Germanys Infineon has broken ground on its new 5bn semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden, less than six months since announcing the project. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the construction as a major step forward toward the blocs goal of boosting its market share in semiconductors. Europe is currently scrambling to reduce its reliance on foreign imports of semiconductor chips from, among others, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. These are regions where tensions can flare up at any time, said von der Leyen, in a nod to the current tensions between Beijing…

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Coordinated by Europol and the US Department of Justice, yesterday, Operation SpecTor seized over 50mn in cash and cryptocurrency, 850 kg of drugs (including amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA and ecstasy pills) and 117 firearms. The latter, contrary to Europols choice of emoji, were in all likelihood not water pistols. 288 dark web vendors arrested in major marketplace seizure. Operation #SpecTor led to the seizure of: EUR 50.8 million 850 kg of drugs 117 firearms The #MonopolyMarket vendors arrested were also active on other illicit marketplaces. More https://t.co/fDbWJbeFiM pic.twitter.com/086e1XMCUo Europol (@Europol) May 2, 2023 The arrested vendors were operating…

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Nearly a quarter of the worlds jobs will be disrupted in the coming five years, the latest report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found. Specifically, the job market will experience a 23% churn, as a result of emerging and vanishing positions. According to WEF, the companies surveyed anticipate that 83m jobs will be lost, albeit offset by the creation of 69m new roles. This still leaves a deficit of 14m eliminated positions, which translates into a 2% contraction of the global workforce. The report identified three key factors fueling the transformation of the labour market: the green transition,…

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As dry and bureaucratic as EU legislation may seem, it can also be groundbreaking and, dare we say it, radical. The bloc has taken a global lead in tackling regulation in areas such as green taxonomy and the much-anticipated AI Act. European lawmakers are also at the forefront in trying to curb the seemingly ever-growing dominance of Big Tech. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the EUs tool to attempt to open the digital app marketplace up for smaller competitors. It sets criteria to identify the gatekeepers of the market and make them comply with a certain list of dos…

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Move over Tony Stark, theres a new player in town. Augsburg-based startup German Bionic has developed wearable exoskeletons that endow superhuman strength although they are a little more modest than Iron Mans. Founded in 2017, the startup is one of several companies around the world developing exoskeletons to make physically demanding jobs easier. Whether for warehouse staff, elderly care professionals, or construction workers, everyone can benefit from a little added support, Norma Steller, CPO at German Bionic, tells TNW. Germanic Bionics two commercially available exoskeletons the Cray X and the recently launched Apogee (pictured) are worn like…

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