Key Takeaways Meta and Yandex have been found guilty of secretly listening to localhost ports and using them to transfer sensitive data from Android devices. The corporations use Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica scripts to transfer cookies from browsers to local apps. Using incognito mode or a VPN can’t fully protect users against it. A Meta spokesperson has called this a ‘miscommunication,’ which seems to be an attempt to underplay the situation. Denmark’s Ministry of Digitalization has recently announced that it will leave the Microsoft ecosystem in favor of Linux and other open-source software. Minister Caroline Stage Olsen revealed this in an interview with Politiken, the country’s leading newspaper. According to Olsen, the Ministry plans to switch half of its employees to Linux and LibreOffice by summer, and the rest by fall. The announcement comes after Denmark’s largest cities – Copenhagen and Aarhus – made similar moves earlier this month. Why the Danish Ministry of Digitalization Switched to Open-Source Software The three main reasons Denmark is moving away from Microsoft are costs, politics, and security. In the case of Aarhus, the city was able to slash its annual costs from 800K kroner to just 225K by replacing Microsoft with a German service provider.  The same is a pain point for Copenhagen, which saw its costs on Microsoft balloon from 313M kroner in 2018 to 538M kroner in 2023. It’s also part of a broader move to increase its digital sovereignty. In her LinkedIn post, Olsen further explained that the strategy is not about isolation or digital nationalism, adding that they should not turn their backs completely on global tech companies like Microsoft.  Instead, it’s about avoiding being too dependent on these companies, which could prevent them from acting freely. Then there’s politics. Since his reelection earlier this year, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.  In May, the Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen summoned the US ambassador regarding news that US spy agencies have been told to focus on the territory. If the relationship between the two countries continues to erode, Trump can order Microsoft and other US tech companies to cut off Denmark from their services. After all, Microsoft and Facebook’s parent company Meta, have close ties to the US president after contributing M each for his inauguration in January. Denmark Isn’t Alone: Other EU Countries Are Making Similar Moves Denmark is only one of the growing number of European Unioncountries taking measures to become more digitally independent. Germany’s Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger emphasized the need to be more independent of global tech companies during the re:publica internet conference in May. He added that IT companies in the EU have the opportunity to create tech that is based on the region’s values. Meanwhile, Bert Hubert, a technical advisor to the Dutch Electoral Council, wrote in February that ‘it is no longer safe to move our governments and societies to US clouds.’ He said that America is no longer a ‘reliable partner,’ making it risky to have the data of European governments and businesses at the mercy of US-based cloud providers. Earlier this month, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, experienced a disconnection from his Microsoft-based email account, sparking uproar across the region.  Speculation quickly arose that the incident was linked to sanctions previously imposed on the ICC by the Trump administration, an assertion Microsoft has denied. Earlier this month, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, disconnection from his Microsoft-based email account caused an uproar in the region. Some speculated that this was connected to sanctions imposed by Trump against the ICC, which Microsoft denied. Weaning the EU Away from US Tech is Possible, But Challenges Lie Ahead Change like this doesn’t happen overnight. Just finding, let alone developing, reliable alternatives to tools that have been part of daily workflows for decades, is a massive undertaking. It will also take time for users to adapt to these new tools, especially when transitioning to an entirely new ecosystem. In Aarhus, for example, municipal staff initially viewed the shift to open source as a step down from the familiarity and functionality of Microsoft products. Overall, these are only temporary hurdles. Momentum is building, with growing calls for digital independence from leaders like Ministers Olsen and Wildberger.  Initiatives such as the Digital Europe Programme, which seeks to reduce reliance on foreign systems and solutions, further accelerate this push. As a result, the EU’s transition could arrive sooner rather than later As technology continues to evolve—from the return of 'dumbphones' to faster and sleeker computers—seasoned tech journalist, Cedric Solidon, continues to dedicate himself to writing stories that inform, empower, and connect with readers across all levels of digital literacy. With 20 years of professional writing experience, this University of the Philippines Journalism graduate has carved out a niche as a trusted voice in tech media. Whether he's breaking down the latest advancements in cybersecurity or explaining how silicon-carbon batteries can extend your phone’s battery life, his writing remains rooted in clarity, curiosity, and utility. Long before he was writing for Techreport, HP, Citrix, SAP, Globe Telecom, CyberGhost VPN, and ExpressVPN, Cedric's love for technology began at home courtesy of a Nintendo Family Computer and a stack of tech magazines. Growing up, his days were often filled with sessions of Contra, Bomberman, Red Alert 2, and the criminally underrated Crusader: No Regret. But gaming wasn't his only gateway to tech.  He devoured every T3, PCMag, and PC Gamer issue he could get his hands on, often reading them cover to cover. It wasn’t long before he explored the early web in IRC chatrooms, online forums, and fledgling tech blogs, soaking in every byte of knowledge from the late '90s and early 2000s internet boom. That fascination with tech didn’t just stick. It evolved into a full-blown calling. After graduating with a degree in Journalism, he began his writing career at the dawn of Web 2.0. What started with small editorial roles and freelance gigs soon grew into a full-fledged career. He has since collaborated with global tech leaders, lending his voice to content that bridges technical expertise with everyday usability. He’s also written annual reports for Globe Telecom and consumer-friendly guides for VPN companies like CyberGhost and ExpressVPN, empowering readers to understand the importance of digital privacy. His versatility spans not just tech journalism but also technical writing. He once worked with a local tech company developing web and mobile apps for logistics firms, crafting documentation and communication materials that brought together user-friendliness with deep technical understanding. That experience sharpened his ability to break down dense, often jargon-heavy material into content that speaks clearly to both developers and decision-makers. At the heart of his work lies a simple belief: technology should feel empowering, not intimidating. Even if the likes of smartphones and AI are now commonplace, he understands that there's still a knowledge gap, especially when it comes to hardware or the real-world benefits of new tools. His writing hopes to help close that gap. Cedric’s writing style reflects that mission. It’s friendly without being fluffy and informative without being overwhelming. Whether writing for seasoned IT professionals or casual readers curious about the latest gadgets, he focuses on how a piece of technology can improve our lives, boost our productivity, or make our work more efficient. That human-first approach makes his content feel more like a conversation than a technical manual. As his writing career progresses, his passion for tech journalism remains as strong as ever. With the growing need for accessible, responsible tech communication, he sees his role not just as a journalist but as a guide who helps readers navigate a digital world that’s often as confusing as it is exciting. From reviewing the latest devices to unpacking global tech trends, Cedric isn’t just reporting on the future; he’s helping to write it. View all articles by Cedric Solidon Our editorial process The Tech Report editorial policy is centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written by real authors. #word #out #danish #ministry #drops

I don’t know why, but it continues to astonish me just how foolish politicians can be – and how easily persuaded they are by really bad advice from smart but tin-eared advisers. In less than a year, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have squandered the gift of the huge majority won at last year’s General Election on one key issue after another: their response to the genocide in Gaza; wantonly cruel cuts in disability benefits; failing to find creative ways of taxing wealth; dealing with the water companies – and, now, on the new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. On 23 May 23, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPBlaunched a devastating attack on Labour’s whole approach to streamlining the planning system through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.Advertisement Part 3 of the bill will make it possible for developers to ignore existing environmental protections by paying money into a so-called ‘Nature Recovery Fund’, which will be used to pay for environmental projects elsewhere. Starmer and Reeves have gone out of their way, time after time, to claim that it’s these environmental safeguards that are responsible for delays and blockages in the planning process, even though they know this is completely untrue. According to the Wildlife Trusts, roughly 3 per cent of proposals for new housing are delayed for environmental reasons. As The Guardian reported: ‘the data from analysis of 17,433 planning appeals in England in 2024 found that newts were relevant in just 140planning appeals, and bats were relevant in 432.’ ‘They pursue this path even though are no polls to show that this is what matters to Labour voters tempted by Reform’ So what makes Starmer and Reeves both stupid and totally dishonest? By all accounts the rationale of their tin-eared advisers is to demonstrate to ‘Reform-friendly’ Labour voters that the environment is as unsafe in their hands as it would be in Nigel Farage’s. That economic growth is all that matters. That caring for the natural world is a middle-class self-indulgence. And that pouring as much concrete as possible is self-evidently the best way of achieving that growth. And they go on pursuing this ideological path even though there are no supporting polls to show that this is what really matters to Labour voters tempted by Reform’s populist bullshit.Advertisement So they lie. They dig in. They break promises left, right and centre, ready to die, apparently, in this self-constructed ditch of developer-led deceit. That’s why every single amendment put forward through the committee examining the bill was summarily dismissed by the loyal but lumpen Labour MPs on the committee. These included an amendment tabled by veteran Labour MP Barry Gardiner requiring all house builders to provide a specially designed brickto help cavity-nesting such as swifts, house martins, sparrows and starlings – a measure that Labour in opposition enthusiastically supported! And there’s huge public support for this one small, cost-effective biodiversity regulation. To get a measure of this government’s subservient obedience to the demands of the volume housebuilders, just listen to the words of housing minister Matthew Pennycook: ‘We are not convinced that legislating to mandate the use of specific wildlife features is the right approach, whether that is done through building regulations or a freestanding legal requirement'. It’s all so demeaning. So unnecessary. And now that the mainstream environment movement, urged on primarily by the Wildlife Trusts, has realised just how high the stakes are with this Planning and Infrastructure Bill, it’s reasonable to assume that there will be a much more serious debate in the House of Lords, bringing down on ministers’ helmeted heads the righteous outrage of the entire movement. As we’ve learnt, in less than one deeply depressing year, this is a government that needs to be kicked harder and harder until they get desperate enough to make the pain go away. P.S. If you want to read a brilliant summary of ‘reasons to be outraged’, check out George Monbiot’s take on this. Jonathon Porritt is a campaigner and author and co-founder of Forum for the Future This article first appeared on his blog 2025-06-06 Jonathon Porritt comment and share #starmer #reeves #big #planning #idea

Psych out College Board keeps apologizing for screwing up digital SAT and AP tests AP Psych is the latest casualty of digital snafus. Nate Anderson – May 23, 2025 3:54 pm | 10 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Don't worry about the "mission-driven not-for-profit" College Board—it's drowning in cash. The US group, which administers the SAT and AP tests to college-bound students, paid its CEO million in total compensation in 2023. The senior VP in charge of AP programs made in total compensation, while the senior VP for Technology Strategy made in total compensation. Given such eye-popping numbers, one would have expected the College Board's transition to digital exams to go smoothly, but it continues to have issues. Just last week, the group's AP Psychology exam was disrupted nationally when the required "Bluebook" testing app couldn't be accessed by many students. Because the College Board shifted to digital-only exams for 28 of its 36 AP courses beginning this year, no paper-based backup options were available. The only "solution" was to wait quietly in a freezing gymnasium, surrounded by a hundred other stressed-out students, to see if College Board could get its digital act together. I speak, as you may have gathered, from family experience; one of my kids got to experience the incident first-hand. I was first clued into the problem by an e-mail from my school, which announced "a nationwide Bluebook outage" for all AP Psych testers. Within an hour, many students were finally able to log in and begin the test, but other students had scheduling conflicts and were therefore "dismissed from the testing room" and given slots during the "late test day" or "during the exception testing window." On Reddit, the r/APStudents board melted down in predictable fashion. One post asked the question on everyone's mind: HOW DO U NOT PREPARE THE SERVERS FOR THE EXAM WHEN U KNOW WE'RE TAKING THE EXAM HELLO?????? BE SO FR i was locked in and studied like hell for this ap psych exam ts pmo like what the actual f---nugget??? Now, I'm old enough not to know what "BE SO FR," "TS," or "PMO" mean, but the term "f---nugget" comes through loud and clear, and I plan to add it to my vocabulary. Other students, whose schools canceled the exam before access was restored, raged against having to gear up for the test again in the future. "I CANT BELIEVE THEY DELAYED IT," wrote one. "I STUDIED FOR THR PAST WEEK EIGHT HOURS EVERYDAY AND RUINED MY SOCIAL LIFE FOR THIS. WHAT THE FREAK." Of course, there's always a silver lining to a cloudy day, and some less-prepared students—who had not apparently ruined their social lives for the past week—celebrated the delay. "i studied for like 12 hrs the day before no f---ing joke," wrote one, "and nglidekwhat psychoanal or biosycosocial model is or anything so its a win for me." College Board issued a statement on the day of the AP Psych exam, copping to "an issue that preventedfrom logging into the College Board’s Bluebook testing application and beginning their exams at the assigned local start time." Stressing that "most students have had a successful testing experience, with more than 5 million exams being successfully submitted thus far," College Board nonetheless did "regret that their testing period was disrupted." It's not the first such disruption, though. Deeply and sincerely apologize This year's move to all-digital AP testing for most subjects is the latest move in a process that began several years back, and it still has numerous wrinkles. Not all of these are the fault of the College Board, either, but asking millions of students and educators to use a complex set of tools—including Chromebooks, school Wi-Fi networks, the Internet, and the College Board's own app infrastructure—imposes a new and more complex set of technical challenges than the older paper exams. For instance, this year's AP Stats exam was also disrupted at my school district, though this appears to have been an issue related to local Wi-Fi access. And when my eldest took theSAT exam at another school district last year, that district, too, had its own tech issues as students from other districts had trouble getting onto the school network. College Board also continues to have problems delivering digital testing at scale in a high-pressure environment. During the SAT exam sessions on March 8–9, 2025, more than 250,000 students sat for the test—and some found that their tests were automatically submitted before the testing time ended. College Board blamed the problem on "an incorrectly configured security setting on Bluebook." The problem affected nearly 10,000 students, and several thousand more "may have lost some testing time if they were asked by their room monitor to reboot their devices during the test to fix and prevent the auto-submit error." College Board did "deeply and sincerely apologize to the students who were not able to complete their tests, or had their test time interrupted, for the difficulty and frustration this has caused them and their families." It offered refunds, plus a free future SAT testing voucher. Switching to digital has many benefits, including higher security and easier grading, but organizations routinely appear to underestimate how difficult it is to run complex digital infrastructure at scale, especially under time pressures. The fact that College Board has had significant errors this year alone in both of its flagship testing regimes is not the sort of thing students want to hear. Nor do parents, for that matter, who can easily rack up -plus College Board fees per student. And the irritation only grows when the money goes to massive executive salaries while the core exams continue to have problems. Nate Anderson Deputy Editor Nate Anderson Deputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 10 Comments #college #board #keeps #apologizing #screwing

Flyalone - Adobe News Labour puts Humphrey AI to work for council admin A tool built on the government’s Humphrey AI toolset is being piloted by 25 councils to take notes during meetings Published: 23 May 2025 15:45 The UK government has announced that its artificial intelligencesuite, Humphrey, is being trialled by a number of local councils. Its AI tool, Minute, takes notes in meetings, and was recently used in one chaired by prime minister Keir Starmer. Part of Humphrey, the package of AI tools built to help civil servants deliver for ministers and the public more effectively, uses generative AI to turn meetings into notes, and provides tools for correcting summaries. The government found that early tests using Minute showed that officials saved an hour of admin per one-hour meeting. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technologysaid Minute can help speed up actions after planning meetings, allowing officers to focus on the task at hand, rather than paperwork, and make informed decisions to get homes built. It’s currently being trailed by 25 local councils. Among the ways it’s being used is to help streamline burdensome admin tasks in the planning process as part of the government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes by 2030. Lords minister for housing and local government Sharon Taylor said: “Local councils are on the frontline of housing delivery, and we’re backing them with cutting-edge AI technology like Minute so officers can spend less time buried in admin and more time helping to get Britain building. “This is alongside our landmark reforms to deliver 1.5 million homes, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will get working people and families into secure homes and boost economic growth right across the country,” she said. stories about public sector AI Humphrey AI tool powers Scottish Parliament consultation: AI-powered Consult tool has helped the Scottish Parliament to organise feedback from a public consultation into themes. Major obstacles facing Labour’s AI opportunity action plan: Skills, data held in legacy tech and a lack of leadership are among the areas discussed during a recent Public Accounts Committee session. Minute can also be used to take notes in meetings between social care workers and their supervisors, allowing workers to focus on offering more support instead of being bogged down by bureaucracy.   The Minute trial ties in with a broader government initiative to help local councils use technology to improve essential services they are responsible for delivering to local residents. To fulfil one of the actions in the 50-point AI Opportunities Plan of Action, which was published in January, the government has also introduced an AI Knowledge Hub for sharing examples of how local councils are using technology so others can learn from them – such as an AI assistant that speeds up the reporting of fly-tipping and graffiti in central London. In 2024, a Local Government Associationsurvey found that the majority of councils who took part in the pollwere using or exploring how they would use AI. The areas where most respondents had realised benefits from using AI were staff productivity, service efficienciesand cost savings. However, the LGA reported that the five biggest barriers to deploying AI identified by respondents were a lack of funding, a lack of staff capabilities, a lack of staff capacity, a lack of sufficient governance and a lack of clear use cases. The government’s own State of digital government review, published earlier this year, reported that each of the 320 local authorities in England negotiate technology contracts with big tech companies independently – when many are buying exactly the same tools – making this spending much less effective. The trials with AI-based tools built on Humphrey and the AI Knowledge Hub represent an attempt by the government to reduce the barriers to deploying AI across the public sector. AI and digital government minister Feryal Clark said: “From parking permits and planning permission, local councils handle some of the services that impact our daily lives most. For too long, they have been left to fend for themselves when keeping up with rapid innovations in AI and digital technology – when we know it has huge potential to help solve many of the challenges they face. Clark said the government was going to work with local councils to help them buy and build the technology they need to deliver Labour’s Plan for Change and support their local communities more effectively.  In The Current Issue: UK critical systems at risk from ‘digital divide’ created by AI threats UK at risk of Russian cyber and physical attacks as Ukraine seeks peace deal Standard Chartered grounds AI ambitions in data governance Download Current Issue SAP Sapphire 2025: Developers take centre stage as AI integration deepens – CW Developer Network Microsoft entices developers to build more Windows AI apps – Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog View All Blogs #labour #puts #humphrey #work #council

Scene at UKREiiF 2025 outside the Canary bar UKREiiF is getting bigger by the year, with more than 16,000 professionals attending the 2025 construction conference in Leeds this week during three days of sunny weather, networking, panel discussions and robust amounts of booze. It has grown so big over the past few years that it seems almost to have outgrown the city of Leeds itself. A running joke among attendees was the varying quality of accommodation people had managed to secure. All of the budget hotels in the city were fully booked months in advance of the conference, with many - including at least one member of Parliament - reduced to kipping in bed and breakfasts of a questionable nature. Many were forced to stay in nearby towns including York, Wakefield and Bradford and catch the train to the conference each morning. But these snags served as ice breakers for more important conversations at an event which has come at a key pivot point for the industry. With the government on the brink of launching its 10-year industrial strategy and its new towns programme, opportunity was in the air. Networking events between government departments and potential suppliers of all sectors were well attended, although many discussion panels focused on the question of how all of this work would be paid for. And hanging over the conference like a storm cloud were the mounting issues at the Building Safety Regulator which are continuing to cause expensive delays to high rise schemes across the country. While many attendees eyed a huge amount of potential work to fill up pipelines, it was clear the industry is still facing some systemic challenges which could threaten a much-needed recovery following a long period of turmoil. How will the issues at the Building Safety Regulator be fixed? You did not even have to go inside an event titled “Gateways and Growing Pains: Tackling the Building Safety Act” to see how much this issue is affecting construction at the moment. The packed out tent was overflowing into the space outside, with those inside stood like sardines to watch a panel discussion about what has been happening in the high rise residential sector over the past year.  Audience members shared their horror stories of schemes which have been waiting for the best part of a year to get gateway 2 approval from the regulator, which is needed to start construction. There was a palpable sense of anger in the crowd, one professional describing the hold-ups which had affected his scheme as a “disgrace”. Others highlighted the apparent inconsistency of the regulator’s work. One attendee told how two identical buildings had been submitted to the regulator in separate gateway 2 applications and assigned to two separate technical teams for approval. One application had received no follow up questions, while the other had been extensively interrogated. “The industry should hold its head in shame with regard to what happened at Grenfell, but post that, it’s just complete disarray,” he said. More than 16,000 professionals attended the 2025 event While many are currently focusing on delays at pre-construction, others raised the looming gateway 3 approvals which are needed before occupation. Pareto Projects director Kuli Bajwa said: “Gateway 2 is an issue, but when we get to gateway 3, we’re committed to this project, money’s been spent, debt’s been taken out and week on week it’s costing money. It just keeps wracking up, so we need to resolve that with the regulator asap.” >> See also: Homes England boss calls on government to fix ‘unacceptably slow’ gateway 2 approvals Caddick Construction managing director for Yorkshire and the North East Steve Ford added: “I think where it will probably get interesting and quite heated I guess is at the point where some of these schemes get rejected at gateway 3, and the finger pointing starts as to why it’s not got through gateway 3.” Simon Latson, head of living for the UK and Ireland at JLL, offered a potential solution. “We will be dealing with the regulator all the way through the construction process, and you would like to think that there is a collaborative process where you get early engagement and you can say ‘I’m 12 weeks out from completion, I’m going to start sending you all of my completion documents, my fire alarm certificate’, and say ‘thanks very much that’s the last thing on my list’. That’s probably wishful thinking but that’s got to be a practical solution, as early engagement as possible.” How is the government going to pay for its infrastructure strategy? Ministers are expected to outline the government’s ten-year infrastructure strategy next month, outlining ambitions not only for transport but social infrastructure including schools and healthcare. At an event titled “A Decade of National Renewal: What Will This Mean for our Regions, Towns and Cities?”, a panel of experts including London deputy mayor Jules Pipe highlighted how much of this new infrastructure is needed to enable the government to achieve its housing targets. But how will it be funded? Tom Wagner, cofounder of investment firm Knighthead Capital, which operates largely in the West Midlands with assets including Birmingham City FC, gave a frank assessment of the government’s policies on attracting private sector investment. “There have been a lot of policies in the UK that have forced capital allocators to go elsewhere,” he said, calling for lower taxes and less restrictions on private finance in order to stop investors fleeing to more amenable destinations overseas.  “What we’ve found in the UK is, as we’re seeking to tax those who can most afford it, that’s fine, but unless they’re chained here, they’ll just go somewhere else. That creates a bad dynamic because those people are the capital providers, and right now what we need is capital infusion to foster growth.” The main square at the centre of the conference Pipe offered a counterpoint, suggesting low taxes were not the only reason which determines where wealthy people live and highlighted the appeal of cities which had been made livable by good infrastructure. “There are people living in some very expensive cities but they live there because of the cosmopolitan culture and the parks and the general vibe, and that’s what we have to get right. And the key thing that leads to that is good transport, making it livable.” Pipe also criticised the penny-pinching tendencies of past governments on infrastructure investment, including on major transports schemes like Crossrail 2 which were mothballed due to a lack of funds and a perceived lack of value added. “All these things were fought in the trenches with the Treasury about ‘oh well there’s no cost benefit to this’. And where is the major transport like that where after ten years people are saying ‘no one’s using it, that was a really bad idea, it’s never opened up any new businesses or new homes’? It’s absolute nonsense. But that seems to be how we judge it,” he said. One solution could be funding through business rates, an approach used on the Northern Line Extension to Battersea Power Station. But the benefits of this have been largely overlooked, Pipe said. “One scheme every ten or twenty years is not good enough. We need to do this more frequently”. What is the latest on the government’s new towns programme? Where are the new towns going to be built? It was a question which everybody was asking during the conference, with rumours circulating around potential sites in Cambridge of Plymouth. The government is set to reveal the first 12 locations of 10,000 homes each in July, an announcement which will inevitably unleash an onslaught of NIMBY outcries from affected communities. A large crowd gathered for an “exclusive update” on the programme from Michael Lyons, chair of the New Towns Taskforce appointed by the government to recommend suitable sites, with many in attendance hoping for a big reveal on the first sites. They were disappointed, but Lyons did provide some interesting insights into the taskforce’s work. Despite a “rather hairbrained” timescale given to the team, which was only established last September, Lyons said it was at a “very advanced stage” in its deliberations after spending the past few months touring the country speaking to developers, landowners and residents in search of potential sites. >> See also: Don’t scrimp on quality standards for new towns, taskforce chair tells housebuilders “We stand at a crucial moment in the history of home building in this country,” he said. The government’s commitment to so many large-scale developments could herald a return to ambitious spatial planning, he said, with communities strategically located close to the most practical locations for the supply of new infrastructure needed for people to move in. A line of tents at the docks site, including the London Pavilion “Infrastructure constraints, whether it’s water or power, sewage or transport, must no longer be allowed to hold back growth, and we’ve been shocked as we looked around the country at the extent to which plans ready to be advanced are held back by those infrastructure problems,” he said. The first sites will be in places where much of this infrastructure is already in place, he said, allowing work to start immediately.  An emphasis on “identity and legibility” is also part of the criteria for the initial locations, with the government’s design and construction partners to be required to put placemaking at the heart of their schemes. “ We need to be confident that these can be distinctive places, and that the title of new town, whether it’s an urban extension or whether it’s even a reshaping of an existing urban area or a genuine greenfield site, that it genuinely can be seen and will be seen by its residents as a distinct community.” How do you manage a working public-private partnership? Successful public partnerships between the public sector and private housebuilders will be essential for the government to achieve its target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament in 2029. At an event hosted by Muse, a panel discussed where past partnerships have gone wrong and what lessons have been learned. Mark Bradbury, Thurrock council’s chief officer for strategic growth partnerships and special projects, spoke of the series of events which led to L&Q pulling out of the 2,800-home Purfleet-on-Thames scheme in Essex and its replacement by housing association Swan. “I think it was partly the complex nature of the procurement process that led to market conditions being quite different at the end of the process to the start,” he said. “Some of the original partners pulled out halfway through because their business model changed. I think the early conversations at Purfleet on Thames around the masterplan devised by Will Alsop, the potential for L&Q to be one of the partners, the potential for a development manager, the potential for some overseas investment, ended up with L&Q deciding it wasn’t for their business model going forwards. The money from the far east never materialised, so we ended up with somebody who didn’t have the track record, and there was nobody who had working capital.  “By then it was clear that the former partnership wasn’t right, so trying to persuade someone to join a partnership which wasn’t working was really difficult. So you’ve got to be really clear at the outset that this is a partnership which is going to work, you know where the working capital is coming from, and everybody’s got a track record.” Muse development director for residential Duncan Cumberland outlined a three-part “accelerated procurement process” which the developer has been looking at in order to avoid some of the setbacks which can hit large public private partnerships on housing schemes. The first part is developing a masterplan vision which has the support of community stakeholders, the second is outlining a “realistic and honest” business plan which accommodates viability challenges, and the third is working closely with public sector officials on a strong business case. A good partnership is almost like being in a marriage, Avison Young’s London co-managing director Kat Hanna added. “It’s hard to just walk away. We’re in it now, so we need to make it work, and perhaps being in a partnership can often be more revealing in tough times.” #key #talking #points #ukreiif

America last RFK Jr. calls WHO “moribund” amid US withdrawal; China pledges to give M As the rest of the world signed a pandemic agreement, the US sent an abrasive video. Beth Mole – May 21, 2025 7:07 pm | 27 World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2025. Credit: Getty | Xinhua News Agency World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2025. Credit: Getty | Xinhua News Agency Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more China is poised to be the next big donor to the World Health Organization after Trump abruptly withdrew the US from the United Nations health agency on his first day in office, leaving a critical funding gap and leadership void. On Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong said that China would give an additional million to WHO over the course of five years. Liu made the announcement at the World Health Assemblybeing held in Geneva. The WHA is the decision-making body of WHO, comprised of delegations from member states, which meet annually to guide the agency's health agenda. “The world is now facing the impacts of unilateralism and power politics, bringing major challenges to global health security," Liu told the WHA, according to The Washington Post. "China strongly believes that only with solidarity and mutual assistance can we create a healthy world together." This year, China sent its largest-ever delegation—180—to the WHA, while the US was absent, according to Health Policy Watch. The increased involvement and large donation are seen as clear examples that China is working to take the place of the US. Although the US has cut all ties with the WHO—and reportedly still owes the agency million in 2024–2025 dues—US health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an unexpected appearance at the WHA via a six-minute video. Isolated In the abrasive, pre-recorded speech, Kennedy described the WHO as "moribund" and "mired in bureaucratic bloatentrenched paradigms." "WHO's priorities have increasingly reflected the biases and interests of corporate medicine," Kennedy said, alluding to his anti-vaccine and germ-theory denialist views. He chastised the health organization for allegedly capitulating to China and working with the country to "promote the fiction that COVID originated in bats." Kennedy ended the short speech by touting his Make America Healthy Again agenda. He also urged the WHO to undergo a radical overhaul similar to what the Trump administration is currently doing to the US government—presumably including dismantling and withholding funding from critical health agencies and programs. Last, he pitched other countries to join the US in abandoning the WHO. "I would like to take this opportunity to invite my fellow health ministers around the world into a new era of cooperation.... we're ready to work with you," Kennedy said. Meanwhile, the WHA embraced collaboration. During the assembly this week, WHO overwhelmingly voted to adopt the world's first pandemic treaty, aimed at collectively preventing, preparing for, and responding to any future pandemics. The treaty took over three years to negotiate, but in the end, no country voted against it—124 votes in favor, 11 abstentions, and no objections."The world is safer today thanks to the leadership, collaboration and commitment of our Member States to adopt the historic WHO Pandemic Agreement,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The Agreement is a victory for public health, science and multilateral action. It will ensure we, collectively, can better protect the world from future pandemic threats. It is also a recognition by the international community that our citizens, societies and economies must not be left vulnerable to again suffer losses like those endured during COVID-19.” Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technica’s Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 27 Comments #rfk #calls #who #moribund #amid

Elton John called the UK government 'absolute losers' for failing to safeguard artists from AI. CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images 2025-05-18T12:50:06Z d Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Elton John attacked UK plans to let Big Tech train AI on creative work without permission or pay. He called ministers "absolute losers" and accused them of "thievery on a high scale." John warned that young artists "haven't got the resources" to take on Big Tech. Elton John has accused the UK government of betraying artists with plans to allow Big Tech to train AI on creative works without permission or payment.The 78-year-old music icon said the plans meant "committing theft, thievery on a high scale," in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.He was commenting on the DataBill, which would allow companies to train AI on works such as music and books, unless the copyright holder specifically opts out.John said he was "very angry," calling the government "absolute losers."He told the BBC that young artists "haven't got the resources" to take on Big Tech and that the legislation would "rob young people of their legacy and their income.""It's criminal, in that I feel incredibly betrayed," he said.The bill was passing through the country's parliament until earlier this week, when the House of Lords voted to amend it to require tech companies to disclose and seek consent before scraping copyrighted material.But the lower house, the House of Commons, rejected that change, sending the bill back into parliamentary limbo.In his BBC interview, Sir Elton called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "wise up," saying he was prepared to take ministers to court and "fight it all the way."The UK Government had not responded to a Business Insider request for comment when this article went live.John was one of over 400 musicians, writers, and artists — including Paul McCartney — who signed an open letter to the Prime Minister earlier this year, warning that AI needed proper copyright safeguards to protect artists.Sir Paul McCartney warned in January that AI could "rip off" artists and result in a "loss of creativity." Recommended video #elton #john #furious #about #plans

Sadiq Khan is considering allowing new towns of more than 10,000 homes to be built on London’s green belt, the mayor’s office has confirmed. Planned communities such as Stevenage and Milton Keynes formed a major part of new housing delivery after World War II, and the current Labour government has revived the concept as part of its plans to ramp up housebuilding in the UK. Source: Daniel Gayne The government’s New Towns Taskforce is currently examining almost 100 proposals for new towns and will recommend locations to ministers in July. London’s mayor announced his own radical plans to boost housebuilding in the city last Friday, including a major review of the capital’s green belt, which could see large swathes of land opened up for development. Khan’s speech came alongside the publication of a consultation document, which gives the first indications of what the next London Plan might look like. “Opportunities for large-scale developmentin London’s green belt are being considered in areas with good public transport access,” it said. The document said there is ”significant potential with the government’s New Towns Taskforce”, which it said the Greater London Authority would be engaging with. However, it said that ”any new homes delivered would need to count towards, not be additional to, meeting London’s nationally-established housing need of 88,000 homes per year”. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s current position is that new towns housing numbers would not count towards meeting the assessed housing need of the area in which they are built.  A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “We are doing all we can in London to help deliver the homes that are so desperately needed. “The Mayor wants to work with the UK Government and New Towns Taskforce to make sure that any work on new towns goes hand in hand with the development of his next London Plan to deliver high quality and affordable homes.” >> See also: ‘I make it a virtue that I’ve changed my mind’: Sadiq Khan makes a show of green belt housing U-turn, but where might the new homes actually be built? As well as mooting possible new towns in London’s green belt, the consultation document also alludes to using the capital’s designated ‘Opportunity Areas’ as potential new town sites. “We will also explore whether and how the government’s New Towns Taskforce work might apply within London’s current urban area to certain OAs of significant scale,” it said. Opportunity Areas, many of which are in more central parts of the city, are locations identified in the London Plan as having major potential for new homes, jobs and infrastructure. A report by Business LDN late last year said at least one new town should be built in the capital in order to address housing need. The report, developed with consultants, architects and planners, including Arup and DP9, said the capital’s unique political structures made it relatively easy to launch new towns, with strategic plan-making through the London Plan, and a mayor with the power to establish development corporations and responsibility for much of the city’s transit system. It did not pinpoint exact locations for a new town in London, but noted that 60% of London’s green belt was within 2km of an existing rail or tube station and that a number of those locations overlapped with existing ‘Opportunity Areas’, earmarked in the London plan as apt for new homes and infrastructure. Jonathan Seager, policy delivery director at BusinessLDN, said at the time: “If the Government wants to move fast on new towns, London has the connectivity, demand and political set-up needed to get spades in the ground swiftly. ”The city is uniquely placed to house multiple types of these developments as part of the drive by Ministers to hit ambitious housing and growth targets.  ”Building one or more new towns in the capital should be a no-brainer for both economic and social reasons.” Earlier this week, the House of Lords built environment committee heard evidence in its inquiry into the practical delivery of new towns. John Sturzaker, Ebenezer Howard chair of planning at the University of Hertfordshire, told the committee that public acceptance of the new towns would be heavily influenced by how well important infrastructure requirements are realised in advance. Source: ShutterstockNew towns brought forward by the government may be significantly smaller than post-war developments like Milton Keynes”I think it’s really important that the infrastructure to support these communities is going in before, or at the very least, at the same time as new housing, whether that’s a village hall, whether it’s schools, whether it’s shops, so that you don’t have people living a sort of pioneer lifestyle,” he said “We need to have an infrastructure first approach, which common in other parts of Europe”. The professor also noted that the government’s definition of new towns would include much smaller developments than the post-war new towns. ”10,000 is not very big in terms of a new town. if you wanted a standalone new town like the traditional ones you might be looking at 10 or 20 times that,” he said, suggesting that the government was more likely to be looking at urban extensions or networks of smaller new towns. Speaking to Housing Today’s sister title Building, he elaborated on his comments to the committee and addressed how the government could approach new town development within the M25. “The traditional model of new towns that we’re familiar with in this country, places like Hatfield or Stevenage or Milton Keynes, would be too big to be within Greater London,” he said. He referenced Chapelton in Aberdeenshire and Chelmsford Garden Community in Essex as examples of new towns of a smaller scale. He said he wasn’t aware of any suitable sites in London but said he had “no doubt there will be some”. #london #green #belt #development #could

An environment conference opened in Nepal on Friday to discuss global climate change, including the impact on the highest Himalayan peaks where snow and ice are melting.The three-day conference in Kathmandu titled, “Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity,” is expected to include discussions of critical climate issues.“From the lap of Sagarmatha, the world’s highest peak, we send this message loud and clear that to protect the mountains is to protect the planet. To protect the mountains is to protect our seas. To protect the mountains is to protect humanity itself,” Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli told participants at the opening meeting.Nepal is home to eight of the tallest mountains in the world including Mount Everest. A high level of glaciers melting in the Himalayan mountains because of global warming has raised signficant concerns. Melting snow and ice have exposed the mountains and increased the risk of rock slides, landslides and avalanches.Scientists have warned the Himalayan mountains could lose up to 80% of their glaciers if the Earth warms in coming decades or centuries. They say flash floods and avalanches also could become more likely in coming years, in part because of climate change.“The tragedy is that the Himalayas are facing an unprecedented stress test in real time today, exposing not only the fragile nature of our mountain ecosystems but also a glaring evidence of the lack of meaningful global climate action,” Nepal Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba said. “As a mountainous country with high disaster risk vulnerability, Nepal faces a stark predicament.”Nepal has experienced a series of severe weather events in the recent past with devastating impacts on people and their livelihoods, Deuba said.“Floods and glacial lake outbursts have caused large-scale destruction and damage, and droughts, water scarcity and forest fires have brought untold suffering to the people across the country,” she said.Ministers from neighboring India, Bhutan, and Maldives are attending the conference.Organizers have said they intend to publish a Kathmandu declaration after the discussions end Sunday. —Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press #scientist #warn #himalayan #glaciers #could

The UK government has outlined how it will utilise the new electronic visasystem and “modern biometric technology” to support immigration enforcement and “strengthen the border”. Published 12 May 2025, the Home Office’s 82-page immigration whitepaper – titled Restoring control over the immigration system – contains a range of proposals for how the UK government will use data-driven technologies to track migrants and clamp down on “visa abuse” by those staying and working in the country illegally. During a press conference the same day, prime minister Keir Starmer said the whitepaper “is absolutely central to my Plan for Change”, and that it will allow the government to “take back control of our borders” after net migration quadrupled between 2019 and 2023. “Nations depend on rules – fair rules. Sometimes they’re written down, often they’re not, but either way, they give shape to our values,” he said. “Now, in a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important. Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.” The whitepaper outlined how a key plank of the government’s overall approach would be using “newly gathered intelligence” from the UK’s new eVisa system – which has so far been plagued by data quality and integrity problems – to keep track of who is allowed to be in the country. “The move to digital evidence of immigration status will enable us to update records in real time when status changes, ensuring those who are no longer entitled to access public services, work or rent will have this reflected on their eVisa, rather than continuing to hold physical evidence of status which is no longer up to date,” it said, adding the intelligence provided by digital visas will allow the state to “maintain and increase contact” with people as they move through the immigration system. “Put together, the comprehensive, intelligence-led and effective roll-out of eVisas to all foreign nationals resident in the UK will have a transformative impact on our immigration controls: telling us when each individual leaves the country and when they have returned; telling us whether they have the right to work, to rent, to claim benefits or use public services, and telling us how long they have the right to stay. “Importantly, eVisas will make it much easier for Immigration Enforcement to identify those who try to stay and work in the UK illegally, to track them down and take action against them.” The government added it will also “continue to harness the latest developments in artificial intelligence, facial recognition and age assessment technologies” to gather “the most accurate information” possible on every individual entering the UK, and that work is ongoing to enhance the accuracy and quality of the data held to ensure people’s status information remains up to date. Enny Choudhury, co-head of legal at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the government’s push to expand eVisa and biometric surveillance “is yet another step towards a dystopian immigration regime where people who’ve made the UK home are tracked, monitored and targeted simply because of their immigration status”. She added that the tools have nothing to do with security and are instead about giving the illusion of control: “Used alongside immigration raids and enforcement crackdowns, they will deepen mistrust, isolate communities, and expose people to errors and abuse in an already chaotic system. The eVisa roll-out has already shown itself to be riven with errors, and has left many unable to prove their status. “If ministers were serious about fairness, they’d invest in clear, compassionate immigration routes – not surveillance infrastructure that treats people as threats, not neighbours.”Computer Weekly contacted the Home Office about the criticisms levied against the whitepaper’s technology proposals, but received no response. While the government claims in the whitepaper that “the transition to eVisa has been successfully providing a significantly better end-to-end experience for individuals throughout their entire journey”, the system ran into problems almost immediately. Within the first few weeks of the eVisa system going live, for example, many reported issues when flying back to the UK, with travellers struggling to prove their immigration status to airport staff. Others have reported issues from within the UK as well, including with GPs not accepting the share codes issued via their UK Visas and Immigrationdigital account, which people are supposed to be able to use to prove their immigration status when dealing with a range of third parties, including employers and letting agencies. The issues are also affecting refugees, who are reportedly having problems connecting their passports to their online visa, according to digital rights groups supporting them. Other refugees are also unable to set up or log in to their UKVI accounts – which they need to set up a bank account, claim benefits or rent housing – as they have not been forwarded the necessary details by the Home Office. “As a result of the flawed e-visa scheme, people with the legal right to be in the UK have been held at airports, denied jobs and even made homeless. Others are having to rely ondocuments that expired over five months ago,” said Sara Alsherif, the migrant rights programme manager at Open Rights Group. “It is outrageous that the government has the audacity to refer to the shambolic eVisa scheme as ‘successful’. But it’s beyond comprehension that they are considering relying on this flawed scheme to carry out raids and deport people.  “With the use of technology, automated decision-making and AI, we can expect to see a Windrush scandal on steroids, and the Labour government really needs to ask whether it wants to be the architect of such human rights abuses.” Digital rights campaigners have long contended that the online-only, real-time nature of the Home Office’s eVisa scheme – which trawls dozens of disparate government databases to generate a new immigration status each time someone logs in – is error-prone and “deeply problematic”. “When users enter their details to log into the Government View and Prove system, they are not accessing their status directly, but rather their credentials are being used to search and retrieve dozens of different records held on them across different databases,” said ORG in a September 2024 report. It added that research has identified more than 90 different platforms and casework systems that immigration data may be pulled from within the UKVI ecosystem to determine a person’s status: “View and Prove uses an algorithmic and probabilistic logic to determine which data to extract and which e-records to use when it encounters multiple records, i.e. in instances where people have renewed or changed their immigration status, or appealed an incorrect decision. “It is these real-time and opaque automated checks that generate a person’s immigration status, which they can then share with an employer, landlord or international carrier.”  The ORG said the online-only design choice creates multiple problems for users, including making it “impossible” for an individual to be certain that they will get a correct result on any particular occasion; increased potential for incorrect decisions as a result of people’s records being pulled from “numerous servers”: and the details of two different people being conflated in instances where they, for example, share the same name or date of birth. In its whitepaper, the government also outlined proposals to deploy “modern biometric technology” to frontline immigration enforcement officers, specifically highlighting that they will play a role in facilitating immigration raids. It added that, over the coming months, it would also roll out bodyworn video cameras to frontline teams, “together with an advanced data management system and improved mobile biometric kits, improving identity verification, transparency, accountability and officer safety”. It claimed that, taken together, “these improvements will provide an objective record of interactions, strengthen evidence gathering and increase public confidence in enforcement activity while supporting the professional standards of our staff”. According to a blog post published by home secretary Yvette Cooper – which does not mention the extensive tech-related proposals contained in the whitepaper – the new requirements laid out in the document will “order to a failed system that saw net migration quadruple between 2019 and 2023.” These measures include raising the skilled worker threshold, ending overseas recruitment for social care visas, reducing the length of time graduates can stay in the UK after studying, new penalties for businesses employing workers illegally, and streamlining the deportation process to further increase “returns of foreign national offenders”. The government has also outlined how it will prevent the “dependents” of immigrants from coming to the country if they are not proficient enough in English. Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants’ Rights Network told Computer Weekly that “immigration raids are a racist fear mechanism that disproportionately impact migrant and racialised communities”, and that the use of eVisas, Electronic Travel Authorizationsand increased biometric data collection has been “an insidious tool” to create a database of migrants. “We were unsure of how it would be used to further surveil migrants and intensify enforcement operations,” she said. “Now, we finally know the measures set out in the new immigration whitepaper will be weaponised to further target and terrorise migrants and racialised people.” Responding to the whitepaper, trade unions and trade associations highlighted how the proposed measures could also undermine the UK’s ambitions to create a thriving, world-leading technology sector by undercutting access to talent and skills. “Continually increasing visa costs and requirements has the potential to undermine efforts to attract critically important collaboration and could undermine success in AI, tech, science, engineering and a host of other areas,” said Sue Ferns, deputy general secretary at the Prospect union. Antony Walker, deputy CEO of TechUK, added that the UK tech sector’s continued success is linked to the diverse talent it attracts from around the world: “As the demand for skilled workers in fields such as AI, cyber security, and quantum continues to grow, it is crucial that the UK grants and maintains immigration pathways that enable tech companies to access the talent they need. “A well-designed and fairly priced visa system is essential to maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness. We have the opportunity to reassess the UK’s immigration system to enhance public confidence and better support businesses. In particular, reviewing costs associated with visas and other related charges such as the Immigration Skills Charge could help ensure the system is not only fair but also effective. “If government wants to reduce reliance on the immigration system, it must urgently invest in skills and training, otherwise businesses will be left without the workforce they need to survive and grow.” about immigration and technology Interview: Petra Molnar, author of ‘The walls have eyes’: Refugee lawyer and author Petra Molnar speaks to Computer Weekly about the extreme violence people on the move face at borders across the world, and how increasingly hostile anti-immigrant politics is being enabled and reinforced by a ‘lucrative panopticon’ of surveillance technologies. Greek authorities subject refugees to invasive surveillance: Greek border authorities are subjecting asylum seekers to invasive phone confiscations and artificial intelligence-powered surveillance, in another potential violation of European data protection laws. English Channel surveillance used ‘to deter and punish migrants’: Instead of opening safe and legal routes to the UK, the country’s border control ecosystem is deploying surveillance technologies in the English Channel to deter migrant crossings, it is claimed. #government #outlines #plan #surveil #migrants