Author: staff
China put its latest robotics technology to the test on Monday, 2 November, as nearly 90 teams gathered for the CMG World Robot Mount Tai Challenge in Tai’an, Shandong Province. Humanoid, quadruped and exoskeleton robots tackled a 3.9km stretch of ancient mountain path, climbing 3,100 stone steps and gaining 600 metres in elevation. The route featured steep slopes, long stairways and sharp bends. As spectators watched, the machines made their way up the mountain, with several reaching the finish line. The challenge turned one of China’s best-known mountain routes into a testing ground for robotics. Uneven stone steps and steep…
Published on 2 November 2026 – 11:10 GMT+1 Ryanair reported a net profit of €2.15 billion for the period between April and September 2026, the first half of its financial year ending March 2027. The result was 15% below the same period last year. This came as unhedged jet fuel prices doubled while fares also fell, although passenger numbers increased. The airline is reviewing costs as it prepares for a further rise in its fuel bill next year. On a per-share basis, the Irish airline’s first-half diluted earnings fell 14% to €2.05 per share. In the same period, revenue rose…
Published on 2 November 2026 – 14:23 GMT+1•Updated 14:26 The UK and Germany plan to test, develop and eventually deploy artificial intelligence in their armed forces together, British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said. Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ahead of talks with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin on Monday afternoon, Streeting said the two countries would expand an existing joint cybersecurity project, known as Cyber Lighthouse, to cover AI. “Through joint testing, development and ultimately the introduction of AI in our armed forces, we will deepen our cooperation and keep pace with those who seek to…
After 28 years, British adventurer Karl Bushby has arrived back home after a 50,000-kilometre trek from Chile across four continents without using any transport to progress. He was met on Monday in the centre of Hull, in northeast England, by a crowd of up to 1,000 cheering people, and thanked everyone for all the support he had met along the way. “I didn’t do this alone,” he said, adding it was a “global effort” after winning praise from Hull Mayor Maria Coward. “You wouldn’t believe just how many people have been involved in this, to get us around the kinds…
Published on 2 November 2026 – 13:52 GMT+1 Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities voiced concern on Monday over reported plans by Washington to deport scores of Afghan immigrants to Pakistan with the aim of their eventual return to their home country. More than 150 Afghan nationals in the United States would be deported via Pakistan to Afghanistan, including relatives of those who assisted US forces before their 2021 withdrawal, according to US media reports and an advocacy group. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan expresses its serious concern over reports that the United States intends to deport some Afghan refugees to Pakistan who…
Another month, another increase. In October, which has just ended, house prices rose again compared with the same period last year. Up 7.5%, to be precise, which represents a new record high. According to the idealista price index (source in Portuguese), “buying a home cost 3,249 euros per square metre (euros/m2) at the end of October, based on the median value”. On a quarterly basis, prices rose by 1.2%. In October, “asking prices for homes for sale went up in all 20 district capitals and autonomous regions analysed”. Vila Real (20.3%), Guarda (18.4%), Beja (17.6%), Leiria (16.9%) and Faro (15.5%)…
Published on 2 November 2026 – 12:11 GMT+1 Openreach has warned that fewer than 100 days remain before the UK’s old analogue phone network is permanently switched off on 31 January 2027. The BT Group network operator said about one million copper-based lines were still active, including 300,000 at business premises and that failure to migrate these systems to digital alternatives “poses severe operational, safety, and compliance risks”. It is not only home phones that rely on the network. Card payment terminals, lift emergency phones, fire alarm panels, security systems and door entry units could also stop working if they…
Solo travel seems to be constantly on the rise, but making the decision to take that first trip alone isn’t an easy one. After you’ve decided to take the plunge, you then need to pick a destination, and some places are undoubtedly better suited to single guests. Thinking about heading abroad by yourself this year? Then you might just want to take a look at the newly released Solo Travel Index by Radical Storage. Created by analysing the 48 most visited cities in Europe against 11 factors, the index evaluates things like the average daily spend per person, the safety…
Belgian media reported on Monday morning that temperatures in supermarket refrigerators had suddenly spiked, leading them to throw food away. Supermarket chain Delhaize alerted its store managers early on Monday morning of problems with refrigerators, and Belgian broadcaster RTBF cited a store manager as saying that the problems were due to a cyberattack like those in France. Dutch media reported that Delhaize stores in Luxembourg are also affected. A spokesperson for the company said it is aware of an “IT incident affecting the refrigeration systems in a number of Delhaize stores.” A spokesperson for Colruyt, which operates Spar stores in…
Iran said on Monday it was ready to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US accepted its conditions, having proposed a seven-day timeline when it first put the idea to Washington through Qatar in September. “The possibility of implementing this plan in two days is another indication of Iran’s good-faith approach,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said. “We have stated that, if Iran’s demands are met, it would be possible to restore security to the Strait of Hormuz and resume the negotiating process within a short period,” he added. Baghaei said that an exchange of messages…