The UK government will contribute £10.5 million in cash to prepare for new EU border checks this autumn.

The Port of Dover, Eurotunnel in Folkestone, and Eurostar at St Pancras will also receive financial assistance to help cut traveler queues.

Travellers from the UK and other non-EU nations will be required to pass through a new digital border system known as the Entry/Exit System (EES), which is being implemented by the EU, beginning this autumn.

This will entail getting your photo and fingerprints taken.

The government will spend money on supplying ports with the technology they need to execute these checks.

What is the Entry/Exit System (EES) and How Will It Affect Travellers?

The plan applies to UK and other non-EU nationals who use the EES to enter a European country for a short visit.

To proceed with their travel, they must register fingerprints and a photo with their passport details.

Every time such travellers enter or exit a participating European country, it will be documented. Once they have provided their fingerprints and information, the registration will be valid for three years.

During that time, it must be validated whenever someone enters the border. This will replace passport stamping.

EES checks are usually performed when you arrive at an international airport, but if you’re travelling via the Port of Dover or an international train, the checks will be performed in the UK.

The technology that ports will utilise to collect biometric data from visitors has yet to be confirmed.

It was previously hypothesised that a device comparable to an iPad may be used to capture fingerprints.

The EES was scheduled to commence in 2022, however it has encountered numerous difficulties.

It was previously set for May 2023, then the end of 2023, and is now expected to go into effect in November 2024.

Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, stated that the government was evaluating the EES plans to ensure that “registration can be smooth and queue times kept to a minimum”.

“Nobody wants to see excessive queues at our ports, which is why we’re providing this funding to ensure our borders are as prepared as possible for the upcoming change – despite EES being an EU initiative,” she wrote.

Eurostar’s chief safety and stations officer, Simon Lejeune, stated that the government has approved an improvement of its technology and infrastructure to meet the standards.

“Eurostar will be fully prepared and compliant by November, ensuring a smooth transition for all our passengers,” a spokesperson said.

Emma Ward, chief operations officer at the Port of Dover, stated that the port was doing everything it could to be “ready with the facilities that will be used by French border officials operating the new system”.

How Will the £10.5 Million Be Spent?

Each port will receive £3.5 million in financing, the first of its kind to prevent EES-related delays.

Dover will use the government funds to help pay for the filling of a marina, which will allow additional room for bus passengers to be processed.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel will use their share to pay for technology and employee training. Eurotunnel will add more kiosks as needed.

All three have already spent tens of millions of pounds of their own money to prepare for the new system.

Getlink, which manages the Eurotunnel, began work two years ago to adapt to EES modifications.

“The focus has always been on customer satisfaction, delivering the most competitive border crossing time and experience for non-EU travellers,” Yann Leriche, Getlink’s CEO, stated.

Source: BBC

A young child inadvertently shattered a 3,500-year-old jar into fragments while visiting a museum in Israel.

According to the Hecht Museum in Haifa, the crockery dates back to the Bronze Age, which lasted between 2200 and 1500 BC, and is a remarkable object due to its preservation.

It had been displayed near the museum’s entrance without glass because the museum feels there is a “special charm” in exhibiting archaeological artefacts “without obstructions”.

The boy’s father, Alex, stated that his son “pulled the jar slightly” because he was “curious about what was inside,” which caused it to fall.

Alex also stated that he was “shocked” to discover his son close to the busted jar and initially assumed “it wasn’t my child that did it.”

Alex told the BBC that after calming the kid down, he spoke with the security guard.

The Hecht Museum said the youngster, who is four or five years old, has been welcomed back to the exhibition with his family for an organised tour following the event a few days ago.

“There are instances where display items are intentionally damaged, and such cases are treated with great severity, including involving the police,” museum spokesperson Lihi Laszlo told the BBC.

“In this case, however, it was not the case. The jar was accidently damaged by a little child while visiting the museum, and the response will be appropriate.”

A conservation specialist has also been hired to restore the jar, which will be returned to its original location “in a short time”.

The boy’s father, Alex, said they will be “relieved” to see the jar restored, but they are “sorry” since “it will no longer be the same item”.

According to the museum, “whenever possible, items are displayed without barriers or glass walls”.

And, “despite the rare incident,” the museum stated that it plans to maintain this tradition.

The jar was most likely used to hold local commodities like wine and olive oil.

It predates the Biblical Kings David and Solomon and is unique to the Canaan region on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

Similar pottery found during archaeological excavation is normally shattered or fragmentary, thus this whole jar was “an impressive find” when it was discovered, according to the museum.

The Hecht Museum, located on the grounds of the University of Haifa in northern Israel, houses archaeological and artistic collections.

Source: BBC

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms (META.O), stated that the Biden administration pressed the company to “censor” COVID-19 content during the pandemic. This appears to allude to White House requests to remove misinformation concerning the coronavirus and immunisations.

In a letter dated August 26, Mark Zuckerberg informed the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that he regretted not speaking up sooner about this pressure, as well as other judgements he had made as the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp over the removal of specific information.

In July 2021, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, stated that social media platforms such as Facebook “are killing people” by permitting misinformation regarding coronavirus vaccines to be shared.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy have openly stated that the company’s failure to combat misinformation is hindering efforts to save lives during the outbreak.

Facebook announced at the time that it was taking “aggressive steps” to combat such misinformation. Despite the spread of vaccine-related misinformation on social media, the Biden administration eventually relaxed its criticism.

In a letter to the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Mark Zuckerberg stated that his firm was “pressured” into “censoring” information and that it would respond if similar demands were made again.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Letter to House Judiciary Committee

“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humour and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,”Mark Zuckerberg wrote in the letter, which the Judiciary Committee posted on its Facebook page.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret we were not more outspoken about it,” he said. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

The White House issued a statement encouraging reasonable efforts to preserve public health and safety in the face of a devastating epidemic.

“Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”

Mark Zuckerberg has recently attempted to cater to conservative fans, praising Republican nominee Donald Trump’s response to an assassination attempt as “badass” and appearing on right-wing podcasts. Representative Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is a long-time Trump supporter.

In a Facebook post, the Judiciary Committee described the letter as a “big win for free speech” and stated that Mark Zuckerberg agreed that “Facebook censored Americans”.

In the letter, Zuckerberg also stated that he will not contribute to electoral infrastructure in this year’s presidential election in order to “not play a role one way or another” in the November vote.

During the 2020 pandemic, the billionaire contributed $400 million to support election infrastructure through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropic venture with his wife. However, some groups criticised the move as partisan and sued.