You're tuned in to Tech Beat, and here's what's shaping the world right now.
Autonomous vehicles are rolling into Europe in a meaningful way. Waymo has launched the continent's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia, partnering with local firm Verne and Chinese AI company Pony dot ai. Euronews rode along firsthand, and the ambition is clear — this is a launchpad for broader European expansion.
Shifting to a crisis unfolding across Southeast Asia, Indonesia's seasonal wildfires have burned for months now, and a severe super El Nino is making things dramatically worse. The toxic haze has pushed parts of the region to their highest-level alerts, raising serious public health concerns for millions of people across multiple countries.
And in France, the streets turned volatile over the weekend. Around five hundred fifty thousand people demonstrated nationwide, with clashes breaking out between protesters and police in several cities. In Limoges, the unrest turned historic — quite literally — when the spire of the city's centuries-old town hall collapsed amid the violence, a striking image of a country under real political strain.
Those are the stories demanding attention today. Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
