OP’s News

This year, electricity use at Bitcoin mining data centres is likely to exceed that of all Iceland’s homes, according to Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson.

He said many potential customers were keen to get in on the act.

“If all these projects are realised, we won’t have enough energy for it,” he told the OP’S NEWS.

Mr Sigurbergsson’s calculations were first reported by the Associated Press.

Iceland has a small population, of around 340,000 people.

But in recent years it has seen a marked increase in the number of new data centres, often built by firms wishing to tout green credentials. Nearly 100% of energy in Iceland comes from renewable sources.

Bitcoin mining refers to the process of connecting computers to the global Bitcoin network and using them to verify transactions between users of the crypto-currency.

The computers that do this verification work receive small Bitcoin rewards for their trouble, making it a lucrative exercise, especially when done at a large scale.

“What we’re seeing now is… you can almost call it exponential growth, I think, in the [energy] consumption of data centres,” said Mr Sigurbergsson.

He added that he expects Bitcoin mining operations will use around 840 gigawatt hours of electricity to supply data centre computers and cooling systems, for example.

He estimated that the county’s homes, in contrast, use around 700 gigawatt hours every year.

“I don’t see it stopping quite yet,” added Mr Sigurbergsson, referring to data centre projects.

“I’m getting a lot of calls, visits from potential investors or companies wanting to build data centres in Iceland.”

He also said that there are so many proposed data centres that it wouldn’t be possible to supply all of them.

He added that his firm was mostly interested in dealing with companies that were willing to commit to long-term contracts of a few years or more.

If Iceland took on all of the proposed Bitcoin mining ventures, there simply wouldn’t be enough electricity to supply them all, he added.

The crypto-currency mining industry in Iceland was recently given a boost thanks to the launch of The Moonlite Project – a large data centre where various crypto-currencies, including Bitcoin, will be mined.

It is set to open later this year and will have an initial capacity of 15 megawatts, though this is expected to increase in the future.

Some have questioned how beneficial the rise of the crypto-currency mining will be to Iceland.

Smari McCarthy, a member of the Icelandic parliament for the Pirate Party, tweeted:“Cryptocurrency mining requires almost no staff, very little in capital investments, and mostly leaves no taxes either.

“The value to Iceland… is virtually zero.”

He also clarified previous reports that quoted him as saying he was keen to tax Bitcoin mining firms.

It has previously been reported that the electricity demand of the world’s total combined Bitcoin mining operations may now exceed the energy use of the Republic of Ireland, though this calculation may not be entirely accurate.

But as crypto-currencies rise in popularity, mining operations certainly continue to use more and more resources – recent analysis of European energy use in 2017 by campaign group Sandbag noted that Bitcoin mining was contributing to additional power demand in the technology sector.

Londonderry Model Primary School, Northland Road, BT48 7HJ

Ballougry Primary School, 30 Mullenan Road, BT48 9XN

Killen Primary School, 76 Learmore Road, BT81 7SD

Ashlea Primary School, 163 Stevenson Park, BT47 3QT

Gortin Primary School, 9 Plumbridge Road, BT79 8QB

St Canice’s Primary School, Feeny, 34 Glenedra Road, BT47 4TW

St Mary’s Primary School And Nursery Killyclogher, 122 Old Mountfield Road Killyclogher, BT79 7LT

St Eugene’s Primary School, Victoria Bridge, 58 Fyfin Road, BT82 9JH

St Eugene’s Primary School Tircur, Tircur, BT79 7ST

St Patrick’s Primary School Newtownstewart, Dublin Street, BT78 4AQ

Chapel Road Primary School, Knockdarra Park, BT47 2BD

St Eithne’s Primary School, 26 Springtown Road, BT48 0LT

Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir, 128 Lecky Road, BT48 6NP

Gaelscoil na gCrann, Ballinamullan, Omagh, BT79 0GZ

Omagh Integrated Primary School, Dergmoney Lane, BT78 1AE

Mr Miller died on Friday at the age of 36. He had been suffering from cancer.

He won 21 caps for the Republic of Ireland between 2004 and 2009.

Speaking at the funeral mass in his home village of Ovens, parish priest Fr Liam O hIci, said Mr Miller had “completed his life to the full”.

He started his career at Celtic in 2000, before moving to Manchester United four years later, also playing for Leeds, Sunderland, QPR and Hibernian.

Former team mates and managers at the funeral included Roy Keane, Martin O’Neill, Steve Staunton, John O’Shea and Kevin Doyle.

Fr O hIci paid tribute to Mr Miller’s fighting spirit: “Liam fought his illnesses with the same resilience he played, but it was not to be.”

“Liam used his talents to the full and in so short a time,” he added.

“And through that (Liam) gave so much joy to people and also glory to God who gave him those talents and pride to his family.”

Mourners heard a roll call of some of football’s greatest managers Mr Miller played for including Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish and Giovanni Trapattoni.

“As one might say, follow that,” Fr O hIci said.

News of Liam Miller’s death produced an outpouring of tributes over the weekend.

Celtic said they were “deeply saddened”, adding their “thoughts are with his family and friends”.

BBC Scotland pundit Tam McManus tweeted on Friday: “I’m afraid it is true that Liam Miller has sadly passed away today. Thoughts are with all his family and friends at this horrendous time. So sad.”

Mr Miller ended his career in the United States in 2016, having also played for three clubs in Australia and his hometown club Cork City before retiring.

Mr McManus added that “the esteem Miller was held in by supporters of every club he either played for or against” showed through in the tributes paid to him on Friday.

He himself described Mr Miller as “a wonderfully talented player but more importantly a lovely, humble person who never changed despite the wealth and success”.

Stiliyan Petrov, who played with Liam Miller at Celtic, said he was “deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my friend and old team-mate Liam Miller”.

Petrov, 38 and now retired, returned to football in 2016 having recovered from acute leukaemia, four years after being diagnosed with the disease.

He added: “My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. RIP my friend.”

Chris Sutton, who also played with Mr Miller at Celtic, tweeted: “Terribly sad news about Liam Miller. Taken too young. Thoughts go out to his family.”

Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham said “Our thoughts are with Liam’s family. Rest In Peace.”

Kevin Doyle, who also played with Liam Miller for the Republic of Ireland, tweeted: “Extremely sad news. Rest in peace Liam Miller, a gentleman.”

Manchester United said the club were “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death” of Miller and they extended their “condolences to his loved ones at this extremely difficult time”.

QPR and Leeds also said they were “deeply saddened”, adding: “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice was in place until noon on Monday.

Between eight and 15 centimetres of snow fell overnight.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said there had been continuous treatment of the road network with “multiple actions of salting and ploughing”.

“External resources have been deployed to provide additional assistance. In the worst affected areas driving conditions are difficult, but all roads on the scheduled network are passable with care and drivers should consider this when travelling,” a DfI spokesman said.

Minor delays are expected at City of Derry Airport and passengers are being advised to check flight information online.

Bus services across the region have also been affected by the icy conditions.

Ulsterbus said there had been no cancellations or diversions, but passengers should expect delays on Monday.

A Derry City and Strabane District Council said a number of services have been affected by the weather, including refuse collection.

“Refuse crews will work to reach areas which are safe to access, but in order to ensure the safety of both staff and the general public, will not enter areas which are untreated or where conditions are treacherous,” she said.

“We anticipate this may impact on services over the coming days and will provide regular updates on social media.”

The Met Office said further heavy hail and snow showers are expected.

The wintry conditions will be confined to higher ground on Tuesday.

He was airlifted to hospital in Belfast, where he later died.

The principal of Harryville Primary School, Lesley Meikle, told BBC News NI that staff are “in shock” at the news.

Kayden Fleck travelled more than 6 km (four miles) along the river from the point where he entered the water to the point where he was pulled out.

Head teacher, Ms Meikle, described Kayden and his twin brother, Jayden, as “real wee bubbly characters”.

“He was a lovely wee chatterbox,” she said.

“The boys just bounced around, just like typical wee boys.”

She said that a lasting memory will be of Kayden dressed up as a superhero, along with the rest of the class, to mark their last school day before the half-term holidays on Friday.

Ms Meikle said it was something “lovely” to remember of something “so tragic”.

The principal said support for grieving pupils and staff will be made available when the school reopens after the holidays.

“It’s hard to know what exactly we are going to do, but we will just get together,” said Lesley Meikle.

“We are a big school family and support in any manner we can.

“I don’t think it has really sunk home for everybody, and probably won’t until we see his empty desk.

“It is just a very difficult time.”

In one text, she said that three other young women who went to Paddy Jackson’s house had acted in a “slutty” manner.

In court on Monday, the woman said they had been sitting on the knees of some of the men in the house and taking photos.

Both Mr Jackson and Stuart Olding deny raping the woman.

She said she had used the word “slutty” in a text because she was angry at the time, having been raped the previous night.

It was also put to her, under cross-examination, that she could not remember everything that happened that night.

The 21-year-old agreed that parts of her memory were “fractured”, maybe due to the influence of alcohol.

She said: “Yes there are moments of the night that are fractured.”

But she added: “There were very clear, precise moments that I can remember.”

The woman at the centre of the case was 19 at the time of the alleged attack in June 2016. She is now 21.

She began giving evidence in the first week of the trial. Today is the seventh day on which she has given evidence.

Mr Jackson, 26, from Belfast’s Oakleigh Park, is charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault. He denies the charges.

Mr Olding, 24, from Ardenlee Street, Belfast, is also charged with rape. He too denies the charge.

Two other men have also been charged in connection with the case.

Blane McIlroy, 26, of Royal Lodge Road, Belfast, was in the house where the alleged rapes took place. He was later charged with exposure, which he denies.

Rory Harrison, 25, of Manse Road, Belfast was also in the house. He is charged with perverting the course of justice and withholding information. He denies the charge.

The 12-person jury has been told by Judge Patricia Smyth to wait until they hear all of the evidence in the case before coming to any final conclusions.

Jasmine Forrester died in hospital on Friday hours after being found stabbed at a house in Kent Road, Wolverhampton.

Delroy Forrester, of Lower Villiers Street in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, appeared at Walsall Magistrates’ Court earlier.

The 51-year-old was remanded in custody to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday.

The results of a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of Jasmine’s death, which took place at the weekend, have not yet been revealed by police.

Jasmine was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died on Friday afternoon with her family by her side.

Det Insp Ian Wilkins, of West Midlands Police, said: “We are continuing to support Jasmine’s family at this truly tragic time.”

Left-leg amputee Mark Fincham, 37, was racing for the True Heroes team, which gives injured military veterans motorsport experience, in August.

Rider Jim Walker said he hit his team-mate after Mr Fincham came off his bike at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire.

Coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of accidental death.

In a statement, Mr Walker described how Mr Fincham, from King’s Lynn in Norfolk, was thrown from his BMW 1000 superbike after the rear wheel began to slide.

“Mark landed in front of me. A second later I hit him, I had nowhere to go,” he said.

A video played in court showed both riders cannoning into foam barriers in front of spectators.

Paramedics immediately commenced CPR at the side of the track but Mr Fincham, who had his left leg amputated after a crash in 2007, was pronounced dead at the circuit’s medical centre 40 minutes later.

Coroner Mr Short said the initial crash was caused by “highsiding”, where the rear wheel began to slide and suddenly regained traction, throwing Mr Fincham off.

He said Mr Fincham died from “unsurvivable” internal injuries and ruled that the death was as a “combined result” of the crash and the subsequent collision with Mr Walker, who was uninjured.

Members of Mr Fincham’s family, who were at the inquest, made no comment after the hearing.

In a previous tribute, they said: “Our world has fallen apart, we as a family are completely and utterly heartbroken.

“We have lost a totally amazing son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and boyfriend, who lived his life to fullest no matter what it threw at him.”

Sir Lawrence Byford conducted an inquiry into the case and found detectives made “major errors of judgement” during the five years it took to apprehend Peter Sutcliffe.

The report led to changes to investigative procedures which were adopted across UK police forces.

The 92-year-old died at home in Pannal, North Yorkshire, on Saturday.

The 1982 Byford Report, which was only made public in 2006, found there was an “unexplained lull” in the Ripper’s activities between 1969 and 1975 and he could have been responsible for a further 13 offences.

Sutcliffe was given 20 life terms in 1981 for murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven more.

Born in Normanton, West Yorkshire, Sir Lawrence left school without any qualifications and became an apprentice electrician at a local pit.

After being drafted during World War Two, serving with the Royal Signals’ Special Communications Unit, he joined West Riding Constabulary in 1947 and advanced up the ranks to Chief Inspector of Constabulary.

In retirement, Sir Lawrence became president and chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and helped to end a policy where the club only selected cricketers born within the county.

A statement from the cricket club said this “opening up of the boundaries” led to Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar becoming Yorkshire’s first overseas player in 1992.

The married father-of-three has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Deividas Subacius sent a video to the grandparents of himself hitting the 18-month-old girl demanding £130 or he would continue to hurt the child.

Subacius, 29, of Badgeney Road, March, Cambridgeshire, was jailed for 17 years after admitting actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm and blackmail.

Police said the girl had no “significant lasting injuries”.

At Cambridge Crown Court on Friday, Judge Gareth Hawksworth extended Subacius’s sentence from 13 years to 17 because of the seriousness of the crimes.

Det Con Clemie Yaxley, from Cambridgeshire Police, said: “This is the worst case of physical abuse in a child that I have had to deal with in my entire career.

“Had it not been for the grandparents acting in a protective manner the outcome would have been very different.”

Subacius was arrested after the grandparents immediately alerted police, who seized his phone which contained the messages asking for £130.

An examination of the girl showed eight healed fractures, including to her femur, wrist, collarbone and ribs.