World
Brussels looking into getting big tech to fund internet connectivity
The European Fee has launched a session trying on the future financing of web connectivity and if huge tech corporations ought to assist fund it.
Presently, huge telecom corporations, like Telefónica, Telecom and Orange have paid for earlier technological developments, however the Fee opened up the controversy on Thursday to assemble views on whether or not huge tech companies, like Netflix, Amazon and Google, ought to contribute in direction of the event of 5G and fibre networks.
In the course of the announcement to reporters in Brussels, the European Commissioner for Inside Market, and former French telecoms CEO, Thierry Breton, stated that the prices have gotten too excessive for simply telecoms corporations to pay.
“This reflection, I need to say immediately, it’s not carried out ‘in opposition to’ anybody particularly, however it’s carried out ‘for’ our fellow residents to carry them connectivity, to carry them innovation, to carry them good infrastructure and for our corporations to supply them with one of the best connectivity,” he stated.
“As we speak, the burden of those investments is more and more heavy, as we all know, due, amongst different issues, to the low return on investments.”
Telecom corporations have been arguing for years that tech corporations use their companies with out contributing.
For Alessandro Gropelli, the deputy director basic of the European Telecommunications Community Operators’ Affiliation (ETNO), this imbalance can’t go on.
“We expect that that is not sustainable,” he informed Euronews.
“Your Web invoice, your telephone invoice can’t be the one manner through which we fund 5G and fibre. There may be one other group of corporations that makes some huge cash on the web with private knowledge, with promoting and so it is just pure in our view, that additionally they contribute to that.”
Nevertheless, the Laptop & Communications Trade Affiliation, which displays the tech corporations’ pursuits, argues that the Fee ought to discover a extra “inclusive” strategy and asks it to desert the thought of burden-sharing.
The Fee additionally introduced plans to make gigabit connectivity – 1 gbps web speeds – accessible to all residents and companies by 2030.
World
US expected to announce $1.25bln military aid package for Ukraine
The large package of aid includes a significant amount of munitions, including for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the HAWK air defence system.
The United States is expected to announce that it will send $1.25 billion (€1.2 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine, US officials announced on Friday as Joe Biden pushes to get as much aid to Kyiv as possible before he leaves office in January.
The large package of aid includes a significant amount of munitions, including for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the HAWK air defence system.
It will also provide Stinger missiles and 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, officials said.
The officials, who said they expect the official announcement to be made on Monday, spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been made public.
The new aid package comes as Russia launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of the missiles and drones.
Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of troops from North Korea to help reclaim territory taken by Ukraine.
Earlier this month, senior defence officials acknowledged that the Defence Department may not be able to send all of the remaining $5.6 billion (€5.3 billion) in Pentagon weapons and equipment stocks passed by Congress for Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
Trump has long been critical of the amount of military aid Washington has provided to Kyiv, raising fears that that flow could stop when he re-enters the White House.
He has also talked about getting some type of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, saying on the presidential campaign trail that he could end the almost three-year war “in one day”.
But many US and European leaders are concerned that that could result in a poor deal for Ukraine, including the loss of some territory, and they worry that he won’t provide Ukraine with all the weapons funding approved by Congress.
The aid in the new package is in presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine.
Officials have said they hope that an influx of aid will help strengthen Ukraine’s hand, should Zelenskyy decide it’s time to negotiate with Moscow.
One senior defence official said that while the US will continue to provide weapons to Ukraine until 20 January, there may be funds remaining that will be available for the incoming Trump administration to spend.
According to the Pentagon, there is also about $1.2 billion (€1.15 billion) remaining in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more.
Officials have said the administration anticipates releasing all of that money before the end of the calendar year.
If the new package is included, the US will have provided more than $64 billion (€61 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
World
China's CATL launches EV chassis, flagging safety as top selling point
World
SEE IT: China stuns with maiden flight of sixth-generation aircraft
China appears to have conducted the maiden flight of its new sixth-generation fighter aircraft, marking a significant milestone in the ever-evolving landscape of fighter jets.
Video and photos from social media showed the previously unseen aircraft conducting a daytime test flight, alongside a two-seat Chengdu J-20S fighter, which served as a chase plane.
The planes were soaring high in Chengdu, Sichuan, China on Dec. 26, which is notably the birthday of the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong.
CHINA UNVEILS WORLD’S LARGEST AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIP
Photos and video of the tailless Chinese aircraft came as the U.S. continues to work on developing its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet.
The NGAD fighter jet is intended to replace the F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation stealth combat aircraft that has been in service with the U.S. Air Force since the early 2000s.
CHINA WARNS US TO STOP ARMING TAIWAN AFTER BIDEN APPROVES $571M IN MILITARY AID
Fifth generation aircraft incorporated stealth technology, with the sixth generation aircraft promising further advancements.
This new aircraft is the latest in a series of milestones for China’s aviation. At the Zhuhai Airshow, China unveiled the J-35A fifth-generation fighter jet and the J-15T fighter.
Fox News Digital has reached out to China’s Ministry of Defense for comment.
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