News Archives - Page 25 of 81

17Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Italy, Europe, News

Tornado Claims Man’s Life in Sicily

On Wednesday morning, a man died in a tornado in Sicily, the emergency services on the Italian island report. The man in his fifties went outside because he feared storm damage to his house in the municipality of Modica and was fatally affected by the squall, according to the ANSA news agency. The island in the Mediterranean Sea has been regularly hit by storms, thunderstorms and heavy rain in recent weeks. Tornadoes have been forming off the coast since Tuesday, scaring residents. In addition, severe hailstorms and flooding were reported. The schools are closed. At the end of October, three people were killed by severe flooding in eastern Sicily near Catania.

Warlord Haftar Wants to Become President of Libya

16Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Libya, News

Warlord Haftar Wants to Become President of Libya

Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar has declared himself a candidate in his country's presidential election next month. In any case, he is up against Saif al-Islam, a son of the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed ten years ago. After years of civil war, the situation in the oil-rich country in North Africa has stabilized somewhat. After international mediation, the two main warring parties concluded a permanent ceasefire more than a year ago. "Elections are the only way out of the serious crisis our country has entered," said 78-year-old Haftar in a televised speech. He officially registers as a presidential candidate later in the day in the eastern city of Benghazi. The self-proclaimed Field Marshal Haftar controls oil areas in the country's east with his Libyan National ...

EU Countries Put Migrant Carriers to Belarus on Hold

15Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, News

EU Countries Put Migrant Carriers to Belarus on Hold

Travel organizations and airlines that cooperate in transferring asylum seekers via Belarus to the European Union must fear European sanctions. This threatens, among others, the EU's foreign affairs chief and the German foreign minister. The countries from which the asylum seekers leave, such as Iraq and Lebanon, are now helping to stem the influx, notes Josep Borrell, the EU's highest-ranking diplomat. But the union also has travel agencies and airlines in its sights, he warns. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko takes migrants from the Middle East, in particular, to direct them to neighbouring EU countries Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the EU said. If airlines do not stop cooperating with this 'state-led people smuggling', "they will have to take harsh sanctions into acco...

Kremlin Promises Gas will Continue to Flow to EU as Usual

12Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Russia, Europe, News

Kremlin Promises Gas will Continue to Flow to EU as Usual

Russia continues to pump gas to Europe and adhere to the quantities laid down in contracts. Therefore, Russia is and remains a reliable supplier, a government spokesperson emphasized. He said that after the leader of neighbouring Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, threatened to close gas pipelines. Belarus is located between Russia and the European Union. An estimated one-fifth of the gas used in Europe this year was Russian and was funnelled west via Belarus. The spokesman said Lukashenko did not pre-align his threats with the Kremlin's views.

Major Polluters China and United States to Cooperate More Closely to Combat Climate Change

11Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

China, News, US

Major Polluters China and United States to Cooperate More Closely to Combat Climate Change

China and the United States, the largest two emitters of CO₂, will cooperate more closely over the next decade to combat climate change. They announced this yesterday at the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. By 2030, they want to reduce methane emissions faster and phase out coal more quickly, although no concrete targets were mentioned. Last night at the COP26, the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow was a bit of a surprise. Suddenly there were the press conferences of the Chinese climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua and his American colleague John Kerry. Each separately, but with a common message. The two countries announced that they would work more closely together to combat climate change and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. They commit to a faster reduction of m...

Apple May Not Postpone Modified App Store Rules From Judge

10Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

Apple May Not Postpone Modified App Store Rules From Judge

Apple cannot delay a court-mandated change to its App Store policy. So the tech company had to give app makers the option from December 9 to let their users know that they can take out cheaper subscriptions elsewhere via a website. Apple had requested a postponement because the company has appealed but is now being blunt. The obligation stems from Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple. The software company behind the popular game Fortnite found that Apple's rules for the App Store amounted to an abuse of power. For example, software makers have to pay Apple a 30 percent commission on every transaction through the App Store and are obliged to use Apple's own payment system for this. Nor may they point to cheaper ways of taking out subscriptions. Many software makers charge a cheaper ...

Poland Prime Minister Calls Crisis at Polish Border a Threat to EU

9Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Poland, Europe, News

Poland Prime Minister Calls Crisis at Polish Border a Threat to EU

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki calls the flow of migrants who want to illegally enter Poland from Belarus a threat to the entire European Union. Nearly 4,000 migrants are currently trying to enter the EU through Poland. Closing the Polish border is of national importance, but the stability and security of the entire European Union are also at stake," Morawiecki said on Twitter. "This attack by the Lukashenko regime is against all of us. We will not be intimidated and will defend peace in Europe with our partners from the EU and NATO." Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has made a policy of collecting migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and then sending them to EU borders, according to the EU, to destabilize the EU. They would be counter-actions to ...

Chinese Communist Party Opens Door to Xi Jinping’s Third Term in Office

8Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

China, News

Chinese Communist Party Opens Door to Xi Jinping’s Third Term in Office

The Chinese Communist Party's central committee wants to pave the way for a third term in office for party leader and President Xi Jinping. The party's 370 or so members gathered in Beijing on Monday for a four-day meeting to discuss a "historic resolution." It is only the third time in the party's 100-year history, after 1945 and 1981, that such a resolution will be passed. The resolution will officially describe the party's "great achievements and historical experiences." However, observers believe the document is mainly intended to strengthen Xi's position of power ahead of the party congress in the fall of 2022. Then, the third term in office becomes possible. Xi would become the first leader to start the third term since the revolutionary and founder of the People's Republi...

Kyndryl Formally Spun Off: the LAT Relationship with IBM

5Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

Kyndryl Formally Spun Off: the LAT Relationship with IBM

Kyndryl is now a standalone publicly-traded company separate from IBM. So it is not a daughter but a separate entity. What does that mean? And how is the relationship with IBM going forward? With 90,000 people employed, Kyndryl shouldn't really startup. But, now led by CEO Martin Schroeter, the company sounds mainly double in its first formal press conference. "Anyone who flies, has a phone, uses telecom… does it with something from Kyndryl in the background," said Rick Ruiz, president for Strategic Markets at Kyndryl. "We have 27,000 years of experience in the UK and Ireland alone," adds Tosca Maria Colageni, responsible for that region. At the same time, it sounds like things can be done better and more freely from now on. For example, in EMEA, a number of geographic regions ha...

Google News Back in Spain After Seven Years

4Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, Europe, News, Spain

Google News Back in Spain After Seven Years

Internet giant Google is reintroducing its Google News news service in Spain. In 2014, the American company Google News closed down when copyright law was passed that would oblige it to compensate media for used articles. Google News will be available again in Spain in' early 2022'. This is the result of the transposition of a European directive from 2019 on copyright and related rights in the southern European country. The directive obliges internet giants such as Google and Facebook to pay media for the content they use. The new regulations "will allow Spanish media, large and small, to choose freely how their content can be found on the internet and how they monetize it," emphasizes Google. The company says it will try to negotiate deals with local media in the coming months.