Author: Press Room

Published on 07/09/2026 – 8:15 GMT+2•Updated 12:03 Throwing away your broken washing machine seems easier because it’s quicker and cheaper than fixing it. This is changing as the EU wants you to use your goods for longer. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU’s Right to Repair Directive encourages consumers to repair broken products rather than replace them by making repairs easier, more accessible, and more appealing. The directive was adopted in June 2024, and member states had until 31 July 2026 to transpose it into national law. The goal is to keep products for longer, reduce e-waste, promote sustainability, and help consumers…

No alternative: With voters turning out in droves, preliminary end results from Sunday’s Saxony-Anhalt ballot show the AfD securing 43.8% of the vote, representing 39 seats of the 83-member state parliament. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Although this is short of an outright majority, with the official results expected Monday night, it is already being interpreted as a major loss for Merz’ centre-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party. This is a party that has led the region of Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years, but only scraped through 17.2% of the votes. Nothing short of a disaster: AfD co-chair Alice Weidel told CNN…

Published on 08/09/2026 – 4:47 GMT+2 Russia resumed strikes on Kyiv after the expiration of a three-day halt in attacks for a visit to the Ukrainian capital by US envoys, as “Russian forces attacked Boryspil and Fastiv districts with drones,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine posted on Telegram late Monday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Russia’s state news agency TASS also confirmed earlier that the strike pause had expired. Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the three-day halt in Moscow’s strikes on Kyiv as US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were visiting the Russian and Ukrainian capitals at…

Eurostat estimates that consumer goods thrown away prematurely generate close to 35 million tonnes of waste annually across the EU. Although most discard their devices when broken, a Eurobarometer survey showed that 77 percent of Europeans would prefer repairing their appliances to replacing them. But professional repair services are often expensive, and parts are made inaccessible by the companies that provide them. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU wants to stop this cycle of premature replacements through the Right to Repair Directive and an accompanying set of Ecodesign regulations. Amongst other things, the new laws ask manufacturers to design appliances with standard…

Europe is recovering after a summer of heatwaves and droughts that have devastated crops and left many farmers facing huge financial losses. To help farmers cope, the European Commission is urging member states to make use of “flexibilities” in the EU’s farm subsidy programme. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT But Hansen admits no new money will be available for farmers. Instead, he asks for the “solidarity” of consumers and advises against expecting “a certain quality” of produce this year.

Published on 07/09/2026 – 11:29 GMT+2 The UK government branded hundreds of demonstrators as “thuggish” after they blocked roads in an attempt to prevent asylum seekers leaving Portsmouth on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The protest came after around 140 migrants arrived by small boat, as tensions over Channel crossings continue to mount. “We condemn the intimidating and thuggish behaviour we saw in Portsmouth last night,” a spokesperson for the UK’s Home Office, said in a statement. “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy but it must never cross a line into disorder.” Footage showed demonstrators, many dressed in…

Published on 07/09/2026 – 12:14 GMT+2 Belgian prosecutors have detained a Chinese-Belgian national in connection with an espionage investigation linked to China, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has announced. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The suspect was detained in May, as he was about to board a flight to Beijing, though authorities disclosed the arrest only now. Prosecutors are investigating charges of espionage, participation in a criminal organisation, misuse of company assets and unlawful disclosure of trade secrets in connection with Belgian semiconductor company BELGAN BV, which went bankrupt in 2024, leaving 400 employees without jobs. According to prosecutors, the 52-year-old suspect held a…

Many people walking the streets of Lisbon will be greeted by an unusual sight: an ambulance riddled with bullets, completely out of action. The story of the vehicle, now on display in the heart of the Portuguese capital, goes back to 2022 during a rescue operation in Kharkiv, Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “A medical team was called out to rescue a woman injured in a bombing. After they had entered the building to rescue her, this ambulance came under fire,” Roman Grymalyuk, president of the Portuguese-Ukrainian association ORANTA, tells Euronews. For this Portuguese-Ukrainian citizen, although the vehicle stands as evidence of…

The radical-right Alternative for Germany’s landslide victory in the Saxony-Anhalt region election may be the first real crack in the power structure that has held European politics together since the Second World War. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Sunday, Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a resounding victory in the eastern German region, taking 43.8% of the vote. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which leads the governing coalition in Berlin, collapsed to 17.2%, while its junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), managed just 9.3%. For the first time since the Nazi period, a German region could be led by a…

Published on 07/09/2026 – 21:52 GMT+2•Updated 21:58 Staff at the Eiffel Tower staged a walkout on Monday, forcing the closure of the iconic Parisian landmark after female employees were said to have been moved out of sight during the visit of a Hindu religious group. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The row began after the visit of around 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Hindu movement, which inaugurated a new temple in France over the weekend. Diane Davoine, a union representative, told French TV that female workers had been “moved away from their workstations as the delegation passed…