BusinessGlobal issuesDrought in Germany and Europe are driving up costsAstrid Prange de OliveiraOngoing drought in Europe is causing rivers to dry up and crops to fail. Transport costs are rising and the price of food has exploded. Is inflation due to extreme weather? https://p.dw.com/p/5J9iUThe Rh»»»

waterdrop®, the Austrian hydration brand founded in Vienna in 2016, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with “10 Years of Making Waves”, a global campaign running from 20 August to 30 September 2026 across its international markets, including Romania. A decade after introducing the Microdrink»»»

Central bankers do not usually forecast the weather. The European Central Bank's chief economist has just put one into his. The Climate Crisis has gone beyond a fringe obsession of hippie tree-hugers and entered the studies of central bankers, who have been forced to sit up and take notice of the u»»»

Berlin has recorded roughly 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer, official data showed Thursday. Europe has experienced a spike in heat-related mortality as the worst-hit countries grapple with historically high temperatures exacerbated by human-driven climate change. Germany registered around 14»»»

Central bankers do not usually forecast the weather. The European Central Bank's chief economist has just put one into his. The Climate Crisis has gone beyond a fringe obsession of hippie tree-hugers and entered the studies of central bankers, who have been forced to sit up and take notice of the u»»»

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent gives a press briefing in May. The national debt is rising significantly. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The national debt hit $40 trillion Tuesday, a record high, signaling that the government is borrowing at a record pace. Th»»»

STRABAG Property and Facility Services (STRABAG PFS), a subsidiary of the European construction Group STRABAG, signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Brenneka Install SRL and Samivo Instal SRL, companies within the Brenneka Group, headquartered in Bacău and with an operational office »»»

Frankfurt, Germany: Germany registered around 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer as Europe struggled through a series of punishing heatwaves, worse than a previous record high in 2018, official data showed Thursday. Around 9,600 of those deaths occurred in one week at the end of June when Germa»»»

BERLIN: A woman died and at least two other people were injured as severe storms caused extensive damage overnight across parts of Germany. In Waldorf, in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, a woman was struck by a falling tree and fatally injured, the German news agency dpa reported Th»»»

Sziget Festival has survived ownership changes, a pandemic and more than three decades of transformation. But after a financially disappointing 2026 edition, the Budapest event faces perhaps a more fundamental question: what should Sziget actually be in the years ahead? There is something unusual a»»»

The volume of merchandise trade (imports and exports) between Romania and Germany in January-June 2026 amounted to 21.4 billion euros, up slightly by 1.3%, indicating a recovery in trade between the two countries, according to the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Romania) in a »»»

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court on Wednesday slammed the latest US sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a “flagrant attack” on the global tribunal’s independence and vowed to continue seeking justice for atrocities around the world. The State De»»»

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Wednesday slammed the latest U.S. sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a “flagrant attack” on the global tribunal's independence and vowed to continue seeking justice for atrocities around the world. The »»»

View taken from a Danish F-16 interceptor of the Nord Stream 2 gas leak just south of Dueodde, Denmark, on September 27, 2022. The leak was one of three on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. File Photo courtesy of Danish Defense | License Photo Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A Ukrainian man was arr»»»

Munich, Germany: Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane has set his sights on the Ballon d'Or after receiving his second European Golden Shoe in Munich on Wednesday. The England captain collected the prize after scoring the most goals in Europe's top divisions last season. Kane won the 2023-24 award afte»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Alice Weidel, co-chair of the opposition right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, accused the German government on Wednesday of remaining inactive four years after the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The German Attorney General's Office announced on Wedn»»»

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the EU would "stand firmly" behind the International Criminal Court after the US levied new sanctions against its president, Tomoko Akane, in a move the ICC called a "flagrant attack" on its independence. "These sanctions are a flagr»»»

BERLIN: Germany and France on Wednesday condemned remarks by Israel’s far-right national security minister, who declared that Israel should kill “30 or 40” people every night in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz “strongly condemns the inhumane appeals made by Minis»»»

Burgas will host the XXV International Geography Olympiad in 2029, after a decision to that affect was made during a International Geography Union meeting in Istanbul, said Burgas Municipality here on Wednesday. Among the other candidates were cities like Porto Seguro (Brazil) and Nicosia (Cyprus).»»»

Denmark has deployed a batch of fresh military conscripts to Greenland for the first time in modern history, as Copenhagen seeks to assert its control over the Arctic territory in response to threats of annexation from US President Donald Trump. Around 100 conscripts from the Schleswig Infantry Reg»»»

Consumer prices rose by 0.6% in a single month Annual inflation in Bulgaria continued to slow in July but remained among the highest in the European Union, according to final data from Eurostat. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased by 4.4% year-on-year, above Eurostat’s earlier »»»

Damascus, Aug. 19 (SANA) Gold prices remained stable in the Syrian market Wednesday, while global bullion prices rebounded as the US dollar and global bond yields eased. According to a bulletin issued by the General Authority for Precious Metals Management, the price of 21-karat gold stood at SYP 1»»»

MALMEDY, Belgium: Firefighters managed overnight to fully surround Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century, but the situation on the ground “remains complicated” with crews battling several new flare-ups, authorities said Wednesday. Crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans said the fire raging in the Hig»»»

In January—June 2026, imports of passenger cars into Kyrgyzstan increased by 36.5 percent compared with the same period last year. A total of 78,375 vehicles worth more than $680 million were imported. Data from the National Statistical Committee say. Where does Kyrgyzstan buy most cars? China acco»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - German Federal Prosecutor's Office said on Wednesday it detained another suspect in connection with Nord Stream pipeline blast case. "This morning (August 19, 2026), the German Federal Prosecutor's Office, acting on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the investigati»»»

Dubai: UAE travellers will get another direct option to Germany from December, with Air Arabia launching daily non-stop flights between Sharjah and Frankfurt from December 15, 2026. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click hereThe new service will connect Sharj»»»

Berlin: Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala said he is suffering from a neurological disorder after a second on-field collapse in three days yesterday. The 23-year-old Germany international fell to the turf just minutes after coming on late in a pre-season friendly at Heidenheim. A similar incid»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Natural gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Croatia have reached record lows for this time of year, while in four other countries gas storage levels are at their lowest since 2017-2018, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (G»»»

Tribune News Network Doha Andaz Doha, the lifestyle hotel by Hyatt located in the heart of West Bay, has announced the appointment of Dominik Strobel as its new General Manager. Bringing almost two decades of experience with Hyatt Hotels across international markets, Dominik Strobel takes the helm »»»

AMMAN — The Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) is expanding its training programmes and partnerships with the private sector and international institutions to meet changing labour market needs, its General Director, Raafat Sawafin said.In an interview with The Jordan Times, the General Director »»»

The Danube has dropped to a record low of 31 cm in Budapest, idling nuclear reactors in Romania and Hungary as a fierce drought parches central Europe. The river hit the mark on July 28, Xinhua reported, edging below the 33 cm low set in October 2018. Weeks of heat and thin rainfall have drained th»»»

European gas storage has fallen further behind its usual pre-winter pace, with Germany just 47.6% full against a normal 75% for early August and the Netherlands at 38.5% against a typical 77%, fuelling fears that Europe will face yet another energy crisis of fuel shortages and high prices. The Krem»»»

Just over half of the Ukrainians living abroad still intend to come home, down from more than two-thirds a year ago, as new lives in the EU take root. The share planning to return fell to 53% from 68%, while the share who say they do not intend to return at all doubled to 34% from 17%, according to»»»

The EU bought €809mn of Russian liquefied natural gas in June, 57% more than a year earlier, with Belgium the single biggest buyer. That gave Russia 24.1% of the EU's LNG market by value, second only to the US on 54.3% and €1.83bn. Belgium took €268mn worth, its highest since July 2025, ahead of Fr»»»

Even in the country most alarmed by it, defence is a top national concern for fewer than one person in three, reports Statista, which asked people in 32 countries whether defence and foreign affairs ranked among the most important issues facing their country. Nowhere did more than about one in thre»»»

The European Union has always lagged behind American efforts to innovate, but while it has long-term, structural problems to deal with in this area, it is also true that the Commission has been handed a more immediate chance to boost the bloc's prospects. The US has cut back on federal research gra»»»

Poland says it stopped a Russian-directed plot to murder a US citizen in Warsaw - the first time, its prime minister says, that Moscow has tried to kill an American inside another Nato country. Polish security services detained a Russian citizen on August 7 who had been recruited by Russian intelli»»»

Poland showcased its rapidly expanding armed forces on August 15, the Polish Army Day, parading tanks, artillery, missile launchers and combat aircraft through Warsaw in a display intended to deter Russia and demonstrate the scale of the country’s rearmament. Some 1,800 soldiers and about 270 vehic»»»

AMMAN — The European Chamber of Commerce in Jordan (EuroCham Jordan) and the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to boost economic, trade, and investment cooperation between Jordan and the EU, with a focus on Germany.The MoU was s»»»

Egypt will increase university admissions in artificial intelligence, data science, technology, engineering and other high-demand fields while reducing intake in humanities disciplines with weaker labour-market demand. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met on Tuesday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbou»»»

Hecklingen, Germany: Germany on Tuesday opened a new drone defence research centre, less than two weeks after an explosives-laden unmanned aerial vehicle was found at Leipzig airport, a key logistics hub for weapons sent to Ukraine. "We are significantly strengthening our ability to respond to host»»»

Belgium is battling its largest wildfire on record, with the blaze scorching around 3,000 hectares and spreading toward the German border, according to local officials. The fire broke out on Friday in the High Fens nature reserve in eastern Belgium and remained out of control on Monday despite cool»»»

Poland says it stopped a Russian-directed plot to murder a US citizen in Warsaw - the first time, its prime minister says, that Moscow has tried to kill an American inside another Nato country. Polish security services detained a Russian citizen on August 7 who had been recruited by Russian intelli»»»

More than half of Romanian employees (52%) say that a holiday lasting between 7 and 14 days is the minimum period they need to fully recover. Almost one quarter (23%) believe that fewer than seven days are enough, while 15% need more than two weeks. One in ten employees is unable to estimate the ne»»»

Dubai: Parties from the UAE and 22 overseas jurisdictions across five continents opted to use the DIFC Courts during the first half of 2026, with 243 opt-in cases accounting for 30% of the 810 cases filed across all divisions. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply»»»

Poland says it stopped a Russian-directed plot to murder a US citizen in Warsaw - the first time, its prime minister says, that Moscow has tried to kill an American inside another Nato country. Polish security services detained a Russian citizen on August 7 who had been recruited by Russian intelli»»»

LONDON: In a sign of the growing pressure on Syria’s embattled captagon networks, smugglers are increasingly taking to the air — not in aircraft, but using balloons in an attempt to bypass tighter border controls and carry the illicit drug into Jordan and beyond. Increasingly, however, their balloo»»»

Monschau, Germany: Firefighters and farmers backed by water-dropping aircraft battled through a fourth day Monday to tame Belgium's worst wildfire in a century, still burning through pristine parkland though it was halted short of the German border. The blaze charring the High Fens nature reserve, »»»

The EU bought €809mn of Russian liquefied natural gas in June, 57% more than a year earlier, with Belgium the single biggest buyer. That gave Russia 24.1% of the EU's LNG market by value, second only to the US on 54.3% and €1.83bn. Belgium took €268mn worth, its highest since July 2025, ahead of Fr»»»

The EU bought €809mn of Russian liquefied natural gas in June, 57% more than a year earlier, with Belgium the single biggest buyer. That gave Russia 24.1% of the EU's LNG market by value, second only to the US on 54.3% and €1.83bn. Belgium took €268mn worth, its highest since July 2025, ahead of Fr»»»