Weekly Digest Advisory Services Newsletter 4th August 2021 Agenda 1 2 3 World COVID-19 Industry News News News 4 5 6 Protest News Terrorism Monthly and Guidance News Industry Insight World News 03rd August – On Tuesday the UK Government summoned Iran’s UK Ambassador to account for any role Iran could have had in the drone attack last Thursday. The incident involved a drone attack on a merchant tanker, the MV Mercer Street (Israeli owned and British operated) and left one Briton and a Romanian dead. Investigations by the US, UK and Israel have led the allies to believe Iran was responsible for the attack with UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, calling it: "Deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law" and UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson describing it as "An unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping".1. Iran has denied the recent accusations calling them ‘baseless propaganda’.2. 02nd August – Belarusian athlete, Kryscina Tsimanouskaya appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for help at the weekend after publically complaining about the Belarusian Olympic Committee at the Olympic Games. The Athlete had complained about being entered into a 4x4 relay having never trained in the discipline. After her complaints, her participation in the games was suspended. Her suspension was reportedly attributed to concerns for her mental health and psychological state. At Tokyo’s international airport Tsimanouskaya expressed severe concerns for her safety if she returned to Belarus (currently experiencing civil unrest since the 2020 presidential elections). She was assisted by Japanese authorities and the IOC and as a result she was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland.3. 30th July – Cargo container shipped the Ever Given made port in Rotterdam during the weekend to unload the first of its Europe-bound cargo after its grounding in the Suez Canal in March delayed its journey by four months. Compensation negotiations concluded last month allowed the ship to carry on with its journey. The Ever Given arrived four days early on the 4th August into Felixstowe in the UK and is now due for inspection and repairs.4. COVID News 02nd August - The total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK are 5,902,354 compared to 5,770,928 as of 28th July (+131,426). The UK has reported 129,743 deaths this week compared to 129,430 as of 28th July (+313), according to GOV.UK. 03rd August – The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, has made the decision to test its entire population (11 million) after a number of ‘locally transmitted’ cases were found amongst migrant workers. Seven cases were recorded after the city had not recorded any local infections for over a year. Mass testing, city wide quarantines and lockdown restrictions are enforced across cities in China as the country tries to cope with the spread of the Delta variant.5. 02nd August – Imperial College London researchers tested a number of heavily used areas at major train stations across the country to test for lingering traces of COVID-19. Researchers took swabs from escalator handles for example and air samples at London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly stations, finding no traces of COVID-19. Rob Mole, Senior Programme Manager for Network Rail's response to the pandemic, advised this was due to the rigorous regular cleaning undertaken by his staff and the use of face masks. He asked travellers to ‘do their bit’ by continuing to wear face masks.6. 29th July – A number of scientists have concluded the COVID-19 pandemic originated, as first reported, from a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China and not, as some have speculated, from a lab leak within the province. Industry leading scientists including Stephen Goldstein, Evolutionary Biologist at the University of Utah and Jonathan Stoye, Group Leader of Retrovirus-Host Interactions Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK, have reported the evidence clearly shows a strong correlation between the first reports of both the outbreak and subsequent deaths, and the location of the ‘wet markets’. 7. Industry News CYBER SECURITY 1st August – Alessio D'Amato, Health Minister for Italy’s Lazio region has announced the company responsible for the area’s COVID-19 vaccination programme which has been targeted by a serious hacker attack. The company was forced to deactivate its systems including their health portal and vaccination network. The attack has left citizens in the area unable to book vaccinations.8. ENERGY 30th July – Teenage activist Greta Thunberg has criticised the recent news that London’s Science Museum has signed a ‘gagging clause’ with oil giant Shell. Shell currently sponsors the museum’s ‘Our future planet’ exhibition, the likely clause it refers to is an agreement between them and the museum ‘not to damage the goodwill and reputation’ of the oil giant. The clause is reported to be standard for such sponsorships, but Thunberg was quoted as saying: “The ‘Science’ Museum just killed irony (and their own reputation).”9. AEORSPACE/DEFENCE 29th July – In celebration of Heathrow’s 75th anniversary the airport has announced free flights as part of its ‘Come Fly Again’ campaign hoping to reunite families kept apart during the pandemic. Heathrow airport is offering free flights, free meals, and gifts from a number of retailers such as Fortrum and Mason, Leon and WH Smith as well as Heathrow Meet & Greet and Heathrow Express. Over 18s can enter by emailing [email protected], describing who you would like to be reunited with, where you would like to travel to and why this reunion is so important to you.10. Protest News Sat 07th August– Operation Uprise Location: Central London – TBC @1pm Cause: March against the Crown Corporation. TELEGRAM: https://t.me/londonofficialworldwiderally Sat 07th August – Anti-vaxx march Location: Goffs park, Crawley @12pm Cause: Anti-vaxx for Children and anti-vaxx passport demonstration TELEGRAM: https://t.me/publicssssssz Mon 09th August – Official Voice Location: Central London TBC Cause: Anti-lockdown protest, members will occupy 2 locations and refuse to move TELEGRAM: https://t.me/M1L2B3M7 Anti Vaxx Campaign Update Piers Corbyn, was targeted by social media influencers over the weekend. The influences attempted to obtain a video clip of Piers Corbyn accepting a £10,000 bribe to not mention AstraZeneca unfavourably in anti-vaccine propaganda going forward. The cash was then swapped for monopoly money when Mr Corbyn was distracted. When approached after the incident, Mr Corbyn stated the video had been heavily edited. To see the video clip in full, please click here. Corbyn uses websites to promote his anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown agenda including his https://www.corbyn4london.com/ website from his attempt to be elected London Mayor earlier this year, and https://www.stopnewnormal.net/ where he details upcoming events and provides documents supporting his COVID hoax agenda. Protest Guidance General advice • It is recommended to avoid all demonstrations or public Patrols gatherings as some protests may escalate into violence. • on approach to site, organised travel from transport • Increase patrols in order to identify suspicious activity in • Anticipate localised travel disruption in the area of the hubs). the area. demonstration. • Morning briefs to include lockdown measures • Vary patrols with changed routes and frequency. • Allow additional time for transport times or and scenario discussion to aid personal confidence arrange alternate routes to minimise potential delays. in SOPs. (Temporary lockdowns can reduce risk • Check all exterior perimeter fencing or the like for areas of trespasses in the event of a protest.) of weaknesses/gaps. • If in the area of a spontaneous protest, it is recommended to leave the area by the quickest means • Escalation and incident procedures to be Staffing Levels possible and seek a secure location. briefed. Allocated team leads to be communicated. • Consider increasing the number of staff on duty. • Continue to monitor media sources for updates • Named first aiders on site to be communicated to the and additions to the scheduled events. rest of the team each morning so staff know who to • Consider patrols to be done in pairs if appropriate. escalate casualty alerts to. • Consider the possibility of regular protests occurring Social Media and Cyber Security throughout the summer as they are often not isolated • Further guidance to staff could be given regarding their events, with activists returning to the same locations personal cyber security to ensure no cyber-attacks via • Monitoring of social media platforms for time and again. home working Wi-Fi. chatter regarding protests outside the location throughout the day. Consideration given to any Keeping Staff Informed and Prepared Access Control suspicious activity nearby. • Inform staff that routes to work may be impacted by • Secondary entry and exit points to be used on site, in • Staff access to the building may be protest groups. Advise staff to avoid crowded areas order to keep main access areas clear. prevented. Consideration should be given to working where possible. from another location. • Perimeter surveillance to be proactively undertaken. • Keep staff abreast of developments throughout the day • Further guidance to staff could be given regarding their and provide guidance on how to approach the site • Reinforce security on approach to site (physical barriers personal cyber security to ensure no cyber-attacks via (e.g. consider dressing down, no identification on display preventing pavement incursion). home working Wi-Fi. Terrorism News The current threat level for the UK is ‘SUBSTANTIAL’, meaning a terror attack is ‘likely’. For further information, please see this link. 31st July – An unnamed 17-year-old boy from Gloucestershire was sentenced to a 12- month referral order (including rehabilitation), having been found guilty of 11 counts of collecting material of use to a person committing or preparing for an act of terrorism.