THE HAGUE: Artificial intelligence is turbocharging organized crime, from creating child sexual abuse images to money laundering via cryptocurrency, Europol warned Tuesday, with advances like quantum computing only poised to make things worse.
Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle described the report as a “wake-up call” for law enforcement, telling top officers from around Europe that “the future of European security is in our hands.”
“This is a fight of the rule of law, for our communities, for our businesses, and for the future of our children. We will not let organized crime dictate the rules of the game,” she said.
In its report laying out the threats posed by organized crime, the European police organization said criminals had seized on the opportunities offered by AI as a “catalyst” to accelerate their activities.
“Rapid technological advancements — especially in artificial intelligence (AI) — are reshaping how crime is organized, executed, and concealed,” Europol said in a detailed 80-page “threat assessment” report.
“These shifts are making organized crime more dangerous, posing an unprecedented challenge to security across the EU and its member states,” the police added.
The use of AI and other technologies are helping criminals across the whole of their portfolio — from drug and human trafficking, to cybercrime and identity theft.
Generative AI enables criminal gangs to hit their targets more globally across multiple languages and even generate child sexual abuse images, the police report warned.
“Explicit pictures of adults can be manipulated to make the individual look younger or applications can ‘nudify’ non-explicit images,” the report said.
“The very qualities that make AI revolutionary — accessibility, versatility, and sophistication — have made it an attractive tool for criminals,” noted Europol.
Technology is also making it harder for authorities to recover ill-gotten gains.
Confiscation of proceeds from crime has stagnated at around two percent, the police said, with the challenge “further exacerbated by the increasing criminal exploitation of digital assets.”
Criminal groups are using cryptocurrency to launder money and move funds around, making it hard to track and eventually confiscate.
“The criminal exploitation of cryptocurrency as a payment method now has moved beyond the scope of cybercrime, and is encountered increasingly in more traditional crime areas such as drug trafficking or migrant smuggling.”
As technology improves, the boost to criminal activity is only likely to increase, according to Europol, noting the rapid developments in quantum computing, the metaverse, 6G, unmanned systems and brain-computer interfaces.
“The high levels of anonymity, speed, and sophistication currently demonstrated by criminal networks will only likely increase over the coming years,” cautioned the report.
Quantum computing in particular will enable criminals to crack current encryption technology with ease.
Finally, the police raised the dystopian prospect of criminal gangs run entirely by AI.
“The emergence of fully autonomous AI could pave the way for entirely AI-controlled criminal networks, marking a new era in organized crime,” said the report.
AI ‘reshaping’ organized crime, warns Europol
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AI ‘reshaping’ organized crime, warns Europol
- Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle described the report as a “wake-up call” for law enforcement
- “We will not let organized crime dictate the rules of the game,” she said
Russian foreign intelligence chief says he held talks with Syrian intelligence official, TASS reports
- TASS cited Naryshkin as saying that the meeting had been held last week in Baku in Azerbaijan, without providing further details
TASS cited Naryshkin as saying that the meeting had been held last week in Baku in Azerbaijan, without providing further details.
Russia is seeking to shore up its military presence in Syria where it operates an air base and a naval facility.
Indian troops exchange fire with Pakistani soldiers in Kashmir
- Report of a gunfight comes amid soaring tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad
- The United Nations urges India and Pakistan ‘to exercise maximum restraint’
SRINAGAR, India: Indian officials said the army had a brief exchange of fire with Pakistani soldiers along their highly militarized frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, as the nuclear-armed rivals ramped up tit-for-tat diplomatic offensive following a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed area.
The report of a gunfight comes amid soaring tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad after gunmen killed 26 people near the resort town of Pahalgam in Kashmir on Tuesday. India immediately described the massacre a “terror attack” and said it had “cross border” links, blaming Pakistan for backing it.
Pakistan denied any connection to the attack, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.
Three Indian army officials said that Pakistani soldiers used small arms to fire at an Indian position in Kashmir late Thursday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Indian soldiers retaliated and no casualties were reported.
In Pakistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday decline to confirm or deny the report. Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan told a news conference that “I will wait for a formal confirmation from the military before I make any comment.”
He added there had been no effort yet from any other country to mediate.
In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety.
The United Nations has urged India and Pakistan “to exercise maximum restraint and to ensure that the situation and the developments we’ve seen do not deteriorate any further.”
“Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully, through meaningful, mutual engagement,” the statement said Friday.
Following the attack, India announced a series of diplomatic actions against Pakistan.
New Delhi on Wednesday suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty that has withstood two wars between the two countries and closed the only functional land border crossing between the countries while also cutting the number of diplomatic staff. A day later, India revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals with effect from Sunday.
In retaliation, Pakistan on Thursday responded angrily that it has nothing to do with the attack, and canceled visas issued to Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country.
It also warned that any Indian attempt to stop or divert flow of water would be considered an “act of war” and met with “full force across the complete spectrum” of Pakistan’s national power.
Tuesday’s attack in Kashmir was the worst assault in years, targeting civilians in the restive region that has seen an anti-India rebellion for more than three decades.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir. New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.
China considers exempting some goods from US tariffs
- A Ministry of Commerce taskforce is collecting lists of items that could be exempted from tariffs
- Bloomberg first reported China was considering tariff exemptions on Friday.
DUBAI: China is considering exempting some US imports from its 125 percent tariffs and is asking businesses to provide lists of goods that could be eligible in the biggest sign yet that Beijing is worried about the economic fallout from its trade war with Washington.
A Ministry of Commerce taskforce is collecting lists of items that could be exempted from tariffs and is asking companies to submit their own requests, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Financial news magazine Caijing reported on Friday citing sources that Beijing was preparing to include eight semiconductor-related items, although no memory chips.
A list of 131 categories of products eligible for exemptions was circulating widely on social media and among businesses and trade groups on Friday. Reuters could not verify the list, whose items ranged from vaccines and chemicals to jet engines.
Repeated phone calls to China’s customs department were not answered. Customs and the Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to faxed questions.
Bloomberg first reported China was considering tariff exemptions on Friday.
The exemptions signal that, like Washington, Beijing is deeply concerned about the economic pain rippling across the country as the world’s two largest economies decouple.
While Washington has said the current status quo is economically untenable and already offered tariff exemptions to some electronic goods, China has repeatedly said it is willing to fight to the end unless the US lifts its tariffs.
But beneath the bombast, China’s economy is entering the trade war flirting with deflation. Demand is weak and consumer spending and sentiment have never properly recovered from the pandemic levels.
The government is pushing tariff-hit exporters to pivot to local markets, but companies say profits are lower, demand weaker and customers less reliable.
Exemptions are a bigger gesture of support, although by allowing some trade to resume, they also reduce the pain for the US economy and take some pressure off the White House.
At least 5 dead in Thai police plane crash
- The plane was conducting a test flight to prepare for parachute training in Hua Hin district before it crashed around 8 a.m.
BANGKOK: A small police plane crashed into the sea near a popular beach town in Thailand, killing at least five people on board, officials said.
The plane was conducting a test flight to prepare for parachute training in Hua Hin district before it crashed around 8 a.m., said Royal Thai Police spokesperson Archayon Kraithong.
Officials did not immediately share the model of the propeller plane, but photos from the scene appear to show a Viking DHC-6 Twin Otter. The plane crashed near Hua Hin Airport, said the public relations department of Prachuab Kiri Khan province.
The photos show the plane in the sea about 100 meters offshore. The body of the plane appeared to be broken in two.
There were six people on board, all police officers, Archayon said. He initially said that five people died at the scene and one died at the hospital, but later revised the death toll to five, saying the officer who was sent to the hospital remained in critical condition but alive.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Archayon said officials are gathering evidence including data from the plane’s black box.
Trump says Boeing ‘should default China’ for not taking planes
- Chinese customers started rejecting Beoing jet deliveries amid a trade war sparked by Trump
- Boeing poised to resell rejected jets, with Air India in talks with the planemaker to take 10 Max 737s
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized China for backing out of a deal to buy new Boeing planes due to tariffs imposed in the rivals’ trade war.
“Boeing should default China for not taking the beautifully finished planes that China committed to purchase,” Trump wrote on social media, without giving more details.
“This is just a small example of what China has done to the USA, for years,” he added.
US aviation giant Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday confirmed that Chinese customers had stopped taking delivery of aircraft due to the “tariff environment.”
His remarks signaled growing disruption caused by tit-for-tat levies exchanged between the world’s largest economies this month.
New US tariffs have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.
The tariff blitz — which Trump says is retaliation for unfair trade practices, as well as a bid to restore US manufacturing prowess — has rattled markets and raised fears of a global recession.
Beijing on Thursday threw cold water on Trump’s apparent optimism about a US-China deal to lower tariffs, saying that suggestions of ongoing talks were “groundless.”
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his country would have a “fair deal with China,” adding when asked if Washington was talking to Beijing that “everything’s active.”
Industry sources said the comments were seen as a signal to Beijing and Washington that the tariff conflict between the world’s two largest economies risked damage as Chinese airlines scramble for capacity and Boeing is left with a new stockpile.
Washington had previously signalled openness to de-escalating the trade war, stating earlier this week that high tariffs between the US and China were not sustainable.
Boeing is one of the largest US exporters and historically sent a quarter of its planes to China, though the share of Chinese airlines in its order backlog now stands at 10 percent after European rival Airbus increased market share.
Airbus has been in on-off negotiations for at least a year to try to grab a huge order of up to 500 jets, though China usually treads carefully over all major purchase decisions at times of geopolitical uncertainty, industry sources said.
Airbus said it never comments on commercial discussions that may or may not be happening.
Potential alternative markets for Boeing jets include India, Latin America and Southeast Asia but discussions have barely begun because of their complexity and uncertainty over who might blink in the tariff standoff, industry sources said.
Reselling
Amid the delivery standoff, Boeing said it is looking to resell potentially dozens of planes locked out of China by tariffs.
The move to prevent a repeat of the costly build-up of undelivered jets seen during past safety and trade crises comes as the planemaker seeks to prevent tensions undercutting its efforts to save cash and pay down debts.
Boeing took the rare step of publicly flagging the potential aircraft sale during an analyst call on Wednesday, saying there would be no shortage of buyers in a tight jet market.
“Customers are calling, asking for additional airplanes,” CFO Brian West said. Such negotiations are usually kept tightly under wraps.
Two sources, who declined to be named as the discussions are private, said Air India was seeking around 10 narrowbody planes from Boeing for its budget carrier Air India Express, which has a fleet of more than 100 aircraft.
Air India, Air India Express and Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Air India is very interested ... if the deal goes through, the planes are expected to be added to the fleet by end of the year,” the first person said, adding the talks were in early stages.
Air India Express has previously taken white tail aircraft — or jets manufactured for one customer but acquired by another.
A third source familiar with talks between Air India and Boeing said any difference in jet configuration between its fleet and the incoming planes meant for Chinese customers may be factored into price negotiations.
The move could be a boost to Air India’s expansion plans as the group’s growth has been constrained by a lack of new aircraft.
Last month, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline was a “victim of circumstance,” referring to delivery delays plaguing Boeing and Airbus.
Complex negotiations
However, experts warned that carrying out the threat to divert jets to other buyers would not involve a simple switch.
Finding new customers after planes have been built “can be a costly endeavour,” industry publication Leeham News said.
Experts say many components, such as cabins, are picked by airlines and switching configurations could cost millions of dollars. Doing so may also create a tangle of contractual commitments and need the co-operation of the original buyer.
For its part, China has urged Washington to abandon the tariffs but its airlines are seen as hungry for new planes to meet demand and stay within domestic aircraft age restrictions.
“This will be extremely complicated. Everyone is flexing muscle but nobody completely has the upper hand,” said a senior aircraft finance industry source who requested anonymity.
Boeing’s public stand follows a threat from tariffs to the aerospace industry’s decade-old duty-free trading status. Senior industry officials say, however, there is no clear evidence of a reported official Chinese government ban on US jets.
The move to repatriate and re-market jets stands in contrast to a build-up seen during an almost five-year import freeze on 737 MAX jets into China and previous trade tensions.
“We’re not going to continue to build aircraft for customers who will not take them,” Ortberg told analysts.
Two jets ferried to China in March for delivery to Xiamen Airlines returned to Boeing in Seattle in the past week.
A third 737 MAX flew from Boeing’s Zhoushan completion center near Shanghai to the US territory of Guam on Thursday, Flightradar24 data showed. Guam is one of the stops Boeing delivery flights make on the journey across the Pacific.
The third plane was initially built for Air China , according to Aviation Flights Group. The flag carrier did not respond to a request for comment.
Boeing had planned to deliver around 50 new planes to China over the rest of this year, West said. It is studying options for re-marketing 41 that are already built or in production.
