Latest news with #WASHINGTON
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Google says some SharePoint hacks carried out by 'China-nexus threat actor'
WASHINGTON: Alphabet's Google said in a statement on Monday that at least some of the hacks carried out against servers using Microsoft's SharePoint system have been carried out by a "China-nexus threat actor." The cyber espionage operation has compromised about 100 different organizations as of the weekend. (Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Global gas flaring surged for second year in a row, wasting about $63bln in lost energy: WB
WASHINGTON: Global gas flaring surged for a second year in a row, wasting about $63 billion in lost energy and setting back efforts to manage emissions and boost energy security and access. Flaring, the practice of burning natural gas during oil extraction, reached 151 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024, up 3 bcm from the previous year and the highest level in almost two decades. An estimated 389 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent—46 million of that from unburnt methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases—was needlessly emitted. While some countries have reduced flaring, the top nine largest-flaring countries continue to account for three-quarters of all flaring, but less than half of global oil production. Satellite data compiled and analysed in the World Bank's annual Global Gas Flaring Tracker shows that flaring intensity—the amount of gas flared per barrel of oil produced—has remained stubbornly high for the last 15 years. 'When more than a billion people still don't have access to reliable energy and numerous countries are seeking more sources of energy to meet higher demand, it's very frustrating to see this natural resource wasted,' said Demetrios Papathanasiou, World Bank Global Director for Energy and Extractives. The report highlights that countries committed to the Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 (ZRF) initiative have performed significantly better than countries that have not made the commitment. Since 2012, countries that endorsed ZRF achieved an average 12% reduction in flaring intensity, whereas those that did not saw a 25% increase. To accelerate progress, the World Bank's Global Flaring and Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership is supporting methane and flaring reduction projects through catalytic grants, technical assistance, policy and regulatory reform advisory services, capacity building, and institutional strengthening. 'Governments and operators must make flaring reduction a priority, or this practice will persist. The solutions exist. With effective policies we can create favourable conditions that incentivize flaring reduction projects and lead to sustainable, scalable action. We should turn this wasted gas into an engine for economic development.' said Zubin Bamji, World Bank Manager for the Global Flaring & Methane Reduction (GFMR) Partnership.
Toronto Star
6 days ago
- Health
- Toronto Star
Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients' personal data, including addresses, to ICE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation's 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States, according to an agreement obtained by The Associated Press. The information will give ICE officials the ability to find 'the location of aliens' across the country, says the agreement signed Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security. The agreement has not been announced publicly.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
US weekly jobless claims fall; job growth appears steady in July
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell last week, pointing to steady job growth in July, though some laid off workers are experiencing long spells of unemployment because of a moderation in hiring. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended July 12, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week. Motor vehicle assembly plant closures for reasons including maintenance and annual retooling for new models could be influencing the data. Auto manufacturers typically idle assembly lines in summer, though the timing often varies, which could throw off the model that the government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data. Layoffs have remained generally low, though economic uncertainty stemming from trade policy has left companies hesitant to increase hiring. President Donald Trump last week announced higher duties would come into effect on August 1 for imports from a range of countries, including Mexico, Japan, Canada and Brazil, and the European Union. Trump in April slapped a 10% duty on nearly all imports, while giving nations a 90-day period to negotiate trade deals. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report on Wednesday described hiring as having "remained generally cautious" in early July, attributed by many of the U.S. central bank's contacts to "ongoing economic and policy uncertainty." The Fed said while reports of layoffs were limited in all industries, they were "somewhat more common among manufacturers." It noted that "many contacts expected to postpone major hiring and layoff decisions until uncertainty diminished." The claims report covered the period during which the government surveyed employers for the nonfarm payrolls component of July's employment report. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs in June, though nearly half of the positions were in the government sector, mostly state education. Tepid hiring is underscored by the growing number of people collecting unemployment checks. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.956 million during the week ending July 5. The start of a new quarter could have influenced the current level of the so-called continuing claims. "Eligibility for benefits can be affected by calendar-quarter considerations, leading to large swings in the underlying data," said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP. Next week's continuing claims data could offer more clarity on the health of the labor market in July. Economists said the elevated continuing claims reading suggested an increase in the unemployment rate. While the jobless rate fell to 4.1% in June after holding at 4.2% for three straight months, that was mostly because people dropped out of the labor force.
Malay Mail
16-07-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
Skimming the Sun, probe sheds light on space weather threats
WASHINGTON, July 16 — Eruptions of plasma piling atop one another, solar wind streaming out in exquisite detail — the closest-ever images of our Sun are a gold mine for scientists. Captured by the Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to our star starting on December 24, 2024, the images were recently released by Nasa and are expected to deepen our understanding of space weather and help guard against solar threats to Earth. A historic achievement 'We have been waiting for this moment since the late Fifties,' Nour Rawafi, project scientist for the mission at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told AFP. Previous spacecraft have studied the Sun, but from much farther away. Parker was launched in 2018 and is named after the late physicist Eugene Parker, who in 1958 theorised the existence of the solar wind — a constant stream of electrically charged particles that fan out through the solar system. The probe recently entered its final orbit where its closest approach takes it to just 3.8 million miles from the Sun's surface — a milestone first achieved on Christmas Eve 2024 and repeated twice since on an 88-day cycle. To put the proximity in perspective: if the distance between Earth and the Sun measured one foot, Parker would be hovering just half an inch away. Its heat shield was engineered to withstand up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius) — but to the team's delight, it has only experienced around 2,000F (1090C) so far, revealing the limits of theoretical modelling. Remarkably, the probe's instruments, just a yard (meter) behind the shield, remain at little more than room temperature. Staring at the Sun The spacecraft carries a single imager, the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR), which captured data as Parker plunged through the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere. Stitched into a seconds-long video, the new images reveal coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — massive bursts of charged particles that drive space weather — in high resolution for the first time. 'We had multiple CMEs piling up on top of each other, which is what makes them so special,' Rawafi said. 'It's really amazing to see that dynamic happening there.' Such eruptions triggered the widespread auroras seen across much of the world last May, as the Sun reached the peak of its 11-year cycle. Another striking feature is how the solar wind, flowing from the left of the image, traces a structure called the heliospheric current sheet: an invisible boundary where the Sun's magnetic field flips from north to south. It extends through the solar system in the shape of a twirling skirt and is critical to study, as it governs how solar eruptions propagate and how strongly they can affect Earth. Why it matters Space weather can have serious consequences, such as overwhelming power grids, disrupting communications, and threatening satellites. As thousands more satellites enter orbit in the coming years, tracking them and avoiding collisions will become increasingly difficult — especially during solar disturbances, which can cause spacecraft to drift slightly from their intended orbits. Rawafi is particularly excited about what lies ahead, as the Sun heads toward the minimum of its cycle, expected in five to six years. Historically, some of the most extreme space weather events have occurred during this declining phase — including the infamous Halloween Solar Storms of 2003, which forced astronauts aboard the International Space Station to shelter in a more shielded area. 'Capturing some of these big, huge be a dream,' he said. Parker still has far more fuel than engineers initially expected and could continue operating for decades — until its solar panels degrade to the point where they can no longer generate enough power to keep the spacecraft properly oriented. When its mission does finally end, the probe will slowly disintegrate — becoming, in Rawafi's words, 'part of the solar wind itself.' — AFP
