Author: Andrew Rogers

Amazon’s cloud division suffered at least one outage last year after an internal AI agent made a critical change to its own environment.The system reportedly deleted and recreated part of its setup, causing a 13-hour disruption. AWS runs large parts of the internet, so even smaller incidents raise concern about concentration of infrastructure.Another outage in October knocked dozens of websites offline for hours. Amazon said the event resulted from user misconfiguration, not artificial intelligence failure.It added that only one incident affected customer-facing services and that safeguards have since increased.These include stricter access controls and mandatory peer review for sensitive actions.…

Airbus has proposed building two separate warplanes to rescue Europe’s stalled Future Combat Air System.The idea would end the dispute with Dassault Aviation over leadership of the next-generation fighter. Chief executive Guillaume Faury said the deadlock must not derail the wider programme.FCAS also includes drones and a combat data cloud.Germany, France and Spain must soon decide whether to proceed with the jet element. German chancellor Friedrich Merz recently questioned the aircraft’s design.Germany does not require a nuclear-capable fighter, while France does.Airbus said a split model could attract new partners but left the final decision to governments. The company reported a…

Top alpine skiers have raised alarm over accelerating glacier loss during the Winter Games in Cortina.Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin said many training glaciers from their early careers have nearly vanished.Federica Brignone warned the changes threaten the planet, not only the sport. Glaciers once visible from Cortina have shrunk dramatically.Major ice masses now lie far from the Olympic venue, and even the Marmolada glacier is melting quickly.Italy has lost more than 200 square kilometres of glacier area since the late 1950s, according to researchers. Athletes rely on glaciers for early-season training because of reliable snow.Warmer temperatures are reducing snow cover,…

Senior UK bank executives will meet this week to begin creating a domestic payments network to rival Visa and Mastercard.The talks will be chaired by Vim Maru of Barclays and will bring together major City funders. The project aims to ensure the economy can keep running if US-owned card systems are disrupted.About 95% of UK card transactions currently rely on Visa or Mastercard.Executives warn that losing access would force businesses back to cash-based payments. Concerns have grown as geopolitical tensions increase and reliance on foreign infrastructure comes under scrutiny.Similar debates are taking place in the EU about building sovereign payment…

Volkswagen aims to cut costs by 20% by 2028 as it reshapes the business for a tougher market.Reports say plant closures remain an option. Chief executive Oliver Blume and finance chief Arno Antlitz outlined the plan to senior managers.The goal is to secure sustainable profits despite falling sales, high costs and growing pressure from Chinese carmakers. An earlier restructuring already included 35,000 job cuts by 2030 to save €10bn.The company says it has achieved savings in the double-digit billion-euro range so far. New data shows the EU trade deficit with China rose to €359.3bn in 2025.German manufacturers remain deeply tied…

Daily GLP-1 tablets are reshaping the fast-growing market for obesity treatments.The new oral Wegovy from Novo Nordisk has drawn strong early demand in the US and could bring these drugs to a wider group of patients.Analysts believe easier dosing, lower prices and no need for refrigeration will make pills more mainstream than injections. Many users are switching from weekly shots such as Zepbound because insurance coverage and costs have changed.Patients report steadier appetite control and simpler routines, though some still prefer a weekly injection to a daily dose. Rival Eli Lilly is preparing its own tablet, orforglipron, intensifying a race…

Driver unrest overshadowed the second Formula One pre-season test in Bahrain.Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both criticised the new regulations. Verstappen said the heavy focus on energy management makes the car “not fun to drive”.He called the concept “anti-racing” and compared it to “Formula E on steroids”.He again suggested he could leave the sport if racing stops being enjoyable.Hamilton described the systems as extremely complex for drivers and fans. The new rules introduce revised engines, chassis, tyres and fully sustainable fuel.Power now comes almost equally from combustion and electric sources.Drivers must constantly control energy deployment during laps. Testing times revealed…

US inflation dropped to 2.4% in January after last year’s tariff-driven price swings. The consumer price index rose 0.2% for the month. Core inflation increased 0.3%. Economists had expected a slightly higher annual rate. Prices moved sharply during 2025, hitting 2.3% in April and 3% in September. They eased to 2.7% by year’s end. The White House credited Trump’s economic agenda for the decline. Officials argued low inflation will support future Federal Reserve rate cuts. Wall Street watches the data for policy signals. The Fed paused cuts in January and will decide again in March. Jerome Powell said tariff effects…

The top legal adviser to the European Court of Justice has said the European Commission should not have released billions of euros to Hungary. Advocate general Tamara Ćapeta argued that required judicial reforms were not fully implemented before about €10bn was unfrozen. The commission had suspended funds in 2022 over concerns about corruption and rule-of-law backsliding under prime minister Viktor Orbán. In 2023, it concluded Hungary had met conditions and restored access to the money. The European Parliament challenged that decision, claiming serious legal errors and suggesting political motives linked to EU support for Ukraine. Ćapeta said the commission failed…

Aerobic exercise such as running, swimming or dancing can serve as a frontline treatment for mild depression and anxiety, researchers say. A major analysis of 63 reviews covering nearly 80,000 people found that physical activity significantly reduced symptoms, especially in young adults and new mothers. The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that heart rate-raising aerobic exercise delivered the strongest benefits. Resistance training and yoga also helped, though to a lesser degree. Group or supervised sessions produced additional improvements, suggesting social interaction plays a key role. Lead researcher Neil Munro of James Cook University said exercise…