
Norway plans temporary ban on power-intensive cryptocurrency mining
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Norway aims to impose a temporary ban on the establishment of new data centres that mine cryptocurrency with the most power-intensive technology, in order to conserve electricity for other industries, the Nordic country's government said on Friday.
"The Labour Party government has a clear intention to limit the mining of cryptocurrency in Norway as much as possible," Minister for Digitalization and Public Administration Karianne Tung said in a statement.
"Cryptocurrency mining is very power-intensive and generates little in the way of jobs and income for the local community," she added.
A temporary ban could be introduced during the autumn of 2025, the government said.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)

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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Russia's widespread chemical weapons use in Ukraine exposed by Dutch intelligence
THE HAGUE: Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. 'The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons,' he told Reuters. 'This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in this war is becoming more normalized, standardized, and widespread.' Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency confirmed the findings, saying in a statement that it had obtained the evidence alongside its Dutch counterparts. Reuters was first to report on the intelligence. The head of the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency (MIVD), Peter Reesink, said the conclusions followed 'our own independent intelligence, so we have observed it ourselves based on our own investigations.' Reuters has not been able to independently verify the use of banned chemical substances by either side in the Ukraine war. The United States first accused Russia of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One, in May last year. Ukraine alleges thousands of instances of Russian chemical weapons use. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Russia has denied using illegal munitions and it has accused Ukraine of doing so. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Wednesday that the Federal Security Service discovered a Ukrainian cache of explosive devices in the east of the country containing chloropicrin. Ukraine has consistently denied such accusations. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were 'insufficiently substantiated'. It has not been asked to conduct a full investigation, which must be initiated by member states. At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, Brekelmans said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities. Increased use of chemical weapons by Russia poses a threat not only to Ukraine but to other countries, Brekelmans added. 'We must further increase the pressure. This means looking at more sanctions and specifically not allowing them (Russia) to participate in international bodies like the Executive Council of the OPCW,' he said. Reesink spoke of 'thousands of instances' of chemical weapons use, while also citing a Ukrainian figure of 9,000. Rotating two-year seats on the OPCW council will be up for negotiation in the coming months. The intelligence findings were presented in a letter to the Dutch parliament on Friday. LARGE-SCALE PROGRAM Russia is a member of the OPCW and, like the United States, has destroyed its declared chemical weapons stockpiles. Increased sanctions could happen in conjunction with the European Commission, which has proposed listing 15 additional new entities and individuals to its sanctions framework, including for suspected use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. The Dutch military and general intelligence agencies, working with foreign partners, say they have uncovered concrete evidence of intensified Russian chemical weapons production. This includes heightened research capabilities and the recruitment of scientists for chemical weapons development, Reesink said. He added that Russian officials have given instructions to soldiers on the use of poisonous warfare agents. 'This isn't just some ad-hoc tinkering at the frontline; it is truly part of a large-scale program. And that is, of course, also concerning because if we don't clarify and publicize what Russia is doing, it's highly likely these trends will continue,' Reesink said. He called the use of chemical weapons by Russian armed forces 'almost standing operating procedure.' 'We specifically linked the use of chloropicrin to improvised munitions, such as filled light bulbs and empty bottles that are hung from a drone. When it comes to teargas, we see that they are also misusing and converting existing munitions to act as the carrier for the gas,' he said. Chloropicrin is listed as a banned choking agent by OPCW, which was created to implement and monitor compliance with the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It can cause severe irritation to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. If ingested, it can cause burns in the mouth and stomach, nausea and vomiting, as well as difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. - Reuters


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
France and Britain hope migrant 'taxi boat' plan will slow record Channel crossings
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Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Crunch nears for UK's Reeves, with stability elusive and markets wary
Economists said events this week have increased the chance that Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves will need to raise taxes later this year. (EPA Images pic) MANCHESTER : After a year in office, Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves faces a reckoning over unmet promises of economic stability, with a stop-start economy and restive bond markets pointing to another tax-raising budget that she had hoped to avoid. Wednesday saw the biggest collapse in British government bond prices since the ill-fated 2022 economic agenda of former prime minister Liz Truss, sparked by investor fright at a tearful appearance by Reeves in parliament. A major rebellion in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party against welfare reforms – which forced him to gut key parts of the plan – also fed doubts about its ability to cut spending and raised questions about party control. Economists say events this week have increased the chance that Reeves will need to raise tens of billions of pounds in taxes later this year after the government's plan to grow the world's sixth largest economy failed to sufficiently deliver. That would further heap pressure on a party that has consistently trailed Nigel Farage's insurgent, right-wing Reform UK in the polls. Economists say the government is caught between unruly lawmakers, a disgruntled electorate and rising borrowing costs that risk getting higher still if investors think the government has lost control of the public finances. 'The economy is still stuck with sluggish growth,' Michael Saunders, senior adviser to Oxford Economics and a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, told Reuters. 'That means voters are persistently disappointed because they don't feel the living standards are getting any better.' While more tax hikes are likely coming, he questioned whether the government had the stomach to raise the sums needed to put the public purse back on a sustainable footing – again raising the issue of investor confidence. Economic stability Reeves and Starmer came to power a year ago, vowing to deliver political and economic stability and sustainable growth after 14 often-chaotic years of Conservative government rule. To win over investors, Reeves set what she described as non-negotiable fiscal rules, and angered businesses and households by raising £40 billion (US$55 billion) in taxes at her first budget, the biggest tax increases for three decades. Reeves had said that would be a one-off event to fund much-needed investment in Britain's decaying infrastructure. However, economists say the limited headroom she had against that fiscal target has likely been wiped out by the reversal of cuts to the ballooning welfare budget, and a warning of a growth downgrade from the official economic forecaster – requiring higher taxes to keep the fiscal plans on track. 'That ballpark (of repeating her first budget) is very much within the realms of the possible,' said Ben Zaranko, associate director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank. That prospect means investors are increasingly questioning the credibility of an approach that leaves the government scrambling to find ways to restore fiscal headroom whenever there is bad news on the economy. The violent market moves on Wednesday encapsulated unease over slipping budgets and the potential for more borrowing, with public sector debt currently just below 100% of GDP. 'Any tax hike needs to be big, and it needs to be clear. Then you can restore the market's confidence,' said Simon Harvey, senior macroeconomist at Swiss-based hedge fund LB Macro. 'What we don't need is another round of 15 different measures where you question where the accounting is coming from.' Harvey said Britain's economy might require a painful reset before it can recover: higher taxes, an economic slowdown and then fast Bank of England rate cuts which will eventually boost growth and the public finances. All of that will cause alarm in Starmer's Downing Street, which has been criticised for its handling of the welfare vote, and its connection with the parliamentary party group. Some Labour lawmakers expressed frustration that his team didn't listen to their concerns on financial cuts for disabled people, and the prime minister admitted he had been distracted by international events before he focused on the welfare vote. However, lawmakers, many of whom feel greater loyalty to their voters than to the government, could now lobby for other policy changes, especially an end to a two-child cap that lets parents claim financial support only for their first two children. Starmer has responded by listing his government's achievements to show it is making a difference, citing trade deals, inward investment and more money for schools and hospitals. However, the polls have refused to budge and some investors are joining the fray by criticising Britain's leadership. A hedge fund manager who has supported Labour said voters and many businesses did not realise that the government had to rein in its spending, and that Starmer needed to 'lead on how to get out of the predicament' because the options were likely to 'feel dreadful'.