Hostile states are using organised crime gangs to carry out illegal activity in the UK, the head of the National Crime Agency has warned. NCA director-general Graeme Biggar highlighted “the emerging links between serious and organised crime and hostile states” in a speech outlining the agency’s annual assessment of crime threats to Britain. Speaking in Westminster, central London, on Monday, he said: “North Korea has for some time used cybercrime to steal funds and more recently cryptocurrency. “The Russian state has long tolerated and occasionally tasked the cybercrime groups on its territory, and had links with its oligarchs and their enablers. “And over the last year we have seen hostile states beginning to use organised crime groups – not always of the same nationality – as proxies. “It is a development we and our colleagues in MI5 and CT (counter-terrorism) policing are watching closely.” Mr Biggar said the biggest group of offenders in the UK is those who pose a sexual threat to children, estimated to be between 680,000 and 830,000 people – around 10 times the prison population. He warned that the availability of abuse images online has a radicalising effect by normalising paedophiles’ behaviour, and that viewing images, whether real or AI-generated, increases the risk of someone going on to abuse a child themselves. There are around 59,000 people involved in serious organised crime in the UK, with around £12 billion generated by criminal activities each year, and around £100 billion of dirty cash from across the globe laundered through the UK. Key threats to the UK include: – Criminals exploiting migrants travelling to the UK in small boats. The number of arrivals doubled to more than 45,000 in 2022, with gangs using “bigger, flimsier, single-use boats” and packing more people on to each craft, Mr Biggar said. – Illegal drug use that fuels a raft of other crimes including violence, theft, use of guns and modern slavery. Nearly 120 tonnes of cocaine and 40 tonnes of heroin are consumed in the UK every year, and NCA analysis of waste water suggests cocaine use is increasing by 25% in some areas. The agency wants to stop the use of synthetic opioids like fentanyl getting a hold here as they have done in the US. – Online fraud, which accounts for more than 40% of all crime. Mr Biggar said: “We assess that 75% of fraud is partially or fully committed from overseas. Generative AI is also being used to make frauds more believable, through the use of ever better deep fake videos and Chat GPT to write more compelling phishing emails.” Mr Biggar said developments in technology such as increased use of end-to-end encryption are making the agency’s work harder. He finished his speech by saying: “Law enforcement, including the NCA, needs to do more to be at the leading edge of new technology: this will require collective vision and sustained investment. “And, secondly, we need more effective strategic partnership from technology companies. “This is about responsible behaviour about designing public safety into their products alongside privacy, so that we all reap the benefits from technology, rather than suffering their consequences.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kim Kardashian, Rylan Clark and Dalai Lama among those joining new app Threads Mastercard helping banks predict scams before money leaves customers’ accounts Art historian helps build new Assassin’s Creed game after son’s suggestion

Two Texas Congressmen are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reject their state’s effort to oversee underground carbon

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS The European Commission stuck to its guns on Friday, saying it was not

Thailand has long been an auto hub, attracting global giants like Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

The hottest June on record has been followed by an early July that now includes 10 of the

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 may feature a new stacked battery design that is commonly used in electric vehicles, a new report has suggested. The new handset models expected to be launched in September may have their battery components stacked on top of each other, according to a seasoned leaker who goes by the username RGcloudS on Twitter. This design may lead to battery components being more tightly packaged, likely offering a higher energy density for the new iPhones. An earlier report from ITHome had suggested that these next-gen iPhones could feature as much as a 15 per cent boost to battery life. Many experts said battery packs are one area where there is an opportunity for Apple to explore more innovation. While cameras and display screens have gotten better over the years, there have only been marginal improvements in battery life across models. The development currently seen in the existing iPhone 14 battery life is also not as significant as that seen with the previous model iPhone 13. The leaker, however, pointed out that the new battery technology design for iPhone 15 remains “limited”, indicating that it may not be fully implemented as the handsets roll out for the public. There have been a number of rumours so far regarding design upgrades for the iPhone 15. Some leakers claim the new iPhone could ditch the lightning port in favour of USB-C for the first time and that Apple might remove the mechanical volume and power buttons on its handsets and replace them with solid-state ones. Rumours also suggest the iPhone 15 could feature a new chip to support Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro VR headset and allow the phone to work as part of a “more competitive ecosystem”, leaker Ming-Chi Kuo had said. This latest rumour comes on top of several other features Apple announced for its upcoming iPhone at its Worldwide Developer’s Conference last month. At the conference, the tech giant said iPhone 15 upgrades would include a range of new tools from one for journalling and AirDrop updates to live transcription in voicemail and a new standby mode to turns the iPhone into a smart display. Read More iOS 17: Apple launches beta of iPhone software update, allowing people to download new OS early Nothing Phone (2) review: A weird and wonderful mid-range Android Apple launches ‘Tap to Pay on iPhone’, letting people take payments on their device iPhone 13 pre-order: UK contract deals from Vodafone, EE, O2 and more iPhone 13 - live: UK contract deals and prices for Apple, EE and O2 Apple reveals its ‘most professional handset ever’, iPhone 13 Pro

The heat wave engulfing the Mediterranean is set to intensify as another Saharan anticyclone threatens record temperatures from

Back in the day, it’s said that people looked a lot older earlier in life than they do now. As it turns out, there’s a few reasons why. A video essay exploring the phenomenon from Vsauce posits a few explanations why we notice people looking older at a younger age in old footage and photographs. For one, the improvements in standards of living and advancements in healthcare over the years offer an obvious factor. There’s also subconscious bias surrounding fashions from years gone by and their connection with older generations. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, a study from 2018 also explored how biological ageing has changed in a short space of time. Did People Used To Look Older? www.youtube.com It found that human beings are actually biologically “younger” now than ever when it comes to changes in things like blood pressure – so there’s an actual physical difference between the generations that explains why people looked older sooner back in the day. The study explained that this is down to factors such as a fall in smoking, reading: "Over the past 20 years, the biological age of the U.S. population seems to have decreased for males and females across the age range. "However, the degree of change has not been the same for men and women or by age. Our results showed that young males experienced greater improvements than young females. This finding may explain why early adult mortality has decreased more for males than females, contributing to a narrowing of the gender mortality gap. Additionally, improvements were also larger for older adults than they were for younger adults." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

If ever anyone needs proof that aliens exist, they need only turn to the bottom of the sea. No, we’re not talking about fragments of interstellar meteors or spacecraft, we’re not even talking about mysterious mermaids, we’re talking about the extraordinary creatures that lurk in the depths of our oceans. One of these incredible beasts has been captured on film, swimming more than 3,700ft (1,128m) below the surface of the Indian Ocean. What makes this “alien” so special is not just the fact it’s able to live so far beneath the waves, but the fact it can transform its appearance entirely in just the blink of an eye. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The jaw-dropping metamorphosis was recorded thanks to a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which was exploring the sea off the East coast of Africa. In the clip, the creature – which looks more like a strange logo than a living being – can be seen floating serenely in the water. Then suddenly, 40 seconds into the video, it seems to shrink into a small black dot. On closer inspection, it’s clear that this isn’t a black dot but a jet-black jelly, decked out with streams of pulsating, technicoloured lights. The video was posted to YouTube by the user CaptainJRD back in 2013. In a caption, he explained that it was taken “at a depth of 3753 ft in the Indian Ocean within close proximity to a drill wellhead. “Near the end of the footage you can see the creature getting caught up in the output from the ROV thrusters. The video has not been altered,” he added. Alien looking creature transforming near Ocean floor at over 3700 feet.Video from ROV www.youtube.com The recording has been watched more than 5.8 million times, with viewers agreeing that it was the most “alien-looking creature” they’d ever seen. “If this isn’t one of the coolest things ever, I’m not sure what is,” one wrote. “Is no one gonna talk about how it looked like a disco ball after it transformed? This is an amazing discovery,” commented another. “This is why I never go more than 1000 ft underwater when I go to the beach,” joked a third. And a fourth added: “I’m a strong believer that everything deep deep down in the ocean looks like an alien. I also bet that there’s a lot of crazy species we’ve never seen before, hell I wouldn’t be that surprised if a 900 million-year-old dinosaur dwells at the bottom of the ocean.” Meanwhile, other commentators were quick to identify the creature, with most agreeing that it was a unique form of comb jelly. “For those wondering, this is a Bloodbelly Comb Jelly also called Lampocteis. Really beautiful creatures,” one wrote. Viewers also shared their dismay at what became of the stunning beast. Watch till the end of the video and you’ll see that no sooner does it execute its glorious transformation than it is brutally torn apart, apparently by a valve on the wellhead. “I became absolutely mesmerized. It was one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen, and then it suddenly just got ripped apart,” one commented. Hailing it as a “powerful video” another lamented: “The camera catches the most amazing, beautiful creature never seen before, just to see it torn to shreds by the oil blowout valve. “So very sad and also fitting for what we do to nature every second, everywhere on Earth.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Elon Musk says Twitter is still losing cash because advertising has dropped by half. In a reply to a tweet offering business advice, Mr Musk tweeted Saturday: “We’re still negative cash flow, due to (about a) 50 per cent drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load.” “Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else,” he concluded. Ever since he took over Twitter in a $44bn deal last fall, Mr Musk has tried to reassure advertisers who were concerned about the ouster of top executives, widespread layoffs and a different approach to content moderation. Some high-profile users who had been banned were allowed back on the site. In April, Mr Musk said most of the advertisers who left had returned and that the company might become cash-flow positive in the second quarter. In May, he hired a new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, an NBCUniversal executive with deep ties to the advertising industry. But since then, Twitter has upset some users by imposing new limits on how many tweets they can view in a day, and some users complained that they were locked out of the site. Mr Musk said the restrictions were needed to prevent unauthorized scraping of potentially valuable data. Twitter got a new competitor this month when Facebook owner Meta launched a text-focused app, Threads, and gained tens of millions of sign-ups in a few days. Twitter responded by threatening legal action. Read More Elon Musk doppelganger fights fake Mark Zuckerberg in preview of cage match Twitter starts making payments to its controversial users, including $20k to Andrew Tate Threads: Elon Musk posts series of explicit tweets about Mark Zuckerberg

Elon Musk on Friday said his new artificial intelligence company, xAI, will use "public tweets" from Twitter to

(Bloomberg Government) -- Hundreds of lawmakers have been quick to sign up for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s new app Threads,