Author: staff
In clear evidence of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s popularity in civil society, Ukrainians have organised a rare wartime protest to defend and support him. The calls to demonstrate emerged on social media almost immediately after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Fedorov on Wednesday evening. Social media anger over the decision quickly turned into plans to gather across major cities at 09:01 on Thursday, immediately after a daily nationwide minute of silence which commemorates fallen Ukrainian fighters and civilians. It is the first time since last summer’s protests in support of Ukraine’s anti‑corruption watchdogs that online mobilisation has spilled back onto the…
June 2026 was the hottest June on record for western Europe and the second warmest globally, according to Copernicus. The three warmest years on record globally were 2024, 2023 and 2025, in that order. Rising temperatures and heatwaves are pushing more people to use cooling. This is driving up energy demand across Europe. Household energy consumption for cooling in the EU doubled between 2018 and 2024. So how has energy consumption for cooling been changing across Europe? Which countries saw the highest increases? And in which countries does cooling account for the largest share of energy use? The amount of…
Mariano Rajoy didn’t even wait a single night. As soon as Spain had booked their place in the World Cup final, the former prime minister returned to his opinion column in ‘El Debate’ (source in Spanish) with a new piece, entitled ‘You need to keep your sense of humour’, in which he revisits, without softening it in the slightest, the row he himself had sparked days earlier over the French national team. The text devotes its opening paragraphs to the match, praising Luis de la Fuente and the team’s efforts before moving on to politics. There, Rajoy takes a veiled…
Some of Europe’s most magical destinations look like they’ve been lifted straight from a fairytale – from hilltop castles rising above forests to medieval villages glowing under Christmas lights. Rather than carefully built film sets, though, they’re real places where people still live, work and go about everyday life among centuries-old streets and landscapes. Travel website European Best Destinations has revealed its 2026 ranking of Europe’s fairytale destinations, combining expert picks with votes from travellers around the world. Starting with more than 4,200 places across the continent, the list was narrowed down to 68 based on factors including history, atmosphere,…
Published on 16/07/2026 – 9:06 GMT+2 The growing debate on the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking continues to divide the filmmaking industry, and following the backlash against Martin Scorsese’s endorsement of an AI firm for the purposes of storyboarding, George Lucas has said that the technology will be an inevitable part of the future of cinema. In an interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, the Star Wars creator was asked about the place of AI in filmmaking. There are those who consider AI to be an existential threat to the art of filmmaking, with actors and directors speaking out on…
Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music Sky News With just one day until Andy Burnham is crowned Labour leader, many are still scratching their heads – what will a Burnham government actually look like? The incoming PM says he is in no rush and will take his time over cabinet appointments – having already signalled a budget is likely in October. Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy assess who could land the biggest jobs – especially at the Treasury, where Shabana Mahmood is emerging as the favourite for No 11. The duo also wonder if the announcement that British Steel…
Updated: 16/07/2026 – 9:43 GMT+2 MEP Niclas Herbst (EPP, Germany) says the German government should not fuel “fear of war” while being “honest” about the current geopolitical situation. But he says there is a need for a “discussion about resilience in society”. … More
With the lightning-fast deployment of artificial intelligence and the immense technological leaps in robotics, images of weapon-wielding humanoid robots are no longer merely a figment of the public imagination. But as the visionary technology races ahead, so does the lingering unease. The US-based company Foundation Future Industries, which builds humanoids for commercial and military use, has already tested its Phantom robots in Ukraine. The company CEO says he expects to begin testing weaponisation use cases for its robots “as early as next year,” following the Ukrainian pilot programs. “I think we have this psychological reaction, which is like the Terminator,…
Published on 16/07/2026 – 8:36 GMT+2 Beloved actor Sam Neill died on Monday in Sydney, leaving behind a cinematic legacy that ranges from blockbuster epics (Jurassic Park) to arthouse treasures (Possession, The Piano). Now, Neill’s agent Philip Grenz has revealed the cause of the New Zealand actor’s “sudden and unexpected” death at the age of 78. Grenz has stated that Neill died from pneumonia and that he will be honoured at a private family memorial at his New Zealand farm at a later date. “Sam passed away from pneumonia,” Grenz said. “Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and…
LONDON — The U.K.’s online safety regulator Ofcom on Thursday opened an investigation into TikTok over whether the platform has complied with its duties under the Online Safety Act to protect children from harmful content. The watchdog’s probe will cover concerns raised in its two reports on children’s experiences online and age assurance that age inference models used by TikTok, which guess users’ ages based on their activity, are not highly effective and may have failed to correctly identify child users. Under the OSA, platforms must use “highly effective” age assurance to make sure they’re not exposing children to harmful…