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j'essayerais ou j'essaierais How Labour's new green drive will cost you £32,000: JEFF PRESTRIDGE's guide to protect YOUR cash from the eco-zealots By JEFF PRESTRIDGE Updated: 22:47, 26 November 2024 e-mail View comments The drive to turn us into a nation of heat-pump owners is back in fifth gear. Led by the fervent Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, homeowners are once again being encouraged to rip out their gas boilers and replace them with expensive heat pumps to help save the planet (believe me, heat pumps will make NO difference to the planet’s survival). Although the Tory government of Boris Johnson was the initial flag-waver when it came to heat pumps, Mr Miliband – a heat pump zealot – has taken the flag-waving to a new level. A sea of green flags is now being waved before our very eyes. Earlier this month, he threw more buckets of money at the so-called Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) to ensure that homeowners who want to make the leap from gas boiler to heat pump will have ready access to grants worth up to £7,500. Without the grants, heat pumps would be out of the financial reach of most households (more on this in a minute). Even with them, they remain an option that only a minority of households can afford. He also announced that planning rules would be relaxed to ensure that nearly everybody who wants a heat pump installed on an exterior wall of their home will soon be able to go ahead – irrespective of the fact that the pump’s noise could well keep the neighbours awake for most of the night. Get pumped: Homeowners are once again being encouraged to rip out their gas boilers and replace them with expensive heat pumps to help save the planet Cities could soon be turned into ‘cacophonous’ heat pump farms, according to one respected commentator. Ear plugs at the ready for the heat pump raves. Mr Miliband wasn’t finished. He also said that the boiler tax will return from next April – a fine paid by boiler manufacturers unable to meet unachievable heat pump sales targets – and passed on to buyers of gas boilers in the form of higher prices. It will be a modest fine to begin with, but is likely to be cranked up every year while green Labour (green in so many other ways) remains in power. Mr Miliband has supporters. The grandiose Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit followed the announcements with a ludicrous press release that played the patriotic card. It said heat pumps would help wean the UK off foreign imported gas – without squaring the circle by admitting that most heat pumps are manufactured in Asia and then imported into the UK. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next The ultimate five tricks energy experts use to keep heating... How can I make a foolproof insurance claim for flood damage... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to save money on energy: What you need to know and energy-saving tips that work Even manufacturers here assemble heat pumps primarily from components brought into the country on container ships sailing the seven seas. Yet there are more discerning experts who believe that the Government’s belief in a heat pump future – with its target of 600,000 installations a year by 2028 (more than ten times last year’s installation figure) – will end in failure. Yesterday, Gordon Hughes, a former senior adviser on energy and environmental policy at the World Bank, told Money Mail that the 2028 installation target is not credible, even if larger subsidies were handed out to buyers of heat pumps. He also said that even at an installation rate of 600,000 a year, it would take 45 years to convert all houses to heat pumps – way beyond the country’s legally binding commitment under the Climate Change Act 2008 to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Mr Hughes added: ‘Almost everyone with practical knowledge of the energy sector knows that current heat pump targets are both daft and unachievable. ‘But policies are a matter of religious faith, and few are willing to be cast out for saying the emperor has no clothes.’ Money Mail searches for the answers to the key questions facing households thinking about joining Mr Miliband in his heat pump crusade. How much is it going to cost? It depends on the type of heat pump installed – air pump or ground source. The air source pump sits on the outside wall of a home – and looks like the air conditioning units that you see outside many industrial buildings. This pump is painful on the eyes (an eyesore), ears (it’s noisy and gets noisier as it ages) and wallet, costing an average of £13,200 to install. In basic terms, it sucks air from the outside which then interacts with a refrigerant – a chemical substance – to produce heat which can be used to warm radiators and create hot water. Then there is the grander ground source pump which, through the laying of underground pipes (typically in the back garden), draws upon natural-occurring heat stored in the ground to ultimately heat radiators and water in the home. These can cost anything between £15,000 and £30,000, which makes them the Louis Vuitton of heat pumps. But this government – and Mr Miliband in particular – is desperate for households to wean themselves off gas boilers and buy these expensive pumps. So desperate, in fact, that it offers grants of £7,500 to those who get them installed (properly). These are provided through BUS (gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme) and available to households in England and Wales (other energy-efficiency grants are on offer in Scotland and Northern Ireland). So that takes the price of the respective pumps down to a more reasonable £5,700 (air) and £7,500 to £22,500 (ground). To put these sums into perspective, the cost of replacing a gas boiler is around £2,500. So, should you buy a pump? Mike Foster, chief executive of energy trade association the Energy and Utilities Alliance, says that if people want a heat pump and can afford it, ‘they should go out and get one’. Yet a survey by consumer group Which? indicates that cost remains a big issue – 71 pc of respondents who know about heat pumps say they are out of their financial range. Installation costs are also not necessarily the only financial hit. Heat pumps are not effective in homes where windows are single glazed (as opposed to double glazed), or where walls are not insulated. According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), the cost of fitting A-rated windows (the most energy-efficient double-glazed windows) for a semi-detached house typically cost £15,000, while cavity wall insulation will cost £2,700. Grants: Secretary of State for Energy Security Ed Miliband If you have solid walls and want them insulated, the EST reckons that will set you back £7,500 if fitted internally, or £11,000 externally. In short, fitting a heat pump in a solid-wall, semi-detached house with A-rated windows and external wall insulation will set you back £39,200 – £31,700 net of the £7,500 grant. Running costs will still be more than that of a gas boiler, too. Mr Foster says: ‘You may hear from supporters of heat pump technology that it is three times more efficient than a gas boiler. ‘What they fail to mention is that the average unit price of electricity is four times higher than that for gas. This means a heat pump works out slightly more expensive to run over a full year than a gas boiler.’ For the 50 per cent of homes that use gas for cooking, Mr Foster adds that a conversion to heat pumps will mean the need for electric cooking appliances – yet more cost (typically, £250 for an electric oven, £225 for an electric hob, and £250 for installation) on top of the £39,200. Mr Hughes agrees. He says the differential between gas and electricity prices makes it financially ‘daft’ to replace a gas boiler with a heat pump. He adds: ‘Electricity prices would have to be less than half their current level – with gas prices not changing – to even make a heat pump a consideration.’ Is the boiler tax a game-changer? From April next year, the Government’s Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) will impose swingeing taxes on boiler manufacturers if heat pumps represent less than 6 per cent of all domestic heating installations. For every heat pump installation short of their target, the manufacturers will be hit with a £500 fine. But Mr Miliband’s zealotry towards heat pumps means the sky is the limit in 12 months’ time. The tax will be passed on by manufacturers to buyers of gas boilers in the form of higher prices. Based on the current demand for gas boilers and heat pumps, Mr Foster estimates that it is likely to add £25 to the average cost of a gas boiler when fines are set at £500. But if Mr Miliband were to impose a more onerous heat pump installation target and bigger fines, the gap between heat pump and gas boiler installation costs would start closing. If the Secretary of State demanded a 24 per cent installation target – similar to the electric vehicle targets imposed on car manufacturers – and a fine of £5,000 per heat pump short of the target, Mr Foster says this would result in a boiler tax for customers of £1,000. Peter Thom, founder of energy efficiency specialist Green Heat, says the financial mathematics for households aren’t changed by CHMM. He says: ‘My advice would still be to replace a failing gas boiler with another gas boiler.’ But he adds: ‘I would ensure that any new installation works effectively at a lower temperature – which may mean putting in higher-output radiators. I’d also make sure that the heating controls are upgraded. ‘This would mean your heating system is heat-pump ready for when the dice is loaded so heavily against gas boilers that heat pumps are the way forward.’ Eyesore: Air source heat pumps sit on the outside wall of a home – and looks like the air conditioning units you see outside many industrial units Could better tech drive down prices? Not according to Mr Foster. He says heat pumps are already sold in their millions worldwide (especially in the Far East) and their basic design has not changed much. Yes, he says, they could become quieter – but that will come at a price. Unless a vicious boiler tax is introduced, a gas boiler will always be cheaper than a heat pump. Is the funding sustainable? No. Mr Thom says the installation target of 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028 will cost the taxpayer £4.5 billion annually (assuming the BUS grant remains at £7,500). If the annual target of 1.6 million new heat pumps is achieved in 2035, it will cost £12 billion a year. He adds: ‘This is like being at the Mad Hatter’s party on Fantasy Island. ‘I also question the moral compass of a government which is providing grants of £7,500 to help essentially wealthy people install heat pumps while, at the same time, taking away the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners – with some four million people now in fuel poverty.’ A damning comment. Are you a heat pump sceptic or a zealot? Email: jeff.prestridge@dailymail.co.uk Can you save money on energy bills? Check the best fixed deals When energy prices spiked most households slipped energy price cap tariffs, but it is now possible again to switch to fixed rate energy deals that can save you money. This is Money's recommended partner uSwitch lets you compare the best energy deals for you, based on your home and gas and electricity costs. > Compare the best energy deals with uSwitch* By entering your address and energy usage, you can search for energy deals that can cut your costs and suit how you live. Switching energy provider can also help the planet, if you move to one of the a green deals offering electricity from renewable sources and more environmentally-friendly gas. > Check the best fixed rate energy deals with uSwitch and This is Money * *Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. This does not affect our editorial independence. 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We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.The yummy festive dessert that celebrates British favourite hitting supermarket shelves this Christmas for first time

Manhattan police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione , suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while carrying a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush. Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Here's the latest: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says “violence to combat any sort of corporate greed is unacceptable” and the White House will “continue to condemn any form of violence.” She declined to comment on the investigation into the Dec. 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson or reports that writings belonging to the suspect, Luigi Mangione, said insurance companies care more about profits than their customers. “This is horrific,” Jean-Pierre said of the fatal shooting of Thompson as he walked in Manhattan. He didn’t appear to say anything as deputies led him to a waiting car outside. “I’m deeply grateful to the men and women of law enforcement whose efforts to solve the horrific murder of Brian Thompson led to the arrest of a suspect in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Hochul said in the statement. “I am coordinating with the District Attorney’s Office and will sign a request for a governor’s warrant to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable. Public safety is my top priority and I’ll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe.” That’s according to a spokesperson for the governor who said Gov. Hochul will do it as soon as possible. Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties. Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street. The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer. ▶ Read more about Luigi Mangione Peter Weeks, the Blair County district attorney, says he’ll work with New York officials to try to return suspect Luigi Mangione there to face charges. Weeks said the New York charges are “more serious” than in Blair County. “We believe their charges take precedent,” Weeks said, promising to do what’s needed to accommodate New York’s prosecution first. Weeks spoke to reporters after a brief hearing at which a defense lawyer said Mangione will fight extradition. The defense asked for a hearing on the issue. In the meantime, Mangione will be detained at a state prison in western Pennsylvania. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Tuesday it will seek a Governor’s warrant to secure Mangione’s extradition to Manhattan. Under state law, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul can issue a warrant of arrest demanding Mangione’s return to the state. Such a warrant must recite the facts necessary to the validity of its issuance and be sealed with the state seal. It would then be presented to law enforcement in Pennsylvania to expedite Mangione’s return to New York. But Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks says it won’t be a substantial barrier to returning Mangione to New York. He noted that defendants contest extradition “all the time,” including in simple retail theft cases. Dickey, his defense lawyer, questioned whether the second-degree murder charge filed in New York might be eligible for bail under Pennsylvania law, but prosecutors raised concerns about both public safety and Mangione being a potential flight risk, and the judge denied it. Mangione will continue to be housed at a state prison in Huntingdon. He has 14 days to challenge the detention. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have a month to seek a governor’s warrant out of New York. Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion, but was quieted by his lawyer. Luigi Mangione, 26, has also been denied bail at a brief court hearing in western Pennsylvania. He has 14 days to challenge the bail decision. That’s with some intervention from owner Elon Musk. The account, which hasn’t posted since June, was briefly suspended by X. But after a user inquired about it in a post Monday, Musk responded “This happened without my knowledge. Looking into it.” The account was later reinstated. Other social media companies such as Meta have removed his accounts. According to X rules, the platform removes “any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third party links where related content is hosted.” Mangione is not accused of perpetrating a terrorist or mass attack — he has been charged with murder — and his account doesn’t appear to share any writings about the case. He shouted something that was partly unintelligible, but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” He’s there for an arraignment on local charges stemming from his arrest Monday. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit as officers led him from a vehicle into the courthouse. Local defense lawyer Thomas Dickey is expected to represent the 26-year-old at a Tuesday afternoon hearing at the Blair County Courthouse. Dickey declined comment before the hearing. Mangione could have the Pennsylvania charges read aloud to him and may be asked to enter a plea. They include possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. In New York, he was charged late Monday with murder in the death of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain with corporate greed, said a a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s hand-written notes and social media postings. He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said. A felony warrant filed in New York cites Altoona Officer Christy Wasser as saying she found the writings along with a semi-automatic pistol and an apparent silencer. The filing echoes earlier statements from NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny who said Mangione had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America.” Mangione is now charged in Pennsylvania with being a fugitive of justice. A customer at the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested said one of his friends had commented beforehand that the man looked like the suspect wanted for the shooting in New York City. “It started out almost a little bit like a joke, my one friend thought he looked like the shooter,” said the customer, who declined to give his full name, on Tuesday. “It wasn’t really a joke, but we laughed about it,” he added. The warrant on murder and other charges is a step that could help expedite his extradition from Pennsylvania. In court papers made public Tuesday, a New York City police detective reiterated key findings in the investigation he said tied Mangione to the killing, including surveillance footage and a fake ID he used to check into a Manhattan hostel on Nov. 24. Police officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, found that ID when they arrested Mangione on Monday. Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Mangione doesn’t yet have a lawyer who can speak on his behalf, court officials said. Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and ski cap. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair. Mangione’s cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione, announced Tuesday morning that he’s postponing a fundraiser planned later this week at the Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore, which was purchased by the Mangione family in 1986. “Because of the nature of this terrible situation involving my Cousin I do not believe it is appropriate to hold my fundraising event scheduled for this Thursday at Hayfields,” Nino Mangione said in a social media post. “I want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. My family and I are heartbroken and ask that you remember the family of Mr. Thompson in your prayers. Thank you.” Officers used New York City’s muscular surveillance system . Investigators analyzed DNA samples, fingerprints and internet addresses. Police went door to door looking for witnesses. When an arrest came five days later , those sprawling investigative efforts shared credit with an alert civilian’s instincts. A customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania noticed another patron who resembled the man in the oblique security-camera photos New York police had publicized. He remains jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late Monday evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket. It’s unclear whether Luigi Nicholas Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday’s arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could “answer that at a future date.”Kunlavut Vitidsarn will battle Jonatan Christie in the final Group B match on Friday with a place in the men's singles semi-finals of the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, at stake. Kunlavut lost to Shi Yuqi 21-14, 19-21, 23-25 in the second group match on Thursday as the Chinese star became the first player to qualify for the last four of the men's singles event at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. World champion and Olympic silver medallist Kunlavut, who now has one win and one loss in Group B, will need to beat Christie of Indonesia in a winner-takes-all clash today to join Shi in the semi-finals of the US$2.5 million tournament. Christie rebounded from his opening loss to Shi on Wednesday as he beat Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-12, 21-11, sending the Japanese star tumbling out after two successive losses. Shi will play Naraoka on Friday. Women's singles hopes Supanida Katethong and Busanan Ongbamrungphan suffered their second defeats on Thursday. Finals debutant Supanida was beaten by China's Han Yue 16-21, 18-21 in a Group B clash. The left-hander also lost to South Korea's An Se-Young in her opening match on Wednesday. In Group A, Busanan put up a brave fight against Gregoria Mariska Tunjung before falling to the Indonesian star in three games, 21-10, 10-21, 11-21. Busanan lost her opening match to China's Wang Zhiyi 19-21, 14-21 on Wednesday. Japan's Aya Ohori beat China's Wang Zhiyi 21-17, 13-21, 21-19 in the other Group A match on Thursday. Supanida will play Japan's Akane Yamaguchi while Busanan will meet Ohori in their final group matches on Friday. Tunjung will face Wang in the final group match, with the winner joining Ohori in the semi-finals.CONX Corp. Announces Acquisition of Red Technologies SAS

Dejounte Murray is rejoining the Pelicans vs. Toronto and drawing inspiration from his motherIn a net positive for researchers testing the security and safety of AI systems and models, the US Library of Congress ruled that certain types of offensive activities — such as prompt injection and bypassing rate limits — do not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a law used in the past by software companies to push back against unwanted security research. The Library of Congress, however, declined to create an exemption for security researchers under the fair use provisions of the law, arguing that an exemption would not be enough to provide security researchers safe haven. Overall, the triennial update to the legal framework around digital copyright works in the security researchers' favor, as does having clearer guidelines on what is permitted, says Casey Ellis, founder and adviser to crowdsourced penetration testing service BugCrowd. "Clarification around this type of thing — and just making sure that security researchers are operating in as favorable and as clear an environment as possible — that's an important thing to maintain, regardless of the technology," he says. "Otherwise, you end up in a position where the folks who own the [large language models], or the folks that deploy them, they're the ones that end up with all the power to basically control whether or not security research is happening in the first place, and that nets out to a bad security outcome for the user." Security researchers have increasingly gained hard-won protections against prosecution and lawsuits for conducting legitimate research. In 2022, for example, the US Department of Justice stated that its prosecutors would not charge security researchers with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) if they did not cause harm and pursued the research in good faith. Companies that sue researchers are regularly shamed, and groups such as the Security Legal Research Fund and the Hacking Policy Council provide additional resources and defenses to security researchers pressured by large companies. In a post to its site, the Center for Cybersecurity Policy and Law called the clarifications by the US Copyright Office "a partial win" for security researchers — providing more clarity but not safe harbor. The Copyright Office is organized under the Library of Congress's purview. "The gap in legal protection for AI research was confirmed by law enforcement and regulatory agencies such as the Copyright Office and the Department of Justice, yet good faith AI research continues to lack a clear legal safe harbor," the group stated . "Other AI trustworthiness research techniques may still risk liability under DMCA Section 1201, as well as other anti-hacking laws such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act." The fast adoption of generative AI systems and algorithms based on big data have become a major disruptor in the information-technology sector. Given that many large language models (LLMs) are based on mass ingestion of copyrighted information, the legal framework for AI systems started off on a weak footing. For researchers, past experience provides chilling examples of what could go wrong, says BugCrowd's Ellis. "Given the fact that it's such a new space — and some of the boundaries are a lot fuzzier than they are in traditional IT — a lack of clarity basically always converts to a chilling effect," he says. "For folks that are mindful of this, and a lot of security researchers are pretty mindful of making sure they don't break the law as they do their work, it has resulted in a bunch of questions coming out of the community." The Center for Cybersecurity Policy and Law and the Hacking Policy Council proposed that red teaming and penetration testing for the purpose of testing AI security and safety be exempted from the DMCA, but the Librarian of Congress recommended denying the proposed exemption. The Copyright Office "acknowledges the importance of AI trustworthiness research as a policy matter and notes that Congress and other agencies may be best positioned to act on this emerging issue," the Register entry stated , adding that "the adverse effects identified by proponents arise from third-party control of online platforms rather than the operation of section 1201, so that an exemption would not ameliorate their concerns." With major companies investing massive sums in training the next AI models, security researchers could find themselves targeted by some pretty deep pockets. Luckily, the security community has established fairly well-defined practices for handling vulnerabilities, says BugCrowd's Ellis. "The idea of security research being being a good thing — that's now kind of common enough ... so that the first instinct of folks deploying a new technology is not to have a massive blow up in the same way we have in the past," he says. "Cease and desist letters and [other communications] that have gone back and forth a lot more quietly, and the volume has been kind of fairly low." In many ways, penetration testers and red teams are focused on the wrong problems. The biggest challenge right now is overcoming the hype and disinformation about AI capabilities and safety, says Gary McGraw, founder of the Berryville Institute of Machine Learning (BIML), and a software security specialist. Red teaming aims to find problems, not be a proactive approach to security, he says. "As designed today, ML systems have flaws that can be exposed by hacking but not fixed by hacking," he says. Companies should be focused on finding ways to produce LLMs that do not fail in presenting facts — that is, "hallucinate" — or are vulnerable to prompt injection, says McGraw. "We are not going to red team or pen test our way to AI trustworthiness — the real way to secure ML is at the design level with a strong focus on training data, representation, and evaluation," he says. "Pen testing has high sex appeal but limited effectiveness." Veteran technology journalist of more than 20 years. Former research engineer. Written for more than two dozen publications, including CNET News.com, Dark Reading, MIT's Technology Review, Popular Science, and Wired News. Five awards for journalism, including Best Deadline Journalism (Online) in 2003 for coverage of the Blaster worm. Crunches numbers on various trends using Python and R. Recent reports include analyses of the shortage in cybersecurity workers and annual vulnerability trends.Joby launches $300M public offering ahead of 2025 commercial eVTOL releaseMatt Chapman hasn't played shortstop in an MLB game since 2021 but he's willing to move to the position temporarily to help the Giants. Chapman, an elite defensive third baseman, has told the Giants he is open to playing shortstop for a brief period if San Francisco signs injured free-agent Ha-Seong Kim , The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Thursday, citing sources briefed on the discussions. > Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Kim underwent shoulder surgery in October, and per Rosenthal, the 29-year-old South Korean is expected to miss the early part of the 2025 MLB season, possibly even the entire first half of the year. The Giants are prioritizing shortstop as a position of need this offseason, and once healthy, Kim would provide a dynamic left side of the infield with Chapman. Kim played the last four seasons with the San Diego Padres but declined an $8 million player option for the 2025 season, taking a $2 million buyout to test free agency. He earned $28 million from 2021 through 2024 . In four MLB seasons, Kim is hitting .242/.326/.380 with 80 doubles, 47 home runs and 200 RBI. He has a 15.3 bWAR during his career. Kim's best season came in 2023 when he had a 5.8 bWAR, won the NL Gold Glove at shortstop and received NL MVP votes. Chapman, who signed a six-year, $151 million contract extension with the Giants, has appeared in four career MLB games at shortstop. He also has experience at the position from his college days at Cal State Fullerton. The Giants also could keep Chapman at third base and play Tyler Fitzgerald at shortstop until Kim is healthy. But that's a bridge the Giants can cross if they sign Kim. Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Spectral Capital and FYNTRA Group Announced a Strategic Partnership to Pioneer Quantum Wallet TechnologyActor Richard Gere, 75, has announced plans to relocate to Spain with his wife, Alejandra Silva, 41, and their children. Gere's relocation follows a growing trend of celebrity moves influenced by the US political climate . Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi , reportedly put their Montecito, California, home on sale and have moved to the UK. Gere discussed the relocation decision during an appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on November 20, revealing that Thanksgiving will be spent in Spain this year. "My wife is Spanish. Is this a problem for anybody out there?" Gere joked, adding, “She gave me about seven years here, so we’re going to spend some years in Madrid with her family.” A family-centered move The couple, who married in May 2018, share two sons—Alexander, 5, and James, 4—and each has a child from previous marriages, creating a blended family. “Our kids are bilingual so they’re going to flourish there,” Gere said, noting that his wife is stepping into a matriarchal role in her extended family. “She’s already planning for 35 people for Sunday lunches,” the actor quipped, reflecting on Silva’s familial ties and traditions. Selling US roots The decision to move coincided with the sale of Gere’s six-bedroom Connecticut home in October for $10.7 million. The property, previously owned by singer Paul Simon, had been purchased by Gere in 2022 for $10.8 million, according to The New Canaan Advertiser. Gere first hinted at the relocation in an April interview with Vanity Fair Spain, describing it as a chance to embrace a new way of life. "For me, going to Madrid is going to be a great adventure... I love Spain and think your lifestyle is fabulous," he said, praising the culture, food, and warmth of the Spanish people. Despite his move to Spain, Gere emphasized that he plans to return to the United States in the future. For now, he views Madrid as the perfect setting for his family’s next chapter.

NEW YORK (AP) — The masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” emblazoned on his ammunition, echoing a phrase used by industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday. The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation into the shooting early Wednesday outside a Manhattan hotel and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. With the gunman still at large, police also released photos of a "person of interest" wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . The images, showing an unmasked man in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand. Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center, where the famed Christmas tree was lit Wednesday night. The reason for the killing remained unknown , but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack. The messages on the ammunition mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims. It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care. Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the Hilton and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints. The killing and the shooter’s movements in the minutes before and afterward were captured on some of the multitude of security cameras in that part of the city. The shooter fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park. A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel. “We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement. Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman. “We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson, said. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.” Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP. Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said. Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle. Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning. They've also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search for the killer, while also interviewing Thompson's coworkers, searching his hotel room and scouring his social media. Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage. The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson’s death. UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs. In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years. Balsamo reported from Washington.In the final hours before University of Mississippi student Jimmy “Jay” Lee disappeared , sexually explicit Snapchat messages were exchanged between his account and the account of the man now on trial in his killing, an investigator testified Thursday. Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in the death of Lee, who vanished July 8, 2022. Lee, 20, of Jackson, Mississippi, was a gay man well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, where the university is located and Herrington's trial is being held. Lee's body has never been found, but a judge has declared him dead. Herrington maintains his own innocence. Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” but evidence will show he had a relationship with Lee and is responsible for the death, assistant district attorney Gwen Agho said during opening arguments Tuesday in Oxford. Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors that prosecutors have “zero” proof Lee was killed. University Police Department Sgt. Benjamin Douglas testified Thursday that investigators used search warrants to obtain cellphone records, information from social media accounts belonging to Lee and Herrington and information about Herrington's internet searches on the day Lee disappeared until Herrington was arrested two weeks later. One of Lee's friends, Khalid Fears, testified Tuesday that he had a video call with Lee just before 6 a.m. on July 8, 2022. Fears said Lee mentioned a sexual encounter with a man hours earlier, which ended badly. Lee was leaving his own on-campus apartment to go see the same man again, Fears said. Douglas testified Herrington's Snapchat account sent a message to Lee's account at about 5:25 a.m. saying: “Come back.” People using the two accounts then argued, and Lee's account sent a message at 5:54 a.m. saying he was on the way over. Douglas said that at 6:03 a.m., Lee's account sent its final message: “Open.” Google records obtained through a warrant showed that Herrington searched “how long does it take to strangle someone” at 5:56 a.m., Douglas said. An officer from another police agency, the Oxford Police Department, testified that starting on 7:18 a.m. the morning of Lee's disappearance, a car matching the description of Lee’s black sedan was captured on multiple security cameras driving through Oxford. A camera showed the car entering a parking lot at the Molly Barr Trails apartment complex at 7:25 a.m., Lt. Mark Hodges testified. The same camera showed a man jogging out of the parking lot moments later, turning onto Molly Barr Road. A witness, Kizziah Carter, testified Wednesday that he was driving home from work about 7:30 that morning and saw Herrington jogging along Molly Barr Road. Carter said he knew Herrington and honked to greet him, and Herrington flagged him down to ask for a ride. Carter said he drove Herrington to Herrington’s apartment in another complex. Lee's car was towed from Molly Barr Trails later that day. Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee. Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.

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SACRAMENTO — Before this year’s presidential election slips into gloomy history, we should pause to slam our moldy, undemocratic vote-counting system called the electoral college. If Donald Trump had to win, it’s good that he prevailed in both the archaic electoral college and the national popular vote. The popular vote should always settle who is elected president. Name one other office in America that’s not decided by who gets the most votes — from state governor down to first-grade class president. But the national popular vote doesn’t count for squat in a U.S. presidential election. All that counts is our ancient electoral college system, rooted in the Founders’ appeasement of Southern slave states. It’s beneficial, however, that Trump apparently also won the popular vote. Because now we should be able to hold a rational conversation about the evils of the electoral college without being tagged as poor-loser partisans whining that the Democrat lost despite having been favored by most American voters. There are two bad things about our electoral college system: Big states, little states, it doesn’t matter. If they’re blue or red, their voters are relegated to the cheap seats as distant spectators to the main event being fought in a few purple swing states. The blues and reds are taken for granted and snubbed The candidates don’t hear from California voters about the acute water troubles in our state. But they’re lobbied about manufacturing declines in Michigan and Pennsylvania. It’s an old cliche and true: Squeaky wheels get the government grease. It’s not the electoral college, per se, that’s the culprit. It’s how the electoral votes are awarded by the states. They’re parceled out on a winner-take-all basis. If a candidate carries a state by one vote or 1 million, it’s irrelevant. All the state’s electoral votes go to the popular vote winner. Two small states — Nebraska and Maine — are exceptions. They partially award electoral votes based on who wins in congressional districts. That makes more sense than strict winner-take-all. In California, at least 5.9 million people voted for Republican Trump. They might as well have used their ballots for fireplace kindling. All 54 of the state’s electoral votes will be awarded to Democrat Kamala Harris, who received roughly 9.1 million votes. (When the final count is in, the vote totals will increase slightly.) Same thing in Texas, only vice versa. There, 4.8 million people voted for Harris. But all 40 electoral votes are going to Trump, who was supported by 6.4 million people. Republican voters were effectively disenfranchised in California, as Democrats were in Texas. Polling has shown that the overwhelming majority of Americans — including Californians — want to junk the electoral college system and elect the president by popular vote. A September survey by the Pew Research Center found that 63% of Americans prefer that the presidency be decided by the national popular vote. Conservative Republicans, however, like the status quo — no doubt because two GOP candidates in recent years have won the presidency while losing the popular vote: Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in 2000. But junking the electoral college entirely won’t happen any time soon because it’s politically impossible. It would require a constitutional amendment. And that would need a two-thirds vote by each house of Congress — both about to be controlled by the GOP — plus ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures. Red state politicians won’t sign off because Republican candidates benefit from the current nonsense. Neither would purple states because they enjoy all the attention and campaign bucks as “battlegrounds.” But there’s a way to reform the system and still retain the electoral college. Just change how the electoral votes are awarded. Parcel them out in proportion to each candidate’s popular vote in the state. In California, Harris got roughly 59% of the vote and Trump 38%. Minority candidates picked up 3%, but I’d shift their tiny amount to the major contenders for electoral vote purposes. Harris would wind up with 33 and Trump with 21. In Texas, Trump would win 23 electoral votes and Harris 17. A proportional allocation system “would make sure that every vote counts and lessen the likelihood that the candidate who loses the popular vote will become president,” UC Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky wrote in a recent Sacramento Bee op-ed. Besides Trump and Bush, three presidents were elected in the 1880s while losing the popular vote: John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison. “The electoral college was based on the framers’ distrust of majority rule and was a tremendous boost to slave states’ political power,” Chemerinsky told me. The South fretted about the North’s larger population and the Yankees’ political clout. So the founders compromised. Slaves wouldn’t be allowed to vote, but they could count as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning members of the House of Representatives based on population. That strengthened the South in the electoral college because a state’s number of electors is based mostly on the size of its House delegation. But every state also gets an elector for each senator. And each state is entitled to two, regardless of its size — an allotment designed to dilute the power of big states. I didn’t do all the math, but it’s a safe assumption that Trump still would have won the electoral college vote under a proportional allocation system. Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar, believes the reform could be passed by Congress without amending the Constitution. But first, Americans would need to insist that they elect the president, not the states.

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