critical infrastructure News

Companies Count the Costs After Blackout in Spain and Portugal

As factories, stores and hotels across Spain and Portugal gradually returned to normal on Tuesday after a huge blackout the day before, business associations and companies began counting the cost. Spain’s main business lobby CEOE estimated the outage would shave …

Loss of FEMA Program Spells Disaster for Hundreds of Communities and Projects

The textile mills that once served as the backbone of Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, have long been shuttered, and officials believed federal money would be key to the town’s overdue revitalization. They hoped an improved stormwater drainage system and secured …

Spanish Grid Operator’s First Assessment Rules Out Cyberattack Behind Blackout

Spanish electricity grid operator REE said on Tuesday its preliminary assessment had ruled out cyberattack as the cause of the nationwide power outage that hit most of Spain and Portugal on Monday. Lights went off in most of the two …

Why Restarting a Power Grid After Massive Collapse Is So Hard

It’s a worst case scenario that grid operators plan for but hope never to encounter. After one of the worst blackouts in Europe in more than a decade, electricity grid operators in Spain and Portugal are trying to get networks …

Spain and Portugal Hit With Worst European Blackout in Years

Most of Spain and all of Portugal were hit by a major blackout that impacted public transport, airports and phone service, leaving authorities scrambling to find the causes for one of the worst outages in Europe in years. Data from …

Judge Blocks Trump’s Freeze on Climate, Infrastructure Grants

A U.S. judge blocked President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday from freezing billions of dollars in grants Congress authorized under climate investment and infrastructure laws of his Democratic predecessor, former President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Providence, …

Sweden Probe Finds No Conclusive Evidence of Deliberate Damage to Subsea Cables

A Swedish probe found no conclusive evidence to suggest that a Chinese ship had deliberately dragged its anchor to damage two Baltic Sea cables, Sweden’s Accident Investigation Authority said on Tuesday, though a separate investigation remains under way. The Yi …

UK to Compel 1,000 Firms to Shore Up Cyber Defenses After Hacks

The UK government will pass legislation compelling companies providing IT services to critical national infrastructure to improve their cyber defenses after a wave of attacks by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. As many as 1,000 firms will fall under …

Western Officials Say Russia Is Behind Campaign of Sabotage Across Europe

Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, according to data collected by The Associated Press. They allege the disruption campaign is …

Heathrow Shutdown Raises Concerns Over Contingency Planning

The closure of Britain’s Heathrow Airport is set to affect the global aviation system for days at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, experts say, posing questions about why better contingency planning was not in place at the …