua Marine Initiative on Instagram (@holomuamarine) and Facebook (@holomuamarine), or visit the website at https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/holomua/

     

    Event flyer: see attached

     

    Video – Holomua Information Exchange Session, Lahaina (September 25, 2024): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/im45i4aocp20s7gu060ak/Lahaina-Meeting-September-25-2024.mov?rlkey=2i47awpeyv9k9egzthk8u6y5b&st=17m1tjc6&dl=0

     

     

     

    Media Contacts: 

    Patti Jette                                                                                         

    Communications Specialist                                                          

    Hawai‘i Dept. of Land and Natural Resources                           

    808-587-0396                                                                                  

    [email protected]                                                           

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Jimmy Discovers Employment

    Source: Scotland – City of Dundee

    A Dundee man has set sail on a new career after receiving all hands on deck support from the Council’s employability service.

    Jimmy Moran, 60, was previously a training instructor at Michelin for around 25 years before the factory closed in 2020 and has secured new employment as a ship’s crew maintenance worker at the RRS Discovery.

    Dundee Heritage Trust (DHT), who run Captain Scott’s famous Antarctic ship at Discovery Point, were looking to employ someone to maintain the attraction and support the ongoing preservation of the vessel.

    Jimmy visited the Adult Employability Service after a recommendation from a friend and with the help of the team at various sessions started getting interviews. Despite a few knock-backs Jimmy received constant reassurance and conversations about how his experiences were a strength.

    While attending a job shop, run by the service, he noticed the position at DHT appear online and the team helped him apply for the role, get an interview and follow up with the trust about progress.

    Speaking about his experience Jimmy said: “The support I received from the employability service was very good. They always got in touch with me when any job arose that they thought I may be interested in.

    “I was previously working at Michelin and unfortunately the factory closed. I was looking for something totally different from my past roles and to be able to use my people skills, jovial personality and do something more fun!”

    Jimmy beat around 70 other applicants to the job, and he puts this down to the support of council’s employability service who gave him the determination and desire to go for the job despite the barriers he thought he would face.

    “One of the barriers I was thinking about was my age and another was the type of jobs available. With the support of the team however I managed to get an interview with Dundee Heritage Trust to work on the RRS Discovery. When I was then offered the job, I was over the moon.”

    The RRS Discovery is currently going through conservation work to restore the 124 year old polar vessel and Jimmy is using his skills to help the contractors while also learning from them about their work.

    Jimmy added: “As part of my job I do a lot of work on the ship such as painting, varnishing, building, cutting, sanding and cleaning alongside day-to-day general maintenance of Discovery Point. I’m very fortunate to now be in a job I enjoy so this is my plans until I retire. The way I look at it, I will always be a part of the history of the ship”

    Ali Gellatly is the ship and facilities director at Dundee Heritage Trust. 

    Speaking about Jimmy and the employment process he said: “We were approached by the employability service to have a meeting to discuss the role and find out more. We then went through the normal interview process with a practical element, which Jimmy absolutely excelled at, and we felt like a perfect fit for us.

    “Jimmy is one of those people where he is more than happy to help anyone he can. The ship’s crew is vital but it’s not always easy to employ the right person. Having Jimmy joining us was an absolute win.”

    Employer Recruitment Incentive (ERI) funding was put in place to further secure the role, purchase equipment and help the heritage trust towards the extensive training Jimmy received. 

    Ali added: “The funding Jimmy came with was really useful for us and made sure he had everything he needed right from the start.”

    “We would absolutely have someone again through the employability service. The feedback and updates we get from them are really helpful as well as the constant contact, knowing there is someone you can speak to with any issues.”

    Jimmy added, “I would absolutely recommend the service for anyone looking for a job, they are very passionate about what they do, they are very considerate, and they will help you the best they can.”

    Jimmy and Ali have filmed videos speaking about their experiences and these can be found on the Council’s YouTube channel.

    Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure convener Councillor Steven Rome said: “I am very pleased to hear about Jimmy’s success in getting a job with Dundee Heritage Trust through the council’s employability service and offer my congratulations to him and everyone involved.

    “His work on board the RRS Discovery in maintaining this important asset for this city is not only evidently appreciated by his employers but by me and I’m sure everyone who visits.

    “It is clear to me that the employability team provide an excellent, professional and dedicated service and I would encourage anyone looking for employment to get in touch.”

    More information about the employability services the council support people with can be found on the Dundee City Council website.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New appointments to Board of the Office for Environmental Protection

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    News story

    New appointments to Board of the Office for Environmental Protection

    Two appointments and two re-appointments to the OEP Board

    Professor Elizabeth Fisher and Caroline May have been appointed as Non-Executive Directors of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), and Professor Dan Laffoley and Dr Paul Leinster CBE have been reappointed for second terms.

    Elizabeth Fisher’s and Caroline May’s new roles will run from 1 July 2025 until 30 June 2029. Dan Laffoley’s and Paul Leinster’s second terms will run from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2026.

    The appointments have been made in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

    The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) was created in November 2021 under the Environment Act. It is an independent statutory body with a remit to protect and improve the environment by holding government and other public authorities to account in England and Northern Ireland.

    Biographies

    Professor Elizabeth Fisher

    • Professor Elizabeth Fisher is Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.

    • She has over three decades of experience as an environmental law academic and writes widely on environmental law and administrative law in national common law jurisdictions.

    • She was General Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law from 2012 to 2022 and from 2022 to 2025 she held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for a project exploring legal imagination and environmental law.

    • She is a Delegate of Oxford University Press and has served as Vice Dean of the Oxford Law Faculty. She is also an Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and has been a Member of the OEP’s Advisory Group on Environmental Principles since 2023.

    Caroline May

    • Caroline May has been a specialist environmental  lawyer for over 35 years. She is currently head of the environment, ESG and safety practice for Europe, Middle East and Asia at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, where she has been a partner since 2006.

    • She is Chair of the Law Society Climate Change Committee which produced the world’s first professional services guidance on climate change.

    • She is Honorary President of the Legal Sustainability Alliance and a former Director of leading sustainability NGO, the Aldersgate Group. She sat on the National Council of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (UKELA) for 6 years.

    • She is a Freeman of the City of London and is listed in the Ends Power List 2024, as a Green Ambassador for the UK by Legal 500, and in the Guide to the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers.

    Professor Dan Laffoley

    • Professor Dan Laffoley is a scientist, communicator, explorer and marine biologist, with over four decades of experience in the UK, Europe and around the world.  He is a UK and international expert on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and conservation.

    • He is Emeritus Marine Vice Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas responsible for global targets and guidance on ocean protection.

    • Prior to that he led the development and scale-up of the marine conservation work of Natural England and English Nature. He has been responsible for the creation of many global, European and UK public and private sector partnerships, alliances and frameworks that underpin modern-day marine conservation.

    • This work includes creating the concept behind Blue Carbon, scaling up knowledge and action on ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation, scaling-up work on marine World Heritage and conservation of the High Seas, and various global guidance on implementing MPAs and marine spatial planning.

    Dr Paul Leinster CBE

    • Dr Paul Leinster CBE has over 40 years of practical experience in environmental management, science, policy and regulatory development and implementation in the private and public sectors.

    • He is Chair of Water Resources East, the Cambridge Water Scarcity Group, the Bedfordshire Local Nature Partnership, the Great Ouse Rivers Trust, and the Upper and Bedford Ouse Catchment Partnership and is a Board Member of Delphic HSE.

    • He is a visiting professor at Cranfield University where from October 2015 to December 2020 he was Professor of Environmental Assessment and was a Member of the Government’s Natural Capital Committee.

    • Immediately prior to this, he was Chief Executive of the Environment Agency for more than seven years. Prior to joining the EA in 1998 he worked for more than 20 years in the private sector.

    Updates to this page

    Published 17 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –