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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A Chinese national has been convicted following an international fraud investigation which resulted in what's believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world. The Metropolitan Police says it recovered 61,000 bitcoin worth more than $6.7 billion in current prices. Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty on Monday at Southwark Crown Court of illegally acquiring and possessing the cryptocurrency. A second person appeared in court on Tuesday to admit to their role in the scheme. Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, of Matlock, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court of entering into a money laundering arrangement on or before April 23, 2024. According to the charge, he had been dealing in cryptocurrency on Qian's behalf, "knowing or suspecting his actions would facilitate the acquisition or control of criminal property by another." Between 2014 and 2017 Qian led a large-scale scam in China which involved cheating more than 128,000 victims and storing the stolen funds in bitcoin assets, the Met said in a statement. It said the 47-year-old's guilty plea followed a seven-year probe into a global money laundering web which began when it got a tipoff about the transfer of criminal assets. Qian had been "evading justice" for five years up to her arrest, which required a complex investigation involving multiple jurisdictions, said Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the Met's investigation. She fled China using false documents and entered the UK, where she attempted to launder the stolen money by buying property, said the Met. "By pleading guilty today, Ms Zhang hopes to bring some comfort to investors who have waited since 2017 for compensation, and to reassure them that the significant rise in cryptocurrency values means there are more than sufficient funds available to repay their losses," said Qian's solicitor Roger Sahota, of Berkeley Square Solicitors. "Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct," added deputy chief Crown prosecutor, Robin Weyell. "This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters."

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Mark O'Connor, 54, his wife Louise, 56, and their 27-year-old son, Evan, were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in the early hours of Monday at their house in Drumgowna, County Louth.

Ed Sheeran cut a casual figure on Tuesday as he joined Camila Cabello to film a new music video in New York City. 

LLM makers have to file a steady stream of reports in the name of transparency

A year after vetoing a tougher bill, California Gov Gavin Newsom has signed the nation's first AI transparency law, forcing big model developers to publish frameworks and file incident reports, but critics argue it's more paperwork than protection.…

Sydney Sweeney channeled pop star Britney Spears while celebrating her 28th birthday with a space-themed party this month - and according to a stylist, it was meant to 'spark conversation'

I received a demand from a company called Forecourt Eye stating that I had filled up my car at a Tesco garage in July and left without paying.

An animal science teacher was accused of feeding a sick kitten to a snake at a suburban Texas high school.

Alongside its updated Sora 2 AI video generator, OpenAI has launched an iPhone-only social app called Sora that lets users consent to have friends create deepfake-style cameos of them. The invite-only app works a lot like TikTok with short remixable videos but enforces restrictions on public figures and explicit content. The Verge reports: In a briefing with reporters on Monday, employees called it the potential "ChatGPT moment for video generation." The Sora app is currently only available to US and Canada users, with other countries set to follow, and when someone receives access, they also get four additional invites to share with friends. There's no word on when an Android version might be released. Sora users can give their friends -- or, if they're feeling bold, everyone -- permission to create "cameos" with their own likeness using the new video model, which is dubbed Sora 2. The person whose likeness is being generated is a "co-owner" of that end result, OpenAI employees said, and they can delete it or revoke access to others at any time. Like TikTok, OpenAI's Sora app allows you to interact with other videos and trends using a "Remix" feature, but it only allows for the generation of 10-second videos for now.

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MCP plus open source plus typosquatting equals trouble

A fake npm package posing as Postmark's MCP (Model Context Protocol) server silently stole potentially thousands of emails a day by adding a single line of code that secretly copied outgoing messages to an attacker-controlled address.…

It's important to question what's causing these cravings in the first place. A blood sugar dip? Stress? Tiredness? Emotional triggers? Or is it a deficiency in our diet?

Signage with Sir Keir Starmer 's face has been placed on the building of the rebranded The James Atherton boozer in New Brighton, Merseyside.

Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from husband Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage, the Daily Mail can confirm.

Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia , Hegseth said that America's enemies would 'FAFO', which stands for 'f*** around and find out,' if they chose to challenge its military might.

Starting in November, Venmo and PayPal users will finally be able to send money directly to each other, ending years of workarounds despite Venmo being owned by PayPal. TechCrunch reports: This change means that PayPal users will now be able to find Venmo users by inputting their phone numbers, and later, their email addresses. If you don't want PayPal users to be able to find you, you can update your settings in the Venmo app by navigating to Settings - Privacy - Find me... and while you're at it, you might as well default your Venmo transactions to private via Settings > Privacy. You'll thank me in the long run. PayPal announced that it would broaden its network of payment systems in July, starting with Venmo, but the companies did not confirm the date of the update until now. This collection of partnerships, which PayPal has named PayPal World, will also work with Mercado Pago, NPCI International Payments Limited, and Tenpay Global. This will help users send money internationally without barriers and fees. Combined, Venmo and PayPal have 2 billion global users, according to PayPal.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes was arrested in July after allegedly pouring gasoline on Danville City Council member Lee Vogler inside his own office and setting him alight.

Birmingham City councillor Saqib Khan was pictured in the village of Dadyal in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on the day of his brother Fahan Khan's wedding.

Devastated Taylor Higginson learned that she was pregnant the evening before 21-year-old Ben Saxby was left fighting for life in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on September 8.

It was easily Keir Starmer's best speech since his election as Prime Minister. Passionate. Articulate. Uncompromising.

RECAP: Follow the latest developments from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool where Sir Keir Starmer will make his keynote address as he bids to boost his ailing premiership.

Yep, we're sure that will win folks over

Microsoft is testing talking avatars for Copilot to see if users feel more at ease chatting with a face instead of just a text box. Our US Editor tried them out, only to find the digital stare was more creepy than comforting.…