Author: staff

Azerbaijan has joined a growing list of countries imposing social media restrictions on minors, passing a law that bars under-16s from platforms at a time when governments worldwide are questioning whether the digital industry can regulate itself. Australia became the first country to implement a nationwide social media ban for children under 16. France has tightened its laws on the age of digital consent, the UK passed the Online Safety Bill, and the EU has been increasing pressure on technology companies. Now Baku has decided to move in the same direction. Social media addiction, self-esteem problems and cyberbullying are producing…

Fake taximeters, kilometre-long detours, cash-only payments. Social media is awash with reports of an alleged scam involving taxi drivers stationed at Lisbon Airport. “A trap for tourists”, is how Josien Nation, a foreign content creator living in Portugal, describes it in a video posted on her Facebook page Nations Without Borders (source in Portuguese) on 14 August. In the video, she says taxi drivers charge more than they should or do not have the meter running. “Taxis are just a scam,” she says. Josien Nation says there is a high chance of being ripped off by taxis at the airport…

Published on 26/08/2026 – 17:10 GMT+2 According to the July edition of the Istanbul Barometer survey conducted by the Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA), 45.8% of Istanbul residents did not attend any cultural or artistic event in the past year. While the biggest obstacle to participation in cultural events was high ticket and admission prices, cited by 45%, economic conditions led people to cut back most on spending in social venues such as restaurants and cafés. The July issue of Istanbul Barometer, the monthly data bulletin of IPA, which is affiliated with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), focused on the heading…

Cela n’a pas échappé à Eurofer, le lobby européen de la sidérurgie, qui a salué l’engagement pris dans la proposition de créer un marché pilote pour l’acier vert, mais estime que la Commission n’est pas allée assez loin. “L’IAA va dans le bon sens, mais la proposition actuelle n’est pas assez ambitieuse pour créer un signal par la demande en faveur de l’acier bas carbone fabriqué dans l’UE”, a déclaré le lobby dans un communiqué. “Sans exigences strictes sur l’origine UE, liées à l’acier initialement fondu et coulé au sein de l’UE, les marchés publics et les programmes de soutien…

Spain’s National Police have arrested a fugitive known as the “escape master” in Tarragona. The man was the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities. His record includes escapes from prisons in Terni and Parma in Italy, as well as from a prison in Belgium. In his latest breakout in December, he managed to escape a high-security Italian prison after sawing through the bars of a window and climbing down the building using knotted bedsheets, according to police. In Belgium, he is also said to have climbed over a prison’s walls after forming a human pyramid with…

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that could place privately owned businesses under state management if the government judges they have failed to protect themselves against Ukrainian drone attacks — a move legal experts described on Wednesday as a potential tool for seizing assets from Russian companies under the pretext of security failures. The edict, which took effect immediately, covers facilities in the fuel and energy sector, industry, communications, energy — including nuclear — utilities, transport and logistics, and any other facility deemed of “particular importance for the security, economic stability and the livelihood of the population of the Russian…

The most closely watched speech in central banking arrives at an awkward moment for the man giving it. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh takes the podium in Wyoming on Friday morning with government borrowing costs high, inflation stalled well above target and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent already stepping into the bond market to hold yields down. The symposium itself explains why this matters. Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 1978 and held at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park since 1982, it gathers roughly 120 central bankers, academics and policymakers from more than…

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion (€14.6bn) and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced on Wednesday. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were among 29 states that sued the tech giant in 2023, but the deals have now cut the trial short. Child safety advocates were hoping to see chief executive Mark Zuckerberg take the stand before a jury in federal court in California. The settlement is worth $353 million (€302m) in Virginia alone and…

“If you have extraordinary bread and extraordinary butter, it’s hard to beat bread and butter.” How right French chef and author Jacques Pépin was when he said those enduring words. And a boutique in Paris is further proving him right. About the butter part, at least. Billed as the French capital’s first shop entirely dedicated to butter, Le Butter Shop opened its doors last month and offers 30 varieties of France’s favourite fat – from small family producers in Brittany, the Loire Valley and northern France, with varieties including flavoured kinds like shallot, pepper, seaweed, wild garlic and lemon with…

“Hungary condemns Russian military aggression and fully supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders,” the document reads. It also recognizes Kyiv’s right to self-defense and backs negotiations toward “sustainable peace and long-term security guarantees.” Magyar has steadily shifted Budapest’s foreign policy since ousting Orbán this spring. He moved to repair ties with Brussels, secured a deal that unlocked €16.4 billion in frozen EU funds and lifted Hungary’s vetoes on reimbursing EU countries for weapons sent to Kyiv. He also announced a review of Orbán’s landmark Paks II nuclear deal with Moscow earlier this month. Orbán signed…