Fire chief to step down as she takes on new role
A fire chief who battled her way out of homelessness as a teenager to become a distinguished firefighter and an adviser to the Prince of Wales is taking on a new role.
West Sussex chief fire officer Sabrina Cohen-Hatton will step down from her current position later this year to become the new chief fire officer to lead Hampshire and Isle Of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.
She will become the organisation's first female fire chief, replacing current officer Neil Odin.
Ms Cohen-Hatton joined West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in 2019, having previously worked with THE London Fire Brigade and Surrey Fire and Rescue.
In 2023, she was awarded the King's Fire Service Medal for distinguished service and gallantry.
Speaking of her appointment, Ms Cohen-Hatton said: 'I am truly honoured to have been appointed to lead Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and am incredibly excited to begin this new role to ensure that the Service continues to deliver for the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
'I would like to formally put on record my thanks to the service's current chief fire officer, Neil Odin, who I have been privileged to work alongside for many years.
'I know that his time leading the service will leave a lasting legacy that I will work with to ensure that residents in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are kept safe from the risk of fire and emergencies.'
Read more: Brighton primary school's pool open for lessons this summer
She added: 'I am incredibly proud of the time that I spent at West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, where I was equally as privileged to work with some incredible people as we worked together to deliver the service's improvement plan.
'It is with a heavy heart that I leave the service but know that I am leaving the service in safe hands and I take with me many fond memories and friendships.
'I am very much looking forward to working with all colleagues at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service to uphold all of the fantastic work that all of its teams deliver each and every day to keep the residents living and working in its communities safe.'
Ms Cohen-Hatton first developed an interest in the fire service when selling the Big Issue as a teenager.
Read more:
She had experienced a period of homelessness from the age of 15 and was inspired to help others when they were most at need.
Ms Cohen-Hatton is now an ambassador for The Big Issue, as well as an advocate of Prince William's Homewards Foundation.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Authority chairman Councillor Rhydian Vaughan MBE said: 'The role of chief fire officer is one of huge responsibility, and following our rigorous recruitment process, I am certain Sabrina is the right person to lead us forward.'
'I am very much looking forward to welcoming Sabrina when she formally joins us later this year. As a fire authority we look forward to working with her and to support her in being at the helm of this incredible organisation.'
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Newsweek
5 days ago
- Newsweek
Israel Fears Arms Race in Fight to Remain Middle East's Only Nuclear Power
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Located among the sprawling dunes of Israel's southern desert is a central component of what Avner Cohen calls his country's "worst kept secret." The Negev Nuclear Research Center, officially renamed in 2018 after late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and often referred to by the name of the nearby city of Dimona, is widely known to be the complex where Israel first underwent the project to obtain nuclear weapons back in the late 1950s. The program emerged just a decade after the nation declared its independence and fought the first of several wars against neighboring Arab powers. Since then, Israel has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity concerning its nuclear arsenal, neither confirming nor denying its existence. Cohen, a professor for non-proliferation studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey who authored several definitive books on Israel's nuclear weapons history, argued this opaque strategy was partially informed by a desire to diminish the incentive of the other side, Israel's enemies, to seek weapons of mass destruction. While Cohen told Newsweek that "it's indisputable" that Israel possess nuclear weapons, he explained that the country has maintained them in a way unlike any other nuclear power, establishing a critical separation between the capabilities and those who would be tasked with using them. He characterized Israel's approach as a "benign monopoly," one that "gives the others the very lowest incentive to go nuclear." "And I think that Israeli leaders are very much committed to keep Israel in that way," he said, "on the one hand, that Israel will be the only one in the region with those capacities, and at the same time, to do their best not to nuclearize the remaining conflict in the Middle East." And yet the regional equation has shifted over time. The foremost conflict playing out across the Middle East today is between Israel and Iran, a nation that already possesses a sophisticated and large-scale nuclear program. Iranian officials have always maintained their nation's sprawling network of nuclear facilities were solely for peaceful purposes, yet fears of potential weaponization have for the third time in a decade brought the United States and Iran to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, a number of other countries in the region are also vying to develop nuclear programs, all of which, like Iran, insist they only seek to obtain civil nuclear capabilities. As the U.S. and Saudi Arabia discuss the possibilities of Washington's support in this endeavor, Russia has already struck deals with Egypt and Turkey to aid in the development of nuclear reactors. Now, Israeli officials are expressing concern that the growing interest in nuclear initiatives could spark a regional rush to attain capabilities that could forever reshape the Middle East. "At the end of the day, we wouldn't like to see some kind of nuclear race in the Middle East, whether it's civil or military," Tsach Saar, Israel's consul deputy general in New York, told Newsweek. "We're just afraid it's going to lead to a nuclear race in the region." A Newsweek composite image depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump surrounded by symbols of some Middle East nations and illustrations of missiles. A Newsweek composite image depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump surrounded by symbols of some Middle East nations and illustrations of missiles. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva The Begin Doctrine When faced with the development of rival nuclear programs, Israel has a lengthy history of taking matters into its own hands. The origins of this strategy date back to the Mossad intelligence agency's "Operation Damocles" campaign targeting former Nazi German personnel who assisted Egypt to develop its rocket program in the 1960s. But the doctrine has come to be defined by a 1981 raid, known as "Operation Opera," against a nuclear reactor in Iraq early into its war with Iran. Rather than mask responsibility, then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin took full credit. "Tell so your friends, tell anyone you meet, we shall defend our people with all the means at our disposal," Begin said at the time. "We shall not allow any enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction turned against us." Thus began the so-called "Begin Doctrine," marked by an array of largely covert operations targeting potential nuclear capabilities across the Middle East. Among the most notable operations in line with this strategy include a 2007 raid against a nuclear reactor in Syria later named "Operation Outside the Box" and a still-undeclared campaign of cyberattacks and assassinations targeting nuclear facilities and personnel in Iran beginning in 2010. In November 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, viewed by many as the chief architect of Iran's nuclear program, was slain in a remote-control machine gun attack in Iran that has been widely attributed to Israel. Iran and Israel have simultaneously been engaged in a yearslong shadow war that was brought out into the open for the first time last year as the two foes twice exchanged direct strikes. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now threatens to take unilateral action against Iran's nuclear facilities amid the ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington, the Begin Doctrine appears to remain very much in effect. "What is called the Begin Doctrine basically says that Israel should make every conceivable effort to prevent any hostile country in the region from acquiring nuclear weapons and so you look through the history of Israel," Ariel Levite, a former principal deputy director general of policy at the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission who now serves as senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Nuclear Policy Program, told Newsweek. "And you see that that was applied to Iraq, and that was applied to Syria, and that was earlier even applied to Egypt," he said, "and now it's being applied to Iran." Ephraim Asculai, a veteran of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission who is today a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, also spoke of how the Begin Doctrine remains active, particularly when it comes to Iran. "The Begin Doctrine, that was declared as the result of the Iraqi nuclear ambitions, says, in essence, that no Middle East state will be permitted to have a nuclear weapons development program," Asculai told Newsweek. "As far as I know, this is still in force today and dictates Israeli actions. This is especially true in the case of Iran, a declared mortal foe of Israel." This photo declassified and released by the Israel Defense Forces in March 2018 shows what was believed to be a nuclear reactor site destroyed by Israel during a September 2007 raid in Deir Ezzor, Syria. This photo declassified and released by the Israel Defense Forces in March 2018 shows what was believed to be a nuclear reactor site destroyed by Israel during a September 2007 raid in Deir Ezzor, Syria. Israel Defense Forces/AP The Saudi Question Asculai emphasized that "Israel does not oppose nuclear power development in the region," rather "Israel does oppose any development that could lead any state into nuclear weapons ambitions." He added: "This relates, in particular to nuclear enrichment programs that could lead, if misdirected, to nuclear weapons." Among the region's nuclear aspirations currently garnering the most attention are those of Saudi Arabia. While far from a declared adversary of Israel, which seeks to normalize ties with the kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sometimes referred to simply as "MBS," has hinted at nuclear weapons ambitions in the past, particularly his declarations that he would seek such capabilities immediately if Iran were to acquire them. "The case of Saudi Arabia is somewhat different," Asculai said, "since MBS declared that if Iran was to have a nuclear weapons development program, so would he, and if Iran was to have a uranium enrichment program, so would he." As Levite pointed out, Saudi Arabia is widely believed to have a tacit agreement with the world's sole Islamic nuclear power, Pakistan, through which Islamabad would deploy nuclear weapons to the kingdom "if push comes to shove." Both nations have denied such a pact. Saudi Arabia is also a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as is the case with Iran and the first nuclear weapons states, the U.S., Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China, while India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea remain non-parties to the NPT. Saudi Arabia has struck preliminary agreements in recent years with both China and Russia in exploring a nuclear energy program. The prospect of Saudi Arabia pursuing uranium enrichment on its own soil, as it has repeatedly expressed interesting in doing, would be a first for the Arab world, defying what Levite referred to as "the U.S. gold standard" set by the United Arab Emirates when it opened the Arab world's debut nuclear power plant in 2020. The UAE had pledged to forego enrichment and reprocessing at home as part of the earlier "123 Agreement" reached with the U.S. in 2009. "What generates some proliferation concern in Israel is not the Saudi interest in nuclear power plants as such," Levite said, "but more in the Saudi desire to engage in enrichment activity." And while he stated that "generally, the level of anxiety about nuclear energy in Arab hands is rather limited to safety and security concerns," he argued that there is "far greater apprehension over the potential that those countries would actually be engaged in nuclear fuel cycle activities." "Not only are you creating a dangerous precedent of creating and potentially helping build enrichment capability in Saudi Arabia, but also others would say, 'OK, so the gold standard is now broken. If the Iranians have it, we should have it too. If the Saudis have it, we should definitely have it,'" Levite said. Today, the primary area of contention between Israel and Saudi Arabia pertains not to nuclear issues, but the war in Gaza. Saudi protests over Israeli actions in its operations against the Palestinian militant group Hamas have proven a sticking point for normalization talks and have incited an escalation of Saudi condemnation of Israel. And though few expect this anger to transform into military threats, Levite felt Saudi Arabia remained vulnerable to instability that could make its nuclear bid more problematic for Israel. "Saudi Arabia is inherently unstable politically, and so the regime may one day become much more of a threat to Israel," he added. "From a security and safety point of view, having those things in Saudi Arabia is not a particularly attractive option." Newsweek has reached out to the Saudi Embassy in the U.S. for comment. Other prominent Israeli figures have voiced concern that a U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal could push other countries to seek their own programs. Last month, former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who currently serves as head of the opposition, told Israel's Army Radio that allowing Saudi Arabia to develop a civil nuclear program would "lead to a Middle East nuclear race." He alleged that Emirati officials had already communicated to him that, "if the Saudis accept this—we will do it too." Meanwhile, Iranian officials have also proposed a nuclear fuel sharing consortium among regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, along with multi-billion-dollar investments to support President Donald Trump's vision of a "nuclear renaissance" at home. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, shakes hands with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan during their meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 10, 2025. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, shakes hands with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan during their meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 10, 2025. Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran/AP Friends and Foes Thus far, the U.S. has yet to strike a nuclear agreement with either Iran or Saudi Arabia, and such an arrangement with the latter was notably absent from the series of deals reached during Trump's recent trip to the kingdom. But the visit did reinforce indications of another trend that has elicited concern among some Israeli observers. As Trump's decision to skip Israel on the regional tour that also included the UAE and Qatar already raised questions, the U.S. leader moved to lift sanctions on Syria, despite Netanyahu reportedly asking him not to. It was the latest instance of the two men diverging on key issues in recent weeks after the U.S. engaged in direct talks with Hamas to secure the release of a dual U.S.-Israeli national being held in Gaza and struck a ceasefire deal with Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, that did not include the group's ongoing strikes against Israel. Trump and Netanyahu also appear to have drifted in their messaging on Iran nuclear talks. The Israeli premier's call during their last meeting in April to pursue an Iran nuclear deal "the way it was done in Libya" drew headlines as Trump had previously criticized his then-national security adviser John Bolton's reference to a "Libya model" during talks with North Korea that ultimately collapsed in 2019. Longtime Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi forfeited his nation's budding nuclear program in exchange for better ties with the U.S. in 2003, the same year the U.S. invaded Iraq and toppled President Saddam Hussein over allegations of weapons of mass destruction. Qaddafi was later overthrown and slain in a 2011 rebellion backed by NATO. Even as the White House increasingly adopts a harder public line against the prospect of Iran being able to enrich on its soil as part of a potential deal, reports have surfaced suggesting greater U.S. flexibility on this issue, as previously indicated by Trump and a number of his top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the U.S. negotiating team. In a stark revelation last week, Trump confirmed that he warned Netanyahu not to pursue military operations against Iran as negotiations continue. It is at least the second time the U.S. leader has openly discussed discouraging the Israeli premier from taking action against Iran since taking office in January. Still, U.S. and Israeli officials have downplayed the notion of gaps emerging between the two leaders, including on nuclear issues. "We work on these issues with our allies, and we have a very open and honest dialogue about these issues," Saar, the Israeli diplomat, said. "And I do believe that we see that there's no daylight between the current administration and our government on these issues." Saar said the two nations also continued to see eye-to-eye as it relates to the Trump administration's view on what a deal with Iran should look like, a position the White House has also voiced to Newsweek throughout the talks, the fifth round of which were held last week in Rome. "The negotiations are still ongoing, and, at this point, I don't believe it has changed. Ultimately, the United States and Israel are on the same page," Saar said. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, period, and we agree with that." Levite, however, was less convinced that Trump and Netanyahu were in complete harmony. At a time when Netanyahu was facing growing international and domestic pressure over his criminal court proceedings, handling of the war in Gaza, including calls for new elections, Levite felt Israeli leader was becoming more assertive in his attempts to pressure Trump into a stricter deal that was less likely to be accepted by Iran, while his threat of resorting to force if negotiations fail or yield a "bad deal" may ultimately push the White House toward an agreement. "I think it reaffirms the rationale that the U.S. should actually seek a deal—and seek a deal quickly—with Iran that would make it kind of politically unacceptable for Israel to contemplate a strike against Iran that will get the U.S. involved," Levite said. At the same time, he compared the position of Netanyahu, sometimes referred to by his nickname, Bibi, today to that of Begin when he ordered Operation Opera just two months before an election. "I mention this because the sense is that you're the prime minister, your legacy is defined by [whether you have] dealt with the greatest threats to Israeli security, and if you think that your time in office is actually shrinking, which I think it is, and you think that Iran poses such a threat and is more vulnerable now than it would be in a year's time, because we pierced its armor, you can see why in Bibi's mind, it's now or never," Levite said. Cohen, the Israeli-American author, also argued that Netanyahu's thinking may be tied to considerations over his political future and legacy. "The only thing that he could show before an election, and I believe that he's going to have an election in the next nine months, I don't think he'll be able to postpone it much longer, is to have some show that 'I defied the Americans, and I went into an operation against Iran,'" Cohen said. "I think the complication of that would be such that the U.S. would have to be involved." Even a reluctant Trump administration may find it difficult to avoid becoming entangled in such an operation, Cohen said, as he believed Israel lacked the sufficient capabilities to single-handedly take out Iran's vast, complex network of nuclear facilities, many of which are deep underground. Unlike operations carried out in Iraq and Syria in 1981 and 2007, respectively, Israel may also face a formidable retaliation from Iran's vast missile and drone arsenal that could be unleashed for days on end, far exceeding what was witnessed during the previous confrontations between the two nations last year. Thus, Cohen argued that the fundamental issue was less about whether or not the U.S. would come to Israel's aid in the event of a new conflagration, but more as to the distance between the two leaders' objectives. Trump, he said, "does not want to move into a kinetic war," while Netanyahu embodies "the Israeli instinct that has always been to take kinetic action." "Both sides are trying to conceal the rift, but there is mutual fear, mutual lack of trust and it's growing. That's my sense," Cohen said. "I believe strongly that the question is how fast and when are you going to see it more in the open." "I think there are many signs that it's boiling and when it will come out to the surface is difficult to say," he added. "And, yes, I think Bibi knows he has to be very cautious about that."
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
"This is an existential threat": Legal experts warn that the rule of law is on the ropes
When Rachel Cohen resigned from her job at a big law firm earlier this year, she was giving up on three years of service and a $300,000 salary. But she found it more important to send a message about President Donald Trump — and her firm's capitulation to an administration she sees as being engaged in extreme overreach and intimidation. Her resignation 'was attempting to get the firms to collectively recognize this moment for what it is: for the real, existential, nonpartisan threat to legal processes and procedures that we're seeing in this country,' Cohen, a former Skadden Arps associate attorney, said during a panel discussion last week. In mid-March, Cohen penned an open letter, now signed by nearly 2,000 lawyers, pledging to resign if her employer refused to push back on Trump's series of executive orders targeting specific law firms for previously representing clients and causes counter to his interests. The firm accepted Cohen's resignation and shortly after reached a $100 million, pro bono services deal with the administration. 'Since this is an existential threat, as opposed to a difference of political opinion, it's very important that we act and speak collectively and in a measured and honest way,' Cohen said. 'Once ... [it] became extremely clear that the industry wasn't going to act collectively, the efficacy of internal advocacy had run out for me, personally, at least.' Cohen's remarks came during a "Speak Up for Justice" webinar last week, which sought to shed light on the current strain and political pressure on the judiciary and the legal profession. Moderated by forum founder Paul Kiesel, a Los Angeles trial lawyer, the discussion comes amid a fraught moment in which officials are calling for the impeachment of judges, the Trump administration is ostensibly defying court orders, FBI agents have arrested a state judge and Americans are raising concerns about a one-sentence provision in the Trump-backed House reconciliation bill that would weaken the power of the courts to enforce a contempt citation. 'It's essential to have courts, to have the support of people of the judges and the courts, and so it's really important at a moment like now that we really highlight and don't normalize or rationalize attacks on judges and on the court, because by doing so we're harming ourselves and we're harming the protector of our constitutional rights,' argued Ashley Akers, an ex-federal prosecutor who resigned from the post just days after Trump took office. Throughout the discussion, panelists referenced Chief Justice John Roberts' mid-May critique of people 'trashing the justices" and declaration that the rule of law is 'endangered' most among young people. 'When the Chief Justice said rule of law is in danger, I take him seriously. I don't think he was exaggerating,' North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat who previously served as a U.S. representative for the state, said during the discussion. 'I don't think the average person, when they have the opportunity to hear a nonpartisan account of the rule of law — the situation we're in — I don't think it strikes them as an exaggeration.' U.S. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown issued an even stronger warning than Roberts, admonishing the recent uptick in attacks of the bench and calls for impeachment, noting recent reports of escalations in threats against judges in the last five months. 'We know that words matter. We know that what's perpetrated on the internet and elsewhere matters,' she said on the panel. 'I think that we have to say that these current attacks on our judicial system, which are unprecedented and have begun to look like those in other countries, which he never really thought we would see — it is this backsliding.'Panelists also emphasized the physical harm that the charged rhetoric toward judges and other officials can cause, referencing high-profile instances of political violence over the last two decades. Will Rollins, a former California congressional candidate and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, connected the threat of assassination he faced as a candidate to the fatal shooting of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas' son in 2020 by a disgruntled litigant and other acts. 'For the first time in my life, I understood, personally, how fear can stifle speech, debate and perhaps worst of all, the willingness to serve at all — the idea that you are putting yourself or people you love at risk, just for speaking your mind, just for disagreeing, just for running for office, just for serving on the bench,' he said. 'That is why attacks on Judge Esther Salas and her family, Congressman Steve Scalise, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, President Trump, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and her family and far too many others throughout our recent history, are really attacks on all of us,' Rollins added. 'They are attacks on the Constitution itself.'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Yahoo
Memphis Job Corps paused by Dept. of Labor, congressman says
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis's Job Corps program is reportedly one of the programs put on pause by the Trump Administration. Congressman Steve Cohen announced on Friday that the program at the Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center has ended after the Trump Administration paused operations at Job Corps centers across the country. 'I find it difficult to express my dismay at the Ben Hooks Job Center being closed summarily and seeing the students sent home without notice,' Cohen said in a statement. 'If there was a problem at the center, or at the centers like it nationally, the Department should have attempted to fix them, but instead of working with the contractors and helping students, they've just decided to send the students home.' Midtown Memphis dairy plant announces immediate closure The Department of Labor announced the pause on Thursday. The department says the decision 'follows an internal review of the program's outcome and structure and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and congressional notification requirements.' Cohen calls the pause a 'careless approach' and places blame on the cost-cutting on Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, commonly known as DOGE. 'The Department of Labor apparently has no plans for an improved product or a new approach,' Cohen said. 'This careless approach will upset the lives of too many ambitious members of a future workforce, and should be condemned. DOGE had recommendations for the Department of Labor, and I suspect this is a product of its chainsaw work.' The Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center is located on McAlister Drive in Whitehaven. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
