All posts tagged: watchdog

Competition watchdog closes probe into SIMS

Competition watchdog closes probe into SIMS

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles The competition watchdog has closed a probe into England’s largest school management information system provider, saying intervention is “not currently needed”. The Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into Education Software Solutions, which runs School Information Management System (SIMS), in May. It was looking into concerns ESS could be “abusing” its “dominant” market position. But the CMA announced today that developments in the MIS market meant the case “no longer constitutes an administrative priority”. In a post on its website, ESS claimed it had been the victim of “vexatious” complaints. The probe came after Schools Week revealed the firm told its school customers they would be breaching their contracts if they sent copies of their databases to third parties. Intervention ‘not needed’ The CMA previously said it was concerned schools’ ability to move to a new system would be “severely hampered” by the move, as the alternatives were said to be “complex, time consuming and error prone”. Schools also told the CMA that sharing database copies was a “longstanding and widespread …

Watchdog warns reliance on nuclear weapons rising amid global tension | Nuclear Weapons News

Watchdog warns reliance on nuclear weapons rising amid global tension | Nuclear Weapons News

Published by Sam

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Russia and the US possess ‘almost 90 percent of all nuclear weapons’. The world’s nine nuclear-armed states have raised their reliance on nuclear weapons, a watchdog has said. A report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday said the states increased their spending on modernising their atomic arsenals by one-third last year. The watchdog pointed to the contribution of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to the deterioration of international security. Wilfred Wan, director of SIPRI’s weapons of mass destruction programme, said nuclear weapons have not been seen “playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War”. The report found that the effects of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are “visible in almost every aspect of the issues connected to armaments, disarmament and international security examined”. The nine nuclear armed states – the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – modernised their nuclear arsenals and several “deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems …

EU drugs watchdog probes painkiller linked to deaths | Health

EU drugs watchdog probes painkiller linked to deaths | Health

Published by skeptic

An investigation has been launched by the European drugs regulator into a popular painkiller linked to a series of illnesses and deaths. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), one of the biggest EU regulators, confirmed on Friday it was reviewing the painkiller metamizole, which can lead to agranulocytosis, a potentially fatal condition in which a patient’s white blood cells are severely depleted. It was revealed by the Observer last November that a patients group in Spain had launched a legal action against their government over claims it had failed to safeguard people against the drug’s side-effects. The drug, marketed in Spain under Nolotil brand, is already banned in several countries, including the UK. The EMA said there were “concerns that the measures in place to minimise the known risk of agranulocytosis may not be effective enough”. The EMA’s review was requested by the Finnish medicines agency after recent cases of agranulocytosis. A company marketing metamizole in Finland had requested its market authorisation be withdrawn for safety reasons, the EMA said. Spanish campaigner Cristina García del Campo …

Wandsworth prison needs ‘urgent improvement’ eight months on from alleged Daniel Khalife escape, watchdog says | UK News

Wandsworth prison needs ‘urgent improvement’ eight months on from alleged Daniel Khalife escape, watchdog says | UK News

Published by Sam

Wandsworth prison should be put into emergency measures, a watchdog has said, after an inspection raised concerns over ongoing failings in security – eight months after the alleged escape of Daniel Khalife. The “deeply concerning inspection” also found severe overcrowding, vermin, drugs, violence and rising self-harm at the category B jail in southwest London, where seven prisoners have taken their own lives in the past year. Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, has written to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to issue an urgent notification for improvement. The watchdog found that despite the “high-profile” alleged escape of Daniel Khalife, 22, in September, security remained a “serious concern”, noting wings were “chaotic” and “staff across most units could not accurately account for their prisoners during the working day”. Mr Taylor said that given the alleged escape, “it was unfathomable that leaders had not focused their attention on this area”. The inspection found 80% of prisoners shared cells designed for one person, where most men spent more than 22 hours a day, while in one wing they …

City of London watchdog is making a fair point on ‘naming and shaming’ | Nils Pratley

City of London watchdog is making a fair point on ‘naming and shaming’ | Nils Pratley

Published by skeptic

The City’s lobbying battalion in full cry is something to behold. Witness the furious response from the banking and finance industry to a proposal from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to name firms under investigations occasionally – specifically when it thinks the public interest would be served. One regulatory aim is to improve behaviour in an industry that, let’s face it, doesn’t have an unblemished record. From the noise heard from the lobbyists, you’d almost think the FCA was suggesting banging up all the chief executives on the spot, as opposed to striking a modest blow in favour of transparency when a clear case can be made. UK Finance, the umbrella trade body for the industry, thinks publicly disclosing the identity of a company under investigation – something that is normal in many other regulatory fields – “could be harmful to wider financial stability”. It has terrible visions of false markets, share trading suspensions, litigation, general disruption and more. The financial industry also has the ear of the chancellor, especially now that the FCA has …

England’s rivers to remain in poor state as EU laws ignored post-Brexit, says watchdog | Rivers

England’s rivers to remain in poor state as EU laws ignored post-Brexit, says watchdog | Rivers

Published by skeptic

England’s rivers are likely to remain in a poor state for years to come because the government is failing to put in place EU clean water laws post-Brexit, the watchdog has found. When Britain was a member of the EU, the government was required to follow the water framework directive (WFD), standards for waterways that have been credited with cleaning up Europe’s dirty water. Since Brexit, the UK is no longer required to match EU regulations, and has itsown watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). Under the WFD, all rivers are supposed to attain “good” ecological status by 2027. In 2019, the last time full water assessments took place, just 14% of rivers were in good ecological health and none met standards for good chemical health. A report by the OEP states that this aim will not be met at the current rate. It says: “We have seen little change in recent years, despite measures designed to improve matters. As things stand, government will not meet its ambition that most water bodies will be …

UN atomic watchdog chief pushes Iran to take ‘concrete’ steps to cooperate

UN atomic watchdog chief pushes Iran to take ‘concrete’ steps to cooperate

Published by skeptic

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said cooperation from Iran regarding its nuclear program is “completely unsatisfactory.” Grossi made the statement Tuesday after attending a nuclear conference in Iran. Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged Iran to adopt concrete measures to address concerns surrounding the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing atomic program. Iran and IAEA are still negotiating a 2023 deal to expand inspections of the country’s nuclear program. “We have to be moving on,” Grossi told reporters Tuesday in Vienna. “The present state is completely unsatisfactory for me. We are almost at an impasse … and this needs to be changed.” Grossi warned in January that Iran has amassed enough highly enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs if it chooses to build them. He said the agency cannot guarantee whether Iran’s centrifuges are being used for secret enrichment. “The level of inspection [in Iran] is not at the level we should have,” Grossi told Sky News last month. Grossi spoke alongside Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, at …

UN atomic watchdog chief seeks tougher nuclear checks in Iran

UN atomic watchdog chief seeks tougher nuclear checks in Iran

Published by skeptic

The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi flew to Iran on Monday to improve his agency’s oversight of the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. Grossi warned that Iran has amassed enough highly enriched uranium for “several” nuclear bombs if it chooses to build them. Iranian officials have threatened they could pursue atomic weapons. “For us, making the atomic bomb is easier than not building [an] atomic bomb,” said Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri, chancellor of Shahid Beheshti University and a specialist in nuclear physics. Grossi acknowledged the agency cannot guarantee whether Iran’s centrifuges are being used for secret enrichment. “The level of inspection [in Iran] is not at the level we should have,” he told Sky News last month. Iranian media said Grossi will meet Monday afternoon with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Analysts and diplomats say Grossi has limited leverage and must be wary of empty promises. Grossi is also expected to attend an Iranian nuclear conference Tuesday in the city of Isfahan while on his two-day trip. Isfahan came under Israeli fire in recent …

Azerbaijan named among religious freedom violators by religious liberty watchdog

Azerbaijan named among religious freedom violators by religious liberty watchdog

Published by Sam

The virtual event for the release of the USCIRF 2024 annual report. (Video screen grab) (RNS) — An independent watchdog on religious liberty has recommended Azerbaijan be listed among the State Department’s “countries of particular concern” that have committed the most egregious violations of religious freedom. In its annual report, issued Wednesday (May 1), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also urged the addition of Kyrgyzstan to the department’s second-tier “special watch list.” The report comes months after the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act was officially marked in October. The law created in 1998 the role of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and the Office of International Religious Freedom within the department and the bipartisan commission. “USCIRF’s first annual report, issued in May 2000, focused primarily on China, Russia, and Sudan,” reads the introduction of the commission’s 2024 Annual Report. “Today, the governments of China and Russia remain among the world’s worst violators of their people’s religious freedom, as well as among the most active perpetrators of cross-border …

EU watchdog questions secrecy around lawmakers’ encryption-breaking CSAM scanning proposal

EU watchdog questions secrecy around lawmakers’ encryption-breaking CSAM scanning proposal

Published by skeptic

The European Commission has again been urged to more fully disclose its dealings with private technology companies and other stakeholders, in relation to a controversial piece of tech policy that could see a law mandate the scanning of European Union citizens’ private messages in a bid to detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The issue is of note as concerns have been raised about lobbying by the tech industry influencing the Commission’s drafting of the controversial CSAM-scanning proposal. Some of the information withheld relates to correspondence between the EU and private firms that could be potential suppliers of CSAM-scanning technology — meaning they stand to gain commercially from any pan-EU law mandating message scanning. The preliminary finding of maladministration by the EU’s ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, was reached on Friday and made public on its website yesterday. Back in January, the ombudsman came to a similar conclusion — inviting the Commission to respond to its concerns. Its latest findings factor in the EU executive’s responses and invite the Commission to respond to its recommendations with a …