A German court has suspended proceedings in the trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who has been charged with fraud and market manipulation in connection with Volkswagen’s use of rigged software that let millions of diesel-engine cars che…
FRANKFURT, Germany — A German court has suspended proceedings in the trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who has been charged with fraud and market manipulation in connection with Volkswagen’s use of rigged software that let millions of diesel-engine cars cheat on emissions tests.
The regional court in Braunschweig on Tuesday cited an unspecified health issue that meant Winterkorn, 78, was not in a condition to face trial.
The court said in a statement that it had “provisionally terminated” the proceedings. It said the health issue represented a “temporary impediment” and would continue to be reviewed with the help of an expert so that proceedings could resume if Winterkorn recovers.
Winterkorn went on trial in September, 2024 but the proceedings were suspended a few days later after Winterkorn had an accident.
Germany’s code of criminal procedure allows for a court to provisionally terminate proceedings “if the absence of the indicted accused or some other personal impediment prevents the main hearing being held for a considerable time.”
Prosecutors say Winterkorn knew about the illegal software well before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its discovery of the violation in September 2015. He resigned days later. He has said he learned about the practice only shortly before the announcement and earlier testified during civil proceedings that the allegations against him “are not correct.”
In May, four former Volkswagen managers were convicted of fraud and two of them given prison sentences for their part in the manipulation of emissions controls.
The former head of diesel development was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and the head of drive train electronics to two years and seven months by the court in Braunschweig. Two others received suspended sentences of 15 months and 10 months.
The company has paid more than $33 billion in fines and compensation to vehicle owners. Two VW managers received prison sentences in the U.S. The former head of the company’s Audi division, Rupert Stadler, was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.25 million). The sentence is still subject to appeal.
UK campaign group The Good Law Project has accused Apple and Google of allowing ‘fake age ratings’ on the app stores – and says King, Supercell and many more have been deliberately providing them.
The group has launched a new campaign accusing platform holders Apple and Google of deceiving players by allowing game-makers to display one age rating at the point of download, but hiding the ‘real’ age rating in their games’ service agreements.
Game-makers specifically accused of the practice by the Good Law Project include King, Supercell, Century Games, Kooapps, Toca Boca and SayGames. But there are “thousands and thousands” more, says the group, which is also working with child safety NGO 5Rights to shed light on the issue.
In particular, the campaign focuses on King’s Candy Crush Saga. The Good Law Project claims that King deceives players by showing a 4+ rating on the app stores, but a peek into the game’s service agreement actually requires players to be 13 or over to view the ads served in the game.
The Good Law Project also namechecks Whiteout Survival, Clash of Clans, Pop Us!, Snake.io and Toca Boca World as supposedly having deceptive age ratings.
“Candy Crush isn’t the only app playing this game,” says The Good Law Project. “Thousands and thousands of apps are declaring one age range across the top and hiding another in the terms and conditions.”
“And it’s all to make money out of tricking kids,” the group continues. “Firms can’t build up profiles and dish out surveillance ads to children under 13 without explicit consent from their parents – it’s illegal. But the firms think they’ve covered their backs if the small print that nobody ever reads says users have to be “at least 13″, whatever it says at the top of the page.”
“So young kids are playing apps that bombard them with ads aimed at much older kids. And app developers and app stores are complicit.”
As a result of its findings, The Good Law Project filed an official complaint to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority yesterday. The complaint claims that the behaviour is unlawful and in breach of UK consumer protection and data processing regulations.
It also claims that Apple and Google have a “special responsibility to protect consumers’ interests” due to their “effective monopoly” on app stores. Apple and Google’s lack of oversight “constitute abuses of their respective dominant positions,” it says.
Apple sent us the following statement in response to the Good Law Project’s claims: “We are committed to protecting user privacy and security and providing a safe experience for children. We do this by giving parents and developers important tools to help protect children on the App Store and across the apps they use.”
“When parents or guardians create an Apple Account for a child under 13 years of age, tracking permissions are disabled by default – so apps can’t request to track them through App Tracking Transparency. These protections are based on the user’s age, not the app. We also require developers to provide clear age ratings consistent with App Store policies, and in instances where an app’s age rating does not match its content, we take immediate action to ensure the issue is corrected.”
We also asked King, Google and Supercell for comment on this story, and will update this article with their remarks if or when they provide them.
At the time of writing, over 6,800 people have added their name to The Good Law Project’s petition to force Google and Apple to make their app stores safer for children.
The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Hyi Seung Lee) established, through genetic connectivity analysis, that a northward shift in the habitat of Turbo sazae, from the southern coast to the eastern coast of Korea, is closely related to rising sea temperatures caused by climate change. The research findings were published in an international academic journal.*
* Title of publication: Insights into the Genetic Connectivity and Climate-Driven Northward Range Expansion of Turbo sazae (Gastropoda: Turbinidae) Along the Eastern Coast of Korea. Hyun-sung Yang, Kyung-man Kwon & Hyun-soo Roh, KIOST; Young-Ghan Cho et al., NIFS. Animals, May 2, 2025.
According to the National Comprehensive Investigation into Marine Ecosystems conducted by the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation, T. sazae, which had primarily inhabited the southern coast of Korea, were found to have expanded their habitat 37 degrees north (near Uljin) as of 2018. This suggests that climate change-driven rises in sea temperatures are gradually expanding northward the inhabitable environment for sea life, which a research team at KIOST verified through genetic connectivity analysis.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Hyun-sung Yang of the Tropical and Subtropical Research Center at KIOST and another research team led by Dr. Young-Ghan Cho of the Tidal Flat Research Institute at the National Institute of Fisheries Science collaborated on the study, which predicted the impact of barren ground* caused by climate change on marine benthic life and analyzed the physiological, ecological, and genetic characteristics of T. sazae accordingly. They found that the T. sazae found around Jeju Island and on the eastern coast were varieties with identical genetic characteristics.
* The phenomenon in which kelp disappears from coastal rocky areas to be replaced by white calcareous algae, leaving the affected areas white. An element of marine desertification.
In addition, a research team at the Jeju Bio Research Center at KIOST found the main cause of an observed decline in T. sazae population to be a decrease in immune function caused by rising sea temperatures. Previously, it had been speculated that urchin barrens changed the feeding patterns of T. sazae living around Jeju Island, causing the decline in their population, but the research findings* indicate that the changed feeding patterns do not impact T. sazae’s reproduction or physiology, and that the real cause is compromised immune function of the mollusk as a result of warmer waters.
* Title of publication: Effect of Diet Changes in Benthic Ecosystems Owing to Climate Change on the Physiological Responses of Turbo sazae in Waters Around Jeju Island, Korea. Yong-kyun Ryu, Chulhong Oh, Hyun-sung Yang, KIOST. Marine Environmental Research, Feb. 6, 2025.
The findings are scientific evidence that T. sazae larvae likely move northward along ocean currents such as the Tsushima Current to settle on the eastern coast, resulting in an expansion of their habitat. These findings are also a significant achievement in that they clarify some of the impacts of climate change on the distribution of sea life through a comprehensive analysis of the morphological features and genetic information of the T. sazae populations around Jeju Island and along the eastern coast.
In particular, the fact that rising sea temperatures allow the northward expansion of T. sazae’s habitat is expected to be key information in understanding climate-adaptive mechanisms of sea life as well as in forming climate change response strategies.
KIOST President Hyi Seung Lee explained, “Climate change-driven rises in sea temperatures are a core variable in the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems.” He went on to say, “KIOST will use its latest research findings to gain a scientific understanding of patterns of change in the distribution of sea life and continue the scientific mission to protect sea life.”
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Climate Change Alters Distribution of Sea Life
Article Publication Date
26-Jun-2025
COI Statement
The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Hyi Seung Lee) established, through genetic connectivity analysis, that a northward shift in the habitat of Turbo sazae, from the southern coast to the eastern coast of Korea, is closely related to rising sea temperatures caused by climate change. The research findings were published in an international academic journal.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Ask Yuna Kim to share her memories of Italy when she was a competitive figure skater, and the answers come rushing in fondly.
Kim, sometimes nicknamed the ‘Queen of Figure Skating‘, competed twice in Turin during her highly successful career. In 2007, she won the ISU Grand Prix Final, before taking home World Championships silver from the same city in 2010.
In that latter competition, Kim – fresh off the back of being crowned Olympic champion a month earlier at Vancouver 2010 – struggled in her short program, finishing seventh, but rebounded with a stunning free skate (she won the segment) to leap to second overall.
“I competed in Torino twice,” Kim recalled in a recent exclusive interview in Seoul, Republic of Korea. “In 2010, I participated in the World Championships just a one month after the Olympics, so I was really exhausted — but it was still a meaningful way to close out the Olympic season.
“Italy has always been a country I’ve loved, even outside of competition. I’d love to visit again.”
Perfect timing, then, that the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are fewer than 200 days away.
“Many athletes in various sports are aiming for good results at Milano Cortina 2026. I’m supporting them all the way, hoping they can prepare fully without any injuries to deliver their best performance on the Olympic stage,” Kim said.
There’s no doubt figure skating will be top draw for Yuna Kim. But what other events does she hope to catch?
“Aside from figure skating, I’m looking forward to outstanding performances in short track speed skating and snowboard halfpipe,” she said. “Regardless of results, I’m also looking forward to watching spectacular skiing events.”
Mike Brown is a two-time winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award.
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NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks will interview two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown for a second time as they seek Tom Thibodeau’s replacement, a person with knowledge of the details said Monday.
Brown’s return this week will make him the first of the known candidates to get a second interview for the position that has been vacant for nearly a month.
Other candidates could also be asked to return, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the coaching search were to remain private. The Knicks have also talked with former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins and assistants James Borrego of New Orleans and Micah Nori of Minnesota about the position.
Brown’s second interview was first reported by the New York Post.
Brown led the Sacramento Kings to the playoffs in 2023, their first appearance since 2006, and was voted coach of the year. He went 107-88 there in 2 1/2 seasons before he was fired during this past season.
Brown also won the coaching award in 2009 with Cleveland and is 454-304 in his career.
Thibodeau was fired June 3 despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years. Like Brown, he also won NBA Coach of the Year honors with two teams.
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Clouds are a major source of uncertainty in atmospheric predictability and simulating them accurately remains a challenge for large-scale models. Bogenschutz et al. [2025] evaluate a new high-resolution model called the Simple Cloud-Resolving E3SM Atmosphere Model (SCREAM) developed by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), which is designed to better capture cloud and storm processes. The authors use a fast, small-scale version of the model and compare its output to modern real-world observations from the DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program.
The model performed better at higher resolutions but still struggled with certain cloud types, especially mid-level “congestus” clouds that form between shallow and deep convection. SCREAM also tended to shift too abruptly from shallow clouds to intense storms, and its performance depended on how finely the vertical layers of the atmosphere were represented.
These results help pinpoint key weaknesses in the model’s treatment of clouds and turbulence. The new library of ARM cases added in this work will help guide future improvements to SCREAM and support more accurate simulations of cloud processes.
Citation: Bogenschutz, P. A., Zhang, Y., Zheng, X., Tian, Y., Zhang, M., Lin, L., et al. (2025). Exposing process-level biases in a global cloud permitting model with ARM observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD043059. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD043059
In the fight against cancer, immunotherapy – which aims to boost the body’s natural defences against cancer – is experiencing remarkable growth. Most of these treatments are based on CD8 T lymphocytes, ”killer cells” able to eliminate diseased cells. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has explored an alternative approach involving CD4 T lymphocytes. Long considered mere auxiliary cells, their therapeutic potential has been considered of secondary importance. But the scientists have discovered that they also have strong killing capacity, while continuing to support other immune cells. Using cell engineering technologies, the team reprogrammed the cells to target a tumour marker found in many cancers, both in adults and children. These results, published in the journal Science Advances, offer hope for a faster therapeutic strategy that could benefit a greater number of patients.
Traditionally considered as auxiliary cells, CD4 T cells produce molecules to support the action of other immune cells by facilitating their functions, migration or proliferation in the organism. Recent work by Camilla Jandus, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology, in the Centre for Inflammation Research and in the Translational Research Centre in Onco-haematology at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine, shows that they have been vastly underestimated.
In collaboration with the CHUV-UNIL Oncology Department and the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, UNIGE scientists studied the molecular characteristics of CD4 T lymphocytes isolated from melanoma patients (a skin cancer). They identified that a unique subset of these cells bears a T cell receptor (TCR) capable of efficiently recognising an antigen specific to tumour cells: NY-ESO-1. This TCR was then isolated and artificially expressed in other CD4 T cells.
We then evaluated the effectiveness of these engineered cells against cancer cells, both in vitro and in animal models. The results are impressive: they effectively target not only melanoma, but also lung, ovarian, sarcoma and brain cancers, while sparing healthy cells. This demonstrates that TCR-modified CD4 T cells can attack tumours directly, in addition to their auxiliary role”.
Camilla Jandus, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology, UNIGE Faculty of Medicine
The major advantage of a widespread allele
The HLA system is a set of genes responsible for immune recognition. Everyone inherits different versions of these genes, known as alleles. ”They code for cell surface proteins, HLA molecules, which enable the T cells to distinguish healthy cells from pathogen infected or malignant cells,” explains Camilla Jandus. ”The effectiveness of T cell-based therapies depends on whether the patient carries the specific HLA allele that presents the tumour antigen. The NY-ESO-1 antigen, recognised by our TCR, is presented by a widespread allele, found in about half the Caucasian population, compared to only 10 to 15% for other HLA alleles. This dramatically expands the pool of patients who could benefit, especially since the targeted antigen is expressed in many types of cancer”.
Hope for adults and children with cancers
Camilla Jandus’ team is currently preparing a clinical trial of TCR-engineered CD4-based cell therapy. The trial will include different types of cancer expressing NY-ESO-1. First, a HLA test will verify the presence of the appropriate HLA allele, and then tumours will be analysed to confirm expression of NY-ESO-1. The CD4 T cells will then be harvested, modified in the laboratory to express the TCR, multiplied and reinjected into the patient.
But Camilla Jandus envisages a further step: the creation of a bank of ready-to-use TCR engineered immune cells from healthy donors, matched to avoid rejection, which would save precious time, especially in the case of aggressive cancers. This strategy could also pave the way for treatments for cancers that are currently incurable, particularly in children. The first in vitro tests on paediatric neuroblastomas are indeed promising.
This research was supported by the ISREC Foundation, as part of the ISREC Tandem programme and the Fondazione San Salvatore.
We often think of time—like the 24-hour day—as something fixed and unchanging. But in reality, even Earth’s rotation isn’t constant. Scientists have now found that our planet is spinning faster than it used to, and that means days are getting just a tiny bit shorter.This might sound strange, but Earth’s rotation has always changed over long periods. Dinosaurs, for example, lived with 23-hour days. And in the Bronze Age, the average day was already about half a second shorter than today’s standard. Looking ahead, scientists predict that 200 million years from now, one Earth day will last about 25 hours.
Why is the Earth spinning faster?
Normally, a day lasts 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds. But that’s not completely accurate. Many things—like earthquakes, volcanic activity, ocean tides, and even underground changes—can make the planet spin slightly faster or slower. Even though the overall trend has been for Earth to slow down, something unusual has been happening since 2020.
According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), based in Washington D.C., the Earth’s rotation has started to speed up. This has been happening steadily enough that experts now believe we may need to remove a leap second from our clocks in 2029—the first time this has ever happened.A recent report from timeanddate.com says that this trend will continue into 2025. Based on current data, the three shortest days of the year will be July 9, July 22, and August 5. The shortest of all, August 5, is expected to be about 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the usual 24 hours.
What’s causing it?
This unexpected speed-up has puzzled experts. Leonid Zotov, a rotation researcher at Moscow State University, told timeanddate.com, “Nobody expected this.” Zotov helped write a 2022 study trying to figure out the cause, but he says that so far, no model fully explains it.
Most scientists believe the answer lies deep inside the Earth—possibly something happening in the core. Ocean and atmosphere changes don’t seem to account for the speed increase.While this spinning trend might continue for now, it’s not a sign that we’re heading back to dinosaur-era days. Earth’s long-term natural tendency is still to slow down over time. Things like melting ice at the poles and surface changes can also affect this.So, while we might “lose” a leap second soon, Earth isn’t going off track—just reminding us that even time isn’t perfectly steady.
England retained Jofra Archer in their squad for the second Test because it is “very important” for him to become acquainted with the squad, captain Ben Stokes says.
Archer, 30, was called into England’s Test squad for the first time in four years after a series of injuries but left out of the final XI for the match, which starts on Wednesday.
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The fast bowler has played only one red-ball match since May 2021 and could have been released to play for Sussex in the County Championship this week but will instead stay with England’s squad.
“When someone has been out of the environment for so long – and the last time they were in that environment it was so completely different – for me personally and Baz [England coach Brendon McCullum] as well, we felt if he didn’t play it was important to have Jof around the group, around the people,” Stokes told the BBC.
“Having him back in the squad is great but we want him to play a part in the series and going forward with this group.”
Since taking over in 2022, Stokes and McCullum have revolutionised England’s Test cricket with a positive, sometimes relaxed, approach.
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Archer – one of England’s most exciting debutants in a generation in 2019 – last played a Test in February 2021, when Joe Root was captain and Chris Silverwood coach.
That Test was the last time Archer bowled in two innings of a red-ball match.
He played for Sussex against Durham last week and took 1-32 in 18 overs in the first innings but Durham did not bat a second time as the match ended in a draw.
“You can’t really control how a first-class game will go,” Stokes said.
“Here he can come and bowl. He can help out the lads. He can get used to the environment again and when the opportunity does come he is comfortable in it.
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“There are benefits to both situations and at the end of the day me and Baz decided one what we thought was best for Jof.”
Having missed England’s training on Monday because of a “family emergency”, Archer had a lengthy bowl in the nets on Tuesday.
He bowled a long spell at Stokes, challenged the England captain on a number of occasions and with only three days between this Test and the third at Lord’s could make his Test return next week.
“He’s got the ball swinging quite nicely and effortless pace,” Stokes said. “It’s been a while since I faced him so it was a little bit of a wake-up call for me.”
India’s XI remains unclear
While England’s decision to hold back Archer means they have an unchanged XI from their win in the first Test at Headingley, India’s side remains uncertain.
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Captain Shubman Gill said star bowler Jasprit Bumrah is “available” but a decision on whether he will play will be made on Tuesday evening as he manages his return from a back injury.
The questions do not end there.
Gill appeared to suggest the tourists will bring in a second spinner, off-spinner Washington Sundar or wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, but the decision is complicated by their weak lower-order after their final four wickets added only 29 runs across two innings combined in Leeds.
Kuldeep would provide a greater wicket-taking threat but Washington greater batting depth.
“If we are able to go with four or five premier bowlers with a sixth bowling option and have batting to seven or eight, that would be a good combination,” Gill said.
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India, who have not won any of their eight men’s Tests at Edgbaston, could also bring in batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored a century in Australia during the winter and bowls gentle right-arm seam.
LAWRENCE — Around $1 billion gets paid by victims of ransomware attacks each year. But is payment the right strategy?
“In the short run, paying the ransom is often the easiest way out. Yet by paying the ransom, you are encouraging hackers to come back, not just for you but for everyone else,” said Debabrata Dey, the Davis Area Director of Analytics, Information, and Operations and the Ronald G. Harper Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Information Systems at the University of Kansas.
His new paper, titled “‘Extortionality’ in Ransomware Attacks: A Microeconomic Study of Extortion and Externality,” examines when organizations accede to ransom demands and, in doing so, incentivize attackers to launch more attacks, elevating the chance of a future breach not just for themselves but for others. The paper also weighs whether policymakers should get involved, either through punitive measures to prevent payment or tax/subsidies to compensate payment.
The study appears in Information Systems Research.
Dey and co-writer Atanu Lahiri of the University of Texas at Dallas created a model to illustrate the effect of how firms may react to ransom demands and provide a framework for comparing different policy interventions and strategies. The researchers additionally introduced the term “extortionality,” which they define as “extortion due to externality.”
“If you look at the economy — and specifically at the cyber economy — ransomware attacks are more important at an organizational level than at an individual level. Hackers are more interested in organizations because they can get a lot more money for every success,” Dey said.
Thus, the impact of externalities is also magnified.
“Externalities are like pollution, for example. If I have a paper factory, and I am polluting the effluent stream that then pollutes a river, that’s an externality. Because through my action, I’m imposing a cost on the society. I’m imposing a cost on the fishermen down the stream without having to pay for it,” he said.
In the case of ransomware (defined as malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid), the externality is tied to payment. If a company pays, it encourages other hackers who may be emboldened to attack more companies. Or worse, hackers may attack a critical institution such as a power plant. If ransom is not paid, the electricity of a city goes dark, thus creating chaos in society itself.
So if Dey were a CEO of a corporation that was the target of ransomware, how would he use this research to develop a strategy to combat it?
“I would first do a full-fledged analysis of the company’s situation: How bad is the attack, what resources are getting compromised, what services are going to be hampered and for how long, how many people are going to be touched through this process, how many users, how many consumers? Those are all considerations the CEO must figure out,” he said.
But equally important is for an organization to prepare ways to avoid such a breach. Dey cites two types of avoidance mechanisms: protective and backup. Protective involves investing in technology as well as in education of users. Oftentimes, a breach occurs because an employee gets a phishing email and unknowingly clicks on it.
“Backup and recovery systems are also very important because irrespective of what you do, there will be situations where you get breached. You can be 100% cautious, but there is no fail-safe system,” he said.
“If your backup and recovery system is good, then as a CEO, you’ll say, ‘OK, let’s do a quick analysis of the damage that we are going to go through, what kind of recovery we can have, how long will it take for us to come back to the original state?’ And if that cost is not very large, then you might decide not to pay the ransom.”
Dey first became interested in this topic almost a decade ago when a massive ransomware attack breached computers in over 100 countries worldwide.
“I have a relative who’s a doctor in a hospital in India, and we were talking about how their hospital reacted to the breach. That’s when my interest really started growing. Then suddenly, you see all these ransomware attacks in the U.S. The DCH Health System based in Alabama was breached, and three DCH hospitals were impacted. Then a meat processing farm. Then a gas pipeline. There have been so many of them,” he said.
A KU faculty member since 2022, Dey specializes in artificial intelligence and information systems. He has also recently focused on issues related to public policy. His most recent article, titled “Polarization or Bias: Take Your Click on Social Media,” appeared in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems.
“At the end of the day, what is the most practical solution to dealing with ransomware?” Dey asked. “The solution is investing toward these events not happening. Because once it happens, it could be a long day or a long week or even a long month.”
