Saturday, August 08, 2026

London robotaxis granted minicab licences

07.08.2026,

Photo: Julia Kilian/dpa/dpa-tmn

By Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent

A fleet of self-driving cars to be used by Uber in London have been granted minicab licences.

Technology company Wayve said Transport for London (TfL) has awarded private hire vehicle (PHV) licences to a number of its autonomous pure electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

Uber said some of the 100,000 people who signed up to express their interest in experiencing robotaxis will be offered rides in the vehicles “later this summer”, ahead of a full public launch.

A human driver will initially sit behind the wheel ready to take control during journeys, while the technology is demonstrated to be safe.

Wayve vice president for global affairs and assurance, Sarah Gates, said: “This licence is an important step towards giving Londoners the chance to experience autonomous driving technology.

“The responsible deployment of these vehicles will bring us safer, cleaner and quieter streets, and we’re proud to continue working alongside regulators, communities and the public as we take the next steps towards making autonomous rides a reality in the capital.”

Uber global head of autonomous mobility operations Annie Duvnjak said: “This licence is a key milestone in bringing autonomous rides to London on Uber.

“Our interest list has seen an incredible response from Londoners who are excited to experience Wayve’s British-built autonomous driving technology.”

A TfL spokesperson said safety is its “top priority” and any new vehicle licensed to carry passengers in London must align with its target of eliminating all deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.

Wayve’s modifications to the Mustang Mach-E – such as its six cameras – were assessed by experts and found “they do not compromise passenger safety”, he added.

A qualified driver must be present and remain responsible for the car under the terms of a PHV licence.

Uber and Wayve will be required to obtain separate approval from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency if they want to operate the cars without a driver.

Wayve was founded in 2017 by two University of Cambridge PhD students.

London will be the first city in the world to use its technology for commercial journeys.

Wayve is also working with car manufacturers such as Nissan and Stellantis to deploy its systems in private vehicles.

Rare German WWII fighter flies again after restoration in Turkey

06.08.2026, DPA

Photo: M.S.Ö. Hava ve Uzay Müzesi/Luft- und Raumfahrtmuseum Eskisehir/dpa

A rare German World War II Focke-Wulf 190 fighter aircraft was restored and returned to the skies after more than 80 years, with German Klaus Plasa piloting the maiden post-restoration flight in Turkey.

The aircraft crashed in France in 1944 during WWII. Its wreckage was taken to the United States in 2000, where restoration began, however the aircraft remained grounded.

It was brought to Turkey in 2023 through the efforts of the Sivrihisar Aviation Club Association in western Eskişehir province, state news agency Anadolu reported over the weekend.

An 11-member team led by Turkish aerobatic pilot Ali İsmet Öztürk disassembled and rebuilt the aircraft over 14 months. Only eight Focke-Wulf 190s remain worldwide, about half of them airworthy, Anadolu quoted Öztürk as saying.

The Sivrihisar Aviation Club plans to display the aircraft at an air show in Eskişehir in September.

The project aims to preserve the aviation heritage shared by Turkey and Germany, Anadolu said.

In the early 20th century, Germany helped modernize the army, including air forces, of then Ottoman Empire. In 1926, modern Turkey and the German company Junkers built a joint aircraft factory in the Central Anatolian city of Kayseri.

UK minister will not intervene in Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros

06.08.2026, DPA

Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on Thursday said she will not intervene in the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery by Paramount.

Paramount Skydance beat Netflix in a bidding war to take over Warner Bros Discovery in a $110 billion deal, which is still ongoing.

Nandy said in June she was “minded to intervene” on the merger, on the basis it would impact media plurality in the UK.

In a public statement on Thursday, the culture secretary said Paramount “put forward a set of assurances seeking to address the issues raised.”

She added: “These assurances included a range of commitments on future investment in the UK, maintaining the distinct editorial identities of key services and the editorial independence of news.

“Following further discussions with DCMS officials, Paramount offered to strengthen those assurances and turn them into legally-binding commitments by way of a ‘deed of undertaking’ made in the Secretary of State’s favour.”

The Competition and Markets Authority has decided there are no competition aspects of the proposed merger in the UK which would necessitate its further intervention.

Paramount will provide Nandy with annual statements of compliance under the deed, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will “closely monitor their implementation.”

Nandy has accepted the deed and will formally update Parliament on her decision when it returns from summer recess in September.

The statement added that the media sector is “undergoing a profound and rapid transformation” and the culture secretary “believes it is of the utmost importance to protect plurality, diversity and distinct British voices across our wider creative industries.”

Nandy will meet with Paramount “in the coming weeks” to seek assurance about the impact the proposed deal will have on Britain’s wider creative industries.

Paramount has told the minister it will not consolidate its linear channels with its on-demand services in the UK and both will retain their distinct editorial identities.

The company has promised Channel 5 News will retain its editorial independence and will be separate from Paramount’s other news operations, CBS News and CNN International.

Paramount has also committed more funding to news, drama and original children’s programming.

The commitments in the deed will come into effect on the date on which the transaction completes, and will remain effective for a period of five years.

Under the Enterprise Act 2002, Nandy’s powers of intervention are limited to public interest considerations, such as media plurality and editorial independence.

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery recently agreed to pause their proposed merger until next summer, as a judge continues to consider a challenge from 12 US states seeking to block the deal altogether.

In a court filing, Paramount said it would not close the merger until either a court ruling is made on the merits of the states’ lawsuit or June 1, 2027.

Making a splash: Famed Berlin theatre opens pool outside its doors

NOT A REFLECTING POOL

08.08.2026

Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa

By Julia Kilian, dpa

Berliners can now take a dip outside one of Germany's best-known theatres after the city's Volksbühne opened a temporary swimming pool in the square in front of the venue.

The theatre's new artistic director, Matthias Lilienthal, said the pool had become something of a talking point in the German capital.

"For the past two weeks, the city has talked about nothing else but whether the pool is a brilliant idea or completely stupid," Lilienthal told dpa, only slightly exaggerating.

He recalled one local approaching him a few days ago and telling him that he must be "completely nuts."

"I thanked her for the compliment, and then she said she loves the pool," said Lilienthal, who has already taken a dive.

Lilienthal sees the project, in part, as a political protest against deteriorating public infrastructure - a frequent source of frustration in Berlin lately. He has pointed in particular to problems with the city's swimming pools, schools and public transport.

The Volksbühne, or People's Theatre, is a Berlin cultural institution renowned for provocative and experimental theatre. Under longtime artistic director Frank Castorf, who held the post from 1992 to 2015, it became internationally known for radical productions that mixed theatre with video, loud music and other unconventional techniques.

The price of a plunge

The 25-metre pool, called the Volksbad, opened on Friday and will cost the theatre around €300,000 ($346,000) to install and operate - roughly the cost of a major theatre production.

Admission is free, with timed tickets available online three days in advance. Lifeguards are on duty, changing rooms have been installed and there is even a food stand.

The pool can accommodate up to 46 swimmers at a time and is expected to attract nearly 20,000 visitors before it closes in October.

Not everyone is convinced the money is well spent. Berlin state lawmaker Dunja Wolff, of the centre-left Social Democrats, criticized the project at a time of pressure on cultural budgets, saying she would rather have seen the money go to smaller venues, particularly children's and youth theatres.

The Volksbühne says the project is intended in part to attract people who might not otherwise visit the theatre and to serve as a welcome to the surrounding neighbourhood.

A different kind of stage

Lilienthal's first season as artistic director of the Volksbühne officially begins in October. The 66-year-old previously headed Berlin's HAU theatre and the Munich Kammerspiele. He succeeds René Pollesch, who died suddenly two years ago.

With renovation work still under way on the theatre's overhead stage machinery, Lilienthal organized the pool project ahead of the new season.

The idea was inspired by performance artist Florentina Holzinger, who is currently representing Austria at the Venice Biennale and has previously staged "Ophelia's Got Talent" at the Volksbühne using a large pool of water.

Holzinger is due to return to the Volksbühne for an event marking the end of the pool season, although details have yet to be revealed.

International 'crew' ends 100-day isolation study for space missions

08.08.2026,

Photo: ---/Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)/dpa

By Marco Rauch, dpa

Six men and women from six countries on Friday ended a 100-day cramped, artificially lit isolation study in preparation for future space missions to the moon, Mars and beyond.

The participants in the SOLIS100 research study left the simulation facility of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in Cologne and returned to their daily lives after a final recovery phase.

The goal of the study, conducted on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), was to investigate the effects of long-duration missions - such as those to the moon or Mars - on health and performance under extreme conditions.

The participants from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal spent more than three months cut off from the outside world in a confined environment without sunlight.

They had to make do with limited resources, such as non-perishable food, and without personal contact with family and friends.

Their daily routine consisted of scientific work, medical data collection, a strict exercise programme, and station maintenance. Contact with mission support took place primarily via an intercom system.

Outer space beckoning

According to DLR Division Director Anke Pagels-Kerp, such studies are essential for preparing astronauts for the mental and physical challenges of future missions to the moon or Mars.

The SOLIS100 study aims to standardize data to make future support measures for crews comparable, added project leader Amelie Therre.

The isolation took place at a research facility that enables world-leading studies on extreme environmental conditions. In total, the project lasted 126 days, including preparation and follow-up.

During the one-week follow-up phase after leaving the habitat on August 1, additional data on the crew's physical and cognitive condition was collected.

The study team can now begin analysing the information collected over the entire period (before, during, and after isolation) to determine the developments and effects of isolation.

Residents rally against mass tourism and housing crisis in Mallorca

08.08.2026, DPA

Photo: Tomàs Moyà/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

Mallorcans on Saturday took to the streets again to protest against the huge annual influx of tourists and resultant housing crisis on the Spanish Mediterranean island.

Two weeks after a large rally in the capital Palma against what many islanders see as excessive tourism, the latest protest took place in the western town of Sóller.

Both demonstrations were organized by the citizens' group Menys Turisme Més Vida (Less Tourism, More Life).

According to the authorities, around 1,000 people took part in the rally in the small town, which is extremely popular with tourists.

The Mallorca Zeitung - a German language news outlet for the island's many German visitors and residents - estimated the number of participants at 2,000. The Mallorca Magazin, also published in German, put the figure as high as 2,500.

Chants directed against holidaymakers - who are disparagingly referred to on the island as 'guiris' - could be heard at the demonstration. However, there were no clashes with the police this time, unlike at the rally in Palma.

Menys Turisme Més Vida first called for protests in 2024, angered by the ever-worsening housing crisis resulting from mass tourism on Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands.

Thousands join Prague Pride parade, commemorate Berlin attack victims

08.08.2026, dpa

Photo: Deml Ondøej/CTK/dpa

Tens of thousands of people marched through Prague on Saturday for the high point of the Czech capital's Pride celebrations.

At the start of the parade, participants observed a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Berlin Pride attack two weeks ago.

"As every year, the aim of the festival is to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues, to show how this community lives in the Czech Republic and that it is still waiting for equal rights," said Kamila Fröhlichova, director of the Prague Pride festival.

She emphasized that the attack in Berlin once again highlighted the importance of Pride events. Hate does not begin with physical attacks, but with words and hate speech, she stressed.

During the terrorist attack in Berlin on July 25, the Islamist attacker drove a van into a crowd of people and subsequently crashed the vehicle into a tree. One woman was killed and 31 people were injured, some seriously.

In response to the attack in Berlin, the organizers of the Prague festival announced enhanced security measures. Hundreds of police officers and a de-escalation team accompanied the parade.

Participants were also asked to carry banners by hand or to use plastic poles as wooden poles and broomsticks were to be avoided.

As well as colourful clothing, some parade participants also wore sparkly make-up and carried balloons, mostly featuring rainbow motifs.

The theme of this year's week-long Pride festival was "Times are changing."

According to police reports, there were no major incidents, although a small group of counter-demonstrators also gathered along the route.

The acronym LGBT+ stands for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and wider queer community.

Zurich Street Parade draws hundreds of thousands amid hot temperatures

08.08.2026, 16:34 Uhr

Zurich held its annual Street Parade on Saturday amid sweltering temperatures, drawing hundreds of thousands of party-goers to the Swiss city.

The open-air party, considered the world's largest techno parade, took place under heightened security measures, two weeks after the Islamist attack at the Berlin Pride event.

Under the motto "Together we move," DJs entertained the ravers from nine stages and 30 moving trucks, the Keystone-SDA news agency reported.

Two huge showers were set up along the route to help guests cool down, with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and full sunshine.

Entry to the Street Parade was free - but services had to be paid for.

The Blick website reported that a half-litre can of beer cost 9.50 Swiss francs ($11.75). A wristband granting unlimited use of the party toilets cost 10 Swiss francs.

In the run-up to the event, authorities carried out intensified risk assessments and security forces were on high alert in response to the attack in Berlin, said a police spokeswoman, according to a report by broadcaster SRF. Barriers to keep vehicles off the festival site have long been part of the security plan.

Pasta of the future: Italy tests climate-resistant wheat

Cover image: FOCUS 05:03 min From the show

Issued on: 04/08/2026 - FRANCE 24

Pasta may be one of the world's most beloved staples, but technology is being used to improve the iconic Italian dish. In the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy's "Food Valley", researchers are creating the pasta of the future by focusing on its main ingredient, wheat. FRANCE 24's Natalia Mendoza, Laura Roudaut, Tommaso Marro and Charlotte Davan Wetton report.

BY:

Natalia MENDOZA

Laura Roudaut

Tommaso MARRO

Charlotte DAVAN WETTON

High stakes for Ireland's EU presidency amid migration row over Ceuta crisis

Ireland this week found itself at the centre of Europe’s increasingly fraught migration debate, as it sought to calm a dispute among European Union member states following last week's influx of 50,000 people into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.

Issued on: 08/08/2026 - RFI

Tents at a makeshift camp for migrants along the banks of the Grand Canal, west of Dublin, 21 May, 2024. © AFP/Ben Stansall

Interior ministers from the EU's 27 member states attended an emergency meeting on Tuesday at Dublin's invitation, with Ireland having assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union last month.

Spain said it had returned “almost all” of the migrants who entered Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco. But the episode has reignited tensions between Spain and countries advocating a tougher approach to immigration, including Italy and Denmark.

The meeting saw Ireland attempting to reconcile sharply differing views, while also navigating a significant shift in its own migration policy.

Twenty-two EU states signed a letter expressing “deep concern” over the situation in Ceuta and criticising Spain’s handling of the crisis.

The signatories included Italy, Germany, Denmark and Finland, while Ireland and France were among those who declined to sign.

Migrants in Ceuta wait in line to receive food from the Red Cross, following a mass crossings on foot and by sea from Morocco, 3 August. © Violeta Santos Moura / Reuters

The decision reflected Dublin’s plan for its role during its six-month EU presidency, in which it is seeking to present itself as capable of easing tensions and helping member states find common ground.

The country's Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting, was tasked with steering discussions involving governments with markedly different approaches to migration.

Ireland has traditionally stood apart from much of Europe in the debate. Unlike in several other member states, the far right has so far gained little electoral influence.

But migration has become an increasingly prominent political issue in the country, as pressure on the asylum reception system has collided with a prolonged housing crisis.

Public frustration has grown, while racist and anti-migrant demonstrations have become more frequent.

Asylum reforms

The Irish government has responded by introducing what it describes as the most substantial overhaul of the asylum system in decades.

The reform strengthens checks on new arrivals, expands the use of biometric data and makes it easier to deport people whose asylum applications have been rejected.

The government has defended this tougher approach, arguing that it must address voters’ concerns and prevent more radical political forces from exploiting the issue.

Immigration has consequently moved closer to the centre of the Irish electoral debate.

As The Irish Times recently wrote in an opinion piece column in May: “Some Irish people have concerns about immigration. If we don’t listen to them, the populists will.”

Human rights organisations, however, have criticised the reforms, warning that efforts to accelerate asylum procedures could weaken protections.

The Ceuta crisis has thus provided Ireland with both a diplomatic test and an opportunity to define its emerging position on migration.

Long regarded as being on the margins of Europe’s most contentious immigration debates, Ireland has now been drawn directly into them – both as the country holding the EU presidency and as a government reshaping its own asylum policies at home.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Clémence Pénard, RFI's correspondent in Dublin.

Meta, TikTok face EU criticism after mass migrant crossings into Ceuta

08.08.2026, DPA

Photo: Iván Zambrano/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen has criticized Meta and TikTok over their handling of misinformation during the recent migration crisis in the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta, calling for greater monitoring of social media platforms during crises.

Tens of thousands of people crossed into Ceuta from Morocco late last month, overwhelming the tiny territory and triggering a political dispute over the protection of the European Union's external borders.

Social media appears to have played a significant role in the mass crossings. Numerous migrants said videos and messages on platforms such as TikTok had suggested that the normally heavily guarded border had suddenly been opened.

Claims also spread rapidly that accommodation would be available in Ceuta and that migrants would be able to travel onwards to the Spanish mainland.

The EU now plans to monitor popular social media platforms more closely in an effort to better prepare for similar developments.

Following an emergency meeting of EU member states this week, officials said early-warning systems could be further developed, including through social media monitoring, to improve the bloc's shared assessment of emerging situations.

"Platforms must act decisively in keeping the integrity of the digital space, in particular during crisis situations," Virkkunen wrote on X following a meeting with representatives of TikTok and Facebook parent Meta on Friday.

"Monitoring must increase, cooperation with fact-checkers to be strengthened," she added.

Monoskop.org
https://monoskop.org/images/9/95/Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf
EMPIRE - Monoskop
4.3 The Multitude against Empire. 393. Notes. 415. Index. 473. Page 11. PREFACE. Empire is materializing before our very eyes. Over the past several decades, as ...
Rebels-library.org
http://rebels-library.org/files/multitude.pdf
MULTITUDE - Rebel Studies Library
Page 1. MULTITUDE. WAR AND DEMOCRACY. IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE. MICHAEL HARDT ... Empire calls on war for its legitimation, the multitude calls on democracy as its ...

Newleftreview.org

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii120/articles/empire-twenty-years-on.pdf

EMPIRE, TWENTY YEARS ON | New Left Review

Just as today's. Empire was formed in response to the insurgencies of the multitudes from below, so too, potentially, it could fall to them, as long as those.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment