Trump offers ******** immigrants $1,000 to ‘self-deport’
Trump offers ******** immigrants $1,000 to ‘self-deport’
The US government is offering migrants who are in the country illegally a sum worth $1,000 (£751) and paid travel if they decide to leave the US.
“Self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in Monday’s announcement.
Those who take up the offer could one day be offered a legal pathway to return to the US, Trump told reporters the same day.
Since returning to office in January, the president has launched a major crackdown on ******** immigration – at times relying on controversial tactics such as the invocation of a centuries-old wartime law. Some moves have faced legal challenges.
Those who signed up for the “self-deportation” financial incentive would not be prioritised for detention by immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a news release.
The DHS said a first “******** alien” had already taken up the offer, receiving a ticket for a flight from Chicago to Honduras.
The scheme relies on migrants utilising the CBP Home app, which can be used to confirm that person’s return to their home country, officials explained in their release.
They described the offer as a “dignified” route, adding that it would cut the cost of deportations for the DHS. The average cost to arrest, detain, and deport a migrant currently stood at more than $17,000, they said.
Trump himself said the question of whether any given migrant would one day be offered a legal route back to the US was one of national interest.
“We’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people that we want in our [country],” he told reporters.
The plan has also faced criticism. Adriano Espaillat, a Dominican-American congressman for the Democratic Party, wrote on X: “We don’t bribe people to leave. We build a country where everyone belongs.”
The president and his allies have touted their track record on immigration after three months in office, highlighting the fact that ******** crossings have dropped.
Border Patrol data showed a record low of just over 7,000 arrests at the US-Mexico border during the month of March.
Trump has also used an increase in detentions inside the country by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to argue that his plan is working.
On the other hand, the administration has so far not managed to deport as many migrants as promised, and courts have blocked Trump’s attempts to end birthright citizenship for certain children.
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Driver in ****** that killed Nick Campo will have to wait another month to learn fate
Driver in ****** that killed Nick Campo will have to wait another month to learn fate
The teenager behind the wheel of the car involved in a horror ****** that killed promising young footballer Nick Campo will have to wait another month before he learns his fate.
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Google Is Reportedly Working On AI Mode With Gemini Live-Like Features for Google Lens
Google Is Reportedly Working On AI Mode With Gemini Live-Like Features for Google Lens
Google is reportedly working on a new feature for Google Lens that will allow users to share live camera feed from their devices. As per the report, the new feature will combine the functionalities of Google Lens and the recently released experimental feature of Search — AI Mode. The new feature is reportedly dubbed “Live for AI Mode,” and similar to Gemini Live, the artificial intelligence (AI) can analyse the content on the camera feed of a device and answer queries based on that.
Google Lens to Reportedly Gain Gemini Live-Like Capabilities
According to a 9to5Google report, the Mountain View-based tech giant is working on bringing Gemini Live-like features to Google Lens. The publication found evidence of the new AI feature in the latest beta of the Google app (version 16.17). The strings of code reportedly reveal the official name of the feature and its functionality.
One of the strings reportedly mentions the disclaimer, “Live for AI Mode is experimental and can make mistakes,” which also reveals the name of the feature. Another string is said to mention Google Lens, hinting that the feature is being built within the app.
The strings reportedly also highlight that Live for AI Mode will be able to access the device’s camera and analyse the live feed and answer queries. This means users can point the camera at a plant and ask Google Lens about its name, and without capturing an image or uploading one from the gallery, they can receive an instant response. Since AI Mode is aimed at tackling complex queries, the new feature might be able to tackle multi-step queries as well.
A section of code reportedly reveals that users will also be able to share their screen with AI and seek responses to their queries. It is said that the feature currently does not allow follow-up queries, and users can only ask one question at a time.
While the feature’s description is similar to Gemini Live, the report claims that instead of offering personalised assistance, it will be focused on providing an AI-powered live search experience. Notably, the information comes from strings of code within the Google app, and it is not a confirmation that this feature will be released or that it will be released in the same form as the code suggests.
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‘Very rare’ horse cemetery from Roman times unearthed in Germany
‘Very rare’ horse cemetery from Roman times unearthed in Germany
Archaeologists have unearthed a “very rare” Roman-era horse cemetery in Germany containing the skeletons of over a hundred horses and that of a strange man buried in a prone position.
The “sensational find” in Stuttgart sheds unique insights into the use of horses by the Roman army, according to the ******* State Office for Monument Preservation (LAD).
These buried horses were part of a second-century AD Roman cavalry unit known as Ala, which was larger than normal legions with over 5,400 or 5,100 men active in what is now southwest Germany.
During its heyday, the region was one of the most important Roman military sites, likely home to a population of over 700 horses, researchers say.
Horse skeleton unearthed at Roman-era cemetery in Stuttgart (State Office for Monument Preservation Stuttgart)
Excavation in this part of Stuttgart’s borough of Bad Cannstatt has been ongoing since July 2024, bringing to light more than 100 horse skeletons.
Radiocarbon dating of the bones suggests the horses likely lived during the 2nd century.
“Due to the archaeological and historical knowledge of the Roman Bad Cannstatt, the horses of the equestrian unit – a so-called ‘Ala’ – can be assigned, which was stationed on the Hallschlag from about 100 to 150 AD,” archaeologist Sarah Roth from LAD said in a translated statement.
“The troop with almost 500 riders probably had a total horseback of at least 700 animals and losses had to be constantly replaced,” Dr Roth said.
Whenever a horse part of the cavalry died, it would be buried about 400m away from the equestrian castle and at a distance of 200m from the civil settlement, researchers say.
The horse carcasses were moved on sledges individually into shallow pits and buried lying on their sides with outstretched or bent legs.
Aerial view of Roman-era horse cemetery unearthed in Stuttgart (State Office for Monument Preservation Stuttgart)
Despite the cemetery having a partly dense occupation, there seemed to be only a few overlaps of the pit, indicating the pits were likely marked above ground.
“The horses do not all seem to have died at the same time in a major event such as a battle or epidemic,” Dr Roth said.
Instead, there’s evidence of the animals either dying during the presence of the cavalry due to isolated cases of illness, injury, or other reasons, researchers say.
Most animals seem to have been disposed of rather than buried, however, with some exceptions.
One of the horses was found buried with two ***** and a small oil lamp placed in the corner of its pit.
“Here we see a particularly close connection of the owner to his horse. Even after about 1800 years, the grief over the death of this one animal is still apparent,” Dr Roth said.
The exact size of the entire cemetery remains unclear, researchers say.
Archaeologists also uncovered the skeleton of a Roman-era man in the cemetery, buried on his stomach and without grave goods, suggesting he was likely an outsider who wasn’t held in high esteem.
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I’m a certified barista, and Fellow has just launched the most exciting home espresso machine I’ve seen this year
I’m a certified barista, and Fellow has just launched the most exciting home espresso machine I’ve seen this year
Fellow has launched its first home espresso machine, the Espresso Series 1
It has various pro-level features, but also offers guidance for home baristas
You can pre-order now for an early-bird price, with shipping later this year
Fellow, maker of the popular Aiden Precision Coffee Maker, has just launched its first home espresso machine – and it’s packed with professional-grade features that you’d usually expect to find in a cafe. I’ve heard rumors from Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) members that exciting things were afoot in the world of home makers, and I suspect that the Fellow Espresso Series 1 is what they were referring to.
The Fellow Espresso Series 1 is a great-looking machine that has a similar boxy shape to the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker, with a pressure gauge on the front that lets you see the pressure profile as you pull each shot so you can determine whether you’ve achieved the right grind size for your beans.
Professional features include temperature control that’s accurate to the degree, a boiler with three heating elements (including a flow-through heater to pre-heat water before it enters the boiler), a commercial-style heated group head with brass core, and a 58mm bottomless portafilter.
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The Fellow Espresso Series 1 comes in three colorways, including two with real wood portafilter handles (Image credit: Fellow)
A bottomless portafilter has no spout on the bottom, which means you can see exactly how your coffee is pouring and diagnose problems with tamping. If the coffee isn’t flowing out of the filter basket evenly or there are fast-slowing ‘leaks’, the tamped puck may be cracked or not level.
A bottomless portafilter also means your espresso shots should have more crema, because the coffee isn’t making contact with any surfaces before it reaches your cup.
The Fellow Espresso Series 1 also comes with a backflush disc, which lets you clean it in the same way as a commercial coffee machine. Just fit the disc in the portafilter handle, add a backflush cleaning tablet (included with the machine), and select the cleaning program to thoroughly remove traces of old coffee and oils that could taint future drinks.
A helping hand
If that all sounds a little intimidating, don’t worry – there’s help for home baristas too. For example, you get both single-walled and pressurized baskets, the latter of which makes it easier to get a proper flow rate, even if you haven’t quite ground the coffee perfectly, and is more forgiving than a single-walled basket.
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The steam wand has a temperature-sensing tip to help you achieve perfectly sweet-tasting milk with no scalding (which can give a custard-like taste). The wand stops steaming when the milk reaches the correct temperature, and automatically purges once you’re done.
The machine’s steam wand stops automatically when your milk reaches the right temperature (Image credit: Fellow)
The Fellow Espresso Series 1 comes in three colorways: ******, malted chocolate and maple, and cherry red and walnut. The latter two have portafilters with real wood handles, which adds a little extra to the price.
The ****** model is available to pre-order now for $1,199.95 (about £900 / AU$1,900), and will retail for $1,499.95 (about £1,300 / AU$2,500) once the early bird offer is over. The two wood-trimmed versions can be pre-ordered for $1,299.95 (about £1,000 / AU$2,000), and will eventually sell for $1,599.95 (about £1,200 / AU$2,500).
If you pre-order the machine, you’ll also get $100 Fellow Drops credit, which you can spend on the brand’s own coffee.
Fellow hasn’t given an exact shipping date, but the Espresso Series 1 is expected to reach customers “before the winter holidays”. Since Fellow is based in the US, we’d expect that to mean November. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring you a full review soon, and see how it compares with the best espresso machines from other brands.
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Ferrari posts upswing in first-quarter profit, confirms 2025 guidance
Ferrari posts upswing in first-quarter profit, confirms 2025 guidance
The Ferrari brand logo, the coat of arms with the lettering and a rising horse (cavallino rampante), can be seen on the rim of a vehicle from the sports car manufacturer in Munich (Bavaria) on April 6, 2025.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Luxury carmaker Ferrari on Tuesday reported a significant upswing in first-quarter profit, citing robust demand for personalized vehicles — but warned U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy could hit earnings this year.
The Maranello, Italy-based sports car manufacturer posted net profit of 412 million euros ($466.3 million) for the first three months of the year, reflecting a 17% increase from the same ******* last year.
Analysts had expected first-quarter net profit to come in at 410 million euros, according to Reuters poll.
“Another year is off to a great start,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said in a statement.
“In the first quarter of 2025, with very few incremental shipments year on year, all key metrics recorded double-digit growth, underscoring a strong profitability driven by our product mix and continued demand for personalizations,” Vigna said.
Looking ahead, Ferrari warned that the introduction of U.S. tariffs on EU cars imported into the U.S. could negatively impact the firm’s profitability this year.
“The [2025] guidance is subject to a potential risk of 50 basis points reduction on profitability percentage margins (EBIT and EBITDA margins), in relation to the update of the commercial policy following the introduction of import tariffs on EU cars into the USA,” the automaker said in its earnings report.
Luxury carmakers are contending with the disruptive impact of Trump’s back-and-forth trade tariff policy. Several European auto giants reported a sharp downturn in quarterly profit this earnings season, with many suspending or cutting financial guidance as Trump’s tariffs take their toll.
The president imposed a 25% tariff on automotive imports into the U.S. in early April. Trump sought to water down these levies last week, however, signing an executive order designed to prevent a range of other separate duties — such as an additional 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum — from “stacking” on top of one another.
Ferrari said in late March that it would raise prices by 10% on certain models in response to the tariffs. The move would add up to $50,000 to the price of a typical Ferrari.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
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King Charles III and Queen Camilla Unveil Coronation Portraits
King Charles III and Queen Camilla Unveil Coronation Portraits
When King Charles III last year unveiled the first official portrait of his reign, the artwork caused a stir.
On social media, some users said that the painting, which depicts the king surrounded by a red glow, made Charles look like he was bathing in blood. Others said that the portrait, by Jonathan Yeo, made the king appear to be burning in hell.
So on Tuesday, King Charles was perhaps hoping for a better reaction when he unveiled his official coronation portrait — an artwork by Peter Kuhfeld showing the king in the regalia that he wore two years ago for the lavish crowning ceremony. In the work, sunlight from a nearby window makes the crown, sat on a plinth, appear to glisten.
The monarch also unveiled a second official portrait, by Paul Benney, of his wife, Queen Camilla — an almost photorealistic depiction of the queen wearing her silk coronation dress and staring out at the viewer.
Coronation portraits have for centuries been a traditional part of the crowning of a monarch. Queen Elizabeth II’s, by Herbert James Gunn, showed her in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, the crown and scepter on a table beside her — symbols of rule that traditionally appear in coronation portraits.
On social media, the immediate reaction to Mr. Kuhfeld’s work was more positive than it had been for Mr. Yeo’s effort. “Fortunately, it’s not an all-red painting like the first one,” one commenter wrote. “Soooo beautiful,” another added.
Both Mr. Kuhfeld, who is in his early 70s, and Mr. Benney, 65, have longstanding professional relationships with the king. In 1986, Charles commissioned Mr. Kuhfeld to paint his sons, William and Harry.
Mr. Kuhfeld has said that Charles’s patronage helped to kick-start his career. “My name started to be bandied around London,” the artist said in a 2012 interview. “Whatever I was doing for the prince was in demand.”
Later, Charles paid for Mr. Kuhfeld to accompany him on several royal tours, including to Iran and to Japan, asking the artist to paint whatever inspired him.
In a news release on Tuesday, Mr. Kuhfeld said that the painting had taken him “over a year and a half to complete” and that he had “tried to produce a painting that is both human and regal, continuing the tradition of royal portraiture.”
Mr. Benney, who also paints more abstract works (two of which are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collections), has long associations with the royal family, too. In 2015, he painted Queen Elizabeth ********* a horse, and in 2022, Charles commissioned him to paint Holocaust survivors’ portraits for display at Buckingham Palace.
Before Tuesday’s ceremony, Mr. Benney had posted on his website about the job of painting Camilla, revealing that she had sat for him multiple times at Clarence House in London. At one point, Mr. Benney said, security guards brought the coronation crown from the Tower of London for him to “sketch and scrutinize.”
In a news release on Tuesday, Mr. Benney said that he wanted to “acknowledge the grand and historic nature of the coronation” in his painting, while also revealing Camilla’s “humanity and empathy.”
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Exclusive: Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard – Reuters
Exclusive: Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard – Reuters
Exclusive: Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard ReutersHegseth’s order to cancel arms supplies to Ukraine caught the White House by surprise – Reuters Українські Національні Новини
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Plants Vs Zombies turns 16 in its latest anniversary
Plants Vs Zombies turns 16 in its latest anniversary
Plants vs Zombies is 16 and still going (relatively) strong
Take a look back at some of our reviews of the iconic mobile series
With PvZ 3 still floating in soft launch, players are hungrier than ever for a return to form
It’s been 16 years since the very first release of Plants Vs Zombies. And now, more than a decade and-a-half onwards, we get to look back at the seminal mobile classic to see how it’s grown. From humble beginnings, through to turbulent acquisitions and going beyond mobile, there’s a reason PvZ can be considered an icon of gaming.
Obviously, the story starts with developer Popcap Games back in the late 2000s, with the release of Plants Vs Zombies on desktop in 2009. However, it was arguably the shift both to mobile in 2010 and the use of a free-to-play model that shot PvZ to superstardom.
Later in 2012, EA would acquire Popcap, and despite a turbulent switch of focus to mobile that saw a number of layoffs, PvZ as a franchise would quickly become an emblem of mobile with the release of Plants vs Zombies 2: It’s About Time in 2013.
Beyond mobile
EA had big ambitions for the PvZ franchise, and foresaw it becoming a cornerstone of console gaming too. Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare and Plants Vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville coming out to a mix of reactions, especially given how radically different their third-person shooter-style gameplay was to the original.
Plants vs Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia, meanwhile, has been in the works since 2020 and is currently back in the lab with a recent major overhaul, taking the soft-launched release offline. At the same time, it promises to be a return to form for the series with a brand-new art style and the return of classic tower defence gameplay.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking to dig into the genre that Plants Vs Zombies arguably popularised on mobile, why not check out our list of the top 25 best tower defence games on iOS and Android to see what’s available?
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Rebekah Vardy agrees to pay £1.2m of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs
Rebekah Vardy agrees to pay £1.2m of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs
Rebekah Vardy has agreed to pay almost £1.2 million of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs following their libel battle, a judge has been told.
Mrs Rooney ran up a legal bill totalling more than £1.8 million while successfully defending herself against Mrs Vardy’s High Court claim in 2022, a specialist costs court previously heard.
Now, in written submissions to a hearing on Tuesday, Mrs Vardy’s barrister, Juliet Wells, said Mrs Rooney’s total legal bill of £1,833,906.89 “has now been settled at £1,190,000, being [approximately] £1,125,000 plus interest of [approximately] £65.000”.
There are still some costs to be ironed out at the hearing but judge Mark Whalan said he was “pleased” that the two sides had come to an agreement after a “hard-fought” battle.
Ms Wells added that Mrs Rooney is now claiming what the lawyer called “assessment costs” of more than £300,000 that were “grossly disproportionate”.
She recommended they should be capped at “no more than £100,000”.
In written submissions, Ms Wells said that Mrs Rooney’s original £1.8m legal bill was “substandard” and included costs “of briefing the press” and others to which she had “no entitlement”.
But lawyers for Mrs Rooney said in their written submissions that Mrs Vardy was “the author of her own misfortune” and that she should “reflect upon her approach”.
Judge Whalan added that he was “pleased” that the two sides had come to a “commercial accommodation”.
Mrs Rooney is the wife of ex-England footballer Wayne Rooney while Mrs Vardy is married to his former teammate Jamie Vardy, though both women are now celebrities and TV personalities in their own right.
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Witchy Workshop lets you create the arcane cottage of your dreams
Witchy Workshop lets you create the arcane cottage of your dreams
Witchy Workshop offers arcane homemaking at its finest
Collect 40 different magical creatures to populate your home
Furnish and decorate as you see fit!
The witches’ cottage is a symbol of fairytale fiction and a dream home for many. Who doesn’t want to fill their place with magical symbols and cool critters? Well, fortunately, you won’t have to violate your lease to do so, as now Witchy Workshop lets you live out just that fantasy lifestyle!
Available on Android via Google Play, and coming to us from indie developer Dead Rock Studio, Witchy Workshop sees you inheriting a witch’s cottage and turning it into your own centre for the arcane arts. You’ll cultivate 40 different kinds of magical critters to inhabit your home that you can customise to your liking.
Of course, rent isn’t free, even for witches! So you’ll need the help of your new familiars to work and create magical reagents and other items that can then be sold for a profit. So you’ll have to balance aesthetic with workspace as your critters get to work.
Better than a walking cottage
Witchy Workshop offers an excellent mix of all the tropes and conventions we associate with the idle genre, all while adding more of the arcane elements that witchery fans love. You won’t even need to oversee your new magical home as your critters while away the hours helping you create potions, scrolls and more!
Naturally, there’s also plenty of customisation to be done, and once glance at the trailer shows us everything from a classic cottage to an arboretum! So if you’re looking to live out your fantasy daydreams of witchy fun, then maybe Witchy Workshop is for you?
But mobile is the home of idle, and there are many more options if Witchy Workshop still doesn’t fit! Why not take a gander at our list of the best idle games for iOS and Android to see what top picks we’ve selected?
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How generative AI is playing out in the media industry
How generative AI is playing out in the media industry
Many writers, illustrators and musicians see generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as a threat, something that exploits their creative work to produce algorithmic knock-offs, undermining their ability to make a living.
Industry bodies, companies and trade unions are campaigning against *** government plans to let AI firms use copyrighted material without permission or payment unless creators have opted out.
The Make it Fair campaign has involved many newspapers devoting their front pages to its slogan, and various musicians including Kate Bush and Max Richter released a silent album in protest.
But creators can also use GenAI to extend their abilities. Methods vary, but some organisations and individuals are finding ways to harness such systems to do new things in ways that support and develop their businesses.
Many media organisations are making some use of GenAI, although this means coping with the technology’s frequent errors. Research by the BBC, based on getting journalists to check AI-generated answers to questions on the broadcaster’s own stories produced by four services, found that half had significant issues and a fifth had factual errors.
However, some publishers are using GenAI to produce material for publication. Reach, which publishes national and local newspapers and associated websites, has developed an internal AI tool called Gutenbot that lightly rewrites existing stories, agency copy and in some cases press releases, with a human checking the results.
The Financial Times, which has 1.5 million paying subscribers, is taking a different approach. In May 2023, its editor, Roula Khalaf, noted that current AI models are prediction engines that can fabricate facts and references while perpetuating biases. “That is why FT journalism in the new AI age will continue to be reported and written by humans who are the best in their fields and who are dedicated to reporting on and analysing the world as it is, accurately and fairly,” she wrote.
However, Khalaf also said The Financial Times would experiment with GenAI. In January this year, it set up a computational journalism team comprising two journalists, two engineers and a data scientist. On 10 April, the newspaper published an article on the involvement of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in job cuts at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has eight active investigations into Musk’s vehicle maker, Tesla. This drew on the computational journalism teams’ analysis of 10,800 free text complaints made to and published by NHTSA.
The team used GenAI to categorise the complaints automatically, based on samples, manually checking a statistically significant number. The analysis found a spike in complaints about “phantom breaking”, where Teslas stopped unexpectedly at the start of 2022, as well as ongoing levels of complaints about driver assistance tools.
“The really big thing we have learnt about AI is that it is good and reliable at, and auditable on, categorisation tasks,” says Chris Cook, who leads the FT’s work on computational journalism. Many datasets are hard for journalists to use given their size and lack of structure, but AI could change that. “You can apply it to complaints and regulatory filings – the sky is the limit,” he adds.
Automation also means processes can run repeatedly rather than just once. “Part of this is going to be about enabling us to monitor and surveil things,” says Cook, such as using machine learning to analyse satellite imagery. “It would be a lot of work for a reporter to check this every month,” he says. “We can keep half an eye on a lot of things and be tipped off.”
Using GenAI for regular searches requires it to operate in a consistent way. The team has used a version of Bert, Google’s open source AI model released 15 months ago, rather than updating it. As well as supporting consistency, Cook says hosting its own open source software stack helps to control costs.
To succeed, AI-driven research services need to become easier for journalists to use, he adds. “Data journalism has traditionally been people like me scrambling around in Python on a computer,” says Cook. “If you want to create systems that are more robust that you run every month, reliably across a range of topics, you have to have properly engineered solutions.” As well as its in-house work, as part of an agreement with OpenAI, FT journalists have access to the enterprise version of ChatGPT. Some are using this to run regular searches for story ideas, although hallucinations are an issue with this.
The Financial Times has been trialling AI-generated summaries of articles and other financial news services go further by generating some stories automatically, typically those based on clearly defined inputs such as financial announcements. Beyond this, Matthew Garrahan, head of digital platforms, doubts readers would value journalism produced artificially. “There has to be a hefty human involvement to give it value,” he says, including through journalists talking to other people and providing context. “Data journalism is about crunching data to find a signal in the noise to find a narrative and tell readers things they don’t know. With all the enhancements of AI that we are trying to harness, I still think there is huge value in a human being speaking to another human.”
Tel Aviv-based Fiverr Go’s bid to harness AI
Questions over copyright abuse have accompanied the recent growth of AI image generation services, including whether they expose users to legal risks. In response, commercial image libraries including Shutterstock and Getty Images have launched GenAI services that draw purely on their own licensed material.
In February, Tel Aviv-based freelance platform Fiverr took this a step further by offering some of its illustrators Fiverr Go, an AI tool that let them use their own portfolios as training data. Illustrators can pay a flat rate of $25 a month to generate AI images from text prompts based on their existing work. Customers can buy downloads of the images, although many illustrators include in the price a round of revisions that they carry out personally. “You still need human creativity in the loop to be there to take you to the finish line,” says senior product manager Alon Naftali.
Fiverr provides subscribers with up to three models, and suggests they use separate ones for different styles or types of output. It recommends that illustrators use up to 20 images to train each model, having found that more make only marginal differences, and allows subscribers to retrain models when they wish. Some prefer to use these models behind the scenes to generate drafts and ideas, while others treat them as an always-available sales tool that lets potential customers try before they pay for a human-produced commission.
Illustrators set the prices, own the results and can put limits on what their AI models produce, so a ******* illustrator can refuse to allow images relating to alcohol if this infringes on their beliefs, for example. Fiverr started the service for specific types of illustrations including children’s books and tattoo designs, but plans to expand it to other kinds of images, as well as into voiceovers, jingles, writing and research.
Given that AI image generation is not going away, Naftali says it makes sense to find ways for it to support creators. “We want to make sure that in the core situation we are not using AI to replace creators, but quite the opposite, to empower creators and make them more productive,” he says. “What would motivate people to keep creating in the future if everyone can just steal their work? That’s really dangerous for human creativity.”
Berlin-based Imagine uses GenAI as tool
The idea that GenAI can be a tool rather than a threat is shared by Shai Caleb Hirschson, chief creative officer of Berlin-based creative agency Imagine. It focuses on sonic branding, the audio equivalent of the logos, colours and typefaces used in visual branding. Sonic brands typically include a short sonic logo, such as Intel’s chime or McDonald’s whistle, as well as a longer melody. While paying a composer to write a version for a high-profile advert may make sense, organisations increasingly want numerous versions.
Imagine is developing an online tool called Harmoniq, which uses the Bronze AI engine to generate bespoke audio tracks based on clients’ core sonic branding. Customers set parameters including length, for example, allowing them to generate background music for several social media posts a day. The agency can check the output, but Hirschson says that for routine uses, this may not be necessary. “It is always on-brand,” he says. “We are enabling the brands to utilise these assets to their full potential.”
To support the human composers who compose sonic logos and melodies, Imagine pays them a fee each time their material is used to generate a new iteration. “Your work is being reworked by the AI, but benefitting you as the composer,” says Hirschson. “We see a gap in the market to make this a very good revenue source for composers and songwriters. By utilising technology in a correct and fair way for the humans, we can bring man and machine together in a profitable and unique way in the industry, therefore we will attract better talent.”
He says GenAI works best for melodies as there are numerous recognisable iterations. “Rhythm is very hard to define for the AI,” says Hirschson. “It lacks the understanding of a human. If I do this on the table” – he bangs his hands on the desk twice then claps, recalling Queen’s We will rock you – “you know what I’m talking about immediately, I don’t need to say the song name.”
Expanding or otherwise changing a rhythmic sonic logo can break such recognition.
GenAI can also be used to create voiceovers. Imagine offers voiceover artists the option of licensing their vocal patterns to a brand for a year, receiving a payment for each AI-generated message. Hirschson says AI can now generate routine speech straight from text, but adds that anything with emotion works better through speech-to-speech, where someone reads the words in the required style and the system converts this into the chosen voice. This can be used to experiment with how an advertising jingle might sound if sung by a famous singer, although the results cannot be used publicly for copyright reasons.
In future, Hirschson sees GenAI removing dividing lines between human and artificial creativity. “Creativity is how you solve a puzzle, comprising multiple pieces of things in your life that come together in a new formation,” he says. “I don’t see how AI will be any different. It’s only because it’s not breathing and doesn’t have flesh, but it will get there. I see it as a co-creator, not a threat.”
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€8 million in EU aid for 2,400 dismissed workers in Belgium | News
€8 million in EU aid for 2,400 dismissed workers in Belgium | News
On Tuesday, Parliament approved Belgium’s request for support from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) by 598 votes in favour, 48 against and with 5 abstentions.
MEPs acknowledged that “the European automotive and supplier industry is facing unprecedented pressure from both external and internal challenges, such as distortion of competition and high-energy costs.”
Van Hool produced coaches, buses, trolleybuses, and trailers. The company was declared bankrupt in April 2024 following a sharp decline in sales prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and exacerbated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, rising inflation, and supply chain disruptions. As a result, 2,400 workers were dismissed, one third of them aged 50 or over, and 80 % with outdated skillsets.
The support package finances counselling, vocational orientation, job-search assistance, and new professional and digital skills training. It is worth €9.4 million in total – with the EGF providing €8 million and Belgium’s Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Service (VDAB) funding €1.4 million. Support measures have been available since the layoffs.
Background
Under the EGF Regulation for the 2021-2027 *******, the fund supports displaced workers and self-employed individuals who have lost their jobs. EGF support is available for those affected by all types of unexpected major restructuring events, including the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as broader trends, such as decarbonisation and automation. Member states can apply for EU funding when at least 200 workers lose their jobs within a specific reference *******.
Once a member state submits an application detailing the redundancies and planned support measures, the Commission evaluates it. If the application meets the EGF criteria, the Commission makes a proposal to mobilise funds that must be approved by Parliament and Council. Since 2007, the EGF has intervened in 182 cases, allocating €700 million to help more than 170,000 people in 20 Member States.
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Taiwan dollar eases after historic surge as officials deny currency talks with U.S.
Taiwan dollar eases after historic surge as officials deny currency talks with U.S.
Workers at a wet market count and return New Taiwan Dollar notes to customers, as Taiwan is expected to show positive GDP and economic growth, amid the covid-19 pandemic, in Taipei, Taiwan, 15 Aug 2021.
Ceng Shou Yi | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Taiwanese dollar pulled back Tuesday after a historic surge that saw it clock multi-decade gains amid speculation about pressure from Washington on strengthening the local currency.
It weakened over 3% against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, after a meteoric 9% rally over the previous two trading days to hit three-year highs, and logging its sharpest daily gains Monday since at least 1981 according to LSEG data.
Despite Tuesday’s weakness, the Taiwanese dollar is still up over 8% this year against the greenback, while the U.S. dollar index is down by the same year to date.
“We’re seeing currency moves more [volatile] than what we saw during the Asian financial crisis era,” said David Chao, global market strategist at Invesco.
The recent dramatic upward swings in the currency were largely driven by exporters’ rush to convert U.S. dollar reserves to the local currency as the U.S. dollar faltered, and life insurers’ intensified hedging for their U.S. dollar debt holdings, experts said.
Taiwanese life insurers are among Asia’s largest holders of U.S. bonds and have been sitting on huge, underhedged U.S. dollar exposures, according to market analysts.
Investors are closely monitoring the Taiwanese central bank as its “notable absence” has fanned speculation that the authorities were tolerating a stronger currency to win trade concessions from U.S., said Stefan Angrick, Head of Japan and Frontier Market Economics at Moody’s Analytics. “The central bank has been unusually hands-off amid soaring forex volumes.”
Governor Yang Chin-long said at a press conference Monday that Taiwan’s central bank had stepped in to curb what it deemed as “excessive” inflows while refuting claims that exchange rates were part of the U.S. trade negotiation. He did not elaborate on the nature of intervention.
Despite official denial, foreign exchange rates might “quietly be on the table in broader U.S.-Taiwan trade conversation,” Angrick said. President Donald Trump has advocated for a weaker greenback to boost U.S. export competitiveness.
Analysts are also largely skeptical of any meaningful intervention from the central bank so far. The Taiwanese dollar has already reached the upper bound of the central bank’s monitoring range, Invesco’s Chao said, “If the central bank continues to step back, that may be the market’s cue that a quiet currency realignment is underway.”
Tuesday’s pullback was mostly due to the returning dollar demand by importers, according to Michael Wan, FX strategist at MUFG Bank, who believes the central bank has not intervened “very aggressively.”
Separately, Taiwan’s financial supervisory commission has reportedly held meetings with some of the island’s largest insurers to assess the risks a weaker greenback poses to their U.S. bond holdings. Three insurers said their risk-based capital remains within regulatory standards, according to Taipei-based Economic Daily News.
Analysts see room for further gains in Asian currencies including Taiwanese dollar, betting that Trump tariffs could backfire on the American economy and that signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks may revive trade flows in the region, supporting demand for Asian assets.
“Momentum behind TWD strength may have legs if the broader de-escalation narrative holds, [and] if tariff implication on growth proves more manageable than feared,” said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC Bank. “A more market-determined TWD may be helpful during trade talks.”
U.S. senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have recently sounded more upbeat about the prospects for reaching a trade deal with China. Beijing last week also signaled its openness to start trade negotiation with Washington.
Besides the Taiwanese dollar, other Asian currencies have also rallied in recent weeks as the U.S. dollar has faltered. ******** offshore yuan hit a six-month high of 7.1834 against the greenback on Monday, before paring some of the gains on Tuesday.
“Currencies with the largest trade surpluses are more exposed to fears of a ‘Plaza Accord 2.0,’ and TWD is at the top of this list,” said Ju Wang, head of Greater China FX & rates at BNP Paribas.
Plaza Accord refers to an agreement signed in 1985 when G5 nations agreed to depreciate the U.S. dollar against the ******* mark and the Japanese yen to address trade imbalances.
Exporters under pressure
The Taiwan dollar’s sharp rally piled on some pressure on the island’s export-heavy tech sector, as a stronger local currency makes goods expensive for foreign buyers, reducing its competitiveness.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shares fell for a second day, losing nearly 2% on Tuesday.
Every one percentage point of appreciation in the Taiwanese dollar is estimated to trim TSMC’s operating margin by approximately 0.4 percentage point, said Brady Wang, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research. A stronger local currency reduces the value of its U.S. dollar-quoted revenue and most of TSMC’s operations are in Taiwan.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker gave its second-quarter earnings forecast on the assumption of a USD/TWD exchange rate of 32.5.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
US Dollar/Taiwan Dollar FX Spot Rate
“Local chip and electronics manufacturers, which earn the bulk of their revenue in U.S. dollars, will feel the pinch as those earnings translate into fewer local dollars,” said Angrick.
But strong global chip demand may still be able to cushion the blow, Angrick added, noting the artificial intelligence ***** and the push for advanced chips will continue to make Taiwan a critical supplier with few close competitors.
Many exporters also appear to be well hedged. TSMC, for example, books both revenue and costs largely in dollars, while others rely on forex contracts or price adjustment clauses, said Phelix Lee, an equity analyst covering tech firms.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co shares fell for a second day Tuesday, losing nearly 2%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co gained 2.5%.
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Pokémon ****** Bolt and White Flare confirmed as Pokémon TCG’s first-ever dual English set
Pokémon ****** Bolt and White Flare confirmed as Pokémon TCG’s first-ever dual English set
Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare will be the English Pokémon TCG’s first-ever dual set when they release in July. The set will feature all 156 Unova Pokémon.
While dual sets have been common in Japan throughout the history of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, previously, those dual sets would be combined into one set when they were released in English. Now, The Pokémon Company has announced that for the first time ever, the upcoming Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare sets will be released as a dual set.
Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare will be released on July 18, with further products scheduled for the rest of the year. Images of the first products that will feature in Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare have appeared on trading card game retailers, which you can view below (via Pokebeach).
The set will celebrate the Unova region, which first debuted in Pokémon ****** and Pokémon White, released for the Nintendo DS in 2010. The set will include all 156 of the Pokémon originally found in the Unova region to celebrate 15 years since the games were released.
Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare will introduce a brand-new rarity.
Pokémon ****** Bolt and Pokémon White Flare will also feature illustration rare cards of all 156 Unova Pokémon, a first for the trading card game series.
The next English Pokémon TCG set, Destined Rivals, will be released on May 30.
Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company released a statement addressing multiple fan reports that trading cards have been difficult to find.
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The best budget cooler for your PC build just got cheaper — Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB cooler is an unbelievable £17 right now
The best budget cooler for your PC build just got cheaper — Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB cooler is an unbelievable £17 right now
Before AIO liquid coolers, the air cooler ruled the roost, and Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin is one of the best out there. With fantastic performance on modern CPUs, and at a price that AIO coolers just cannot compete with. This has been a top pick at Tom’s Hardware for a long time, thanks to its great benchmarking performance and affordable price.
The cooler received our Editor’s Choice award, and scored full marks when we reviewed the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. It’s more affordable than the competition without holding back on quality and build standards, the Peerless Assassin 120 SE outperformed peers while still offering astounding value for PC builders on a budget.
You can find this excellent deal over at CCL Computers, where the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB CPU cooler is just £17. The usual list price for this cooler is £30, which is still a good price, but being able to grab this cooler for just £17 makes it a no-brainer.
Using a solid copper base with six copper heat pipes running to dual aluminum fin stacks, the Peerless Assassin 120 SE dissipates heat away from your CPU and quietly draws cool air over the heatsinks with two 120mm TL-C12C PWM fans. Included brackets and mounting options give compatibility for Intel 115X, 1200, 1700, 17XX sockets, and AMD AM4 and AM5 platforms, if you kept hold of the original AMD motherboard backplate.
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Hispanic shoppers are spending less on groceries, pressuring companies
Hispanic shoppers are spending less on groceries, pressuring companies
Miami, Hialeah Gardens, Florida, Walmart Supercenter, checkout line cashier, customers paying.
Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Hispanic consumers are cutting back their grocery spending on everything from beer to cooking spray, executives said during recent earnings calls.
Coca-Cola, Constellation Brands and Colgate-Palmolive are among the companies that have reported a slowdown in North American sales from Hispanic shoppers.
A fifth of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanics are now the second-largest demographic in the U.S. and the second-fastest growing ethnic group, agency data shows.
As the population of Hispanic consumers grows, so does their purchasing power — and their contribution to companies’ bottom lines. According to the latest data from economic think tank Latino Donor Collaborative, the U.S. Latino economy grew to $3.6 trillion in 2022, up from $3.2 trillion the prior year. And when it comes to shopping, Hispanic Americans overall spend more on consumer packaged goods and outpace non-Hispanic consumers, according to market research firm Circana.
But the White House’s hard-line immigration stance and broader economic concerns have led some Hispanic consumers to pull back their spending.
Hispanic consumers drove a sharp decline in consumer net purchase intent in January, although the trend moderated in February, according to a research note from Goldman Sachs, citing HundredX data. The metric refers to the ratio of customers who intend to buy more from a brand subtracted from those who plan to buy less.
A contributing factor to the dip, some experts say, is fear around stricter immigration policy.
While the Trump administration has deported fewer people than President Joe Biden’s administration during the year-ago *******, reports from Immigration and Customs Enforcement show it is holding 10% more detainees than it was under Biden.
Fewer occasions to spend
Hispanic consumers helped Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial overtake Bud Light as the nation’s top-selling beer. More than 50% of Modelo drinkers are Hispanic, according to CEO Bill Newlands.
But Constellation provided a weaker-than-expected outlook for its fiscal 2026, citing both tariffs and diminished pending from Hispanic consumers.
“The fact is, a lot of consumers in the Hispanic community are concerned right now. … Over half are concerned relative to immigration issues and how those impact [them]. A number of them are concerned about job losses in industries that have a high Latino employment base,” Newlands said on the company’s conference call in early April.
The Latino unemployment rate ticked up to a seasonally adjusted 5.2% in April, from 4.8% a year earlier and 5.1% in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Things like social gatherings, an area where the Hispanic consumer often consumes beer, are declining today,” Newlands added.
Corona and Modelo beers from Mexico are displayed for ***** at a Whole Foods store on Feb. 3, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Constellation, which also owns Corona, has repeatedly self-reported that Hispanic Americans make up roughly half of the company’s overall beer business. Hispanic- and Latino-identifying customers accounted for 32.5% of Constellation Brands’ sales in 2023, according to data from consumer research firm Numerator and investment bank Jefferies.
And Constellation isn’t the only brewer seeing a downturn. Sam Adams’ owner Boston Beer referred to a similar decline in its quarterly report.
“The macroeconomic winds are obviously the consumer confidence, the fear of inflation; there is also some pullback from the Hispanic consumers that they’re just not going out as much,” said Boston Beer CEO Michael Spillane.
Hispanic consumers are also pulling back on their non-alcoholic beverage purchases.
Spending by Hispanic consumers has softened over the last couple of months, Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Tim Cofer said on the company’s conference call in late April.
“When you dig into that, you see that manifesting both in terms of fewer trips and lower spend per trip,” he told analysts.
Hispanic consumers make up “a meaningful percentage” of Keurig Dr Pepper’s business and broader consumer packaged goods category, according to Cofer. The company owns brands popular with Hispanic consumers like Squirt soda, Peñafiel mineral water and Clamato, which can be mixed with beer to make micheladas.
Still, the slowdown was not enough to cause Keurig Dr Pepper to lower its full-year outlook.
Rival Coca-Cola also didn’t trim its forecast, but it is prioritizing winning back Hispanic consumers next quarter.
For years, the company has targeted Latinos through advertising and acquisitions, like the 2017 purchase of Mexico’s Topo Chico. Mexico is also a top market for its namesake beverage. But this quarter, executives said weaker traffic from Hispanic shoppers weighed on its North American volume, fueled in part by a boycott.
In February, rumors spread on social media that Coke had reported undocumented workers to U.S. immigration authorities. Coke denied the accusations, but CEO James Quincey said last week that the “completely false” videos hurt traffic, particularly in Southern states.
And Coke is seeing additional fallout south of the border from the tensions around the Trump administration’s policies.
“Some of the geopolitical tension and Hispanic pullback also affected the ******** [market], particularly the border region, which is very connected to the U.S.,” Quincey told analysts on the company’s conference call.
Beyond the beverage aisle
The pullback from Hispanic consumers didn’t just hit the beverage aisle. Other parts of the grocery store are feeling the heat, too.
Associated British Foods saw the pullback hit U.S. sales of its Mazola cooking oils, which is the country’s top-selling oil brand.
“It’s a bit ********** at the moment because our key customer is Hispanic and is feeling nervous and fearful, and they’re cutting back on expenditure. It feels really recessionary in parts of the U.S. market,” CEO George Weston said on the company’s conference call on Thursday.
Colgate-Palmolive also saw lower traffic from Hispanic consumers all across the business, the company’s chief investor relations officer, John Faucher, said at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference in March. The company on April 25 reported a 2.3% decline in North American volume for the first quarter.
Still, Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, said the Trump’s administration’s immigration policy hasn’t resulted in anything worth sharing yet.
“It’s a nonevent for us so far,” CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s earnings call in mid-February.
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Nintendo is going to ‘get away’ with Game Key Cards due to nostalgia, says developer
Nintendo is going to ‘get away’ with Game Key Cards due to nostalgia, says developer
Nintendo will “get away with” using its controversial new Game Key Card system due to the nostalgia players have for the brand.
That’s according to Far Cry 4, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Revenge of the Savage Planet director Alex Hutchinson, who has given his opinion on Switch 2‘s new Game Key Card system, under which some games will require a download rather than being playable from the cartridge itself.
“I hate it,” said Hutchinson in an interview with VideoGamer. “I think it’s sort of lame. I don’t know, I just feel like it’s getting away… we’re losing some of what made the business special. Trading Game Boy cartridges at school, or, you know, DS for the modern audience. There’s something nice about that.
“It’s funny that Nintendo is going to get away with it,” Hutchinson continued. “It just shows you the power of nostalgia in our business that the way they will beat up Microsoft versus Nintendo is just not the same, especially in Europe. It’s like, ‘oh, Nintendo’s doing it, alright, we’re not gonna say much.’”
Hutchinson’s latest game, the co-op sci-fi adventure Revenge of the Savage Planet, is out on consoles and PC this week.
Game-Key Cards are Nintendo’s new branding for cartridges that still require the game to be downloaded from the Switch 2 online store before the game can be played. The cartridge doesn’t contain the game data, rather it’s simply a ‘key’ that enables a download.
“Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don’t contain the full game data,” Nintendo’s own description says. “Instead, the game-key card is your ‘key’ to downloading the full game to your system via the internet. After it’s downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card.”
So far, the vast majority of third-party Switch 2 games are Game-Key Cards, with only a few exceptions such as Cyberpunk 2077 and the Western version of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion.
Game preservationists have come out against the system, calling it “disheartening.”
Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios (which specialises in modern remasters of older, often out-of-print games) told GamesIndustry.biz that “seeing Nintendo do this is a little disheartening”, adding: “You would hope that a company that big, that has such a storied history, would take preservation a little more seriously.”
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Doordash announces $1.2 billion SevenRooms deal, misses revenue expectations
Doordash announces $1.2 billion SevenRooms deal, misses revenue expectations
A DoorDash sign is pictured on a restaurant on the day they hold their IPO in New York, December 9, 2020.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
Doordash on Tuesday announced the $1.2 billion acquisition of restaurant booking platform SevenRooms and reported first-quarter revenue that missed expectations.
Here’s how the company did, based on LSEG expectations:
Earnings per share: 44 cents adjusted vs. 39 cents expected
Revenue: $3.03 billion vs. $3.09 billion expected
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
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Beyond the hook: How phishing is evolving in the world of AI
Beyond the hook: How phishing is evolving in the world of AI
One almost feels a little nostalgic for the days of old-school phishing attacks, those poorly worded, spray-and-pray emails that most people could spot a mile off. While they were still a danger, it was fairly simple to create countermeasures. But things have changed. Today’s phishing campaigns harness artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes and adversarial techniques to bypass even state‐of‐the‐art defences.
Even adaptive AI-powered security isn’t necessarily equipped to deal with the sophistication of modern phishing, as hackers are utilising cutting-edge technology to exploit technical gaps and find new human vulnerabilities.
The first step in countering modern phishing is to understand the attackers’ tactics and how they can overcome your cyber security measures. Once you’re equipped with that knowledge, we’ll break down the strategies, technology and protocols you can use to stay ahead of the evolving phishing menace.
Phishing attacks have evolved
Phishing attacks have dramatically shifted from indiscriminate bulk email blasts to highly targeted, personalised schemes. The days when a mass email riddled with typos would be enough to lure a victim are over (fun fact: those typos were deliberate to help weed out people less susceptible to manipulation). Instead, attackers are now using hyper-personalised, tailored messages, enabled by AI and advanced analysis of their targets, that can fool even the most vigilant.
Phishing has also evolved beyond just email. Vishing (voice phishing), smishing (SMS phishing) and quishing (QR code phishing) broaden the attack surface significantly in insidious ways. Some attackers even ******* ongoing email threads, sometimes known as zombie phishing, to take advantage of an already established conversation, further lowering a target’s guard.
These new avenues allow phishing attackers to exploit the rapid expansion of the digital attack surface. The proliferation of apps, communication platforms and internet of things (IoT) devices provides more opportunities for attackers to find a weak link. As organisations embrace digital transformation, securing every endpoint becomes increasingly challenging.
The globalisation of businesses also broadens the attack surface significantly. Many companies have workers across multiple countries, using multiple languages. With AI enabling attackers to use phishing scams in different languages, it becomes a lot harder to know what to look for. This necessitates localised defences trained in different languages and cultural cues.
The role of AI in modern phishing attacks
The same AI technologies that are enabling advances in cyber security are also a core component of modern phishing attacks. While cyber security is the main focus for most AI investments in tech budgets, the increased accessibility of AI tools means cyber criminals can run advanced, sophisticated phishing campaigns at scale.
The same AI technologies that are enabling advances in cyber security are also a core component of modern phishing attacks
One key development is AI-powered social engineering. AI’s pattern recognition ability, which plays such a crucial role in threat analysis, can also be used to identify prospective targets and how to exploit them. Combined with advanced language models, attackers can craft messages that read like genuine, conversational correspondence. These messages are free of glaring errors and are tailored to the recipient, significantly increasing their believability.
This social engineering can also be combined with another AI-enabled technique: deepfake technology. Deepfake audio and video allow hackers to impersonate high-level executives or trusted figures. For example, an AI-generated voice clone might call an employee, issuing urgent instructions to transfer funds.
Adversarial AI techniques are being used to specifically target and bypass machine learning models deployed in cyber security defences. Attackers study how these models identify phishing content and then subtly alter their messages, often by tweaking text or URL features, so that they evade detection. This ongoing “arms race” between attackers and defenders means no single tool or approach remains effective for long.
The result of these advanced techniques? More than 50% of people can be regularly fooled by modern phishing. And when all it takes is one mistake to potentially give cyber criminals access to your entire network and database, that’s a serious problem that needs addressing.
Bypassing multifactor authentication
You might think multifactor authentication (MFA) is a viable solution to countering modern phishing, with the belief that the more you have to query a phishing attack, the more likely you’ll be able to spot warning signs or present barriers they can’t overcome. But attackers are finding ways to circumvent traditional MFA methods, such as SMS-based one-time passwords (OTPs).
A common tactic is a brute force approach, which involves overwhelming users with MFA push notifications – known as MFA fatigue – until they inadvertently approve a fraudulent login attempt. Slightly more sophisticated is the use of social engineering to trick users into disclosing their MFA codes by directing them to counterfeit websites or fraudulent phone calls.
But the most devious, sophisticated approaches use man-in-the-middle (MITM) or adversary-in-the-middle (AITM). These attacks use a reverse proxy to capture session tokens and credentials in real time. Once a victim enters their MFA code, the proxy relays it to the legitimate service while secretly intercepting the authentication tokens, effectively granting the attacker full access.
Why traditional security policies often fall short
No matter how much you’ve invested in the most sophisticated, AI-driven cyber security and policies, there are weaknesses modern phishing can exploit. It’s only by understanding these weaknesses that you can develop countermeasures to mitigate those vulnerabilities.
Your security tools are outdated
Outdated security tools also contribute to the problem. Many organisations still rely on perimeter-based defences, firewalls, antivirus software and static spam filters. These reactive defences are ill-equipped to deal with the dynamic nature of modern phishing. They’re designed to detect known threats, but when attackers leverage AI to continuously change their tactics, these defences quickly become outdated.
Furthermore, by focusing your security efforts on perimeter defence, you might have little in place to counter threats once they’re already in your network.
The visual and auditory realism of deepfakes makes them especially dangerous, as both humans and automated systems can struggle to differentiate between real and fabricated communications
Your people make mistakes
Even with strong policies in place, human error remains a critical vulnerability. New hires, for instance, may be unaware of the latest phishing tactics, and even experienced employees can be duped by a well-crafted, personalised scam.
Deepfake-enabled phishing is deliberately designed to exploit human vulnerabilities in a network. Studies have found that only 0.1% of people have a high reliability at spotting AI-generated deepfakes, and with this technology constantly advancing, the threat is only going to increase.
You can’t detect AI-fakery
Spotting AI-generated and deepfake content isn’t just a challenge for humans, it’s also an issue for computerised systems. Conventional security measures often focus on signature-based detection, which is not effective against synthetic media that can mimic legitimate content with high accuracy. The visual and auditory realism of deepfakes makes them especially dangerous, as both humans and automated systems can struggle to differentiate between real and fabricated communications.
Staying ahead of the curve: Defence strategies
So, the challenge in countering modern phishing seems pretty high, but we can’t just throw in the towel. With the right, multi-layered security approaches, you can reduce your vulnerabilities to phishing and mitigate their potential impact when they do occur.
Phishing-resistant authentication
One of the most promising strategies is the adoption of phishing-resistant authentication methods. Modern protocols like FIDO2/WebAuthn offer passwordless authentication that binds credentials to specific websites and devices, making it significantly harder for attackers to spoof login processes. This public-key cryptography eliminates the vulnerabilities associated with traditional passwords and SMS-based OTPs.
Counter AI with AI
While AI might be enabling modern phishing’s sophistication, AI also plays a crucial role in countering its threat. AI-powered threat intelligence systems can analyse network behaviour in real time and detect subtle anomalies that indicate a phishing attack in progress. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions that incorporate machine learning can rapidly identify and isolate compromised devices before they cause widespread damage.
Adopt zero-trust security
Zero-trust architecture is another critical step in countering modern phishing. In a zero-trust model, no user or device is automatically trusted, even if it’s inside the corporate network. Every access request is verified, and lateral movement within the network is strictly controlled. This “never trust, always verify” approach minimises the damage that can be done if an attacker does manage to bypass initial defences.
Train your people
Continual security awareness training is also vital. As phishing tactics become more sophisticated, regular training sessions and phishing simulations can help employees recognise the latest scams. Tailored training that includes examples of deepfake impersonations and multi-channel phishing attempts will ensure your employees remain vigilant and know how to react appropriately.
Holistic approach required
As the battle against phishing continues, the key takeaway is clear: no single solution will suffice. Instead, a holistic approach that combines advanced technology with proactive training and robust policies is essential to outmanoeuvre cyber criminals in this new era of AI-enhanced attacks.
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Trump has said Canada should be the 51st state. Today, he meets its prime minister – NPR
Trump has said Canada should be the 51st state. Today, he meets its prime minister – NPR
Trump has said Canada should be the 51st state. Today, he meets its prime minister NPRCarney to Meet With Trump on a High-Stakes Visit to the White House The New York TimesTrump’s trade war with Canada has blown up in his face. Now he has a crucial meeting with Mark Carney CNNTrump’s 16th week in office to include WH meeting with Canada, ongoing trade negotiations Fox NewsAnalysis | Carney comes to stare down Trump The Washington Post
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CO2 emissions: EP fast-tracks vote on flexibility measures for carmakers | News
CO2 emissions: EP fast-tracks vote on flexibility measures for carmakers | News
The current rules set annual targets, covering five-year periods, for reducing average CO2 emissions from new cars and vans across the EU fleet. From 2025, an annual CO2 emission reduction target of 15% compared to 2021 values will be in application for the 2025-2029 *******.
The proposed change would offer manufacturers the possibility to comply with their obligations for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027 by averaging their performance over the three-year *******, rather than each individual year. This approach would allow them to balance any excess annual emissions by outperforming the target in subsequent year(s).
Before MEPs voted, representatives of the political groups held a round of short interventions on the issue.
Next steps
Following the agreement to use the urgent procedure, Parliament is now expected to vote on the proposal on Thursday, 8 May.
Background
The proposal is part of the Commission’s industrial action plan for the European automotive sector, announced on 5 March 2025. It followed the strategic dialogue on the future of the automotive industry launched by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 30 January 2025, which involved an open public consultation and discussions with both sides of industry and stakeholders to address the most pressing challenges facing the sector.
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#CO2 #emissions #fasttracks #vote #flexibility #measures #carmakers #News
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