Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Transcript Dame Carol Black It seems to me it’s extremely important – I know there are lots of other very, very important things going on – but if you want better health and you want a safer society, you need to pay attention to drugs. Jennifer Newbould In 2021, drug-related deaths in the UK were the highest ever recorded. Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs found that drugs cost an estimated £19bn to society annually and that long-term cuts in funding have led to a decline in skills, expertise and capacity in the treatment and recovery system. Dame Carol…

The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy. The U.S. Navy’s schedule for getting USS Connecticut, one of its prized Seawolf class nuclear attack submarines, back into service has slipped into next summer. The boat suffered severe damage, especially to its bow, in a collision with an underwater seamount in the South China Sea in 2021. The service had previously hoped that repairs would be finished before the end of this year, and planning is also now underway for the submarine’s retirement in 2031. This would mean it could serve…

WASHINGTON — About 97 percent of Soldiers have taken the Neurocognitive Assessment Tool assessment, helping medical professionals combat the effects of blast overpressure and low-level blast exposure, the Army’s top leader overseeing safety and occupational health said. “It demonstrates our commitment to cognitive safety, medical readiness and warfighting capability,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment Jordan Gillis. The War Department established NCAT as a required cognitive baseline assessment to monitor and track Soldier brain health and support recovery of traumatic brain injuries. Soldiers in impacted career fields, including those operating heavy weapons systems such as…

Bottom lines up front NORFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM—US President Donald Trump, who has long sought to restore American strength and reassert his nation’s leadership role in global affairs, faces a moment that may ultimately define his legacy. He is a president who not only wants to win, but who also hates to lose—or to be seen as losing. That makes the stakes of the Pentagon’s ongoing review of US force posture in Europe exceptionally high, not only for Europe and the United States, but also for the president himself. Launched in late July, the six-month European force posture review is needed…

Twenty-nine sailors and 9 Marines were wounded in action in September in Middle East military operations, according to a Pentagon database.The Defense Casualty Analysis System updated its “Overseas Operations” category, which tracks injuries and deaths for troops involved in Middle East operations.In its updated accounting method, the Pentagon moved deaths that were previously listed under the “Operation Epic Fury” category into the “Overseas Operations” umbrella.The reclassification aligned with the Pentagon’s stance that Operation Epic Fury ended May 5. “Since Operation Epic Fury concluded, the department classifies casualties as having occurred in Overseas Operations in the [U.S. Central Command] area of…

UPDATED Saturday, Sept. 26OpenAI’s artificial intelligence agents accessed Census Bureau data using developer keys found online and reposted public Securities and Exchange Commission information on another website, the company confirmed. Researchers separately identified a failed attempt by agents linked to OpenAI to hack an Education Department website.The details identify specific U.S. agencies following the company’s Friday disclosure that government websites were among the outside systems involved in its investigation of agents acting beyond their assigned tasks or intended methods during training and testing.The New York Times reported Friday⁠ that researchers at the AI research organization Transluce identified the unsuccessful attempt…

News September 28, 2026 Dan Taylor Technology Editor Military Embedded Systems HEL concept image via EOS CANBERRA, Australia. Electro Optic Systems (EOS) and the Netherlands Ministry of Defence signed a letter of intent covering further work on the company’s Apollo High Energy Laser Weapon for counter-drone defense, EOS announced in a statement. Under the agreement, the parties will explore a path for Apollo to become an operational weapon system for the Netherlands, according to the statement. They will also examine establishing a production facility in the Netherlands supported by a Dutch-led European supply chain, with EOS carrying out production in…

Saving money as a military family doesn’t have to mean saying no to the things that make life enjoyable, whether that’s traveling, eating at restaurants or splurging on entertainment. If your goal is to save money, it’s not about deprivation. It’s about structure, awareness and knowing which habits actually move the needle. This guide walks you through some of the most effective money-saving strategies for military households, including how to maximize military benefits to save money. Biggest Expenses That Military Families Miss Before you can start saving, it’s helpful to know where your money is actually going. Besides the obvious…

SWJ–El Centro Fellows Release New Edited Collection — States of Exception: Criminal Armed Groups and the Evolution of South American Policing | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University wpDiscuzInsert

Lawmakers are turning directly to Oracle for answers about why the Department of Veterans Affairs increased the ceiling on its electronic health record modernization contract by roughly $17 billion after VA officials could not offer reasoning at a congressional hearing in September.Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Veterans’Affairs Committee, and six other Democrats on the committee sent a letter Sept. 23 to Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia demanding documents and detailed explanations for the increase. The lawmakers gave Oracle until Oct. 23 to respond.The request comes weeks after VA increased the ceiling on…