Stories from Abroad

Magnifica Humanitas ("The Grandeur of Humanity") is Pope Leo XIV's first social encyclical, addressed to Catholics and "all men and women of goodwill," on the challenge of safeguarding human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

Satellite communications are connecting the world and delivering global access to information. While Geostationary orbit satellites have served a valuable connectivity mission for decades, low- and medium- Earth satellite constellations in non-Geostationary orbits offer new opportunities that complement existing services. Importantly: there’s plenty of room for all LEO, MEO, and GEO operators in today's satellite industry.

As tensions between President Donald Trump and Europe continue to simmer, the continent is accelerating its moves to reduce its addiction to US technology.

Emboldened by its successful wartime blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is turning to one of the hidden arteries in the global economy: subsea cables beneath the waterway that carry vast internet and financial traffic between Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf. The Islamic Republic wants to charge the world’s largest tech companies for using the subsea internet cables laid under the Strait of Hormuz, and state-linked media outlets have vaguely threatened that traffic could be disrupted if firms don’t pay.

In Moscow, a highly digitized city humming with online services, a three-week internet shutdown this year created a sense of time warp back to the 1990s. People panic-bought radios and pagers, and unfolded paper maps. Public toilets stopped working, paralyzed without bank payments by mobile internet. Taxi and ride-sharing apps were unreachable.

Reporters Without Borders has released its 25th World Press Freedom Index at a time when political pressure on the press is intensifying, authoritarian tendencies are growing and the media market is heavily weakened. In 2026, the Index’s analysis highlights an alarming deterioration in the conditions for journalism in many parts of the world, despite some isolated improvements, as 100 out of 180 countries and territories have seen their press freedom score decline. 

The UK has become the first country in Western Europe where a smartphone can reach a satellite directly without specialist hardware or a separate app. Virgin Media O2 launched O2 Satellite on February 26, 2026, using SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile constellation over licensed 1800 MHz spectrum, and priced it at £3 per month on Pay Monthly plans or at no extra cost on high-end “Ultimate” tariffs. The launch follows a partnership announced in October 2025 and an Ofcom authorization framework finalized in December 2025.

The European Commission has preliminarily found Meta's Instagram and Facebook in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to diligently identify, assess and mitigate the risks of minors under 13 years old accessing their services. Despite Meta's own terms and conditions setting the minimum age to access Instagram and Facebook safely at 13, the measures put in place by the company to enforce these restrictions do not seem to be effective.

The European Commission sent its preliminary findings to Google as part of the specification proceedings it started on 27 January 2026 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These preliminary findings outline the draft measures Google should implement to ensure that third parties have effective access and interoperability with key capabilities of Android.

China has banned Meta Platforms’ acquisition of artificial-intelligence startup Manus on national security grounds and ordered that the $2.5 billion deal be unwound. China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which has the authority to review foreign investments, said that it has banned the acquisition and ordered it to be rescinded. “The transaction complied fully with applicable law,” a Meta representative said in an email statement.