Tag:

Ministry

Solana network extensions will redefine blockchain scaling
Crypto Trends

Solana inks partnership with Kazakhstan Ministry to advance tokenized markets and crypto education

by admin



Solana announced that it has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kazakhstan government to advance the region’s crypto industry through education and boosting startups.

In a recent post, the blockchain announced that the President of the Foundation, Lily Liu, just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry. The joint collaboration is aimed at advancing startups in the region that operate on the SOL (SOL) blockchain by providing more resources and tools.

The partnership will also serve to boost crypto developer education in Kazakhstan and advance the tokenization of capital markets to attract more investors into the market.

In the short video provided, Liu explained that the foundation has been looking for partners to work with in order to advance societies and build innovation that would also serve to increase the adoption of web3 technology.

“We look for people, companies, and countries that really want to partner in that vision and bring the next generation of financial infrastructure and also financial opportunity to their people and to their country,” said Liu, adding that the foundation saw Republic of Kazakhstan as a suitable collaborative partner.

Price chart for Solana in the past few day, June 23, 2025 | Source: crypto.news

Within the video, nCMO at the Solana Foundation Akshay BD explained how blockchain technology could help lure more investors into the country’s Astana International Exchange or AIX. By tokenizing capital markets on Solana, 90% of the trading volume would be stored within the blockchain.

“And that’s how AIX becomes globally competitive with NYSE and Nasdaq,” he said.

The partnership comes nearly a month after the nation established the first Solana Economic Zone in the Central Asia region.

On May 30, Kazakhstan’s MDAI officially launched the Solana Economic Zone Kazakhstan or SEZ KZ for short. It was the first economic initiative built on the Solana blockchain and established in Central Asia.

The Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, Zhaslan Madiyev, believed that the initiative reflects the country’s willingness to integrate advanced digital technologies into its economy.

“We are committed to building a resilient and competitive digital environment. Projects like the Solana Economic Zone allow us to test and implement next-generation solutions — from asset tokenization to cultivating web3 talent,” said Madiyev.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry
Gaming Gear

Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry

by admin


A man named Vance Boelter allegedly shot and killed Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband Mark Hortman at their home at some point early Saturday morning while, according to law enforcement, impersonating a police officer. He also allegedly shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman at their home. They are alive, but remain in critical condition.

Law enforcement has said they found a manifesto and hit list in the alleged suspect’s car, which included politicians, abortion providers, and pro-abortion rights advocates. There were also allegedly fliers in his car for the “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump, which took place in cities across the US on Saturday.

The 57-year-old, who has been identified as the suspected shooter by law enforcement, runs an armed security service with his wife, and has been affiliated with at least one evangelical organization, a ministry he has also run with his wife, according to a tax filing reviewed by WIRED. (His wife could not be immediately reached for comment.) According to public records and archived websites reviewed by WIRED, the suspect served for a time as the president of Revoformation Ministries. A version of the ministry’s website captured in 2011 carries a biography in which he is said to have been ordained in 1993.

According to an archived website for the ministry reviewed by WIRED, the suspected shooter’s missionary work took him to Gaza and the West Bank during the Second Intifada, where, the website states, he “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer.”

A later version of the site was designed, according to an archived copy, by Israeli web design firm J-Town. Charlie Kalech, CEO of J-Town, tells WIRED that the alleged suspect was, in his recollection, “clearly religious and evangelistic. He had lots of ideas to make the world a better place.” The suspect, whom Kalech said was “nothing but nice to me,” commissioned J-Town, Kalech recalled, because they’re Jerusalem-based, and he said he wanted to support Israel.

Over the previous several years, according to LinkedIn posts, he was also the CEO of Red Lion Group, which according to an archived copy of its website had aspirations in the oil refining, logging, and glass production sectors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a 2023 sermon reviewed by WIRED and delivered by the alleged shooter in Matadi, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is on the border with Angola, he preached against abortion and called for different Christian churches to become “one.”

“They don’t know abortion is wrong, many churches,” he said. “They don’t have the gifts flowing. God gives the body gifts. To keep balance. Because when the body starts moving in the wrong direction, when they’re one, and accepting the gifts, God will raise an apostle or prophet to correct their course.”

”God is going to raise up apostles and prophets in America,” he added, “to correct His church.”



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Microsoft acknowledges "standard commercial relationship" with Israel Ministry of Defence, conducts internal review of AI services
Esports

Microsoft acknowledges “standard commercial relationship” with Israel Ministry of Defence, conducts internal review of AI services

by admin


Microsoft has conducted an internal review following concerns that its Azure and AI technologies were being used by the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD) “to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza”.

Earlier this year, an investigation conducted by the Associated Press claimed Microsoft’s commercial AI products were being used by the Israeli military.

The AP reported that Microsoft’s Azure technology was allegedly being used to “transcribe, translate, and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance” which could be “cross-checked with Israel’s in-house AI-enabled targeting systems”.

Microsoft has since acknowledged that it provides the IMOD “with software, professional services, Azure cloud and AI services”, as detailed in a statement published earlier this week.

Following interviews with “dozens of employees and assessing documents”, it came to the conclusion that there was “no evidence to date” that these technologies “have been used to target or harm people” in the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Microsoft clarified that it “works with countries and customers around the world, including the IMOD” and that “as with many governments around the world, [it] also work[s] with the Israeli government to protect its natural cyberspace against external threats.”

The firm emphasised that it had a “standard commercial relationship” with the IMOD. Microsoft did note that it “occasionally provides special access to [its] technologies beyond the terms of [its] commercial agreements”.

This included providing “emergency support to the Israeli government in the weeks following October 7, 2023, to help rescue hostages”.

“We provided this help with significant oversight on a limited basis, including approval of some requests and denial of others,” Microsoft said.

“We believe the company followed its principals on a considered and careful basis, to help save the lives of hostages while also honouring the privacy and rights of civilians in Gaza.”

Microsoft stated that the IMOD was “bound by Microsoft’s terms of services and conditions of use”, including the prohibition of the use of its cloud and AI services “in any manner that inflicts harm on individuals or organisations or affects individuals in any way that is prohibited by law.”

The company noted that militaries “typically use their own proprietary software or applications” for “surveillance and operations”, clarifying that it had “not created or provided such software or solutions to the IMOD”.

Microsoft said it was “important to acknowledge” that it does not have the ability to see “how customers use [its] software on their own servers and devices”.

Specifically, the firm said it did not “have visibility to the IMOD’s government cloud operations, which are supported through contracts with cloud providers other than Microsoft.”

“Microsoft has long defended the cybersecurity of the State of Israel and the people who live there,” the company’s statement concluded. “We similarly have long been committed to other nations and people across the Middle East.

“Our commitment to human rights guides how we engage in complex environments and how our technology is used. We share the profound concern over the loss of civilian life in both Israel and Gaza and have supported humanitarian assistance in both places.”

It continued: “The work we do everywhere in the world is informed and governed by our human rights commitments. Based on everything we currently know, we believe Microsoft has abided by these commitments in Israel and Gaza.”

As reported by our sister site Eurogamer, the No Azure for Apartheid petition has called for Microsoft to make the findings of its investigation public. The No Azure for Apartheid group is made up of current and former Microsoft employees.

Last month, the Palestinian BDS movement called for a boycott of Microsoft and Xbox in response to the company providing the IMOD with its services.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Microsoft acknowledges it supplied AI technology to Israel's Ministry of Defense, but "no evidence" it's been used to "target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza"
Game Reviews

Microsoft acknowledges it supplied AI technology to Israel’s Ministry of Defense, but “no evidence” it’s been used to “target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza”

by admin


Microsoft has acknowledged it has supplied AI technology to the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) but has stated it “found no evidence” the technology had been used to “target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza”.

Microsoft published a statement last week, where it admitted to providing IMOD with “software, professional services, Azure cloud services, and Azure AI services, including language translation”. It added: “As with many governments around the world, we also work with the Israeli government to protect its national cyberspace against external threats”.

The statement follows reports of Israel using AI in its conflict in Gaza, which has resulted in thousands of Palestinian deaths. As reported by The Guardian last year, the Israeli military employed its own AI system, called Lavender, with intelligence sources claiming Israeli military officials permitted large numbers of Palestinian civilians to be killed.

As Microsoft has now acknowledged, there were concerns from its employees and the public regarding the use of its Azure and AI technologies by the Israeli military. In response, it has conducted an internal review, alongside an external firm the company has omitted to name.

“Based on these reviews, including interviewing dozens of employees and assessing documents, we have found no evidence to date that Microsoft’s Azure and AI technologies have been used to target or harm people in the conflict in Gaza,” the company said.

“Our relationship with the IMOD is structured as a standard commercial relationship,” it continued. “Like all our customers, the IMOD’s use of our technology is bound by Microsoft’s terms of service and conditions of use, including our Acceptable Use Policy and our AI Code of Conduct. These require customers to implement core responsible AI practices – such as human oversight and access controls – and prohibit the use of our cloud and AI services in any manner that inflicts harm on individuals or organisations or affects individuals in any way that is prohibited by law.”

Microsoft noted it does occasionally provide special access to its technologies beyond the terms of its commercial agreements. It did this in the weeks following 7th October 2023 by providing limited emergency support to the Israeli government to help rescue hostages, but with “significant oversight and on a limited basis”.

It also noted militaries “typically use their own proprietary software or applications from defense-related providers for the types of surveillance and operations that have been the subject of our employees’ questions. Microsoft has not created or provided such software or solutions to the IMOD.”

The company also acknowledged it does not have visibility into how its customers use its technology on their own servers, typically the case for “on premise software”. As such, it does not have visibility to the IMOD’s government cloud operations.

“In sum, Microsoft has long defended the cybersecurity of the State of Israel and the people who live there,” the statement concludes.

“We similarly have long been committed to other nations and people across the Middle East. Our commitment to human rights guides how we engage in complex environments and how our technology is used. We share the profound concern over the loss of civilian life in both Israel and Gaza and have supported humanitarian assistance in both places. The work we do everywhere in the world is informed and governed by our Human Rights Commitments. Based on everything we currently know, we believe Microsoft has abided by these Commitments in Israel and Gaza.”

Last year, a group of current and former Microsoft employees launched the No Azure for Apartheid petition, which currently has 1527 signatures. The group has now called for Microsoft to make this investigation public.

“It’s very clear that their intention with this statement is not to actually address their worker concerns, but rather to make a PR stunt to whitewash their image that their relationship with the Israeli military has tarnished,” said former employee Hossam Nasr to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Nasr was fired in October for helping to organise an unauthorised vigil for Palestinians killed in Gaza at Microsoft’s headquarters.

As RockPaperShotgun reported, the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement called for a boycott of Microsoft products last month in protest against the company’s reported connections with the Israeli military. Back in February, the Associated Press published a report into the use of AI technology by the Israeli military, including Microsoft and OpenAI.

Similarly, the developer of indie role-player Tenderfoot Tactics removed the game from sale on Xbox in support of the boycott.



Source link

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Close