NewzIntel.com

Category: Law

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Online drug shopping lands Waikato pair in court

    Source: New Zealand Police

    Litres of Fantasy or GBL, pills and other illegal substances ordered through international online sources and imported into New Zealand to be sold in the local Waikato market have been uncovered in a joint operation by Waikato Organised Crime and New Zealand Customs.

    Earlier this year, staff at Police and Customs identified a spike in the importation of GBL and 1,4-B (a drug similar to GBL), and an investigation was launched.

    On Tuesday, the Waikato Organised Crime Squad, with assistance from Customs, the Armed Offenders Squad, and other Waikato Police staff executed warrants at two residential addresses and two storage facilities.

    A total of 4L of 1,4-B, 129 cannabis plants, 1kg of dried cannabis, 100 BZP pills, and ammunition were located across the properties. This follows a previous seizure of 30L of GBL at the border.

    A 40-year-old man and 42-year-old woman were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including importing a Fantasy type substance, supplying a Fantasy type substance, supplying methamphetamine, cultivating cannabis and supplying cannabis.

    Detective Inspector Daryl Smith of the Waikato Organised Crime Squad warned those who attempted to buy drugs online that Police and Customs are on to them.

    “This investigation sends a message to drug dealers shopping online – you can’t hide behind the internet.”

    This week’s warrants also showed the value of the partnership between Customs and NZ Police to tackle international crime syndicates and the importation of illegal drugs into New Zealand, he said.

    Customs Investigations Manager Dominic Adams said Customs is committed to identifying and disrupting the smuggling of illicit substances into our country.

    “This is another great example of the collaborative work between Customs and Police. These arrests have prevented the distribution of harmful drugs into the Waikato, leaving our communities safer as a result.”

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

    Brendan Clift 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. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

    Brendan Clift 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. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Clift, Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney

    Thomas Yau/Shutterstock

    The demise of one of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy parties, the League of Social Democrats, is the latest blow to the city’s crumbling democratic credentials.

    The league is the third major opposition party to disband this year. The announcement coincides with the fifth anniversary this week of the national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to suppress pro-democracy activity.

    The loss of this grassroots party, historically populated by bold and colourful characters, vividly illustrates the dying of the light in once-sparkling Hong Kong.

    The city is now greyed and labouring under a repressive internal security regime that has crushed civil society’s freedoms and democratic ambitions.

    Authoritarian crackdown

    The world witnessed Hong Kong at its brightest during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped out on city streets for several months.

    We also saw the brutal sequel in 2019, when paramilitarised police sought to put down further civil unrest and protesters fought back.

    Since then, “lawfare” has been the preferred strategy of China’s national government and its Hong Kong satellite. The new approach has included a vast security apparatus and aggressive prosecutions.

    When Beijing intervened in July 2020, it was nominally about national security. In reality, the new law was designed and used to bring Hongkongers to heel.

    Civil freedoms were further curtailed by a home-grown security law, introduced last year to fill the gaps.

    International standards such as the Johannesburg Principles, endorsed by the United Nations, require national security laws to be compatible with democratic principles, not to be used to eliminate democratic activity.

    Prison or exile

    The League of Social Democrats occupied the populist left of the pro-democracy spectrum. It stood apart from contemporaries such as the Democratic Party and the Civic Party, which were dominated by professionals and elites, and have since been disbanded.

    The League was most notably represented by the likes of “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung– known for his Che Guevara t-shirts and banana-throwing – and broadcaster and journalism academic Raymond Wong Yuk-man, also known as “Mad Dog”.

    Despite their rambunctious styles, these men had real political credentials and were repeatedly elected to legislative office. But Leung is now imprisoned for subversion, while Wong has left for Taiwan.

    Leung Kwok-hung was sentenced to subversion under the national security law.
    Edwin Kwok/Shutterstock

    Party leaders such as Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and Figo Chan Ho-wun were also prominent within the Civil Human Rights Front. It was responsible for the annual July 1 protest march that attracted hundreds of thousands of people every year. The front is yet another pro-democracy organisation that has dissolved.

    Sham and Chan have been jailed for subversion and unlawful assembly under the colonial-era Public Order Ordinance, which has been used to prosecute hundreds of activists.

    Zero tolerance

    The demise of these diverse organisations are not natural occurrences, but the result of a deliberate authoritarian programme.

    Under China, Hong Kong’s political system has been half democratic at best. But it now resembles something from the darkest days of colonialism, with pre-approved candidates, appointed legislators and zero tolerance for critical voices.

    The effort to eliminate opposition has seen the pro-independence National Party formally banned and scores of pro-democracy figures jailed after mass trials.

    Activists and watchdogs are stymied by the national security law. It criminalises – among other things – engagement and lobbying with international organisations and foreign governments.

    Distinctive voices such as law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and firebrand politician Edward Leung Tin-kei have been jailed and silenced, as have many moderates and lesser-known figures.

    Shattered dreams

    Then there are the millions of ordinary Hongkongers whose dreams of a liberal and self-governing region under mainland China’s umbrella – as promised in the lead up to the 1997 handover – have been shattered.

    Some activists have fled overseas. The more outspoken are the subjects of Hong Kong arrest warrants.

    But countless ex-protesters remain in the city, where it is impermissible to speak critically of power, and where mandatory patriotic education may ensure new generations will never even think to speak up.

    Much blame lies with the British, who failed to institute democratic elections until the last gasp of their rule in Hong Kong. This was despite the colony tolerating liberalism and habit-forming democratic activity over a longer period.

    Now China, after almost three decades in charge, has responded to democratic challenges by defaulting to authoritarian control. Hong Kong can only be grateful it has been spared a Tiananmen-style incident. Nor has it experienced the full genocidal extent of the so-called “peripheries playbook” Beijing has used in Tibet and Xinjiang.

    Turmoil and authoritarian swings in the United States and elsewhere give China an opportunity to present as a voice of reason on the international stage.

    But we should not forget its commitment to repressive politics at home, nor what its support of belligerent regimes such as Putin’s Russia might mean for Taiwan, the region and the world.

    Above all, we should not forget the people, in Hong Kong and elsewhere, who made it their life’s work to achieve democracy only to be rewarded with prison or exile.

    Brendan Clift 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. Hong Kong’s light fades as another pro-democracy party folds – https://theconversation.com/hong-kongs-light-fades-as-another-pro-democracy-party-folds-260186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 4, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 4, 2025.

    Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology K Ly / Deep Random Survey This week, astronomers spotted the third known interstellar visitor to our Solar System. First detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on July 1, the

    Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia Henryk Siemiradzki via Wikimedia Commons To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives. In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the

    Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI Back to Back Theatre is one of Australia’s national treasures. Over 30 years this dynamic Geelong-based company – an ensemble of actors who are perceived to have intellectual disabilities – has built

    Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University Thurtell/Getty Images Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity. It aims to reduce the

    Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Rattenbury, Associate Professor in Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Environmental Defense Fund, CC BY-SA This week’s announcement of the loss of a methane-detecting satellite, just days before New Zealand was meant to take over mission control, is a blow to the country’s space research

    Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bo Li, Professor, Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al. Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out

    I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Health Science, Swinburne University of Technology AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY Concussion in sport continues to make headlines, whether it be class actions, young men flocking to the highly violent “RunIt” activity or debate about whether Australian rules football

    NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis. The government

    Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney Izabela23/Shutterstock The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that

    6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial

    Grattan on Friday: how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political and news cycles often work in a certain and predictable way. Issues flare like bushfires, then rage for weeks or even months, until they are finally extinguished by action or fade by being overtaken by the next big thing.

    How many serious incidents are happening in Australian childcare centres? We don’t really know
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Catherine Delahaye/ Getty Images This week, a Melbourne childcare worker was charged over alleged sexual abuse of young children in his care. Families are justifiably appalled and furious – with 1,200 children urged to be

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    10 steps governments can take now to stamp out child sexual abuse in care settings
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Distinguished Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology Recent cases of prolific alleged child sexual abuse in Melbourne and other Australian early childhood education and care settings have shocked even experienced people who work to prevent child sexual abuse. Parents are right to be

    Tears, trauma and unpaid work: why men in tinnies aren’t the only heroes during a flood disaster
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Rural and Remote Health, University of Sydney Dan Peled/Getty Images When flooding strikes, our screens fill with scenes of devastated victims, and men performing heroic dinghy rescues in swollen rivers. But another story often goes untold: how women step in, and step up,

    The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace McQuilten, Professor of Art and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, School of Art, RMIT University Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts

    The Rainbow Warrior saga: 1. French state terrorism and NZ’s end of innocence
    COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Immediately after killing Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate. Such was the contempt the French had for the Kiwis and the abilities of our police to pursue

    Does eating cheese before bed really give you nightmares? Here’s what the science says
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia Phoenixns/Shutterstock, The Conversation, CC BY Have you heard people say eating cheese before bed will cause you to have vivid dreams or nightmares? It’s a relatively common idea. And this week, a new study

    Experiencing extreme weather and disasters is not enough to change views on climate action, study shows
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omid Ghasemi, Research Associate in Behavioural Science at the Institute for Climate Risk & Response, UNSW Sydney STR / AFP via Getty Images Climate change has made extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods more frequent and more likely in recent years, and the trend is

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for July 4, 2025

    ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 4, 2025.

    Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology K Ly / Deep Random Survey This week, astronomers spotted the third known interstellar visitor to our Solar System. First detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on July 1, the

    Avoid bad breath, don’t pick partners when drunk: ancient dating tips to find modern love
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia Henryk Siemiradzki via Wikimedia Commons To love and be loved is something most people want in their lives. In the modern world, we often see stories about the difficulties of finding love and the

    Back to Back Theatre tackles an epic Shakespearian conflict – set in a factory, with cardboard props
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Art and Performance, Deakin University Jeff Busby/Back To Back Theatre/ACMI Back to Back Theatre is one of Australia’s national treasures. Over 30 years this dynamic Geelong-based company – an ensemble of actors who are perceived to have intellectual disabilities – has built

    Australia’s new lung cancer screening program has chosen simplicity over equity, and we’re concerned
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa J. Whop, Associate Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Yardhura Walani, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research, Australian National University Thurtell/Getty Images Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity. It aims to reduce the

    Lost in space: MethaneSat failed just as NZ was to take over mission control – here’s what we need to know now
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Rattenbury, Associate Professor in Physics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Environmental Defense Fund, CC BY-SA This week’s announcement of the loss of a methane-detecting satellite, just days before New Zealand was meant to take over mission control, is a blow to the country’s space research

    Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bo Li, Professor, Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong Excavation at the Gantangqing site. Liu et al. Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out

    I’ve seen the brain damage contact sports can cause – we all need to take concussion and CTE more seriously
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Health Science, Swinburne University of Technology AAP Image/The Conversation, CC BY Concussion in sport continues to make headlines, whether it be class actions, young men flocking to the highly violent “RunIt” activity or debate about whether Australian rules football

    NZ will soon have no real interisland rail-ferry link – why are we so bad at infrastructure planning?
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Another week, another Cook Strait ferry breakdown. As the winter maintenance season approaches and the Aratere prepares for its final months of service, New Zealand faces a self-imposed crisis. The government

    Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney Izabela23/Shutterstock The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that

    6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, Associate Professor, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | FinTech Capability Lead, Swinburne University of Technology Oleg Golovnev/Shutterstock Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial

    Grattan on Friday: how two once hot-button issues this week barely sparked media and political interest
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political and news cycles often work in a certain and predictable way. Issues flare like bushfires, then rage for weeks or even months, until they are finally extinguished by action or fade by being overtaken by the next big thing.

    How many serious incidents are happening in Australian childcare centres? We don’t really know
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney Catherine Delahaye/ Getty Images This week, a Melbourne childcare worker was charged over alleged sexual abuse of young children in his care. Families are justifiably appalled and furious – with 1,200 children urged to be

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    Too much vitamin B6 can be toxic. 3 symptoms to watch out for
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Selena3726/Shutterstock Side effects from taking too much vitamin B6 – including nerve damage – may be more widespread than we think, Australia’s medicines regulator says. In an ABC report earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Therapeutic Goods

    10 steps governments can take now to stamp out child sexual abuse in care settings
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Mathews, Distinguished Professor, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology Recent cases of prolific alleged child sexual abuse in Melbourne and other Australian early childhood education and care settings have shocked even experienced people who work to prevent child sexual abuse. Parents are right to be

    Tears, trauma and unpaid work: why men in tinnies aren’t the only heroes during a flood disaster
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Rural and Remote Health, University of Sydney Dan Peled/Getty Images When flooding strikes, our screens fill with scenes of devastated victims, and men performing heroic dinghy rescues in swollen rivers. But another story often goes untold: how women step in, and step up,

    The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace McQuilten, Professor of Art and Associate Dean, Research and Innovation, School of Art, RMIT University Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts

    The Rainbow Warrior saga: 1. French state terrorism and NZ’s end of innocence
    COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle Immediately after killing Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s flagship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate. Such was the contempt the French had for the Kiwis and the abilities of our police to pursue

    Does eating cheese before bed really give you nightmares? Here’s what the science says
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia Phoenixns/Shutterstock, The Conversation, CC BY Have you heard people say eating cheese before bed will cause you to have vivid dreams or nightmares? It’s a relatively common idea. And this week, a new study

    Experiencing extreme weather and disasters is not enough to change views on climate action, study shows
    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omid Ghasemi, Research Associate in Behavioural Science at the Institute for Climate Risk & Response, UNSW Sydney STR / AFP via Getty Images Climate change has made extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods more frequent and more likely in recent years, and the trend is

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Speech by CE at 2025 Colloquium on International Law (English only)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    ​Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 2025 Colloquium on International Law today (July 4):

    Commissioner Cui Jianchun (Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Professor Teresa Cheng (Co-Chairman of the Asian Academy of International Law), Dr Anthony Neoh (Co-Chairman of the Asian Academy of International Law), consuls-general, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police arrest six youth following arson incidents in Rolleston

    Source: New Zealand Police

    Police have arrested six youth in relation to three recent arson incidents in the Rolleston area.

    Over the last week, Police have received three separate reports of arson involving buildings in the Rolleston Reserve area.

    After following lines of enquiry, including CCTV, Police identified and located six youth in relation to the incidents and were taken into custody.

    Sergeant Phil Bayne says Police understand these incidents can be disappointing to the community, and is pleased Police can hold the alleged offenders to account.

    “Thanks to proactive and strong teamwork, we were able to identify and locate those believed to be involved quickly.”

    The six youth have been referred to Youth Aid.

    “We urge parents and caregivers to make sure their rangatahi are acting responsibly, and to be aware of where they are and what they are doing.

    “Small choices can have lasting consequences – for individuals and the wider community, and anything could go wrong.

    “We do not want to be knocking on your door at 2am telling you something serious has happened involving your young people.”

    If you see any suspicious or unlawful behaviour in the community, please contact Police on 111 immediately with as much information you can safely gather.

    Information can be reported in non-emergencies or after-the-fact online at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking “Make a Report” or call 105.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Two charged over drive-by shooting at North Plympton

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Two men have now been charged over a drive-by shooting at a North Plympton barber shop in February.

    Just before 9.30pm on Thursday 20 February police were called to a business on Hawson Avenue after five shots were fired at the building.

    Fortunately, no one was inside the building at the time and there were no reports of injuries.

    Southern District Detectives and Crime Scene investigators attended to examine the scene.

    Following investigations, this morning (Friday 4 July) Serious and Organised Crime Branch detectives arrested two men over the matter.

    A 24-year-old Croydon Park man was charged with discharge a firearm to damage property, contravene a Firearms Prohibition Order and possess a firearm without a licence.

    A 49-year-old Fulham man, who was initially arrested in February, but charges were not pursued, was rearrested and charged with assisting an offender in connection with this incident.

    They were both refused police bail and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court later today.

    Anyone with information about illegal firearms in the community is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

    CO TBA

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Who Reads Russian Literature in China: From “Veteran Classics Lovers” to “Little Fairytale Lovers”

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –

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

    BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — At the recently concluded 31st Beijing International Book Fair held in the Chinese capital, the Russian national stand showcased about 800 of the best new releases from the Russian publishing market, covering various literary genres. Classic works of Russian literature that have had a profound impact on Chinese society, such as “War and Peace,” “Crime and Punishment,” and “How the Steel Was Tempered,” are now creating a new reading landscape for the Chinese audience along with works by contemporary Russian authors.

    THE ETERNAL RELEVANCE OF CLASSICS

    Over the past 100-odd years, a huge number of classic works of Russian literature have been translated and introduced to China. The works of literary titans such as Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin, Anton Chekhov have had a lasting and profound influence on Chinese literary circles. Classic works such as How the Steel Was Tempered, War and Peace, and The Seagull were once widely known in China, but their mass recognition has noticeably weakened in our days.

    In Chinese literary studies, the prevailing opinion is that the end of the era of total reception of Russian literature in modern China does not indicate its decline, but rather a transition to a phase of deep artistic reflection, where the aesthetic value of the text dominates over utilitarian functions.

    Speaking about the main readers of Russian classical literature in today’s China, the winner of the international translation prize “Read Russia”, professor of the Capital Normal University Liu Wenfei in an interview with a correspondent of the Xinhua news agency noted that teachers and students of the humanities and Russian language departments are the most devoted readers of Russian classics in China.

    In addition, older Chinese writers and literary scholars have a particular fondness for the realism of the 19th-century “golden age,” while younger poets and prose writers have a clear preference for the modernist literature of the Silver Age—the works of Marina Tsvetaeva, Anna Akhmatova, and other outstanding authors. “It is unlikely that you will find a poet in China today who is not familiar with their legacy,” Liu Wenfei said. According to his observations, these groups form the main readership of Russian classics in the country.

    “But the readership of Russian classics in China is by no means limited to the groups mentioned. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the phenomenon of multiple reprints of translations – it is enough to mention that Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina has been translated into Chinese at least fifty times, while the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky are constantly present in publishing plans,” emphasized Liu Wenfei, a professor of Russian studies who has been involved in literary translation since the early 1980s.

    THE FLOURISH OF RUSSIAN LITNISHES

    Modern Russian literature is also translated quite fully in China, although classic works such as Tolstoy’s War and Peace, whose reader demand consistently exceeds that of 21st century authors, retain absolute dominance in book retail.

    Contemporary Russian literature is in a phase of dynamic development, which excludes premature final assessments. This context is due to the transformation of reading practices, says Wang Xiaoyu, a junior research fellow at the Institute of World Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    However, according to her, compared to other languages, the spread of modern Russian literature in China should be recognized as significant – based on the volume of translations into Chinese and the awards received in recent years.

    For example, Renmin Wenxue Chubanshe Publishing House launched the project “Mutual Translations of Chinese and Foreign Authors on a Single Theme”. The Chinese magazine “October” regularly publishes works by contemporary Russian writers first. In 2022, Professor Chen Fang from Renmin University of China received the Lu Xun Prize in the Best Literary Translation category for her translation work on Guzel Yakhina’s novel “My Children”, which contributes to the promotion of contemporary Russian literature in China.

    Thus, Chinese youth born after the 1990s have begun to pay more attention to the works of contemporary Russian authors. As demonstrated by the activities of Russian language clubs in Beijing universities in recent years, Chinese youth interest in contemporary Russian literature has evolved from “exoticization” to “analytical discourse” – as evidenced by the academic debate on postmodern narratology in the novels of Viktor Pelevin. And the number of participants in the “Russian-Language Literature” group on the Douban review platform increased by 46 percent in the 2023 annual report.

    DETLIT-REVANCE

    A significant place in the exposition of the Russian stand at the 31st PMCF was given to children’s books, which clearly demonstrates the desire to strengthen the position of Russian children’s publishers in close cooperation with Chinese partners.

    Let us recall that the 1950s were the “golden age” for the introduction and translation of Russian children’s literature in China. Such outstanding works as Pushkin’s fairy tale poem “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish”, Bianki’s “Forest Newspaper”, Gaidar’s “Distant Countries” and “Chuk and Gek”, and many other wonderful examples of Russian children’s literature were translated and published in China.

    However, in recent decades, attention to contemporary Russian children’s literature has noticeably weakened. “This is a serious and unacceptable omission,” says Zhu Ziqiang, director of the Xingyuan Institute at the Ocean University of China.

    This omission is now being actively corrected. In order to introduce outstanding Russian children’s books of recent decades to Chinese readers on a large scale, the Chinese publishing house “Jely” initiated and released the series “Golden Russian Children’s Books”. According to information, as of the end of June 2024, 11 titles with a total circulation of 147 thousand copies have been published within this series, including novels, fairy tales, prose and other works.

    These books have firmly gained recognition in the Chinese children’s and adolescent literature market. Some of them, including “Visiting the Polar Bear” by Oleg Bundur, “Theo, the Theater Captain” by Nina Dashevskaya, were included in the reading list recommended by teachers of a Chinese school for students. “Theo teaches us that even a small role is important. Now I also want to create a puppet theater in the classroom – like Theo!” wrote an 11-year-old schoolboy surnamed Li from Beijing in a review of the book he read “Theo, the Theater Captain”, which became one of the “Top 10 Best Children’s Books of 2023” at the “Reading Month” festival in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province /South China/.

    At the Shanghai International Children’s Literature Fair held in November 2024, the China Literary Authors’ Society (CLAS) and the Association of Writers’ and Publishers’ Unions of Russia agreed to cooperate in acquiring numerous rights to Russian children’s publications.

    According to KLAO, as of June 2024, over the past decade, Chinese publishers have translated more than 700 books from Russia, and about 400 Chinese books have been translated in Russia. Literary exchange between the two countries is gradually moving from “one-way borrowing” to “two-way exchange”. In the future, with the deep introduction of digital technology and the involvement of young people, Russian literature will continue to write new pages in China’s cultural landscape.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Fatal crash, SH54, Aorangi

    Source: New Zealand Police

    One person has died following a crash in Aorangi earlier this morning.

    At around 7.50am, Police were notified of a crash involving a car and a pedestrian on SH54/Waughs Road.

    Sadly, despite best efforts of emergency services, the pedestrian died at the scene.

    The road remains closed while the Serious Crash Unit conducts a scene examination.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Two members of Outlaws Motorcycle Club charged with drug offences

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Two members of Outlaws Motorcycle Club charged with drug offences

    Friday, 4 July 2025 – 11:00 am.

    Detectives from Tasmania Police have charged two members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, including a senior club official, with serious drug offences following an ongoing investigation into organised criminal activity in the state’s North West.
    A 36-year-old man and 51-year-old man were arrested and have been formally charged with multiple drug-related offences, including trafficking in a controlled substance and dealing with proceeds of crime.
    The arrests were made as part of a targeted police operation aimed at disrupting the distribution of illicit drugs and dismantling the criminal networks facilitating their supply.
    Search warrants were executed at multiple properties in the Devonport area, resulting in the seizure of a quantity of amphetamine, methylamphetamine, steroids, drug paraphernalia, and a significant amount of cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
    “These arrests demonstrate Tasmania Police’s ongoing commitment to targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs and reducing the harm they cause in our communities through drug distribution and organised criminal activity,” said Detective Inspector Michelle Elmer.
    Both men will appear in the Devonport Magistrates Court at a later date.
    Investigations remain ongoing, and police urge anyone with information about illegal drug activity to contact  police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperstas.com.au.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy School Choice Legislation Heads to President Trump’s Desk as Part of One, Big, Beautiful Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today released a statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill that included Cassidy’s Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). The bill is now headed to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
    “Parents should decide where their kids go to school. This bill helps them do that,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I am grateful to see President Trump sign the first federal school choice bill into law as a part of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
    “Passage of ECCA is a historic moment for educational freedom and parents’ ability to choose the best option for their children. Students deserve the opportunity to succeed in the setting which best meets their needs, and this investment will open new doors for millions of American families. It has been a privilege to work so diligently with Rep. Owens, Sen. Cassidy, and Sen. Scott to accomplish this historic legislation, and I look forward to continuing our work supporting American families as the Treasury Department implements this legislation,” said Representative Adrian Smith (NE-03).
    In January, Cassidy and U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) led their colleagues in introducing ECCA to expand educational freedom and opportunity for students. Specifically, it provides a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to fund scholarship awards for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education. ECCA will be the first federal school choice legislation to be signed into law in American history.
    Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Ted Budd (R-NC), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Tommy Tubberville (R-AL), Jim Justice (R-WV), James Risch (R-ID), John Barrasso (R-WY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Todd Young (R-IN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Katie Britt (R-AL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jon Husted (R-OH), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jim Banks (R-IN), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), John Boozman (R-AR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Ashley Moody (R-FL).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Booker Introduces Critical Legislation to Fund Community Violence Intervention

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, legislation that would create a new Office of Community Violence Intervention (CVI) and a new grant program within the Department of Health and Human Services to award $5 billion in grants to community-based, nonprofit organizations and eligible units of local government to create or support evidence-based and prevention programs to interrupt cycles of violence. U.S. Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV-04) introduced companion legislation in the House. 
    Community violence should no longer be a problem for law enforcement to react to after it has occurred. We must invest in community-based violence intervention and prevention initiatives that stop this violence from happening in the first place. This legislation would provide resources to community outreach programs, hospital-based violence intervention programs, gun violence interventions strategies, and violence interruption and crisis management initiatives.
    “Too many people in New Jersey and across our country continue to lose loved ones to senseless gun violence,” said Senator Booker. “By investing federal dollars into programs and methods that work to prevent gun violence, we can do something about the violence plaguing our communities before it happens. The Break the Cycle of Violence Act will empower communities with the resources they need to reduce gun violence, save lives, and make our neighborhoods safer.” 
    Over the past decade, gun violence has risen sharply in communities across the United States, with a particularly devastating impact on predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods. Between 2018 and 2021, the rate of firearm-related deaths increased by 100 percent for Black youth and by 50 percent for Hispanic youth. In 2021, Black children represented 46 percent of youth firearm deaths though they represent only 14 percent of the youth population in the U.S. In 2023, there were 46,278 gun deaths—the third-highest annual total on record, trailing only 2022 and 2021. Shootings, homicides, and group violence continue to pose a serious and disproportionate threat to too many communities across the country.
    This violence has enormous human, social, and economic costs. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention found that “one-in-three youth living in inner cities show a higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder than soldiers” in the U.S. military during wartime. Gun violence harms rural communities as well, which suffer from a 37 percent higher death rate due to gun violence than urban communities. Gun violence costs the country approximately $280 billion per year.
    The Break the Cycle of Violence Act is endorsed by Community Justice, Sandy Hook Promise, Giffords Gun Violence Prevention & Advocacy, and Everytown for Gun Safety.
    “Over the last several years, cities across the country finally saw decreases in homicides and shootings, and that is only because of significant federal investment in community violence intervention (CVI) strategies,” Adzi Vokhiwa, Vice President of Policy at Community Justice, said. “However, Black and Brown communities continue to bear the brunt of gun violence. Without a doubt, more funding is needed to support CVI programs especially after the cancellation of many federal CVI grant awards earlier this year. If signed into law, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act would provide the largest federal investment in community-based and community-led efforts to end gun violence, expand workforce training for youth at the highest risk of violence, and help ensure the implementation of a public health approach to gun violence prevention. We thank Congressman Horsford and Senator Booker for recognizing the effectiveness and importance of CVI strategies and introducing this important legislation to save lives across the country.”
    “Gun violence manifests itself differently across U.S. communities, with children in many Black and Brown communities being disproportionally affected as well as children living in areas with high poverty rates,” Mark Barden, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund, and father of Daniel, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, said. “Lives can and will be saved when local leaders are equipped with the tools, training, and resources to address the unique circumstances of violence in their regions. We applaud the reintroduction of the ‘Break the Cycle of Violence Act,’ and encourage Congress to pass this important bill to protect children throughout our country.” 
    “Seemingly never-ending cycles of gun violence crush families, hurt the economy, and suppress communities’ ability to thrive. In particular, Black and Latino Americans bear the brunt of America’s gun violence and gun crime epidemic. But we have strategies and programs that are proven to save lives—all they need is sufficient funding,” Emma Brown, Executive Director of the national gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS, said. “Every lawmaker, Republicans and Democrats alike, should support Representative Horsford and Senator Booker’s Break the Cycle of Violence Act. This bill, which GIFFORDS is proud to have shaped, will not only fund essential programs, but also provide jobs to American youth that will allow them to thrive and break the cycle of violence.”
    “Communities most impacted by gun violence need real resources—and the Break the Cycle of Violence Act delivers,” Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action, said. “It invests in proven, lifesaving programs and puts support where it’s needed most: in the hands of grassroots leaders. We’re grateful to Rep. Horsford for reintroducing this critical bill.” 
    The Break the Cycle of Violence Act provisions include: 
    ·         $5 billion investment in anti-violence programs to create and support violence interruption and crisis management initiatives.
    ·         $1.5 billion investment in workforce training and job opportunities, including improved youth employment and training activities, paid work experience for school aged youth, and partnerships with community-based organizations to serve youth in high-crime and high-poverty areas.
    ·         An Office of Community Violence Intervention at HHS to implement evidence-based violence reduction initiatives.
    ·         A Community Violence Intervention Advisory Committee to ensure people with expertise in community violence intervention have a voice in CVI policies.
    ·         A National Community Violence Response Center to provide technical assistance for implementing community violence intervention and prevention programs.
    The Break the Cycle of Violence Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). 
    To read the full text of the bill, click here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warren, Markey Demand Trump Admin Explains Potential Weeding Out of Immigration Judges Based on Political Beliefs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren
    July 03, 2025
    Trump admin appears to be filtering out judges based on whether they will be supportive of the administration’s immigration agenda
    “The administration must ensure that its conversion decisions are based solely on judges’ performance, not their perceived loyalty to the Trump Administration’s immigration agenda or any other criteria.” 
    Text of Letter (PDF)
    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) wrote to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) with concerns that the Trump administration’s decision not to retain certain immigration judges may be for politically motivated reasons. 
    Immigration judges are “non-political members of the career civil service.” They are selected through a rigorous application process and typically serve for a 2-year probationary appointment. After that period, their performance is evaluated to decide if they will be converted to a permanent position. Typically, almost all probationary immigration judges are converted to permanent immigration judges; in recent years, immigration judges have had about a 94 percent conversion rate. 
    In President Trump’s first term, the administration adjusted the process to “clarify” that the Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General conduct “a performance review” of probationary judges and that the AG “retains discretion” over whether to convert them. Even still, qualified judges were almost uniformly converted to become permanent judges.   
    However, in April, a class of 16 judges reached the end of their probationary period, and EOIR decided not to convert 8 of them, half the class, even though their supervising judges had recommended them for conversion. The judges were provided no rationale for their dismissal. 
    Some observers have noticed a pattern: judges with backgrounds working in immigration enforcement were converted by the Trump Administration, while many of those who previously worked in other parts of government, nonprofits, or private practice were not. 
    “We are concerned that EOIR may be deciding whether to convert judges… using their prior employment as an indicator of whether they will be supportive of the Administration’s immigration agenda,” said the senators. 
    EOIR invests significant time and energy in vetting and training each individual immigration judge. The onboarding process includes multiple rounds of interviews, an extensive background check, weeks of training, and time observing experienced judges in court. The hiring process itself often takes several months or longer. 
    “Allowing IJs to reach the end of this process and then simply dismissing them with no apparent rationale wastes taxpayers’ investment in each judge,” wrote the senators. 
    The decision to not convert judges also worsens the backlog of roughly 4 million cases pending in immigration court. Replacing these judges will likely take months, and for each month that each judge’s seat is unfilled, roughly 50 more immigration cases go unresolved. 
    The senators asked EOIR to provide the following information by July 27, 2025, explain the decision to not convert half of a class of immigration judges that reached the end of its probationary period this year, its plan to replace those judges, and the expected impact of the non-conversion on immigration cases across the country. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: UPDATE: Charges – Violent act cause Death – Wadeye

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    The Northern Territory Police have charged a 29-year-old male in relation to a death in September last year.

    On 19September 2024, a 49-year-old male presented to the Wadeye clinic reporting he had been assaulted. Whilst at the clinic the male collapsed and was airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital but died five days later. 

    After exhaustive investigations including forensic examinations, witness canvassing and ongoing consultations with the Department of Prosecutions, Major Crime Detectives attended Wadeye on 3 July 2025 where they arrested a 29-year-old male in relation to the death.

    He has been charged with Violent act causing death and was remanded to appear in Darwin Local Court on 4 July 2025.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Sudan: Ongoing mass atrocities against civilians in and around El Fasher, North Darfur, documented in latest MSF report

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

    Paris, 4 July 2025— Mass atrocities are underway in Sudan’s North Darfur region, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned in a report today, urging the warring parties to halt indiscriminate and ethnically targeted violence and facilitate an immediate large-scale humanitarian response. MSF is extremely concerned about the threats of a full-blown assault on the hundreds of thousands of people in the state capital of El Fasher, which would lead to further bloodshed.

    As the conflict has intensified in the area since May 2024, civilians have continued to be the main victims. The report Besieged, Attacked, Starved, outlines a desperate situation for civilians in and around El Fasher that requires immediate attention and response. “People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their respective allies – but also actively targeted by the RSF and its allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity,” says Michel Olivier Lacharité, MSF head of emergencies.

    Based on MSF data, direct observations and over 80 interviews conducted between May 2024 and May 2025 with patients and people who were displaced from El Fasher and nearby Zamzam camp, the report exposes systematic patterns of violence that include looting, mass killings, sexual violence, abductions, starvation and attacks against markets, health facilities and other civilian infrastructures.  

    “As patients and communities tell their stories to our teams and asked us to speak out, while their suffering is hardly on the international agenda, we felt compelled to document these patterns of relentless violence that have been crushing countless lives in general indifference and inaction over the past year,” says Mathilde Simon, MSF’s humanitarian affairs advisor.

    Besieged, Attacked, Starved also details how the Rapid Support Forces and their allies conducted a large-scale ground offensive in April on Zamzam displacement camp, outside of El Fasher, causing an estimated 400,000 people to flee in less than three weeks in appalling conditions. A large portion of the camp population fled to El Fasher, where they remained trapped, out of reach of humanitarian aid and exposed to attacks and further mass violence. Tens of thousands more escaped to Tawila, about 60 kilometers away, and to camps across the Chadian border, where hundreds of survivors of violence received care from MSF teams.

    “In light of the ethnically motivated mass atrocities committed on the Masalit in West Darfur back in June 2023, and of the massacres perpetrated in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, we fear such a scenario will be repeated in El Fasher. This onslaught of violence must stop,” says Simon.

    Several witnesses report that RSF soldiers spoke of plans to ‘clean El Fasher’ of its non-Arab community. Since May 2024, the RSF and their allies have besieged El Fasher, Zamzam camp and other surrounding localities, cutting communities from food, water, and medical care. This has contributed to the spread of famine and debilitated the humanitarian response.

    Repeated attacks on healthcare facilities forced MSF to end our medical activities in El Fasher in August 2024 and in Zamzam camp in February 2025. In May 2024 alone, health facilities supported by MSF in El Fasher endured at least seven incidents of shelling, bombing or shooting by all warring parties. Indiscriminate airstrikes conducted by the SAF had devastating consequences, as a 50-year-old woman highlights: “The SAF bombed our neighborhood by mistake, then came to apologise. SAF planes sometimes bombed civilian areas without any RSF [presence], I saw it in different places”.

    The harrowing level of violence on the roads out of El Fasher and Zamzam means that many people are trapped or take life-threatening risk when fleeing. Men and boys are at high risk of killing and abduction, while women and girls are subjected to widespread sexual violence. Most witnesses also report increased risks for Zaghawa communities. “Nobody could get out [of El Fasher] if they said they were Zaghawa,” says a displaced woman. Another man tells us that RSF and its allies were “asking people if they belonged to the Zaghawa, and if they did, they would kill them.”

    “They would only let mothers with small children under the age of five through,” recalls a woman about her journey fleeing to eastern Chad. “Other children and adult men didn’t go through. Men over fifteen can hardly cross the border [into Chad]. They take them, they push them aside and then we only hear a noise, gunshots, indicating that they are dead, that they have been killed […] Fifty families came along with me. Not even one boy of 15 years old or above was among us.”  

    The catastrophic nutritional situation continued deteriorating as the siege tightened: “[Three months ago] in Zamzam, we sometimes had 3 days a week without eating,” one man tells our teams. “Children died from malnutrition. We were eating ambaz [residue of peanuts ground for oil], like everyone, although usually it’s used for animals,” says displaced woman. “Zamzam was completely blocked,” another displaced person tells us. “Water wells depend on fuel and there was no access to fuel, so all of them stopped working. Water was very limited and very expensive.”

    MSF urges the warring parties to spare civilians and respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law. The RSF and their allies must immediately stop ethnic violence perpetrated against non-Arab communities, lift the siege of El Fasher and guarantee safe routes for civilians fleeing violence. Safe unrestricted access to El Fasher and its surroundings must be granted for humanitarian agencies to provide critically needed assistance.  International actors, including UN institutions and member states, and States who provide support to the warring parties must urgently mobilise and exert pressure to prevent further mass violence and allow emergency aid delivery. The recent unilateral announcements of a possible local ceasefire have not yet been translated into concrete change on the ground, and time is running out.

    MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation. MSF has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, offering general healthcare, trauma care, burn wound care, maternity care, and care for survivors of sexual violence. MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. In 2022, more than 120 project staff from Australia and New Zealand worked with MSF on assignment overseas. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au  

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Serious crash – road blocked near Roxburgh

    Source: New Zealand Police

    State Highway 8 between Roxburgh and Millers Flat is blocked following a serious crash.

    The two-vehicle crash happened shortly before 11:15am.

    Indications are that there are serious injuries, and a helicopter is responding.

    The Serious Crash Unit has been advised.

    Diversions are in place at Roxburgh and Millers Flat.

    ENDS

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Enquiries ongoing into Hamilton aggravated robbery

    Source: New Zealand Police

    Hamilton Police are following solid lines of enquiry in their investigation of a recent violent aggravated robbery.

    About 1:40pm on Saturday 28 June, two men armed with a firearm entered a bar on Liverpool Street.

    The offenders presented the firearm at the sole worker in the bar and demanded cash before leaving the scene in a stolen vehicle.

    The offenders dumped the stolen car on Islington Street and fled in a waiting Toyota Surf, which was later dumped in Te Awamutu.

    Both vehicles used in the robbery have been recovered by Police and are undergoing forensic testing.

    Hamilton CIB Detective Sergeant Johnny O’Byrne says, thankfully, the victim of this incident was unharmed.

    “However, they are understandably shaken and are receiving support.

    “A dedicated team of detectives are currently following very strong lines of enquiry to locate the offenders and hold them to account,” he says.

    “There is no place in our community for this type of violence against innocent people just going about their work, the use of firearms is of particular concern.”

    ‘Waikato Police would like to reassure the community that we will continue to work hard to hold these offenders to account, and we are asking members of the public with any information regarding this offending or the locations of the offenders to reach out to us,’ Detective Sergeant O’Byrne says.

    Anyone with information can contact Police via 105 quoting file number 250628/3013 or anonymously provide information via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS

    Issued by the Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scottish recipients of The Elizabeth Emblem

    Source: Scottish Government

    First Minister marks lives given in public service.

    First Minister John Swinney has paid tribute to the eight Scottish recipients of The Elizabeth Emblem.

    The emblem is awarded posthumously to family members of those who died in public service. It is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, which recognises members of the UK Armed Forces who died in action or a terrorist attack.

    The First Minister said:

    “I warmly welcome the awarding of The Elizabeth Emblem to these individuals and their families.

    “This recognition enables us to remember their sacrifice and their lives dedicated to public service. They made Scotland a better place for us all and we continue to honour their memory.”

    The family of Dunblane Primary School teacher Gwen Mayor including her husband Rodney Mayor said:

    “As a family we are extremely proud and honoured to be receiving this award on behalf of Gwen. We always believed her actions that day deserved more recognition.

    “You would have to have known Gwen to know that she would have done whatever trying to protect the children in her care. She paid the ultimate price for that commitment. Finally we now feel that she has been honoured for what happened that day.”

    The full list of Scottish recipients of The Elizabeth Emblem are:

    • Joseph Stewart Drake, a Constable with Stirling and Clackmannan Constabulary. He died on 11 August 1967 when a stolen lorry intentionally struck his car at Dennyloanhead as he tried to intercept it. 
    • Gwen Mayor, Primary 1 teacher at Dunblane Primary School died on 13 March 1996 alongside 15 of her pupils when a gunman entered the school.
    • Rodney (Rod) Moore, a retired NHS paramedic from Falkirk with 40 years’ service, rejoined the Scottish Ambulance Service to support its Covid-19 response and died on 21 November 2020 having contracted coronavirus.
    • Roderick Nicolson, a Scottish Fire & Rescue Service firefighter died at Perth Harbour on 4 December 1995. He was attempting to rescue workers who became trapped in a silo filled with five tonnes of sodium carbonate ash.
    • Richard Paul North, a Constable with Tayside Police died on 17 March 1987. He was on duty driving a marked police patrol car when it collided with another vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was under the influence of drink and drugs.
    • William Oliver of the Glasgow Salvage Corps died at the Cheapside Street whisky bond fire on 28 March 1960. He was instantly killed alongside 18 others when some casks ruptured causing a massive boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion.
    • Ewan Williamson, a Scottish Fire & Rescue Service firefighter with Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service. He became trapped in a fire at the Balmoral Bar public house in Edinburgh and died on 12 July 2009.
    • Alastair Soutar, of HM Customs and Excise died of his injuries on 29 July 1996 after he was crushed between ‘The Sentinel’ HM Customs and Excise vessel and the ‘Ocean Jubilee’ smugglers vessel. Mr Soutar, from Dundee, was participating in Operation Balvenie to apprehend drug smugglers.

    Background

    The Elizabeth Emblem is a national form of recognition conferred by His Majesty The King and was established last year.
    The design of the Emblem incorporates a rosemary wreath, a traditional symbol of remembrance, which surrounds the Tudor Crown. It is inscribed with ‘For A Life Given In Service’, and will have the name of the person for whom it is in memoriam inscribed on the reverse of the Emblem. It will include a pin to allow the award to be worn on clothing by the next of kin of the deceased.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Summer blitz on town centre crime

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Summer blitz on town centre crime

    Over 500 town centres have signed up to the Home Secretary’s Safer Streets summer blitz that will see increased police patrols and local action .

    Thousands of shoppers and businesses will see increased police presence, stronger prevention and enforcement action by police and councils to support safer high streets this summer.   

    Over recent years street crime has sky-rocketed, with theft from the person more than doubling between December 2022 and December 2024, and there has been record levels of shop theft, up by more than 60% – with offenders increasingly using violence and abuse against shopworkers.

    This marks a key step in delivering the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which from July will see named, contactable officers in every community, increased peak time patrols in town centres and anti-social behaviour leads in every force.  

    Commissioned by the Home Secretary, Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales have developed bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on crime this summer.  

    The aim is to support town centres to be vibrant places where people want to live, work and spend time, and restore faith in community policing after years of declining police officer presence on Britain’s streets.  

    These plans include increased visible town centre policing and ramping up the use of targeted enforcement powers against troublemakers – including banning perpetrators from hotspots.  

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:  

    High streets and town centres are the very heart of our communities. Residents and businesses have the right to feel safe in their towns. But the last government left a surge in shop theft, street crime and anti-social behaviour which has left too many town centres feeling abandoned. 

    It’s time to turn this round, that’s why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished. 

    The fact that 500 towns have signed up shows the strength of feeling on this issue. 

    Through our Safer Streets Mission and Plan for Change, we are putting officers back on the beat where you can see them and making our town centres safe again.

    The summer initiative will also support young people, making sure there are activities across the 500 towns for young people to be involved in throughout the holidays. 

    The Home Office, alongside police, retailers and industry are also launching a new Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy, which will use shared data to assist in disrupting not just organised criminal gangs, but all types of perpetrators including prolific offenders who are stealing to fund an addiction and ‘opportunist’ offenders. 

    Creating thriving town centres where businesses and communities can flourish supports the government’s growth mission, raising living standards, backing local economies and supporting communities. 

    Initiatives taking place this summer include:  

    • in Humberside, police are using real-time mapping to deliver dynamic patrols to target emerging problem locations while reassuring local communities
    • in Devon and Cornwall, police are embedding specialist anti-social behaviour lawyers to fast-track enforcement activity
    • in Derbyshire, police have developed a Night Time Economy Charter to help deliver consistent proactive policing and coordinated management across the four largest local town centres
    • in Wales, Dyfed-Powys Police are targeting seasonal, tourist towns through early police visibility, deterrence and community reassurance
    • in Nottinghamshire, police have introduced a new diversionary intervention programme for Out of Court Resolutions with conditions attached for problem offenders

    Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 

    We are on the side of local businesses, and our Plan for Change is helping create the right conditions for our great British high streets to thrive.  

    The Safer Streets Summer Initiative will play a vital role in achieving this by keeping footfall high, communities and those that work in them safe, and the economy growing. 

    Shop theft and the abuse of shopworkers has become an endemic problem for Britain’s high streets with many shopworkers victimised in the same communities where they live.

    The government is set to introduce a new law to protect shop workers from this vile abuse. 

    Record levels of shop theft have been driven not just by organised crime gangs but drug addiction for some prolific offenders and opportunism for others. 

    The new Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy will bring together multiple sources of data from industry and policing to create a single avenue for intelligence to help better target and respond to perpetrators. 

    Police and retailers will also team up with security firms and local communities to locate the highest harm areas and identify the role offender management programmes can play in breaking the cycle of crime for repeat offenders.   

    Anthony Hemmerdinger, Managing Director, Boots said:  

    Retail theft alongside intimidation and abuse of our team members is unacceptable, so we welcome this additional support from government and the police to strengthen shopworker protection.  

    While we continue to invest significantly in schemes to deter and disrupt crime, including our state-of-the-art CCTV monitoring centre and bodycams for our team members in stores, it is only through collaboration with government, police forces, and local communities, that we can ensure high streets feel like welcoming and safe spaces for people to work, shop and visit, all the time.

    Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Emily Spurrell said: 

    Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Deputy Mayors know how much people want to rid their neighbourhoods of criminal and anti-social behaviour (ASB) that blights too many communities. Tackling retail crime and ASB is essential to allowing our town centres to flourish. People have a right to feel safe and shop workers shouldn’t have to defend their stores against regular and organised theft, putting themselves at risk of violence.  

    As the public’s voice in policing, we have long understood that neighbourhood policing is key to addressing these issues which is why we welcomed the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. It will see thousands more officers on our streets and introduce specialist training for them to operate effectively within local communities, building trust.  

    With our local police forces and other partners in support of the Safer Streets Summer initiative, PCCs and Deputy Mayors will be working harder than ever to target criminal and anti-social behaviour so that people feel safe and have pride in where they live and work. We are determined to deliver real and demonstrable change so that communities and town centres can thrive and prosper.

    The initiative launches today at an event hosted by the Home Office and the English Football League at Derby County Football Club, attended by partner representatives from police, businesses, local councils and local government.  

    It will see increased collaborative community-led interventions across sectors such as schemes to keep kids out of trouble during the summer holidays and targeted prevention activity with businesses, to not only tackle crime, but prevent crime and anti-social behaviour happening in the first place. 

    English Football League’s Director of Community Debbie Cook said:  

    Today at Derby County Football Club, EFL in the Community was proud to stand alongside the Home Office as the government reaffirmed its commitment to working hand-in-hand with trusted local organisations — like our clubs — to prioritise public safety and tackle town centre crime, street violence, and anti-social behaviour. 

    Beyond the pitch, football clubs and their charities across England and Wales play a transformative role in people’s lives. Through innovative initiatives — like Bristol City Foundation’s free ‘turn-up and play’ sessions in supermarket car parks and South Yorkshire clubs uniting to combat violence against women and girls — our clubs are contributing to creating safer, stronger, and more connected communities. We look forward to this work continuing and growing.

    Harvinder Saimbhi, CEO of ASB Help, said:  

    We welcome the Safer Streets Summer Initiative as we know that ASB can increase during these months with lighter nights and improved weather. One of the most effective ways to address shop theft, street theft and anti-social behaviour is through effective partnerships that work proactively in addressing and tackling issues at the forefront.  

    This proactive initiative will contribute towards communities and businesses in feeling safer by seeing boosted police presence and council operations working together to make town centres safer. We are pleased to see that this initiative will not be only enforcement driven but will focus on creating more positive activities for young people and keeping vulnerable groups safer where everyone can feel secure.

    Hetal Patel, National President of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) said:  

    This crackdown on shop theft, street theft and anti-social behaviour is timely and welcome. Shop theft is often seen as a victimless crime but this is not the case. It takes a heavy toll mentally, physically and financially on shop owners, their families and their employees. At the same time, the financial costs of retail crime will eventually impact on customers through inflated prices. 

    ASB, meanwhile, can cost independent retailers dear in terms of cleaning and clearing up, as well as increasing premiums, deterring footfall and shoppers. 

    A recent Fed survey found that 72% of respondents had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to their property and they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.  A whopping 91% of respondents called for more police patrols on streets. 

    Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

    Richard Walker, Executive Chairman of Iceland Foods said:  

    Our colleagues and customers are our number one priority at Iceland, and I hope this increase in visible policing will give them more confidence to enjoy our high streets and communities in safety this summer.

    Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, said: 

    With the huge rise in retail theft and the continued impact of violence and abuse on retail colleagues, we welcome the announcement of increased police patrols and local action to tackle town centre crime and anti-social behaviour. We must stamp out this scourge of crime up and down the country, and this announcement is certainly a step in the right direction.

    Superintendent Lisa Maslen of the National Business Crime Centre said:  

    Retail crime continues to have a significant impact on businesses, staff, and communities across the country. The Tackling Retail Crime Together strategy and campaign is about strengthening the vital partnerships between policing and the retail sector to deliver meaningful action. The NBCC received £2 million of funding from the Home Office to support police and partners in tackling retail crime and we have used some of the funding to develop the first national campaign to highlight the amount of work being done to respond to, prevent and detect retail crime offences across the country.

    There will also be increased collaborative community led interventions across sectors such as schemes to keep kids out of trouble during the summer holidays and targeted prevention activity with businesses, to not only tackle crime but prevent crime and anti-social behaviour happening in the first place.

    Jason Towse, Managing Director, Business Services, Mitie said: 

    We all deserve to live and work in a safe environment and the Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy has been developed to fuse industry knowledge and data with policing powers.   

    With momentum building as towns across the country rally behind this initiative, the intelligence shared will inform a collaborative approach across regions and enable the right interventions to be deployed to break the cycle of offending.  

    Together, our actions will deter potential offenders, ensure criminals face consequences and ultimately create safer, thriving communities.

    The APCC joint leads for Business and Retail Crime, Katie Bourne OBE, Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, and Andy Dunbobbin, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, said: 

    This strategy is an acknowledgement of the urgent need to focus on tackling unacceptable levels of shop theft and violence against retail workers.  

    We are delighted that the success of the Police and Crime Commissioner-led Pegasus partnership of retailers, Home Office and police has been recognised and is being built upon.  

    Through the work of Pegasus and policing’s Opal team, a hugely effective, data-led and intelligence-sharing approach has been developed that focuses on organised retail crime gangs with greater police and retailer working at its heart.

    Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for retail crime, said:  

    We know retail crime has a significant impact on victims, damages businesses and communities and goes far beyond financial loss. We also know it is a complex problem with a diverse offender profile and is something which requires a strong partnership approach, tackling the issues together. 

    Over the last two years we have made significant strides in our fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing which has resulted in a number of high harm offenders being brought to justice and the new Retail Crime Strategy builds on this even further. It brings together policing, retailers, the security industry and academia in a shared strategy which makes best use of our collective resources to turn the tide on the volume of offending blighting our communities. 

    A collective approach is key, ensuring everyone can enjoy where they live, work and spend their leisure time safely. 

    Clare Sumner, Chief Policy and Social Impact Officer at the Premier League said: 

    The Premier League welcomes the government’s proposals to create opportunities for young people as part of its Safer Streets Summer Initiative. For the last 20 years, our Premier League Kicks programme has provided support for young people who need it the most, funding free weekly football sessions across 93 Premier League, EFL and National League clubs.  

    Through the power of football, we offer real opportunities for young people to develop vital life skills and reach their potential, supported by club coaches from similar backgrounds who help to inspire, guide and mentor them to a better future.

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks

    Source: US Whitehouse

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

    Section 1.  Policy.  From the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon to the tranquility of the Great Smoky Mountains, America’s national parks have provided generations of American families with unforgettable memories.  It is the policy of my Administration to preserve these opportunities for American families in future generations by increasing entry fees for foreign tourists, improving affordability for United States residents, and expanding opportunities to enjoy America’s splendid national treasures.

    Sec. 2.  Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks.  (a)  The Secretary of the Interior shall develop a strategy to increase revenue and improve the recreational experience at national parks by appropriately increasing entrance fees and recreation pass fees for nonresidents in areas of the National Park System that charge entrance fees or recreation pass fees as defined in 16 U.S.C. 6801.  Additionally, to the extent consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of the Interior, working with the Secretary of Agriculture as appropriate, shall take steps to increase the prices at which the America the Beautiful Pass — the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass — and any site-specific agency or regional multi-entity passes are sold to nonresidents.

    (b)  The Secretary of the Interior shall use any increased fee revenue generated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to improve the infrastructure of, or otherwise enhance enjoyment of or access to, America’s Federal recreational areas, consistent with 16 U.S.C. 6807.

    (c)  The Secretary of the Interior, working with the Secretary of Agriculture as appropriate, shall take steps to improve services and affordability for United States residents visiting national parks, as consistent with applicable law.

    (d)  The Secretary of the Interior, working with the Secretary of State, shall work to encourage international tourism to America’s national parks and outdoor recreation areas, and especially wider utilization of America’s many such areas that may be underutilized.

    (e)  The Secretary of the Interior shall review the maintenance backlog within the National Park Service and take all appropriate action to fully implement the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund established in the Great American Outdoors Act (Public Law 116-152), invest in the infrastructure of national parks, and increase visitor capacity to allow more Americans to visit national parks.

    (f)  The Secretary of the Interior shall review all of the Department of the Interior‘s rules and policies related to public use of national parks and take actions consistent with applicable law to ensure that the National Park Service manages national parks consistent with the policy of this order.  The Secretary of the Interior shall review all of the Department’s recreational access rules and take steps to rescind any that unnecessarily restrict recreation in national parks.  In conducting this review, the Secretary of the Interior shall especially scrutinize all recreational access rules or other restrictions promulgated or enacted during the prior administration.  The Secretary of the Interior shall take appropriate actions to grant American residents preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules, consistent with applicable law.

    Sec. 3.  Revocation.  The Presidential Memorandum of January 12, 2017 (Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Our National Parks, National Forests, and Other Public Lands and Waters), is hereby revoked.

    Sec. 4.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:  

    (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or 

    (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.  

    (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.  

    (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.  

    (d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of the Interior.

                                 DONALD J. TRUMP

    THE WHITE HOUSE,

        July 3, 2025.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Establishing the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission

    Source: US Whitehouse

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

     Section 1.  Purpose.  The United States is blessed with vast beautiful landscapes, abundant natural resources, and a rich heritage of discovery by travelers and outdoorsmen.  America’s national parks, forests, waterways, and public lands have inspired generations and kindled our Nation’s spirit of exploration.  To ensure that the next generation of Americans inherits this same sense of duty and adventure, my Administration will prioritize conserving our great American national parks and outdoor recreation areas.

    Years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach, and neglect of routine maintenance require action.  Land-use restrictions have stripped hunters, fishers, hikers, and outdoorsmen of access to public lands that belong to them.  These bureaucratic restrictions have undermined outdoor traditions and threatened conservation funding.  The National Park Service and the United States Forest Service face more than $23 billion and $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance, respectively, leaving roads, trails, and historic landmarks in disrepair.  Despite these challenges, our Nation has proven that conservation and economic growth go hand in hand.  Since the signing of the Great American Outdoors Act (Public Law 116-152), the outdoor recreation economy has grown to $1.2 trillion in economic output, and, in 2023, comprised 3.1 percent of employees in the United States and supported 5 million jobs.

    Through both innovation and commonsense policies, America can preserve its natural beauty and expand outdoor recreation opportunities for future generations.  It is the policy of my Administration to prioritize responsible conservation, restore our lands and waters, and protect our Nation’s outdoor heritage for the enjoyment of the American people.

    Sec. 2.  General Policies. All Federal land management agencies, as defined by 16 U.S.C. 6801(3), shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that their policies:

    (a)  promote responsible stewardship of natural resources while driving economic growth;

    (b)  expand access to public lands and waters for recreation, hunting, and fishing;

    (c)  encourage responsible, voluntary conservation efforts;

    (d)  cut bureaucratic delays that hinder effective environmental management; and

    (e)  recover America’s fish and wildlife populations through proactive, voluntary, on-the-ground collaborative conservation efforts.

    Sec. 3.  Establishment and Composition of the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission. (a)  There is hereby established the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission (Commission), which shall be chaired by the Secretary of the Interior (Chair), with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy serving as Executive Director (Executive Director).

    (b)  In addition to the Chair and the Executive Director, the Commission shall include the following officials or their designees:

    (i)     the Secretary of Defense;

    (ii)    the Secretary of Agriculture;

    (iii)   the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

    (iv)    the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

    (v)     the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers;

    (vi)    the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff;

    (vii)   the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;

    (viii)  the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality; and

    (ix)    other members of my Administration invited to participate, at the discretion of the Chair and the Executive Director.

    Sec. 4.  Conserving Our National Treasures. The Commission shall advise and assist the President regarding how best to responsibly conserve America’s national treasures and natural resources, including by:

    (a)  monitoring the implementation of this order and facilitating interagency coordination on conservation efforts;

    (b)  providing to the President actionable recommendations for improving conservation efforts;

    (c)  developing policies to recover fish and wildlife populations through collaboration rather than regulation, including policies involving coordination with State wildlife agencies;

    (d)  recommending to the President solutions to expand access to clean drinking water and restore aquatic ecosystems to improve water quality and availability; and

    (e)  developing policies to expand access to public lands, national parks, national forests, and wildlife refuges while promoting a wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities like hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, skiing, climbing, boating, off-roading, and wildlife viewing.

    Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

    (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

    (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

    (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

    (d)  The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of the Interior.

                                   DONALD J. TRUMP

    THE WHITE HOUSE,

        July 3, 2025.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Charges – Sexual assault – Berrimah

    Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

    Yesterday, Northern Territory Police arrested a man in relation to a sexual assault that occurred in Berrimah on Friday 27 June 2025.

    It is alleged the 60-year-old man sexually assaulted a woman who is known to him at an address in Berrimah.

    He has since been arrested and charged with sexual intercourse without consent and will face Darwin Local Court 4 July 2025.

    Police from the Sex Crimes Section are continuing to investigate the incident.

    Detectives urge anyone who has information about the assault to contact police on 131 444 and quote reference NTP2500065760.

    Anonymous reports can also be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppers.com.au/.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: 241 county lines shut down following national action

    Source: United Kingdom National Police Chiefs Council

    Criminal gangs who exploit children and vulnerable adults to supply drugs across the country were targeted last week in a national police operation, which led to 241 County Lines shut down.

    County Lines is a term used to describe gangs and organised criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas within the UK, using dedicated mobile phone lines to enable the supply of drugs.

    The intensification week saw:

    • 1965 arrests made (adults is 91.7% and children 8.3%)
    • Approx. 2.4 million cash seized
    • 325 bladed weapons seized (inc knives, machetes, axes & swords)
    • 93 other weapons seized (inc knuckledusters, ASPS, batons, hammers, nun chucks)
    • 83 Firearms seized (15 S.1, 29 S.5 and 39 imitation plus ammunition)
    • 241 deal lines seized
    • Approx. 178.49 kg of Class A drugs (16.1kg crack, 11kg heroin, 151.3kg cocaine)
    • Approx. 7,217 Class A wraps seized ready for sale
    • Approx. 11,200 thousand cannabis plants
    • 6 Dangerous Dogs seized
    • 584 cuckooed addresses visited
    • 395 females safeguarded (214 adults, 181 under 18)
    • 784 males safeguarded (345 adults, 439 under 18)

    Often, children and vulnerable adults are groomed to transport drugs and money to different parts of the country. Last week local officers worked with charities and safeguarding services to ensure 620 children and 559 adults identified as being exploited were supported via numerous routes including, specialist support referrals (such as to Catch22 or London’s Violence and Exploitation Service), strategy meetings, safety plans created and Modern Slavery investigations.

    The Police are bringing victimless prosecutions for modern slavery offences against perpetrators, just one of the many ways officers are protecting young people. Victimless prosecutions ensure children and vulnerable adults are spared the ordeal of having to go through the court process to give evidence and face the violent and abusive individual responsible for their suffering.

    Commander Paul Brogden, NPCC lead for County Lines, said: “Protecting communities is our top priority and the arrests of these organised criminals who control and hold drug lines will contribute hugely to this.

    “Over the past week we have seen an overwhelming amount of drugs seized and arrests made and this will have had a substantial impact on drug supply and associated crime, particularly violence, that comes with it.

    “The intensification work isn’t just about arrests and seizures, it’s also about crime prevention, identifying the people being exploited for other’s gain and making sure they receive the best support possible.

    “To be clear, we remain persistent in pursuing these offenders and our officers work tirelessly all year round to identify and close down these drug lines. We will continue to root out those who are exploiting the vulnerable and supplying drugs which devastates communities across the country.”

    Highlights

    Officers across the country concentrated efforts to crack down on County Lines.

    • In a joint operation between BTP and Northamptonshire Police, officers arrested four suspects linked to a county line at their home addresses. As a result, five mobile phones, approximately 7g of crack cocaine and 10g of heroin as well as 43 wraps of crack cocaine and 43 wraps of heroin, 99.5g of mixing agent, and a total of £33,000 cash seized. Both the drugs and cash were found concealed in the extractor fans in the kitchen of their respective addresses and in a hide in one of the vehicles. They were arrested for the supply of crack cocaine, heroin, and money laundering.
      A child found at one of the addresses has also been referred to social services.
    • Eastern Region Special Operations Unit arrested a man for the supply of class A and B drugs and seized a phone which contained marketing texts consistent with cocaine supply.
    • Officers from East Midlands Special Operations Unit conducted a search at an address in Derby where £3,400 in cash, approximately £2,130 worth of class A drugs, 213 wraps (23 heroin and 190 crack cocaine) 4g of cannabis, and two burner phones, were found and seized. A man was subsequently arrested for supply of class A, possession of class B drugs and driving a motor vehicle without a license. He was remanded to court where he pleaded guilty to all offences and has been remanded into custody.
    • BTP officers observed a suspect exiting a B&B and entering a vehicle known for drug dealing. The vehicle was stopped, and both the suspect and the driver were arrested. Over 18 grams of heroin and six wraps of cocaine and £1,000 cash, as well as an axe and two imitation guns, were seized.
    • West Mercia Police executed a warrant in stoke where three men and two women were arrested following a seizure of 8kg cannabis, 2kg amphetamine, 1.2kg cocaine, 5kg cannabis resin, £50,000 cash and a knuckleduster. Children found at the address were also safeguarded.
    • Dedicated County Lines investigators within Lincolnshire Constabulary, completed enforcement activity on the ‘Yum Yum’ drugs line, identified via intelligence and phone data. Following the arrest and closure of this County Line, a child victim of exploitation was identified. A subsequent Modern Slavery investigation was commenced, and an adult male was charged with the trafficking of a 15year old child.

    Analysis by the NPCC-led National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) has shown that many of the drug dealers are known to police for offences of violence and/or weapons whilst Dame Carol Blacks independent review of drugs found that County Lines is a very violent business model and a big causal factor in drug-related violence across the UK.   

    Coordinated by the NCLCC, the County Lines Intensification Week (Monday 23 – Sunday, 29 June) saw approximately 178.49 kg of Class A drugs, 500 weapons including 325 bladed weapons (e.g. knives), and £2.4 million in cash seized by officers across England and Wales, making a huge dent in the profit these gangs are making from their violent illegal business.

    This activity forms a key part of our national County Lines policing strategy, which aims to prevent County Lines, protect children and vulnerable adults, prepare communities to mitigate against the harms and impact, and pursue offenders including for Drugs Supply, Modern Slavery and Weapons offences: National County Lines Policing Strategy 2024-27.

    Our dedicated County Lines teams, funded via the national County Lines Programme, are working hard to deliver this strategy, alongside Neighbourhood Policing Teams, limiting the terrible harms County Lines causes to local communities. This is aligned to HM Government’s Safer Streets mission, particularly halving knife crime and preventing criminal gangs enticing children into crime. During the week officers seized hundreds of weapons, particularly knives, demonstrating the inherent link between drugs and violence.

    Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson said: “County Lines drug running relies on the coercion and exploitation of children and vulnerable people. It must be stopped. 

    “I want to thank every police officer who dedicates themselves to combatting this criminality. I recently saw firsthand how hard they work to close lines, bring perpetrators to justice and safeguard those exploited by this evil trade.

    “Protecting vulnerable people should always be at the heart of the police’s response and is why the government has introduced new laws which will punish the heartless gangs who lure people into their illegal trade further- including specific offences of child criminal exploitation, cuckooing and coerced internal concealment.”

    Tackling County Lines requires a multi-agency approach and our dedicated policing teams work alongside key partners to deliver that response. This County Lines intensification week ran in partnership with The Children’s Society and their #LookCloser campaign to spot the signs of exploitation in children and young people.

    James Simmonds-Read, National Programme Manager at The Children’s Society, said: “Too many children continue to be exploited by criminals to carry and sell drugs, often under threat, at great personal risk and with devastating consequences for their lives. 

    “We speak to young people all the time who tell us that adults won’t take action to keep them safe; instead they feel judged and blamed – their vulnerabilities overlooked or ignored. 

    “County Lines Intensification Week is a chance to show them that adults do care and will step in to protect them. 

    “The government’s pledge to define criminal child exploitation is a vital step that will mean that children caught up in county lines are recognised as victims, not offenders, and can be given the support they deserve.” 

    Safecall
    Missing People’s Safecall service provided a confidential and anonymous helpline and support service for young people and family members in England and Wales that are affected by County Lines and criminal exploitation. The service also provides confidential support and advice for professionals in relation to their work with an exploited young person or family. Call or text 116000 for free, 9am to 11pm, 7 days a week.

    Catch22
    Victims of County Lines exploitation also received support from Catch22, a not-for-profit, one-to-one specialist support service for young people under 25, helping children escape drug gangs in four priority locations – London, West Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, where young people are often targeted.  

    Catch22 will safely make contact with young people who have been referred by safeguarding partners, such as the police and children’s services, and work with them to exit their involvement in County Lines activity.

    Anyone can refer in, including young people themselves. You can find the Support and Rescue service referral forms on the service website for more information. For more information and useful resources about Child Exploitation and County Lines, you can visit our website. For example, you can download Catch On, our free educational resource about Child Exploitation aimed at pupils in Years 7 and 8 (aged 11-13). 

    Kate Wareham, Strategic Director – Young People Families and Communities, Catch22 says: “As policing efforts rightly intensify to disrupt criminal networks, we must be equally focused on ensuring that exploited children are not swept up as offenders.

    “These children are victims first and foremost, who are coerced and controlled – and they need safeguarding, not prosecution. The government’s recent commitment to a statutory definition of Child Criminal Exploitation is a crucial step, but now we must ensure that this translates into practice. At Catch22, across our County Lines and Child Exploitation services, we remain committed to working with partners across the system to protect every child from harm and help them build a safer future.”

    Action for Children
    Action for Children offers support to children and their families who are affected by criminal exploitation.

    Through their Criminal Exploitation Intervention Service, they support children, young people, and families affected by exploitation. By drawing on lived experience and working in close partnership with the police and other agencies, they help protect children from harm and guide them toward safety and stability.

    Action for Children also advocate for stronger legal protections for children who are criminally exploited—recognising the complex reality that these children are often both victims of abuse and may be criminalised for actions linked to their exploitation.  It is vital that we confront the risks these children face, and ensure they are supported, not punished. Read more: Criminally Exploited Children | Action For Children

    Together we can build stronger communities, safer streets and more trust, you should report any concerns to the police on 101. If on a train text British Transport Police on 61016. Dial 999 if there is an immediate risk to a child. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously online or call their helpline on 0800 555111. If concerns arise online people should also contact the relevant digital platform.

    Background info:

    County Lines – Strategic Threat Risk Assessment

    Review of drugs: summary (accessible version) – GOV.UK

    County Lines Programme data – GOV.UK

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Elizabeth Emblem awarded to families of public servants who died in the line of duty

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Elizabeth Emblem awarded to families of public servants who died in the line of duty

    More than 100 public servants who died in service recognised in the second ever Elizabeth Emblem List

    106 police officers, firefighters, overseas workers and other public servants who died in service have been recognised with the Elizabeth Emblem.

    The Elizabeth Emblem recognises the sacrifices made by public servants who have lost their lives as a result of their duty. It is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross, which recognises members of the UK Armed Forces who died in action or as a result of a terrorist attack. 

    Established last year, it is only the second ever list of Elizabeth Emblem recipients to be published. The next of kin are awarded the national form of recognition.

    Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, said: 

    We owe an enduring debt to the public servants who give their lives to protect others.

    The Elizabeth Emblem is a reminder not just of the ultimate price their loved ones have paid in service of our communities, it is a lasting symbol of our national gratitude for their incredible sacrifice.

    The list includes:

    Gwen Mayor, a school teacher who was killed in 1996 while protecting her pupils at Dunblane Primary School in 1996 as a result of a mass shooting. She died aged 45 alongside 15 pupils.

    Police Constable Nina Mackay, who died aged 25 when confronted with a violent and mentally unstable man while searching a property in East London. The man stabbed her once in the abdomen, and she died from her injuries.

    Firefighter John Liptrot, who in 1968 was part of a fire crew called to attempt to rescue three children who had entered a disused mineshaft. He was overcome by blackdamp (a combination of gases with insufficient oxygen to support human life) and could not be revived.

    Police Constable Dennis Cowell, who died in 1965 whilst on duty as a River Policeman. He died in the river Thames after a police launch on which he was a crew member, capsized after a collision between three boats. PC Cowell was in the cabin at the time of the incident and drowned.

    Six people who contracted COVID-19 while working in healthcare are recognised in the list. These include Dr Poornima Nair Balupuri, a General Practitioner Partner living in Bishop Auckland. She died in 2020 doing frontline essential work. 

    33 people on the list were police officers and firefighters based in Northern Ireland. They include:

    Reserve Constable William Allen, who was serving in the Royal Ulster Constabulary when he was shot by the IRA while driving a lorry to collect milk from farms in South Armagh. His body was recovered in 1980.

    Constable Cyril Wilson, who was shot by the IRA in an ambush in 1974. His patrol was responding to answer a call when it came under fire from a house in the Rathmore estate. Constable Wilson was rushed to Craigavon Area Hospital but died the next day.

    Reserve Constable Robert Struthers, who died in 1978 while serving in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He was shot by two members of the Provisional IRA while working in his office.

    The design of the Emblem incorporates a rosemary wreath, a traditional symbol of remembrance, which surrounds the Tudor Crown. It is inscribed with ‘For A Life Given In Service’, and will have the name of the person for whom it is in memoriam inscribed on the reverse of the Emblem. It will include a pin to allow the award to be worn on clothing by the next of kin of the deceased.

    Families and next of kin of those who have died in public service are encouraged to apply for an Elizabeth Emblem via gov.uk.

    Updates to this page

    Published 4 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Met Police shut down over 100 county lines in major crackdown on organised crime gangs

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    The Met has shut down over 100 drug lines as part of its efforts to reduce the number of vulnerable people exposed to criminality and abuse and tackle wider associated violence.

    In just one week (between Monday, 23 June and Sunday, 29 June) Met officers arrested 301 people believed to be behind county lines drug networks, with 111 individuals subsequently charged, so far.

    As well as this, 260 vulnerable or young people were engaged with and safeguarded to prevent their involvement in future organised crime, with officers making crucial interventions to keep them safe.

    ‘County lines’ is the name given to drug dealing where organised criminal groups (OCGs) and criminal gangs use phone lines to move and supply drugs, historically from cities into smaller towns and rural areas.

    While county lines is a very violent business model, the most insidious element is its exploitation of vulnerable people, including children and those with mental health or addiction issues, by recruiting them to distribute the drugs, or using their homes as a base for drug dealing in a practice known as ‘cuckooing’.

    Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, from the Metropolitan Police Service and National County Lines Coordination Centre, said:

    “The Commissioner recently spoke about the indisputable link between county lines and violence. Disrupting county lines is not only vital in keeping society’s most vulnerable safe, but also as a key part of our mission in tackling violence.

    “The criminals behind these networks are dangerous individuals, capable of manipulating and exploiting anyone to achieve their aims.

    “Dedicated Met officers continue to work closely with other police forces around the UK to ensure dangerous offenders are stopped.”

    Met officers also seized substantial evidential items from suspects during the same week, including:

    • 12 firearms
    • 78 dangerous weapons (including samurai swords and Zombie knives)
    • nearly 70kg of class A drugs (such as crack cocaine and heroin),
    • over £600,000 of cash

    On Thursday, 26 June a county line between London and Hampshire was also halted by police. They arrested four male suspects at addresses in London and Portsmouth.

    At one address in the Isle of Dogs, London, a suspect was arrested and found in possession of several class A and class B drugs, cash amounting to over £5,000 and several high-value items including sports cars and designer watches.

    Two others were arrested at addresses in Portsmouth and one was detained at London Gatwick Airport.

    There have since been charges relating to these arrests.

    For more information on county lines and how to prevent yourself or a loved one from becoming a victim, visit:  www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/cl/county-lines

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. Senators Duckworth, Markey, Booker Condemn Republican Cuts to Environmental Justice Grants, Slam GOP Weakening of Key Environmental Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    July 02, 2025

    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ)—co-chairs of the Environmental Justice Caucus—today issued the following statement after Senate Republicans rammed through Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which would rescind funds already appropriated by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act for environmental and climate justice block grants and undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The co-chairs filed two amendments that would have saved these funds and removed “pay-for-play” permits. Republicans blocked both amendments.

    “Senate Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is a direct attack on communities that have long been last in line for federal investments and is a part of a broader campaign to shield polluters from accountability,” said the co-chairs. “Cutting funds for projects that would deliver clean air, safe water, healthy land, and basic human dignity for all—along with efforts to defund air pollution monitoring and rubberstamp polluting infrastructure—will further harm communities already suffering devastating health consequences from living next door to our nation’s most polluting industries. As the House considers this Big Ugly Bill, we urge our colleagues to reject GOP efforts to claw back these funds and permit projects that jeopardize the health of millions of Americans. All Americans deserve a government that enacts—not eliminates—policies that protect public health, lower costs, and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.”

    The co-chairs were joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) in cosponsoring the environmental justice grants amendment.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Park and . . . no ride for teen thief

    Source: New Zealand Police

    A teenager who allegedly attempted to steal a car from the Sunnyvale park-n-ride had the brakes put on his plans after Police showed up.

    Waitematā West Area Prevention Manager, Inspector Kelly Farrant, says officers were out patrolling yesterday morning at local park-n-rides due to recent reports of vehicle and number plate thefts.

    While in the area, a report of a person breaking into a vehicle came through.

    “Officers responded immediately, blocking in the vehicle in question and taking the young person into custody.”

    Inspector Farrant says a 13-year-old male was arrested and has been referred to Youth Aid Services.

    “It was fantastic work by our local staff, patrolling recent hot spots and acting quickly to hold those responsible to account.

    “Thanks also to the public and our partners for calling 111 when they saw suspicious activity. 

    “Police take all crime seriously and work hard to be in the right place at the right time to prevent crime and harm.” 

    ENDS.

    Holly McKay/NZ Police

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief in Support of Challenge to Trump Administration’s Attempt to Remove PREA Protections

    Source: US State of California Department of Justice

    Thursday, July 3, 2025

    Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

    OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, as part of a multistate coalition of 13 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in Jane Doe, et al. v. Pamela Bondi, et al., in support of a challenge to the Trump Administration’s executive order targeting protections under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and access to healthcare for transgender individuals in federal prisons. In their brief, the attorneys general urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to affirm the district court’s decision granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.  

    “The Trump Administration’s attempt to strip away protections under PREA not only undermines the progress we’ve made to safeguard the rights and wellbeing of individuals in our correctional facilities but also increases the risk of harm for vulnerable individuals,” said Attorney General Bonta. “These protections are crucial to preventing sexual assault and ensuring that we foster safer environments for incarcerated individuals and our staff in these correctional facilities.”

    In 2003, Congress enacted PREA to ensure that all incarcerated individuals, including those who are transgender, are better protected in correctional facilities. Protections implemented under PREA reduce the risk of sexual assault, promote the safety and security of prisons housing transgender incarcerated individuals, improve the safety of those transgender incarcerated individuals, and further the goal of effective prison administration. In January 2025, President Trump issued the Gender Ideology EO which (1) prohibits transgender individuals from being detained based on their gender identity in prisons or detention centers, (2) prohibits the Bureau of Prisons from recognizing transgender identity, and (3) ends federal fund use for gender affirming care in prisons.

    In the amicus brief, the coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to affirm the district court’s preliminary injunction arguing that:

    • PREA protections are essential to the safety and well-being of all incarcerated individuals and protect all incarcerated individuals, especially transgender individuals, from sexual assault.
    • The Bureau of Prisons blanket policy undermines public safety as it prevents discretion in housing determinations making it more difficult to effectuate PREA’s purpose of eliminating sexual assault in prisons.
    • Amici States’ experiences demonstrate that case-by-case housing assessments consistent with PREA are effective at ensuring the safety of all those who are incarcerated, including incarcerated individuals who are transgender. 

    In filing the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys generals of Massachusetts, Hawaii, New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

    A copy of the brief can be found here.

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –