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Police ordered to give reasons in closed court for seizing phone of UK Hamas lawyer | Computer Weekly
North Wales Police has been ordered to disclose the reasons for stopping a UK lawyer who represented Hamas and seizing the contents of mobile phone to closed-door court hearing.
Justice Martin Chamberlain said that he did not accept that North Wales Police could simply assert there was a lawful basis for stopping and copying the contents of solicitor Fahad Ansari’s phone, without saying what the reason was.
But the judge refused to issue an order preventing a police-appointed independent legal counsel from rstarting a review of the contents of Fahad Ansari’s phone until Ansari could appeal to a judicial review.
The decision came after North Wales police gave an undertaking that the material would not be shared with police investigators until a decision in a further court hearing.
Solicitor Fahad Ansari, who represented Hamas in a legal challenge to overturn its status in the UK as a proscribed terrorist organisation, is seeking a judicial review after being stopped by police and his mobile phone seized.
Ansari, an Irish citizen, argues that he was unlawfully stopped, detained and questioned under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act after he drove off a ferry with his family at Holyhead after visiting relatives in Ireland in August.
The case is understood to be the first time police have used Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act – which allows police to stop people without grounds for suspicion – to seize and copy the contents of a phone belonging to a solicitor in the UK.
Ansari said that his phone contained material used for work, and that accessing it would breach the legal privilege of clients dating back 15 years.
Jude Bunting KC, told a court hearing today that North Wales Police, which leads counter-terrorism policing in Wales, had failed to provide any reason for stopping Ansari and seizing his mobile phone.
He told the court that Ansari’s phone contains communications with past and current clients, witnesses and legal counsel, stored on multiple applications and cloud-based services that were protected by legal privilege.
The phone contains details of at least 3,000 contacts, voice notes, memos, case papers, search terms, and meta data, the overwhelming proportion of which is likely to be legally protected.
Bunting said that Ansari had been targeted by police to obtain and access the contents of his mobile phone. A Schedule 7 stop cannot be justified on the grounds that Ansari’s clients were of interest to the police and the security service, he said.
The barrister said that it was not reasonably practicable for an independent counsel to ‘sift’ the legally privileged material on the phone, which made up 95% to 98% of the content, from non-privileged material that police were allowed to access.
North Wales Police has refused to explain how material can be sifted, apart from simply asserting “there are adequate safeguards in place,” he said.
He said it was not practicable to identify key words to carry out searches that would identify legally privileged material.
The police had given no explanation why it was necessary to search Ansari’s mobile phone, let alone why it was necessary to search it now, Bunting told the court.
“There is a real risk that legally privileged material will be provided to the examining team. If this happens, the damage to the claimant will be irreparable,” Bunting wrote in legal submissions.
Georgina Wolfe, representing North Wales Police, said that there was no evidence to support the assertion that Ansari had been stopped and his mobile phone seized can copied, because of the clients he represented.
She argued that there was an effective long-established procedure to sift legally privileged material from seized devices, under the Schedule 7 code of practice.
The court heard that the chief constable of North Wales Police had appointed an independent KC to review material on Ansari’s phone. “The chief constable has no intention of reviewing or sharing any legally privileged material,” said Wolfe.
In written submissions, Wolfe said that if any material was found that appeared to suggest Ansari was a terrorist, or requires further action by law enforcement, that material may be lawfully shared with other law enforcement agencies.
Wolfe told the court that North Wales police accepted that Ansari acting as legal representative of Hamas would not be a proper basis for stopping him under Schedule 7.
She told the court that there was a proper reason for stopping him but she was not in a position to share it in open court.
The judge, Justice Martin Chamberlain, said that he did not accept that the chief constable of North Wales Police “could simply assert there was a proper basis of that search without saying what the reason was”.
He rejected arguments from Bunting to allow an interim injunction to prevent the contents of the phone being examined until a judicial review could consider the lawfulness of the police decision to stop Ansari under Schedule 7.
“There was a strong public interest in allowing the chief constable to pursue an investigation into whether or not the claimant was involved in terrorism,” he said.
Wolfe had offered an undertaking that the independent counsel would not inform the chief constable, “or anybody else” of the contents of the phone.
The judge said he accepted that this would involve some loss of confidentiality for Ansari, but said there was no material risk of material from his phone being communicated to the police.
The court will make a ruling to hear an explanation from North Wales Police for the reasons for stopping Ansari in a closed hearing before a special advocate, later this month.
The judge suggested that the special advocate could make an argument for a ‘gist’ of the reasons for the stop to be made public if that was appropriate.
Speaking before the hearing, Ansari said: “Even the police agree that my phone contains sensitive, privileged information. All I am asking the court on Monday is to make sure this material stays protected until a judge rules on whether the police acted lawfully in detaining me and seizing it.”
The campaigning group, Cage, said Schedule 7 was an “exploitative power”. Head of public advocacy Anas Mustapha, said:“Courts have repeatedly failed to claw back citizens’ rights undermined by Schedule 7. In this case, with the stakes so high, the judges ought to do more to defend civil liberties and the right to practice law without state harassment.”
Solar energy is now so cost-effective that, in the sunniest countries, it costs as little as £0.02 to produce one unit of power, making it cheaper than electricity generated from coal, gas or wind, according to a new study from the University of Surrey.
In a study accepted for publication in Energy and Environment Materials, researchers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) argue that solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is now the key driver of the world’s transition to clean, renewable power.
Professor Ravi Silva, co-author of the study and Director of the ATI at the University of Surrey, said, “Even here in the U.K., a country that sits 50 degrees north of the equator, solar is the cheapest option for large-scale energy generation.
“Globally, the total amount of solar power installed passed 1.5 terawatts in 2024—twice as much as in 2020 and enough to power hundreds of millions of homes. Simply put, this technology is no longer a moonshot prospect but a foundational part of the resilient, low-carbon energy future that we all want to bring to reality.”
The research team also found that the price of lithium-ion batteries has fallen by 89% since 2010, making solar-plus-storage systems as cost-effective as gas power plants. These hybrid setups, which combine solar panels with batteries, are now standard in many regions and allow solar energy to be stored and released when needed, turning it into a more reliable, dispatchable source of power that helps balance grid demand.
Despite many reasons to be optimistic, the ATI research team points to several challenges—particularly connecting large amounts of solar power to existing electricity networks. In some regions, such as California and China, high solar generation has led to grid congestion and wasted energy when supply exceeds demand.
Dr. Ehsan Rezaee, co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, commented, “Connecting growing levels of solar power to electricity networks is now one of the biggest challenges. Smart grids, artificial intelligence forecasting and stronger links between regions will be vital to keep power systems stable as renewable energy use rises.”
Professor Silva added, “With the integration of energy storage and smart grid technologies, solar is now capable of delivering reliable, affordable and clean power at scale. Innovations in materials such as perovskite solar cells could boost energy output by up to 50% without increasing land use.
“However, progress will depend on consistent, long-term policy support. Initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the US, the EU’s REPowerEU plan and India’s Production Linked Incentive scheme show how clear direction can drive investment and innovation. Sustained commitment and international collaboration will be essential if we are to accelerate the world’s transition to a clean and reliable energy system.”
More information:
Ehsan Rezaee et al, Solar Energy in 2025: Global Deployment, Cost Trends, and the Role of Energy Storage in Enabling a Resilient Smart Energy Infrastructure (2025). DOI: 10.22541/au.175647950.09188768/v1
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Solar energy is now the world’s cheapest source of power, study finds (2025, October 6)
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Performance was consistently good throughout my home, with some of the fastest speeds I have recorded at close and medium range. My top pick, the Orbi 770 Series, outperformed the BE67 in some scenarios. By default, the 6-GHz band is a separate SSID, appended _6GHz, and MLO is switched off. I joined with my Pixel 10 Pro XL, and after multiple speed tests at close range (up to 8 feet away), I generally got download speeds around 100 Mbps faster than on the 5-GHz band, but this dropped sharply with distance. The range of 6 GHz is significantly shorter, and just one room over, the signal strength was visibly weaker than that of 5 GHz. If you want to take advantage of 6 GHz for wireless backhaul, you can’t have the routers too far apart or with too many obstacles, or you will have dead zones. I don’t think the coverage is as wide as TP-Link suggests, though much depends on your home; the Orbi 770 offered slightly better range for me.
Disappointingly, the free tier of HomeShield offers only limited security, and Security+ costs $5 a month or $36 a year for web and intrusion protection with notifications and reports, while Total Security costs $70 a year for the first year ($130 per year after) and adds antivirus for devices, VPN service, and a password manager. Advanced Parental Controls require a second subscription costing $3 a month or $18 a year for time limits, downtime scheduling, rewards, app time limits, safe search, insights, and reports. Quality of Service allows you to prioritize specific devices and set bandwidth allowances. There is also a mixed-mode security option for WPA2 and WPA3. You can also split the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands and create guest or IoT networks.
The Deco app and web interface are solid but fairly limited in terms of options. The app was able to identify many of the devices on my network, but this required me to share data with a third party. There is now an option to run a speed test on the router to see what your ISP delivers, which is handy. Ultimately, this three-pack gave me reliable and speedy internet throughout my home and garden.
Deco App via Simon Hill
Deco App via Simon Hill
Deco App via Simon Hill
TP-Link does have far too many similar mesh systems, though, and I run through some of the alternatives below. Performance and price-wise, the BE67 falls between the BE63 and the flagship BE85, and I think it’s the sweet spot in TP-Link’s line-up for most people. The Deco BE68 is the same system as the BE67, but exclusive to Best Buy.
Best Wi-Fi 6 Mesh
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill
WIRED
- Excellent Wi-Fi 6 performance
- Generous ports
- Subscription-free security software and parental controls
TIRED
- Setup and configuration can be fiddly
- Firmware sometimes buggy
The combination of speedy performance, impressive range, and lots of extra features earns the Asus ZenWiFi XT8 the title of best Wi-Fi 6 mesh system. (Even if it’s a bit of a mouthful.) I tested the two-pack, and the straightforward setup through the mobile app took minutes, though you have to keep the node close by during setup and then move it. This is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 system with one 2.4-GHz band and two 5-GHz bands (one is reserved for wireless backhaul). Available in black or white, these units are fairly large, but they’re unobtrusive and look classy, with side vents to help dissipate heat. Each router offers three gigabit Ethernet ports, which is generous, as well as a 2.5 gigabit WAN port and a USB 3.1 port.
At short, medium, or long range, the XT8 was consistently one of the fastest systems I tested, and speeds never dropped. The inclusion of AiProtection Pro, which adds anti-malware and parental controls powered by Trend Micro, is very welcome, especially since it doesn’t require a subscription, unlike most competitors. Just remember that using AiProtection means sharing your data with Trend Micro, so you might want to read its privacy policy. I like the parental controls, too. You can set up and reuse profiles, schedule bedtimes, filter by age group, and review activity. The Quality of Service (QoS) option lets you prioritize activities like working from home, gaming, or streaming, and you can limit bandwidth for specific devices.
Semiconductor maker AMD will supply its chips to artificial intelligence company OpenAI as part of an agreement to team up on building artificial intelligence infrastructure, the companies said Monday.
OpenAI will also get the option to buy as much as a 10% stake in AMD, according to a joint statement announcing the deal. It’s the latest deal for the ChatGPT maker as it races to beef up its AI computing resources.
Under the terms of the deal, OpenAI will buy the latest version of the company’s high performance graphics chips, the Instinct MI450, which is expected to debut next year.
The agreement calls for supplying 6 gigawatts of computing power for OpenAI’s “next generation” AI infrastructure, with the first batch of chips worth 1 gigawatt to be deployed in the second half of 2026.
AMD also issued OpenAI with a warrant allowing the AI company to buy up to 160 million shares of AMD’s common stock. That amounts to about 10% of company based on AMD’s 1.6 billion outstanding shares. The warrant will vest based on two milestones tied to the amount of computing power deployed, as well as unspecified “share-price targets.”
Shares of AMD spiked 25% before the opening bell Monday. Shares of Nvidia, which have repeatedly set new record-highs this year, fell slightly.
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This July 13, 2010, file photo, shows an entrance to the Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File
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Sam Altman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OpenAI, testifies before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 8, 2025. Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file
“This partnership is a major step in building the compute capacity needed to realize AI’s full potential,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, said in a news release. “AMD’s leadership in high-performance chips will enable us to accelerate progress and bring the benefits of advanced AI to everyone faster.”
The deal is a boost for Santa Clara, Calif.-based AMD, which has been left behind by rival Nvidia. But it also hints at OpenAI’s desire to diversify its supply chain away from Nvidia’s dominance. The AI boom has fuelled demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing chips, sending its shares soaring and making it the world’s most valuable company.
Last month, OpenAI and Nvidia announced a $100 billion partnership that will add at least 10 gigawatts of data center computing power.
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Citation:
OpenAI and chipmaker AMD sign chip supply partnership for AI infrastructure (2025, October 6)
retrieved 6 October 2025
from https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-openai-chipmaker-amd-chip-partnership.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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