Construction still in progress in Belem as Brazil readies to host COP30
Heads of state are due to start arriving in the Amazonian city of Belém in a month’s time for the United Nations climate summit, yet much of the in...
U.S. diplomats have been ordered to campaign against the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), with Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that the law stifles free speech and imposes costs on American tech firms.
The directive, dated 4 August and seen by Reuters, instructs U.S. embassies across Europe to lobby national governments and regulators to repeal or amend the DSA, a landmark EU law requiring tech firms to tackle illegal online content such as hate speech and child sexual abuse material.
Signed by Secretary Rubio, the State Department cable describes the DSA as “undue” and a threat to free expression, particularly for American users and businesses. It also directs diplomats to report cases of censorship affecting U.S. citizens or companies.
“Posts should focus efforts to build host government and other stakeholder support to repeal and/or amend the DSA,” the cable said, citing concerns about overly broad definitions of “illegal content” and financial penalties.
The European Commission has rejected accusations of censorship and said the DSA is not under discussion in trade negotiations with Washington.
“Our legislation will not be changed. The DMA and the DSA are not on the table,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said in March.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have criticised the DSA publicly, claiming it suppresses conservative voices. In February, Vance met with Germany’s far-right AfD party and accused the EU of democratic backsliding.
The cable reflects a broader push by the Trump administration to export what it describes as “America’s free-speech tradition,” a stance that has caused friction with European allies.
Tech firms including Meta and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have also raised concerns about the DSA, with some calling its content moderation rules incompatible with U.S. free speech protections.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Heads of state are due to start arriving in the Amazonian city of Belém in a month’s time for the United Nations climate summit, yet much of the infrastructure intended to welcome them remains incomplete.
The Syrian army and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached a ceasefire deal in two districts of Aleppo city, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday, following a spike in tensions between the two sides.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to meet in person following a friendly video call on Monday, raising hopes of improving relations strained by tariffs and political disputes.
Clashes have broken out in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo after Kurdish YPG militants allegedly violated a ceasefire agreement and attacked Syrian forces and civilians.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to further strengthen his country’s alliance with Russia, in a letter to President Vladimir Putin marking his birthday and praising his leadership.
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