WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
The nation’s highest ranking military official is back in the care of health personnel – only this time, his boss and the nation were properly made aware of it.
On Feb. 11, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was transported by a security detail to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be seen for symptoms suggesting a bladder issue.
According to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Austin “is still at the hospital and receiving treatment. At approximately 4:55 pm today, Secretary Austin transferred the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary of Defense to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. The Deputy Secretary of Defense has assumed the functions and duties. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, and Congress have been notified. We will provide additional updates on Secretary Austin’s condition as soon as possible.”
Additionally, Dr. John Maddox, Trauma Medical Director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center Director, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, provided their own statement regarding Austin, stating, “After a series of tests and evaluations, the Secretary was admitted into the critical care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for supportive care and close monitoring.
“At this time, it is not clear how long Secretary Austin will remain hospitalized. The current bladder issue is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery. His cancer prognosis remains excellent.”
While most people are thrilled that the Defense Secretary does not seem to be in imminent danger, it is a far cry from the last time he was in the news. Austin revealed that he was battling prostate cancer only after a time where he did not disclose that he was undergoing treatment without informing his Deputy, the U.S. Congress or even President Biden, his boss. Such a situation was deemed as a threat to national security, as the person at the top of the chain was out of commission should there have been an emergency.
Also, the Secretary of Defense is in the line of presidential succession should something happen to the President and others in front of the line.
UPDATE: Austin has been released from the hospital.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 2-12-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
- Total Mass Shootings: 52
- Total Dead: 98
- Total Wounded: 155
- Shootings Per Day: 1.21
- Days Reached in Year 2024 as of Feb. 12: 43
UNITED KINGDOM
CRACKING DOWN ON NUISANCE PROTESTS
The new laws will crack down on dangerous disorder, following warnings from police chiefs that some protesters are using face coverings to conceal their identities, not only to intimidate the law-abiding majority, but also to avoid criminal convictions.
Whilst police already have powers to ask individuals to remove these at designated protests, where police believe criminality is likely to occur, this new offense will empower officers to arrest individuals who disregard their orders, with those who flout the rules facing a month behind bars and a £1,000 fine.
Flares and other pyrotechnics will also be banned from protests, and protesters will no longer be able to cite the right to protest as a reasonable excuse to get away with disruptive offenses, such as blocking roads.
Flares and other pyrotechnics have been used during recent large scale protests, including being fired at police officers, posing significant risk of injury. The new offense will make the possession of flares, fireworks and any other pyrotechnics at public processions and assemblies for protest illegal. Perpetrators may be forced to pay a £1,000 fine.
The measures, which will be introduced in the Criminal Justice Bill, will also make climbing on war memorials a specific public order offense, carrying a 3 month sentence and a £1,000 fine. This comes after recent incidents where individuals have broken away from large protests and scaled national monuments, demonstrating brazen disrespect to those who have given their lives for this country.
Alongside the new offenses, the ability to use the right to protest as a reasonable or lawful excuse to commit some crimes would also be removed, ensuring that protest is not used as a defense for criminality such as obstructing public highways, locking on, as well as public nuisance.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Recent protests have seen a small minority dedicated to causing damage and intimidating the law-abiding majority.
“The right to protest is paramount in our county, but taking flares to marches to cause damage and disruption is not protest, it is dangerous. That is why we are giving police the powers to prevent any of this criminality on our streets.”
Speaking to police chiefs at a roundtable on February 6, the Home Secretary thanked the police for the efforts and successes they have made in keeping the public safe during recent protests.
Since October 7, 2023, there have been more than 1,000 protests and vigils, with more than 26,000 police officer shifts between October 7 and December 17 alone, and 600 arrests.
The Home Secretary called on chiefs to continue to use all the powers at their disposal to maintain order as they meet the evolving challenges.
The measures announced February 8 are part of the government’s ongoing crack down on disruptive protest and follow legislation passed last year which criminalizes actions such as ‘locking on’ and given police the ability to stop and search protesters for items such as padlocks and superglue, if they suspect they are setting out to cause chaos.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 also made it easier to tackle public nuisance caused by protesters. The government is working positively with the police to ensure the powers they have to maintain order are effective and that practical and workable solutions are developed in response to any gaps that are identified within the existing legal framework.
During the most recent Just Stop Oil campaign, police figures show that 657 protesters were arrested in 2023 under the government’s Public Order Act 2023, showing that existing powers are effective in managing disruptive protests.
The measures will be introduced as amendments at the report stage of the Criminal Justice Bill in the House of Commons and will apply to England and Wales.
