Author: staff

An eight-character-long password made of numbers can be cracked instantly, according to the IT firm Hive Systems.Every year, the company releases its password table, which displays the time needed to hack a password using the best consumer-accessible hardware.It ran its test against passwords, encrypted with the method used on most websites. In this case, it was bcrypt, which was the most widespread, according to the data from previous breaches. But this encryption isn’t infallible and can be worked backwards.Overall, the longer and the more complex the passwords, the longer it takes to crack them, with the most complex eight-character passwords…

He’s hairy. He’s got sharp teeth. He’s been outsmarted by a mouse. He’s back. Yes, family favourite Gruffalo is returning to bookshelves next year in a brand new adventure – the monster’s first in more than two decades.  Publisher Macmillan Children’s Books confirmed the news today, promising a fresh tale from British writer Julia Donaldson, following 1999’s “The Gruffalo” and 2004’s “The Gruffalo’s Child”.  The first two books – among the most popular children’s titles in the world – are available in 113 languages and dialects, and have sold a combined 18.2 million copies worldwide. The original Gruffalo book has been adapted into…

That’s music to the ears of far-right politicians around the bloc, who might think the EPP’s move to declare them enemy No. 1 plays right into their hands. French firebrand Marine Le Pen and Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland leader Alice Weidel will relish the attention as they challenge for power, while Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán is hardly camera-shy. THE LOSERS Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal legacy In speech after speech, EPP leaders and heads of government used the EU’s once-vaunted, now oft-derided Green Deal as their punching bag. While they continued to claim fighting climate change was important, they…

A Belgian-led NATO group is currently patrolling in the Baltic Sea near Estonia following a string of sabotage incidents in the strategic waters.The Baltic has been at the centre of geopolitical tensions, particularly since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is also an area of importance for NATO, particularly due to the presence of numerous undersea telecommunications cables.These are regularly threatened by ships suspected of having links with Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels.NATO said in January that it would increase its military presence and technological innovation in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure from sabotage,…

Ryanair, a short-haul specialist that carries more passengers than any other European airline, has a fleet composed entirely of more than 575 Boeing 737 aircraft. Reliance on a particular make of aircraft, rather than a mixed fleet requiring a wider range of staffing and support, helps to minimize Ryanair’s operating costs. Typically the Dublin-based airline bulk-buys each new variant of 737 at hefty discounts, including a pending order of up to 300 MAX 10 models due for delivery starting in 2027. But half of that order is optional and could be cancelled or delayed if market conditions sour. U.S.-imposed tariffs…

China has lifted sanctions it imposed on five European Union lawmakers in 2021, the EU parliament said on Wednesday.The sanctions were imposed in retaliation against alleged persecution of the Uyghur Muslims who live in China’s far western region of Xinjiang. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was at the helm of negotiations to lift the sanctions, a development which comes as tensions between the EU and China have been easing since US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Beijing in April. In a statement informing senior lawmakers of the breakthrough, Metsola said “our relationship with China remains complex and multi-faceted. The best way…

Updated: 01/05/2025 – 11:31 GMT+2Charity kitchens in central Gaza are struggling to meet soaring demand as food supplies dwindle under Israel’s continued blockade. … More Dozens of Palestinians gathered at charity kitchens in Deir al Balah and Nuseirat on Wednesday, seeking what may be their only meal of the day as food supplies run low under an Israeli aid blockade nearing two months.“There is nothing left,” said one displaced woman. “If these kitchens close, we have nowhere to turn.”The blockade, in place since early March, has halted all imports, including food and medicine.Israel says the measure is aimed at pressuring…

It will also push the issue back on the news agenda at a time when social conservatives in the U.S. are tightening abortion restrictions and watching British policy closely. Vice-President J.D. Vance accused politicians of a “backslide away from conscience rights” in February over buffer zones, which restrict harassment and protests outside abortion clinics, after a man was prosecuted for praying and then refusing to move on. An 1861 law makes it a crime in England and Wales for a woman to “procure her own miscarriage.” However, parliament passed a 1967 act allowing abortion up to 24 weeks into a…

A Russian drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Thursday killed at least two people and injured 15 others, Ukrainian emergency services reported. The attack damaged a 16-storey building, several other apartment buildings, private homes, a school, a supermarket and cars, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.Nine out of the 15 victims were residents of the 16-storey building, according to the Odesa’s regional prosecutor’s office spokesperson Irina Kovalenko. “In one of the houses a man died, born in 1943, and a woman, born in 1955. It is likely that they are spouses. The number of victims…

UK house price growth decreased to 3.4% on an annual basis in April, down from 3.9% in the previous month, mainly due to the effect of recent stamp duty changes and seasonal effects, according to the Nationwide House Price Index. This was below analyst estimates of a 4.1% increase, while also being the softest house price rise since October 2024. On a monthly basis, UK house prices fell 0.6%, which was the first decline since August 2024. In contrast, house prices remained stable on a monthly basis in March. The monthly Nationwide House Price Index came down to 539.3 in April, down…