Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zero

One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.

The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers.

British foreign secretary told to impose new measures as ruble-pegged cryptocurrency A7A5 is supported in country

More than 20 MPs and peers have called on the foreign secretary to take action against institutions and individuals in Kyrgyzstan allegedly facilitating large-scale Russian sanctions evasion.

They urged the UK to levy personal sanctions against three top Kyrgyz officials for their alleged role in facilitating Russian sanctions evasion more broadly, and more specifically for allowing Kyrgyzstan to host infrastructure supporting the cryptocurrency A7A5.

Forecasting service raises alarm over data from Paris airport used to settle Polymarket wagers on temperature

French police are investigating alleged tampering with national weather forecasting service equipment after a series of unusual temperature readings coincided with suspicious winning bets made on Polymarket.

Data from a Météo-France weather station at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport was used to settle bets between online gamblers on what the temperature would be in Paris for March and the first weeks of April.

Campaigners say banks and web platforms are being told to collect data on customers visiting blocked sites

Major Russian companies have been conscripted into a “witch-hunt” against users trying to circumvent online controls, researchers have said, as the Kremlin continues trying to cut its citizens off from the global internet.

Banks and web platforms are collecting data on users of virtual private networks (VPN) tools, which obscure an individual’s real location and allow them to access sites blocked in Russia, according to an investigation by RKS global, an advocacy group for internet freedoms.

Alarm caused by posts of Alex Carp, tech firm’s CEO, championing US military dominance and of AI weapons

The US spy tech company Palantir published a manifesto extolling the benefits of American power and implying some cultures are inferior to others – in what MPs have called “a parody of a RoboCop film” and “the ramblings of a supervillain”.

“Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive,” wrote Palantir in a 22-point post on X over the weekend, which also called for an end to the “postwar neutering” of Germany and Japan.

Bets placed on Middle East conflict has led to US firm experiencing big increase in volume

Polymarket, the online prediction platform that hosts bets on events such as the Iran war, is in talks to raise $400m (£296m) at a valuation of up to $15bn.

The company has gained notoriety in recent months over wagers placed on the Middle East conflict, including on the timing of US-Israel strikes against Iran, and on a US-Iran ceasefire, some of which appeared to bear signs of insider trading.