All posts tagged: Europe

Real Madrid’s LaLiga match against Valencia postponed due to deadly floods | Football News

Real Madrid’s LaLiga match against Valencia postponed due to deadly floods | Football News

The Spanish Football Federation adjusted this week’s LaLiga schedule in response to the disaster. Real Madrid’s away match at Valencia this weekend has been postponed by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) due to floods that have killed more than 95 people. Villarreal’s home match against Rayo Vallecano was also suspended after the flash floods in eastern Spain. LaLiga asked the RFEF to postpone Valencia’s and Villarreal’s matches on Saturday as well as three second-division games involving teams from affected areas. “It has been agreed to postpone matches that were to be played in professional and non-professional competitions, both in 11-a-side football and in indoor football [in the Valencia region],” the RFEF said in a statement on Thursday. The federation had already postponed several midweek Copa del Rey first-round matches, including Valencia’s game against Parla Escuela. A moment of silence for the flood victims will be held at matches this weekend in Spain, including league leaders Barcelona’s Catalan derby against Espanyol on Sunday. Source link

Contactless stores to grow in Europe as Sensei reels in another M

Contactless stores to grow in Europe as Sensei reels in another $16M

While Amazon Go helped pioneer the concept of the totally contactless store, others, like 7-Eleven and Walmart, have entered the territory. And the arena is growing, in part because several startups — such as  Standard Cognition, Zippin, AiFi, Grabango, Trigo — have proliferated, offering their technology to retailers.  But in Europe, Portuguese startup Sensei has been growing its contactless store platform and has now pulled in a €15 million Series A funding round led by BlueCrow Capital. Also participating were new investors Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, and Kamay Ventures (the investment arm of Coca-Cola and Arcor Group), as well as existing investors Metro AG and Techstars Ventures. In 2021 Lisbon-based Sensei raised a seed round of $6.5 million (€5.4 million). Back then, the funding was led by Seaya Ventures and Iberis Capital, with participation from 200M Fund. The startup is now aiming at 1,000 fully autonomous points of sale by 2026. It is already operating with clients in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Brazil, and plans to expand into central and northern Europe. Using computer vision, AI-powered sensors, and real-time …

The best luxury hotels in the Cotswolds

The best luxury hotels in the Cotswolds

From gracious old farmsteads and magnificent manor houses to an ancient coaching inn creaking with Tudor character, the top luxury hotels in the Cotswolds combine a wonderful sense of history with contemporary style and outstanding modern British cuisine. Whether near picturesque Broadway in the north of the region or close to Bath in the south, location is a key attribute to them all: some offer serene escapes in acres of their own rolling parkland; others sit amid superb gardens; and several take over classic honey-stone villages that look as if they have been beamed in from a halcyon era of the past. They all excel in providing creature comforts, whether crackling fires by kick-back sofas, canopy beds with soft throws, or suites with terraces and hot tubs. Facilities are top-notch too, ranging from beautiful bars and quiet terraces to blissful spas with inviting pools and even an opportunity for equine adventures. Read on to discover our pick of the best luxury hotels in the Cotswolds. Source link

Cybercriminals increasingly help Russia, China, Iran target US, allies

Cybercriminals increasingly help Russia, China, Iran target US, allies

WASHINGTON —  Russia, China and Iran are increasingly relying on criminal networks to lead cyberespionage and hacking operations against adversaries such as the United States, according to a report on digital threats published Tuesday by Microsoft. The growing collaboration between authoritarian governments and criminal hackers has alarmed national security officials and cybersecurity experts. They say it represents the increasingly blurred lines between actions directed by Beijing or the Kremlin aimed at undermining rivals and the illicit activities of groups typically more interested in financial gain. In one example, Microsoft’s analysts found that a criminal hacking group with links to Iran infiltrated an Israeli dating site and then tried to sell or ransom the personal information it obtained. Microsoft concluded the hackers had two motives: to embarrass Israelis and make money. In another, investigators identified a Russian criminal network that infiltrated more than 50 electronic devices used by the Ukrainian military in June, apparently seeking access and information that could aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There was no obvious financial motive for the group, aside from …

Crypto Bro and Alleged Fraudster Appointed Leader of a Tiny “Micronation” in Eastern Europe

Crypto Bro and Alleged Fraudster Appointed Leader of a Tiny “Micronation” in Eastern Europe

What happens in Liberland stays in Liberland. Liber Free A crypto bro who’s been accused of fraud has just become one of the most powerful men in a 2.7-square-mile, self-proclaimed “micronation” of Liberland. As Quartz reports, crypto network Tron founder Justin Sun was elected this week in a so-called “blockchain-based election” as the Speaker of Congress for the tiny state wedged on previously unclaimed wetlands between Croatia and Serbia. Shortly thereafter, the disputed country‘s Czech-born right-wing libertarian president and founder Vít Jedlička nominated Sun to be the country’s prime minister as well, effectively putting him in charge of two of Liberland’s three most powerful positions. “The election process, governed by a simple set of rules, was entirely algorithmic, providing transparency,” reads a statement from Liberland’s spokespeople, per Cointelegraph. “This system has a unique ability to eliminate doubt regarding election outcomes, a challenge faced by many countries still relying on traditional methods.” Yes, we’re aware that this all sounds like madlibs — and reader, we’re just getting started. Baby Country Sun, as Quartz notes, gained notoriety in the crypto …

EU officials blast Hungary’s Orban over Ukraine stance, democratic decline | European Union News

EU officials blast Hungary’s Orban over Ukraine stance, democratic decline | European Union News

Lawmakers belt out antifascist anthem, prompting European Parliament president to declare: ‘This is not Eurovision’. Top European Union officials have slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over democratic backsliding at home and his Russia-friendly stance that has blocked military and financial aid to Ukraine. Orban, whose country currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, came under fire on Wednesday after warning officials gathered in Strasbourg, France, about the “migration crisis” and the war in Ukraine as he addressed the European Parliament. Leading the charge against Orban, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took aim at Budapest’s stalling of EU support for Kyiv and refusal to join Western efforts to arm Ukraine to fight off Moscow. “The world has witnessed the atrocities of Russia’s war. And yet, there are still some who blame this war not on the invader but the invaded,” said von der Leyen. “There are still some who blame this war not on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s lust for power but on Ukraine’s thirst for freedom.” In July, Orban stoked controversy when …

Raging wildfires in central Greece leave two people dead | Climate Crisis News

Raging wildfires in central Greece leave two people dead | Climate Crisis News

Two people have died in a rugged mountainous area in central Greece while trying to help firefighters tackle a forest fire that has forced several villages to be evacuated, authorities have said. The fire near Corinth, 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of Athens, was still burning on Monday, fanned by fierce winds. Greek police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou said the recovered bodies were severely burnt and that laboratory tests were necessary for their identification. The fire brigade has launched an investigation, the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection said. Smoke from the fire, which burned several homes and a church, hovered over the capital throughout Monday. Greece, like other southern European countries, is plagued by destructive wildfires in the summer that have been exacerbated by global warming. The country this year has experienced its hottest-ever summer after its warmest winter on record, which left large areas with scant or no rain. Over the past few months, authorities have had to cope with more than 4,500 wildfires in countryside left parched by a protracted drought and early summer …

Big Tech’s New Adversaries in Europe

Big Tech’s New Adversaries in Europe

If the past five years of EU tech rules could take human form, they would embody Thierry Breton. The bombastic commissioner, with his swoop of white hair, became the public face of Brussels’ irritation with American tech giants, touring Silicon Valley last summer to personally remind the industry of looming regulatory deadlines. Combative and outspoken, Breton warned that Apple had spent too long “squeezing” other companies out of the market. In a case against TikTok, he emphasized, “our children are not guinea pigs for social media.” His confrontational attitude to the CEOs themselves was visible in his posts on X. In the lead-up to Musk’s interview with Donald Trump, Breton posted a vague but threatening letter on his account reminding Musk there would be consequences if he used his platform to amplify “harmful content.” Last year, he published a photo with Mark Zuckerberg, declaring a new EU motto of “move fast to fix things”—a jibe at the notorious early Facebook slogan. And in a 2023 meeting with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Breton reportedly got him …

Storm Boris rages on in eastern and central Europe

Storm Boris rages on in eastern and central Europe

This aerial photograph taken on September 15, 2024 shows a view of the flooded city center in Glucholazy, southern Poland. SERGEI GAPON / AFP One person has drowned in Poland and four people are missing in the Czech Republic, authorities said on Sunday, September 15, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains and flooding. Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually fierce rains. The storm has already caused the death of four people in Romania, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across the continent. Read more Subscribers only After a year of records, heatwaves and floods continue to rage across the planet “We have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region” on the Polish-Czech border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday morning. Tusk was travelling through the southwest of the country, which has been hit hardest by the floods. Around 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko, and Polish authorities have called …