Author: Press Room

Published on 27/09/2026 – 13:33 GMT+2•Updated 15:29 European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen urged EU governments to continue curbing energy demand to reduce gas and electricity consumption amid “exceptionally low” storage levels, according to a letter seen by Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “I invite you to consider taking or continuing to take measures that can sustain injections or reduce gas and electricity demand for as long as necessary,” reads the letter, noting that the situation “has not improved” since Jørgensen’s first warning in March. The warning comes as EU gas storage is around 70% full, roughly 12 percentage points below the same…

Published on 27/09/2026 – 14:31 GMT+2•Updated 14:39 At least two people have been killed and 19 are in hospital after a bus crashed in Germany with Filipino tourists on board who were heading to Munich’s beer festival, according to local authorities. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “This morning at 05:41 AM (03:41 GMT), an Italian tour bus with approximately 35 people on board, mostly of Filipino descent, was on its way from Milan to Munich for the Oktoberfest. The bus veered off the road and then overturned in the bushes here,” Martin Cornils, a Fürstenfeldbruck police spokesman, said. Cornils added, “In total, we…

Published on 27/09/2026 – 14:39 GMT+2•Updated 17:52 Catania-Fontanarossa airport has once again been brought to a standstill because of volcanic activity on Mount Etna, which has forced the authorities to halt flight operations. Sac, the company that manages the airport, has announced the closure of the relevant airspace because of the heavy emission of ash into the atmosphere and unfavourable wind conditions. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT All arrivals and departures have officially been suspended until 23:59 on Sunday 27 September. Flights were initially halted until 12:00, before the stop was extended. In a bid to limit disruption, the company has urged passengers…

As the Cognac harvest draws to a close in southwestern France, winegrowers already know they face another difficult year. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Cognac makers are struggling. The 300-year-old amber brandy is only produced around the Charente River, but it has been caught in the trade wars between the EU and China, as well as by tensions with its top export market, the US. For months, producers have watched largely powerless as access to both markets has been squeezed. The industry has a historic connection to the EU. Jean Monnet, the French statesman regarded as one of the EU’s founding fathers, came…

Pope Leo XIV called on the Catholic Church to acknowledge its failings and confront sexual abuse as he celebrated an open-air Mass in Lourdes on Sunday, the latest stop on his visit to France. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT After drawing nearly 800,000 people in Paris on Saturday, the pontiff was greeted by further crowds in Lourdes, where around 150,000 people attended Sunday’s Mass. In his homily, Leo urged the Church to take responsibility for wrongdoing within its ranks. “The Church must have the courage to be the first to undergo this conversion. To heal the deep wounds, the acts of infidelity and…

Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to strengthen the country’s neutrality in a referendum on Sunday, with around 70% voting against the measure. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to final results published by the Swiss government, the proposal was rejected in all 26 Swiss cantons. The initiative would have restricted Switzerland’s ability to impose sanctions on other countries, allowing such measures only if they had been approved by the United Nations. That would have limited Switzerland’s ability to adopt sanctions against Russia, which holds veto power as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Supporters of the proposal,…

Published on 27/09/2026 – 12:58 GMT+2•Updated 13:05 Poland and Lithuania are working on an international evacuation plan for civilians in the event of a major crisis or military threat. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT If necessary, the plan would allow some residents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to be moved across the Polish border. Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, has announced that work on the proposal was already under way and that representatives of Lithuania and Poland were analysing procedures, logistics, and infrastructure capacity. A detailed plan is to be drawn up once Poland and Lithuania reach an…

Published on 27/09/2026 – 8:22 GMT+2•Updated 8:31 Russia’s foreign minister has rejected calls from his German counterpart to pull back on “dangerous” escalatory steps as he accused Berlin of being Ukraine’s “main sponsor.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sergey Lavrov met with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, shortly before Lavrov delivered an address to world leaders. During their talks, the German minister urged Moscow to abandon its “dangerous path of escalation” towards Europe while also suggesting Berlin was open to improving its relationship with Russia – provided the Kremlin…

Published on 26/09/2026 – 14:59 GMT+2 Six people have been confirmed dead after a building where they were staying collapsed in Athens. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The building collapsed following an explosion on Friday morning in the Plaka district of the Greek capital. Four US tourists had been staying on the first floor of the building while a couple – a 78-year-old British man and a 77-year-old Greek woman – lived on the second floor. The process of formally identifying the bodies is ongoing. Fire crews are now winding down the operation after hours of searching through the rubble. Around 30 firefighters,…

Despite having apologised and despite Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s attempts to put an end to the controversy that erupted during the week, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s comments about choosing a life partner on the basis of criteria such as the length of the skirt she should wear continue to spark negative reactions against the minister, crossing national borders and turning him into the subject of memes shared on social media. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT During a speech at an event organised last week, Tajani said he would advise marrying serious women who wear “longer skirts”. “Perhaps less eye-catching, but more reliable,…