Europe has raised its security alert following a series of drone incursions into NATO airspace, prompting leaders to agree on developing a “drone wall” to better detect, track, and intercept unauthorized unmanned aircraft.

Finland is among the countries closely monitoring the situation, with the head of its military intelligence warning of a rising risk of drones drifting into Finnish territory as a consequence of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Major General Pekka Turunen, chief of Finnish Defence Intelligence, spoke to AFP ahead of the release of a new Finnish military intelligence report that updates the security situation in the country, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia. The report highlighted the risk of long-range drones inadvertently entering Finnish airspace.

“The risk of a drone drifting into Finnish airspace or onto Finnish territory is growing all the time, the more Ukraine strikes in this area near the Gulf of Finland,” Turunen said. He added that Ukraine has been targeting oil ports near the Finnish border and that Russian forces have been using GPS jamming to counter these attacks. This, Turunen warned, could inadvertently divert drones into Finnish territory. No such incidents have been reported so far.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Finland’s security landscape has changed dramatically. The country ended decades of military non-alignment and became a NATO member in April 2023. Despite the heightened alert, Turunen noted that the overall military threat to Finland had not increased compared to a year ago.

He also commented on broader geopolitical developments, noting that political events such as former US President Donald Trump’s controversial push to acquire Greenland may have signaled to Russia that NATO and Europe were politically fragmented. “Russia sees this political climate as a sign that the West, NATO, and Europe are in disarray, on the brink of collapse,” Turunen said.

The NATO alliance has intensified its efforts to counter drone threats. In September, drone flyovers into NATO airspace reached unprecedented levels, prompting European nations to propose a coordinated “drone wall” to secure borders. In November, NATO announced the deployment of a new US anti-drone system to its eastern flank. Following a violation of Polish airspace, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte unveiled the Eastern Sentry programme, designed to deter further incursions and enhance the alliance’s readiness.

Some European officials have suggested that these drone incidents may be testing NATO’s response capabilities, raising concerns about preparedness against potential Russian threats. The Kremlin has dismissed allegations of involvement in the unidentified drone flights as “unfounded.”

The rise in drone activity has underscored the need for strengthened airspace monitoring and multinational coordination across NATO members, as tensions in Eastern Europe remain high and security risks continue to evolve.

Scientists have developed a tool that shows how everyday internet activity impacts nature, revealing surprising environmental costs behind routine website visits. The internet is responsible for 3.7 percent of global carbon emissions, surpassing air travel. If the internet were a country, it would rank as the fourth-largest polluter in the world.

The tool, called Digital Impact for Species, was created by climate experts at the University of Exeter in partnership with Madeby.studio. It allows users to enter any website URL and see its hidden environmental footprint, including CO2 emissions, energy use, and water consumption.

“When we visit a website, we rarely think about the environmental impact,” said Dr. Marcos Oliveira Jr, project lead for Exeter’s nature and climate impact team. “But there is a high cost, from the energy consumed as the information travels from the data centre to your device, to the water used to cool servers.”

The tool translates environmental metrics into relatable natural comparisons. For example, YouTube.com, which processes billions of searches each month, is rated C, indicating room for improvement. Each page view generates 0.249 grams of CO2, consumes 0.0011 litres of water, and uses 0.62 watt-hours of energy. For every 9,000 monthly visits, the site requires 10 litres of water—enough to sustain a capuchin monkey for 77 days. CO2 emissions from that traffic would take a single Amazon rainforest tree 41 days to absorb, while the energy used is equivalent to 1,000 Anna’s hummingbirds’ daily energy consumption for 332 days.

The tool calculates these impacts using Google PageSpeed Insights to measure the size of resources loaded on a page, such as images, text, and video. It also checks whether the site is hosted on servers powered by renewable energy or fossil fuels, and applies the Sustainable Web Design Model to convert technical data into ecological terms.

Researchers said the tool is intended to raise awareness rather than criticize specific websites. Dr. Oliveira Jr explained that it encourages discussion on how to create a more sustainable internet.

Experts suggest that website operators can reduce environmental impacts by simplifying pages, using fewer images, limiting fonts, avoiding unnecessary videos, and optimizing code. Hosting sites on renewable-energy servers also lowers the ecological footprint.

Consumers can contribute by minimizing unnecessary searches, but the responsibility largely lies with website hosts and developers. By making these changes, experts say it is possible to lower the internet’s environmental impact while maintaining accessibility and usability.

Digital Impact for Species is available online, offering a way for users to better understand the hidden cost of their digital habits and prompting both individuals and organizations to consider sustainability in online activity.

European authorities have dismantled 24 industrial-scale laboratories and seized around 1,000 tonnes of chemicals used to produce synthetic drugs, dealing what officials called a “massive blow” to organized crime in the region. The drugs involved include MDMA, amphetamines, and methamphetamine.

Europol described the operation as the largest of its kind to date. “I’ve been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution,” said Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre. He added that the crackdown targeted groups responsible for the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs across multiple countries.

The year-long investigation involved law enforcement agencies from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. Authorities arrested more than 85 individuals, including two suspected ringleaders from Poland. While most of those arrested were Polish nationals, Belgian and Dutch citizens are also believed to have participated in the criminal operations.

The investigation began in 2024 after Polish police identified a network importing large quantities of legal chemicals from China and India. Authorities later discovered that the chemicals were being repackaged, mislabelled, and distributed across the European Union to laboratories manufacturing synthetic drugs.

Kraag said the operation was part of a broader “supply-chain strategy” aimed at cutting off synthetic drug production at its source. “These criminal groups, they don’t have their supply anymore,” he said, noting that disrupting the flow of chemicals is key to dismantling the industry.

The operation also highlighted the wider risks associated with synthetic drug production. Beyond public health dangers, synthetic drug labs contribute to violence, corruption, and money laundering. Authorities seized more than 120,000 litres of toxic chemical waste, which criminals often dump on land or into waterways, creating serious environmental hazards. “Today, it’s profit for criminals. Tomorrow, it’s pollution,” Kraag said.

Europol stressed that while this operation targeted one of Europe’s largest synthetic drug distributors, other networks remain active. “This is one of the biggest distributors. But it’s not the only one. So we’re still looking,” Kraag warned.

Officials said the crackdown would disrupt supply chains across multiple countries and reduce the availability of synthetic drugs in European markets. The operation reflects growing international cooperation in tackling organized crime and the dangers posed by large-scale drug production, both to public health and the environment.