EU looks at legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China
The EU is considering legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China to insulate Europe from future hostile acts, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, says. Underlining the threats posed by over dependency on China, Séjourné said if industry did not respond, the commission reserved the right to introduce legislation. “We would force European companies legally to diversify their sources of supply. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. after newsletter promotionOf that, “17,000 to 18,000” tonnes come from China, 1,000 are produced in the EU with the remainder from other countries.
Source:The Guardian
December 04, 2025 00:55 UTC
Germany to host Women’s Euro 2029 after pledging to smash ticket sales record
Germany will host the 2029 Women’s European Championship after receiving the vast majority of the votes from Uefa’s executive committee. The decision came in the first round of voting, with 15 of the 17 votes going to Germany. Germany are record eight-time European champions and the 2029 tournament will come five years after the nation hosted the men’s competition. Photograph: Sven Beyrich/SPP/Shutterstock“We are proud and delighted to be hosting Uefa Women’s Euro 2029,” the DFB president, Bernd Neuendorf, said. Following the wonderful Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland, we want to set new standards.
Source:The Guardian
December 03, 2025 23:26 UTC
‘The biggest decision yet’: Jared Kaplan on allowing AI to train itself
View image in fullscreen The decision to ‘let go’ of the reins on AI is likely to come between 2027 and 2030, Kaplan says. A Harvard Business Review study in September said AI “workslop” – substandard AI enabled-work that humans have to fix – was reducing productivity. In September, Anthropic revealed its cutting-edge AI, Claude Sonnet 4.5, a model for computer coding that can build AI agents and autonomously use computers. Kaplan said allowing AIs to train the next AIs was “an extremely high-stakes decision to make”. View image in fullscreen Some of the biggest gains have been in using AIs to write computer code.
Source:The Guardian
December 03, 2025 02:08 UTC
Production of French-German fighter jet threatened by rivalries, chief executive says
The leaders of France and Germany have a “strong willingness” to build a new fighter jet together despite bitter internal rivalries, according to the chief executive of engine manufacturer Safran. A row over who should lead between French aerospace company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus has threatened to break apart the countries’ efforts to make a next-generation fighter jet. However, many analysts and industry leaders – including Airbus’s chief executive – have openly mused about whether separate European projects should duplicate efforts to build the planes. The chief executive’s comments came during a visit to lobby UK government ministers and express willingness to invest in Britain. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter.
Source:The Guardian
December 02, 2025 21:31 UTC
‘It’s going much too fast’: the inside story of the race to create the ultimate AI
To hear it is to feel in your skull the brute force involved in the the development of AI technology. Even a relatively modest Google AI factory planned in Essex is expected to emit the equivalent carbon footprint of 500 short-haul flights a week. Silicon Valley has always run on youth, and if experience is needed more can be found in the highest ranks of the AI companies. When he joined OpenAI, AGI was “a very abstract, mythical concept – almost like a rallying cry for me”, he said. But Trump shows no signs of binding the AI companies’ with red tape and is piling pressure on the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, to follow suit.
Source:The Guardian
December 02, 2025 17:32 UTC
World Cup 2026 draw: which teams have qualified and how does it work?
When does the World Cup draw take place? The World Cup draw will start at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center at 12pm local time on Friday 5 December (5pm GMT/4am Saturday AEST). The 12 groups for the World Cup will then be formed by one team from each pot (full pots listed later). Sure, speculation is all we’ve got until the actual World Cup kicks off next year. The one who said immigrants from Haiti – who just qualified for the World Cup in heroic fashion – eat pet dogs?
Source:The Guardian
December 02, 2025 17:29 UTC
Floods kill at least 1,100 people across south and south-east Asia – video
Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel as they raced to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed more than 1,100 people across four countries in Asia. Millions of people have been affected by a combination of tropical cyclones and heavy monsoon rains in Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days. In Indonesia, at least 604 people have been killed and 464 remain missing, according to the national disaster agency. The death toll stands at 366 in Sri Lanka, with 366 missing, and 176 dead in Thailand. Three deaths have been reported in Malaysia
Source:The Guardian
December 02, 2025 02:31 UTC
Zipcar, world’s biggest car-sharing company, to close UK operation
The world’s biggest car-sharing company, Zipcar, has said it will close its UK operation, removing access to its shared fleet across London at the end of this year. The UK operating company had 71 staff last year, according to its latest accounts. Zipcar was thought to run nearly 3,000 vehicles, including cars and vans – the majority of the 5,300 shared vehicles in the UK. “We’ve been warning for a while about the viability of car clubs in London,” said Dilks. However, the proposed UK closure would come after Zipcar (UK) reported an £11.7m loss for 2024.
Source:The Guardian
December 01, 2025 20:56 UTC
Swiss prosecutors file charges against Credit Suisse and UBS over ‘tuna bonds’ scandal
Switzerland’s federal prosecutor has filed charges against the failed bank Credit Suisse and its new owner, UBS, over the long-running “tuna bonds” loan scandal that crashed Mozambique’s economy nearly a decade ago. The Swiss attorney general said on Monday that it had brought money-laundering charges against an unnamed employee of Credit Suisse, but was also taking action against the lender and its rival-turned-owner UBS. Credit Suisse had already settled the case with US and UK regulators in 2021, having paid $275m to American watchdogs and £147m to Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority. The Swiss attorney general’s office accused Credit Suisse and its owner of “not taking all the required and reasonable organisational measures in the relevant period in 2016 to prevent the money laundering that was allegedly committed”. Credit Suisse had for years been mired in scandals, but panic over its future grew after its largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, ruled out any extra funding for the Swiss lender despite the growing turmoil.
Source:The Guardian
December 01, 2025 15:54 UTC
All the president’s millions: how the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches
Trump’s eldest sons, Don Jr and Eric, formally the custodians of the family business, are conducting a global dealmaking blitz. But the Trumps’ business interests are raising questions about convictions that have been quashed, sensitive technologies transferred, tariffs eased, alliances forged. Since last year, the Trumps’ business in the region has accelerated. Four months into Trump’s second term, World Liberty announced that its USD1 digital currency had been selected for a gigantic transaction. The $2bn jump in the reserves from this one deal could end up making the Trumps’ company tens of millions annually.
Source:The Guardian
December 01, 2025 03:19 UTC
The Guardian view on the inequality emergency: why a Nobel prize winner’s warning must be heeded | Editorial
It may, alarmingly, become the norm if the global “inequality emergency” continues. It is a global harm, with 90% of the world’s population living under the World Bank’s definition of “high income inequality”. His blueprint for change is contained within the G20’s first-ever inequality report, endorsed by key European, African and middle-income nations. The G20 inequality report lays out a comprehensive redesign of global economic governance reminiscent of 1944’s Bretton Woods settlement. Prof Stiglitz argues that the time has come for an International Panel on Inequality.
Source:The Guardian
December 01, 2025 03:14 UTC
Winter storm brings foot of snow to midwest over busiest US travel weekend
A Thanksgiving weekend storm system brought over a foot of snow and strong winds across the US midwest and thunderstorms across the south, as 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts. No serious injuries were reported from the car pile-up in Indiana, which was reported around 11.30am local time on Saturday, according to Indiana state police. “Folks, if you can stay home, stay home,” said Sergeant Matt Ames. Photograph: Kiichiro Sato/APSeveral areas of Iowa reported over a foot of snow on Saturday, with parts of Illinois, including Chicago, recording 5in and counting. Illinois state police reported nearly 500 auto crashes in the Chicago area on Saturday, with 66 incidents involving injuries.
Source:The Guardian
December 01, 2025 00:20 UTC
Pope Leo urges Lebanese leaders to make peace highest priority
Pope Leo has urged political leaders in Lebanon to make peace their highest priority in a forceful appeal as he is visiting the country, which remains a target of Israeli airstrikes, on the second leg of his first overseas trip as Catholic leader. View image in fullscreen Pope Leo is greeted by the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, as he arrives at the presidential palace in Beirut, Lebanon. View image in fullscreen Boys from the Hezbollah-run Imam al-Mahdi scouts hold portraits of Pope Leo XIV as they wait for his arrival in Beirut’s southern suburbs. View image in fullscreen Women wave Lebanese and Vatican flags as the pope motorcade drives past in Beirut, Lebanon. Leo will not travel to the south, the target of Israeli strikes, and he did not mention Israel in his speech.
Source:The Guardian
November 30, 2025 21:09 UTC
White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories
The White House rolled out a new section of its official website on Friday that publicly criticizes and catalogs media organizations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage. The controversy arose after Trump accused Democrats of “seditious behavior, punishable by death” on social media. He also reposted a statement including the words: “hang them.”According to the site, “The Democrats and Fake News Media subversively implied that President Trump had issued illegal orders to service members. Every order President Trump has issued has been lawful. A leaderboard currently ranks the Washington Post as the top offender, with MSNBC and CBS News taking the second and third slots.
Source:The Guardian
November 30, 2025 17:51 UTC
Dignitas founder ends his own life through assisted death
The head of the Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas has ended his life through an assisted death, the group has said. Internationally there has been a significant shift in attitudes towards assisted dying in the nearly three decades since Dignitas was founded. France recently voted to allow some people in the last stages of a terminal illness the right to assisted dying. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Austria have all introduced assisted dying laws since 2015. About 1,900 people from the UK are members of Dignitas, including the TV presenter and assisted dying campaigner Esther Rantzen.
Source:The Guardian
November 30, 2025 17:48 UTC