Category: 3. Business

Toulouse, France – 11 December 2025 – Airbus in partnership with Air France, Delta Air Lines, French bee, and Virgin Atlantic, and operations partners, AirNav Ireland, DSNA, EUROCONTROL and NATS, has successfully completed a new phase of trials for Airbus’ fello’fly project.

Fello’fly takes inspiration from migrating geese and showcases the power of collaboration by pairing flights to reduce fuel consumption. With this flying technique, the first aircraft creates an uplift that drives fuel efficiency for the following aircraft, called ‘wake energy retrieval’. Once operational, wake energy retrieval has the potential to make fuel savings of up to 5% on long-haul flights.

These trials, eight flights over the North Atlantic Ocean between September and October 2025, conducted in the frame of the SESAR Joint Undertaking GEESE project, aimed to show that the operational concept is a feasible and safe method to guide two aircraft to meet at a precise time and place (rendezvous process), while maintaining full vertical separation and remaining compliant with air traffic regulations. While the actual wake energy retrieval flights have not been tested yet on commercial flights, the successful completion of the rendezvous process is a crucial first step toward future efficiency gains. 

Each trial required close coordination between the two airlines’ ground operational control centers, four air traffic control centers, and two flight crews. The active participation of AirNav Ireland, Air France, Delta Air Lines, DSNA, EUROCONTROL Network Manager, French bee, NATS, and Virgin Atlantic, using the EUROCONTROL Innovation hub interface, was key to proving the concept’s safety and practicality in real-world conditions.

Note to editors

• Launched in 2019, fello’fly is a project inspired by nature (biomimicry). In 2023, the GEESE project, funded by SESAR’s Digital European Sky programme, was launched to support collaboration and testing in air traffic management. Additional project partners include Bulatsa, Indra, ENAC, CIRA, Boeing, Frequentis, UAB, Oro Navigacija, DLR, UCLouvain, and WaPT. Click here for more information about fello’fly and GEESE projects.
• In 2025, the completed trials successfully validated a rigorous four-step process designed to manage the high-precision maneuvers required.
  • This process begins when the Airbus Pairing Assistance Tool (PAT) computes the new aircraft trajectories and shared rendezvous instructions in real-time.
  • Next, the airlines’ dispatcher, flight crew, and Air Traffic Control (ATC) assess the new trajectories to ensure operational acceptability. The EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub interface allows all stakeholders to have visibility of the decision status at any given moment.
  • The third step involves one of the participating flights changing its planned route to join the other.
  • Finally, both flight crews activate a cockpit function, committing the aircraft to arrive at the meeting point at an exact, predetermined time.

 

 

 

In the third quarter of 2025, 49.3% of net electricity generated in the EU came from renewable energy sources, an increase of 3.8% compared with the 47.5% registered in the same quarter of 2024. 

Among EU countries, in the third quarter of 2025, Denmark, with 95.9%, had the highest share of renewables in net electricity generated, followed by Austria (93.3%) and Estonia (85.6%). The lowest shares of renewables were recorded in Malta (16.6%), Czechia (19.7%) and Slovakia (21.1%). 

Source dataset: nrg_cb_pem

In 21 EU countries, the share of renewable energy sources in net electricity generation increased in the third quarter of 2025. The largest year-on-year increases were recorded in Estonia (+20.6 percentage points (pp)), Latvia (+18.9 pp) and Austria (+16.3 pp). 

Most of the electricity generated from renewable sources came from solar (38.3%), wind (30.7%) and hydro (23.3%), followed by combustible renewable fuels (7.2%) and geothermal energy (0.5%).

Source dataset: nrg_cb_pem

Plus, degraded and poorly managed ocean ecosystems have altered the marine biophony. With the loss of kelp forests and coral reefs, melting glaciers, overfishing and underwater mining, essential habitats for sea life are stripped away – reducing the abundance of noise-producing animals.

AIMS/ Daneil Estcourt

According to Simpson, the sounds of today’s ocean are very different from those of preindustrial times. “The ocean soundscape used to be made up of the biophony – the animal sounds – and the geophony – the sounds of the Earth, rain, wind and currents. But now it’s the anthrophony as well, for example the sound of motorboats on coral reefs.” 

Anthropogenic ocean noise – for example, from vessels or construction – can mask animal noises, preventing them from communicating with one another, just as it would above the surface. “It’s like being in a bar,” explains Parsons. “If there’s no one else in the bar, you can probably hear your friend. But if the bar is full of people, the distance over which you can hear each other is a lot smaller,” he says.

It’s not just the frequency or intensity of the noise, it’s also the unpredictability of the sound’s source that can be disruptive. “If we live in a city, we’re not surprised by traffic noise, but if you live in the ocean and a boat suddenly drives over the top of you, you wouldn’t be expecting it,” says Simpson.

The value of ecommerce sales for beverage alcohol declined for the third successive year in 2024, but the channel is showing clear signs of resilience, with a return to modest growth predicted in the years ahead.

According to IWSR’s Ecommerce Strategic Study 2025, which covers more than 85% of global ecommerce value[1], the channel recorded a smaller decline in 2024, with value down by -1%, largely thanks to declines in China and the US, in turn caused by lower total alcohol sales brought on by macroeconomic weakness and uncertainty.

Those losses in China and the US were the main drivers of the channel’s underperformance in 2024, leading to a revision of IWSR forecasts for the years ahead. However, ecommerce’s share of total beverage alcohol (TBA) value held steady at 3.5%, a level that IWSR predicts will be maintained in 2025, before growth returns, rising to a 3.8% share figure in 2029.

The relative stability recorded in 2024 follows a rollercoaster period for online alcohol sales, from rapid growth during the Covid-19 pandemic (2019-21 value CAGR of +35%), to a subsequent correction (2022-23 value CAGR -5%), and then last year’s smaller decline. For the 2024-29 period, IWSR is forecasting CAGR value growth of +3%.

“After two years of correction as channel dynamics normalised in the wake of the pandemic, ecommerce alcohol sales have stabilised and are set to return to modest growth over the forecast period,” says Guy Wolfe, head of ecommerce insights. “Our consumer research suggests that online usage dipped again in 2025, but to a lesser extent than the physical off-trade, indicating greater resilience of the digital channel.

“Frequency of use remains stable in most markets – although China is an exception – while volume and total basket spend still skew significantly higher in ecommerce than offline. As such, online growth is still expected to outperform the wider market, gaining modest share of total alcohol and the off-trade in the coming years.”

Established markets spearhead growth

China, Brazil and the US are expected to account for more than half of total online alcohol value growth between 2024 and 2029 – a reflection of consumer attitudes to ecommerce adoption and use, which are most positive in markets where online is already more mature.

ERM, the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, has announced it is establishing a new office in Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre, ADGM. This builds on ERM’s long-term presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and represents the next step of the firm’s growth in the Middle East.

ADGM is committed to nurturing growth, innovation and an active business community that supports local and regional economic diversification. Being part of this dynamic financial and business ecosystem will strengthen ERM’s ability to partner with clients across the UAE and broader region to advance the energy transition and accelerate diversification.

ERM brings global insights alongside deep technical expertise to the UAE and regional markets, supporting clients across high-growth sectors including energy, metals and mining, technology, and manufacturing as they integrate sustainability into their business operations, transactions, and investment decisions.

Peter Rawlings, Managing Partner for the Middle East at ERM said: “ERM has a 20-year history in the UAE, and we look forward to building on this presence through ADGM.

“Its position as a key financial hub makes it the ideal base for ERM, as businesses within ADGM’s ecosystem and the broader Gulf region seek our sustainability expertise in critical areas including project finance, M&A, and outbound sovereign investment. Joining this vibrant business community provides ERM with more opportunities to help clients across industries in the region embed sustainability into their decision-making to mitigate risk and drive value creation.”

Global investment firm KKR has owned a majority stake in ERM since 2021. “ERM’s expansion in the Middle East comes at an important time for businesses across the Gulf, as the need for high-quality sustainability expertise continues to grow,” said Rami Bibi, Managing Director and Head of Europe for KKR Global Impact.

“With a global track record of supporting companies through complex sustainability and transition challenges, ERM is well positioned to help organizations across the region strengthen resilience, manage risk, and capture new opportunities. Deepening their presence in the Middle East will further enable close collaboration with clients and partners across the Gulf.”

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, said: “We are delighted to welcome ERM to ADGM as it expands its presence in the Middle East. At a time when the UAE is accelerating its sustainability and energy-transition agenda, ERM’s global expertise and technical capabilities will be a valuable addition to our vibrant international business community. Their decision to establish a presence within ADGM further underscores the strength of our ecosystem and our commitment to enabling companies that are shaping the future of sustainable finance, responsible investment, and long-term economic growth.”

For more on our UAE services, click here.

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About ERM

Sustainability is our business.

As the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business.

With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations.  Learn more here.   

11 December 2025

Governing Council endorses recommendations of High-Level Task Force on Simplification, which include:

• reducing the number of elements in the risk-weighted and leverage ratio framework
• introducing a materially simpler prudential regime for smaller banks, which expands on the existing EU regime
• introducing a European governance mechanism that takes a holistic view of the overall level of capital
• finalising the savings and investment union – including completion of the banking union – to foster cross-border integration and allow for more efficient capital markets

The European Central Bank (ECB) today published the recommendations of the Governing Council’s High-Level Task Force on Simplification to simplify the European regulatory, supervisory and reporting framework. These recommendations were endorsed by the Governing Council and will now be presented to the European Commission.

These proposals intend to simplify the framework, while maintaining the resilience of the European banking system and ensuring that microprudential, macroprudential and resolution authorities continue to meet their objectives effectively. European harmonisation and financial integration should be fostered. International cooperation is crucial and all jurisdictions should ensure full, timely and faithful implementation of Basel III.

The Governing Council strongly encourages the completion of banking union and the savings and investment union to reduce national fragmentation and allow for more efficient capital markets.

One of the recommendations is to simplify the design of banks’ capital requirements and buffers, also known as capital stacks^[1], via two changes. First, merging the existing layers of capital buffers into just two: a non-releasable buffer and a releasable buffer that authorities can lower in bad times.^[2] When merging buffers, it will be important to preserve the authorities’ current powers and competencies. Second, reducing the leverage ratio framework from four elements to two, namely a 3% minimum requirement and a single buffer, which could be set to zero for smaller banks.

To improve the quality of banks’ capital, the Governing Council proposes enhancing the capacity of Additional Tier 1 capital to absorb losses when a bank is operating normally, which would be Basel-compliant and maintain resilience. Alternatively, non-equity elements could be removed from the going-concern capital stack provided that Basel compliance and capital neutrality are not compromised.

The Governing Council proposes significantly increasing proportionality under EU banking rules by expanding the existing small banks regime^[3] to include more banks and simplifying their applicable rules in a prudent and harmonised manner.

To simplify the macroprudential framework, the Governing Council recommends automatic reciprocation of macroprudential measures. This ensures all banks active in a country that applies a macroprudential measure will be subject to that measure.

For the framework that applies when banks fail, the Governing Council recommends aligning the resolution requirements that apply to all banks more closely with those that apply to the global systemically important banks.^[4] This should be done without reducing the components on banks’ balance sheets which can be used to absorb losses and recapitalise in case they fail, thereby keeping the EU in line with international standards and making the rules more transparent and predictable.

To achieve further harmonisation, the Governing Council recommends shifting EU banking rules from directives to directly applicable regulations.

With regard to supervision, the Governing Council recommends completing the Single Rulebook and harmonising rules on licensing, governance and transactions with related parties, which would reduce complexity. Supervisors should be given greater flexibility, for example, in how often they review banks’ internal models.

The Governing Council proposes simplifying the EU-wide stress test by streamlining its methodology and scope and making its results more useful from a banking system and individual bank perspective. The results of this revised stress test exercise would help improve the coordination between macroprudential and microprudential buffers.

The Governing Council proposes being made responsible for taking a holistic view of overall capital in the banking union and cross-country heterogeneities, which is currently missing. This could be done by expanding the role of the Macroprudential Forum, which already brings together the Governing Council and the Supervisory Board, to improve coordination and consistency across countries when setting micro- and macroprudential instruments.

With regard to reporting, the Governing Council proposes that European authorities share their data more widely with each other, allowing banks to report only once, thereby creating a fully integrated reporting system at the European level for statistical, prudential and resolution purposes. This could be done, ideally, via the Joint Bank Reporting Committee. All reporting requirements could be reviewed every three to five years to ensure they are still needed. Banks and supervisors would focus on the important data, disregarding minor reporting errors by implementing a materiality threshold for data resubmission requests. Consolidating supervisory and disclosure data would further reduce reporting efforts, with public disclosure (Pillar 3 reports) derived from supervisory reporting.

The ECB will present the proposals of today’s report to the European Commission, which is preparing a report on the overall situation of the banking system that is due to be presented in 2026.

The ECB has also published today a report entitled “Streamlining supervision, safeguarding resilience”, which discusses its ongoing agenda to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and risk focus of European banking supervision. The initiatives described in this report constitute the ongoing work by ECB Banking Supervision under the existing legislation. They complement the Governing Council’s recommendations and can be fully implemented independently of these recommendations.

The ECB welcomes the ESRB’s report on the simplification of its tasks published today.

For media queries, please contact Esther Tejedor, tel.: +49 172 5171280 or François Peyratout, tel.: +49 172 8632119.

Notes

 

News Highlights

• Attackers using highly convincing, animated lures to trick users into trusting malicious sites and downloads.
• Threat actors carrying out convincing campaigns with minimal effort by using purchasable tools – like PureRAT, and Phantom Stealer – reusing templates and abusing trusted platforms.
• Attackers evading detection through DLL sideloading, modified legitimate tools and continuous adaptation to new Windows protections.

 
PALO ALTO, Calif., 11 December 2025 — HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) today issued its latest Threat Insights Report, revealing how attackers are refining campaigns with professional-looking animations and purchasable malware services. HP Threat Researchers warn that these campaigns mix convincing visuals, well known hosting platforms like Discord, and regularly updated malware kits to evade detection by users and detection tools.
 
The report provides an analysis of real-world cyberattacks, helping organizations keep up with the latest techniques cybercriminals use to evade detection and breach PCs in the fast-changing cybercrime landscape. Based on the millions of endpoints running HP Wolf Security*, notable campaigns identified by the HP Threat Research Team include: 

• DLL sideloading slips past endpoint security scanners: Attackers impersonating the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office emailed fake legal warnings to targets. The lure directs users to a fake government website, which displays a slick auto-scroll animation guiding targets to a “one-time password”, tricking them into opening the malicious password-protected archive file. 
  • The file – once opened – launches a folder that includes a hidden, maliciously modified dynamic link library (DLL). This installs PureRAT malware in the background, giving attackers full control of a victim’s device. The samples were highly evasive. On average, only 4 per cent of related samples were detected by anti-virus tools.
• Fake Adobe update installs remote access tool: A fake Adobe-branded PDF redirects users to a fraudulent site that pretends to update their PDF reader software. A staged animation shows a spoofed installation bar that mimics Adobe. This tricks users into downloading a modified ScreenConnect executable – a legitimate remote access tool – which connects back to attacker-controlled servers, so they can hijack the compromised device.
• Discord malware dodges Windows 11 defences: Threat actors hosted their payload on Discord to avoid building their own infrastructure and piggybacked off the positive domain reputation of Discord. Before deployment, the malware patches Windows 11’s Memory Integrity protection to bypass this security feature. The infection chain then delivers Phantom Stealer, a subscription-based infostealer sold on the hacking marketplaces with ready-made credential and financial theft features that update frequently to evade modern security tools.

Patrick Schläpfer, Principal Threat Researcher, HP Security Lab, comments: “Attackers are using polished animations like fake loading bars and password prompts to make malicious sites feel credible and urgent. At the same time, they are relying on off-the-shelf, subscription malware that is fully featured, and updates as fast as legitimate software. This is helping threat actors keep ahead of detection-based security solutions and slip past defences with far less effort.”
 
Alongside the report, the HP Threat Research Team has published a blog analyzing the threat of session cookie hijacking attacks, the use of stolen credentials in intrusions and the proliferation of infostealer malware. Rather than stealing passwords or bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA), attackers are hijacking the cookies that prove a user is already logged in, giving them instant access to sensitive systems. HP analysis of publicly reported attack data found that over half (57%) of the top malware families in Q3 2025 were information stealers, a type of malware that typically has cookie theft capabilities. 
 
By isolating threats that have evaded detection tools on PCs – but still allowing malware to detonate safely inside secure containers – HP Wolf Security has insight into the latest techniques used by cybercriminals. To date, HP Wolf Security customers have clicked on over 55 billion email attachments, web pages, and downloaded files with no reported breaches.
 
The report, which examines data from July – September 2025, details how cybercriminals continue to diversify attack methods to bypass security tools that rely on detection, such as:

• At least 11% of email threats identified by HP Sure Click bypassed one or more email gateway scanners.
• Archive files were the most popular delivery type (45%), seeing a 5% point rise over Q2, with attackers increasingly using malicious .tar and .z archive files to target users. 
• In Q3, 11% of threats stopped by HP Wolf Security were PDF files, growing 3% points over the previous quarter. 

 
Dr. Ian Pratt, Global Head of Security for Personal Systems at HP Inc., comments: “With attackers abusing legitimate platforms, mimicking trusted brands and adopting convincing visual tricks, like animations, even strong detection tools will miss some threats. Security teams can’t predict every attack. But by isolating high-risk interactions, such as opening untrusted files and websites, organisations gain a safety net that contains threats before they can cause harm, without adding friction for users.”
 
Please visit the Threat Research blog to view the report.
 

About the Data

This data was gathered from consenting HP Wolf Security customers from July – September 2025 with investigations conducted by the HP Threat Research Team. 
 

About HP Wolf Security*

HP Wolf Security is world class endpoint security. HP’s portfolio of hardware-enforced security and endpoint-focused security services are designed to help organizations safeguard PCs, printers, and people from circling cyber predators. HP Wolf Security provides comprehensive endpoint protection and resiliency that starts at the hardware level and extends across software and services. Visit https://hp.com/wolf.

• First Vice President Greg Guyett and Vice President for Banking Matteo Patrone visiting Morocco to meet high-level government officials and business representatives 
• Discussions will focus on EBRD’s support for the private sector, key infrastructure investments and the transition to a green economy 
• Morocco has received almost €5.9 billion in EBRD financing across 125 projects since 2012

The EBRD’s First Vice President, Greg Guyett, and its Vice President for Banking, Matteo Patrone, are visiting Morocco from 11 to 12 December to meet senior government officials and clients from the public and private sectors.

During their visit to Casablanca, they will meet with the Minister of Economy and Finance and EBRD Governor, Nadia Fettah. The discussions will focus on enhancing private-sector support in Morocco, accelerating the transition to a green economy and driving investments in key infrastructure.

The EBRD delegation will also meet representatives of local public and private companies, including clients in Morocco’s banking sector, and will sign agreements on a number of new investments.

Mr Guyett said: “I am delighted to make my first visit to Morocco as EBRD First Vice President and meet our public- and private-sector clients. It’s an excellent opportunity to deepen our cooperation and explore new opportunities. The EBRD will support Morocco’s development priorities by investing in the energy transition, expanding access to finance for SMEs, supporting the innovation economy and strengthening private-sector competitiveness.”

The First Vice President and the Vice President for Banking will be joined by Mark Davis, the EBRD’s Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, and Haytham Eissa, the EBRD’s Head of Morocco.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Morocco, having invested almost €5.9 billion across 125 projects to date. The Bank has also mobilised €312 million of funding from other parties in 2025. The Bank started investing in the country in 2012, with a focus on fostering sustainable energy, promoting infrastructure reform, and supporting the direct and indirect financing of private enterprises, with 69 per cent of the EBRD’s funding going to the private sector.