Author: staff
Presenting the latest economic forecasts compiled by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, insisted the plan she has pursued since Labour returned to power in the 2024 general election is beginning to deliver results. This despite the OBR, the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, downgrading its growth forecast for 2026 to 1.1%, down from the 1.4% expansion projected in the Autumn Budget just three months ago. The UK GDP is also projected to be stronger than previously anticipated in 2027 and 2028, at 1.6%. Inflation and government borrowing are also forecast to fall more…
Published on 03/03/2026 – 16:11 GMT+1 Europe is building a federated cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure that its architects say could fundamentally change the continent’s relationship with big US and Chinese technology providers. Telecom giant Telefónica announced the project, called EURO-3C, which is backed by the European Commission, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It brings together more than 70 organisations — spanning telecommunications operators, technology companies, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. “We will provide the first federated secure and sovereign model where cloud, AI and edge are going to be able [to work together] so we…
The statement comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece agreed to engage with France on the country’s nuclear deterrent. Macron said France will set up “exchange bodies at the political level” in the coming days with the seven nations. Cooperation will include allowing European allies into French “strategic locations,” joint exercises and, ultimately, potentially deploying French nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets in other countries on a temporary basis. Eide said nuclear talks would be part of negotiations on a strategic defense agreement with France. He said Norway — one of…
Published on 03/03/2026 – 14:40 GMT+1 Tehran warned European countries on Tuesday against joining the Iran war, after multiple countries said they could take “defensive action” in the face of Iran’s missile-launching capabilities. In a statement, Tehran warned that such a move would be viewed as a direct provocation and would expand the country’s retaliatory strikes to target European cities and countries. “It would be an act of war. Any such act against Iran would be regarded as complicity with the aggressors. It would be regarded as an act of war against Iran,” said Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson.…
In a bid to strengthen connectivity and close coverage gaps across Europe, German telecom company Deutsche Telekom is partnering with the US satellite company Starlink. The announcement arrived during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where non-terrestrial networks (NTN) are a major talking point among cellular networks hoping to expand their services in both scope and efficiency. Telekom is currently the largest telecommunications provider in Europe, but many areas still remain underserved due to topographical and conservation restraints. The company sees partnering with Starlink as a way to connect Europeans better – and to achieve their goals of becoming an…
The Bank of Russia is suing the European Union for keeping its state assets frozen “for an indefinite period” to serve as collateral against a €90 billion loan to Ukraine. The lawsuit will test rare emergency powers that the European Commission used last year to keep Russian state assets across the bloc, worth some €210 billion, on ice through a qualified majority. The legal loophole nullified vetoes that Kremlin-friendly countries in the EU, such as Hungary, would otherwise have had. EU leaders agreed in mid-December to raise common debt without Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia to finance Kyiv’s defense against Russian…
Pro-government Iranians living in Moscow and their supporters gathered outside the Iranian embassy on Monday to lay flowers in remembrance of the late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Images showed portraits, flowers and flags placed near the embassy entrance, with police present at the scene. Several mourners expressed condolences and described his death as a major loss. The gathering took place amid escalating tensions following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The warship could take several days to reach the region. France has already resolved to send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus, while Greece has ordered frigates and fighter jets to the island following drone incursions on Monday. A Shahed-type drone hit Britain’s RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus in the early hours of Monday, while more strikes targeting the base were intercepted later in the day. Akrotiri and the nearby villages have been evacuated. The Cypriot government has criticized the U.K.’s handling of the Iran conflict, suggesting that a lack of clarity regarding the use of British bases on…
Germany faces heightened security concerns following a fatwa issued after the killing of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with security experts warning of potential attacks by Iranian sleeper cells across Europe. Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi issued a fatwa on 1 March calling for holy war against the US and Israel following Khamenei’s death in joint US-Israeli strikes Saturday. The fatwa declared that all Muslims were obligated to avenge the “blood of the martyr” and identified the US and Israel as “the main perpetrators of this crime”, according to Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency. A fatwa is a ruling made by…
The escalation of the US-Israel and Iran conflict has thrown air travel in the Middle East and the Gulf into chaos. A wide corridor of airspace remains closed in the region, including over Iran, Qatar and Israel. Several others are partially or intermittently closed, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Posting on X on Tuesday, Flightradar24 said cancellations across seven major Middle East airports (including Dubai International, Hamad International Airport in Doha and Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi) have now exceeded 12,300 flights. Many flights from Asia and Africa, which often route through the Middle…