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The large mysterious drones reported flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. The Morris County Republican was among several state and local lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the spate of sightings that range from the New York City area through New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia. The devices do not appear to be The dronees wereffffflown by hobbyists, Fantasia wrote. Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month and have raised growing concern among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility; and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified. Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey were larger than those typically used by hobbyists. The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once. Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to threaten public safety. The FBI has been investigating and has asked residents to share any videos, photos or other information they may have. Two Republican Jersey Shore-area congressmen, U.S. Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, have called on the military to shoot down the drones. Smith said a Coast Guard commanding officer briefed him on an incident over the weekend in which a dozen drones followed a motorized Coast Guard lifeboat “in close pursuit” near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park in Ocean County. Coast Guard Lt. Luke Pinneo told The Associated Press Wednesday “that multiple low-altitude aircraft were observed in vicinity of one of our vessels near Island Beach State Park.” The aircraft weren't perceived as an immediate threat and didn't disrupt operations, Pinneo said. The Coast Guard is assisting the FBI and state agencies in investigating. In a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Smith called for military help dealing with the drones, noting that Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has the capability "to identify and take down unauthorized unmanned aerial systems.” However, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters Wednesday that “our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary.” Many municipal lawmakers have called for more restrictions on who is entitled to fly the unmanned devices. At least one state lawmaker proposed a temporary ban on drone flights in the state. “This is something we’re taking deadly seriously. I don’t blame people for being frustrated," Murphy said earlier this week. A spokesman for the Democratic governor said he did not attend Wednesday's meeting. Republican Assemblyman Erik Peterson, whose district includes parts of the state where the drones have been reported, said he also attended Wednesday's meeting at a state police facility in West Trenton. The session lasted for about 90 minutes. Peterson said DHS officials were generous with their time, but appeared dismissive of some concerns, saying not all the sightings reported have been confirmed to involve drones. So who or what is behind the flying objects? Where are they coming from? What are they doing? “My understanding is they have no clue,” Peterson said. A message seeking comment was left with the Department of Homeland Security. Most of the drones have been spotted along coastal areas and some were recently reported flying over a large reservoir in Clinton. Sightings also have been reported in neighboring states. James Edwards, of Succasunna, New Jersey, said he has seen a few drones flying over his neighborhood since last month. “It raises concern mainly because there's so much that's unknown,” Edwards said Wednesday. “There are lots of people spouting off about various conspiracies that they believe are in play here, but that only adds fuel to the fire unnecessarily. We need to wait and see what is really happening here, not let fear of the unknown overtake us." —— AP reporters Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania; and Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, contributed to this report.Participants pose during the Digital Solutions Korea 2024 Business Networking Reception in Seoul, Dec. 3. Courtesy of EU Delegation Office in Seoul By Kim Hyun-bin The EU Business Hub has successfully concluded its first business mission, Digital Solutions Korea 2024. Held from Dec. 2 to 6, the event provided a dynamic platform for EU small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups in the digital solutions sector to explore business opportunities and build partnerships in Korea. Digital Solutions Korea 2024 brought together SMEs and startups from the EU, showcasing their expertise in cutting-edge digital technologies, including AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, digital health, XR, media, robotics, semiconductors, software and telecommunication infrastructure. The event featured groundbreaking solutions, incorporating the latest IT advancements such as generative AI, cloud computing and digital twin. Notable innovations included AI-powered medical diagnostic systems, spatial computing solutions and robotic navigation solutions. Korean SMEs and large corporations from various digital solutions sectors participated, showing a keen interest in partnering with EU counterparts. The event's main program, the Business Exhibition, allowed Korean companies to discover advanced technologies and discuss partnership opportunities through one-on-one meetings. A highlight of the mission was the Business Networking Reception on Dec. 3, where companies from 17 EU countries and Korea engaged in networking conversations, fostering future collaborations in an informal setting. "It turned out to be a much more dynamic and proactive networking experience than expected. It provided a meaningful opportunity to freely connect with a diverse range of European countries that are usually hard to reach, share key insights on global business expansion and technological innovation and directly explore the potential for collaboration,” a Korean participant said. Additionally, the EU Business Hub program operated a booth at Softwave 2024 at COEX in Seoul from Dec. 4 to 6. This booth introduced the EU Business Hub program and facilitated B2B matchmaking for Softwave 2024 participants. EU SMEs and startups participating in Digital Solutions Korea 2024 also visited Softwave 2024 in person, engaging with Korean companies. "We look forward to the connections established between the EU companies and local business partners during this one-week business matchmaking and networking event to continue and grow into durable partnerships," said Tanith Bello, EU Business Hub program officer at the EU delegation to Korea. The mission received positive feedback from participating companies, which described it as "an opportunity to expand horizons, build connections and position their company for growth in an ever-evolving global landscape.”
Pound on course to return to pre-Brexit levels after hitting two-and-a-half year high against the euro By HUGO DUNCAN and JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS Updated: 22:00, 11 December 2024 e-mail 4 View comments The pound has been tipped to return to levels last seen before the Brexit vote after reaching its strongest point against the euro for nearly three years. As sterling rose to €1.2157 against the single currency – its highest since March 2022 – a senior foreign exchange trader in the City said it could reach €1.30 next year. The pound was last at those levels before Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. The prediction came as the European Central Bank (ECB) looks set to cut interest rates in the eurozone to 3 per cent today in a bid to kick-start the moribund economy, which has been dragged down by crises in Germany and France. And the Federal Reserve is also on course to cut rates in the US next week after official figures showed that inflation ticked up only marginally from 2.6 per cent in October – to 2.7 per cent in November. By contrast, the Bank of England is expected to leave interest rates in the UK unchanged at 4.75 per cent next week, to the disappointment of millions of borrowers. Rally: Sterling has risen to €1.2157 against the single currency – its highest level since March 2022 Lower interest rates tend to weaken a currency, so the prospect of a rate cut in the eurozone – but not the UK – has pushed the euro down against the pound. Neil Jones, managing director at foreign exchange specialist TJM, said he expects interest rates in the eurozone to fall to 1.5 per cent next year from 3.25 per cent before today’s expected reduction to 3 per cent. ‘The ECB is very much on the trajectory of almost collapsing interest rates, perhaps to emergency levels,’ he told the BBC. ‘We know that the political and economic disarray in Germany and France will push the ECB lower. ‘Meanwhile, the Bank of England is likely to remain on hold, certainly for December. But you can see how interest rates in the UK and the pound are destined to remain higher. I’m looking for €1.30-plus, so a revisit to pre-Brexit levels.’ RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next UK in slow lane to rate cuts: Bank of England's caution is... Sir Clive Cowdery set for bumper windfall on £8.3bn sale of... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account Jones conceded that he was in ‘a minority’ in his forecast but he claimed that the ‘vast majority’ of people will agree with him within months. Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING, said that should the pound rise above €1.22 there will be ‘many reports of sterling returning to pre-Brexit levels’. He added: ‘We think sterling can continue to perform well over the coming months.’ Joe Tuckey, head of currency analysis at Argentex, said: ‘Reaching the €1.30 levels last seen pre-Brexit is feasible but would probably represent a best-case scenario. ‘Achieving such levels would probably rely on eurozone fundamentals becoming considerably worse than they are right now.’ DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS AJ Bell AJ Bell Easy investing and ready-made portfolios Learn More Learn More Hargreaves Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown Free fund dealing and investment ideas Learn More Learn More interactive investor interactive investor Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month Learn More Learn More Saxo Saxo Get £200 back in trading fees Learn More Learn More Trading 212 Trading 212 Free dealing and no account fee Learn More Learn More Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Compare the best investing account for you Share or comment on this article: Pound on course to return to pre-Brexit levels after hitting two-and-a-half year high against the euro e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. More top storiesBEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents' stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. As they have advanced, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. For the first time in the country's long-running civil war, the government now has control of only four of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to the Syria border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Amid the developments, Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran, meanwhile, has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of U.N. Resolution 2254 would be announced later. The resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a Syrian-led political process, starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later in the day, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. No details were immediately available. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that insurgents had entered the historic central town of Palmyra, home to invaluable archaeological sites, a day earlier. Palmyra had been in government hands since it was taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an interview Thursday from Syria that the aim is to overthrow Assad’s government. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle loomed. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support. The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists." The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels. Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process. Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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They have seen him smiling on a hostel security camera, but don’t know his name. They found the backpack he discarded while fleeing, but don’t know where he's gone. As the search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ’s killer goes on, investigators are reckoning with a tantalizing dichotomy: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma. > Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Police don’t know who he is, where he is, or why he did it, though they are confident it was a targeted attack instead of a random act. “The net is tightening,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday. Hours after he spoke, police divers were seen searching a pond in Central Park, where the killer fled after the shooting. Officers have been scouring the park for days for any possible clues and found his bag there Friday. Late Saturday, police released two additional photos of the suspected shooter that appeared to be from a camera mounted inside a taxi. The first shows him outside the vehicle and the second shows him looking through the partition between the back seat and the front of the cab. In both, his face is partially obscured by a blue, medical-style mask. Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, police say, it appears he left the city by bus soon after the shooting Wednesday morning outside the New York Hilton Midtown. He was seen on video at an uptown bus station about 45 minutes later, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. With the high-profile search expanding across state lines, the FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD has offered. Police say they believe the suspect acted alone. Police provided no updates on the hunt Saturday, but investigators are urging patience — even with a killer on the loose. Hundreds of detectives are combing through video recordings and social media, vetting tips from the public and interviewing people who might have information, including Thompson’s family and coworkers and the shooter’s randomly assigned roommates at the Manhattan hostel where he stayed. “This isn’t ‘Blue Bloods.’ We’re not going to solve this in 60 minutes," Kenny told reporters Friday. “We’re painstakingly going through every bit of evidence that we can come across.” The shooter paid cash at the hostel, presented what police believe was a fake ID and is believed to have paid cash for taxi rides and other transactions. He didn't speak to others at the hostel and almost always kept his face covered with a mask, only lowering it while eating. But investigators caught a break when they came across security camera images of an unguarded moment in which he briefly showed his face soon after arriving in New York on Nov. 24. Police distributed the images to news outlets and on social media but so far haven't been able to ID him using facial recognition — possibly because of the angle of the images or limitations on how the NYPD is allowed to use that technology, Kenny said. On Friday evening, investigators found a backpack in Central Park that had been worn by the gunman, police said. They didn’t immediately reveal what, if anything, it contained but said it would be tested and analyzed. Another potential clue, a fingerprint on an item he purchased at a Starbucks minutes before the shooting, has so far proven useless for identifying him, Kenny said. Aided by surveillance cameras on nearly every building and block, police have been able to retrace the shooter’s movements. They know he ambushed Thompson at 6:44 a.m. as the executive arrived at the Hilton for his company’s annual investor conference, using a 9 mm pistol that resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise. They know ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics. Kenny said the fact that the shooter knew UnitedHealthcare group was holding a conference at the hotel and what route Thompson might take to get there suggested that he could possibly be a disgruntled employee or client. Investigators know from surveillance video that the shooter fled into Central Park on a bicycle and ditched it around 7 a.m. near 85th Street. He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at 7:30 a.m. at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington. Investigators don't know what happened next. They are searching through more surveillance video but have yet to locate video of the shooter getting on a bus or exiting the station. “We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN on Friday. Police have determined from video that the gunman was in the city for 10 days before the shooting. He arrived at Manhattan’s main bus terminal on a Greyhound bus that originated in Atlanta, though it's not clear whether he embarked there or at one of about a half-dozen stops along the route. Immediately after that, he took a cab to the vicinity of the Hilton and was there for about a half hour, Kenny said. At around 11 p.m. on the night he arrived, he went by taxi to the HI New York City Hostel. It was there, while speaking with an employee in the lobby, that he briefly pulled down the mask and smiled, giving investigators the brief glimpse they are now relying on to identify and capture a killer.
Landsea Homes Corp shareholder Chen Huaijun sells $42 million in stockGlobal fund manager Blackrock describes as a rising mega-force set to transform economies worldwide. In its , Blackrock says the AI revolution will have three phases: buildout, adoption, and transformation. We're currently in the buildout phase. Blackrock estimates that AI infrastructure investment could top US$700 billion by 2030, which is the equivalent of 2% of US GDP. Tony Kim, Head of Blackrock's Global Technology Team in Fundamental Equities, said: The first phase is the race to build the infrastructure AI needs. It's happening now, with tech giants driving record levels of capital expenditure (capex) into data centers, AI models and the power systems that support them. We see big cloud providers and chip producers benefiting, along with companies in the utilities, energy, industrials, materials and real estate sectors that provide key inputs for this buildout. Which ASX shares are good AI investments? In this buildout phase, Morgans Head of Research, Alexander Mees, says on companies involved in digital infrastructure, such as data centres and data networks. ( ) and ( ) are the largest data centre operators in the ASX. Both companies have enjoyed significant share price growth in the year to date (YTD). NextDc shares closed at $16.25 on Friday, up 19% in the YTD. Goodman Group shares closed at $36.57, up 46% YTD. Morgans prefers NextDc shares and has a buy rating with a 12-month share price target of $20.50. At Nextdc's recent AGM, CEO Craig Scroggie said AI was a "defining opportunity" for the company. He commented: AI is set to drive one of the most profound transformations in the history of technology, ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For NextDc, this moment is a defining opportunity. We're not only positioned to meet the rising demand for AI but to set the benchmark for innovation, resilience, and sustainable data centre infrastructure. Meantime, Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating on Goodman shares due to the company's strong recent performance and pipeline of data centres. The broker has a 12-month share price target of $42.40 on the ASX stock. In terms of other ASX AI shares, Morgans also likes data network provider ( ). It has a buy rating on Megaport with a 12-month share price target of $12.50. Mees explains that Mees said: Megaport is a global cloud connection network and the leading Network as a Service provider. It operates the largest data centre connection business in the world, connecting to 850 data centres through a fully automated, on-demand telco network. We think it is uniquely placed to help business move data globally and benefit from the growth of data related to both cloud computing and AI. Goldman Sachs is also buy-rated on Megaport with a 12-month share price target of $10.40. In a recent note, the broker said: We believe MP1 will benefit from strong structural tailwinds from the adoption of public cloud including multi-cloud usage and the transition towards NaaS technologies. While acknowledging mixed near-term execution around the partner channel and the new MVE product, we are Buy rated on the name as we remain confident MP1 has a clear product advantage vs. peers and a decade-long runway for robust growth. Despite the soft operational trends in recent periods, we expect still robust top-line growth, with the increased focus on profitable growth supporting an attractive earnings profile over FY25-26. The Megaport share price finished the session on Friday at $7.75, down 15% YTD.