Water For Data
Our appetite for data is growing fast. And so is the number of data centres filled with computer servers.
They store and process the data generated by our online activity, from social media to shopping to cloud storage.
And they consume massive amounts of water and electricity.
Big Tech companies are building data centres in places like drought-stricken Queretaro, in Mexico.
We met some of the locals who are struggling to get by on rationed water as more of these thirsty facilities are built nearby.
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Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump agrees to keep US tariffs on Mexico steady for 90-day period
The United States has announced it will not increase the tariffs it imposes on its southern neighbour, Mexico, after a call with the country's president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Her counterpart, US President Donald Trump, broke the news on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, touting the decision as a diplomatic breakthrough. 'I have just concluded a telephone conversation with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, which was very successful in that, more and more, we are getting to know and understand each other,' Trump wrote. 'The complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border.' He explained that he and Sheinbaum had agreed to keep US tariffs at their current rates for a 90-day period. Mexico had been one day away from seeing a tariff increase on August 1. Earlier this month, on July 11, Trump had threatened on Truth Social to hike tariffs on Mexican imports to 30 percent. That threat was part of a series of individualised tariff announcements, published online in the form of letters to US trading partners. One country, Brazil, was slapped with tariffs of 50 percent. In his letter to Mexico, Trump blamed the country for allowing the synthetic opioid fentanyl to cross into the US and for failing to tamp down on criminal cartels that he accused of 'pouring these drugs into our country'. 'Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,' Trump wrote. 'Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground. Obviously, I cannot let that happen!' The 30-percent tariff was the same rate given to the European Union, which likewise negotiated a deal with Trump this week. As a result of Thursday's announcement, the US will continue to impose a 25-percent tariff on cars made in Mexico and 50 percent on its steel, aluminium and copper products. There is also a 25-percent tax — which Trump has dubbed a 'fentanyl tariff' — on any Mexican imports not covered by an existing free trade accord, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). 'Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,' Trump wrote on Thursday. 'We will be talking to Mexico over the next 90 Days with the goal of signing a Trade Deal somewhere within the 90 Day period of time, or longer.' Sheinbaum herself posted a message summarising their call, emphasising continued talks between their two governments. 'We had a very good call with US President Donald Trump,' Sheinbaum wrote. 'We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and secured 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue.' Trump had put in place an August 1 deadline for the tariff hike, but he has announced a series of deals in the lead-up with countries including South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom. Those deals have largely not avoided tariffs altogether but rather have resulted in lower import taxes than the initially announced rates. Trump has sought to leverage tariffs to encourage domestic manufacturing and reduce what he considers undesirable deficits with US trading partners. He has also used them to advance domestic policy priorities, including by pressuring neighbouring countries like Mexico to beef up border enforcement. Experts have warned, however, that tariffs on goods imported in to the US could result in higher prices for consumers. Trump's start-and-stop approach to tariffs — announcing them, only to delay them — has also spurred fears of instability in the economic markets. Initially, Trump had unveiled individual 'reciprocal' tariffs on foreign trading partners in April. Those tariffs were delayed, and their latest iterations unveiled this month. Trump, however, has brushed aside concerns, saying his tariff campaign will bring the US billions in taxes. 'I always say 'tariffs' is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary,' Trump said in January, ranking as one of his favourites, behind terms like 'love' and 'religion'. 'Tariffs are going to make us rich as hell,' he added.
Al Jazeera
25-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
Meta to suspend political advertising as EU transparency law looms
Meta will suspend political and social issue advertising on its platforms in the European Union starting in October. Facebook and Instagram's parent company announced the new policy change on Friday, citing legal uncertainty about the bloc's new rules on political advertising. The Silicon Valley-based social media giant is following in the footsteps of Alphabet, Google's parent company, which made the same decision in November. The EU legislation, called the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which will apply from October 10, was prompted by concerns about disinformation and foreign interference in elections across the 27-country bloc. The law requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much, as well as which elections are being targeted, or risk fines up to 6 percent of their annual turnover. 'From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU,' Meta said in a blog post. 'This is a difficult decision – one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties,' it said. Meta said the EU rules would ultimately hurt Europeans. 'We believe that personalised ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged on campaigns to inform voters about important social issues that shape public discourse,' it said. 'Regulations, like the TTPA, significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting effectiveness of advertisers' outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information.' Meta's Facebook and Instagram are currently being investigated by the European Commission over their suspected failure to tackle disinformation and deceptive advertising in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections. The EU probe is under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big Tech to do more to counter illegal and harmful content on their platforms or risk fines of as much as 6 percent of their global annual turnover. ByteDance's TikTok is also in the EU crosshairs over its suspected failure to tackle election interference, notably in the Romanian presidential vote last November. Meta's political advertising has long been a concern in the United States, as well. Last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg settled a lawsuit brought on by shareholders over alleged privacy violations. The suit alleged that the company failed to comply with a Federal Trade Commission settlement in 2012 in efforts to protect consumer privacy. The lawsuit came amid the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal in which the social media giant gave user data to the firm – without their consent – for political advertising purposes.
Al Jazeera
22-07-2025
- Al Jazeera
General Motors reports a 35% profit drop as tariffs weigh on car industry
Auto giant General Motors has reported a 35 percent drop in second-quarter profits, including a $1.1bn hit from United States-imposed tariffs but confirmed its full-year forecast. GM's results released on Tuesday still topped analyst estimates, but the US carmaker cautioned that profits in the second half of 2025 would be lower than in the first. list of 4 items list 1 of 4 list 2 of 4 list 3 of 4 list 4 of 4 end of list The company pointed to sales growth in North America, where new and revamped trucks and sport utility vehicles sold briskly with solid pricing. GM was among the carmakers that benefitted from a surge in demand this spring from consumers who wanted to beat the US tariffs and their higher prices. Profits overall fell 35.4 percent to $1.9bn year-on-year while revenues dipped 1.8 percent to $47.1bn. The US imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported finished cars in early April, a move that affected major GM manufacturing operations in Mexico, Canada and South Korea. Car companies have also faced tariffs on imported steel, aluminium and auto parts. The tariff hit in the second quarter reflected that there were 'minimal mitigation offsets', GM said in a slide presentation. The Detroit, Michigan-based company's outlook for a weaker second half of 2025 reflects 'seasonally lower' volumes, increased spending on vehicle launches and the presence of two quarters with a tariff hit compared with just one in the first half of the year. GM expected annual operating income of $10bn to $12.5bn after notching $6.5bn in the first half of the year. Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson described the hit to profitability in the first quarter as 'the peak of the tariff impact for us', telling CNBC in an interview that mitigation efforts should enable a partial recovery in profit margins later in the year. Shifting manufacturing GM expected to mitigate 'at least' 30 percent of the tariff hit through 'manufacturing adjustments, targeted cost initiatives and consistent pricing', according to a slide. Jacobson said it would take 18 to 24 months to implement capital projects to adjust GM's manufacturing footprint. In June, GM announced spending of $4bn over two years to expand production at plants in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee, making use of unused capacity in its home market as President Donald Trump's tariffs penalise imports of finished vehicles. The June announcement included steps to produce the Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Blazer in the US. The two vehicles are currently assembled in Mexico. GM has so far not shifted manufacturing from South Korea, home to production for the Chevrolet Trax, a popular compact SUV that is priced affordably. Jacobson told CNBC the Trax has stayed profitable even with the hit from the tariff on imported autos. 'We haven't made any long-term decisions about Korea yet, mainly because there is a lot of uncertainty about that,' Jacobson said. Trump has set an August 1 deadline to reach broad trade deals with numerous countries, including South Korea, which faces a 25 percent tariff if there is no deal. 'We're optimistic that the US and Korea can find common ground,' Jacobson said. 'We know the auto industry is important to both sides in those conversations.' GM's stock tumbled on the lacklustre earnings report. It is down 6.6 percent for the day as of 11:30am in New York (15:30 GMT). GM's newly reported hit comes a day after carmaker Stellantis announced it expected a $2.7bn loss in the first six months of the year because of Trump's imposed tariffs. Stellantis, the owner of brands including Fiat and Jeep, will disclose its final results for the first half of the year on July 29. Stellantis stock is down 0.3 percent since the market opened on Tuesday and had increased more than 2.4 percent over the past five days. Source: News Agencies
