These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract The relationship between energy demand and variables such as economic activity and weather is well established. However, this paper aims to explore the connection between energy demand and other social aspects, which receive little attention. Through the use of natural language processing on a large news corpus, we shed light on this important link. This study was carried out in five regions of the UK and Ireland and considers multiple horizons from 1 to 30 days. It also considers economic variables such as GDP, unemployment and inflation. We found that: 1) News about military conflicts, transportation, the global pandemic, regional economics, and the international energy market are related to electricity demand. Electricity demand modelling is a fundamental process in power system planning, operation, and energy trading [1]. In order to avoid additional carbon emissions from excess electricity generation and the high costs of electricity storage, electricity demand and supply should be matched over time [2]. Demand forecasting has become a means of enabling power dispatch, planning generation schedules, and integrating renewable energy sources [3]. Electricity demand forecasting is linked to various factors, including weather, economic activity, and major events.

Dr Asress Gikay argues that an outright ban on police use of live facial recognition technology would be a mistake. UK police are being accused of breaking ethical standards by using live facial recognition technology to help fight crime. A recent report by the University of Cambridge into trials of the technology by forces in London and South Wales was particularly concerned about the "lack of robust redress" for anyone suffering harm. It spoke of the need to "protect human rights and improve accountability" before facial recognition is used more widely. The Cambridge team wants a broad ban on police using the technology, and they are not alone.

It was early one morning in 1996 when Andrew Hopkins, then a PhD biophysics student at Oxford University, had a brainwave as he walked home from a late-night lab meeting. He was trying to find molecules to fight HIV and to better understand drug resistance. "I remember this idea struck me that there must be a better way to do drug discovery other than the complex and expensive way everyone was following," he says. "Why couldn't we design an automated approach to drug design that would use all the information in parallel so that even a humble PhD student could create a medicine? That idea really stuck with me. I remember almost the exact moment to this day. And that was the genesis of the idea that eventually became Exscientia."

The debates around the advancement of artificial intelligence have frequently made the technology headlines for the last several decades, with some of the most challenging hypotheticals concerning potential surges in unemployment due to the predicted higher productivity rates of AI systems in comparison to humans. And as far as Wales is concerned, this issue would prove to be a large area of concern for workers in labour-intensive positions, especially given the recent loss of jobs in sectors such as automotive for example, in which we saw the impactful closure of the Ford Engine Plant in Bridgend nearly 18 months ago. On the other hand, there is also much long-term value in developing artificial intelligence within Wales. This has proved to be particularly evident in the South Wales power-electronics cluster, and Wales' soaring Fintech sector in both North and South Wales, in which both industries are using some form of small to large scale artificial intelligence within their infrastructure and supply chains. But could the debate eventually turn to the job security within their sectors? Business News Wales spoke to Steph Locke, the CEO of Nightingale HQ based in Pontypridd, South Wales, who are a leading provider in AI-powered software and help manufacturers integrate these systems into their infrastructures without the need for significant investment or having to acquire extensive research into them.

Human rights organization Liberty is claiming a win in its native Britain after a court ruled that police trials of facial recognition technology violated privacy laws. The Court of Appeal ruled that the use of automatic facial recognition systems unfairly impacted claimant Ed Bridges' right to a private life. Judges added that there were issues around how people's personal data was being processed, and said that the trials should be halted for now. The court also found that the South Wales Police (SWP) had not done enough to satisfy itself that facial recognition technology was not unbiased. A spokesperson for SWP told the BBC that it would not be appealing the judgment, but Chief Constable Matt Jukes said that the force will find a way to "work with" the judgment.

A legal challenge against the use of automatic facial recognition technology by police has been launched by a civil liberties group. Automatic Facial Recognition uses CCTV or surveillance cameras to record and compare facial characteristics with images on police databases. Lawyers for Big Brother Watch argue the use of AFR breaches the rights of individuals under the Human Rights Act. The Metropolitan Police says the technology will help keep London safe. The system is being piloted in London, with three other forces - Humberside, South Wales, and Leicestershire - also trialling the technology. However, it has proved controversial, with one watchdog describing its use in public places as "very intrusive".

A terror network established in south Wales is now suspected to have been a much more elaborate and sophisticated operation. BBC Wales Investigates reveals the complex web which began with the arrival in Pontypridd of a "vulnerable looking" computer engineering student. In late December 2015 a uniformed Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, made a video announcement about "Operation Inherent Resolve", the US military's campaign against so-called the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The spokesman gave details about 10 senior IS figures who had been targeted and killed, many in drone strikes, over the course of the month. "We are striking at the head of this snake by hunting down and killing ISIS leaders," declared the US army spokesman. Among those killed was Siful Sujan, a Bangladeshi national who was targeted near Raqqa in Syria on 10 December.