29 h. ago Shock rise in online child sexual abuse revealed with half of offenders under 18

Online messaging app Snapchat was used in more than half of all cases recorded by police with six children being targeted every hour in the digital world by offenders often under the age of 18

Events

39 h. ago Rangers risk of European expulsion rises as controversial ruling to back UEFA puts 49ers on alert

The multi-club ownership model is facing major scurrility in European football's corridors of power

Events

62 h. ago Europe needs to shove Trump aside – it has the power to stop Putin in Ukraine and it must use it

Donald Trump is a Russian ally and is trying to force surrender on Ukraine – Europe can and must stop him, world affairs editor Sam Kiley explains how

Politics

3 d. ago Scientists debunk mystery of Chernobyl’s ‘blue dogs’ after claims they had ‘mutated due to radiation’

Images of blue dogs in Chernobyl surfaced in October, sparking a range of theories that have since been debunked

Politics

7 d. ago Europe is holding the line against Trump’s and Putin’s plans for Ukraine. But it won’t be able to for ever | Martin Kettle

In the 21st-century imbalance of power, Europe and Nato have neither the arms nor the wealth to impel Russia or the US to take its peace settlement seriouslyThe failure of this week’s peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff fits into a now well-established pattern of standoffs on Ukraine during Trump’s second term. But the dynamic that produced these talks may be becoming more entrenched. The US and Russian interests driving the process have not changed, while the conflict on the ground is intensifying. The lack of progress this week means there will be another attempt to end the war soon, and perhaps another after that, until, one day, there is some kind of US-backed deal to halt the conflict on terms broadly favouring Russia.The geopolitical algorithm driving this effort is too consistent to ignore. It has been repeated ever since Trump re-entered the White House in January. On the campaign trail, Trump had claimed he could stop the war in a day. ...

Politics

2 w. ago Why Feyenoord’s 1970 European Cup win was a sliding doors moment for Celtic

The final remains curious in a Celtic context because it is the showpiece occasion the club would rather forgetIt feels cruel in part to use Thursday’s meeting of Feyenoord and Celtic to reflect upon illustrious times. The Dutch side are 29th in the 36-team Europa League table, with Celtic’s position in 27th only more slightly more palatable to supporters because Rangers are bottom of the pile.Those fans disrupted an annual general meeting to the point of abandonment last week, demonstrating the disharmony that has engulfed Celtic for months. A club that progressed to the Champions League’s knockout phase last season, looking an overdue but serious European force, have starkly regressed. Celtic have the spending power to outshine clubs who routinely embarrass them in a bigger pond than St Mirren and Motherwell occupy. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘We’re a bit jealous of Kneecap’: how Europe’s minority tongues are facing the digital future | Stephen Burgen

What does it mean to lose a language? And what does it take to save it? Those were the big questions being asked in Barcelona recentlyThere’s an Irish saying, tír gan teanga, tír gan anam: a country without a language is a country without a soul. Representatives of some of Europe’s estimated 60 minority languages – or minoritised, as they define them – met in Barcelona recently to discuss what it means to lose a language, and what it takes to save it.Language diversity is akin to biodiversity, an indicator of social wellbeing, but some of Europe’s languages are falling into disuse. Breton, for example, is dying out because its speakers are dying, and keeping languages alive among young people is challenging in an increasingly monolingual digital world.Stephen Burgen is a freelance writer who reports on Spain Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Ofcom urges tech firms to tackle toxic online abuse of women

The regulator says the digital world is ‘not serving women and girls the way it should’

Events

2 w. ago Thousands without heating as Ukraine launches drone attack deep inside Russia

The Shatura Power Station, located approximately 120 km (75 miles) east of the Kremlin, was hit early on Sunday

Events

2 w. ago Swiss gold and Rolex gifts to Trump raise questions over personalisation of US presidential power

Italian MEP ‘disgusted’ after US president received $130,000 engraved gold bar weeks before he decided to slash tariffs on Swiss importsA gold Rolex desk clock and a $130,000 engraved gold bar given to Donald Trump by a group of Swiss billionaires have raised questions in Europe and the US about the personalisation of US presidential power.Pasquale Tridico, an Italian MEP and the former head of the country’s national institute for social security said he was “disgusted” by the golden charm offensive, made weeks before Trump decided to slash 39% tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Swiss gold and Rolex gifts to Trump arouse ‘disgust’ in Europe

Billionaires gave desk clock and engraved gold bar weeks before Trump slashed tariffs on imports from SwitzerlandA gold Rolex desk clock and a $130,000 engraved gold bar given to Donald Trump by a group of Swiss billionaires have raised questions in Europe and the US about the personalisation of US presidential power.Pasquale Tridico, an Italian MEP and the former head of the country’s national institute for social security said he was “disgusted” by the golden charm offensive, made weeks before Trump decided to slash 39% tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Digital violence is 'spreading at alarming speed' as millions of women face online abuse

A new report from UN Women has found that digital violence is intensifying, yet nearly half of the world's women and girls lack legal protection from digital abuse

Events

3 w. ago Nuremberg trial records made available online after painstaking 25

Launch of digitisation project marks 80th anniversary of start of legal effort to bring Nazi leaders to justiceA fully digitised collection of the records of the Nuremberg trials is being launched online to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the groundbreaking legal effort to bring Nazi leaders to justice.Open access to every official document from the trial, held by the Harvard law school library, will be available to all researchers, whether amateur or professional, for the first time from Thursday after a 25-year endeavour by a 30-strong team of historians, metadata curators and librarians. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Digitised official records of Nuremberg trials made available online

Launch on 80th anniversary of groundbreaking legal effort comes after 25-year project by Harvard law school libraryA fully digitised collection of the records of the Nuremberg trials is being launched online to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the groundbreaking legal effort to bring Nazi leaders to justice.Open access to every official document from the trial, held by the Harvard law school library, will be available to all researchers, whether amateur or professional, for the first time from Thursday after a 25-year endeavour by a 30-strong team of historians, metadata curators and librarians. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago More than 170,000 homes in Paris left without power as blackout halts metro

The reason for the blackout is unknown

Politics

3 w. ago European Commission accused of ‘massive rollback’ of digital protections

Proposed changes to AI Act would make it easier for tech firms to use personal data to train models without consentThe European Commission has been accused of “a massive rollback” of the EU’s digital rules after announcing proposals to delay central parts of the Artificial Intelligence Act and water down its landmark data protection regulation.If agreed, the changes would make it easier for tech firms to use personal data to train AI models without asking for consent, and try to end “cookie banner fatigue” by reducing the number times internet users have to give their permission to being tracked on the internet. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago The world’s digital empires are jostling for power – in Europe, we can’t afford to be useful idiots | Thierry Breton

The EU is under US pressure to unravel its hard-won online safety laws. We must not give inProtecting our digital sovereignty is crucial. The challenge is why European decision makers are meeting in Berlin on Tuesday at the behest of the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron. As individuals, we spend four to five hours a day accessing the internet via our smartphones and other devices, from social networks to online shopping to AI assistants. It is essential, therefore, that we have control over how the digital space is organised, structured and regulated.Europe has already set to work. Between 2022 and 2024, EU digital laws were adopted by an overwhelming majority of MEPs and unanimously by all member states. The Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act and the AI Act form the common foundation protecting our children, citizens, businesses and democracies from all kinds of abuses in the information space. These four major la...

Politics

3 w. ago TotalEnergies buys £5.1bn stake in Czech tycoon’s power plants business

Daniel Křetínský to become a major shareholder in French oil company as part of deal creating 50/50 joint ventureThe Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is to become one of the largest shareholders in TotalEnergies after selling a stake in his electricity generation business, which includes several UK power plants, to the French oil company.Křetínský, whose companies own stakes in Royal Mail and West Ham United football club, agreed to sell a 50% stake in his stable of European power plants to TotalEnergies for about €5.1bn ($5.9bn) in exchange for about 4.1% of Total’s share capital. Continue reading...

Economics