Cyprus Outlines Strategic Roadmap Ahead Of EU Council Presidency

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

December 2, 2025

Preparing For The 2026 Term

Cyprus is setting the stage for its upcoming EU Council Presidency with a strategic focus on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034, a cornerstone of its policy agenda. In a recent high-level meeting in Nicosia, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos met with Stephanie Riso, Director-General of the European Commission’s Budget Department, to discuss preparations as the island nation nears its 2026 term.

Coordinated Efforts And Strong Leadership

During the discussions, Minister Keravnos detailed the comprehensive planning underway for the Presidency, emphasizing the critical need for close collaboration with key Council bodies. By leveraging established coordination procedures, Cyprus aims to ensure the timely progress of vital EU budgetary initiatives. Keravnos underscored that the nation’s approach will be marked by responsibility, consistency, and effectiveness.

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Driving Meaningful Change In EU Budgetary Policy

The ministry reaffirmed that Cyprus will pursue the best possible outcomes on the EU’s central budgetary issues, aligning its efforts with long-term financial strategies central to the Multiannual Financial Framework. Such a proactive and coordinated strategy is expected to forge stronger alliances within the Council, setting a robust precedent for future EU fiscal policies.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.

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