Author: staff

French far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has proposed to cancel a large chunk of France’s public debt, namely the 18 percent that is currently held by the country’s central bank. The rationale is to unlock money for public spending, but is this is even feasible? Mélenchon, currently a candidate for the presidential elections in April 2027, and seen as a front-runner, first floated the idea during the COVID 19 pandemic and revived the controversial call this month while on the campaign trail. “All we have to do is take the 18% held by the Bank of France and chuck it in…

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond in this Euronews news bulletin. In just a few minutes, our newsroom brings you the latest news and breaking news across world affairs, business, politics, culture, entertainment and travel, with the context you need to make sense of a fast-moving day. Reported with the independence and the European perspective that define Euronews, this regular round-up gives you a clear and reliable overview of the stories shaping our world right now, wherever you are watching from.

Germany is falling behind in its race to refill its gas storage facilities before winter, prompting calls for stronger incentives to accelerate injections. High market prices have slowed the refilling of Germany’s storage facilities, putting the country’s target at risk. “If storage injections continue at their current pace, Germany will not meet the statutory storage filling requirements by 1 November,” Sebastian Heinermann, managing director of the gas-storage association INES, told Euronews Business. German storage facilities were approximately 51.5% full on 25 August, compared with around 69% a year earlier. Germany is required to reach an aggregate filling level of 70%…

Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an influential voice in the European security debate, told Euronews he is sceptical that the US dispatched CIA Director John Ratcliffe to warn Russia against escalation, arguing that Washington remains more concerned about Iran. In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Ilves said he had “severe doubts” that concerns over the Baltic states were the reason for Ratcliffe’s visit, despite a flurry of reports suggesting Washington wanted to send Moscow a message against any form of aggression. “What is the real problem for the United States right now? The real problem is Iran, the fact…

Several hundred tonnes of fish died in August in one of Hungary’s largest fish farm complexes at Rétimajor, south of Budapest. This fishpond system, with a water surface of around 800 hectares, is what remains of the former Sárrét marshlands. Its current owner, Ferenc Lévai, privatised it in 1994 and has since been running it as a continuously developed, integrated agri-tourism estate, although its main source of income is still fish farming. The fishpond system, made up of shallow, nutrient-rich lakes of varying depth, reedbeds, islands and muddy shorelines, provides a uniquely concentrated and hard-to-replace habitat for water birds. The…

Spain has received the European Union’s green light to temporarily cut taxes on petrol and diesel below the bloc’s normal minimum levels to lower fuel prices for households and businesses hit by the Middle East energy crisis, an official European Commission document reveals. The EU normally sets minimum excise-duty rates for petrol and diesel. Countries can tax fuel above those floors, but going below the EU minimum requires specific flexibilities under the EU’s Energy Taxation law, which Spain secured from July to September because of the exceptional energy crisis triggered by the US and Israel’s war on Iran and the…

One of the new Hungarian government’s key pledges was to recover state assets and financial instruments that have been unlawfully managed or have gone missing and to prevent further abuses. To this end, a special authority is being set up; its head was elected on Friday by secret ballot, with 145 votes for Anna Unger. At the same time, the institution’s deputy head, Katalin Tasnádi, was appointed as deputy president in charge of investigations. The institution will be run by a five-member leadership, three of whom will be responsible for specific areas of expertise, making it possible to involve the…

If CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s secret trip to Moscow was intended to calm fears of a confrontation between Russia and NATO, it appears to have achieved almost the opposite. His sudden arrival in the Russian capital this week triggered days of speculation over what intelligence could have prompted Washington to dispatch its spy chief to deliver a message to Moscow and whether the Baltic states should be worried. US media reported that Ratcliffe warned Russia against attacking NATO members, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, amid intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance as its war in Ukraine…

Published on 28/08/2026 – 15:30 GMT+2 The Beznau nuclear power plant in Switzerland, which was shut down multiple times over the last two months due to summer heatwaves, is fully operational again, Swiss energy company Axpo said on Friday. Axpo said the second reactor at the Beznau plant in northern Switzerland, Europe’s oldest nuclear power plant still in operation, went back online on Thursday. The heatwaves that hit Europe sent temperatures soaring in the Aare River, which the site uses for cooling. Reactor 1 has been back in operation since 21 August and Axpo said it had now reconnected the…

Algeria is assessing the aftermath of deadly wildfires in the north-east that have killed at least 12 people and injured dozens. Footage filmed by an Instagram user in Agbala village, Jijel province, on 26 August shows flames surrounding a home as firefighters battle to contain the blaze. Separate footage released by Algeria’s Civil Protection Service on 27 August shows firefighters tackling wildfires across Jijel as residents watch flames sweep across a mountainside. In Bordj Tahar, one of the worst-hit areas of Jijel, residents returned to homes and farmland badly damaged by the fires as workers began restoring electricity. Around 400…