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Live updates for May 29, 2025 Live updates for May 29, 2025 Hongdae street in Seoul city, South Korea Twenty47studio | Moment | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were set to mostly climb Thursday as investors look toward the Bank of Korea decision. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,350 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,840 against the index’s last close of 37,722.4. Futures tied to Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index stood at 8,430, pointing to a higher open than its last close of 8,396.9. Hong Kong markets are poised to slip slightly with futures tied to the Hang Seng index at 23,132, compared to the benchmark’s last close of 23,258.31. Investors are expected to keep an eye on the outcome of the Bank of Korea’s meeting decision, as well as Asian chip stocks, after Nvidia posted stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue on Wednesday, driven by a 73% year-over-year surge in its data center business. U.S. futures rose Wednesday night, buoyed by a strong earnings report from artificial intelligence heavyweight Nvidia. Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 206 points, or 0.5%. Overnight, the three major stock averages closed lower as investors parsed the latest earnings reports and Federal Reserve meeting minutes. The S&P 500 slid 0.56% to end at 5,888.55, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.51% and settled at 19,100.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 244.95 points, or 0.58%, and closed at 42,098.70. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Sarah Min and Pia Singh contributed to this report Source link #Live #updates Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Thursday’s big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session Thursday’s big stock stories: What’s likely to move the market in the next trading session Stocks slid on Wednesday, with the Dow Industrials dropping about 245 points. Here’s what CNBC is watching heading into Thursday. Source link #Thursdays #big #stock #stories #Whats #move #market #trading #session Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia shares rise as sales hit from China export curbs not as bad as feared – Reuters Nvidia shares rise as sales hit from China export curbs not as bad as feared – Reuters Nvidia shares rise as sales hit from China export curbs not as bad as feared ReutersNvidia to report Q1 earnings as Middle East deals, export control reprieve boost stock Yahoo FinanceStock Futures Gain as Nvidia Posts Strong Results: Markets Wrap Bloomberg.comNvidia beats on earnings and revenue as data center sales jump 73% CNBCNVIDIA Announces Financial Results for First Quarter Fiscal 2026 NVIDIA Newsroom Source link #Nvidia #shares #rise #sales #hit #China #export #curbs #bad #feared #Reuters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

*** car production falls sharply in April *** car production falls sharply in April The number of vehicles manufactured in the *** fell sharply last month, as tariffs and the timing of Easter hit production. The 59,203 vehicles made was the lowest April output for more than 70 years, with the exception of 2020, when production effectively stopped during the Covid lockdown. The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a wider change in the industry as it shifts from petrol cars to electric vehicles (EVs) had also temporarily reduced output. However, new trade deals with the US, EU and India may help boost upcoming production, the industry group said. The April figure was 16% lower than the same month last year, and 25% lower than March, when numbers were likely to have been boosted by manufacturers shipping more cars to the US before President Trump’s tariffs kicked in. The fact that Easter fell in April this year, which meant there were fewer working days, was also a factor, the SMMT said. The lowest April output before that – outside the pandemic – was back in 1952, when 53,517 vehicles were produced. Car production for exports fells by 10.1%, said the SMMT, driven by falls in demand from the ***’s biggest export markets the US and EU. The group said the total number of vehicles manufactured in the *** for the first four months of the year was the lowest since 2009. The downward trend in production is similar in other countries, said Prof Peter Wells, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University. “There are concerns in Germany, Italy, France and Japan,” he told the BBC. “So I would emphasise that there is this ******* picture going on, and it’s not purely a *** phenomenon.” However, some of the global pressures may be stronger in the ***, Prof Wells said, such as fewer trade barriers against ******** imports compared to the EU and US. The *** government’s change in policy over encouraging more manufacturing of EVs had also made planning more difficult for carmakers, he added. In April, the *** announced plans to relax sales targets for EVs and reduce fines for cars that do not meet certain emissions standards. In recent years, the *** has seen producers such as Honda and Ford shut down plants. Last year, Stellantis – which makes Vauxhall, Citroen and Peugeot cars – warned it may have to halt *** production due to uncertainty over the government’s approach to EVs. “What industry always wants is stability and clarity in policy, whether it’s tariffs or electrification or any other issue,” said Prof Wells. “For me at least, it remains a volatile environment in that sense.” Source link #car #production #falls #sharply #April Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

US trade court rules Trump overstepped his authority with global tariffs US trade court rules Trump overstepped his authority with global tariffs BBC A US federal court has ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority by imposing global tariffs, in a major blow to a key part of his economic policies. The Court of International Trade ruled that an emergency law invoked by the White House does not provide unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country. The Manhattan-based court said the US Constitution gives Congress exclusive powers to regulate commerce with other nations and this is not superseded by the president’s remit to safeguard the economy. The lawsuit, filed by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Center on behalf of five small businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the duties, was the first major legal challenge to Trump’s so-called so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts. Source link #trade #court #rules #Trump #overstepped #authority #global #tariffs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

US trade court blocks Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs US trade court blocks Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs A US federal court has blocked President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs from going into effect, ruling that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy. The Manhattan-based Court of International Trade said the US Constitution gives the US Congress exclusive powers to regulate commerce with other countries that are not trumped by the president’s emergency powers to safeguard the US economy. The lawsuit, filed by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Centre on behalf of five small US businesses that import goods from countries targeted by the duties, was the first major legal challenge to Trump’s tariffs. The companies – which range from a New York wine and spirits importer to a Virginia-based maker of educational kits and musical instruments – have said the tariffs will hurt their ability to do business. The lawsuit is one of seven court challenges to Trump’s tariff policies, along with challenges from 13 US states and other groups of small businesses. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The Trump administration is expected to appeal. Tariffs must typically be approved by Congress, but Trump says he has the power to act because America’s trade deficits amount to a national emergency. The US president imposed tariffs on most countries in the world at one point, sending markets reeling. with AP Source link #trade #court #blocks #Trumps #Liberation #Day #tariffs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Smoking weed and consuming THC-laced edibles linked to early heart disease, study finds Smoking weed and consuming THC-laced edibles linked to early heart disease, study finds Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. Healthy people who regularly smoked ********** or consumed THC-laced edibles showed signs of early cardiovascular disease similar to tobacco smokers, a new small study found. “To my knowledge, it’s the first study looking at THC’s impact on vascular function in humans,” said senior study author Matthew Springer, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “We’re looking at a window in the future, showing the early changes that may explain why smoking ********** has been linked to later heart disease,” Springer said. “It appears the act of smoking and the THC itself both contribute to those changes in different ways.” Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the component of ********** that provides a high. Prior research on mice found damage to blood vessels that supply oxygen to vital organs after exposure to ********** smoke, Springer said. Whether ********** smoke would impact the human vascular system, however, was unknown. “We found that vascular function was reduced by 42% in ********** smokers and by 56% in THC-edible users compared to nonusers,” lead study author Dr. Leila Mohammadi, an assistant researcher in cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said in an email. The research only shows an association, Springer said. “We can only state that the cannabis users have poor vascular function, not that cannabis use causes poor vascular function,” he said via email. The findings on THC-laced edibles was surprising, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. “Could it be that other forms of ********** — teas, tinctures, edibles — are perhaps not as benign as we once thought?” said Freeman, who was not involved in the study. “We need larger studies to make a better conclusion about this finding.” Risk of damaged blood vessels A single layer of endothelial cells lines all of the body’s blood vessels. When functioning properly, these specialized cells release chemicals such as nitric oxide that control the relaxing and contracting of the canal, thus regulating blood flow. Healthy endothelium cells also play a role in local cell growth and help prevent blood clotting. When endothelial cells are inflamed, plaque buildup can increase in arteries over time, potentially causing heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Damage to small blood vessels can also cause kidney and lung disease, comas, delirium, and dementia. The study, however, did not measure plaque, so the findings do not mean that blood vessels were currently blocked, Springer said. “The vessels just don’t grow in diameter in real time when they need to pass more blood, indicating an unhealthy vessel wall that presages later cardiovascular disease,” he said. Prior studies have found strong links between ********** use and later cardiovascular disease. A February 2024 study found smoking, vaping or eating ********** led to a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke, even if a person had no existing heart conditions and did not smoke or vape tobacco. Stroke risk rose 42% and the risk of heart attack rose 25% if cannabis was used daily, and risk climbed as the number of days of use of ********** rose, the study found. Using ********** every day can raise a person’s risk of coronary artery disease by one-third compared with those who never partake, a February 2023 study found. The American Heart Association advises people to refrain from smoking or vaping any substance, including cannabis products, because of the potential harm to the heart, lungs and blood vessels. Guidance released in 2020 pointed to studies that found heart rhythm abnormalities, such as tachycardia and atrial fibrillation, could occur within an hour after weed containing THC was smoked. Small pilot study The 55 participants in the study were divided into three groups: people who smoked (not vaped) ********** three or more times a week for at least a year, people who consumed THC edibles at least three times a week for at least a year, and nonusers. None of the 18- to 50-year-old people in the study were tobacco smokers or vapers, and all had little exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Researchers performed an ultrasound on the major artery in the upper right arm in each person, then applied an extremely tight blood pressure cuff for five minutes. After the cuff was removed, the artery was rescanned to see how well it had dilated, or widened, to handle the increased flow of blood, a process that needs the release of nitric oxide to occur. Damage to the endothelial cells that regulate dilation was related to the dose, according to the study. Study participants who used more ********** had a greater risk of damage to blood vessels that carry oxygen to the body’s organs. “Higher cannabis use — whether smoked or ingested — is associated with poorer vascular function, highlighting the cardiovascular risks that increase with higher potency and frequency of use,” Mohammadi said. Additional tests of the neck and thigh checked the stiffness of each person’s blood pressure walls. Compared with people who never used **********, cannabis users didn’t appear to have additional stiffness of the walls of blood vessels, the study found. The roles of smoking and THC A separate analysis added blood serum from cannabis smokers and edible users to commercially purchased cultures of endothelial cell in the laboratory. Blood from people who used edibles laced with THC didn’t appear to harm the cells — they continued to produce adequate nitric oxide. However, the endothelial cells incubated in serum from ********** smokers released 27% less nitric oxide than those treated with blood from nonsmokers. That evidence is similar to what is found in tobacco, Springer said, pointing to a prior study by his team showing endothelial cells incubated in serum from tobacco smokers released 39% less nitric oxide than nonsmokers. “The observations that ********** smokers and THC users each have poor vascular function might make people conclude that the THC is responsible for all of this and the smoke is irrelevant,” Springer said. That would be an ill-advised conclusion, according to Springer, as there are reasons to believe that ********** smoke itself is as responsible as THC for the damage to blood vessels. “Rats exposed to ********** smoke with no cannabinoids at all also had vascular and cardiac impairment, plus tobacco smoke is known to cause heart disease and it has no THC,” Springer said. “So you do yourself no favors by switching from smoking tobacco to **********. Smoking ********** just gives you a double hit — the smoke and the THC,” he said. As for ********** edibles, teas, tinctures and the like? “In people, there’s like a Goldilocks zone for everything — too much doesn’t do right, too little doesn’t do right, but just right does fine,” Freeman said. “We need further investigations to see if there is a Goldilocks zone to be found.” For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Source link #Smoking #weed #consuming #THClaced #edibles #linked #early #heart #disease #study #finds Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

This is where JPMorgan sees opportunities in Europe over the next year This is where JPMorgan sees opportunities in Europe over the next year The first five months of 2025 have thrown some curveballs into European markets — led by a more extreme and volatile U.S. tariff policy than most had anticipated, with the European Union now seeking to stave off a threatened 50% base rate . Familiar themes have continued to play out with new dimensions. Inflation across Europe is lower, interest rates are falling in the euro zone and U.K. , and energy prices have cooled from the sky-high rates of recent years, though the tariff story has injected more uncertainty into the outlook . The Russia-Ukraine war rumbles on, amid dwindling hopes for a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump are fragile. For investors, attention has focused on the impact of higher defense spending pledges from European governments, particularly Germany — recently unleashed from longstanding restraints on fiscal spending. This has driven a nearly 50% gain in the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense Index in the year to date. European equities have fared better than their U.S. counterparts so far, with the regional Stoxx 600 index up around 8.5% in the year to date, compared with around 1% for the S & P 500 . What’s next for European markets as the Northern Hemisphere enters the summer season and the generally quieter local ******* of stock trading ? JPMorgan sector picks In a note to clients on Tuesday, JPMorgan equity strategists highlighted their preferred sectors for the next 12 to 18 months, during which ******* they see non-U.S. markets trading “increasingly more favorably” against their U.S. counterparts. Defense remains a top pick, they said, highlighting countries’ move from spending just an average 2% of their gross domestic product on the sector to as much as 3.5% through the decade. Politicians and regional business leaders wish to focus this spending on European companies, representing a growing market share of European orders, according to JPMorgan. Other analysts have nevertheless previously told CNBC that U.S. firms will undoubtedly benefit, too. European defense stocks are somewhat stretched on a technical basis, given their recent valuation increases, the JPMorgan analysts said — “but we believe earnings will deliver,” they added. The aerospace and defense sector can provide a “hedge on increased geopolitical uncertainty and as a beneficiary of rising defense spending,” they say. Along with pure defense names such as Rheinmetall and Babcock International , the investment bank identifies potential secondary winners from higher defense spend, to the tune of IT firms SAP , Dassault Systems and Infineon , and materials firms Thyssenkrupp , Umicore and Elementis. They also highlight an expected regional infrastructure spending boost, particularly in Germany, as benefiting construction and materials stocks, along with some industrials. Companies to watch are those focused on rail, construction equipment, manufacturing, transportation, and those with contracting divisions in Germany, the note says. Top names here include Air Liquide , Alstom , Heidelberg Materials and Saint-Gobain . Chemicals will meanwhile emerge as a potential beneficiary of lower energy costs despite ongoing concerns about the overall economic outlook, JPMorgan analysts continue. It is also one of the only emerging market-exposed cyclical sectors — which are exposed to economic trends — that is “starting to perform less poorly,” as opposed to the likes of autos and luxury, they said. Evonik Industries and Akzo Nobel are among its names to watch in this space. In the big picture, however, the analysts note some “challenging” competition for equities from the bond market, if yields become increasingly attractive. “Trade uncertainty is far from over, and the likely tariffs increase will end up much higher than anybody expected at the start of the year. The chances are that bond yields keep moving up, potentially for the wrong reasons,” they write. Source link #JPMorgan #sees #opportunities #Europe #year Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

CDC blindsided as RFK Jr. changes vaccine recommendations – The Washington Post CDC blindsided as RFK Jr. changes vaccine recommendations – The Washington Post CDC blindsided as RFK Jr. changes vaccine recommendations The Washington PostWill you be able to get a COVID-19 shot? Here’s what we know so far AP NewsRFK Jr. says COVID shots no longer recommended for kids, pregnant women NPRUnder RFK Jr., the CDC Says Healthy Children Don’t Need Covid Vaccines. Is That True? The New York TimesWant a COVID vaccine? Here’s how much it could cost you out of pocket USA Today Source link #CDC #blindsided #RFK #vaccine #recommendations #Washington #Post Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Reeves outlines plan for £25bn pension ‘megafunds’ Reeves outlines plan for £25bn pension ‘megafunds’ Lucy Hooker Business reporter Getty Images The government has fleshed out its plans for reforming the *** pension industry, including the creation of £25bn “megafunds” which will be instructed to make a portion of their investments locally to help fuel economic growth. The chancellor said the overhaul, designed to follow the example of Australia and Canada’s huge pension investment funds, would also boost people’s pension pots. “These reforms mean better returns for workers and billions more invested in clean energy and high-growth businesses,” Rachel Reeves said. Seventeen of the ***’s largest pension firms already approved the gist of these reforms in a voluntary agreement earlier this month. However, the government is also including a legislative back-stop, which will allow it to push through the new rules, if insufficient progress is made by the end of the decade. The government has indicated it does not expect to use the new powers. Nevertheless, that element may draw criticism, with some in the industry opposed to any government mandate over how and where investments are made. Zoe Alexander, a director at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said the changes would have “significant implications” for how pension schemes operated. But she added: “Increased consolidation has the potential to improve retirement outcomes through improved governance, wider investment diversification and improved bargaining power.” Miles Celic chief executive of The City ***, representing the financial services industry, backed the chancellor’s assertion that the move could “help drive economic growth”. A former Liberal Democrat pensions minister, Sir Steve Webb, who is now a partner at consultants LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock), described the news as “truly a red letter day for pension schemes, their members and the companies who stand behind them”. “The Government has clearly been bold in this area and this opens up the potential for this surplus money to be used more productively to benefit scheme members, firms and the wider economy,” he added. One of Labour’s first moves after taking office last year was the announcement of a pension review. In November the chancellor floated her “megafunds” plan, which covers retirement savings for the majority of *** workers in two ways. Firstly, there are the 86 different local authority pension schemes, which provide for more than six million people in their retirement, the majority low-paid women. The £392bn in these defined benefit schemes will be merged in just six asset pools by March next year. In a defined benefit scheme a worker pays into their pension and is paid a pre-determined amount based on their salary and length of service. Local investment targets will be agreed for local authority pension schemes for the first time, the Treasury said. Secondly, defined contribution schemes currently worth £800bn, and covering millions of other private and public sector workers across the country, will also be consolidated. In defined contribution schemes workers are not guaranteed a specific amount. Instead their pension depends on the performance of the fund in the years before retirement. By 2030 the government says there should be more than 20 pension funds worth more than £25bn, in contrast to the current ten. As part of the voluntary agreement, known as the Mansion House accord, agreed earlier in May, the 17 firms involved committed to investing 10% of their assets in things other than publicly traded shares, so that more money would flow into home-building, infrastructure projects and start-up businesses in fast-growing sectors. In addition, 5% of investments will be earmarked to go into *** assets. The reforms will form part of the Pension Schemes Bill, about to go before Parliament. The new approach would mean over £50bn additional investment in *** infrastructure, new homes and businesses, the Treasury said. On Thursday the government is publishing the final report from its Pensions Investment Review. It said the review found the reforms would drive higher returns for pension savers through cutting waste, economies of scale and improved investment strategies. As a result workers on average earnings could see a £6,000 boost to their defined contribution pension pot, the Treasury said. Source link #Reeves #outlines #plan #25bn #pension #megafunds Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nationals pitcher joins “The Takeout” to discuss charity work Nationals pitcher joins “The Takeout” to discuss charity work Nationals pitcher joins “The Takeout” to discuss charity work – CBS News Watch CBS News This week on “The Takeout,” Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle and his wife, Eireann Dolan, discuss their interest in social causes, advocating for LGBT rights, syrian refugees and veterans. Watch a preview. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Source link #Nationals #pitcher #joins #Takeout #discuss #charity #work Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Planning change makes heat pump installations easier for homes Planning change makes heat pump installations easier for homes Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Getty Images A key planning restriction that heat pumps need to be one meter from a neighbour’s property has been lifted as the government seeks to accelerate the take up of the low-carbon technology. The change, which is part of the government’s Warm Homes Plan to lower household bills and cut planet warming emissions, means it could be easier for millions of homes in England to have a heat pump installed. But consumer groups warn that the changes will not help those in rented or leasehold properties and the biggest barrier to installing a heat pump remains the high upfront costs. This is a particular problem for older housing stock where upgrades to pipework and insulation may also be required. Most *** homes use gas boilers for their hot water and heating, but this produces up to 14% of the country’s planet warming greenhouse gases. In comparison, heat pumps use electricity, so as the country moves to generating more electricity from renewable energy sources like solar and wind, they could produce far fewer emissions than boilers. But switching from a gas boiler to a heat pump is expensive and not straightforward if you live in one of England’s six million terraced homes. Until Thursday, homeowners needed planning permission if they wanted to put a heat pump within one meter of their neighbour’s property – because of concerns over noise. Tom Clarke, a gas engineer who recently retrained to fit heat pumps, said having to apply for planning permission had been a barrier for his customers. “When you look across London we have loads and loads of terraced houses and no matter where you site the appliance it is always going to be within one metre of the boundary,” he said. It was particularly problematic for people replacing a broken gas boiler because many customers would not want to go more than a month without heating waiting for council approval, he said. This is echoed by Octopus Energy, who told parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) Committee in 2023 that this planning rule was affecting 27% of its customers. “Those who try to proceed end up waiting an additional eight to 10 weeks on average. Even if customers meet all the requirements, there is no guarantee that local councils will grant the permission, as they all have different interpretations of central planning guidelines,” the company wrote in its submission. “The combined impact of all these things mean that very few of the 27% of customers who require planning have made it to install.” The rule has now been dropped to accelerate the uptake of heat pumps. Previous concerns over noise are less of an issue with newer devices, though units will still be required to be below a certain volume level. The planning changes also include a relaxation of the rules for the size and number of heat pumps households can install. Households most likely to be affected are those living in terraced housing. In 2021, they accounted for 5.7 million households, or 23% of the total. Some of these will still need planning permission, for example those living in conservation areas and those installing ground source heat pumps. Kevin Church/BBC Tom Clarke has retrained to fit heat pumps after more than a decade as a gas engineer The change is part of the government’s Warm Homes Plan which aims to give 300,000 households upgrades to improve their energy efficiency and lower bills. Although the heat pump industry welcomed the changes, many point out the main barrier for many customers is that installing heat pumps is expensive, particularly in older houses, where better insulation may also be needed. This was the case at social housing estate Sutton Dwellings in Chelsea, London, which underwent a full refurbishment of its fabric alongside a new heating network. Its landlord, Clarion Housing Group, did receive a grant from the government to install the new network but also invested its own money. Stuart Gadsden, commercial director at Kensa, the company which designed and installed the system, said this was an issue for many landlords: “A big [barrier] is funding, this obviously does cost more to install than a traditional gas boiler system. “In the social housing sector we have funding from the warm homes social housing fund, but it was oversubscribed by double. Lots of housing associations want to put low carbon heating in but there is not enough to go around.” Kevin Church/BBC Each flat within Sutton Dwellings has its own heat pump and tank to control the heating and hot water Renters have to rely on landlords being willing to make the initial upfront investment. Rob Lane, Chief Property Officer at Clarion, said the company was happy to do this at Sutton Dwellings because of the impact for residents: “We’re waiting to see how the costs of running this system bear out, but our forecasts suggests that each home is going to cost on average £450 – £500 per home (each year) – considerable savings for residents.” From 2030, as part of the Warm Homes plan, there will be mandatory requirements for all private landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties. But the way that Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are currently calculated means a gas boiler can sometimes have a better rating than a heat pump because it looks at energy costs and assumes gas is cheaper. Katy King, deputy director of sustainability at charity Nesta, said the government could bring down electricity costs. “The *** has some of the most expensive electricity prices in Europe. The government could take levies off electricity and put them onto gas or use general taxation. It is a tricky choice and one we do expect them to be consulting on within the year,” she said. Source link #Planning #change #heat #pump #installations #easier #homes Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Pasifique Zawadi Niyonyishi: Admits murdering elderly man, trying to kill his wife in their Greenwood home Pasifique Zawadi Niyonyishi: Admits murdering elderly man, trying to kill his wife in their Greenwood home A young man has confessed to fatally stabbing an 81-year-old man and trying to kill his elderly wife at their home in Perth’s northern suburbs. Source link #Pasifique #Zawadi #Niyonyishi #Admits #murdering #elderly #man #kill #wife #Greenwood #home Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How a former FBI agent took down a Russian spy How a former FBI agent took down a Russian spy How a former FBI agent took down a Russian spy – CBS News Watch CBS News This week on “The Takeout,” former FBI operative Eric O’Neill joins Major Garrett to discuss his book “Gray Day” and talk about Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Source link #FBI #agent #Russian #spy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Two individuals to be identified from Korean War remains Two individuals to be identified from Korean War remains Two individuals to be identified from Korean War remains – CBS News Watch CBS News On “The Takeout,” Director of Defense for POW and MIA Accounting Agency Kelly McKeague said “in the next week,” two individuals will be identified among Korean War remains repatriated from North Korea. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Source link #individuals #identified #Korean #War #remains Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Judge Steals 1 Of Trump’s Moves To Emphasize How Dumb His Executive Order Is Judge Steals 1 Of Trump’s Moves To Emphasize How Dumb His Executive Order Is A certain judge isn’t going to stand for this type of nonsense anymore!!!!!!!!! One of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, targeting law firms he doesn’t like for incredibly petty reasons, was struck down Tuesday by Richard Leon, a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. In addition to calling Trump’s order “unconstitutional,” Leon’s 73-page opinion utilized a specific type of punctuation that Trump frequently uses himself: a crap-load of exclamation points. Leon’s opinion included a total of 26 exclamation marks (plus one more in a quotation of a comment by Trump). It’s rare to see a judge make such use of the exclamation mark, an expression of strong emotion that legal writing experts discourage. Perhaps Leon’s usage was an attempt to communicate with Trump in a way the president could actually understand. Some highlights from the opinion include Leon describing the Trump administration’s arguments in court as “absurd!” and responding to one of the government’s requests with an exasperated “Please!” At one point, Leon memorably writes: “The Order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!” Since returning to the White House, Trump has targeted several law firms that either refused to represent him or were associated with people he doesn’t like by suspending their attorneys’ security clearances and barring their employees from federal buildings. In March, he aimed his ire at the law firm WilmerHale because it had hired former special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation. WilmerHale quickly fired back by suing the Trump administration in an attempt to block the order, stating that it is “a plainly unlawful attack on the bedrock principles of our nation’s legal system—our clients’ right to counsel and the First Amendment.” Leon ruled in WilmerHale’s favor Tuesday, the third time this month that a federal judge in Washington has found Trump’s attacks on law firms unconstitutional. Leon even took the time to explain the fundamentals of democracy to Trump in his ruling — and it’s sassy! “The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this! Accordingly, they took pains to enshrine in the Constitution certain rights that would serve as the foundation for that independence. Little wonder that in the nearly 250 years since the Constitution was adopted no Executive Order has been issued challenging these fundamental rights. Now, however, several Executive Orders have been issued directly challenging these rights and that independence. One of these Orders is the subject of this case. For the reasons set forth below, I have concluded that this Order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional. Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!” Source link #Judge #Steals #Trumps #Moves #Emphasize #Dumb #Executive #Order Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Sen. Warner on the status of the Senate Intel investigation Sen. Warner on the status of the Senate Intel investigation Sen. Warner on the status of the Senate Intel investigation – CBS News Watch CBS News “I think what we want to try to do is give the American people the truth, not only in terms of what Trump and the Russians did or didn’t do, but equally important, how do we make sure they don’t do it again on a going forward basis,” Sen. Mark Warner said of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian election interference on “The Takeout” podcast. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Source link #Sen #Warner #status #Senate #Intel #investigation Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia CEO hammers chip controls that ‘effectively closed’ China Nvidia CEO hammers chip controls that ‘effectively closed’ China Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp., speaks during a news conference in Taipei on May 21, 2025. Cheng / AFP) (Photo by I-HWA CHENG/AFP via Getty Images) I-hwa Cheng | Afp | Getty Images As pleased as Wall Street was with Nvidia’s quarterly results on Wednesday, CEO Jensen Huang said the company is leaving billions of dollars in revenue on the table because it can no longer sell to China. “The $50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry,” Huang told analysts at the beginning of his prepared remarks on the earnings call. “As a result, we are taking a multibillion-dollar writeoff on inventory that cannot be sold or repurposed.” Even without access to the world’s second-biggest economy, Nvidia reported 69% year-over-year revenue growth to $44 billion in the fiscal first quarter, topping analysts’ estimates. The stock rose about 4% in extended trading to a level that would be the highest since January if it stays there on Thursday. Nvidia shares are now up for the year, after a difficult start to 2025, adding to a rally that lifted the company’s market cap by almost 240% in 2023 and over 170% last year. Still, Huang is making his displeasure with the China situation quite clear. In April, the Trump administration told Nvidia that its previously approved H20 processor for China would require an export license, which effectively cut off sales with “no grace *******,” the company said on Wednesday. The U.S. government has highlighted the national security concerns of having Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips sold to a chief adversary. The H20 was introduced by Nvidia after the Biden administration restricted AI chip exports in 2022. It’s a slowed-down version intended to comply with U.S. export controls. Nvidia said on Wednesday that sales in the latest quarter would have been $2.5 billion higher if the company could have sold H20 chips for the full quarter, instead of stopping in April when it got the government letter. It had to write off $4.5 billion in inventory it couldn’t use anymore. In the current quarter, Nvidia said it had $8 billion in planned H20 orders that now have to be scrapped. Nvidia’s guidance is for $45 billion in the current *******, a number that would’ve been roughly 18% higher if not for the restriction. In Huang’s view, the export controls not only hurt Nvidia, but the whole of the U.S. He said China will “move on” with or without Nvidia’s chips, and that ******** AI researchers will turn to homegrown chips and technology from companies including Huawei. “The U.S. has based its policy on the assumption that China cannot make AI chips,” Huang said. “That assumption was always questionable, and now it’s clearly wrong.” “The question is not whether China will have AI,” Huang added. “It already does.” While Huang has become increasingly public in his disagreements with the export control policy, he’s very careful not to criticize President Donald Trump, who has made a habit out of making life difficult for companies and individuals that openly oppose him. Huang thanked Trump for rescinding the pending “AI diffusion” rule that would have put AI chip quotas on most countries, and praised him for helping strike deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to build massive data centers in the Middle East. He said Nvidia was building its latest chips and systems on U.S. soil, a nod to Trump’s plan to bring high-tech manufacturing stateside. “We share this vision” of highly automated manufacturing with Trump, Huang said. But Huang admitted that Nvidia doesn’t have another answer to the China issue. When asked on Wednesday if the company is working on a new China-focused chip to sell into the region or if Nvidia expected to get any relief from the administration, Huang said there’s no replacement product at the moment, and that the latest U.S. limits are “quite stringent.” “The president has a plan,” Huang said. “He has a vision, and I trust him.” WATCH: National security is of paramount importance in AI Source link #Nvidia #CEO #hammers #chip #controls #effectively #closed #China Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Rep. Ted Lieu says it’s not “unreasonable” to think impeachment inquiry could begin in the fall Rep. Ted Lieu says it’s not “unreasonable” to think impeachment inquiry could begin in the fall Rep. Ted Lieu says it’s not “unreasonable” to think impeachment inquiry could begin in the fall – CBS News Watch CBS News On “The Takeout” this week, Major Garrett talks with Rep. Ted Lieu, who questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller during his testimony this week. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On Source link #Rep #Ted #Lieu #unreasonable #impeachment #inquiry #fall Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

*** prosecutors authorise 21 criminal charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate – Reuters *** prosecutors authorise 21 criminal charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate – Reuters *** prosecutors authorise 21 criminal charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate ReutersAndrew Tate and brother Tristan are charged with ***** in the U.K. YahooAndrew and Tristan Tate to face 21 charges in ***, prosecutors say BBCTate brothers face ***** and trafficking charges in U.K. NPRInfluencers Andrew and Tristan Tate to face 21 charges in ***, CPS confirms The Guardian Source link #prosecutors #authorise #criminal #charges #Andrew #Tristan #Tate #Reuters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

VMware and Oracle licensing: Time to consider alternatives VMware and Oracle licensing: Time to consider alternatives Changes to Java and VMware software licensing that have been rolled out over the past few years have a material impact on the total cost of running existing Java-based enterprise systems. IT decision-makers are having to weigh up the extra costs with the additional cost and potential disruption arising from reengineering enterprise Java applications to take advantage of cloud-native architectures. It’s widely acknowledged that IT departments face difficulties modernising enterprise applications that have been running core business functions for years. Java was one of the main languages for developing enterprise applications, as its runtime environment, called the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) enabled code to run on any Java-supported hardware. The code was optimised when the software was run using just-in-time compilation, which has enabled Java applications to take advantage of the latest hardware developments. But older applications that were architected well before the era of cloud-native computing do not always work efficiently when re-hosted on a cloud platform. Some Java applications can be migrated relatively easily and are able to make the most of cloud-based IT infrastructure, while some, which have been engineered more as tightly bound, vertically integrated systems, may not run particularly efficiently in the cloud. As Scott Sellers, president and CEO of Azul Systems, points out, the speed required by enterprises to continue to innovate to stay on top is always going to be difficult in an environment where there are a lot of existing applications and legacy IT. According to Sellers, at any one time, there are 60 billion active Java virtual machines (JVMs), of which 38 billion are in the cloud. “Java is quite prevalent, running all sorts of different workloads,” he said. Much of the cloud-hosted Java applications will be running in proprietary virtualisation platforms provided by public cloud providers; others may use popular platforms like VMware or OpenShift, and there will be some that need to run directly on the base hardware. “Where speed is everything and businesses don’t want any extra layers of software, we see high-performance applications that are not virtualised today,” said Sellers. “But the majority of applications are using some form of virtualisation.” A double whammy A few years ago, Oracle simplified licensing of Java. Given the prevalence of Java hosted on VMware vSphere, licensing used to be priced based on the number of physical cores of the server hardware. Oracle now sells the Java SE Universal Subscription based on the number of employees. While this simplifies licensing, it can amount to a Java licensing price hike. Companies like Azul Systems have seen an opportunity to migrate organisations using Oracle Java (Oracle JDK) to their own alternative, based on the open source OpenJDK version of Java. For instance, the Azul Systems version is called Azul Platform Core. Now, with Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and its own subscription strategy, organisations using VMware to host their Java applications have to purchase both an Oracle Java SE Universal subscription and a VMware Cloud Foundry (VCF) subscription from Broadcom. While it does bundle several previously separately licensed products, as Computer Weekly has previously reported, many VMware users will find that their costs increase as they switch over from the core vSphere VMware virtualisation platform to a full VCF subscription. Lift and shift, and efficient virtualisation But as Sellers notes, the flexibility of the Java platform means IT decision-makers can lift and shift Java applications from one virtualisation platform, such as VMware, to another, like Red Hat OpenShift, relatively easily. This is an option IT decision-makers can assess when evaluating the total cost of ownership of their enterprise Java applications. But there are also opportunities to move beyond server virtualisation to containerisation. Here, the Java application needs to be engineered in a way that it can be segmented into small manageable blocks of code that can then be converted to microservices. Such applications are deemed cloud-native and tend to use cloud-based resources more efficiently than larger, more monolithic Java applications. The Java platform also offers the potential to improve how virtualised or containerised Java applications run. According to Sellers, there is a lot more information in a running Java virtual machine that is currently not presented to optimise virtualisation or container management. “There is a tremendous amount of information in the Java virtual machine itself, which can make deployments in containers much more efficient by providing additional information to the Kubernetes management infrastructure,” he said. As an example, Sellers said that with Java workloads, this information could help Kubernetes make decisions a little bit smarter, such as for auto-scaling. “In today’s environment, Kubernetes orchestration layers are really still looking from the outside in,” he added. “They use fairly coarse grain metrics such as processor utilisation and memory consumption, but there’s a lot more information inside a JVM that could enable the Kubernetes orchestration engine to be smarter.” There are also efficiency tweaks that can be made to improve Java’s efficiency when run on cloud-based IT infrastructure. As an example, among the technical features Azul Systems provides to improve how JVMs run in a cloud environment is its Cloud Native compiler. “Every time that a job application starts, it’s doing the same thing on every node: it’s starting up; it’s doing the compilation; it’s warming up, and eventually gets up to full speed,” said Sellers. He added that much of these tasks are redundant since a JVM replicated across multiple nodes will be doing the same thing. “You’re basically doing very similar work, you’re just scaling them out to be able to handle your aggregate throughput,” said Sellers. As part of Azul Systems’ Prime Platform, the Cloud Native compiler provides a shared compiler service, which runs as a Kubernetes managed environment. Given Java’s footprint in the cloud and the fact that IT leaders are experiencing rising costs of enterprise Java systems hosted on VMware, there’s a compelling business case to move away from the Oracle JDK Java implementation to an OpenJDK-based alternative and switch from VMware to an alternative platform for hosting these systems. Source link #VMware #Oracle #licensing #Time #alternatives Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Chile’s salmon farms hope for calmer waters Chile’s salmon farms hope for calmer waters Jane Chambers Business reporter Reporting fromPuerto Montt, ChileGetty Images Chile has 1,343 offshore salmon farms scattered up and down the coast in the south of the country Chile is the world’s second-largest exporter of farmed salmon, and the biggest supplier to the US. In the south of the country a dispute continues over the large number of salmon farms that are located in supposedly protected areas. The port city of Puerto Montt, more than 1,000km (600 miles) south of Chile’s capital Santiago, is at the heart of the country’s farmed Atlantic salmon industry. At a processing facility on the outskirts of town workers kitted out in white suits, hairnets, facemasks, and blue plastic gloves and boots prepare fresh and smoked salmon for export to the US and Japan. In a spacious meeting room, Fracisco Lobos, the chief corporate officer for the plant’s owner – salmon-exporter Multi X – explains how farming the fish has transformed the south of Chile. “Salmon’s been part of this region’s industrial revolution,” he says. “There used to be a lot of poverty in the region, and now many people earn more than in other parts of Chile. “Because of the industry a lot of support services have sprung up, which benefit the families living here, and people have moved here from other parts of the country for work.” Atlantic salmon are not native to Chile. Instead, eggs were brought over to Chile from the *** at the end of the 19th Century and released into rivers, lakes and the sea to grow into fish for recreational fishing. Farming the fish in netted, offshore pens then started in the 1970s, before growing substantially ever since. There were 1,343 active salmon farms across southern Chile at the end of last year. In 2024 as a whole, Chile exported 782,076 tonnes of salmon and trout, according to the latest annual figures from the Chile’s National Customs Service. The vast majority of this is salmon, but the two fish are counted together in the official data. This was worth $6.4bn (£4.8bn), making it Chile’s third-biggest export after copper in first place and fresh fruit. It also means that Chile’s salmon exports are only surpassed by Norway’s. Salmon is the third-highest value export for Chile Some 86,000 people now work directly or indirectly for Chile’s farmed salmon industry, according to trade body Salmón Chile. The farms stretch from the Biobío region, which is around 500km south of Santiago, right down to the Magallanes region in the far Patagonian south of the country, and more than 2,000km away from the capital. With global demand for farmed salmon due to grow by 40% by 2033, according to one report, Chilean producers are keen to increase their production. However, it actually fell slightly last year. Salmón Chile’s chairman, Arturo Clements, says the government needs to do more to help the industry expand. “For us it’s been very difficult to grow, because we have too many regulations, and we have too many conflicts regarding the use of the sea,” he says. “What we need is to define a long-term strategy regarding salmon farming.” Much of the conflict concerns the locations of many of the fish farms, which critics say are highly polluting. More specifically, there are 408 salmon farming concessions – licenses granted by the government that allow a company to operate a salmon farm in a specific area – within supposedly environmentally protected areas in Chile. These include 294 in national reserves, where limited commercial use of natural resources is allowed. And 29 in the more strictly controlled national parks, where business operations are officially not supposed to be permitted. Flavia Liberona is the executive director of Terram, a foundation that promotes sustainable development. In her hot and sticky office in an old building in the centre of Santiago she describes an environmental campaign that she’s part of – Salvemos La Patagonia or Save Patagonia. It wants to protect the natural habitat of the entire Chilean Patagonia region. This vast geographic area starts north of Puerto Montt and then extends all the way down to the very base of the country. And it is where most of the salmon farms are located, in its many fjords. “We want the salmon farms to stop operating in the national parks and national reserves,” says Ms Liberona. “The salmon farming causes various environmental problems. One is that the fish are kept in cages and fed with pellets. “A lot of the pellets and fish ******* end up on the seabed and that leads to less oxygen which kills the sea life in the ocean underneath the cages, and depending on the current, elsewhere in the sea.” Government licences exist for 29 salmon farms in Chilean national parks When these concerns are put to Mr Clement from Salmón Chile, he explains that there are different categories for the salmon farming concessions. “In terms of concessions in the national parks we have 21 that we aren’t using,” he says. “We have told the government that we don’t want to be there and asked to be relocated but nothing has happened for many years.” Regarding salmon farming in national reserves, he says that is a different environment which, according to Chilean law and the rules and regulations they follow, they can operate in. In Chile, the salmon industry is regulated by The Undersecretariat for Fisheries and Aquaculture, a public body that is part of the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism. It looks at environmental protection and sustainability, and is also working on a new general aquaculture law to further regulate the sector. Julio Salas Gutiérrez, the Chilean Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture, tells the BBC that the government is working to remove fish farms from the national parks. “It’s not right to claim that the government ‘has done nothing for years’ regarding the relocation of concessions outside of national parks,” he says. “Under the current administration, efforts have been made not only to understand the problem, but also to advance it. “The relocation process itself is usually quite complex, bureaucratic, and takes a considerable number of years, considering the difficulty of relocating these concessions to new areas suitable for aquaculture.” Matt Craze is the founder of *** and Chile-based Spheric Research, which studies global seafood markets. He says that Chile’s salmon industry would invest more money “if they felt that there was a better regulatory framework, and the government gave some certainty about the areas where they can farm”. Yet with a general election due in Chile later this year, the uncertainty may continue at least in the short term. Read more global business stories Source link #Chiles #salmon #farms #hope #calmer #waters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Adidas confirms customer data was accessed during cyber attack Adidas confirms customer data was accessed during cyber attack Adidas has suffered a data breach that has affected customers who have previously had cause to contact the sportswear brand’s customer service helpdesk. The company confirmed the incident in a post on its website, dated 23 May 2025, that stated it had recently suffered a data breach after an unauthorised external party obtained “certain consumer data” through a third-party customer service provider used by Adidas. “We immediately took steps to contain the incident and launched a comprehensive investigation, collaborating with leading information security experts,” said the company statement. Adidas also confirmed that the affected data does not contain passwords, credit card credentials or any other payment-related information. “It mainly consists of contact information relating to consumers who had contacted our customer service helpdesk in the past,” the company statement continued. “Adidas is in the process of informing potentially affected consumers, as well as appropriate data protection and law enforcement authorities consistent with applicable law.” The company closed out the statement by saying it remains “fully committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers” and that it “sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident”. Computer Weekly contacted Adidas for further comment on the breach, requesting clarity from the company about the number of customers potentially affected and precise details on when details of the breach first came to light. At the time of writing, no response had been received. Adidas is the latest household retail brand to fall victim to a cyber attack in recent weeks, with retailers Marks and Spencer (M&S) and Co-op also hitting the headlines recently after their systems were infiltrated by unauthorised third parties. As previously reported by Computer Weekly, M&S is still in the process of restoring its operations after falling victim to a ransomware attack that is estimated will cost the firm £300m. News of the incident first broke in late April 2025, and M&S recently confirmed that it might take until July 2025 for its systems to fully recover. Just over a week later, on 30 April 2025, Co-op revealed it had proactively taken systems offline following a series of hacking attempts. While it remains unclear at this time if the Adidas attack is linked, the recent wave of cyber attacks against British retailers prompted the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to issue an alert at the start of May, warning other retailers that they could be targeted too. “The disruption caused by the recent incidents impacting the retail sector is naturally a cause for concern to those businesses affected, their customers and the public,” said NCSC CEO Richard Horne, in a statement published on 2 May 2025. “The NCSC continues to work closely with organisations that have reported incidents to us to fully understand the nature of these attacks and to provide expert advice to the wider sector based on the threat picture,” he added. “These incidents should act as a wake-up call to all organisations. I urge leaders to follow the advice on the NCSC website to ensure they have appropriate measures in place to help prevent attacks and respond and recover effectively.” Source link #Adidas #confirms #customer #data #accessed #cyber #attack Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

More than £1bn earmarked for battlefield tech More than £1bn earmarked for battlefield tech The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will spend more than £1bn to develop technology to speed up decisions on the battlefield. The funding will be one of the results of the government’s long-awaited strategic defence review which is due to be published in full on Monday. The government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5% GDP from April 2027 with an ambition to increase that to 3% in the next parliament. In February, the prime minister said cuts to the foreign aid budget would be used to fund the military boost. Announcing the results of the review, the MoD said a new Digital Targeting Web would better connect soldiers on the ground with key information provided by satellites, aircraft and drones helping them target enemy threats faster. Defence Secretary John Healey said the technology announced in the review – which will harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) and software – also highlights lessons being learnt from the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is already using AI and software to speed up the process of identifying, and then hitting, Russian military targets. The review had been commissioned by the newly formed Labour government shortly after last year’s election with Healey describing it as the “first of its kind”. The government said the findings would be published in the first half of 2025, but did not give an exact date. Healey made the announcement on a visit to the MoD’s cyber headquarters in Corsham, Wiltshire. The headquarters is where the *** military co-ordinates their cyber activities to both prevent and to carry out cyber-attacks. Defence officials said over the last two years the ***’s military had faced more than 90,000 cyber-attacks by potential adversaries. Attacks have been on the rise, as has their level of sophistication, they added. Staff at Corsham said they had recently helped identify and block malware sent to *** military personnel who recently returned from working abroad. They said the source of the malware was from a “known Russian actor”. Both Russia and China have been linked to the increase in cyber-attacks. Defence officials have confirmed that the *** military has also been conducting its own offensive cyber-attacks. Healey said it showed the nature of warfare was changing. “The keyboard is now a weapon of war and we are responding to that,” he said. He said the *** needed to be the fastest-innovating military within the Nato alliance. As part of the strategic defence review, the ***’s military cyber operations will be overseen by a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command. The MoD said the Command would also take the lead in electronic warfare, from co-ordinating efforts to intercept any adversaries communications, to jamming drones. Healey said the extra investment being made was possible because of the government’s “historic commitment” to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. However, the Nato Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, is calling on allies to increase defence spending by more than 3.5% of GDP. Source link #1bn #earmarked #battlefield #tech Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

*** biometric surveillance exists in ‘legal grey area’ *** biometric surveillance exists in ‘legal grey area’ The ***’s patchwork approach to regulating biometric surveillance technologies is “inadequate”, placing fundamental rights at risk and ultimately undermining public trust, says the Ada Lovelace Institute (ALI). As *** public and private organisations rapidly expand their use of various biometric surveillance technologies, an analysis by the ALI has found that “significant gaps and fragmentation” in the existing governance frameworks for these tools means people’s rights are not being protected. While the Ada Lovelace Institute’s analysis focused primarily on deficiencies in *** policing’s use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology – which it identified as the most prominent and highly governed biometric surveillance use case – it noted there is a need for legal clarity and effective governance for “biometric mass surveillance technologies” across the board. This includes for other forms of biometrics, such as fingerprints for cashless payments in schools, or systems that claim to remotely infer people’s emotions or truthfulness, as well as other deployment scenarios, such as when supermarkets use LFR to identify shoplifters or verification systems to assure people’s ages for alcohol purchases. The urgent need for comprehensive regulation also extends to other forms of facial recognition, including retrospective or operator-initiated, which have so far received less public attention and regulatory oversight than LFR despite their “active use” by *** police. “Our legal analysis shows that the ***’s current ‘diffused’ governance model falls short of ensuring the proportional, accountable and ethical use of biometrics. Police use of LFR is the most highly governed biometrics application in the *** and yet does not meet the bar of a ‘sufficient legal framework’,” said ALI, adding that the clear inadequacy of the current approach means other use cases, particularly on the private sector side, have even less effective governance and oversight. “The range of impacts presented by this growing use cannot be managed effectively without a centralised governance model: a clear, coherent legal framework and a dedicated, independent regulatory body, responsible for managing current technologies and anticipating future developments. “Importantly, this framework must be comprehensive across use cases – covering police use, private sector surveillance and inferential biometric systems to meaningfully mitigate risks to around privacy and discrimination, and ensure accountability.” The ALI said a piecemeal approach developed in the wake of Bridges versus South Wales Police in August 2020 – the ***’s only case law on LFR to date – in which the Court of Appeal ruled the force’s use of the technology to be unlawful. It specifically highlighted “fundamental deficiencies” in the legal framework, noting that “too much discretion” was given to individual officers, and that criteria about where to deploy and who to include in watchlists was unclear. The ALI said while “a fragmented patchwork of voluntary guidance, principles, standards and other frameworks has been developed by regulators, policing bodies and government” to control police LFR use since the ruling, the documents taken together largely fail to address the concerns of the court. Specifically, the ALI highlighted an ongoing lack of clarity around the necessity and proportionality of any given LFR deployment, as well as a lack of clear criteria for developing and deploying watchlists. The ALI added that although “high-level police guidance and local police policies” address different concerns, the “diffused” governance model has created gaps that are not being filled. “Responsibility for developing and implementing each policy or piece of guidance is delegated across a range of relevant actors, including regulators, policing bodies and central government, and no formal incentives to monitor or report on implementation and compliance exist,” it said. Widening the discussion However, the ALI was clear that while much of the public discussion has so far focused on police LFR, the risks posed by biometric surveillance technologies are not limited to a single sector or use case, and instead arise from the combined effects of increasingly widespread deployment, opaque processes, and the growing use of sensitive data to make inferences, predictions and decisions about people by a range of actors. “Only a comprehensive approach can close loopholes, keep pace with technological developments, and safeguard public trust in how biometric systems are used,” it said, specifically noting that any biometrics regulation limited to police LFR alone could create “perverse incentives for outsourcing law enforcement responsibilities” to companies with fewer governance obligations and incentives to uphold rights. There is no specific law providing a clear basis for the use of live facial recognition and other biometric technologies that otherwise pose risks to people and society Nuala Polo, Ada Lovelace Institute “There is no specific law providing a clear basis for the use of live facial recognition and other biometric technologies that otherwise pose risks to people and society. In theory, guidance, principles and standards could help govern their use, but our analysis shows that the ***’s ad hoc and piecemeal approach is not meeting the bar set by the courts, with implications for both those subject to the technology, and those looking to use it,” said Nuala Polo, *** public policy lead at the ALI. She added that while police and other organisations claim their deployments are lawful under existing duties, these claims are almost impossible to assess without retrospective court cases. “It is not credible to say that there is a sufficient legal framework in place. This means the rapid roll-out of these technologies exists in a legal grey area, undermining accountability, transparency and public trust – while inhibiting deployers alive to the risks from understanding how they can deploy safely,” said Polo. “Legislation is urgently needed to establish clear rules for deployers and meaningful safeguards for people and society.” To alleviate the issues identified, the ALI outlined a number of policy recommendations for the *** government, including risk-based legislation analogous to the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which would tier legal obligations depending on the risk level associated with a given biometric system, and specify new safeguards in law, such as transparency requirements and mandated technical standards. It also recommended adopting a definition of biometrics as “data relating to the physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics of a natural person” so that both existing and new forms of biometric surveillance are captured, and establishing an independent regulatory body to oversee and enforce any new legal framework. “Task the independent regulatory body, in collaboration with policing bodies, to co-develop a code of practice that outlines deployment criteria for police use of facial recognition technologies, including live, operator-initiated and retrospective use,” it said. “This code of practice should address the ambiguity and subjectivity of criteria within current guidance and ensure consistency across police deployments.” Computer Weekly contacted the Home Office about the ALI report, as well as the repeated calls for biometric regulation from Parliament and civil society groups over the years. “Facial recognition is an important tool in modern policing that can identify offenders more quickly and accurately, with many serious criminals having been brought to justice through its use,” said a Home Office spokesperson. “All police forces using this technology are required to comply with existing legislation on how and where it is used, and we will continue to engage publicly about the use of this technology and the safeguards that accompany it. We will set out our plans for the future use of facial recognition technology, alongside broader policing reforms, in the coming months.” Previous calls for biometric regulation Both Parliament and civil society have made repeated calls for new legal frameworks to govern *** law enforcement’s use of biometrics. This includes three separate inquiries by the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (JHAC) into shoplifting, police algorithms and police facial recognition; two of the ***’s former biometrics commissioners, Paul Wiles and Fraser Sampson; an independent legal review by Matthew Ryder QC; the ***’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission; and the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which called for a moratorium on LFR as far back as July 2019. All police forces using [LFR] technology are required to comply with existing legislation on how and where it is used… We will set out our plans for the future use of facial recognition technology, alongside broader policing reforms, in the coming months Home Office spokesperson However, while most of these focused purely on police biometrics, the Ryder review in particular also took into account private sector uses of biometric data and technologies, such as in public-private partnerships and for workplace monitoring. During his time in office before resigning in October 2023, Sampson also highlighted a lack of clarity about the scale and extent of public space surveillance, as well as concerns around the general “culture of retention” in *** policing around biometric data. Throughout the JHAC inquiry – which described the police use of algorithmic technologies as a “new Wild West” characterised by a lack of strategy, accountability and transparency from the top down – Lords heard from expert witnesses that *** police are introducing new technologies with very little scrutiny or training, continuing to deploy them without clear evidence about their efficacy or impacts, and have conflicting interests with their own tech suppliers. In a short follow-up inquiry, this time looking exclusively at facial recognition, the JHAC found that police are expanding their use of LFR without proper scrutiny or accountability, despite lacking a clear legal basis for their deployments. The committee also specifically called into question whether LFR is even legal. The committee added that, looking to the future, there is a real possibility of networked facial recognition cameras capable of trawling entire regions of the *** being introduced, and that there is nothing in place to regulate this potential development. Despite myriad calls for a new legislative framework from different quarters, government ministers have claimed on multiple occasions that there is a sound legal basis for LFR in the ***, and that “a comprehensive network of checks and balances” already exists. Source link #biometric #surveillance #exists #legal #grey #area Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]