US News, Summarized

• Visa unveiled six AI-driven tools to automate charge dispute management for issuers, acquirers, and merchants, reducing manual reviews and fraud losses. • The tools, launched yesterday, aim to accelerate resolution processes across US payment networks. • This upgrade positions Visa at the forefront of AI-enhanced fintech security and efficiency.

• The FDA has awarded breakthrough device designation to more than 1,200 experimental devices, including AI innovations, since 2016. • Evolving FDA criteria reflect accelerating AI integration in US health tech approvals. • Program speeds market access for transformative devices addressing unmet medical needs.

• Linx Security secured $50 million in funding to expand its AI-driven identity security and governance platform amid rising identity-based threats. • The investment will accelerate product development, scale go-to-market efforts, and expand global operations for enterprise customers. • Enterprises face intensifying identity attacks, making AI-powered solutions critical for threat detection and compliance.

• A benchmark report surveying over 200 CISOs ranks AI as the top cybersecurity concern at 71%. • Security budgets in retail and hospitality sectors increased modestly from 0.57% to 0.75% of revenue. • AI-driven threats are ushering a new era of risk, prompting heightened investment in defenses.

• Luna Systems, founded at Dublin City University in 2020, has raised €1.5 million to develop AI-powered Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) for cycling and motorcycles. • The company's 2026 product launches include a dual AI camera system for e-bike and motorcycle manufacturers featuring collision warning, blindspot detection, and headway monitoring with smartphone integration. • The funding accelerates Luna Systems' transition to a full system provider, inspired by automotive ADAS technology adapted for two-wheeled transportation where fatality rates remain elevated.

Shop around, coast downhill, band together – drivers tell of how they’re dealing with the costliest gas in the USJack Nooney has pretty much made peace with the traffic since moving to Los Angeles five years ago, but recent soaring gas prices have certainly added another layer of insult to his daily commute. The musician and full-time grocery deli employee drives from his San Fernando Valley apartment to Santa Monica daily. While it’s just nine miles each way, with LA traffic that often equates to a whole gas-burning hour.Nooney, who makes $20/hour, says it’s become glaringly clear that fuel costs will eat up more of his already tight budget. Angelenos are now paying on average nearly $5.90 a gallon – and some stations are charging a shocking $8 a gallon. The outsized prices are directly related to the Iran war, which has created the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, according to the International Energy Agency. Continue reading...

Body that funds Alan Turing Institute says it should offer better strategy and more value for moneyThe UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding.The warning comes after the Guardian revealed the board of the Alan Turing Institute was reminded of its legal duties last month by the charity watchdog after a whistleblower complaint. Continue reading...

International law experts ‘seriously concerned’ about ‘strikes on schools, health centres and homes’ in contravention of Geneva conventionsDonald Trump, other senior US officials and their cheerleaders appear to be embracing attacks – and threats of attacks – on Iranian civilian infrastructure, which legal experts say appears to constitute serious war crimes under international law.In his rambling national address on Wednesday, the US president warned that if Iran did not reach an unspecified deal with him, US forces would “hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants” and “bring [Iran] back to the stone ages – where they belong”. Continue reading...

Research for TUC analyses link between job quality and economic inactivity, as UK youth unemployment risesYoung people in the UK are more likely to leave their job for health reasons and become economically inactive when they work in insecure, low-paid sectors, a study has found.Research carried out for the Trades Union Congress by the consultancy Timewise charts a connection between the jobs young people are most likely to do – in hospitality, retail and care, for example – and the proportion of people leaving work because of ill health. Continue reading...

Employers added 178,000 new jobs in March and unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, ahead of economists’ predictionsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US labor market picked up in March as employers showed signs of resilience amid the US-Israel war in Iran.After an extraordinary contraction in February, employers added 178,000 jobs last month, ahead of economists’ expectations of about 70,000. Continue reading...