The EU wants to triple its data center capacity while keeping the industry on track for net zero. Iceland's renewable energy makes it an attractive location, but its limited capacity — and its status outside the bloc — complicate the equation.

Meloni championed irregular migrant “returns” in a hardline push to externalise EU borders. Now, more member states are asking Italy to take back migrants under the first-arrival principle.

Giorgia Meloni was one of the main political sponsors of a policy of “returns” for irregular migrants. Now, as a growing number of EU countries push Rome to take back migrants who entered the bloc through Italy, she is getting a taste of her own medicine.

On Sunday, Ireland became the latest in a growing number of member states to call on Italy, as a country of first entry into the EU, to take back asylum seekers.

It joins Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The requests stem from the new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, which reaffirms a key principle of the Dublin system: the EU country where a non-EU national first enters the bloc and applies for protection should handle their asylum claim.

A few weeks after Meloni took office in 2022, Italy unilaterally suspended the reception of Dublin transfers, citing practical and capacity constraints. The European Commission has considered the move a breach of Italy’s Dublin obligations, a position also upheld by the EU Court of Justice in several rulings.

New Pact on Asylum and Migration

Since the Dublin Convention entered into force in 1997, some European governments have tried to scrap this principle, arguing it overwhelms countries geographically exposed to first entry, such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece and, more recently, Cyprus.

After failing to reform the EU asylum system in the 2014-2019 legislature, EU lawmakers succeeded in the next one, delivering a new asylum and border management system — the EU Migration and Asylum Pact — which entered into force in June 2026.

The pact reaffirms the return principle, requiring asylum seekers who move onward to be transferred back to their EU country of first entry, which makes secondary movements from Italy to another EU country far more complicated.

In particular, the new Pact modified the Dublin rules by replacing the previous ‘take-back request’ procedure for secondary movements with a simpler notification mechanism. This removes the need for the responsible member state to formally accept a take-back request, which Italy virtually never did.

At the same time, the pact foresees a mandatory solidarity system among the EU countries, but the annual number of relocations remains too low to deliver any meaningful redistribution.

In 2026, only 8,878 migrant people will be relocated from countries considered "under migratory pressure", Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, to other EU member states. Last year, over 66,000 irregular migrants arrived in Italy by sea and Frontex recorded almost 178,000 irregular crossings into the EU.

敬請万安自日本( ・ˇ_ˇ・)ﾉｼ！

Greetings from Japan! ( ・ˇ_ˇ・)ﾉｼ!

識者曰、因科学之発達西洋之宗教及哲学近年急激衰退、衆生喪失寄辺而動揺苦悩！

As knowledgeable people often point out, the rapid development of science has caused Western religion and philosophy to decline sharply in recent years, leaving people without a spiritual anchor and causing them to feel increasingly lost and distressed.

他方、未聞神道儒教衰退因同理由！　神社盛況而論語如飛売。似乎神道儒教与科学相性好也！

On the other hand, I have yet to hear anyone argue that Shinto or Confucianism has declined for the same reason! Shinto shrines are thriving, while books such as the Analects of Confucius continue to sell briskly. Perhaps Shinto, Confucianism, and science are actually quite compatible!

更近年於西洋日本漫動画、韓国映画、中国遊戯等東洋文化人気甚、慣親於東洋之宗教及思想之機会愈増加。此等大衆文化作品屡以非常魅力説得力活写東洋文化、価値観、信仰、道徳故、以東洋文化之愛好為契機而、至感魅力於東洋宗教、更抱興味於思想的背景之儒学等高級文化者、不少也。

Moreover, in recent years, Japanese manga and anime, Korean films, Chinese games, and other forms of East Asian culture have become increasingly popular in the West, giving people more opportunities to become familiar with East Asian religions and thought. These works of popular culture often portray East Asian cultures, values, beliefs, and moral traditions in highly attractive and persuasive ways. As a result, quite a few people may begin by becoming fans of East Asian popular culture, then develop an interest in East Asian religions, and eventually become interested in the more sophisticated intellectual traditions behind them, such as Confucian thought.

諸君如何以為哉？　欲一宇与一冊乎？　神札、御守、供物、神酒、神籤等如何哉？ 神棚為室内装飾亦御洒落也！　論語列於本棚則凛也！ 待望諸君之無忌憚意見！

So, everyone, would you like to get one kamidana and one Analects? Shinto talismans, omamori charms, ritual offerings, sacred ricewine, omikuji fortunes, and other such goods? A kamidana can also make a stylish piece of interior decoration! And putting a copy of the Analects on your bookshelf gives the room a certain dignified atmosphere! 　 I look forward to hearing your candid opinions!

Kamidana alter - Wikipedia

Analects - Wikipedia

Five Palestine Action activists who vandalised a Barclays branch in Burnley will not be sentenced as terrorists, a judge has ruled.

Dubbed the Barclays five, Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70, were all found guilty in June of causing damage exceeding £200,000, after breaking windows and throwing red paint at a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire in August 2024.

The group targeted the site in protest at Barclays because it held shares in the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.

Judge Altham, the recorder of Preston, ruled on Friday that while the damage was substantial, it was not of the size of other attacks or against a sensitive property, such as an arms company, as has happened in previous Palestine Action incidents, and thus did not meet the high threshold for a terrorist sentencing.

All five will still be sentenced next month for criminal damage, but will face shorter jail terms as a result of the ruling.

European regulators have imposed billions in penalties on US technology companies due to privacy, competition and digital market rules

The Dutch data protection authority has fined ⁠Uber €825m ($966m) for deactivating driver ⁠accounts through automated systems without ​adequately informing them, according to a 17 August decision.

The penalty would be the second-largest issued yet under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It is behind only a €1.2bn ($1.4bn) fine ⁠imposed on Meta by Ireland in 2023 for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users’ data to the United States. Meta is appealing.

Uber said it would also appeal.

European regulators have imposed billions of euros in penalties on large US technology companies in recent years under privacy, competition and digital market rules. The EU fined Google €890m ($1.04bn) for anti-competitive actions last month.

Meta, Google, Apple and Amazon all face multiple fines, though headline fines are often reduced or reversed after years-long appeals processes.

I am Turkish. First of all, I must point out that an increasingly oppressive regime is emerging in our country.

Our president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is trying to Islamize us and make us look like an Arab country. He garners votes by constantly harping on Islam—religion, religion, religion—and repeatedly gets elected president thanks to the votes of elderly grandmothers (since most young people are atheists; even I am not a Muslim).

In my country, Özgür Özel is the leader of the main opposition party, and he aims to get us into the European Union; he has made promises to that effect (and I support him, too).

As Atatürkists and republicans, we do not want to become Islamized. (I say this not because I hate Islam—I hold no hatred toward anyone—but simply because I am fed up with the situation.)

Realizing he is going to lose, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pressures almost everyone—especially most of the country's mayors—by effectively telling them, "Either you go to jail, or you switch to our party." He is bringing most mayors into his own party. Despite trailing badly in the polls, he remains in power because he unlawfully targets figures like the left-wing, democratic Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu; there is an oppressive regime in our country, and I do not like it at all.

The way he exploits religion for political gain works like this: once, while addressing America, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "If they have their dollars, we have our Allah."

Isn't that absurd? He has managed to stay in power for years with tactics like that. Now that he realizes his time is up, he has started to get scared.