Author: staff

The European Commission has finally unveiled its long-awaited tech sovereignty package — a push to make Europe less dependent on foreign technology after years of relying on U.S. cloud services, chips, AI infrastructure and digital tools. Sarah Wheaton is joined by former MEP Marietje Schaake, author of The Tech Coup and POLITICO’s Laurens Cerulus to ask what happens when the systems running Europe’s schools, ministries, banks, businesses and security are controlled elsewhere. They also discuss whether Brussels can build real alternatives or simply learn to manage its dependence better. If you have questions or comments — or if you’ve tried…

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals in the latest move by Washington to pressure Havana’s leadership. According to a statement signed by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, those “designated today (Thursday) direct or fund the regime and its efforts to mobilise its radical revolutionary movements in the United States and around the world.” The move drew immediate condemnation from Havana, with President Miguel saying, “This political blindness adds to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country, designed to harm the Cuban people.” Included…

The 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, could become the most polluting tournament in football history. That is the warning from the FIFA’s Climate Blind Spot (source in Spanish) report, which says that the expanded format, the geographical spread and reliance on air travel will sharply increase its climate impact. According to the study, produced by the New Weather Institute, the next World Cup will generate at least nine million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, almost double the average for tournaments held between 2010 and 2022, which was around 4.7 million. In broader scenarios,…

European governments are moving to reduce their reliance on Palantir, the US-based data analytics companyy whose platforms serve as the data and artificial intelligence (AI) backbone for militaries worldwide. Derk Boswijk, the Dutch State Secretary for Defence, said in the House of Representatives this week that a “fully fledged alternative” to Palantir must be available within two years. Boswijk said the Netherlands has been using Palantir since 2010 on a “very limited, compartmentalised, and small scale,” according to local media. Still, he said that the government is working on a “two-track policy to reduce dependency” on the company so they…

Diesmal geht Gordon auf einen Spaziergang quer durch das Berliner Regierungsviertel mit Familienministerin Karin Prien (CDU). Abseits von Konferenzräumen spricht sie über die Herausforderungen ihres Ministeriums, das wie kaum ein anderes im Fokus gesellschaftlicher Debatten steht. Angesichts der Sparvorgaben für den Haushalt erklärt Prien, wie die beliebte Familienleistung umgestaltet werden soll und was das für Väter und das Modell „Elterngeld Plus“ bedeutet. Bei der Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinie zur Lohntransparenz plädiert die Ministerin für einen pragmatischen, bürokratiearmen Weg für Unternehmen, ohne das Ziel der Einkommensgleichheit aus den Augen zu verlieren. Und Prien gibt Einblicke, wie sie Gräben überbrücken möchte. Zudem teilt…

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Pyongyang for a two-day state visit set for Monday 8 June and Tuesday, 9 June, both countries announced Friday, in what will be his first visit in nearly seven years. The trip comes just weeks after Xi separately hosted US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The trip’s announcement also comes a day after North Korea unveiled a new facility to produce the ingredients for nuclear bombs, a move experts say suggests North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is eager to cement his country’s status as a nuclear weapons…

Dear Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, As browser developers, we believe PC users’ choices should be free and respected, not controlled, distorted or ignored. That principle unites the Browser Choice Alliance in advancing a digital world where PC users control their own online experience, can choose their preferred browser without manipulation or interference, trust their preferences will be honored and participate in a marketplace where browsers compete on merit. The approach Microsoft has taken is markedly different. Microsoft leverages its immensely powerful position as the supplier of the ubiquitous Windows PC operating system, as well as many productivity and other must-have…

Ten years — and six prime ministers — ago Britain was on the brink of voting to leave the European Union. Host Patrick Baker was in his first job as a TV news producer during the referendum campaign. A decade on, he’s gone back to the people who lived through its biggest moments to find out what was really happening behind the scenes, and how those events changed British politics forever. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, recounts the brutal battle with rival group Leave.EU to become the official Brexit campaign, and how his colleague Dominic Cummings used new…

“There’s a case to look at that again,” Burnham responded. “In a world where we do have serious challenges with knife crime, I think it needs to be looked at, although it needs a very careful debate,” he added.  Burnham also rejected accusations of two-tier policing in Greater Manchester, heaping praise on his Chief Constable Stephen Watson. He also highlighted Watson’s promise to “never take the knee.” No woke here.   5. Kenyon’s social media posts continue to haunt him  Other candidates in the debate rounded on Kenyon — a plumber who stood for Reform UK at the general election…

The migrants rebelled against their handlers after they did not receive their pay for weeks and the trafficker demanded transport money. CCTV footage of the attack shows two men locking the workers in a van, and then setting it on fire at a gas station. “That’s why they set fire to the car. To punish us,” the sole survivor of the attack told Corriere della Sera. “They wanted to kill us all.” Police have arrested two suspects, named as Safeer Ahmed and Ali Raza, in connection with the crime. Italy’s caporalato system provides cheap, illegal labor for farms in southern…