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THIS "GHOST GUN" MACHINE NOW MAKES UNTRACEABLE METAL HANDGUNS http://bit.ly/2hILxLi

FOR THE PAST five years, Cody Wilson has applied every possible advance in digital manufacturing technology to the mission of undermining government attempts at gun control. First he created the world's first 3-D printed gun, a deadly plastic weapon anyone could print at home with a download and a few clicks. Then he started selling a computer-controlled milling machine designed to let anyone automatically carve out the body of an untraceable AR-15 from a semifinished chunk of aluminum, upgrading his provocations from plastic to metal. Now his latest advance in home firearm fabrication allows anyone to make an object designed to defy the most basic essence of gun control: A concealable, untraceable, and entirely unregulated metal handgun.

On Sunday, Wilson's gun rights advocacy group, Defense Distributed, announced a new release of software for his computer-controlled milling machine known as the Ghost Gunner. The new code allows the 1-foot-cubed tabletop machine—which uses a spinning bit to carve three-dimensional shapes with minute precision—to not only produce untraceable bodies of AR-15s but to carve out the aluminum frame of an M1911 handgun, the popular class of semiautomatic pistols that includes the Colt 45 and similar weapons. Wilson says he plans to follow up soon with software for producing regulation-free Glocks and other handgun models to follow.

Wilson's goal now, he says, is to do for small arms what Defense Distributed did for AR-15s when it first released the $1,500 Ghost Gunner milling machine exactly three years ago to the day: Give people the ability to make a lethal weapon at home with no regulation whatsoever.

The latest model of the milling machine can finish a handgun's frame in about an hour, with minimal human interaction. And that frame is the only regulated part of the pistol: Under current US law, every other part of the gun, from its barrel to its slide to its tiny firing pin, can be ordered online with no questions asked. Making that one element at home means the entire process of assembling a working weapon requires no identification, no background check, no waiting period, not even a serial number that would allow the Department of Justice to track the gun's existence.

With little more than a software file, Defense Distributed has made its anarchic, DIY path to gun ownership available for a class of weapon that's both more concealable and used far more often in violent crimes than the large, semiautomatic rifles its gunmaking machine produced in the past. "The whole cypherpunk attitude of total gun privacy is more coherent in this smaller package," says Wilson, referring to the group whose first libertarian adherents in the 1990s advocated gun rights, encryption, and other technologies designed to hamstring government surveillance. "Now you can have a private 1911 or a private Glock, and it’s at the level of automated manufacturing."

A More Violent Market

Of course, Wilson's machine could also help customers who otherwise wouldn't legally be able to obtain a gun—minors, people with a mental disorder, or those with a criminal record—obtain one. California, in fact, already outlawed so-called "ghost guns"—homemade firearms without serial numbers—last summer. But no such law exists at the federal level, allowing anyone to bypass virtually all gun control laws if they make a gun at home and don't sell it or give it away.

"The ghost gun threat is real and growing," says Kevin De Leon, the California state senator who introduced the statewide ghost gun ban. "Are they being made by gang members? Are they being manufactured to sell to individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms? Technologies that make it possible for the general public to manufacture guns raise serious questions."

It's not clear in just how many cases ghost guns have been used for actual violence. In 2013, a mentally ill 23-year-old man named John Zawahiri used one to kill five people in a Santa Monica shooting spree. But by making it easier to create a homemade handgun, Defense Distributed is bringing the ability to circumvent gun control to a class of weapon that's used far more often in violent crime—while semiautomatic rifles are often used in high-profile mass shootings, they still account for just a single-digit percentage of total gun deaths.

In a phone call earlier this year, Wilson himself admitted that the notion of updating the Ghost Gunner for homemade handguns worried him too—in part because the increased threat of violence could inspire new laws prohibiting it. "We're going to see orders from Chicago we haven’t seen before," he said, referring to Chicago's high rate of gang-related gun crime. "Even I’m a little scared."

"Like Building a Model Ship"

Wilson's update for Ghost Gunner will hardly be the first time Americans will be able to make industrial-quality handguns at home. Gun part vendors already sell so-called 80 percent frames, unfinished aluminum parts that lack just a few slots and cavities and thus don't legally qualify as frames until those parts are manually drilled or milled out. But the Ghost Gunner's update automates that finicky process and makes it vastly easier, even for gun enthusiasts with practically no gunsmithing skills. (I have none myself, and I used it two years ago to build an AR-15 in WIRED's office.)

Of the 4,000 Ghost Gunners that Defense Distributed has already sold, more than 1,000 are the most recent model, which Wilson says is precise enough to let his customers start making 1911 frames immediately. They do need special jigs necessary to hold the 1911 frame in place inside the machine (which can be ordered online or 3-D printed), a few specific milling bits specific to the handgun design, and the software, which Defense Distributed will send to customers on a USB stick. (In 2013 the State Department forbid Defense Distributed from posting gun model files online, a decision the group is still fighting in a lawsuit.)

Wilson argues that despite the dangers of helping people produce untraceable handguns, assembling a 1911 ghost gun from parts won't be as easy as building an untraceable AR-15, as the Ghost Gunner was designed to make possible in the past. "If the AR is like Legos, the 1911 is like a model ship," he says. "If you’re a gangster at home trying to build one, you’ve bought a problem for yourself more than you’ve solved one."

"Universal Access to Arms"

State senator De Leon nonetheless warns that it's another sign of gunmaking technology’s progress. And he argues that it's well past time the federal government passed a law similar to the one he helped bring to California, where DIY gunmakers now must apply for a serial number and etch it into the frame of any gun they make. "It’s always going to be very difficult to curtail the advancement of technology," says De Leon. "But this is not a technology issue. This is a leadership issue, and it’s incumbent on policy makers to understand what the consequences are for our communities."

An M1911 handgun made with the Ghost Gunner. It has no serial number.DEFENSE DISTRIBUTED

The current Republican president and Congress, of course, have practically zero interest in any new gun control law. But Wilson's mission has never been to merely exploit loopholes in America's existing gun control regime. As a radical libertarian, he's sought to demonstrate that technology is rendering all government obsolete. "This is a way to jab at the bleeding hearts of these total statists," Wilson told WIRED when the Ghost Gunner first launched in 2014. "It's about humiliating the power that wants to humiliate you."

Since then, Wilson's provocations have evolved in other directions too: Earlier this year he launched Hatreon, a crowdfunding site that welcomes white supremacists or anyone else who's been kicked off other fundraising platforms, including neo-Nazis like Richard Spencer and Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin. Wilson insists the project is a trolly, reactionary response to calls to ban hate speech online, and that he's not a member of the alt-right—just a "free speech extremist."

But gun rights—and using DIY manufacturing technologies to expand them—remains Wilson's central ideological project, he says. And even if his latest innovation risks contributing to actual criminal violence, he has no plans to stop. "Of course it’s worth the risk. The right is protected because it can be abused, not because there are no consequences," he says. "There is going to be universal access to arms. Even if I'm the only one working on it, it's going to happen."

S&P puts Syngenta at risk of downgrade after China funding questioned

Standard & Poor’s has placed Syngenta’s credit rating on “CreditWatch negative” due to confusion over its support from the Chinese state, putting the Swiss seeds company’s investment grade rating under threat.

Syngenta last week postponed a $7bn bond sale – intended to refinance bridge loans backing the group’s $44bn takeover by ChemChina – as nervous investors questioned its ability to settle class action litigation while maintaining an investment grade rating.

Syngenta carried strong single A credit ratings before ChemChina’s acquisition, but S&P now pegs the company at BBB-, the lowest rung of investment grade.

The credit rating agency said in a report earlier this year that ChemChina had indicated that both it and China’s state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) “remain committed” to maintaining this rating “under all scenarios”. Crucially, S&P said that Sasac would need to provide support to mitigate litigation liabilities with equity, to ensure there is “no additional debt imposed on Syngenta or ChemChina”.

Xiao Yaqing, head of the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac), told the Financial Times last week that he was not aware of S&P’s specific comments, but he was confident ChemChina and Syngenta could handle the matter without a guarantee from Sasac.

“Companies have to resolve these cases on their own,” he said.

S&P said that the news “calls into question the certainty of support that, if needed, could be extended to meet timely payments of Syngenta’s debt obligations, and the consistency of the messages provided to S&P Global Ratings and the investor community”.

The ratings agency said that it plans to resolve the issue “as soon as practically possible” following a discussion with ChemChina to clarify the potential level of support it will offer Syngenta.

“We note that although ChemChina confirmed to us that it remains committed to supporting Syngenta and maintaining the investment-grade rating, it has not provided the investor community with an explicit and transparent statement of support,” the report from S&P added.

“In our view, the company’s communication with different stakeholders has been inconsistent.”

Win brings number of guide’s top tier restaurants to five in UK and Ireland

Mitsuhiro Araki, who moved to London three years ago to open a nine-seat recreation of a Tokyo sushi counter, has won three Michelin stars.

The Araki, in New Burlington Street, Mayfair, offers a £300 set menu from a 200-year-old slab of cypress and is now one of five restaurants in the UK and Ireland with three stars. The “sushi is now simply sublime,” said Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin guides.

One tier down, Claude Bosi at Bibendum, which resides — poetically — inside the Michelin House, London, was the only restaurant this year to gain two stars. In this year’s edition, there are just 20 restaurants in possession of two stars.

Mr Bosi’s gratin of tripe was last month praised by Tim Hayward in the Financial Times: “Will this . . . please Michelin, the arbiters by whom Bosi measures himself? That remains to be seen, but if they can’t understand that this one dish, full of story, love, skill and passion, represents everything that good cooking is about, you have to wonder if their opinion is really worth anything at all.”

Phil Howard and Michael Caines, both Michelin-starred in previous years, won a star for their new restaurants, Elystan Street and Lympstone Manor respectively.

In total, Michelin has awarded one star to 150 restaurants this year, 17 of which are new. In a reflection of the industry, all of the new winners have a male head chef.

The Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna becomes Ireland’s first Michelin-starred pub. On the Isle of Sky in Scotland, Michael Smith gains a star for Loch Bay, a converted crofter’s house.

Kinloch Lodge, also on Skye, lost its star. It was one of 13 restaurants to lose their rating, including Dabbous in London, which closed.

In Bristol, Paco Tapas was awarded one star. On receiving it, head chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias said: “I’m shaking, it’s mental.” His tapas bar is named after his father, who wept openly on stage.

The Coach, chef Tom Kerridge’s Marlow pub — an informal establishment where guests can eat well and watch the football — also gained a star.

In London, two Indian restaurants have been recognised with stars, Jamavar in Mayfair and Vineet Bhatia in Chelsea. A. Wong also received a star for his contemporary Cantonese cuisine.

Win brings number of guide’s top tier restaurants to five in UK and Ireland

Mitsuhiro Araki, who moved to London three years ago to open a nine-seat recreation of a Tokyo sushi counter, has won three Michelin stars.

The Araki, in New Burlington Street, Mayfair, offers a £300 set menu from a 200-year-old slab of cypress and is now one of five restaurants in the UK and Ireland with three stars. The “sushi is now simply sublime,” said Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin guides.

One tier down, Claude Bosi at Bibendum, which resides — poetically — inside the Michelin House, London, was the only restaurant this year to gain two stars. In this year’s edition, there are just 20 restaurants in possession of two stars.

Mr Bosi’s gratin of tripe was last month praised by Tim Hayward in the Financial Times: “Will this . . . please Michelin, the arbiters by whom Bosi measures himself? That remains to be seen, but if they can’t understand that this one dish, full of story, love, skill and passion, represents everything that good cooking is about, you have to wonder if their opinion is really worth anything at all.”

Phil Howard and Michael Caines, both Michelin-starred in previous years, won a star for their new restaurants, Elystan Street and Lympstone Manor respectively.

In total, Michelin has awarded one star to 150 restaurants this year, 17 of which are new. In a reflection of the industry, all of the new winners have a male head chef.

The Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna becomes Ireland’s first Michelin-starred pub. On the Isle of Sky in Scotland, Michael Smith gains a star for Loch Bay, a converted crofter’s house.

Kinloch Lodge, also on Skye, lost its star. It was one of 13 restaurants to lose their rating, including Dabbous in London, which closed.

In Bristol, Paco Tapas was awarded one star. On receiving it, head chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias said: “I’m shaking, it’s mental.” His tapas bar is named after his father, who wept openly on stage.

The Coach, chef Tom Kerridge’s Marlow pub — an informal establishment where guests can eat well and watch the football — also gained a star.

In London, two Indian restaurants have been recognised with stars, Jamavar in Mayfair and Vineet Bhatia in Chelsea. A. Wong also received a star for his contemporary Cantonese cuisine.

Hurricanes, Earthquakes Rack Up Huge Bill for Insurers

The cost of recent natural disasters could hit $100 billion

One of the most expensive years for natural disasters on record is likely to cause widespread losses for insurance firms in upcoming quarterly earnings and shrink their capital cushions.

The confluence of three major Atlantic hurricanes—Harvey, Irma and Maria—and two Mexican earthquakes in recent weeks could cost the global insurance industry more than $100 billion, according to estimates. Of that natural-disaster damage bill, a large amount is expected to be borne by reinsurance companies, which provide insurance to insurers.

But in the long term, the string of natural disasters could help insurers on one front if the damage costs run that high. After years of falling prices, executives say reinsurers and commercial insurers could charge customers more next time their property policies come up for renewal.

“You can’t suffer over $100 billion of loss and not have an effect” on pricing, said Jean-Paul Conoscente, chief executive of reinsurer Scor U.S. Corp., a division of Scor SE , at an industry conference Thursday. The reinsurance industry collects roughly $150 billion in premiums a year, he said, and faces the prospect of losing that full amount.

The extent of damage is still unclear, especially in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria earlier this month. Two of the island’s largest insurers, Universal Group Inc. and Mapfre SA, said they are helping employees obtain such things as batteries, generators, and even food, while also handling incoming claims. Millions of Puerto Ricans currently lack many basic necessities including electricity and cellphone connectivity to file insurance claims.

Early estimates put Maria’s insured losses within a wide range, between $15 billion and $85 billion. Harvey, which hit Texas in August, is expected to cost at least $10 billion for private-sector insurers, and Irma’s destruction in Florida and the Caribbean is estimated to cost at least $32 billion. The two Mexican earthquakes could cost more than $1 billion each. These losses come after damage from hailstorms and tornadoes in the first half of the year.

U.S. property and casualty insurers and global reinsurers entered the 2017 hurricane season with a record $1.3 trillion in claims-paying capacity.

Reinsurance firms have lowered property-catastrophe prices by about 50% in the last five years, according to Morgan Stanley . Pension funds and others have entered the industry, increasing the supply of available capital. At the same time, the lack of major natural disasters in the U.S. has reduced property-insurance payouts.

Some Wall Street analysts have said that losses of $100 billion or more would be needed to rid the industry of excess capital and stop reinsurance prices from falling further. After the hurricanes, it looks increasingly like that day has arrived.

The global insurance and reinsurance industry’s worst year ever was 2011, when companies paid out $137 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars following a tsunami in Japan, earthquakes in New Zealand, floods in Thailand and tornadoes in the U.S., according to Barclays .

Even if this year’s insured damage isn’t enough to break a record, 2017 will go in the history books, industry executives said. The clustering of the events within about a month means that insurance adjusters can’t always get where they are needed quickly, exacerbating the damage in some cases. And the extent of destruction in Puerto Rico surprised many insurers, executives said.

If those investors face a large loss, they might pull out of the market or demand higher returns on new transactions, pushing prices up, analysts say. In addition, some of their money is tied up while claims are being handled, reducing the capital available for contract renewals in January.

“A lot of alternative capital providers are going to take big losses,” said Larry Greenberg, analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. “How much pain they feel…will become a really big driver in what ultimately happens in the reinsurance space and even the primary space.”

Demand for reinsurance could also rise as insurers try to limit their future losses.

“Everyone’s going to take a look at, ‘What if Irma was a [Category] 5 through Miami [instead of making landfall in western Florida]? Would we have showed up the next day and turned the lights on?’” said Kathleen Reardon, chief executive of reinsurer Hamilton Re, at Thursday’s industry event. “Maybe it’s a little scary, but everybody is thinking that.”

Italian tyremaker’s float has interesting implications for its German rival

Pirelli likes to tout its calendar as a cut above the kind of soft porn that adorns the average garage wall. It is taking a similar approach to its stock market flotation, with interesting implications for a German rival.

The Italian group, owned since 2015 by ChemChina, wanted a premium valuation for its shares, which begin trading in Milan on October 4. It tells a good story. The industrial tyre business has gone to ChemChina, leaving a company more focused on supplying owners of premium vehicles with new slicks. Such high-value tyres already account for four-fifths of profit. Sales are expected to grow at least 9 per cent a year through to 2020.

More specialised manufacturers tend to command a premium valuation multiple over the likes of France’s Michelin or Goodyear of the US, which supply tyres for all sorts of other vehicles and aircraft. The poster child for this is Finland’s Nokian Renkaat, which has industry-leading margins — and a rating to match.

At the €6.50 a share issue price, Pirelli will not quite match the Finns. Nor should it. Nokian has earned its crown over many years: operating margins have doubled over the past 15 years. Net profit has risen tenfold in that time. It is much smaller than Pirelli and its particular niche — winter tyres for demanding conditions — is arguably more defensive.

Pirelli will still be valued well above its main peers. That should not go unnoticed by shareholders in Continental. The German group consists of an automotive division, which makes powertrains and electronics, and a tyres business. The latter is not dissimilar to Pirelli, with a focus on premium products sold to consumers and an operating margin of over 20 per cent last year.

Continental’s enterprise value is 6.7 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, based on Bernstein forecasts. Pirelli’s multiple is closer to eight. That implies Conti’s high-quality tyre division hides under a conglomerate discount. The German company is not keen on a demerger. But that tyre unit’s figures would look good on any investor’s wall.