The Royal Navy has made a squadron formed entirely of autonomous boats officially part of the fleet for the first time.
The ceremony for the commissioning of the 1st Autonomous Squadron took place at HMNB Portsmouth, featuring a demonstration of the Kraken K3 Scout boats.
Senior officers say the new capability will help defend the UK against rapidly changing threats, as the Navy strives to create a fleet of both manned and unmanned vessels.
Capt Adam Ballard, deputy commander of the surface flotilla said: "This is about a Navy that is truly hybrid, and so you take the benefits of both types - the amazing capability and flexibility of these systems along with a carrier strike group." He added: "It's a really, really potent fighting force."
The uncrewed remotely-operated boats can be used for surveillance, force protection, and precision strikes, and will work alongside manned warships and helicopters.
This means they can carry cameras and radar for surveillance and be fitted with weapons.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3vqqe5znwgo
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Two trains crashed south of the Spanish capital Madrid on Wednesday morning, on the high-speed line to Seville.
At least 69 people were killed and dozens injured in the collision, when a state-operated Renfe high-speed train smashed into the back of a stationary train operated by the Iryo company near the town of Urda.
It is one of the worst rail disasters in Europe's modern history, and Spain's worst crash since 2013. Three days of national mourning have been declared in the country.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a computer failure at about 08:30 on the Wednesday morning led to the initial halt of six moving trains, including the two trains that subsequently collided.
"In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," he said, adding it was the control centre that decided to allow the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions.
That decision, Puente said, was made "under inexplicable circumstances". It resulted in the Renfe train crashing into the Iryo train, which was stationary on the tracks about 25km (15 miles) ahead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm8xz7pkd0jjo
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Dozens of supermarkets across seven European countries have been hit by a cyber-attack affecting their refrigerators and freezers.
Around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, while a smaller number of shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
Sabcobel, a Belgian company that manufactures some of the affected refrigerators, said the units' evaporators were switched to defrost mode, causing them to warm up, in what is believed to be the same method used in last month's incident that hit hundreds of French supermarkets.
Millions of euros worth of food had to be thrown away in October, local media reported at the time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq1kd1nee80eo
img: D 44878620 | Shop Freezer © Adisa | Dreamstime.com
Ukraine and Russia have both said air alert apps were hacked after fake messages warning of attacks, including nuclear, were sent to users.
Ukraine's widely used app sent red-level air raid warnings across the country, with additional warnings of radiation, chemical attacks, and street fighting sent to some residents in areas including Kyiv.
A few hours later, Russian authorities said a similar app was hacked after fake alerts, some of which contained foul language, were triggered.
It was unclear who was behind the cyberattacks or whether the two incidents were connected.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51kdy1ew7zvo
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A woman who is legally settled in the UK was left stranded at a Spanish airport after the Home Office’s post-Brexit visa system mixed her up with her twin sister.
Nidia Webb fell foul of what she was told was a “known issue” with the eVisa, which was brought in as part of the government’s drive to digitise the UK’s immigration system but has faced problems that have caused concern for thousands of people.
Politico reported that Webb, who has lived in the UK for eight years, was told at the departure gate she would not be able to board her flight home. “My digital settled status had become linked to my identical twin sister’s details rather than my own, meaning my status could not be properly matched to my identity,” she said.
img: ID 88942278 | Airport Border Check © 1000words | Dreamstime.com
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