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Category: United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Success for Sellafield Ltd project management apprentice

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Success for Sellafield Ltd project management apprentice

    Macy Rogerson has been recognised at the Association for Project Management (APM) Regional Network Awards.

    Sellafield Ltd project management apprentice, Macy Rogerson

    A Sellafield Ltd project management degree apprentice, Macy Rogerson, was the winner of the Association for Project Management (APM) Student of the Year award at the 2025 north-west APM Regional Network Awards.

    The APM Regional Network Awards, celebrates the achievements of project professionals and students within their local APM Regional Network community.

    Now in the final year of her project management degree apprenticeship, Macy was recognised by for her technical development in the profession whilst managing a complex nuclear decommissioning project.

    Her ability to support peers within the APM community and her passion for championing the project profession was also recognised by the judges.

    As the winner for the north-west region award, Macy has been shortlisted for the national Project Management Student of the Year. The winner of this award will be announced at the 2025 APM Education and Research Awards next month.

    Macy said:

    I’m delighted to have won this award amongst an impressive shortlist of fellow project professionals within the north-west.

    From developing innovative solutions to complex projects to improving my stakeholder engagement skills, my project management degree apprenticeship at Sellafield Ltd has provided me with many opportunities to develop both professionally and personally.

    It is great to see my hard work recognised by the APM in the final year of my apprenticeship. I hope to round off the four year programme with a win at the national finals next month!

    Sellafield Ltd also had finalists for 2 other awards on the night:

    • Benedict Hazzard, project management support, was shortlisted for the ‘APM Emerging Project Professional’ category after completing his Sellafield Ltd apprenticeship in September 2024.
    • Sellafield Ltd third-year project management apprentices, were nominated for the ‘APM Project Management Challenge’, recognising their fantastic work with a local charity, the North Lakes Foodbank.

    Andrew Vaughan, project management apprenticeship and graduate scheme manager, Sellafield Ltd said: 

    Congratulations to Macy on winning the APM Student of the Year award. This is a fantastic achievement, and I wish her the very best of luck at the national finals.

    All 3 of the Sellafield shortlisted entries are a testament to the project management profession and to Sellafield Ltd. I’m incredibly proud of their hard work, creativity and commitment,

    Having 3 finalists amongst a strong regional shortlist showcases the strength of our early careers offering in developing a pipeline of nuclear skills.

    The national Project Management Student of the Year will be announced at the APM Education and Research Awards on 11 June.

    Updates to this page

    Published 28 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Brent Council fails to meet RSH’s consumer standards

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Brent Council fails to meet RSH’s consumer standards

    The Regulator of Social Housing has published three regulatory judgements today.

    The London Borough of Brent has failed to meet the outcomes in the consumer standards and has been given a C3 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing, as part of three regulatory judgements published today. 

    LB Brent made a self-referral in April concerning the quality and accuracy of its fire safety data.  

    Following a spot check, the council found that although actions from fire risk assessments had been closed, evidence of completion was not available in all instances and that some actions had not been completed.  

    RSH’s engagement with LB Brent also found: 

    • Data for fire safety, smoke and carbon monoxide safety, asbestos management and water safety could not be reconciled. 

    • Concerns about the data validation process that took place prior to LB Brent implementing its new asset management system. 

    • Although LB Brent is reporting that it has 95% of its stock condition data, almost half of its homes have not had a recorded survey. 

    RSH will continue to engage with LB Brent as it seeks to address the issues identified, including evidencing that it is taking reasonable steps to mitigate risks to tenants as it creates and delivers its improvement plan.  

    Following an inspection, Metropolitan Housing Trust has been downgraded from G1 to G2. This means it meets RSH’s governance requirements overall but needs to improve some aspects of its arrangements to support continued compliance.  

    Improvements are needed in how the board assures itself around the delivery of outcomes of the Safety and Quality standard, and the quality of its stress testing and mitigation strategies. 

    Metropolitan Housing Trust also received C2/V2 gradings. 

    Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group was upgraded from C2 to C1, following responsive engagement.  

    Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, said:  

    Accurate, up-to-date data is fundamental to landlords delivering safe, decent homes for tenants. LB Brent has engaged positively with us since their self-referral and we will continue to work closely with them as they put things right for tenants. 

    Our scrutiny of housing associations’ governance and viability is vital to ensuring landlords are manging their risks effectively. Things can go wrong without robust board challenge and rigorous stress-testing. We will continue to regulate for a sector that is well run and viable, to enable more and better homes for tenants.

    Notes to Editors

    Provider Consumer grade Governance grade Viability grade Process
    London Borough of Brent C3 – – Responsive Engagement
    Metropolitan Housing Trust Limited C2 G2 (downgrade) V2 Inspection
    Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group Limited C1 G1 (from previous inspection Sept 2024) V2 (from previous inspection Sept 2024) Responsive Engagement

    1. RSH regulates housing associations and other private registered providers against its full set of standards. Councils are regulated against the consumer and rent standards only. 

    2. More information about RSH’s responsive engagement, programmed inspections and consumer gradings is also available on its website.   

    3. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver more and better social homes. It does this by setting standards and carrying out robust regulation focusing on driving improvement in social landlords, including local authorities, and ensuring that housing associations are well-governed, financially viable and offer value for money. It takes appropriate action if the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.  

    4. For general enquiries email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk. For media enquiries please see our Media Enquiries page.

    Updates to this page

    Published 28 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ABC Youth Voice brings young people’s priorities to Stormont

    Source: Northern Ireland City of Armagh

    Young leaders from ABC Youth Voice took centre stage at Stormont Parliament Buildings recently as part of a two-day engagement programme which focused on bringing youth perspectives on key issues affecting society today.

    The visit to Stormont was a highlight of the initiative’s residential programme in Belfast, during which ABC Youth Voice members hosted a series of impactful panel discussions. The panels tackled pressing topics including Mental Health and Substance Misuse, Disability Awareness, and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls.

    The discussions brought together a wide range of voices, featuring political representatives, statutory sector agencies, non-governmental organisations, and independent advocates — creating a powerful platform for dialogue between young people and decision-makers.

    ABC Youth Voice empowers young people to represent their peers across the borough and speak up on the issues that matter most to them. It provides a platform for advocacy, leadership development, and meaningful engagement with local governance.

    Members meet regularly to identify and address shared concerns facing young people in the region and offers participants opportunities for training, residential experiences, and community-building.

    ABC Youth Voice is a joint initiative between Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and the Education Authority, part-supported through The Executive Office’s District Councils Good Relations Programme.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Man charged with possessing child exploitation material

    Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

    Man charged with possessing child exploitation material

    Wednesday, 28 May 2025 – 4:50 pm.

    A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged with possession of child exploitation material following the search of property at Kingston today.
    The arrest is the result of a Tasmania Police investigation that was launched after the recent detection of child exploitation material being downloaded.
    The Tasmanian Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET),comprising the High-Risk Child Exploitation Unit and the Australian Federal Police, conducted a search in Kingston today, (May 28) supported by the Community Protection Offender Reporting (CPOR) Team.
    During the search, police located and examined numerous digital devices, leading to charges being laid against a 31-year-old man. He has been bailed to appear in court at a later date.
    Online child abuse is a serious crime type. Tasmania Police, with the support of its partners, is committed to stopping these crimes and keeping children safe.
    If you have seen inappropriate behaviour online that you suspect is child abuse, call police on 131 444, but if the child is in immediate danger, call triple zero (000).
    You can also report concerns online to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) https://www.accce.gov.au/report

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: 2025 Bendigo Writers Festival celebrates Gastronomy and the art of storytelling this August

    Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

    The City of Greater Bendigo is thrilled to unveil the program for the 2025 Bendigo Writers Festival, returning from Friday August 15 to Sunday August 17, with over 60 events and more than 80 writers and speakers.

    This year’s festival celebrates the fusion of gastronomy and storytelling with an exciting lineup of food-themed sessions and culinary stars. Among the highlights is Benjamin Cooper, Executive Chef of the iconic Southeast Asian restaurant Chin Chin, hosting a restaurant take-over at Ms Batterhams, Mackenzie Quarters. Guests will savour Chin Chin’s signature dishes and enjoy an intimate Q&A inspired by the restaurant’s latest cookbook, Still Hungry.

    The City of Greater Bendigo is proud to continue its partnership with La Trobe University, with acclaimed historian and Professor of Public Engagement Clare Wright returning to the curatorial team. The festival also welcomes new collaborations and programming streams for festival fans to enjoy.

    Bendigo Venues & Events Manager Julie Amos said the festival offers something for everyone.

    “Over one action-packed weekend in August, the festival brings together diverse voices through discussions that spark ideas, conversation, and inspiration,” Ms Amos said.

    “With a strong focus on literacy, lifelong learning, and cultural diversity, the Bendigo Writers Festival is a must-attend event for book lovers and curious minds from Bendigo, Victoria, and beyond.”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Versus Arthritis invests in ‘team science’ to meet pressing challenges faced by people with arthriti Charity Versus Arthritis has awarded £3m to bring together world-leading experts from five UK universities – including the University of Aberdeen – to accelerate clinical epidemiology research, which will help answer pressing questions from those living with arthritis.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    University of Aberdeen awarded a share of £3m from Versus Arthritis

    Charity Versus Arthritis has awarded £3m to bring together world-leading experts from five UK universities – including the University of Aberdeen – to accelerate clinical epidemiology research, which will help answer pressing questions from those living with arthritis.
    The new research consortium is part of the charity’s drive to harness ‘team science’ to better understand the causes and risk factors for arthritis and improve treatment options.
    Epidemiology – the study of how diseases occur in different people and why – is critical to designing better and targeted interventions using data. The consortium, made up of experts from the Universities of Manchester, Keele, Oxford, Nottingham and Aberdeen, aims to close five gaps in our understanding of the debilitating disease and related conditions. They will consider menopause in relation to musculoskeletal health, inequalities in access to care, risks of long-term pain medications and determine the optimum levels of monitoring for those receiving immune drugs. The researchers will also aim to identify those at higher risk of chronic pain sooner, given painful musculoskeletal conditions often begin in childhood. This holds the potential to explore ways to prevent or reduce persistent pain.
    Lucy Donaldson, Director of Research at Versus Arthritis,said there are many remaining unmet needs around arthritis, compounded by significant gaps in understanding:
    “The Versus Arthritis Research Consortium: Musculoskeletal Epidemiology – Better lives, Safer journey is a major step forward in tackling the everyday realities faced by people living with arthritis and other painful musculoskeletal conditions.
    “Our research consortia will bring together leading researchers, clinicians, and people with lived experience from across the UK in a team science approach. Their aim – to find real, practical solutions to the problems faced by people with arthritis.
    “We are absolutely delighted to have research leaders from the University of Aberdeen as part of this consortium. Their work within our Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work reflects their expertise in robust epidemiological research. Their expertise covers condition-specific and symptom-based approaches, as well as rare diseases and their associated care pathways. The Aberdeen team has an outstanding track record in high-quality patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE), and we’re excited to see this strength embedded across the consortium’s activities.”
    The consortium will employ cutting edge analysis techniques on existing datasets to fill the identified gaps in our knowledge of arthritis and MSK conditions. Its findings will help to arm those living with arthritis to have informed conversations with clinicians about their care. It will also seek to improve clinical practice and policy around diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
    Professor Kimme Hyrich, Director of the University of Manchester Centre for Musculoskeletal Research will co-lead the consortium with Professor Christian Mallen, Executive Dean and Professor of General Practice and Public Health.
    Professor Hyrich, a leading clinical epidemiologist and consultant rheumatologist, highlights the advantages of team science in epidemiological research:
    “This award represents an exciting step-change in the way musculoskeletal epidemiology research is conducted in the UK, breaking down traditional research siloes and uniting minds, data and expertise to generate the evidence needed to support people living with arthritis and other painful musculoskeletal conditions.”

    Our work will focus on identifying these inequities, listening closely to the experiences of those from underrepresented groups – including children, young people, and people living in disadvantaged areas – and co-developing solutions that can make a real difference.” Dr Rosemary Hollick

    “It is a real privilege to be able to lead this multidisciplinary team. Placing people with lived experience at the core of our consortium and working closely with implementation scientists from the outset will ensure that our outputs are robust and meaningful and delivered to the right audience in the most appropriate way.”
    Professor Mallen, a leading researcher and GP, said the inclusion of primary care spoke volumes of the role GPs play in achieving better outcomes for those living with musculoskeletal conditions:
    “The new Versus Arthritis Research Consortium is an exciting new programme that will have a major impact on the lives of people living with painful conditions by uniting world-leading clinicians, academics, patients and policy makers.
    “It is a privilege to co-lead the consortium with Prof Hyrich and having strong representation from Keele University highlights the importance of primary care in improving outcomes for people living with arthritis and chronic musculoskeletal pain.”
    Dr Rosemary Hollick, Director of the Aberdeen Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health and consultant rheumatologist said:
    “I’m delighted to lead the health inequalities workstream within this ambitious new consortium. People living with arthritis often face unfair and avoidable barriers to accessing care and support.
    “Our work will focus on identifying these inequities, listening closely to the experiences of those from underrepresented groups – including children, young people, and people living in disadvantaged areas – and co-developing solutions that can make a real difference.
    “By applying a health equity lens across the consortium’s work, we aim to ensure that improvements in care reach everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live.”
    The results will be shared through a broad range of partners including government, the NHS, clinicians and patient networks.  
    More than 20 million people, of all ages, in the UK have problems with their joints, bones and muscles, which cause pain and impact all aspects of life including work and school. 
    The Versus Arthritis Research Consortium: Musculoskeletal Epidemiology – Better lives, Safer journey is the first of six consortia to be announced by Versus Arthritis which is awarding £18 million of funding to this initiative over the next three years.

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    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Raining one week, dusty the next – how did a dust storm make it all the way to rainy Sydney?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tegan Clark, PhD Candidate, College of Systems and Society, Australian National University

    A false-colour satellite showing dust as a pink cloud Himawari-9 satellite, CC BY-SA

    Much to the surprise of Sydney-siders, a dusty haze settled over the city on Tuesday morning after a week of heavy rain.

    Satellite images reveal the dust storm formed in the Mid-North region of South Australia, east of Spencer Gulf, at around 11am on Monday. It then travelled through western Victoria into New South Wales, reaching Sydney approximately 18 hours later.

    It’s an odd time of year for a dust storm, but South Australia is in drought. The soil is very dry, bare and loose. So when a cold front with strong winds moved through SA earlier this week, it picked up lots of dust.

    This demonstrates how everything is interconnected in Australia, despite the nation’s huge size. Extreme weather events such as drought in one part of the country can cause trouble for people “downwind”, hundreds of kilometres away. Climate change is likely to further raise the risk of dust storms in the future.

    Sydney’s air quality tumbled after the dust cloud settled on the city | 7NEWS.

    The dust bowl era

    In the 1930s, prolonged drought in the United States coupled with poor land management practices caused devastating dust storms. This eroded valuable agricultural soils and forced many families off the land. All this took place across the Central Plains, which became known as the American Dust Bowl – later immortalised in Steinbeck’s book The Grapes of Wrath.

    Australia experienced its own smaller dust bowl about a century after British settlers arrived. Overgrazing in the late 1800s removed native vegetation from large parts of western New South Wales. Dust storm activity picked up dramatically from the late 1800s onwards and hit a maximum in 1944-45 during the World War II drought.

    Fortunately, the dust storms and drought experienced during the 1940s soon prompted a change in both policy and attitude. The focus of land management shifted from “taming the land” to more sustainable use, such as moving livestock around from time to time – allowing paddocks to rest and recover. The government also provided more financial support to manage drought.

    Growing awareness and the desire to protect environmental assets also led to development of the NSW Soil Conservation Service.

    Australia has continued to experience heightened dust activity and major dust storms after 1945. In 2009, Sydney awoke to what looked like apocalyptic scenes straight out of the movie Mad Max when a dust storm engulfed the city.

    The last big dusty period was the Black Summer of 2019-20. Parts of NSW such as Wagga Wagga and Sydney were shrouded in smoke and dust for days. But there were significantly fewer “dust storm days” compared to 1944-45. This is partly due to improved land management practices that value sustainability, including the revegetation of denuded land.

    The movie Mad Max featured apocalyptic dust storm scenes.

    More dust storms as the climate changes

    Around the world, climate change is expected to make dust storms more common globally.

    Recent research suggests southern Australia may experience longer and more frequent droughts in the future. Grazing and cropping will put extra pressure on the land.

    In addition, the cold fronts that typically trigger large dust storms are expected to intensify with climate change. This means a growing chance of major dust storms such as the one this week.

    Dust is a health hazard

    Dust consists of tiny particles, some smaller than the width of a single strand of hair. These particles may include sand, topsoil, pollen, microbes, iron and other minerals, lifted into the air.

    When these tiny particles enter the lungs, they can cause breathing difficulties and respiratory diseases such as asthma. Dust storms are also known to transport diseases such as Valley Fever.

    The 2009 dust storm in Sydney led to an increase in emergency hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses, especially asthma.

    During the latest dust storm, health authorities warned people with respiratory issues to stay indoors and monitor symptoms.

    Developing early warning systems

    The 2019-20 dusty period and the current SA drought shows Australia can still fall victim to these major dust storms. But there are things we can do to be better prepared and more resilient.

    The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification suggests better ways to reduce harm from dust. These include improving land management practices, implementing early warning systems and improving monitoring of dust events.

    On the ground, NSW is well equipped to monitor dust through the DustWatch network. The air quality monitoring network acts as an early warning system, particularly for people in Sydney living downwind of sources interstate. But usually no more than 12-24 hours notice is provided. This means the authorities might might start to prepare to issue a warning when they detect poor air quality in Western NSW.

    However, these systems pale in comparison to the predictive capacity available in South Korea and Japan. There, alerts of dust storms and poor air quality can be issued days in advance.

    Using our eyes in the sky

    My PhD research project involves using satellites to deepen our understanding of where dust storms are coming from and where they might travel to.

    For instance the Himawari-8/9 satellite scans Australia every ten minutes, allowing us to track the evolution of dust events from start to finish.

    We can pinpoint almost the exact moment a dust storm begins. These areas can then be targeted using satellites to understand the conditions of the land causing dust storms to form and monitor high-risk areas for erosion in the future.

    Putting technology to good use will get us part of the way to a more resilient Australia. There is also a clear need to adapt to the changing climate in our nation’s grazing and cropping systems.

    Tegan Clark receives support from the Australian Government Research Training Program to undertake her PhD. She also works for Connected Farms, an ag-tech company. She is a volunteer with IncludeHer, a non-for-profit focused on gender equity in STEM education.

    – ref. Raining one week, dusty the next – how did a dust storm make it all the way to rainy Sydney? – https://theconversation.com/raining-one-week-dusty-the-next-how-did-a-dust-storm-make-it-all-the-way-to-rainy-sydney-251600

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Interview – ABC Adelaide

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    JULES SCHILLER: Well as you know, the Albanese government was overwhelmingly re-elected and Jason Clare has resumed his ministry. He is the Federal Education Minister. He joins us now. Jason Clare, welcome.

    JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: G’day, guys. Good to be here.

    SCHILLER: Congratulations on your re-election and becoming Federal Education Minister again. Of course, one of the big ticket promises of your Government was to reduce the debts of HECS students by 20 per cent. When will they see that extra money in their pockets?

    CLARE: This year there’s two things that we’ve got to do: one, we’ve got to pass a law through the Parliament to make this happen. And then the second thing is the Tax Office have to lop this off everyone’s debt. You’re right – one of the biggest promises we made in the campaign was to cut everyone’s student debt by 20 per cent, and that’s 3 million Aussies that might have a debt from uni or TAFE or somewhere else. And it will be the first bill that we introduce into the Parliament when Parliament sits for the first time in the last week of July.

    What that legislation will do is cut everyone’s debt by 20 per cent and backdate that cut to this coming Saturday. And that’s important because every 1st of June in every year HECS debts or student debts get indexed. That 20 per cent cut will come into effect before that indexation effectively happens this Saturday, to make sure that we honour the promise we made, and we cut everyone’s debt by 20 per cent. Legislation, once that’s passed, getting the Tax Office to cut everyone’s debt by 20 per cent.

    RORY McLAREN: What is the cost to the budget of this decision, Minister?

    CLARE: The cost to the budget over the forward estimates, or the next four years, is about $700 million dollars. The cost over the longer term is around about $16 billion. We’re reducing the debt that’s owed by Australians to the Commonwealth over the next few decades by about $16 billion dollars. Now, what it means –

    McLAREN: That’s not small. That’s not a small change to the federal budget at all.

    CLARE: No, it’s not small. It’s not small. But when you think about the 3 million Australians – many of them in their 20s and 30s, they’ve just finished uni, they’re just moving out of home, they’ve got their first job, they want to buy a home, and they’ve got this big HECS debt that they’ve got to pay off. I think everyone listening will know somebody in this situation and perhaps will know that HECS debts are bigger today than they were when I went to uni, when many of us went to university – that by cutting this debt by 20 per cent, it’s going to help a lot of people get a good start in life, make it easier to get out there and buy their first home. The average debt today is about $27,000 and so what this will mean for someone in that situation is that their debt will be cut by about $5,500.

    SONYA FELDHOFF: And while I’m sure they will be thrilled about that, they will then get it indexed again. And a lot of people question how fair the indexation side of things is. Is there any option to look at that?

    CLARE: We’ve done that. One of the things that we did last year, because of rampant inflation, when inflation was raging around the world. It hit Australia and it hit HECS debts here in Australia. We saw HECS debts go up by 7 per cent in 2023. That wasn’t fair. Everybody with a HECS debt told us that, and so we passed legislation last year that said that HECS debts or student debts can’t go up by either the lowest of either inflation or wages.

    So that change happened last year, and it meant that in December last year, everyone with a HECS debt would have seen their debts drop. We cut HECS debts by about $3 billion dollars last year because of that. So that’s an important change. Indexation is important because it means that when the Australian taxpayer lends you a dollar, you get that dollar back in real terms. But we’ve changed the formula to make it fairer.

    SCHILLER: Jason Clare, can I ask you about the Job-ready Graduates Scheme? Now this was introduced by Dan Tehan, your predecessor, under the Morrison Government. It increased the contributions, HECS debts of arts students, society and culture degrees by around about 113 per cent. Considering a lot of these students are women who overwhelmingly voted for you in the federal election, it is seen as punitive because, you know, they’re earnings aren’t necessarily as much as STEM graduates. Will you reverse this decision?

    CLARE: It’s one of the things that we’re looking at right now. You’re right – it was introduced by the former Liberal Government and didn’t work. If the intention was to reduce the number of people doing arts degrees, then that hasn’t happened. There’re more people studying arts degrees today than when they implemented this reform. And that’s because people pick the courses that they love, that they’re passionate about, that they want to do, not based on the price tag attached to it.

    Fixing it is complex. What we have announced is that we’ll establish something called the Australian Tertiary Education Commission to help to drive long-term reform of our universities and our tertiary education system. It starts work on the 1st of July, so in just over a month’s time. And one of the tasks that we’ve asked them to look at is exactly this – to look at that Job-ready Graduates program and what change can happen.

    Can I mention just quickly two other things, because there’s been a lot of attention on the cut to HECS by 20 per cent, and that’s what that bill that I introduce will do. But the bill will do two other things as well: it will change the amount of money that you have to earn before you start paying your debt back. At the moment you have to start paying it back once you earn $54,000 a year. That will be increased to $67,000 a year. And it will also reduce your annual repayments. For somebody on an income of $70,000 a year it will reduce the amount that you have to repay back to the Government every year by about $1,300 a year. It means more money in your pocket. And they were recommendations by Bruce Chapman, the architect of HECS who designed it with John Dawkins back in the 80s.

    FELDHOFF: Just before we move on from the HECS debt, Federal Education Minister, I’ve got a question on the text line. I think you mentioned June 1st was the date that that would be backdated to?

    CLARE: Yep.

    FELDHOFF: So, I don’t think that applies to this person. What about those that just finished paying their HECS debt back? Do they get a refund? I guess hypothetically, what happens if you choose to pay the HECS debt, you know sometime after June 1st? Will they get the refund?

    CLARE: People that have got a HECS debt today and they have a HECS debt next week, they’ll see the benefit of this. Obviously if your HECS debt has already been paid off today then a 20 per cent cut to zero is still zero.

    FELDHOFF: But if you paid that off on June 2nd, for instance, you might get a refund?

    CLARE: I’ll have to have a look at that. But what we want to do is make sure that everybody that’s got a HECS debt, a student debt now, and there’s 3 million of them right across the country, get the benefit of this cut by 20 per cent.

    McLAREN: Minister, ahead of the federal election you managed to get a new funding agreement in place with states and territories for schools. It comes at a time when the latest NAPLAN results show one in three Australian school students is performing below literacy and numeracy benchmarks. How quickly can you turn that performance around in this term of government?

    CLARE: This agreement that we’ve struck not just with the South Australian Government but every Government across the country is crucial. It makes good on what Whitlam was talking about in the 50s about needs-based funding for schools and what Gonski built as a formula but has never been implemented before. It’s about funding our schools properly but also tying that funding to practical and real reforms that are going to address the sort of things you’re talking about.

    What NAPLAN really tells us is this – and it’s a test for students at school in year 3, year 5, year 7 and year 9 – and it tells us that about one in 10 children are below what we used to call the minimum standard, but it’s one in three children from poor families, from our outer suburbs, from our regions, Indigenous kids, who are below that minimum standard. And even more concerningly, what really concerns me, because there’s always going to be children who fall behind, what NAPLAN tells us is that 80 per cent of the children who are below the minimum standard in year 3 are still below the minimum standard when they’re 15 in year 9 – in other words, they’re not catching up.

    What this funding is tied to are things like phonics checks, literacy checks in year 1 that South Australia did first, and the rest of the nation has followed. But also, numeracy checks in year 1 to identify the maths skills of students when they first start school, and South Australia is going to roll that out next year along with Victoria and New South Wales. And then when you identify the children through those checks that are behind, investing in things like catch-up tutoring where, if a child needs more individualised support, they get it by being taken out of a classroom of 25 or 30 –

    McLAREN: But this is all going to take time, Minister, with respect. So how quickly are you hoping to see improvements in the results, as a result of the agreements you reached, including with Queensland back in March?

    CLARE: There’s two things I want to see improvements in. I want to see improvements in results through things like that catch-up tutoring. I want to stress this point, because it’s an example of the sort of practical reforms that I think are necessary. We know that if a child gets taken out of a big class into individualised support with one or two other children 40 minutes a day, four days a week, they can learn as much in six months as they’d normally learn in 12 months. In other words, they catch up, and the sooner a child who needs extra support gets it, the better chance they have of catching up occurs.

    But the other thing that we need to do is increase had number of kids finishing high school. 10 years ago, 83 per cent of young people at public high schools finished high school. Today it’s 73 per cent. It’s gone in the absolute wrong direction in public schools. We’ve got to turn that around. It’s more important to finish school today than it was when we were kids and then go on to TAFE or go on to uni, get the sort of skills for the jobs that are being created now and will be created in the future.

    If we get this right, if the funding is invested in the right things that help kids catch up, they’re more likely to finish school, particularly kids from poor backgrounds and from the outer suburbs. And so, this is all connected. It doesn’t mean that you can click your fingers, pass a bill and it all gets fixed straight away; that’s not the way this works. But you’ve got to invest now in the right things to see an impact in the years ahead.

    SCHILLER: You’re listening to Jason Clare, Federal Education Minister. It is 891 ABC Radio Adelaide’s Sonya, Jules and Rory for Breakfast at 13 minutes to 9. Jason Clare, can I ask you about civics in schools? I think we spoke to some people who literally voted – their basis of voting was who gave them a how-to-vote card first.

    FELDHOFF: Yeah.

    SCHILLER: Now, that’s not all –

    FELDHOFF: And we don’t learn civics in school to a great extent.

    SCHILLER: Yeah. That’s not all people, but the understanding of how local government, state government and federal government works you would have to say is not great at the moment. Do you think this is a discipline that needs to be more prominent in our education?

    CLARE: We do learn it at schools. One of the things that worries me is I often find that kids in primary school have got a better grasp on this than kids in high school. It’s a big part of the curriculum in year 5 and year 6, and when I visit primary schools and I ask children about the way the Parliament works, you get the right answers. If I go and see students in year 9 or year 10, they’ve sometimes forgotten it. It’s not just what you learn in the classroom, it’s the opportunity to visit Parliament House, whether it’s in Adelaide or whether it’s in Canberra as well. We’ve cut the cost of those visits to make it easier for people not just from Canberra to visit Parliament House but from South Australia as well. I think last year about 3,500 students visited Canberra, get to visit the War Memorial as well. People don’t just learn in the classroom. If you can see it with your own eyes, I think it has an impact. But all of the evidence we’re getting is that young people don’t understand the way that our system of Government works as well as you’d like them to. And it’s the sort of thing we need to look at.

    FELDHOFF: Yeah. So that will be a priority. Any others that you have over the next three years, given that it’s the first time we’ve spoken to you since you’re re-in the role?

    CLARE: A couple of things. Obviously top priority is doing what we promised, delivering on the things that we committed to. So that’s the legislation we’ve talked about this morning – cutting student debt by 20 per cent. In schools, it’s the rollout of this big agreement, the billion dollars in South Australia but $16.5 billion across the country and the reforms that are tied to it.

    I’m also responsible for early education as well. And so that includes the rollout of the 15 per cent pay rise for our early educators and building more early education centres in places where they don’t exist. We know that most of the brain develops before you even get to school and children who miss out start behind. And so those investments there are just as important.

    FELDHOFF: Thank you for your time today. The Federal Education Minister Jason Clare.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Serious crash at Gawler Belt

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Emergency services are at the scene of a serious crash at Gawler Belt.

    Just before 2.30pm on Wednesday 28 May, police were called to the intersection of Horrocks Highway and Thiele Highway at Gawler Belt after reports a car and a motorbike collided.

    There will be road closures in place, motorists are asked to please avoid the area.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maarten De Brauwer, Senior Research Scientist in Marine and Estuarine Ecology, Southern Cross University

    Maarten De Brauwer

    Rivers up and down the north coast of New South Wales have been hammered again, just three years after devastating floods hit the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.

    The events of 2022 sparked our latest research into the estuaries of NSW. These special places, where the rivers meet the sea, are teeming with life. Now – for the first time – we can reveal what lives where, in maps based on tell-tale traces of DNA.

    Together with Indigenous rangers from six language groups, we surveyed 34 estuaries to capture evidence of living species – everything from microbes to fish, plants and mammals.

    We were surprised to find platypus in places they had not been seen for years. We also identified elusive native species such antechinus and rakali, and 68 invasive or pest species including cane toads – spreading further south than previously thought.

    This catalogue of species in NSW estuaries can be used by authorities and scientists – but anyone, anywhere can explore the map online.

    Mapping life in NSW estuaries (Southern Cross University)

    Estuaries are vital, yet many questions remain

    First Nations Peoples have long recognised the vital importance of the areas where land meets sea. Estuaries are have provided food resources for thousand of years and are home to important historical and contemporary cultural sites.

    Today, 87% of Australians live within 50km of the sea. This makes estuaries one of the most intensively used areas of NSW. They provide critical habitats such as seagrass or mangroves, host high biodiversity, and have a high social value as places for recreational activities such as fishing.

    Yet research into the species that live in estuaries is mostly limited to large estuaries such as Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay or Port Stephens.

    NSW has excellent water quality monitoring programs, and vital habitats such as seagrass meadows have been the subject of long-term mapping programs. However, large gaps remain.

    Understanding how biodiversity in estuaries changes over time, especially in response to extreme events, can help governments design appropriate responses to maintain or restore ecosystem health. But with nearly 200 estuaries in NSW, studying changes in biodiversity is not a simple task.

    Find out what lives in your local estuary free, online.
    Wilderlab

    Our DNA detective work

    Measuring salinity or oxygen levels in water is relatively straightforward, using equipment on the shoreline or hanging off the side of a boat. Finding out what lives where is much more difficult. This where new genetic methods come in.

    Collecting environmental DNA samples at the Clarence River estuary.
    Southern Cross University

    Life forms leave tell-tale traces of DNA in the environment. Animals may shed hair, skin or scales, as well as poo. Plants produce pollen and leaves that end up in the water.

    We matched small snippets of DNA to find the species it belonged to – a bit like scanning a barcode in the supermarket.

    This technique allows us to analyse the full extent of biodiversity in estuaries. This includes not just fish, but also species at the base of the food chain such as microscopic algae – all from a few litres of water.

    Indigenous rangers live and work on Country and know it well. We formed alliances with six groups of Indigenous rangers through the state’s Cultural Restoration Program:

    • Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council (Walbunja)
    • Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • Jerinja Local Aboriginal Land Council
    • LaPeruse Local Aboriginal Land Council (Gamay)
    • Yaegl Wadyarr Gargle Land and Sea Contractors.

    Our research builds on the different strengths and interests of local groups. The rangers worked with us all the way through, from the design phase to selecting sampling sites of ecological or cultural significance, helping to conduct surveys and working with scientists to interpret the results.

    Trained in environmental DNA methods, rangers can monitor their Country independently in future.

    What did we find?

    We now have the largest publicly available biodiversity dataset for NSW estuaries. It covers everything from single-celled algae at the base of the food chain, to top predators such as great white sharks and white-bellied sea eagles.

    Anyone can explore the interactive map to find out what lives in the estuaries nearby or further afield.

    Rangers detected platypus in the lower reaches of Bega River, in places where they were thought to have disappeared. Totemic species such as dolphins were widespread across the state, including urban estuaries such as Botany Bay in Sydney, while mullet and bream were found shifting between the mouth and further upriver. Cane toads were found at Sandon River in the Northern Rivers region, and most recently in Coffs Harbour, much further south than expected.

    These results mean a lot to local Indigenous mobs. They can integrate contemporary scientific results into traditional ecological knowledge and use both approaches to better understand how estuaries respond to extreme weather events or activities such as habitat restoration.

    We also recently returned to sample sites following Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the extreme rainfall events in March. Being able to compare the data to a well-established baseline survey means we will be able to see which species were worst affected.

    Knowledge sharing for the future

    Two-way knowledge sharing between Indigenous knowledge holders and research scientists is improving our understanding of estuarine health.

    The results of this project will help Indigenous groups to care for their Country while also improving scientific knowledge to better respond to environmental impacts such as floods for decades to come.

    The project was a team effort. L to R: Kait Harris (NSW Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development), Maarten De Brauwer (Southern Cross University), Shaun Laurie (Yaegl Rangers), and Amos Ferguson (Yaegl Rangers).
    Southern Cross University

    The authors wish to acknowledge this program was delivered collaboration with and on behalf of the Departments of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Fisheries & Forestry, with funding provided by the Australian and NSW governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements as part of the NSW Estuary Asset Protection program (NEAP).

    Maarten De Brauwer received funding from the federal government’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (Riparian Stabilisation Package) as part of the NSW state government’s Estuary Asset Protection program. He is a board member of the Southern eDNA Society.

    Kaitlyn Harris works for NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

    Kelly Gittins works for the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

    – ref. From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries – https://theconversation.com/from-surprise-platypus-to-wandering-cane-toads-heres-what-we-found-hiding-in-nsw-estuaries-257123

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Boston arrests illegal Honduran national charged with child trafficking crimes in Rhode Island

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in partnership with The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives apprehended an illegally present Honduran alien charged with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor. Officials with ICE Boston, DEA New England and ATF Boston arrested Vivian Gisselle Soriano-Neto in Providence March 11.

    “Vivian Gisselle Soriano-Neto apparently trafficked a child for nefarious reasons,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “Children are among the most vulnerable members of society and anyone who would do them harm represents a significant threat to our community. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from New England.”

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested Soriano Oct. 25, 2017, after she illegally entered the United States at the Calexico, California, Port of Entry. CBP transferred custody of Soriano to ICE.

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued Soriano a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge Nov. 9, 2017.

    ICE released Soriano on parole Nov. 17, 2017.

    The Providence Police Department arrested Soriano Feb. 20 for two charges of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor.

    Soriano remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

    Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

    Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X at @EROBoston.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: GAR 2025 Solution explorations

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    The global cost of disasters is growing but, just as the costs of disasters have been under-estimated, so have the benefits of investing now to reduce disaster risk.

    Drawing on dozens of positive examples from around the globe, the below case studies are selected from the full GAR report and show how effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) investment can accelerate both sustainable development and economic stability at a time when catastrophic risk is increasing globally.

    The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

    Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.

    Final boundary between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has not yet been determined.

    A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

    GAR 2025 report

    As climate change continues to escalate, the number of recorded disasters and their associated costs rise correspondingly.

    Hazard explorations

    Disasters seldom come alone, which is another reason their costs are underestimated.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Highland Council’s Waste Services team supports food bank donation

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    Last week, representatives from The Highland Council’s Waste Services Team joined The Highland Food Bank Team in Inverness for the delivery of £500 worth of food and essential items which was kindly donated by Jett Distribution.

    Jett Distribution have been contracted by the Council to deliver wheeled bins as part of the Waste and Recycling Service Change programme and are wheeled bin distribution specialists within the UK and Germany.  Since April 2024, they have delivered approximately 115,000 new grey wheeled bins and 25,000 food waste caddies to households across the Highland region as part of the Waste Service Change roll out which has been funded by the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund.

    Councillor Graham MacKenzie, Chair of the Communities and Place Committee, said, “I would like to thank Jett Distribution for the generous donation of much needed food and essential items to the Highland Foodbank. This is a superb example of where a contract awarded by The Highland Council has not only been delivered on time and within budget but has also provided additional community benefit for the region.”

    Jamie Humphries, Director of Jett Distribution, said: “As we near the end of a very successful roll-out of new bins for The Highland Council, we are proud to have donated £500 of food and essentials to the Trussell Trust foodbank in Inverness, as a way to say thank you to the communities across Highland. The Trussell Trust is a charity which is close to our hearts, and this is our way of supporting foodbanks which help local people in times of need.”

    Neill Prentice, Fundraising Manager (North Scotland) for Blythswood who manage the Highland Foodbanks, said: “We are so grateful to Jett Distribution for their generous donation of £500 worth of food to local families facing hardship.  Last year, Highland Foodbank provided emergency food to over 5,000 people – and support like this is what makes this possible.  Your kindness helps us feed families in crisis and on their behalf, we say thank you.”

    The final phase of the roll out of the service change will see the new waste and recycling services being delivered in Lochaber from September 2025.

    For further information on the recycling services in your area, please visit www.highland.gov.uk/recycle

    Neill Prentice (Blythswood), Luke Matheson (Foodbank Co-ordinator), Alison Boyle (Highland Council), Ellie Humphries (Jett Distribution), Jill Biss (Jett Distribution), Imogen Percy-Bell (Highland Council)

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Smoothing out the bumps on the Caledonia Way

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    People walking, wheeling and cycling on the Inverness section of the Caledonia Way will now have a smoother and more enjoyable journey, thanks to works carried out by The Highland Council and active travel charity Sustrans.

    The Caledonia Way, also known as National Cycle Network (NCN) 78, runs south from Inverness city centre down the Great Glen to Fort William, Oban and on to Campbeltown, a total distance of 234 miles through some of Scotland’s most dramatic and beautiful scenery.

    Recent work has rerouted NCN78 between Holm Roundabout and the city centre to separate it from traffic, making the route more welcoming, safer and enjoyable for locals and visitors alike. The previous route ran between Dores Roundabout and Inverness Castle, with people cycling sharing the carriageway with vehicles. From Dores roundabout, the new route follows the shared use path alongside the Southern Distributor Road across the Ness, connects to Ness Hydro on a newly-surfaced and lit ramp, and links from there along the very popular new Riverside Way provision to St Andrew’s Cathedral.

    Carole Patrick, Sustrans’ UK NCN Director, said: “This rerouting gives two miles of traffic-free provision on NCN78 for people walking, wheeling and cycling. We know that being separate from traffic hugely increases usage of these key routes for everyday journeys, and for leisure and tourism. We are delighted to fund the improvements on the ramp, made possible by Transport Scotland, and fully expect that this new route will help people to choose active ways of getting around Inverness.”

    City Leader, Councillor Ian Brown said: “The route is very popular with walkers and cyclists who are now benefitting from improvements to the lighting and the surface. This kind of comfortable, safe, attractive infrastructure makes it easier for people to choose to leave their car at home for some trips, supports cycle tourism which is a growth area for Highland, and also makes life easier for the many people who do not drive, particularly young people, the least well off, and those with a disability.”

    The improvements were carried out on time and on budget by local contractors Pat Munro. The ramp and the Riverside Way works were funded by the Scottish Government via Sustrans through their Network Development / Places for Everyone programmes.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Badenoch and Strathspey Committee Members agree to withdraw from the change of use application of the Square in Grantown on Spey

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    At a Special Meeting of the Badenoch & Strathspey Area Committee this morning it was agreed to revert to an invitation-to-pay donation scheme for short-term pitch lets at the Grantown on Spey Market Square.

    A mandatory payment scheme for short-term pitch lets was proposed to grow the Common Good Fund, giving people in Grantown access to funding for the local community. However, in recognition of the weight of the community reaction, Committee has agreed that the Council will withdraw the application to change the use of the Square.

    Committee Members expressed a desire for a position of compromise on the matter of the Square between the community and the Highland Council and want to find ways to support the community’s ambitions for the Square, harnessing their energy and enthusiasm and help them deliver on their ambitions for the area.

    Convener of Highland Council, Councillor Bill Lobban, said “After much consideration, we have decided that it is in the best interests of the local community and the Grantown on Spey Common Good Fund to withdraw from the ongoing change of use application process and revert to the previous voluntary donation scheme.

    “The intention behind changing the use of the Market Square was to generate additional income for the Grantown on Spey Common Good Fund, in the same way that other areas such as Nairn and Dornoch benefit from their Common Good land. We consulted with community groups, publicised the consultation locally and held local events in Grantown. However, the response to the consultation was extremely low and subsequently it has become clear that there is significant opposition despite the fact that the only people to have benefitted would have been residents of Grantown on Spey. We will continue to listen to and engage with people in Grantown to understand their position.”

    Chair of Badenoch and Strathspey Committee, Councillor Russell Jones, said: “In light of the current position, we believe it is of benefit to everyone involved to draw a conclusion to this matter.  We do not want hardworking local people to feel they have to raise money to oppose a plan that was intended to generate funding for them. Collaboration with Grantown on Spey Community Council is crucial for community projects to progress and I look forward to working together and finding ways to support the community’s ambitions for the Square.”

    The voluntary donation scheme at the Square will take effect immediately.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICE Boston removes fugitive convicted of armed robbery in Brazil

    Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

    WOONSOCKET, R.I. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s removed a 29-year-old illegal Brazilian fugitive wanted by authorities to serve more than five years in prison for an armed robbery conviction in his native country. Officers with ICE Boston removed Juliano Araujo Dos Santos Silva from the United States to Brazil March 27 and turned him over to Brazilian authorities.

    “Rhode Island is not a safe haven for the world’s criminal element,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “Mr. Araujo was convicted of armed robbery in his native country and attempted to subvert justice by hiding out in New England. Now he is in the hands of Brazilian authorities. ICE Boston will not tolerate alien criminals threatening the law-abiding residents of our communities. We will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from our neighborhoods.”

    A Brazilian criminal court convicted Araujo of armed robbery with a firearm Oct. 2, 2017, and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison.

    U.S. Border Patrol arrested Araujo July 3, 2019, after he illegally entered the United States near near El Paso, Texas. USBP issued Araujo a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.

    On Sept. 12, 2024, Brazilian authorities issued a warrant for Araujo’s arrest or failure to serve a sentence after conviction.

    Officers with ICE Boston located and arrested Araujo in Woonsocket Jan. 13, 2025.

    On Feb. 18, a DOJ immigration judge ordered Araujo removed from the United States to Brazil. Officers with ICE Boston effectuated the removal March 27 and turned Araujo over to Brazilian authorities.

    Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

    Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X at @EROBoston.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Queen Street reopens following further Station Gateway works

    Source: City of York

    Published Tuesday, 27 May 2025

    Queen Street reopened to vehicles yesterday as work on the Station Gateway project continues.

    The road reopened ahead of schedule on late Monday evening. During the closure, intensive work took place to remove the existing temporary road surface and form the new permanent road, creating a new and improved highway for all users. The existing pedestrian crossing was also removed to allow works to continue next to the railway station, with a new temporary road crossing installed. This will maintain access to the new Bus Stops, which will be via the temporary raised walkway.

    Over the next few weeks a new bus layby area will be created next to the railway station as well as landscaping, improved paths and cycle paths.

    Councillor Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport at City of York Council, said: 

    We would once again like to thank everybody for their patience during the closure and while work is ongoing around the station. This is a hugely complex project, and I’d also like to extend thanks to all those involved in making this happen.

    “The progress made recently has been visibly transformative as we can now begin to see how the area will look once finished. I look forward to seeing further progress being made in the coming months as the area moves towards becoming a more accessible and welcoming space for all.”

    These works are part of the Station Gateway project which is being delivered in partnership by City of York Council, Network Rail, LNER and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority alongside contractor for the highways works for the project, John Sisk & Son and is part funded by the UK government.

    The ambitious project will completely transform the area to the front of York Station, providing an improved transport interchange, enhanced public spaces and an improved setting for the City Walls.

    For more information on the project visit: www.york.gov.uk/StationGateway.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Harvie questions Scottish Parliament controversial campus rules

    Source: Scottish Greens

    27 May 2025 Equality Trans Rights are Human Rights

    Our Parliament must ensure it always has clear and fully inclusive practices.

    More in Equality

    Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie MSP has asked an Urgent Question to the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) to hear their response to an open letter from MSPs and staff following the publication of new parliamentary campus rules that ban trans people from using gendered facilities.

    The Presiding Officer received the open letter signed by 17 MSPs and over 30 staff, with the support of the Good Law Project. It calls on the SPCB to overturn their recent controversial decision to ban trans people from using gendered toilets in the Scottish Parliament.

    In the chamber at Holyrood, Patrick Harvie MSP asked:

    “To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its response is to the open letter to the Presiding Officer, signed by cross-party MSPs and staff, regarding the interim position on the use of facilities in the Parliament building.”

    Mr Harvie stated that Lord Sumption, a former Supreme Court judge, says the ruling has been misunderstood and that nobody is obliged to exclude trans women from public spaces based on this ruling. 

    Mr Harvie also asked for more than warm words like ‘inclusivity’ for those who have been made to feel unwelcome in their workplace, and assurance that nobody would be required to show paperwork if they are suspected of being transgender to use facilities.

    Responding, SPCB member Christine Graham claimed that the Scottish Parliament wishes to remain an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who work and visit Holyrood. Ms Graham reiterated that the current response is based on interim guidance while they await further information from the EHRC. 

    Ms Graham also went on to say that use of the facilities will not be monitored by the Corporate Body, but that any complaints would be considered.

    Speaking afterward, Mr Harvie said: 

    “The situation now seems even more confused than before. If the intention is to maintain an inclusive and welcoming environment, I have to say that has not been achieved. If the SPCB is saying the new rule will never be enforced, then they must accept that it’s for every individual to choose the facilities that they consider appropriate for them.

    “I would urge the Parliamentary authorities to think again, and to return to clear and fully inclusive practices. But far more urgently, the UK Government must clarify the law to recognise the equality and human rights of trans and non-binary people, and face down the forces of prejudice which have been stirred up in recent years.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nature writing can feed the myth of the outside as a cure – but my own work has helped me reframe my illness

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Kenward, PhD Candidate, Centre for Place Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University

    The ‘test’ or skeleton of a heart sea urchin, found on a beach at Rye harbour, East Sussex. Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    Wild swimming and forest bathing have gained in popularity, all in a bid to improve our health. With “green prescriptions” now being issued by doctors instructing patients to spend time outdoors, ideas of “nature cure” – spending time in the natural world for healing purposes – may seem like a recent development.

    But ideas of a change of air and sea cures were popularised in the 19th century. Escalating rates of tuberculosis were exacerbated by poor sanitation and overcrowding. Patients were sent to the coast for convalescence in open-air wards – offering an antidote to these contributory factors, but not a cure for the disease itself.

    So, for centuries, the term “nature” has been associated with goodness, health and cure. My research uses creative writing to investigate the natural world through my experience of living with chronic illness, pain and fatigue. While this challenges the notion often found in nature and place writing that the natural world can somehow heal whatever you need it to, it has helped me think differently about the relationship between the outside and our health.

    For disabled people, ideas of nature and “natural” are complicated by ideas of eugenics, similarly fostered in the 19th and 20th centuries.

    Built on foundations that regarded disability as “unnatural”, eugenics is a proposed form of selective breeding that seeks to control inherited characteristics through forced sterilisation and euthanasia. These are ideas that allow and enable society to regard disabled people as “less than” and continue to bubble beneath the surface with the assisted dying debate.

    In medicine, disability is regarded as a medical problem. The social model of disability reframes this as a societal issue of barriers that limit disabled people’s access to society (for example, through travel or education). I live with chronic illness where both the medical and social models are relevant. So, for me, the parallels between nature and health are complex.

    Conventional nature writing and “place writing” – a form of creative writing that explores the landscape and our relationship within that environment – typically explore ideas from the biased perspective of physically fit, able-bodied, middle-class, heteronormative, cis white people unaware of their body, moving with ease through the landscape.

    My own PhD research into place writing embraces my own bias, seeking specifically to introduce illness and disability into conversations about our relationship with the more-than-human world – that’s everything in the natural world aside from people.

    I draw on my own personal experiences, using the creative practice of place writing as a research tool. I’ve spent time on the coast of the Romney Marshes, one of the most climate-threatened shorelines in the south of England. Here, beachcombing has become both research and ritual for me – a way to explore the entanglement of ecological fragility and chronic illness.

    Louise Kenward on the beach at Hastings, East Sussex.
    Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    On the shoreline, I’ve explored how the vulnerability of place mirrors that of my body. The objects I find on the foreshore prompt my creative writing and evidence what lies beneath the surface, out at sea.

    I draw on the work of other researchers who have learned from flotsam and jetsam. Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer modelled patterns of the ocean currents through beachcombing – plotting the arrival on land of a cargo spill of yellow rubber ducks.

    Writer and naturalist, Sally Huband follows the history of objects she finds on the shore of Shetland in her book Sea Bean. Huband uses examples to rewrite narratives of coastal folklore, dismantling misogynistic interpretations of, for example, the witch and the selkie (a mythological creature that transforms from sea creature to human).

    Poet, writer and professor of creative writing, Jean Sprackland writes of her time beachcombing in her book Strands. Following a year of walking the beach in the north-west of England, Sprackland highlights the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things – something I have become acutely aware of in developing chronic illness.

    The illusion of independence

    The illusion of independence is something you can maintain while healthy. Sickness shows us we are all interdependent and interconnected. And we have long been told that nature is something outside of ourselves, separate to us. This nature-culture divide is something that has been implicitly challenged in my own relationship with nature.

    Restoration of my sick body is as impossible as restoration of the land (and sea). I cannot, however hard I try, achieve a cure, through nature or otherwise, of my inherited connective tissue disorder. Indeed, some nature writers have argued that if I were to try, I might erase an important part of myself.

    British writer Harriet Martineau (1802-76) was one of the first people to write of her observations as a patient, and to value what is learned from these experiences. Noting the value of a view of green (or blue) spaces from her sick bed, Martineau also appreciated rest and recuperation.

    Research has since replicated Martineau’s findings, showing views of green spaces accelerate recovery from surgery and reduce the need for pain medication. But seeing green spaces is not a replacement for effective healthcare, disability access, or medical research – nor for time and space to rest and convalesce.

    Louise Kenward collects natural treasures while walking along the foreshore.
    Louise Kenward, CC BY-NC-ND

    Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health.

    This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.

    While a view of trees may soothe, they do not cure. Disability highlights that nature cure is a fallacy. Through my reconnection with nature, I’ve reframed my experience of illness. I live more easily to the changing seasons than with a clock or calendar now. Periods of rest for my body, as for the land, are similarly essential for good health.

    While creating the anthology, Moving Mountains: Writing Nature Through Illness and Disability, I learned that a greater regard for disabled people and the natural world are two sides of the same coin. Our sick and disabled bodies are just as worthy of care as our sick planet. The imperfect complicated places we live (and the people who live in them) are of value and worth looking after just the same.

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

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

    Louise Kenward received Arts Council England funding to run an arts project titled Moving Mountains including creating an anthology of the same name.

    – ref. Nature writing can feed the myth of the outside as a cure – but my own work has helped me reframe my illness – https://theconversation.com/nature-writing-can-feed-the-myth-of-the-outside-as-a-cure-but-my-own-work-has-helped-me-reframe-my-illness-255158

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Liverpool parade incident

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Liverpool parade incident

    How to apply for compensation for the incident on Water Street in Liverpool city centre on 26 May 2025.

    We offer our sympathy to all those who have been affected by this horrific incident.

    Victims injured in this incident can apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) for compensation.

    Compensation is payable to applicants who meet the eligibility criteria of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012.

    You do not need a paid representative, such as a solicitor or claims management company, to apply for compensation. Free independent advice may be available from the Victim and Witness Information website or other charitable organisations.

    If you have been directly affected by this incident you can find out more about the Scheme and apply online.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: IMF concludes annual Mission to assess UK economy – upgrading UK growth and endorsing fiscal strategy.

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    IMF concludes annual Mission to assess UK economy – upgrading UK growth and endorsing fiscal strategy.

    IMF upgraded the UK’s growth forecast for 2025 to 1.2%, saying that “an economic recovery is underway”. 

    Today the IMF released the concluding statement of their findings from the UK Article IV Mission – their annual review of the UK’s economic and fiscal outlook and policies.

    As part of this, the IMF upgraded the UK’s growth forecast for 2025 to 1.2%, saying that “an economic recovery is underway”. 

    Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:  

    The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 for the first three months of this year and today the IMF has upgraded our growth forecast. We’re getting results for working people through our Plan for Change – with three new trade deals protecting jobs, boosting investment and cutting prices, a pay rise for three million workers through the National Living Wage, and wages beating inflation by £1,000 since the election.

    The IMF endorsed the government’s fiscal strategy as striking ‘a good balance between supporting growth and safeguarding fiscal sustainability’; the strategy focuses on delivering stability through ironclad commitment to our robust fiscal rules and a single fiscal event a year, while increasing investment and pursuing ambitious structural reform to boost productivity and growth. Growth is the solution to the challenges we face, and this government is going further and faster to unlock growth that is sustainable in the long term. 

    The IMF also highlighted support for the government’s Growth Mission, and that it “focuses on the right areas to lift productivity”. Through the Growth Mission, the government is restoring stability, increasing investment, and reforming the economy to drive up prosperity and living standards across every region of the UK. 

    The IMF welcomed the government’s spending plans as “credible and growth-friendly”, noting that “they are expected to provide an economic boost over the medium term”. The government’s upcoming Spending Review, Industrial Strategy and Infrastructure Strategy will deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in the UK’s growing and high potential sectors. 

    The IMF’s full UK Article IV surveillance report will be published in the summer.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Council Leader visits Derby’s twin city

    Source: City of Derby

    Councillor Peatfield reflects on a successful trip to Derby’s twin city and the long-awaited reopening of Derby’s Market Hall…

    If you’ve driven in and out of the city and paid attention to the “Welcome to Derby” signs, you may know that we are twinned with Osnabrück, a city in north west Germany. You might have thought “so what?” or wondered what that even means, but our twinning with Osnabrück is really important for us a city and holds a lot of historic significance.

    Derby and Osnabrück have been twinned since 1976, as a way of building strong links and friendships with communities in other countries following the Second World War. Since then, delegations from each city have hosted each other, sharing ideas and cultures, with a special emphasis on involving young people.

    For a long time now, I have been really keen to strengthen our link with our twin city and do more to celebrate our partnership. Early last week, I had the opportunity to do just this, taking a whistle-stop tour – fully funded by myself – to learn more about Osnabrück and represent Derby at their ‘Derby Day’. I travelled with visual arts charity Artcore and it was great to share this experience with them.

    It really was a jam-packed few days meeting with Osnabrück’s Oberburgermeister, or Lord Mayor, and visiting the Skulptur Gallerie (sculpture gallery).

    It was a privilege to also attend Derby Day at the Maiwoche Festival – an annual celebration of our city’s twinning. I joined some some Derby artists from Artcore and members of the public to create a peace-themed mural on the Platz der Stadtefreundschaften (City Partnership Square).

    Then it was time for music, and I enjoyed watching Willow Bay, Scribble Victory and Dammit Jack flying the flag for Derbyshire with live performances. The Pipes and Drums of the Royal British Legion Osnabrück were a spectacular finale.

    I received a very warm welcome from the people of Osnabrück, including many who want to come to Derby next year, which is the 50th anniversary of our twinning. I’m now more passionate than ever about strengthening the ties between our two cities and ensuring that we educate future generations not only about the history behind our twinning, but the value that our close partnership holds.

    Incidentally, 2027 will mark 50 years since Derby was granted city status, meaning we’ll have a lot to celebrate over the next few years. More on that soon.

    During my visit of Osnabrück I toured some areas of the city centre that are earmarked for regeneration, and it was interesting to see that they face many of the same challenges as we do in Derby. Empty shops and buildings are issues there too.

    However, we had a regeneration success this past weekend which deserves to be celebrated. I can’t not mention the reopening of our historic Market Hall.  A huge thank you to every single person who has played a part in lovingly restoring and allowing us to reopen our beloved Market Hall. From planning and conservation teams to those working on the operations and marketing, as well as our wonderful Derby Live and Market Hall management teams, this weekend was a celebration of all that we have achieved working in partnership, and I am so proud of Team Derby!

    If you missed out on all the fun last weekend, we have a week-long programme of live entertainment, workshops, activities for families and much, much more this week. There’s lots more information about this on the Derby Market Hall website.

    We’re on a journey to transform Derby city centre into a vibrant and welcoming place to be and the re-opening is a very momentous part of this.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: British Ambassador opens the residence for Luxembourg Urban Garden

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    World news story

    British Ambassador opens the residence for Luxembourg Urban Garden

    As part of the Luxembourg Urban Garden (LUGA) exhibition, Ambassador Olivier is opening the garden of her official residence to the public for a one-day event.

    As part of the Luxembourg Urban Garden (LUGA) exhibition, British Ambassador Joanne Olivier is opening the garden of her official residence to the public for a one-day event.

    On Thursday 5 June, visitors will have the rare chance to explore a garden that offers one of the most beautiful and unique views over the Pétrusse valley, home to several LUGA installations.

    The visit will focus on sustainability and biodiversity, with guided tours led by the eco agents from St George’s International School. These students, from both Primary and Secondary, will highlight the garden’s green features and showcase their own sustainability projects.

    Entry is free but places are limited, and each guest must register individually here: https://bit.ly/BritishEmbassyLUGA

    Don’t miss this rare opportunity to discover a peaceful, tucked-away corner of Luxembourg City and see it through the eyes of the next generation of environmental leaders.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Brexit blocking cancer treatments, slashing jobs & isolating Scotland

    Source: Scottish National Party

    Europe Day saw the SNP calling for urgent clarity and action from the UK government following alarming reports that Brexit is severely undermining doctors ability to offer NHS patients new cancer drugs and treatments.

    The devastating consequences of Brexit continue to mount, from blocking access to life-saving cancer treatments, to hiking the cost-of-living and undermining family travel.

    A leaked report has revealed that cancer patients in the UK are being denied access to life-saving medicine and that trials for cutting-edge treatment are being derailed due to increased red tape and spiralling costs created by Brexit.

    Meanwhile, the long-term consequences of Brexit continue to deepen across public services, the economy and everyday life.

    Despite these mounting problems, Keir Starmer’s Labour continues to back Brexit whilst tying the UK into trade negotiations with America – a scenario making the UK beholden to Donald Trump’s whims.

    This situation leaves the SNP as the only party in Scotland credibly offering a clear route back to the EU.

    SNP MSP Clare Haughey MSP, a former nurse, said that it was “utterly indefensible that cancer patients in Scotland are being denied access to life-saving treatments because of Brexit.”

    She described this situation as a direct consequence of Brexit and decisions made at Westminster – decisions which Scotland rejected.

    Ms Haughey continued, “Our NHS staff are doing their best under impossible circumstances, but they are being forced to navigate red tape and rising costs that are putting lives at risk.”

    She described Brexit as not just a political error but “a slow motion crisis” and added, “It is making people poorer, isolating our NHS, harming Scottish businesses, and stealing opportunities from our young people.”

    The SNP MSP concluded by saying, “Scotland did not vote for this and we should not be forced to accept it. Labour’s broken Brexit Britain is failing, and only independence can give us the tools to build a better future, back in the heart of Europe.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK and Isle of Man discuss measures against tax avoidance and evasion

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    UK and Isle of Man discuss measures against tax avoidance and evasion

    The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and the Isle of Man Treasury Minister agree to joint working to crack down on promotors of tax avoidance schemes.

    Isle of Man Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson MHK held a virtual meeting with the UK Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray MP earlier today (27 May).

    Following the meeting they issued this joint statement:

    The UK and the Isle of Man have a long-standing history of collaboration in the fight against tax avoidance and evasion, and in our successful cooperative efforts to promote transparency while ensuring that our tax systems are robust and fair. 

    The UK and the Isle of Man were amongst the early adopters of the Common Reporting Standard, which facilitates the automatic exchange of financial account information between jurisdictions, and are both working on the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework which will see the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets. Both jurisdictions have also recently implemented measures in relation to the Global Base Erosion Rules under the OECD’s Pillar 2 Global Minimum Tax.

    Both governments are committed to taking robust action to deter and disrupt the activities of those who seek to promote marketed tax avoidance schemes that threaten our tax systems and the reputations of our well-established and globally-attractive service sectors. This proactive stance safeguards tax revenues and ensures fairness for all taxpayers. 

    Recognising the need to go further, and noting the UK Government’s ongoing consultation on steps to crack down on promoters of marketed tax avoidance schemes, we are pleased that we have been able to agree today to explore ways to further enhance information flows, joint working and other ways in which tangible benefits for both jurisdictions can be achieved.  

    We look forward to continuing our partnership and achieving tangible results in our shared objective of combatting tax avoidance and evasion.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: City’s Centenary hits a high note with free Party in the Park

    Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent

    Published: Tuesday, 27th May 2025

    Stoke-on-Trent’s Centenary celebrations are set to reach a crescendo with a Party in the Park – a free afternoon music festival in Hanley Park on Saturday, 7 June. 

    The Party in the Park will start as hundreds of people taking part in the People’s Parade arrive following their celebratory walk around the city.  

    The festivities will kick off as the vibrant People’s Parade arrives in the park, bringing colour, energy and hundreds of people from across the city.  

    It will feature 100 dancing cupcakes, a towering Spirit of Stoke puppet, children in yellow duck hats, dancers, musicians and a spectacular array of costumes and models reflecting the city’s heritage and creativity. 

    The parade will leave College Road at 1pm and start entering Hanley Park at around 2.30pm where the afternoon party will have been in full swing since the start of the parade. 

    Festival goers will be treated to street food stalls, activities and music acts on the big stage throughout the afternoon until 6pm.  

    Party goers are welcome to bring picnics, chairs and blankets to add to the festival atmosphere. Alcohol won’t be allowed to be brought into the park, but a licensed bar and seating area will be set up.  

    The event is being organised by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in partnership with local event organisers PH Production Services Ltd supported by The Honey Box Live promising an unforgettable day in the heart of the city. 

    It will be a fantastic musical celebration of talented local artists, including singer songwriter Levi Knapper, electropop artist Dala Jade and a popular Taylor Swift Tribute act  – Bejeweled: The Taylor Swift Tribute.  

    Also on the line up are Steel Pan Band, Greg Murray and the Seven Wonders and Boogie Knights. 

    Councillor Lyn Sharpe, Centenary Champion at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “I’m so proud of this city, and The People’s Parade is shaping up to be a truly amazing celebration of what makes Stoke-on-Trent so brilliant – our people, our history and our culture. Our streets will come alive with pride, and Hanley Park will welcome the crowds with hours of free music and entertainment to keep the celebrations going. 

    “Saturday 7 June – mark it in your calendar right now. You won’t want to miss it!” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ‘Earth’s heartbeat’ being monitored by sensor in Aberdeenshire field Thunder and lightning strikes that create electromagnetic waves dubbed ‘Earth’s heartbeat’ are being monitored by a sensor inside a box in a rural Aberdeenshire field.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    Researchers from the Dept of Planetary Sciences visit the site of their Schumann Resonance detector in rural Aberdeenshire

    Thunder and lightning strikes that create electromagnetic waves dubbed ‘Earth’s heartbeat’ are being monitored by a sensor inside a box in a rural Aberdeenshire field.
    The University of Aberdeen device is only one of two in the UK that measure Schumann Resonance – extremely low frequency waves that can be used to study our weather and – some believe – possibly predict earthquakes and may even be linked to our health, sleep and emotions.
    Flashes of lightning strike the Earth around 50 times every second sending out tiny waves of energy that bounce back and forth between the ground and the sky in the space known as Earth’s ionosphere – this is called Schumann’s Resonance.
    [embedded content]
    These electromagnetic waves make a steady hum as they circle around the Earth at very low frequencies that humans cannot hear. Some refer to this natural rhythmic pattern of electromagnetic waves as Earth’s heartbeat.
    Studying Schumann Resonance helps scientists to monitor climate change and weather patterns on Earth and also what impact solar storms have on the planet.
    Research has also been carried out into examining whether Schumann Resonance fluctuates in relation to major seismic events such as earthquakes.
    There are even hypotheses that suggest Schumann Resonance could affect human brain activity and potentially impact mood and sleep patterns. This theory, some say, is supported by the fact that the primary frequency of Schumann resonance, which is in the order of 7.83Hz, with its harmonics extending to higher frequences, overlaps with the human brain’s alpha wave range of 8-13Hz.

    Something we are really interested to study is weather events and also because we have the only other one of these instruments in the UK in Eskdalemuir in the Scottish borders, so we want to see how the data from each detector correlates.” Dr Thasshwin Mathanlal

    The University of Aberdeen team have placed a Schumann Resonance detector in a field in Aberdeenshire near Stonehaven in order to study the frequency.
    The electromagnetic frequency detector has to be far away from the interference you would get in built up areas such as electricity cables, phone and broadband signals, as these can interfere with their readings.
    The detector is tuned to pick up waves in the range of 0-30Hz and while not particularly elaborate to the eye, housed as it is in a plastic box, they actually consist of miles of cable would inside which are required to detect such low frequencies.
    Whenever there is a small electromagnetic field, such as a lightning strike, it induces a very small amount of voltage into the wires. A very high-resolution detector records these electromagnetic frequencies onto an onboard computer and the Aberdeen team retrieve the data periodically.
    Dr Thasshwin Mathanlal, from the University of Aberdeen’s Planetary Sciences department said: “Something we are really interested to study is weather events and also because we have the only other one of these instruments in the UK in Eskdalemuir in the Scottish borders, so we want to see how the data from each detector correlates.
    “In addition to Schumann Resonance, we are interested in studying something called Alfvén waves which happen whenever there is a solar storm. Solar storms happen when there is a burst of energy and particles from the sun that reach Earth. Since in Aberdeenshire we are at a higher latitude, it is also interesting to study these waves too.”
    Interested in space research or planetary sciences? Study with us at the University of Aberdeen.

    Related Content

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Jersey passport fees to increase in-line with UK in 202527 May 2025 ​Passport and Immigration Fees in Jersey will be increasing from 1 June 2025 to align with increases brought in by the UK in April 2025. The standard adult passport fee will increase from £100 to £107… Read more

    Source: Channel Islands – Jersey

    27 May 2025

    ​Passport and Immigration Fees in Jersey will be increasing from 1 June 2025 to align with increases brought in by the UK in April 2025. 

    The standard adult passport fee will increase from £100 to £107 with the express fee rising to £178 from £166.50. Child passport fees rise from£69 to £74 (standard) and £135.50 to £145 (express).

    Immigration fees are: 

    • Application Type Old Fee (New Fee from 1 June 2025) 
    • Skilled Work permit (applicant) £827 ​(£885) 
    • Skilled Work permit (dependant) £827 (£885) 
    • Temporary Work permit £298 (£319) 
    • Investor (applicant) £1,884 (£2,000) 
    • Investor (dependant) £1,884 (£2,000) 
    • Student (applicant) £490 (£524)
    • Student (dependant) £490 (£524) 
    • Minister of Religion (applicant) £827 (£885) 
    • Minister of Religion (dependant) £827 (£885) 
    • British National (Overseas) 30-month (applicant) £180 (£193) 
    • British National (Overseas) 30 month (dependant) £180 (£193) 
    • British National (Overseas) 5-year (applicant) £250 (£268) 
    • British National (Overseas) 5-year (dependant) £250 (£268)
    • Leave to remain (other application types) £1,258 (£1,321) 
    • Indefinite leave to remain £2,885 (£3,029) 

    Passports are valid for up to 10 years for adults and up to 5 years for children. 

    Before traveling, ensure your passport is still valid. If it is nearing its expiration date, check the entry requirements of your destination, as some countries may not allow entry depending on the remaining validity and the length of your stay. You can find out more, including how to renew or apply for a passport on gov.je: Pass​port.​

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to create a thriving forest, not box-checking ‘tree cover’

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Thomas Murphy, Lecturer in Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth

    A Chinese proverb says that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. But it’s not easy to ensure the trees of today actually become the healthy, functioning forests of tomorrow.

    This is a key issue in the UK, which recently announced it will plant 20 million trees to create a new “national forest” in the west of England. Given the UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe, and one of the most nature-depleted in the world, more trees are definitely needed.

    But I know from years of trying to research and restore native forest on Dartmoor in the south west of England, that creating healthy forests requires attention to detail. Unless we are careful, these new woodlands might damage rather than improve the environment: 20 million non-native conifers (or any single tree species), densely planted row on row is not a recipe for a healthy or resilient forest.

    So what could a successful forest expansion look like – and how could the UK get there?

    Forests for the future

    When planting a sapling, we are starting a journey not reaching a destination.
    The aim isn’t to just grow dense forests everywhere, but to create a diverse “treescape” that includes woodland, pasture, orchards and hedgerows. Including glades and clearings allow plants and animals from the surrounding landscape to move in, helping to create a richer, more complex forest over time.

    A wild pony hangs out in a glade in the New Forest in southern England.
    Helen Hotson / shutterstock

    In this ideal future, Britain’s bigger, more diverse, and better joined-up forests would have a higher chance of coping with the hotter summers, wetter winters and other climate changes including extreme weather. That’s because these larger more connected forests limit whats is known as the “edge effect” where the benefits of the forest’s microclimate is reduced. Having more different tree species – mostly native but not always – would help these woodlands cope with, and adapt to, the projected increase in pests, disease and other environmental stresses.

    These larger more biodiverse woodlands would also store more carbon in trees, soils and decaying wood. Research I published with colleagues showed new native forests can alleviate flood risk rather quickly too. Over time, many could also provide timber for low-carbon construction, and charcoal-like “biochar”.

    Where to grow a forest – and how

    Creating woodland for biodiversity and these wider benefits requires planning and management. This can be done by studying the land beforehand – looking at habitats, soils and the animals that graze there, but importantly considering the wider landscape. Digital tools can model a combination of land features, climate and other data to help planners decide where trees should be targeted for the biggest wins, especially as the climate changes.

    The idea is to support, not replace, Britain’s many existing ancient trees. Some new forests would help buffer woodlands from damage at their edges, while others help connect isolated forest fragments and lone trees.

    For example, in Britain’s wet valleys where temperate rainforests could grow, saplings planted in the 2020s might provide new homes for rare lichens and mosses. This will help shield highly vulnerable sites such as Wistmans Wood on Dartmoor from changes in climate.

    Restoring these rainforests will usually require active control of grazing animals. One promising solution is to plant small, carefully chosen patches of diverse tree species and protect them at first from the sheep, cattle, ponies and deer that eat young trees. Over time, through a process known as “applied nucleation”, these patches could help trees naturally spread, creating a mix of woodland and pasture.

    On Britain’s moorlands, hungry animals eat saplings before they can turn into fully-grown (and less tasty) trees.
    Digital Wildlife Scotland / shutterstock

    It’s true that sapling-munching deer have surged to unsustainable levels, and many uplands areas in particular are overgrazed by sheep. However, when moderated and managed carefully, these animals are essential ingredients for dynamic forests. Grazing, browsing and rootling (pigs and wild boar) animals create glades and clearings, and support natural processes. Trees and forests in return provide animals with forage, shade, shelter and more.

    We should embrace the potential for mutual benefit between animals and forests. By integrating more trees and forests into agricultural areas we may even make both our forests more dynamic and our agricultural areas more resilient.

    Local leadership and community roots

    The public generally considers tree planting a positive thing, but local people often feel left out of the process and its benefits. Getting them onboard and involved is critical. That’s particularly the case in Britain’s northern and western uplands, where few trees are left and many people feel threatened by national woodland policies that might affect how they use the land.

    Moor Trees community tree nurseries on Dartmoor, or collectively owned and community forests in 15 regions of England show there are ways to get locals involved and empowered.

    Larger forests near towns and cities would offer more space for recreation and education, taking pressure off smaller and more fragile woodlands. In the urban areas themselves, we could grow more micro “Miyawacki” forests. These are tennis court-sized areas of diverse and densely packed native trees, which allow children to connect with nature every day in their school grounds (the UK already has more than 280 such forests).

    Tree planting is only a start

    This is a rather optimistic vision for the future, of course. To get there, we’ll have to learn from experience. That means tracking what works and involving local people in citizen science. These projects not only help gather valuable data, they also give volunteers a meaningful experience and support their appreciation of the natural world.

    There are plenty of recommended guidelines for forest restoration, but turning young trees into healthy resilient woodlands isn’t about following a strict rulebook. Instead, success will come from using a range of strategies – working with local communities, supporting natural processes and adapting over time based on what is shown to work.

    Thomas Murphy 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. How to create a thriving forest, not box-checking ‘tree cover’ – https://theconversation.com/how-to-create-a-thriving-forest-not-box-checking-tree-cover-254160

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Controlling boyfriend’s suspended sentence overturned

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Controlling boyfriend’s suspended sentence overturned

    A man who violently abused and coercively controlled his partner has had his suspended sentence quashed following an intervention by the Attorney General. 

    Philip Humphreys, 39, from Stoke-on-Trent, has had his suspended sentence quashed and replaced with a two year and four month prison sentence after it was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. 

    The court heard that Humphreys and his partner began their relationship in April 2022 and quickly moved in together. However, Humphreys soon became controlling and coercive. 

    He repeatedly accused her of wanting to have sex with other men, constantly checked where she was and controlled what she wore. 

    Humphreys took around £6,000 from the victim, with the majority being spent on drugs, threatened to kill himself, aggressively shouted at her, and threw furniture. 

    Whilst on holiday, Humphreys violently assaulted the victim, which included strangling her and dragging her backwards. He only stopped when a hotel receptionist disturbed him.  

    After they broke up, Humphreys continued to intimidate the victim, repeatedly driving past her house.  

    Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said:  

    “Philip Humphreys’ carried out a sustained physical and psychological campaign of abuse against his victim, who must have been in a constant state of fear. My thoughts today are with the victim, and I commend her bravery for coming forward.” 

    “Philip Humphreys is a violent man, and I welcome the court’s decision to increase his sentence. I hope this case serves a strong warning to domestic abusers that we will use the full force of the law to keep violent abusers off our streets.”  

    On 7 March 2025, Philip Humphreys was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and a 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days for one count of controlling and coercive behaviour.  

    On 23 May 2025, his sentence was increased to two years and four months’ imprisonment after it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

    Updates to this page

    Published 27 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –