europe
Atmospheric pollution caused by space junk could be a huge problem
After a Falcon 9 rocket stage burned up in the atmosphere, vaporised lithium and other metals drifted over Europe. A SpaceX rocket that burned up after re-entering the atmosphere unleashed a plume of vaporised metals over Europe, a type of pollution that is expected to increase as spacecraft and satellites multiply. The upper stage of a Falcon 9, which is designed to splash down in the Pacific Ocean for possible re-use, lost control due to engine failure and fell from orbit over the north Atlantic in February 2025. We're finally solving the puzzle of how clouds will affect our climate People across Europe saw fiery debris streaking through the sky, some of which crashed behind a warehouse in Poland. Seeing the news, Robin Wing at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Germany and his colleagues turned on their lidar, an instrument for atmospheric sensing.
- Pacific Ocean (0.25)
- Europe > Poland (0.25)
- North America > United States > Indiana (0.05)
- Europe > Germany > Berlin (0.05)
- Health & Medicine > Therapeutic Area (0.72)
- Aerospace & Defense (0.59)
Macron defends EU AI rules and vows crackdown on child 'digital abuse'
Emmanuel Macron told delegates at the AI summit: 'Europe is not blindly focused on regulation.' Emmanuel Macron told delegates at the AI summit: 'Europe is not blindly focused on regulation.' Macron defends EU AI rules and vows crackdown on child'digital abuse' Emmanuel Macron has hit back at US criticism of Europe's efforts to regulate AI, vowing to protect children from "digital abuse" during France's presidency of the G7. Speaking at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, the French president called for tougher safeguards after global outrage over Elon Musk's Grok chatbot being used to generate tens of thousands of sexualised images of children, and amid mounting concern about the concentration of AI power in a handful of companies. His remarks were echoed by António Guterres, the UN secretary general, who told delegates - including several US tech billionaires - that "no child should be a test subject for unregulated AI". "The future of AI cannot be decided by a few countries or left to the whims of a few billionaires," Guterres said. "AI must belong to everyone".
- Europe > France (1.00)
- North America > United States (0.96)
- Asia > India (0.34)
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- Information Technology > Communications > Social Media (1.00)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Issues > Social & Ethical Issues (1.00)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Natural Language (0.97)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Machine Learning > Neural Networks > Deep Learning (0.32)
- Asia > East Asia (0.07)
- Asia > Southeast Asia (0.06)
- South America > Argentina (0.04)
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- Law (0.93)
- Government (0.93)
- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.46)
- Consumer Products & Services > Food, Beverage, Tobacco & Cannabis (0.46)
Ancient bone may prove legendary war elephant crossing of Alps
An elephant foot bone found by archaeologists digging in southern Spain may be evidence that a troop of war elephants stomped through ancient Europe. It would be the first concrete proof of the legendary Carthaginian General Hannibal's troop of battle elephants, according to academics. Drawings of Hannibal's war against the Romans had long suggested that the beasts were used in fighting, but no hard evidence backed up the theories. Now the creatures' skeletal remains appear to have been found in an Iron Age dig near Cordoba. Beyond ivory, the discovery of elephant remains in European archaeological contexts is exceptionally rare, says the team of scientists in a paper published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
- Europe > Spain (0.27)
- North America > United States (0.16)
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- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.44)
- Media > Film (0.30)
Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast
Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast Downtown Munich is best-known for chic shops and flashy fast cars but right now its streets are bedecked with posters advertising next generation drones. Europe's security under construction boasts the slogan on an eye-catching set of sleek black-and-white photographs, festooned across a scaffolding-clad church on one of this town's best known pedestrian boulevards. Such an unapologetic public display of military muscle would have been unimaginable here just a few years ago, but the world outside Germany is changing fast, and taking this country with it. The southern region of Bavaria has become Germany's leading defence technology hub, focusing on AI, drones and aerospace. People here, like most other Europeans, say they feel increasingly exposed - squeezed between an expansionist Russia and an economically aggressive China to the east, and an increasingly unpredictable, former best pal, the United States, to the west.
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Asia > Russia (0.35)
- Europe > France (0.30)
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- Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Europe Government (1.00)
- Government > Military (1.00)
- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.71)
'Trump will be gone in three years': Top US Democrats try to reassure Europe
'Trump will be gone in three years': Top Democrats try to reassure Europe US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the centre of attention at the Munich Security Summit, as European leaders wondered apprehensively what tone he would strike in his remarks on Saturday. While his speech did not fully allay their concerns, it has been viewed as a reassurance to allies that while US relations may have frayed under Donald Trump, they will not break. Rubio's was not the only American political voice at the security summit, however. And even if the secretary of state's remarks had not been so well-received - if he had sharply criticised Europeans the way Vice-President JD Vance did at the conference last year - there were other American politicians doing their best impression of the Persian poet, counselling: This too shall pass. If there's nothing else I can communicate today, California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a conference event on Friday, Donald Trump is temporary.
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.27)
- North America > United States > California (0.25)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
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Rubio says US and Europe 'belong together' despite tensions
Rubio says US and Europe'belong together' despite tensions Marco Rubio has assured European leaders the US does not plan to abandon the transatlantic alliance, saying its destiny will always be intertwined with the continent's. The US secretary of state told the Munich Security Conference: We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history. He criticised European immigration, trade and climate policies, but the overall tenor of the closely-watched speech was markedly different to Vice-President JD Vance's at the same event last year, during which he scolded continental leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was very much reassured by Rubio's remarks. Rubio, the Trump administration's most senior diplomat, said it was neither our goal nor our wish to end the transatlantic partnership, adding: For us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.
- Asia > Russia (0.71)
- Europe > Ukraine (0.51)
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.25)
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Rubio speech signals US-Europe relations are bruised but still friendly
World leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, have been gathering in Munich for Europe's biggest security and defence conference. The burning question on everyone's minds: is America still an ally of Europe? The keynote speech that everyone was waiting for was from Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State. Would he repeat the attacks made on Europe last year by the US Vice President JD Vance? Or would he be conciliatory?
- Europe > France (0.55)
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.28)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
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Are lasers the future of anti-drone warfare?
Are lasers the future of anti-drone warfare? A drone appears on the grainy, gray-scaled image of the thermal camera. This is the type of drone used by groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Yemeni Houthis. Seconds later, the wing of the drone snaps off, sending it tumbling down, exploding when it hits the ground. This is a video shared by the Israeli Ministry of Defence and arms producer Rafael, a hint towards the future of anti-drone warfare.
- South America (0.41)
- North America > Central America (0.41)
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- Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (1.00)
- Government > Military (1.00)
World's rules-based order 'no longer exists', Germany's Merz warns
The rules-based world order no longer exists, the German Chancellor has warned at a major security summit. Opening the annual Munich Security Conference, Friedrich Merz told other world leaders that our freedom is not guaranteed in an era of big power politics, and that Europeans must be ready to make sacrifice. He also admitted that a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States. The conference is taking place on the backdrop of US President Donald Trump threatening Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland by pledging to annex the Arctic territory and his tariffs on imports from European nations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was listening to Merz and will deliver his own speech on Saturday, earlier spoke of a new era in geopolitics.
- Europe > France (0.48)
- North America > Greenland (0.28)
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.27)
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