North Korea behind $1.5 billion crypto theft, FBI says

By AFP
February 27, 2025

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday accused North Korea of being behind the theft of $1.5 billion worth of digital assets last week, the largest crypto heist in history.

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit reported last week that it had been robbed of 400,000 in cryptocurrency Ethereum.

According to the company, attackers exploited security protocols during a transaction, enabling them to transfer the assets to an unidentified address.

On Wednesday, the US government pointed the finger at Pyongyang.

“(North Korea) was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit,” the FBI said in a public service announcement.

The bureau said a group called TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was behind the theft.

It said they were “proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains”.

“It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency,” the FBI added.

Lazarus Group gained notoriety a decade ago when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for “The Interview,” a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

It was also allegedly behind the 2022 $620 million heist of Ethereum and USD Coin from the Ronin Network in 2022, previously the biggest crypto theft in history.

And in December, the United States and Japan blamed it for the theft of cryptocurrency worth over $300 million from the Japan-based exchange DMM Bitcoin.

North Korea’s cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s

 – Copyright KCNA VIA KNS/AFP STR

North Korea’s cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s, and the country has been dubbed “the world’s most prolific cyber-thief” by a cybersecurity firm.

Pyongyang’s program has grown to a 6,000-strong cyber-warfare unit known as Bureau 121 that operates from several countries, according to a 2020 US military report.

A United Nations panel on North Korea’s evasion of sanctions last year estimated the nation has stolen more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017.

Much of the hacking activity is reportedly directed by Pyongyang’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, its primary foreign intelligence agency.

Money stolen helps to fund the country’s nuclear weapons program, the panel said.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

‘Escaping hell’: Myanmar scam centre workers plead to go home


By  AFP
February 27, 2025


Thousands of freed scam centre workers in Myanmar are desperate to get home - Copyright AFP STR

Hundreds of exhausted young men lie in an open-sided detention centre in a seedy Myanmar border town, sweating through thick tropical heat by day and prey to clouds of mosquitoes by night.

They are among some 7,000 people from more than two dozen countries released from scam compounds who are now enduring a gruelling wait to be sent home through Thailand.

Conditions in the overcrowded temporary camp visited by AFP in the town of Myawaddy, near the Thai border, were squalid and those held there were begging to leave.

“It’s really no good,” one 18-year-old Malaysian man told AFP, saying the toilets and showers were so dirty they were unusable.

“I hope I can contact my parents quickly so I can go.”

A Chinese detainee who gave his family name as Wang said he was “very happy” at the prospect of getting out.

“I can finally escape this hell… China is the safest,” he said.



– ‘Help me, help me, help me’ –



Scam centres have sprung up in Myanmar’s lawless border areas in recent years as part of a criminal industry worth billions of dollars a year.

Thousands of foreign workers staff the centres, trawling social media for victims to fleece, often through romance or investment cons.

Many workers say they were trafficked or tricked into taking the work and suffer beatings and abuse, though the government in China — where most come from — regards them as criminal suspects.

Under heavy pressure from Beijing, Myanmar’s junta and allied militias have taken action to curb the centres.

The “crackdown” has so far involved armed uniformed men coming to the sites and asking for volunteers to leave and go home, several freed workers told AFP in Myawaddy.

But processing the workers for repatriation has been slow, leaving them trapped in limbo, smoking and playing cards to pass the time in the detention facility, which has a roof but no walls to keep the elements and insects out.

Many had their passports confiscated by scam centre bosses, and those AFP spoke to said their mobile phones were taken away.

An Indian man who said he was tricked into working in the scam centres after applying for a data entry job in Thailand, told AFP he had contacted his embassy in Bangkok several times.

He begged them “help me, help me, help me. But no one helps me,” he said.

“The feeling is not good because we are in trouble right now.”

Myanmar’s raging civil war has complicated efforts to tackle the scam compounds, as most are in areas outside the ruling junta’s control.

The Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), an independent militia allied to the junta, controls two of the most notorious scam towns, Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko.

The BGF released thousands from illegal scam compounds last week and wants to swiftly deport them to neighbouring Thailand for repatriation, saying it is struggling to cope with looking after so many people.

“People have to stay in cramped conditions,” said its spokesman Naing Maung Zaw.

“We have to cook three meals to feed thousands of people and arrange their healthcare,” he said, adding he was worried about a possible outbreak of contagious diseases.



– Struggling to cope –



The United Nations estimates that as many as 120,000 people — many of them Chinese men — may be working in Myanmar scam centres against their will.

Gangs that run the compounds lure people with promises of high-paying jobs, then force them to defraud people from around the world or face severe punishment and abuse.

The sites on the Thai-Myanmar border vary in how they treat their staff, analysts say, and Thai officials have claimed that a majority of workers go there intentionally.

Victims released from smaller compounds claim that as a more sophisticated operation, Shwe Kokko — one of the area’s biggest scam hubs — draws more people who willingly go there to commit fraud.

But “not everyone living in Shwe Kokko is a criminal,” Naing Maung Zaw said.

A Chinese man surnamed Shen denied allegations that the scam centre workers had travelled to Myanmar intentionally, saying he had been tricked and forced.

“If I did it voluntarily, I would take all legal responsibilities,” he said.

But so far China has treated all returning detainees — 600 were sent back last week — as suspects, with state TV showing them marched off the plane in handcuffs by police on their return home.

Thailand, Myanmar and China are expected to hold three-way talks in the coming weeks to arrange logistics for further repatriations, with Thailand saying it is working with over a dozen foreign embassies.

One of 14 detained Pakistani men who hoped to return before Ramadan said he felt abandoned by authorities after hearing of other repatriations.

“We know we’re safe now. But it’s been eight days. So why can’t we go to Thailand now?” he told AFP.

Stretched for resources to look after the hundreds of foreigners in their charge, Naing Maung Zaw pleaded to foreign embassies to “come and take your nationals … They want to go home.”

‘Contemplated suicide’: Ethiopians recount horror of SE Asia scam centres


By AFP
February 26, 2025


Victims of scam centre syndicates have been repatriated in recent months - Copyright AFP STR

Rose TROUP BUCHANAN

Starved, beaten and electrocuted, Ahmed remains traumatised months after being trafficked to Southeast Asia, one of an untold number of Africans forced to work in scam centres far from home.

The complexes have flourished across the region, often staffed by foreigners who are made to swindle people in what analysts say is a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Among them are Ethiopians, like 25-year-old Ahmed, who sign up for the promise of well-paid jobs.

Instead, they run “love scams” — often referred to as “pig butchering” — inside infamous prison-like compounds that have mushroomed across Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The scammers operate fake profiles of wealthy Western women to lure men, and sometimes women, into investing in crypto-currencies — before vanishing with their savings.

Hundreds have been released from complexes in Myanmar in recent weeks, according to local sources.

But the United Nations said in 2023 that “hundreds of thousands” were “forcibly engaged by organised criminal gangs into online criminality” across Southeast Asia.

Ahmed — whose name AFP has changed to protect his identity — endured months of captivity last year and returned home in December.

“I contemplated suicide,” he said.

– Imprisoned, abused –

Ahmed said he was approached by an old friend offering him a job abroad that paid up to $500 a month.

It was a fortune in Ethiopia where the median monthly wage hovers around $24, according to the International Labour Organization.

His family raised $1,600 to send him to Laos, but he soon realised his friend had betrayed him when he was sucked into the scam world.

He managed to talk his way out of a compound in Laos, only to be abducted by armed men and taken to another in Myanmar, where his captors demanded $5,000 for his release.

“When I told them I’m poor and don’t have money they laughed and then gave me electronic shocks that left me unconscious,” he said.

On the 11th day, he said, half-starved, he was presented with a choice: work for free for 18 months, pay the ransom, or have sex on camera.

He chose to work for free, but conditions were significantly worse than in Laos.

“There were people in the compound who lost limbs because of torture,” Ahmed said.

“The administrators of the place used to cut fingers of ‘misbehaving or mediocre’ staff,” he added.

“I feel lucky… Even though I’m still suffering the effects of electrocution, my limbs haven’t been amputated.”

– Africa targeted –

Ahmed said there were roughly 3,000 people working in the Myanmar centre, including Ethiopians, Kenyans and Ugandans.

Africans are increasingly a target for scam centres, which require people who are proficient in English, desperate for work and digitally literate, said Jason Tower, Myanmar country director for the United States Institute of Peace who is based in the Thai capital Bangkok.

There is also little intervention from their governments.

“In the case of the Ethiopians, there’s really almost no support that’s being given from the embassies or the diplomatic staff out here,” Tower, whose research examines transnational criminal networks, told AFP.

“The Ethiopian government has done nothing to help me,” said Ahmed.

The government did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The brutality is worsening, Tower said, as the complexes have been chased from Cambodia and Laos by government crackdowns and international pressure, into even more lawless territories held by Myanmar armed groups.

Ahmed said he and fellow Africans were treated worse than others.

“While Africans were subjected to severe torture as punishment, Chinese and Indians were punished with push-ups,” he said.

– Crisis upon crisis –

Two other Ethiopians spoke to AFP about being trafficked, describing similar experiences.

“We reached a dilapidated compound which had blood stains on the inside walls,” Mohammed — also a pseudonym — told AFP of a Myanmar complex.

“They beat me daily with wire whips, causing cuts on my back and head… I wished I was dead,” he said.

The 26-year-old endured six months before his family raised almost $8,000 to secure his release — leaving them virtually penniless.

When Ahmed got home, he realised his family had somehow raised $2,000 for his freedom and flight.

“My family is now indebted and economically destitute because of my ordeal,” he said.

“I feel like I have returned from one crisis and entered into another.”

Climate crisis revives Soviet hydro plan in Central Asia


By AFP
February 27, 2025


The Naryn River near the site of the planned Kambar-Ata-1 hydroelectric dam project in Kyrgyzstan - Copyright AFP Zain JAAFAR

Adina ZHOROBEKOVA

Central Asian countries are setting rivalries aside to build a giant hydroelectric plant originally planned in Soviet times, a bid to strengthen energy and food security and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Kambar-Ata-1 project on the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan is a rare example of collaboration in the region that does not involve the two neighbouring superpowers Russia and China.

The plant is “very important for Central Asia”, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibrayev said on a visit to the future site attended by AFP.

At a trilateral meeting with Kyrgyzstan a few days later, the Kazakh and Uzbek governments said the project would “bring great advantages for the region” and “ensure the long-term stability and development of Central Asia”.

The warm words, which would have been unthinkable until recently, underscore how water and energy shortages are pushing rivals together.

But before the plant can start functioning, backers need to find investors willing to put in at least $3.5 billion.

– ‘Wealth of potential’ –

The post-Soviet economic collapse, corruption and regional conflicts put an end to colossal energy projects in Central Asia including Kambar-Ata, which had been planned in 1986.

“The collapse of the Soviet Union destroyed water and energy ties,” said Rasul Umbetaliyev, a Kyrgyz energy expert.

Since Soviet times, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are supposed to receive some electricity from their regional neighbours Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in exchange for a share of their plentiful water supplies.

The different countries have accused one another of failing to respect the arrangement.

Umbetaliyev said that Kambar-Ata-1 was “very important” for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which need the water stored by the plant in large quantities during the summer season.

The plant would allow Kyrgyzstan to export electricity to its neighbours, and even to Afghanistan and Pakistan under project known as CASA-1000.

The World Bank says Kyrgyzstan’s mountainous terrain “provides it with a wealth of hydropower potential, less than one-fifth of which has been utilised”.

Kambar-Ata is expected to produce 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), which would more than make up for Kyrgyzstan’s current electricity deficit of around 3.9 billion kWh.

The deficit is growing because of water shortages that mean the hydroelectric stations that Kyrgyzstan depends on are running low.

The Eurasian Development Bank said that “building new hydroelectric power stations while renovating existing ones will mitigate the impact of climate change”.

– Costly subsidies –

The Kyrgyz government is also expecting Kambar-Ata-1 to have a positive effect on power stations further downstream.

The main one is Toktogul, which supplies 40 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity.

Pride of place inside the Toktogul power station is a large frieze showing Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and his quote: “Communism is Soviet power and the electrification of the whole country”.

A century later, the sector is still largely subsidised by the state, as it was in Soviet times, to avoid social tensions in a fragile economy.

“Today the tariff we sell at is not justified by the costs of production of electricity. If we continue like this, in five or 10 years, we will have no more electricity. We therefore have to build a plant,” Ibrayev said.

aj-bk/dt/js

US cuts overseas aid contracts by more than 90%

GOP HAS CLAMOURED FOR THIS FOR YEARS


By AFP
February 27, 2025


People protest in Washington against President Donald Trump's administration's efforts to shutter the US Agency for International Development and lay off thousands of federal employees - Copyright AFP/File Drew ANGERER

The United States has slashed its multi-year aid contracts by 92 percent, as it sought around $60 billion in savings in development and overseas humanitarian programs, the State Department said Wednesday.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office, demanding a 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid to give his administration time to review overseas spending, with an eye to gutting programs not aligned with his “America First” agenda.

A federal judge had given the Trump administration on Tuesday less than two days to unfreeze all aid after a previous court order issued nearly two weeks earlier went ignored.

But the Trump administration filed an emergency petition to the US Supreme Court, which issued an administrative stay late Wednesday, pausing the lower court’s order.

“At the conclusion of a process led by USAID leadership, including tranches personally reviewed by Secretary (Marco) Rubio, nearly 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value remaining were identified for elimination as part of the America First agenda — a 92 percent reduction,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.


The Trump adminsitration’s review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP Andrew Harnik

The administration’s review in part targeted multi-year foreign assistance contracts awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with the vast majority eliminated during its course.

It also looked at more than 9,100 grants involving foreign assistance, valued at more than $15.9 billion.

Following the review, 4,100 grants worth almost $4.4 billion were targeted to be eliminated, a 28 percent reduction.

“These commonsense eliminations will allow the bureaus, along with their contracting and grants officers, to focus on remaining programs, find additional efficiencies and tailor subsequent programs more closely to the Administration’s America First priorities,” the State Department statement said.

USAID distributes US humanitarian aid around the world, with health and emergency programs in around 120 countries.

Programs that were not cut included food assistance, life-saving medical treatments for diseases like HIV and malaria, and support for countries including Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Lebanon, among others, the State Department spokesperson said.

Late Wednesday, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued the administrative stay, which grants the Trump administration temporary reprieve from having to unfreeze around $2 billion in payments for overdue foreign aid.

The decision also gives the court more time to consider the matter.

– ‘Bankrupt’ without cuts –

USAID, created after a bill passed by Congress in 1961, had a workforce of more than 10,000 employees before the freeze, which sparked shock and dismay among personnel.

During his election campaign, Trump promised to slash federal government spending and bureaucracy, a task he bestowed upon his top donor and close advisor Elon Musk, as part of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump has said USAID was “run by radical lunatics” while Musk has described it as a “criminal organization” needing to be put “through the woodchipper.”

The agency announced on February 23 that it was laying off 1,600 of its employees in the United States and placing most of the remaining staff on administrative leave.

Musk, the world’s richest person, spoke about the controversial DOGE program at Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” the tech tycoon told cabinet members, adding that he was “taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats.”

One-third of his DOGE staff resigned in protest on Tuesday after he engineered a mass email to the federal government’s two million workers, ordering them to justify their work or risk being fired.

US media reported that some cabinet members had expressed frustration over the DOGE emails, but Trump insisted at the cabinet meeting that his team was “thrilled” with Musk.

Trump also signed an executive order on Wednesday broadening DOGE’s power to review federal spending on contracts, grants and loans.

The order said it “commences a transformation in Federal spending” and called for a number of changes, including a “credit card freeze.”

“To the maximum extent permitted by law, all credit cards held by agency employees shall be treated as frozen for 30 days from the date of this order.”

The freeze does not extend to staff in critical services such as “disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits.”

WHO decides mpox epidemic still global health emergency


By AFP
February 27, 2025


A vial of the mpox vaccine at Goma General Hospital in DR Congo - Copyright AFP Anthony WALLACE

Mpox remains an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization said Thursday after deciding the epidemic still merits the highest level of alert, with cases rising and its geographic spread widening.

“The mpox upsurge continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),” said a WHO statement.

The emergency committee on mpox met for the third time on Tuesday and advised WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the situation still constituted a PHEIC.

The decision was “based on the continuing rise in numbers and geographic spread, the violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo — which hampers the response — as well as a lack of funding to implement the response plan”, said the brief statement.

Tedros concurred with the committee’s advice, extending the PHEIC first declared on August 14 last year.

A PHEIC is the highest level of alarm under the International Health Regulations, which are legally binding on 196 countries.

The UN health agency’s chief had declared the emergency amid a rapid spread of the disease, formerly known as monkeypox, in Africa and especially in the DR Congo.

– 15 countries so far –

Mpox is caused by a virus from the same family as smallpox. It can be transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed between people through close physical contact.

The disease, which was first detected in humans in 1970 in the DR Congo, then known as Zaire, causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly.

It has two subtypes: clade 1 and clade 2.

The virus, long endemic in central Africa, gained international prominence in May 2022 when clade 2 spread around the world, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.

Nearly 128,000 mpox cases have been laboratory confirmed across 130 countries since then, including 281 deaths, WHO data shows.

The WHO declared a global health emergency in July 2022, but thanks to vaccination and awareness drives that helped stem the spread, that declaration was lifted in May 2023.

Just a year later, however, a new two-pronged epidemic broke out mainly in the DR Congo, with both the original clade 1a strain and a new strain, clade 1b.

This prompted the WHO’s new emergency declaration last August.

To date, community spread of the clade 1b strain has been confirmed in the DRC and five other African nations, and it has been detected in another 15 countries around the world in connection with travel, WHO data shows.

The DRC confirmed more than 13,000 mpox cases and 43 deaths in 2024, and the country confirmed more than 2,000 cases in the first five weeks of this year — more than half of the cases confirmed globally.

Audi Brussels shuts down as Europe’s auto woes deepen


ByAFP
February 27, 2025


Workers launched a prolonged strike to try to prevent the closure of Audi's plant in Brussels - Copyright AFP ADEK BERRY

Matthieu DEMEESTERE

An Audi factory in Brussels billed as the “cradle” of the German carmaker’s electric drive is shutting down production for good on Friday, the latest sign of the woes afflicting Europe’s auto industry.

The plant’s closure, with the loss of 3,000 jobs, comes days before EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is set to present a much-touted action plan to help the auto industry through “the deep and disruptive transition ahead”.

After rising by nearly 10 percent in 2023, global car sales slowed sharply last year, with new registrations rising just 1.7 percent worldwide and declining in the European powerhouses France and Germany.

In terms of electric vehicle (EV) innovation, an Allianz Trade report warned this month that European manufacturers had allowed themselves to be outpaced by US giant Tesla and Chinese rivals BYD and Geely, with European cars too expensive as a result.

Audi, a subsidiary of German auto giant Volkswagen, gave several factors for closing the Brussels plant, the largest private employer in the Belgian capital.

It had switched to producing EVs in 2018 after 70 years of making combustion engine models.

But the company said a global fall in demand for high-end electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) had tanked demand for its Q8 e-tron, to which the site was exclusively dedicated.

It also cited long-running structural issues at the former Volkswagen factory, saying it suffered from high logistics and production costs.

Workers at the site launched a prolonged strike to try to prevent the closure, with some blaming Audi for being too slow to make the pivot to electric, and then for focusing on a prohibitively expensive model.

“People are being pushed to buy electric, but the infrastructure is not there yet,” said Jan Baetens of the CSC union.

The European Union has set a date of 2035 for phasing out new sales of combustion engine vehicles, and wants EVs to account for a quarter of new registrations this year — up from 15 percent as of January.

But sales have struggled to take off, with European buyers slow to warm to EVs and their higher upfront costs.

– ‘Demand issue’ –

“We have a demand issue at the moment,” said Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

She said it was “by any standards remarkable” that Europe had reached a 15 percent market share in less than five years, “but it’s not enough”.

“We have vehicles readily available to enter the market,” she said, “but we are facing a stagnating demand.”

Worldwide last year, Audi delivered more than 164,000 fully electric models, down eight percent on the previous year.

In China, which accounted for around 40 percent of electric and non-electric global sales, deliveries were down 11 percent.

In Brussels, Audi’s production lines will come to a final halt on Friday, though several hundred people will remain on site for a few months to clean and dismantle machinery or tie up administrative loose ends.

Dozens of workers were in and out of the plant in the days ahead, to empty their lockers and say goodbye.

“It was satisfying work — a shame it is coming to an end,” said Florin Tautu, an engineer who arrived from Romania in 2011 and was tasked with adapting the factory’s infrastructure to new production needs.

Another manager, who asked not to be named, said he was hopeful for the future, “But I feel bad for people who still have a mortgage to pay off, or children in college.”

Audi’s management says dedicated teams have been created within the region’s job centres to help the plant’s workers find new work, with a job fair advertising around 4,000 positions taking place in April.

Stellantis says 2024 profits fall 70% on N. America troubles


ByAFP
February 26, 2025


Shares in Stellantis fell by more than five percent during morning trading in Paris - Copyright AFP/File MARCO BERTORELLO

The Stellantis car giant — which includes Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Peugeot — on Wednesday reported a 70 percent fall in 2024 profits against the previous year because of troubles in North America.

The group, which is looking for a new CEO, also reported a 17 percent fall in sales revenue to 156.9 billion euros ($164.6 billion) which it blamed on “temporary gaps in product offerings” and sales promotions to reduce stocks.

It said profit fell from 18.6 billion euros in 2023 to 5.5 billion euros last year, with the number of cars sold falling by 12 percent.

Shares in the Italian-US-French group — whose 14 brands include Fiat, Peugeot-Citroen, Opel, Maserati, Chrysler, Ram and Jeep — fell by more than five percent in morning trading on the Paris stock exchange.

Stellantis chief executive Carlos Tavares quit in December amid differences over how to confront the group’s profit slump.

“In the 90 days since the leadership transition began, and while the process to select the next CEO within the first half of 2025 continues, the interim leadership team has taken quick, decisive actions to improve the company’s performance and profitability,” said a Stellantis statement announcing the results.

It said this included: “Prioritizing critical launches to better meet evolving customer needs, especially in the US.” The group promised 10 new launches in 2025.



– Trouble in North America –



Stellantis suffered severe difficulties last year due to delayed model launches because of electrical problems and lower sales in North America, its key market.

Third quarter sales in North America plunged by 36 percent by the number of vehicles sold and 42 percent by revenue as the group offered promotional deals as US dealerships struggled to reduce their inventories, with many consumers considering Stellantis vehicles expensive compared to competitors.

The situation improved in the fourth quarter with sales down 28 percent by volume compared to the same period in 2023.

Sales in North America fell by 25 percent by volume in 2024 overall, and 27 percent by revenue.

Sales revenue in Europe, another key market, fell by 11 percent.

The company posted an operating margin of 5.5 percent in 2024, down from 12.8 percent in 2023.

The figure is a key measure of profitability per vehicle, and it fell drastically in the second half of the year as sales volumes fell, it offered rebates and it halted production at some factories, coming in at just 0.3 percent.

Since its creation in 2021 Stellantis had always managed to post double-digit operating margin as Tavares cut costs and trimmed back rebates.

For 2025 Stellantis was vague about the outlook, promising only to boost sales revenue and a single-digit operating margin. It said it expected a real rebound in the second half of the year.

Stellantis has significantly revised its approach since Tavares’s December 1 exit, with the interim CEO giving guarantees to the French and Italian governments on maintaining production and investment in both countries.

It also rolled back plans to cut 1,100 jobs at a US Jeep factory.

The group had 258,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2023.

Aston Martin cuts jobs as weak China demand weighs


By AFP
February 26, 2025


Aston Martin. — © AFP/File Jim WATSON

Aston Martin Lagonda announced Wednesday it would cut about five percent of its workforce as weak Chinese demand contributed to losses widening at the luxury car group last year.

The British brand, beloved by fictional British spy James Bond, said it would axe 170 jobs after annual net losses jumped 42 percent to £323.5 million ($409 million).

“Moving forward, my priority is to drive operational excellence and discipline as we continue our transformation into a sustainably profitable company,” new chief executive Adrian Hallmark said in the earnings statement.

Aston Martin, which is slowly transitioning to electric car models, said it hoped for annualised savings of £25 million.

The company said wholesale volumes decreased nine percent to 6,030 cars last year, “impacted by the timing of new model launches, supply chain disruptions and weaker macroeconomic environment in China”.

Aston said that “while China remains a market with significant long-term growth opportunities”, volumes slumped 49 percent last year.

Its overall performance in 2024 reflected also Aston’s car launches.

“Product transformation continued throughout the year as prior models were ramped down in preparation for the launch of the new Vantage, upgraded DBX707 and V12 Vanquish,” it noted.

Hallmark began as chief executive in late 2024, replacing Italian national Amedeo Felisa.

The Briton is the fourth Aston boss in as many years, having stepped down as CEO of German-owned luxury carmaker Bentley.

Energy hungry ChatGPT’s environmental impact revealed


By Dr. Tim Sandle
February 26, 2025


Brussels spent most of last year racing to greenlight the draft text after chatbot ChatGPT exploded onto the scene - Copyright AFP/File OLIVIER MORIN

The environmental impact of training and maintaining large language models like ChatGPT is significant.

A new report from Business Energy UK has unearthed some facts that highlight the environmental impact of AI. The focus is with ChatGPT. The survey indicates that the Large Language Model uses 19.58 million gallons of water and 19.99 million kWh of electricity every day—that’s enough to charge 4 million phones and flush 12 million toilets daily.

This equates to:
Electricity 19.99 million kWh per day – Enough to charge 4 million phones.

– Enough to run the Empire State Building for 270 days.
Water 19.58 million gallons (71.14 million liters) per day – Could fill 489,000 baths—that would be enough for every resident in Colorado Springs, CO.

– Equivalent to 12 million toilet flushes—or more than the entire population of Belgium flushing their toilet at once.

Large language models are the algorithmic basis for chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. The technology is tied back to billions — even trillions — of parameters that can make them both inaccurate and non-specific for vertical industry use. This includes the computational power of specialized hardware accelerators.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT fronted generative AI’s emergence into public consciousness – Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

By using data from the University of California and the Washington Post, which found that one ChatGPT response consumes 519 milliliters of water (just over 2 cups) and 0.14 kWh of electricity, the researchers calculated the platform’s daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly resource consumption across its 28 million daily users.

Furthermore, these types of generative AI training clusters consume seven or eight times more energy than a typical computing workload. As an example, the water Microsoft used to cool its US-based data centers while training GPT-4 was enough to produce “370 BMW cars or 320 Tesla electric vehicles.” Temperature control of the Microsoft computers relies heavily on water cooling, drawing from local rivers to keep servers running at optimal temperatures.

Taking the findings and extrapolating these for annual energy consumption, this reveals the following about OpenAI’s ChatGPT’s environmental impact:

Electricity 7.23 billion kWh per year – More electricity than 112 countries consume in a year.

– Enough to power every house in Wyoming (271,887) for two and a half years.
Water 7.14 billion gallons per year – Enough water to fill the Central Park Reservoir seven times (1 billion gallons).

Enough water to power the shows of the Fountains of Bellagio for 595 years.

Such findings add to prevailing concerns about the environmental impact of AI and its massive computational power requirements together with the increasing energy demands of data centers.

French Mission Jeanne D’Arc 2025 Begins Atlantic and Arctic Deployment

Published on 26/02/2025
By Naval News Staff

The landing helicopter dock Mistral and the frigate Surcouf setting sails for the 'Jeanne d'Arc 25' mission. Picture by Hervé Dermoune.

French Navy (Marine Nationale) Mistral-class LHD “Mistral” and La Fayette-class frigate “Surcouf” set sails for the North Atlantic and will transit via the Arctic as part of the “JEANNE D’ARC 2025” mission.


French Navy press release

On February 24, 2025, the amphibious group formed around the landing helicopter deck Mistral and the frigate Surcouf set sail for the ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ mission, a long duration training for naval officers. For five months, its crews and detachments will carry out an operational mission in the Atlantic, integrating into maritime operations and interacting with France’s partner countries.


Traditionally, the Jeanne d’Arc mission is the first long-duration deployment for cadet officers in the French Navy. This is where these “midships” complete their training at the Naval Academy. In contact with the crews of the LHD Mistral and the La Fayette frigate Surcouf, then other vessels temporarily integrated into the amphibious group, the future officers will learn the arcana of their profession. The operational dimension of this mission, and the fact that several naval airwings and army detachments will be on board, will also provide this on-board school with a concrete learning environment. As part of the crews, the student officers will participate in operations from key job positions, those they will assume during their careers.


Before the Mistral set sail, the departure ceremony, presided over by Patricia Mirallès, Minister Delegate for Remembrance and Veterans, kicked off the mission. The traditional halberd of the helicopter carrier Jeanne d’Arc, symbol of this mythical mission, was handed over to Captain Vieux-Rochas, commanding officer of the mission, by Vice-Admiral Laurent Hemmer, commanding officer of the Naval Academy. It establishes the Mistral as a true onboard school for the next five months.


During the five-month mission, the amphibious group will sail across the Atlantic from Ivory Coast to the Arctic Circle, via the French West Indies, returning to France via the Baltic Sea. Amphibious exercises will punctuate the deployment, enabling the embarked battle group to train with Brazilian, American and Norwegian forces. Crews will also take part in operations involving French forces, such as the Corymbe mission in the Gulf of Guinea and the fight against drug trafficking in the French West Indies.

Five helicopters and one VTOL UAV are aboard Mistral. 

Picture by Hervé Dermoune.

To carry out this mission, the amphibious group brings together several units and detachments:LHD Mistral
La Fayette-class frigate Surcouf
A tactical sub-group including elements from the 13th foreign legion regiment (13e DBLE), the 1st foreign cavalry regiment (1er REC) and the 1st foreign engineering regiment (1er REG), plus their 35 vehicles.
An aeromobile sub-group of the French Army’s light aviation, comprising two Cougar helicopters and two Gazelle helicopters from the French Army’s 5th combat helicopter regiment (5e RHC).
A Dauphin helicopter from Flottille 34F
An S100 Camcopter drone from Flotille 36F
An amphibious flotilla detachment equipped with two landing crafts

-End-

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)  [Extended Version]

 WHY TRUMP WANTS TO TARIFF THE EU

Top EU court affirms Italy antitrust decision on Google Android case

Fiona Tsamny | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA

FEBRUARY 25, 2025 

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Tuesday that Google’s decision to deny developer Enel’s JuicePass app access to Android Auto’s platform was an abuse of market power.

Initially launched in 2018 by Italian parent company Enel, JuicePass enables drivers to find and reserve electric vehicle charging stations worldwide. The EU court’s press release stated that Enel had requested permission from Google to make the JuicePass app compatible with Google’s Android Auto system, which would make it possible for users to access phone apps on the vehicle’s smart screen. Google refused to grant JuicePass access due to apparent security concerns.

The Competition and Market Authority, Italy (AGCM) fined Google more than one hundred million euros in 2021, prompting Google to challenge the decision at the Italian Council of State, which later sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

The CJEU judges upheld the decision, stating that abuse of a “dominant position” occurs when dominant companies work to undermine the compatibility between their own apps and other firm’s apps. The court clarified that companies could potentially justify refusing access to another app if there was no template to support the app’s category, and if granting access would compromise security or platform integrity. However, the court clarified that:

[T]he undertaking in a dominant position must develop such a template within a reasonable period, in return for, depending on the circumstances, appropriate financial consideration. In that context, it is necessary to take account of the needs of the third-party undertaking which requested that development, the actual cost of the development and the right of the undertaking in a dominant position to derive an appropriate benefit from it.

The CJEU judgment is final and cannot be appealed or challenged.

THE SECURITY STATE IS LIBERAL AUTHORITARIANISM

UK introduces enhanced police powers to tackle anti-social and street crimes

Samara Baboolal | JURIST Staff, GB

FEBRUARY 26, 2025 

The UK government on Tuesday revealed new flagship policing measures to be introduced in parliament, aimed at addressing anti-social crimes and street crimes, in what it deems as the “biggest legislative update to policing in decades.” The new Crime and Policing Bill is part of a broader government initiative to address community safety.

The government says that the bill will address “knife crime, violence against women and girls, child sexual abuse, and terrorism”, as well as shop theft, phone theft, and anti-social behavior. The bill forms part of the government’s new “Safer Streets mission” and “Plan for Change.” In December 2024, the government announced that communities “can expect a visible and responsive policing presence” as part of the Plan for Change, which aims to reinstall public confidence in the police.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

For too long communities have had to put up with rising town centre and street crime, and persistent antisocial behaviour, while neighbourhood police have been cut. And for years too little has been done to tackle the most serious violence of all including knife crime and violence against women and children.

The bill will remove effective immunity for shop theft below £200 ($253,09), enhance protection of retail workers from assault, and repeat offenders of antisocial behaviors may be banned from town centers under “Respect Orders”. Face coverings will no longer be permitted at protests. Notably, the bill will make drink-spiking a criminal offense, and prevent registered sex offenders from changing their names if they remain a threat. It will also introduce a legal duty to report child sexual abuse.

The bill also empowers the police to enter premises without a warrant if a stolen device has been traced to that premises through electronic mapping. The government says that the warrantless powers of entry serve to allow for swifter action against theft and “better service to victims”. Police powers of entry are currently outlined under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code B, which stipulates that:

1.3 The right to privacy and respect for personal property are key principles of the Human Right Act 1998. Powers of entry, search and seizure should be fully and clearly justified before use because they may significantly interfere with the occupier’s privacy. Officers should consider if the necessary objectives can be met by less intrusive means.

The bill had its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday in the House of Commons. To be enacted in law, it must progress to the House of Lords for three stages of reading before receiving Royal Assent.