Europe

Instead of discarding stock, companies are encouraged to manage their stock more effectively, handle returns, and explore alternatives such as resale, remanufacturing, donations, or reuse.

The ban on destruction of unsold apparel, clothing accessories and footwear and the derogations will apply to large companies from 19 July 2026. Medium-sized companies are expected to follow in 2030. The rules on disclosure under the ESPR already apply to large companies and will also apply to medium-sized companies in 2030.

Burglars ransacked several safe-deposit boxes in a bank in the town of Stuhr in Lower Saxony in northern Germany, police said Saturday.

Police said they have not identified the perpetrators or established what was stolen.

The bank had 728 safe-deposit boxes in total, 14 of which were broken into, according to police.

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/59148730

After years of wrangling, France has set out a new energy law that slashes its wind and solar power targets and drops a mandate for state-run energy provider EDF to shut down nuclear plants.

More than 980 knife-related offenses and some 2,200 sex crimes were registered at train stations and in trains across Germany in 2025, according to a report from the weekly Bild am Sonntag newspaper that cites federal police figures.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55355363

https://redlib.catsarch.com/r/stupidpol/comments/1r4l2yi/merz_urges_germans_to_work_more_cites_greece_as/

Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada has now officially joined the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program, which offers loans to member states to invest in defence capabilities.

"The agreement strengthens our collective security, supports the development of key defence capabilities, and gives Canadian industry access to European defence markets while contributing to European and Ukrainian security," McGuinty said in a statement sent to CBC News.

• Keystone-SDA;
• Bloomberg.

Switzerland is to hold a landmark vote on a right-wing party’s proposal to restrict the nation’s population to 10 million, amid divisions over immigration.

The proposal, put forward by the country’s largest political grouping the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), would require the government to act before the population – currently at 9.1 million – rises to the proposed 10 million upper limit.

If the vote, due to be held on June 14, is passed, the government would have to refuse entry to newcomers including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents once the population reaches 9.5 million.

If the population hits 10 million, the government would be forced to end its free-movement agreement with the European Union (EU), which is Switzerland’s largest trading partner.

The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin.

This is the conclusion of our Governments based on analyses of samples from Alexei Navalny. These analyses have conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.

Epibatidine is a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America. It is not found naturally in Russia.

At the Munich Security Conference on February 14, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a wide-ranging speech focused on security guarantees, battlefield realities, Western responsibility, and what he described as the fundamental nature of Russia’s leadership.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The real threat facing Hungary is not Russia but the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a speech to supporters on Saturday, as his nationalist party ramps up an anti-EU campaign ahead of national elections.

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20260214134808/https://www.euractiv.com/news/von-der-leyen-calls-for-independent-europe-with-strong-mutual-defence-clause/

In her address to the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen argued that Europe has “no choice” but to become independent, citing Europe’s sharp increase in defence spending in recent years.

More than a dozen food companies have urged the European Commission not to ban the use of words such as “sausage” and “burger” for non-meat products.

The Company is a network of experts tasked with orchestrating disinformation campaigns around the world on Russia’s behalf. Thanks to an unprecedented data leak, Forbidden Stories reveals what goes on behind the scenes of this organization. Backed by significant financial resources and directed by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, these operations extend from Mali to Bolivia, via South Africa. Each of them aims to shape public opinion and consolidate Moscow’s interests abroad.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday told the Munich Security Conference that it is time for Europe to become a geopolitical power that can provide its own security by rearticulating its nuclear deterrent in the face of an aggressive Russia. “Everyone should take their cue from us,” he said.