NEW YORK (AP) — New York will block the construction of any new large data centers for up to a year so the state can create rules to protect the environment and energy grid from the power-hungry facilities that fuel artificial intelligence technology.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to sign an executive order Tuesday morning imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.
“As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The order will pause state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the governor's office said.
Tech companies and other backers have argued moves to block the construction of data centers hurt job growth for local communities and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing AI industry.
Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by the state’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled following the closure of a local mill. Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.
The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul's reelection campaign and the state's tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills and other pocketbook issues. The governor this year softened New York's ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.
Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.
The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul's office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor is opting for an executive order that would take effect immediately once signed.
New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the biggest hyperscale data centers.
FILE - New York Governor Kathy Hochul participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new JPMorgan Chase offices in New York, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place in France's national Bastille Day celebrations Tuesday as a massive parade showcased support for Ukraine and symbolically flexed European military muscle.
On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted around 30 other leaders for an event that appeared aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was given an ovation from the assembled European leaders as he arrived and his country's troops got the biggest cheers of the day from crowds on the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue. Zelenskyy and Macron shared repeated hugs at the end of the parade.
France's biggest national holiday coincided with raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave that forced the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls.
Here’s what to know about Bastille Day this year.
It’s celebrated on July 14 because that’s the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.
Bastille Day holiday is central to the French calendar and national identity. Presidents use it to vaunt France’s accomplishments, mayors across the country host village festivals and families gather for holiday meals.
The centerpiece is the Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Elysees avenue, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.
A huge French tricolor flag hanging below the monumental arch rippled in the wind as a military band on horseback rode down the tree-lined avenue followed by Macron standing in an open military vehicle to kick off the parade.
Spectators wore hats and brandished small fans to fend off the heat as a formation of air force planes roared overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.
Zelenskyy joined Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.
Ukrainian troops marched along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France were on board two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.
“I feel very proud for the fact that they’re here and for the fact that we’re marching alongside of them and I think it as well it will create better ties with them and NATO and to be a part of that history,” 21-year-old U.K. soldier Lance Cpl. Patrick Risso said of the Ukrainian involvement.
On the ground, the parade opened with around 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ grouping of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security.
Macron said Monday night that it’s a ″great honor″ to welcome to the parade ″all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity.″
The foreign fighters in combat fatigues and dress uniforms marched with their national flags, in a break with tradition — usually only one foreign country is invited to take part in the parade. It was the first time in some 20 years that British troops took part. Ukrainian forces got the loudest cheers from the crowd.
In the skies, aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy were taking part.
The parade set a record in terms of number of troops: The Paris military governor said 7,600 troops were marching this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025. Thousands of soldiers started taking up positions early Tuesday, many taking selfies as helicopters flew overhead.
Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heat wave this year.
As a result, authorities in some regions — including the French capital — banned fireworks and firefighters' balls customarily held around Bastille Day.
The Eiffel Tower's fireworks and drone show was maintained, however, and held Monday night, including a drone formation shaped like the Statue of Liberty — a gift from France to the United States that arrived in New York in 1885 to mark the U.S. centennial, the end of the American Civil War, and friendship between the two countries.
Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, centre right, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy before the start of the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, stands in the command car with General Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Fabien Mandon during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron greets senior military officers after his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
