Air traffic is experiencing disruptions due to repeated bomb warnings, which has disrupted dozens of European flights, forced some planes to land at their intended destination, and prompted the dispatch of fighter jets to escort or intercept other planes.
The threats mostly targeted low-cost airlines, which will cost them huge losses. The Spanish Foreign Minister said that the continent appears to be facing “aggression by all means and a form of psychological warfare.”
It was reported that a Russian extremist nationalist movement, calling itself the “Male State,” adopted these threats, but denied responsibility, and its founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, said in a statement that his movement has not existed since it was banned by the Russian authorities in 2021.
The British Communications Regulatory Authority (Ofcom) said on Friday that the Snapchat platform has begun automatically disabling the “Find Friends” feature for child users in Britain, in a step that the authority described as important to reduce the risks of online grooming.
This feature helps users find and add new friends.
The authority stated that this change will make it difficult for strangers to contact children on the platform, which it considers one of the largest and most popular electronic services among children in Britain, according to Reuters.
The authority said in May that 32 percent of children between the ages of 8 and 12 in Britain use Snapchat, even though the minimum age allowed on the platform is 13 years.
Oliver Griffiths, director of the authority's online safety group, said that this change "should have happened a long time ago," and that the authority will monitor Snapchat's implementation of this new protection during this month.
The platform committed to making this change in May, and recently informed the authority that effective age verification measures for under-18s would come into effect by the end of the year.
A Snapchat spokesperson said that the platform “will continue to strengthen protection measures as risks evolve, and will work constructively with the authority, safety experts, families, and youth, to help ensure that Snapchat remains a safe place for communication and self-expression.”
There have long been concerns about grooming on social media.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children conducted an analysis of British police data in 2025, and it was found that 40 percent of recorded crimes involving sexual contact with a child and the platform used was identified occurred on Snapchat.
The authority pressured major technology companies to take stronger anti-solicitation measures. The authority explained that electronic luring can have devastating consequences for children that last a lifetime.
The authority again issued a warning to other technology companies that do not address the risks of solicitation, saying that these companies risk fines of up to 10 percent of their total global revenues.
Today, Friday, demonstrators stormed the construction site of a Microsoft data center in Amsterdam, at the beginning of two-day demonstrations that come within the framework of growing global angry reactions to the rapid expansion of computing capabilities needed for artificial intelligence.
A coalition called “Stop Dirty Data Centers” said that activist groups announced the organization of events in 16 countries, today, Friday, and tomorrow, Saturday. The coalition is mobilizing environmental groups and digital rights campaigns to support calls for a halt to large-scale construction.
More than 100 activists gathered today, Friday, at the construction site of a Microsoft artificial intelligence data center in Amsterdam, and marched before storming the site, climbing cranes, hanging balloons, and dancing in the presence of the police. Some of them carried signs reading, “Fuck your data center,” according to Reuters.
“These data centers are destroying our world,” said protester Sam Van Der Beek. It becomes unlivable because of all the resources it consumes. "That's why we're here today."
Pure Data Centers, the company that owns the site, which intends to invest more than a billion dollars and is supported by Oaktree, which is owned by Brookfield, said that it is committed to communicating with interested parties in the region.
The company added: “We respectfully ask those on site to leave safely and engage in dialogue with us about the project and any concerns they may have.”
A march in Dublin, a protest in front of the Parliament building in Warsaw, and a demonstration against another Microsoft data center in Denmark, among other actions, are also scheduled.
Microsoft said it understands that people have strong feelings about the project and respects their right to express them peacefully, but it will not condone any illegal actions.
Negative reactions are growing from Spain to India and the United States, which yesterday, Thursday, witnessed a sharp decline in the shares of technology companies due to fears that the Democratic Party, after taking control of Congress, will impose stricter regulations that limit the prosperity of artificial intelligence.
Activists say data centers strain electricity and water supplies, compete with housing and other businesses for scarce resources, and threaten climate goals. They also point to job losses and potential risks to personal and national security from the concentration of power in the hands of private and large technology companies.
Technology companies are pushing the argument that data centers are essential to meet global demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing and provide critical infrastructure for businesses, governments and consumers.
The “Stop Dirty Data Centers” coalition stated that it does not oppose progress and does not call for the closure of existing data centers, but rather says that the construction of large new centers must stop until governments establish clearer rules.
There are about 200 data centers in the Netherlands that are either operating, planned or under construction.
