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Greece set to invest $28 billion on military shake-up. The most groundbreaking reform in the ‘history of the Greek state’

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NATO member Greece is set to unveil a massive modernisation of its armed forces on Wednesday, following the lead of several of its European allies.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to present the timeline to parliament, headlined with an eye-catching new anti-aircraft defence set-up called “Achilles’s Shield”.

The Mediterranean country already dedicates more than 3.0 percent of its GDP on defence — owing to decades of tension with neighbouring Turkey.

It now plans to invest approximately 26 billion euros ($28 billion) on new weapons systems by 2036, according to ministerial sources.

The Greek government has called it “the most significant reform ever undertaken in the history of the Greek state in terms of national defence.”

“Our country is protecting itself, arming itself, and strengthening itself,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said last week.

Alongside Poland, Estonia and Latvia, Greece is one of the few NATO member states that allocates more than 3.0 percent of output to defence.

And this year the nation of 10.5 million has doubled its military budget to 6.13 billion euros ($6.6 billion).

“Historically, Greece has served and will continue to serve as an outpost for Europe, which is currently seeking to reorganise its defence in a difficult international setting,” said Maria Gavouneli, a professor of international law at the University of Athens.

‘Achilles’s Shield’

A key part of the shake-up is an upgrade to its anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems called “Achilles’s Shield”, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Greek media reports suggest Athens is in negotiations with Israel to acquire the shield, which also includes enhancing anti-drone systems.

France, Italy and Norway have been also cited as possible suppliers of the new weapons, which include unmanned vessels (USVs), drones and radars.

Greece has sought to strengthen its position on the EU’s Eastern Mediterranean border, close to the conflict zones of the Middle East.

A dutiful buyer of European military equipment, especially from France and Germany, Greece has always justified its arms spending by pointing to territorial disputes and threats from historic rival Turkey.

‘Necessary’ overhaul

“This reorganisation was necessary for Greece because during the economic crisis of the last decade and the freeze on public spending, the country fell behind in terms of modernising (its arsenal),” said Gavouneli, who is also the director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy think-tank.

Greece has signed a military cooperation agreement with France, ordering 24 Rafale fighter jets and three Belharra-class defence and intervention frigates (FDI) for a total of more than 5.5 billion euros.

A fourth frigate will be built in Greek shipyards, offering added value to strengthen the Greek defence industry.

Athens has also signed a deal for the acquisition of 20 US-made F-35 fighter jets.

Last November, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said Greece would order four different drone systems and overhaul its armed forces by merging military units.

Athens must cope with a “different reality” and modernise its forces quickly to meet the challenges of the 21st century and those in its relationship with Ankara, Dendias said at the time.

France, Germany, and Poland have lately announced plans to bolster their militaries at a time of faltering confidence in the US military umbrella. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stressed that the EU must significantly increase its arms spending in the face of the threat from Russia.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Trump has unwittingly set off a brain drain of ‘intellectual refugees’ as U.S. applicants to U.K. jobs spike

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President Donald Trump’s pitch has been bringing jobs back to the U.S. But a growing number of Americans would rather search for employment outside the U.S. amid the changing political landscape. 

Americans made up 8.5% of foreigners interested in U.K. jobs in the first three months of 2025, an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to a year ago. That makes Americans the fastest-growing U.K.-interested job group, and puts them not far behind leader India (11.3%), according to job search site Indeed

The renewed interest from the U.S. comes amid a slew of policy shifts from the White House. 

After Trump’s axing of billions in federal research funding, which has impacted the broader field of academia, more U.S. applicants in scientific research and management were clicking on job postings in Britain, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

A recent survey by the science journal Nature found that 75% of its 1,600 respondents, who were scientists, were mulling leaving the U.S. for Europe or Canada because of President Trump’s actions.

The crackdown has attracted attention beyond the scientific community in some cases, such as recent White House moves against the world-renowned Harvard University. The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year government grants to Harvard because the university refused to comply with policy changes regarding diversity, hiring, and more.  

The brain drain seems to be due to Americans looking for avenues of greater freedom and stability, Richard White, a University of Oxford oncology professor, told Bloomberg.

“Back in the U.S., the U.K. is now considered the stable place to do scientific research. If people have this sense that things could be more stable elsewhere, that’s where they’ll go,” said White, who relocated from New York in 2022.

Europe’s chance

Others have also noticed the tide turn as more people consider their options overseas. 

Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta, warned in a LinkedIn post last month that “many U.S.-based scientists are looking for a Plan B.” This could be Europe’s chance to scoop up top American talent given that the U.S. was “destroying its public research funding system,” LeCun said.

Europe seems prepared to receive the talent outflow. In January, days after Trump was officially sworn in as president, European Central Bank’s Christine Lagard highlighted the opportunity, saying the region could lure some of America’s “disenchanted” talent

Paul Graham, a computer scientist and cofounder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, wrote in a post on X that a foreign-born undergraduate student in the U.S. asked him if he should establish his startup in the U.K. given “the random deportations.”

He responded by saying that doing so “would be an advantage in recruiting.” 

“What an interesting twist of history it would be if the U.K. became a hub of intellectual refugees the way the U.S. itself did in the 1930s and 40s. It wouldn’t take much more than what’s already happening,” Graham, who was born in the U.K. and studied in the U.S., said in the post from Tuesday.

European and U.K. challenges

To be sure, the U.K. and Europe have their own fair share of challenges, from low productivity and a smaller startup ecosystem to rising right-wing extremism. Even still, they seem like better options for some candidates than Trump’s America.

While some Americans have shown their eagerness to move from the U.S. through job applications, others have done so by tapping on their eligibility for citizenship elsewhere. 

U.K. Home Office data pointed to a 26% increase in U.S. nationals applying for British citizenship in 2024 compared to a year earlier. And even for those who aren’t qualified to jump ship, the avenue to move to the U.K. seems more tempting now.

“[Some] Americans are now looking for a way to come here short of citizenship, to at least get into the country and leave the U.S.,” Ed Wanambwa, partner at law firm Russell-Cooke, specializing in U.K. immigration law, told Fortune last month. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Crypto investment startup Glider raises $4 million in round led by Andreessen Horowitz 

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The founders of crypto startup Glider want to help people invest in crypto more easily without having to deal with brokers or centralized exchanges. 

To do so, Glider seeks to let users automate crypto trading, swaps, and other activities involved in decentralized finance in a personalized way, co-founder Brian Huang told Fortune. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, refers to a sector of the crypto industry that uses blockchains and digital contracts to offer financial services without intermediaries like banks. 

“Glider does everything behind the scenes or runs in the background, but you have full control of your assets and you still get the underlying utility of all those assets,” Huang said.

On Wednesday, the one-year-old company said it has raised $4 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional participation by Coinbase Ventures, Uniswap Ventures, and GSR. The company did not disclose its valuation in the funding round. 

Glider also announced its participation in the Andreessen Horowitz Crypto Startup Accelerator in San Francisco this spring. 

The New-York based company plans to use artificial intelligence to help users tweak their crypto investments to their desired specifications. This can involve cherry-picking a few coins to hold in an ETF-like structure or holding trending tokens on a particular chain, Huang said. Using AI in combination with DeFi, Glider plans to let users control their crypto assets without constantly having to make trades themselves. 

“Everyone should be able to tune their portfolio exactly how they want it, automate it and do exactly what you would like to do within your own risk profile and tolerance,” Glider co-founder John Johnson told Fortune

Glider is still testing its technology, which it plans to launch in the coming months. The company plans to make money by charging users a management fee based on a percentage of the customer’s assets under management. 

There are already many companies, including Bitwise and Grayscale, that help customers manage their crypto investments. However, Huang says Glider is different because, unlike traditional asset managers, it will not take custody of users’ assets. 

“It’s a lot like these traditional finance advisors, but we do it completely non-custodial,” Huang said, meaning that Glider will use blockchain technology to let users maintain control of their investments at all times. 

The money raised in this funding round will be used to hire more employees and develop the company’s marketing strategy, Huang said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Burglars tunnel through concrete wall into LA jewelry store and steal $10 million in watches, pendants and gold chains

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Burglars tunneled through a concrete wall to gain access to a Los Angeles jewelry store, making off with at least $10 million worth of watches, pendants, gold chains and other merchandise, police said.

The heist happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Love Jewels on Broadway in the heart of downtown’s jewelry district, according to Officer David Cuellar with the LA Police Department.

Investigators were reviewing security camera footage that shows the suspects entering the store from a large hole they drilled from the property next door, he said.

“They tunneled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” Cuellar said Tuesday.

An unknown number of suspects fled through the same hole and drove off in a late model Chevy truck, he said. The heist wasn’t discovered until store employees arrived for work Monday morning.

Initial estimates are that $10 million worth of merchandise was stolen, Cuellar said, adding that the number could change. The owner told The Associated Press the loss was around $20 million, and that they did not have insurance. No alarms went off and the feed to their in-store security cameras were cut.

At the store on Tuesday, workers covered up the hole in the wall with a metal plate, repaired other damage and cleaned up overturned display cases and discarded boxes. Two large safes were broken into, containing all the merchandise they had in the store.

Customers and friends stopped by to offer sympathy, with some even asking to purchase items.

Love Jewels’ website advertises items like a 14 karat yellow gold rope chain for $1,200, heart-shaped gold earrings for $200 and a gold cross pendant for $550. Videos on the store’s social media shows glass cases filled with rings, watches and necklaces.

Detectives examined the scene for fingerprints and DNA, police said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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