Author: Press Room

‘Sickening’ racist remarks and calls for a coup: French police under investigation

Six hours of footage and a torrent of racist, misogynistic and conspiratorial remarks. The local newspaper Midi Libre has published video from a night-time patrol by Carcassonne’s municipal police, recorded on 6 November 2025. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Captured inadvertently by one officer’s body camera, which they thought was switched off, it contains, according to the daily, comments described as “of exceptional violence”. According to Midi Libre, a preliminary investigation has been under way since January 2026, when the footage is said to have been passed to the Carcassonne public prosecutor’s office. Following the video’s publication by the newspaper, the prosecutor’s office…

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Zelenskyy’s plane ‘almost hit’ by drone en route to Oslo, Norway PM says

Published on 09/09/2026 – 20:52 GMT+2 A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Oslo was nearly hit by a drone, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in,” Store told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. The Norwegian Prime Minister did not provide further details about the incident. “I asked him how his night had been, and he said it had not been a good night because he had been on the phone receiving…

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European Parliament to debate Ceuta crisis amid fierce political backlash

Published on 09/09/2026 – 18:33 GMT+2 The European Parliament will debate the situation in Ceuta next Tuesday in Strasbourg, in what is expected to be a heated political confrontation, following a decision by the Parliament’s political group leaders in Brussels on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) also pushed to add a resolution to be voted on by lawmakers after the debate, in a move widely seen as an attempt to attack the Spanish government led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The debate is expected to be contentious, with…

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European Commission proposes EU preference in public procurement, excluding Chinese firms

Published on 09/09/2026 – 19:07 GMT+2•Updated 19:09 The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a legislative proposal allowing EU public authorities to favour European companies in public procurement for key public services such as energy, water, railways, ports, airports and postal services. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The move comes as European policymakers seek to shield the bloc’s market from China amid heated trade negotiations, as the EU grapples with a trade deficit with Beijing of roughly €1 billion a day. Public procurement markets in Europe represent €2 trillion every year — 15% of Europe’s GDP. “Public money must serve our collective interests,” Commission…

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Ceuta crisis: EU grants Spain €114 million in gesture of ‘solidarity’

Published on 09/09/2026 – 17:31 GMT+2 The European Commission has granted the Spanish government 114.7 million euros from its emergency aid fund to deal with the migration crisis that Ceuta has been facing since the end of July, in what the institution describes as an act of “solidarity” with Spain. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “This financial assistance comes on top of the Commission’s immediate response from day one, when it offered Spain both financial and operational support,” the Commission said in a statement. “The decision once again demonstrates the Commission’s full solidarity with Spain in dealing with this difficult situation.” The funding…

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EU’s plan to gain independence from Russian energy faltering, auditors warn

Four years after the European Union launched a plan to break its dependence on Russian oil and gas and accelerate the clean energy transition, an audit presented by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on Wednesday said the bloc’s plan is falling well short of its ambitions. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Russian oil imports have plunged following EU sanctions and gas imports have declined, the ECA auditors noted, but they urge caution against attributing all of that progress to REPowerEU, the plan launched by the European Commission in 2022 to achieve energy sovereignty and end all dependence on Moscow. “In our view,…

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One dead, several injured after train collides with truck in Poland

Published on 09/09/2026 – 16:17 GMT+2 A rescue operation is underway after a passenger train collided with a truck at a level crossing and derailed in Sokolniki Suche, near Warsaw, in Poland. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT There were 120 passengers on board the train. Twenty people were injured, four of them seriously. Karolina Jaworska, a press officer for the Warsaw State Fire Service, told Euronews that one person had died. “We know of four people who were seriously injured, one of whom has died. The injured include the train driver, the truck driver and two passengers,” she told Euronews, adding that the…

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Germany’s Merz accuses AfD of promoting ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Bundestag clash with Weidel

Published on 09/09/2026 – 14:21 GMT+2 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz labelled the far-right AfD’s demand for mass “remigration” a form of “ethnic cleansing by skin colour and origin” in a heated parliamentary exchange on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Three days after the AfD scored a crushing election victory over his centre-right CDU in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, Merz and AfD co-leader Alice Weidel sharply attacked each other in the assembly. Merz took aim at the Alternative for Germany party’s demand for mass deportations of rejected asylum seekers and people arriving via irregular channels. “The word ‘remigration’ is nothing other than…

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Norway bids final farewell to King Harald V as ‘grandfather’ of the nation’s casket leaves palace

Norway has begun to bid a final farewell to King Harald V, a modern and unifying figure in a funeral that is being attended by European royals and foreign dignitaries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The funeral procession is the culmination of 13 days of national mourning since the 89-year-old monarch’s death on 28 August. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Britain’s Prince William, Spain’s royal couple, the presidents of Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic as well as the French and Thai prime ministers are among those in Oslo who will pay their respects. The casket is being carried on an artillery carriage along…

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Broken gadget? The EU’s repair directive makes manufacturers fix it

Every year, Europeans throw out millions of tonnes of electronic waste, much of it repairable. The EU’s Right to Repair Directive, passed this summer, applies across all 27 member states and pushes manufacturers to make repairs easier than replacement. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Under the new rules, choosing repair during a product’s legal guarantee extends that protection by at least 12 months. Once the warranty expires, manufacturers must still repair certain goods on request, including washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, TVs, phones, tablets, vacuum cleaners, tumble dryers, servers, welding equipment, and e-bike and e-scooter batteries. Companies can no longer refuse repairs simply because…

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