MEP calls for ‘clarity’ on planned shake up of EU’s ETS scheme
By Martin Banks The European Commission has proposed major adjustments to the EU’s influential Emission Trading System (ETS).
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EUROPE
August 20, 2026 -
EUROPE 
August 20, 2026 Brussels theatre company kicks off its new autumn season
By Martin Banks Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, two of the twentieth century’s greatest physicists, were once close friends working together to unlock the secrets of the atom. Then the world went to war and they found themselves on opposite sides. It’s 1941. Heisenberg, now a leading figure in Germany’s atomic research programme, is visiting […]
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WORLD
August 20, 2026 US national debt passes $40tn after doubling in a decade
US national debt has more than doubled in a decade to reach a milestone $40tn (£29.4tn), Treasury figures show. The rise reflects years of heavy spending under both the Trump and Biden administrations, along with higher interest payments that have steadily added to the total. In 2016, the national debt stood at just under $20tn. […]
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GEOPOLITICS
August 20, 2026 Ankara reiterates ‘gray zone’ claims in Aegean
Turkey’s Defense Ministry on Thursday reiterated Ankara’s claims of “gray zones” in the Aegean Sea, in response to Greece’s new spatial planning framework for renewable energy projects.
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HISTORY
August 20, 2026 20 August 2026: This day in history
1597: First Dutch East India Company ships return from the Far East 1741: Alaska is first sighted by a Russian expedition led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering 1905: Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen forms the first chapter of Tongmenghui, a union of secret societies determined to bring down the Qing dynasty 1968: 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw […]
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EUROPE
August 19, 2026 EU aid announced for two stricken parts of the globe
By Martin Banks The EU is stepping up aid to help tackle crises on two continents, in Africa and South America.
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WORLD
August 19, 2026 Sacked Ukrainian defence minister calls for presidential election
Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections, in what many see as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidency since war broke out with Russia in February 2022. “Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” said Fedorov, 35, in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine is fighting […]
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GEOPOLITICS
August 19, 2026 Greece-Cyprus cable faces crash test
Efforts to restart work on the electricity interconnection between Greece and Cyprus are emerging as a new test in Greek-Turkish relations following recent developments linked to the declaration of two marine parks by Turkey. The prospect of resuming the project comes after work was effectively frozen following Turkey’s reaction to and obstruction of bathymetric surveys […]
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HISTORY
August 19, 2026 19 August 2026: This day in history
43 BC: Octavian, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him consul 1839: Louis Daguerre’s daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published “free to the world” in Paris as a gift from the French government 1942: World War II: Over 4,000 Canadian and British soldiers are killed, wounded, or captured […]
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EUROPE
August 18, 2026 EU support to help tackle major fires in Belgium and Spain
By Martin Banks EU support to help tackle major fires in Belgium and Spain
