EU Names 19 Tech Giants as Critical Providers for Financial Sector European Union regulators have designated 19 major technology firms, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft, as critical third-party computing providers for the bloc’s financial industry. The move, announced on Tuesday, marks a key step in strengthening the EU’s defences against technology-related risks to the financial system. Oversight Under the Digital Operational Resilience Act The designations fall under the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which came into effect in January 2025. Under the legislation, the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and the…
Author: Aishwarya Parikh
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EU to Launch Antitrust Probe into Meta’s WhatsApp AI Integration Brussels is preparing to open a fresh antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms over the rollout of artificial intelligence features within WhatsApp, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The move signals mounting regulatory scrutiny of how major technology firms deploy generative AI tools on their platforms. Commission Targets Meta’s AI Expansion According to the report, the European Commission plans to investigate how the California-based company integrated its Meta AI system into WhatsApp earlier this year. Two officials cited by the newspaper said the probe would assess whether Meta’s approach could breach…
Apple Can Face Antitrust Lawsuit in Dutch Court, EU’s Top Court Rules Apple can be sued in the Netherlands for alleged antitrust violations linked to its App Store, the European Union’s highest court ruled on Tuesday. The decision paves the way for two Dutch consumer foundations to seek hundreds of millions of euros in damages from the iPhone maker. EU Court Clears Path for Dutch Lawsuit The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said that Dutch courts have the authority to hear the case brought by the Right to Consumer Justice and App Stores Claims foundations. The ruling…
Africa’s Critical Minerals Take Centre Stage at Historic G20 Summit in Johannesburg As world leaders gather in Johannesburg for the first-ever G20 summit on African soil, hundreds of climate activists marched through the streets demanding that Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals — such as lithium, cobalt and nickel — benefit local communities rather than foreign corporations. The protesters, representing movements from Uganda to Zimbabwe, called for greater transparency and community control over the continent’s mineral wealth. “We are so rich in resources. This should mean job creation and skills transfer — our own energy sector,” said Lazola Kati, campaign…
Airbus A320 Fleet Returns to Service After Swift Software Fix Airbus said on Monday that its A320-family jets were returning to normal operations after airlines worldwide rapidly completed emergency software updates to address a space-related computer vulnerability. The swift response helped the European planemaker avert what could have been a prolonged crisis and widespread disruption. Rapid Response to Solar Flare Bug The issue arose after a recent mid-air incident involving a JetBlue A320, which led regulators to discover a potential vulnerability in the aircraft’s systems caused by solar flares. Following the finding, Airbus ordered an urgent software retrofit across nearly…
Altius Drone Failures Raise Questions Over “Battle-Ready” Claims A U.S. Air Force test of Anduril Industries’ Altius drones earlier this month ended in failure when two aircraft crashed shortly after launch, according to an internal test summary. The incidents, reported for the first time, occurred during demonstrations at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base, where one Altius plunged 8,000 feet before impact and another spiralled out of control during a separate test. Anduril, founded by 33-year-old tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, has become one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent defence startups amid growing U.S. military interest in drone warfare. The company, valued…
Understanding the New Space Weather Project The University of Surrey’s Space Centre has joined forces with the UK Met Office to improve monitoring of solar storms that can threaten aircraft, satellites, and power grids. Together, they have launched new space weather monitors designed to better understand how solar activity affects Earth’s upper atmosphere. These Surrey-built radiation sensors were carried to altitudes above 100,000 feet (around 30 km) on weather balloons. The launches took place at Met Office sites in Camborne, southwest England, and Lerwick in Shetland, as well as in De Bilt in the Netherlands with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological…
AI Helps Unlock Secrets of Medieval Jewish Texts in the Cairo Geniza Researchers in Israel are harnessing artificial intelligence to explore the world’s largest collection of medieval Jewish manuscripts — the Cairo Geniza. This vast archive, containing more than 400,000 documents, has fascinated scholars for over a century. However, only a small portion of it has been fully studied until now. Digitising Centuries of History Although the entire Geniza collection has been digitised and made available online as images, most of the material remains uncatalogued. Many items are incomplete fragments from longer works, making traditional research slow and complex. Only…
French Union Challenges Amazon Satellite Internet Licence A French telecoms union has filed a legal challenge against the country’s decision to grant Amazon radio spectrum for its satellite internet service. The move marks the biggest legal test yet of the US company’s plans to expand its global broadband network. Union Disputes Arcep’s Approval Process The CFE-CGC Telecoms union confirmed on Monday that it had lodged an appeal with France’s highest administrative court. It seeks to overturn a July decision by telecoms regulator Arcep, which granted Amazon a 10-year licence to use frequencies for its low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.…
NASA Dismisses Alien Speculation NASA has released new images of the interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS, confirming it is a comet likely older than our solar system. The space agency dismissed online speculation that the object might be an alien spacecraft. Detected in July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile, 3I/ATLAS follows an unusual path through the solar system, suggesting its origins lie beyond. Nicola Fox, NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, referred to it as “our friendly solar system visitor.” She explained, “It behaves like a comet. We’ve seen no technosignatures or signs…