SpaceX delays flight to return NASA's stranded astronauts

Euronews

13-03-2025

Tech companies and platforms are calling on member states who continue in the EU Council to debate a new proposal aimed at combating online child sexual abuse to preserve the voluntary detection of illegal content.
This would allow the continued use of technologies like CSAI Match and PhotoDNA, which automatically identify abusive images shared on online platforms.
Currently, online companies are permitted to flag illegal images under a temporary exemption from the EU's e-privacy law. However, this exemption is set to expire in April 2026. The tech industry is urging member states to include the exemption's provisions in the final legislation and to extend it in the interim, as negotiations on the matter are expected to take longer to conclude.
"As the extension is only a temporary solution, we strongly support the introduction of a legal basis for voluntary detection as proposed by the Polish Presidency in its latest compromise proposal," they wrote.
Ella Jakubowska, Head of Policy at the digital rights NGO EDRi, believes the extension is inevitable. "With member states still gridlocked, EU lawmakers may have no choice but to extend the current derogation," she told Euronews.
The proposal has been under negotiation since 2022, with several rotating presidencies struggling to build consensus. After failed attempts by the Czech, Spanish, Belgian, and Hungarian presidencies, Poland has taken a new approach to secure a compromise.
The European Commission's original proposal included controversial "detection orders", allowing authorities to demand access to private communications. However, Poland's latest proposal removes this provision, focusing on voluntary detection. Detection orders would only apply as a last resort to platforms deemed "high risk" that fail to act against online child abuse.
Emily Slifer, director of policy at Thorn, a child protection NGO that develops abuse-detection technologies, acknowledged that voluntary detection is not ideal but said it is the most politically feasible option for now. 'When voluntary detection stopped in 2021 due to legal uncertainty, CSAM reports dropped by 58% overnight—removing it from the legislation would cripple child protection efforts," Slifer said.
ECPAT, an international organization fighting child sexual exploitation, has also voiced its support for the current proposal, but emphasised the need for both voluntary and mandatory detection systems to prevent gaps in child protection.
One particularly contentious issue has been the potential scanning of end-to-end encrypted communications. Messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and Messenger use encryption to ensure that only the sender and recipient can access the messages. Both the Commission's proposal and earlier drafts of the Council's text had included provisions for scanning encrypted communications, raising significant privacy concerns.
In a positive development for privacy advocates, the latest proposal excludes the scanning of encrypted messages. Former MEP Patrick Breyer called this a "breakthrough in preserving our right to confidential digital correspondence", referring to the new proposal as the 'Half-good Polish Chat Control proposal.'
ECPAT has urged the Polish presidency and EU member states to swiftly adopt a strong legal framework to address the growing child sexual abuse crisis online. As the number of online abuse cases continues to rise, the organisation stresses that urgent action is needed to protect vulnerable children.
With member states yet to reach a consensus, a revised version of the proposal, incorporating feedback from diplomats, will be presented in hopes of reaching a final compromise. Initially proposed by the European Commission in May 2022, the proposal was quickly adopted by the European Parliament. Once the Council reaches an agreement, the long-awaited interinstitutional negotiations, known as trilogues, can begin.
A SpaceX mission to return NASA's two stranded astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) was delayed on Wednesday after a launch pad problem.
The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station (ISS) before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.
Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket's planned evening liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
As the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to release one of the two arms clamping the rocket to its support structure. This structure needs to tilt back right before liftoff.
Already strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. SpaceX canceled for the day.
Officials later said the launch was off until at least Friday.
Once at the space station, the US, Japanese, and Russian crew will replace Wilmore and Williams, who have been up there since June.
The two test pilots had to move into the space station for an extended stay after Boeing's new Starliner capsule encountered major breakdowns in transit.
Starliner's debut crew flight was supposed to last just a week, but NASA ordered the capsule to return empty and transferred Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX for the return leg.
After US President Donald Trump initially walked back military support to Ukraine, German officials have voiced concern that the Americans could control one of the country's newly procured weapons.
Germany inked a multi-billion euro deal with American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in 2022 for 35 F-35A Lightning II aircraft. The Bundeswehr - Germany's armed forces - procured a further eight F-35s last year.
Joachim Schranzhofer, head of communications at German arms company Hendsolt, told the German newspaper Bild last week that a so-called "kill switch" put into American-produced F-35s is more than just a rumour, insinuating that it would be easy for the US to ground the aircraft by blocking access to key software, which remains under their control.
Wolfgang Ischinger, the former chairman of the Munich Security Conference, and Ingo Gädechens, a former military officer and member of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, also echoed this sentiment.
A spokesperson from the German ministry of defence, however, told Euronews Next that there is no plan to cancel the purchase of F-35 fighter jets in light of the concerns raised.
According to the US Air Force, Lockheed's "most common" F-35 model, the F-35A Lightning II, is a multirole fighter jet that pairs "stealth, sensor fusion and unprecedented situational awareness" in the sky.
Lockheed describes the F-35 Lightening II as rapidly becoming the "NATO standard fighter of choice".
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Switzerland have F35s in their fleets. Romania signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin for the same aircraft in December as well.
Lockheed Martin said in a statement last year that it expected over 550 F-35s to be in operation in 10 European countries by the end of the decade and that these weapons have "increased interoperability in Europe".
The company also acknowledged that F-35 fighters, like other Western fighter aircraft, rely on US-secured data communication with Link-16 and GPS satellite navigation.
Complete independence in this area, the company continued, "is not possible… not even with European systems," but noted that the F-35 still works without data links or satellite navigation.
Mark Cazalet, editor-in-chief at European Security and Defence Magazine, told Euronews Next he has not heard or seen any hard evidence that a kill switch exists but that it's "not outside the realm of possibility" that measures to block aircraft software could be produced.
Cazalet said the US "doesn't necessarily need" a kill switch on the F-35 to block the weapon's use, the government could 'simply withhold ammunition and spare parts'.
To replace US control of the software would be 'extremely difficult, if not impossible,' to integrate into their weaponry, Cazalet said.
'The more relevant question for military planners is, can the US effectively prevent F-35s operated by other countries from being used, should it choose to do so?" Cazalet said. "Here the answer would seem to be mostly yes".
Countries block parts of ammunition or weapons on occasion, Cazalet continued.
For example, Switzerland delayed the use of Ukraine's Gepard anti-aircraft guns when they refused to export the 35 mm ammunition. The Germans had also shown some initial reluctance to export the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet to Turkey.
Euronews Next has contacted the US Department of National Defence (DND) and Lockheed Martin to confirm whether the US government has control over the software and hardware of the F-35 after the aircraft have been delivered but did not receive an immediate reply.
A DND spokesperson confirmed to Canadian media that the US is in charge of both software and hardware upgrades for the planes and said that updates would continue for all nations that participated in their development.
Euronews Next also asked Lockheed Martin whether they'd be able to give Germany and other European nations some assurances that these updates would continue.
In response to Swiss media reports of similar kill switch concerns, Lockheed Martin published a post on their website on Monday titled 'Switzerland can use their F-35s independently'.
The company says that blocking the F-35A fighter jets, through external interventions in the electronics, is not possible.
"Switzerland does not need consent if it wants to use its weapon systems or guided missiles for its defence," the post reads. "It can do this autonomously, independently, and at any time".
Countries like Switzerland can also decide when they want to upgrade the software of the fighter jets or not, and the missiles remain operational without these upgrades.
If a country does want to upgrade, Lockheed said it sends a "mobile team" to carry out the updates with the respective government.