Global investigation exposes alleged billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network

Operatives said to be behind a billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network – used by drug dealers, financial criminals and foreign spies – have been sanctioned and arrested in a coordinated international investigation led by the National Crime Agency.The UK law enforcement body, which tackles serious and organised crime, said the actions constituted the “most significant money laundering operation” it had undertaken in the past few years. The operation involved America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, France’s Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire and Ireland’s Garda.The networks are said to have laundered cash and cryptocurrencies for serious and organised crime gangs in the UK and across the west; Russian hacking groups, which extract ransom payments from corporations after disabling their computer networks; as well as “Russian elites seeking to bypass sanctions”, including in the UK.The agency added that the scheme had serious real-life implications, as it was directly linked to laundering drug money made on the streets of the UK

What do the latest GDP figures tell us? That the RBA is still getting it very wrong | Greg Jericho

The Australian economy is now so weak due to the Reserve Bank’s 13 interest rate hikes that were it not for commonwealth and state government spending and investment, we would now be in a recession and close to 100,000 more people would be out of work.The trouble with GDP figures is actually trying to explain why they matter. Yes they measure the size of the economy and we can then calculate how much it has grown, and if we want to be clever, how much it has grown when we exclude population growth. But so what?We can say that GDP per capita has now fallen for eight out of the past nine quarters and that that is a record bad run.But what does that mean, really?GDP overall in the September quarter grew just 0

Tell us: is there an app, site or service you use to avoid doomscrolling?

We would like to hear about how you avoid the constant barrage of bad news when you’re on your phone. Is there an app, site or service that you consider an antidote to doomscrolling? Let us know using the form below.You can tell us your favourite anti-doomscrolling app, site or service using this form.Please include as much detail as possiblePlease note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB

ChatGPT’s refusal to acknowledge ‘David Mayer’ down to glitch, says OpenAI

Last weekend the name was all over the internet – just not on ChatGPT.David Mayer became famous for a moment on social media because the popular chatbot appeared to want nothing to do with him.Legions of chatbot wranglers spent days trying – and failing – to make ChatGPT write the words “David Mayer”. But the chatbot refused to comply, with replies alternating between “something seems to have gone wrong” to “I’m unable to produce a response” or just stopping at “David”.This produced a blizzard of online speculation about Mayer’s identity

Ding Liren and Gukesh D play to rollercoaster draw in Game 8 of title tilt

Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju played to a fifth successive draw on Wednesday in the eighth game of their $2.5m world championship showdown in Singapore, leaving the best-of-14-games match all square at 4-all after a rollercoaster affair which saw both players let winning chances slip away in the middlegame.The 32-year-old reigning champion from China, after playing a new first move (1 c4) for the fourth time in four games with the favored white pieces, fought back from the brink of disaster by finding an incredible idea from a worse position while trailing badly on time. Helped by a Gukesh blunder, Ding played confidently and quickly to turn the tables.• Read our complete World Chess Championship watch guideThe playersChina’s Ding Liren is defending the world chess championship against fast-rising Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju

England’s Ben Stokes demands answers from ICC after latest over-rate sanctions

Ben Stokes has revealed a personal stand-off with the International Cricket Council about over-rate penalties, including his refusal as England captain to sign the relevant post-match paperwork as a protest against the system.Speaking before the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, and naming an unchanged England XI as they target an unassailable 2-0 lead, Stokes laid bare his frustrations at the sides being docked three World Test Championship points and 15% of their match fees for the sluggish, albeit four-day, series opener in Christchurch.Under the ICC rules, Test matches are supposed to be played at a rate of 15 overs an hour, with an extra 30 minutes per day available to make up any shortfall. Both England and New Zealand were deemed to have fallen three overs short of their targets at Hagley Oval as part of a system that Stokes feels does not factor in the conditions.“The most frustrating thing is it’s an issue depending on where you are in the world and the style of cricket that’s played,” said Stokes, while also pointing out his side won the first Test with a day and a half to spare