Russia's top security agency says it has seized dozens of kilos of explosives sent from Ukraine concealed in Orthodox Christian religious icons that had transited through the European Union. The seizure took place on Tuesday, following an inspection of cargo in the northwestern Pskov region near the Latvian border, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement. There was no immediate comment by Ukraine, which has been fighting off a Russian invasion since February 2022. The FSB said the cargo had passed through Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and comprised 70 kilos (154 pounds) of home-made explosives and explosive devices "hidden in icons and ready for use". One person was arrested, it continued, adding that it would seek to track down all those involved, including foreigners, who would then face legal proceedings in Russia.

Grant money meant to help cities prepare for terror attacks is being spent on "massive purchases of surveillance technology" for US police departments, a new report by the advocacy organizations Action Center on Race and Economy (ACRE), LittleSis, MediaJustice, and the Immigrant Defense Project shows. Shopping for AI-powered spytech: For example, the Los Angeles Police Department used funding intended for counterterrorism to buy automated license plate readers worth at least $1.27 million, radio equipment worth upwards of $24 million, Palantir data fusion platforms (often used for AI-powered predictive policing), and social media surveillance software. Why this matters: For various reasons, a lot of problematic tech ends up in high-stake sectors such as policing with little to no oversight. For example, the facial recognition company Clearview AI offers "free trials" of its tech to police departments, which allows them to use it without a purchasing agreement or budget approval. Federal grants for counterterrorism don't require as much public transparency and oversight.

The study of mortality patterns is a popular research topic in many areas. We are particularly interested in mortality patterns among main causes of death associated with age-gender combinations. We use symbolic data analysis (SDA) and include three dimensions: age, gender, and patterns across main causes of death. In this study, we present an alternative method to identify clusters of EU countries with similar mortality patterns in the young population, while considering comprehensive information on the distribution of deaths among the main causes of death by different age-gender groups. We explore possible relationships between mortality patterns in the identified clusters and some other sociodemographic indicators. We use EU data of crude mortality rates from 2016, as the most recent complete data available.

The upcoming Czech Presidency shared a discussion paper with the other EU governments to gather their views on AI definition, high-risk systems, governance and national security. The paper, obtained by EURACTIV, will be the basis for the discussion in the Telecom Working Party on 5 July, with the view of providing an updated compromise text by 20 July. The member states will then be asked to provide written comments on the new compromise by 2 September. "The CZ Presidency has identified four high-level outstanding issues which require a more thorough discussion and where receiving directions from the member states would be crucial to moving the negotiations to the next level," the document reads. The document is the first of the Czech Presidency, which formally will only start in July. The draft indicates continuity with the direction taken by the French Presidency and provides the main topics where the Czechs will focus.

France is proposing several changes to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act to ensure better alignment with the new legislative framework, the EU's legislation that regulates market surveillance and conformity assessment procedures. The changes also relate to the designation of competent authorities and the high-risk AI database. The French Presidency, which leads the work in the EU Council, shared a new compromise text on Monday (25 April) that will be discussed with the representatives of the other member states at the telecom working party on Thursday. Notified bodies will play a crucial role in the enforcement of the AI Act, as they will be designated by EU countries to assess the conformity of the AI systems to EU rules before they are launched on the market. The new text refers explicitly to the EU regulation setting up the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance, and a reference that such bodies will have to respect confidentiality obligations has been added.

Europe's proposed artificial intelligence (AI) rules should try to benefit from the technology instead of hindering it, an EU lawmaker told Reuters this week. "There should be a general positive approach towards artificial intelligence," European Parliament member Svenja Hahn said in an interview published Wednesday (March 23). Last year, the European Commission proposed rules governing AI that include fines of as high as 6% of global turnover for violations and stringent safeguards for high-risk applications used for areas such as recruitment, infrastructure, migration, credit scoring and law enforcement. The European Parliament and EU countries are due to arrive at negotiating positions by the end of the year, with Hahn and other lawmakers charged with coming up with a compromise. At issue is the potential use of facial recognition applications, which positions EU countries that hope to use them for law enforcement and security against concerned civil rights groups.

BRUSSELS: Europe's two privacy watchdogs teamed up on Monday (Jun 21) to call for a ban on the use of facial recognition in public spaces, going against draft European Union rules which would allow the technology to be used for public security reasons. The European Commission in April proposed rules on artificial intelligence, including a ban on most surveillance, in a bid to set global standards for a key technology dominated by China and the United States. The proposal does allow high-risk AI applications to be used in areas such as migration and law enforcement, though it laid out strict safeguards, with the threat of fines of as much as 6per cent of a company's global turnover for breaches. The proposal needs to be negotiated with EU countries and the bloc's lawmakers before it becomes law. The two privacy agencies, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), warned of the extremely high risks posed by remote biometric identification of individuals in public areas.

Are superhuman computers set to steal our jobs, take over the world and perhaps even kill off humanity? Such fears are commonplace in contemporary culture. Witness how dystopias about super-powerful rogue forms of artificial intelligence (AI), such as Person of Interest, Black Mirror and Ex Machina, have proliferated in recent years. But while scary science fiction may be entertaining, the reality of AI is rather more prosaic – and positive. For good or ill, AI isn't going to be running the world any time soon.

Discussions will focus on how the technological developments will shape the future of Europe and building a strong Digital Single Market with increased investment and digital skills is crucial. After last year's Digital Day in Rome that triggered successful cooperation in areas such as high-performance computing, connected mobility and the digitisation of industry, the Commission is repeating the initiative to encourage more cooperation on digital issues. Within a year, major progress has been made towards a Digital Single Market. The end of roaming charges and the portability of online content are now part of the lives of Europeans. Stronger rules on the protection of personal data and the first EU-wide rules on cybersecurity will become a reality in May 2018.