Author: staff
By JU Published on 14/10/2026 – 10:46 GMT+2 A make-up mirror, a driving mode for women and a heating function for menstrual pain: the Chinese electric Beetle ORA Ballet Cat is attracting attention with its equipment and design. Headlights, sweeping wings, an unmistakable resemblance to the VW Beetle. Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor has developed an electric car that is explicitly aimed at women. Its features include, among other things, a make-up mirror, a special driving mode and a function designed to help with menstrual discomfort. On its website, the ORA Ballet Cat is presented, among other colours, in pink. With…
Published on 14/10/2026 – 11:04 GMT+2 Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the former Los Angeles gang leader who boasted for years of his involvement in the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, only to deny it when he came to trial, was sentenced to a minimum 40 years in prison on Tuesday. The sentence, which will likely see him die in custody, comes three decades after the gunning down of one of the most influential hip hop artists of the late 20th century and after years of criticism over investigations that went nowhere. Davis, 63, formerly ran a branch of the feared…
Published on 14/10/2026 – 10:48 GMT+2 ASML, the Netherlands-based equipment supplier to the semiconductor industry, said on Wednesday that its current production plans would fall short of customer demand in 2027 and 2028, as AI investment continues to drive up orders. The company also posted its highest-ever quarterly sales, at €11.7 billion in the third quarter, and raised the bottom of its sales forecast for 2026. ASML said customers are still increasing their forecasts for equipment demand, largely based on how big and long-lasting they expect AI investment to be. Some even want to book machines now for 2029 or…
By Roselyne Min with AP Published on 14/10/2026 – 10:10 GMT+2 In the Danish town of Lyngby, just north of Copenhagen, the supermarket night shift is getting some unusual trainees. Humanoid robots are learning to restock shelves after closing time, part of a multi-year trial to take on routine tasks and free employees to help customers. With their arms, legs and fingers, the robots can operate in spaces built for people without stores having to change their layouts, according to the Danish start-up, Hive Robots. For now, they are slower than supermarket workers, though the start-up says advances in AI will help improve…
As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Downing Street, is the balance of the Ukraine war shifting? Andy Burnham will reaffirm Britain’s support for Ukraine after Presidents Trump and Putin reached a diesel deal – but can the UK still make a difference without putting its relationship with Washington at risk? Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy examine the Prime Minister’s delicate balancing act as questions mount over continued US commitment to Ukraine. Elsewhere, has the government headed off a rebellion over the Courts Bill – and is its plan to build its way out of the prison crisis already unravelling? Plus,…
Turkish police raided the headquarters of the pro-opposition Halk TV news channel, halting its live broadcasts and arresting 11 people, the channel and prosecutors said early on Wednesday. “Police raid at Halk TV headquarters! A trustee (manager) has been appointed, broadcasts have been halted,” the channel wrote in a post on X shortly before 7:00 am (0600 CET). Halk’s news channel and the live broadcasts on its YouTube site were both offline. It was the latest crackdown on the pro-opposition media and came just two weeks after authorities shut down the website and social media accounts of T24, a leading…
The draft State Budget for 2027 (OE2027) sets out changes that will affect the disposable income of Portuguese households, from taxes on wages to social benefits and spending on housing and education. Key measures include a new update of the IRS brackets, an increase in the national minimum wage and a strengthening of some social benefits. On the other hand, tuition fees in higher education are expected to start rising again from the next academic year. In addition, the evolution of prices for essential goods may swallow up part of the tax savings. The draft must still go through the…
‘Tis the season. No, not that season – there are still 11 weeks until Christmas. Not Halloween, either, or even Gilmore Girls-rewatch time. We’re of course referring to the glorious season when all the industry trends reports are released, and the latest travel company to share its predictions is Expedia Group. Pulling on insights from Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, as well as a survey of 26,000 travellers across 16 countries, plus social media data, Unpack ’27 has identified five key travel trends. “Travel is about creating memories, and Unpack ’27 uncovers the destinations and experiences shaping those moments,” said Ariane…
That followed a Sept. 4 seminar at which the Commission’s AI envoy, Siemens chair Jim Hagemann Snabe, told 27 commissioners that the EU should focus less on winning the race to build AI and more on how to use it to turn around the bloc’s productivity, two Commission officials said. The scale of the challenge is clear: At the end of last year, only 1 in 5 European businesses used AI in their activities, with Denmark as the frontrunner (42%) and Romania at the bottom of the pack (5.2%), according to Eurostat. The bloc’s poor showing is mainly because of small and…
Published on 14/10/2026 – 9:12 GMT+2 Pope Leo XIV had a “calm” night after lung surgery, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The pope is recovering at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung on Tuesday. In a statement, the Vatican said the surgery had been “successfully completed, as planned and within the expected timeframe,” adding that the pope had returned to his room on the hospital’s tenth floor, in a ward next to the papal apartment where Pope Francis was hospitalised a year and a half ago. The 71-year-old pope underwent the…