Longtime Slashdot reader [1]sinij shares a report from Car and Driver with the comment: "Lack of visibility is a significant consequence of improving safety on the front overlap crash testing." Here's an excerpt from the report:

> The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has a [2]new method to look at what drivers can't look at, and the results of a DOT study using the method [3]suggest that things have gotten worse over the past quarter-century . [...] For the study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe Center used the IIHS method to examine every generation of some popular vehicles sold between 1997 and 2023. The models chosen were the Chevrolet Suburban, the Ford F-150, the Honda Accord, the Honda CR-V, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the Toyota Camry. The analysis measured how much of a 10-meter radius is visible to a driver; this distance was chosen because that's approximately how much space a driver needs to react and stop when traveling at 10 mph. The study also measured visibility between 10 and 20 meters from the vehicle.

>

> The biggest model-specific difference was observed with the Honda CR-V. In a 1997 model, the researchers measured 68 percent visibility, while the 2022 came in at just 28 percent. In a 2000 Suburban, the study measured 56 percent visible area within the 10-meter radius, but in a 2023 model it was down to 28 percent. The study concluded that higher hoods on newer versions of both models had the biggest impact on outward visibility. The F-150 started out with low visibility (43% for a 1997 model) and also declined (36% for the 2015 version). The two sedans in the study saw the least regression: A 2003 Accord was measured at 65 percent visibility, with the 2023 close behind at 60 percent, and the Camry went from 61 percent for the 2007 model to 57 percent for a 2023. Results for visibility between 10 and 20 meters were mixed, with some improving and others decreasing over subsequent generations.

>

> While this is not conclusive evidence across the industry, the results from these representative vehicles suggest an overall decline in outward frontal visibility. The study also notes that, during the same time period, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on U.S. roads increased dramatically -- 37 and 42 percent, respectively. There's likely at least some causation with that correlation, even when you consider the addition of features such as automated emergency braking that are meant to intervene and prevent such collisions.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~sinij

[2] https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/bibliography/ref/2336

[3] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a65219830/car-blind-zones-study-iihs/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian:

> The Danish government is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by [1]changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice . The Danish government said on Thursday it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people's identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe. Having secured broad cross-party agreement, the department of culture plans to submit a proposal to amend the current law for consultation before the summer recess and then submit the amendment in the autumn. It defines a deepfake as a very realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice.

>

> The Danish culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, said he hoped the bill before parliament would send an "unequivocal message" that everybody had the right to the way they looked and sounded. He told the Guardian: "In the bill we agree and are sending an unequivocal message that everybody has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own facial features, which is apparently not how the current law is protecting people against generative AI." He added: "Human beings can be run through the digital copy machine and be misused for all sorts of purposes and I'm not willing to accept that."

>

> The changes to Danish copyright law will, once approved, theoretically give people in Denmark the right to demand that online platforms remove such content if it is shared without consent. It will also cover "realistic, digitally generated imitations" of an artist's performance without consent. Violation of the proposed rules could result in compensation for those affected. The government said the new rules would not affect parodies and satire, which would still be permitted.

"Of course this is new ground we are breaking, and if the platforms are not complying with that, we are willing to take additional steps," said Engel-Schmidt.

He expressed hope that other European countries will follow suit and warned that "severe fines" will be imposed if tech platforms fail to comply.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/27/deepfakes-denmark-copyright-law-artificial-intelligence

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the U.S. Senate that while AI hasn't yet dramatically impacted the economy or labor market, [1]its transformative effects are inevitable -- though the timeline remains uncertain. The Register reports:

> Speaking to the US Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to give his semiannual monetary policy [2]report , Powell told elected officials that AI's effect on the economy to date is "probably not great" yet, but it has "enormous capabilities to make really significant changes in the economy and labor force." Powell declined to predict how quickly that change could happen, only noting that the final few leaps to get from a shiny new technology to practical implementation can be a slow one.

>

> "What's happened before with technology is that it seems to take a long time to be implemented," Powell said. "That last phase has tended to take longer than people expect." AI is likely to follow that trend, Powell asserted, but he has no idea what sort of timeline that puts on the eventual economy-transforming maturation point of artificial intelligence. "There's a tremendous uncertainty about the timing of [economic changes], what the ultimate consequences will be and what the medium term consequences will be," Powell said. [...]

>

> That continuation will be watched by the Fed, Powell told Senators, but that doesn't mean he'll have the power to do anything about it. "The Fed doesn't have the tools to address the social issues and the labor market issues that will arise from this," Powell said. "We just have interest rates."



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/27/powell_ai_coming_for_your_job/

[2] https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/06/18/2025/the-semiannual-monetary-policy-report-to-the-congress

An anonymous reader quotes a report from UploadVR:

> Software developer [1]Stijn Spanhove used the newest SDK features of Snap OS to [2]build a prototype of [a real-world ad blocker for Snap Spectacles ]. If you're unfamiliar, [3]Snap Spectacles are a bulky AR glasses development kit available to rent for $99/month. They run Snap OS, the company's made-for-AR operating system, and developers build apps called Lenses for them using Lens Studio or WebXR.

>

> Spanhove built the real-world ad blocker using the new Depth Module API of Snap OS, integrated with the vision capability of Google's Gemini AI via the cloud. The Depth Module API caches depth frames, meaning that coordinate results from cloud vision models can be mapped to positions in 3D space. This enables detecting and labeling real-world objects, for example. Or, in the case of Spanhove's project, [4]projecting a red rectangle onto real-world ads .

>

> However, while the software approach used for Spanhove's real-world ad blocker is sound, two fundamental hardware limitations mean it wouldn't be a practical way to avoid seeing ads in your reality. Firstly, the imagery rendered by see-through transparent AR systems like Spectacles isn't fully opaque. Thus, as you can see in the demo clip, the ads are still visible through the blocking rectangle. The other problem is that see-through transparent AR systems have a very limited field of view. In the case of Spectacles, just 46 degrees diagonal. So ads are only "blocked" whenever you're looking directly at them, and you'll still see them when you're not.



[1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/stijn-spanhove/?ref=uploadvr.com

[2] https://www.uploadvr.com/real-world-ad-blocker-snap-spectacles/

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/09/17/232227/snaps-new-spectacles-inch-closer-to-compelling-ar

[4] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7341484830682923008/

In a year when average air temperatures consistently breached the 1.5C warming threshold, global COâ-equivalent emissions from energy [1]rose by 1% , marking yet another record, the fourth in as many years. From a report:

> Wind and solar energy alone expanded by an impressive 16% in 2024, nine times faster than total energy demand. Yet this growth did not fully counterbalance rising demand elsewhere, with total fossil fuel use growing by just over 1%, highlighting a transition defined as much by disorder as by progress.

>

> Crude oil demand in OECD countries remained flat, following a slight decline in the previous year. In contrast, non-OECD countries, where much of the world's energy demand growth is concentrated and fossil fuels continue to play a dominant role, saw oil demand rise by 1%. Notably, Chinese crude oil demand fell in 2024 by 1.2%, indicating that 2023 may have reached a peak. Elsewhere, global natural gas demand rebounded, rising by 2.5% as gas markets rebalanced after the 2023 slump. India's demand for coal rose 4% in 2024 and now equals that of the CIS, Southern and Central America, North America, and Europe combined.



[1] https://www.energyinst.org/exploring-energy/resources/news-centre/media-releases/renewables-soar,-but-fossil-fuels-continue-to-rise-as-global-electricity-demand-hits-record-levels

Facebook is prompting users to opt into a feature that uploads photos from their camera roll -- even those not shared on the platform -- to Meta's servers for AI-driven suggestions like collages and stylized edits. While Meta claims the content is private and not used for ads, opting in allows the company to analyze facial features and retain personal data under its broad AI terms, raising privacy concerns. TechCrunch reports:

> The feature is being suggested to Facebook users when they're creating a new Story on the social networking app. Here, a screen pops up and asks if the user will opt into "cloud processing" to allow creative suggestions. As the pop-up message explains, by clicking "Allow," you'll let Facebook generate new ideas from your camera roll, like collages, recaps, AI restylings, or photo themes. To work, Facebook says it will upload media from your camera roll to its cloud (meaning its servers) on an "ongoing basis," based on information like time, location, or themes.

>

> The message also notes that only you can see the suggestions, and the media isn't used for ad targeting. However, by tapping "Allow," you are agreeing to [1]Meta's AI Terms . This allows your media and facial features to be analyzed by AI, it says. The company will additionally use the date and presence of people or objects in your photos to craft its creative ideas. [...] According to Meta's AI Terms around image processing, "once shared, you agree that Meta will analyze those images, including facial features, using AI. This processing allows us to offer innovative new features, including the ability to summarize image contents, modify images, and generate new content based on the image," the text states.

>

> The same AI terms also give Meta's AIs the right to "retain and use" any personal information you've shared in order to personalize its AI outputs. The company notes that it can review your interactions with its AIs, including conversations, and those reviews may be conducted by humans. The terms don't define what Meta considers personal information, beyond saying it includes "information you submit as Prompts, Feedback, or other Content." We have to wonder whether the photos you've shared for "cloud processing" also count here.



[1] https://www.facebook.com/legal/ai-terms

Germany's data protection commissioner has [1]urged Apple and Google to remove Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from their app stores due to concerns about data protection. Reuters reports:

> Commissioner Meike Kamp said in a statement on Friday that she had made the request because DeepSeek illegally transfers users' personal data to China. The two U.S. tech giants must now review the request promptly and decide whether to block the app in Germany, she added, though her office has not set a precise timeframe. According to its own privacy policy, DeepSeek stores numerous pieces of personal data, such as requests to its AI program or uploaded files, on computers in China.

>

> "DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users' data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union," [Commissioner Meike Kamp] said. "Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies," she added. The commissioner said she took the decision after asking DeepSeek in May to meet the requirements for non-EU data transfers or else voluntarily withdraw its app. DeepSeek did not comply with this request, she added.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/deepseek-faces-expulsion-app-stores-germany-2025-06-27/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg:

> Canada is [1]proceeding with its digital services tax on technology companies such as Meta despite a Group of Seven agreement that resulted in removing the Section 899 "revenge tax" proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump's tax bill. The first payment for Canada's digital tax is still due Monday, the country's Finance Department confirmed, and covers revenue retroactively to 2022. The tax is three percent of the digital services revenue a firm makes from Canadian users above $20 million in a calendar year.

>

> Keeping the digital tax will not affect the G7 agreement, which focuses on global minimum taxes, the Finance Department said. The Section 899 provision would have targeted companies and investors from countries that the U.S. determines are unfairly taxing American companies. [...] Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne suggested to reporters last week that the digital tax may be negotiated as part of broader, ongoing U.S.-Canada trade discussions. "Obviously all of that is something that we're considering as part of broader discussions that you may have," he said.

>

> Business groups in the country have opposed the tax since it was announced, arguing it would increase the cost of digital services and invite retaliation from the U.S. It also raised the ire of U.S. businesses and lawmakers. A group of 21 members of U.S. Congress wrote to Trump earlier this month asking him to push for the tax's removal, estimating the June 30 payment will cost U.S. companies $2 billion. Before scrapping its digital services tax, Canada wants to see an OECD deal on policies that expand a country's authority to tax profits earned within that country even if a company doesn't have a physical location there -- which is different from a global minimum tax.

Earlier today, President Trump said the U.S. is immediately ending trade talks with Canada in response to the tax, calling it a "direct and blatant attack on our country."

"Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump wrote in [2]a post on Truth Social. "We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period."



[1] https://financialpost.com/technology/canadas-digital-services-tax-g7

[2] https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114756567645919781

Android 16 will include a new security feature that [1]warns users when their phones connect to fake cell towers designed for surveillance. The "network notification" setting alerts users when devices connect to unencrypted networks or when networks request phone identifiers, helping protect against "stingray" devices that mimic legitimate cell towers to collect data and force phones onto insecure communication protocols.



[1] https://www.androidauthority.com/android-16-mobile-network-security-3571497/

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the FCC's Universal Service Fund [1]can continue operating , rejecting claims that the program's funding mechanism violates the Constitution. In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Elena Kagan, the court found that Congress did not exceed its authority when it enacted the 1996 law establishing the fund and that the FCC could delegate administration to a private corporation. The Universal Service Fund subsidizes telecommunications services for low-income consumers, rural health care providers, schools and libraries through fees generally passed on to customers that raise billions of dollars annually.

The program is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company, a nonprofit the FCC designated to run the fund. Conservative advocacy group Consumers' Research challenged the structure, arguing that "a private company is taxing Americans in amounts that total billions of dollars every year, under penalty of law, without true governmental accountability."

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Consumers' Research, prompting the FCC to petition the Supreme Court for review. Kagan wrote that Congress "sufficiently guided and constrained the discretion that it lodged with the FCC to implement the universal-service contribution scheme," adding that the FCC "retained all decision-making authority within that sphere." She concluded that "nothing in those arrangements, either separately or together, violates the Constitution." The challengers argued the program violates the "nondelegation doctrine," a conservative legal theory that says Congress has limited powers to delegate its lawmaking authority to the executive branch.



[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-upholds-phone-internet-subsidy-program-underserved-areas-rcna202662

36% of all Chinese undergraduate entrants -- about 1.6 million people -- selected engineering degrees in 2022 (the latest year for which data are available), up from 32% in 2010, according to data from China's Ministry of Education. In Britain and America, which have far fewer students to start with, the proportion hovers around 5%.

The surge comes as China's government directs universities to [1]focus on strategic industries and technological bottlenecks . Over 600 Chinese universities now offer undergraduate programs in artificial intelligence, a field the Communist Party vows to dominate by 2030. In 2023, officials started telling universities to overhaul their degree programs, and the education ministry announced an "emergency mechanism" to create degrees more quickly to meet "national priorities." Over half of China's young people now complete some form of higher education through 3,000-odd institutions. Youth unemployment reached 14.9% in May, driving students toward technical fields they believe offer better job prospects.



[1] https://www.economist.com/china/2025/06/26/chinas-new-army-of-engineers

[1]theodp writes:

> [2]FWD.us , the immigration and criminal justice-focused nonprofit of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg -- the world's [3]third richest person , according to Forbes with an estimated $250B net worth -- has [4]released a new research report warning that announced immigration policies will hurt American families , who can't afford it with their meager savings.

>

> The report begins: "Inflation remains a top concern for the majority of Americans. But new immigration policies announced by President Trump, and already underway, such as revoking immigrant work permits, deporting millions of people, and limiting legal immigration, would directly undermine the goal to level out, or even lower, the costs of everyday and essential goods and services. In fact, all Americans, particularly working-class families, are about to unnecessarily see prices for goods and services like food and housing increase substantially again, above and beyond other economic policies like global tariffs that could also raise prices. Announced immigration policies will result in American families paying an additional $2,150 for goods and services each year by the end of 2028, or the equivalent of the average American family's grocery bill for 3 months or their combined electricity and gas bills for the entire year. Such an annual increase would represent a tax that would erase many American families' annual savings, and amount to one of their bi-weekly paychecks each year. Unlike past periods of inflation, Americans have not been saving at the same rate as earlier years, and can't as easily absorb these price increases, squeezing American budgets even further."

>

> In 2021, [5]Zuckerberg's FWD.us teamed with the nation's tech giants to file a brief with the Supreme Court case to help crush WashTech (a tiny programmers' union), who challenged the lawfulness of hiring international students under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. "Striking down OPT and STEM OPT," FWD.us and its tech giant partners [6]argued in their filing , [PDF] "would create a sudden labor shortage in the United States for many companies' most important technical jobs" and "hurt U.S. workers." The brief also dismissed WashTech's contention that the programs coupled with a talent surplus would shut U.S. workers out of the labor market, citing Microsoft's President Brad Smith's claim of an acute talent shortage and a 2.4% unemployment rate for computer occupations (that was then, [7]this is now ).



[1] https://slashdot.org/~theodp

[2] https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462223015

[3] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#26c7a8f83d78

[4] https://www.fwd.us/news/new-immigration-policies-will-increase-prices-for-americans/

[5] https://www.fwd.us/news/fwd-us-u-s-business-community-file-amicus-brief-in-support-of-optional-practical-training-opt/

[6] https://www.fwd.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FWD.us-STEM-OPT-Amicus-Brief-FILED.pdf

[7] https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/06/25/1730250/the-computer-science-bubble-is-bursting

A new study challenges previous research about which sleep stages help people achieve breakthrough moments in problem-solving. Researchers found that N2 sleep, a deeper stage of non-REM sleep, significantly increased participants' likelihood of experiencing sudden insights during a perceptual task. The [1]preregistered study involved 90 participants who performed a visual pattern recognition task before and after a 20-minute daytime nap while researchers monitored their brain activity with EEG.

Participants who reached N2 sleep showed an 85.7% rate of achieving insights about a hidden strategy in the task, compared to 63.6% for those who only reached N1 sleep (the first stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep) and 55.5% for participants who remained awake. The findings contradict earlier work by Lacaux and colleagues, which suggested that lighter N1 sleep promoted insight while deeper sleep hindered it.

News coverage : [2]Stuck on a problem? Take a nap!



[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.3003185

[2] https://www.npr.org/2025/06/27/1254874800/sleep-brain-rest-nap

Eight nations have [1]surpassed 50% IPv6 deployment since June 2024, bringing the total number of countries in the majority IPv6 club to 21, according to the [2]Internet Society . Brazil, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, and Tuvalu all crossed the threshold over the past year.

Tuvalu's adoption coincided with the arrival of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite broadband service, which operates as IPv6-only. The Internet Society's Pulse platform found no IPv6 deployment in the Pacific nation in June 2024, but Starlink now holds 88% market share there and 59% of Tuvalu's internet connections use IPv6.

France moved from third place to tie with India for the global lead at 73% IPv6 deployment. Japan rebounded from 49% to 55%, returning to the 50% club after dropping below the mark in mid-2024. Puerto Rico climbed from 49% to 53%. Thailand appears positioned to join next at 49% deployment, followed by Estonia at 46% and the United Kingdom at 45%.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/27/ipv6_adoption_statistics/

[2] https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/more-countries-join-the-majority-ipv6-club

Brazil's supreme court has ruled that social media platforms [1]can be held legally responsible for their users' posts . From a report:

> Companies such as Facebook, TikTok and X will have to act immediately to remove material such as hate speech, incitement to violence or "anti-democratic acts," even without a prior judicial takedown order, as a result of the decision in Latin America's largest nation late on Thursday.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/4a5235c5-acd0-4e81-9d44-2362a25c8eb3

The six largest UK accounting firms [1]do not formally monitor how automated tools and AI impact the quality of their audits, the regulator has found, even as the technology becomes embedded across the sector. From a report:

> The Financial Reporting Council on Thursday published its first AI guide alongside a review of the way firms were using automated tools and technology, which found "no formal monitoring performed by the firms to quantify the audit quality impact of using" them.

>

> The watchdog found that audit teams in the Big Four firms -- Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC -- as well as BDO and Forvis Mazars were increasingly using this technology to perform risk assessments and obtain evidence. But it said that the firms primarily monitored the tools to understand how many teams were using them for audits, "typically for licensing purposes," rather than to assess their impact on audit quality.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/ee5be0d2-6d7b-432b-b778-1f7e471d8145

An anonymous reader quotes a report from SecurityWeek:

> Hundreds of printer models from Brother and other vendors are impacted by potentially serious vulnerabilities discovered by researchers at Rapid7. The cybersecurity firm [1]revealed on Wednesday that its researchers identified eight vulnerabilities affecting multifunction printers made by Brother. The security holes have been found to impact 689 printer, scanner and label maker models from Brother, and some or all of the flaws also affect 46 Fujifilm Business Innovation, five Ricoh, six Konica Minolta, and two Toshiba printers. Overall, millions of enterprise and home printers are believed to be [2]exposed to hacker attacks due to these vulnerabilities .

>

> The most serious of the flaws, tracked as CVE-2024-51978 and with a severity rating of 'critical', can allow a remote and unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication by obtaining the device's default administrator password. CVE-2024-51978 can be chained with an information disclosure vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-51977, which can be exploited to obtain a device's serial number. This serial number is needed to generate the default admin password. "This is due to the discovery of the default password generation procedure used by Brother devices," Rapid7 explained. "This procedure transforms a serial number into a default password. Affected devices have their default password set, based on each device's unique serial number, during the manufacturing process."

>

> Having the admin password enables an attacker to reconfigure the device or abuse functionality intended for authenticated users. The remaining vulnerabilities, which have severity ratings of 'medium' and 'high', can be exploited for DoS attacks, forcing the printer to open a TCP connection, obtain the password of a configured external service, trigger a stack overflow, and perform arbitrary HTTP requests. Six of the eight vulnerabilities found by Rapid7 can be exploited without authentication.

Brother has [3]patched most of the flaws, but CVE-2024-51978 requires a new manufacturing process to fully resolve, which will apply only to future devices.



[1] https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/multiple-brother-devices-multiple-vulnerabilities-fixed/

[2] https://www.securityweek.com/new-vulnerabilities-expose-millions-of-brother-printers-to-hacking/

[3] https://support.brother.com/g/s/security/en/

[1]alternative_right shares a report from Phys.Org:

> A new study from the University of Bath's School of Management has found that individuals with a higher IQ make more realistic predictions, which supports better decision-making and can lead to improved life outcomes. The research, [2]published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , shows that people with a low IQ (the lowest 2.5% of the population) make forecasting errors that are [3]more than twice as inaccurate as those made by people with a high IQ (the top 2.5% of the population).

>

> The research used data from a nationally representative sample of people over 50 in England (English Longitudinal Study of Aging ELSA), assessing their ability to predict their own life expectancy. Individuals were asked to predict their probability of living to certain ages, and these estimates were compared with the probabilities taken from Office for National Statistics life tables (a demographic tool used to analyze death rates and calculate life expectancies at various ages). The study controlled for differences in lifestyle, health, and genetic longevity.

>

> By analyzing participants' scores on a variety of cognitive tests, as well as genetic markers linked to intelligence and educational success, Chris Dawson, Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science at the University of Bath, showed that smarter individuals tend to have more accurate beliefs about uncertain future events - they are more skilled at assessing probability. Individuals with a higher IQ are significantly better at forecasting, making fewer errors (both positive and negative) and showing more consistent judgment compared to those with a lower IQ.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~alternative_right

[2] https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-26993-001.html

[3] https://phys.org/news/2025-06-iq-smarter-people-decisions.html

The UK government has [1]rejected the 25 billion ($34.39 billion) pound Morocco-UK Power Project , citing a preference for domestic renewable initiatives that offer greater economic and strategic benefits. The project aimed to supply solar and wind energy from the Sahara to power up to seven million UK homes. Reuters reports:

> "The government has concluded that it is not in the UK national interest at this time to continue further consideration of support for the Morocco-UK Power Project," energy department minister Michael Shanks said in a written statement to parliament. He also said the project did not clearly align strategically with the government's mission to build homegrown power in the UK.

>

> Xlinks' Morocco-UK power project would have tapped Moroccan renewable energy via what would have been the world's longest subsea power cable. The plan involved building 3,800 kilometers (2,361 miles) of high-voltage direct current subsea cables from Morocco to southwest England. The company had been seeking a guaranteed minimum price for the electricity supplied, known as contract for difference, from Britain's government.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britain-rejects-morocco-uk-green-energy-cable-project-2025-06-26/

Apple's Swift programming language is [1]expanding official support to Android through a new " [2]Android Working Group " which will improve compatibility, integration, and tooling. "As it stands today, Android apps are generally coded in Kotlin, but Apple is looking to provide its Swift coding language as an alternative," notes 9to5Google. "Apple first launched its coding language back in 2014 with its own platforms in mind, but currently also supports Windows and Linux officially." From the report:

> A few of the key pillars the Working Group will look to accomplish include:

>

> - Improve and maintain Android support for the official Swift distribution, eliminating the need for out-of-tree or downstream patches

> - Recommend enhancements to core Swift packages such as Foundation and Dispatch to work better with Android idioms

> - Work with the Platform Steering Group to officially define platform support levels generally, and then work towards achieving official support of a particular level for Android

> - Determine the range of supported Android API levels and architectures for Swift integration

> - Develop continuous integration for the Swift project that includes Android testing in pull request checks.

> - Identify and recommend best practices for bridging between Swift and Android's Java SDK and packaging Swift libraries with Android apps

> - Develop support for debugging Swift applications on Android

> - Advise and assist with adding support for Android to various community Swift packages



[1] https://9to5google.com/2025/06/26/swift-coding-language-android-support/

[2] https://forums.swift.org/t/announcing-the-android-workgroup/80666