Author: staff

The European Union is writing the sustainability rulebook for AI’s power-hungry future, but tech giants like Microsoft are already weighing in on how the bloc’s new rules should work. EU data centres with more than 500 kW of installed capacity that report under the bloc’s energy efficiency rules will receive an electronic sustainability label as of 21 September, according to new rules unveiled by the European Commission on Monday. “The aim of the rating scheme is to increase transparency about the energy use of data centres and to become a resource that will inform better policymaking and procurement of more…

Yemen’s Houthis have assured Washington that they would not attack US vessels in the Red Sea, following reports that the US cancelled its planned strikes on the group at the last minute, a senior Houthi official said on Monday. Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said Washington reached out to the group after their rapid advance down Yemen’s western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb strait earlier this month. “We confirmed that we are not targeting the United States, or any other nation, in the strait, with the sole exception of the Saudi enemy,” he said. “That remains…

Countries will have to give their agreement for the plan to go ahead by written procedure this evening — with an 8.00pm deadline for them to affirm. Ambassadors are consulting with capitals, but the arrangement is expected to go ahead, the three diplomats said. France has cited “national security concerns” as the reason for the move, joining forces with Slovakia, which has long lobbied for Usmanov’s delisting. Luxembourg has long called for the delisting of Ukrainian-born, Russian-Israeli tycoon Mikhail Fridman, who is suing the country for the release of frozen assets. France has declined to explain its motivations publicly or…

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has asked EU countries to strengthen the Aspides mission in the Red Sea, amid increasing threats from Houthis to navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, which is crucial for trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The proposal, contained in a letter dated 19 September and sent to EU capitals, follows a request by Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, who raised the alarm after an Italian frigate intervened to escort an Italian merchant vessel off the coast of Yemen last Friday. “We need more suitably equipped naval and air assets”, including…

Published on 21/09/2026 – 14:04 GMT+2 CNN, MS NOW and Politico will sue the Trump administration after being denied access to the White House, the news outlets said in a joint statement on Monday. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was banning the outlets from the presidential residence as punishment for distributing what he calls “fake news.” “This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in…

For pet owners, planning a holiday can involve a lot more than booking flights and hotels. There’s the quandary of whether their furry friend can board a plane with them, and exactly where they’d be allowed to travel to. Fortunately across Europe, it’s common for airlines to allow pets in the cabin. Things get trickier though when a cat or dog is on the larger side. How willing are European airlines to put pets in the hold or ship them separately in cargo? AirAdvisor, a global flight and baggage compensation service, reviewed the pet policies of 22 European airlines, investigating…

When it’s time to draw a card, Cristian M. Amores cannot see a thing: he points his iPhone camera at a QR code stuck to the sleeve and waits for VoiceOver to tell him what he has just drawn. He is blind and since late 2020 he has been adapting, card by card, the way he plays ‘Magic: The Gathering’, the collectible card game created by mathematician and PhD Richard Garfield in 1993. Amores shares the whole process under the name Magic Accesible on social network X, and his case is far from unique: from controllers reprogrammed button by button…

Party officials had warned that an outcome below 5% for the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania would unleash a storm of criticism and renew calls for a change in leadership, or Kanzlertausch. But Merz is clinging to power — for now. Unless he steps aside voluntarily, forcing a leadership change risks triggering a snap election at a time when polls show the far right to be the country’s most popular party — making such a move unlikely for the time being. That could quickly change if party members begin speaking out against him. That’s why Merz has vowed to chart a…

The forthcoming draft of the EU’s long-term budget will include an “ambitious” proposal on new EU taxes, known as own resources, Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne told journalists on Monday. The European Union is currently negotiating its long-term budget for 2028–2034, with the Irish government chairing the talks. EU institutions aim to reach a deal by the end of the year, with the package expected to include new taxes for the first time in the bloc’s history. The draft text is expected to be presented before mid-October, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels. It will serve…

Forces that fought on opposing sides in Ethiopia’s Tigray war have joined a seven-group military alliance to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and install a transitional administration, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said on Sunday. Both the government and the TPLF have massed troops along the border of the northern state in recent months, according to the African Union, fuelling fears of a return to the war that killed up to 600,000 people. “We just formed an alliance, we are collaborating with several groups and our objectives are to remove the regime and facilitating a transitional government,” said…