Europe Government
PM says it is 'clear' Russia interfered with Brexit vote
PM says it is'clear' Russia interfered with Brexit vote Andy Burnham has said Russia did interfere with the Brexit referendum and warned that similar activities were taking place in France and Germany. The prime minister told The Rest is Politics podcast, external that upon arriving in No 10, he had asked about possible Russian interference in the 2016 vote, adding: I've had the clear answer that, yes, there was. I think we've been too much on the back foot on that actually and we haven't informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas, he added. Burnham did not provide further details about the type or extent of Moscow's activity during the Brexit referendum. Britain Unbound, a pro-Brexit campaign group, said Burnham's comments were another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision that the British people made in 2016.
Ukraine strikes Russian data centre again despite Trump warning
Image caption, Yandex's data centres have been targeted three times this week - like this one in Sasovo on Thursday Yandex has been forced to pause its operations at a data centre near Moscow after the facility was damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike - the third attack on the Russian tech giant's sites this week. The company - dubbed Russia's Google - said no one was injured at the centre in Vladimir, east of the capital, but some of its services were unavailable to users. Earlier this week, Yandex said it was struggling to maintain its services after two of its five data centres were hit in Ukrainian strikes. Sunday's attack came hours after US President Donald Trump warned that Ukraine should damn well stop attacking Russia's oil refineries. Later on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that any de-escalation steps must be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees.
UK must not be beholden to foreign AI, says head of Alan Turing Institute
George Williamson: 'As AI becomes more embedded in domains like defence, national security, critical infrastructure and healthcare we shouldn't depend solely on systems we can't inspect or control.' George Williamson: 'As AI becomes more embedded in domains like defence, national security, critical infrastructure and healthcare we shouldn't depend solely on systems we can't inspect or control.' George Williamson says'national resilience' is key focus of ATI amid US and China's runaway leadership in field The UK must not become dependent on foreign AI systems that can be switched off at short notice and must develop its own versions of the technology, according to the head of the Alan Turing Institute. The country needs a stronger domestic position in AI in response to the US and China's runaway leadership in the field, with "national resilience" a key focus for ATI said George Williamson. The institute is the UK's leading AI research body and is under new leadership after the government, its main source of funding, demanded a strategic shift. Palantir's Tom Watson says'mob rule' must not dictate awarding of government contracts "As AI becomes more embedded in critical services, in domains like defence, national security, critical infrastructure and healthcare we shouldn't depend solely on systems we can't inspect or control, or that could be restricted or even switched off," said Williamson. In June Washington temporarily blocked the release outside the US of Anthropic's latest models, and has reportedly asked leading AI labs to withhold their models from being tested by the UK's AI Security Institute until they have been examined by AISI's US counterpart.
Met's Special Constabulary head fired after AI tool found deleted intimate images on work phone
Image caption, Special chief officer James Deller's actions were an abuse of trust, the Met Police said The Metropolitan Police has fired the head of its Special Constabulary after Palantir's AI monitoring uncovered that he had used his work phone to copy intimate images of a woman. Special chief officer James Deller, who led the force's volunteer officers, was dismissed following a misconduct hearing on Friday. The Met said investigators used lawful business monitoring and Palantir's Foundry system, which uses artificial intelligence (AI), to find the misconduct by Deller. Cdr Pete Stevens said: SCO Deller failed to meet that bar. His actions were an abuse of the trust put in him and it is right that he is no longer able to serve in policing.
Hours after Trump-Putin diesel deal, Ukraine strikes Russian fuel site
Is the war entering a new phase? Hours after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to ease diesel sanctions, a Ukrainian drone strike set a fuel facility in Russia's Rostov region ablaze. The governor says more than 50 drones were intercepted, with no injuries. Trump confirms Fort Hood shooter's execution will be by firing squad
Putin tells Trump peace talks are unlikely, cites Ukraine drone attacks
Is the war entering a new phase? Russian President Vladimir Putin has said an immediate resumption of peace talks with Ukraine is unlikely, citing drone attacks on Moscow during parliamentary elections last month. In a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Friday, Putin said Moscow was ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after the parliamentary elections. However, the drone attacks on the capital made the resumption of trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US unlikely. "As the president said, we will now assess when these negotiations can resume," he added regarding the trilateral talks.
Trump announces deal for Russian diesel as Zelensky criticises 'gift to Putin'
Trump announces deal for Russian diesel as Zelensky criticises'gift to Putin' US President Donald Trump says he has reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin allowing Moscow to immediately release diesel into the global market. He said Putin had agreed to release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and another million after that. Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Trump wrote on Truth social. An envoy to Putin welcomed the deal, but Ukraine's president said any easing of sanctions on Russia played into Moscow's hands and would prolong a war that must be ended. Diesel prices in the US have doubled since the war with Iran began in February, putting pressure on Republicans ahead of the midterm elections over the rising cost of living.
Russian search engine Yandex struggles after Ukrainian strikes on data centres
Russian tech giant Yandex has said it was struggling to maintain services after two of its five data centres were struck by Ukrainian drones in the past two days. Often dubbed Russia's Google, the company runs the country's most popular search engine, as well as a food-ordering and taxi app used by tens of millions of people. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were in response to weeks of Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres. Both sides have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months as the war between the two drags on. Kyiv says its strikes are aimed at revenue streams for Moscow's war machine, and that the latest attacks could force Russia to divert resources to Yandex.
Prize-winning image which sparked backlash was AI-generated, Nikon rules
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Nikon disqualified the winning video (shown left). The winner of a prestigious scientific photography competition has been disqualified following concerns raised by other scientists that it was fake. Nikon said the use of generative AI in the composition of the video broke the rules of its Small World In Motion contest, which accepts photos and video taken using powerful microscopes. The firm said the video did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI, but added it was not a judgement of the entrant's professional reputation or scientific contributions.
Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure
Is the war entering a new phase? Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure Share Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure on social media Ukrainian drone strikes have partly disabled an AI data centre operated by Russian digital giant Yandex. The strike on Friday followed an attack on another of the company's data hubs the previous day, appearing to signal that Ukraine's military campaign is widening its scope to target Russia's technology infrastructure. Moscow has previously targeted data hubs inside Ukraine. A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down a major data hub in Sasovo in the Ryazan region, where two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company's AI models are housed.