Euobserver.com

Electricity to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut off for hours which could have resulted in nuclear disaster, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

A draft document seen by Reuters says the European Union is urging major economies to ramp up their climate ambitions ahead of November's COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

While the work of the Ukrainian journalists has been heroic, they are not meant to be heroes of war. Legally and ethically, targeting journalists is impermissible.

The US has sent its response to the EU's latest proposal to revive a deal on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of related economic sanctions. "As you know, we received Iran's comments on the EU's proposed final text through the EU," state department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday. "Our review of those comments has now concluded. We have responded to the EU today."

EU countries are considering revisions to a plan for reducing demand for gas through the winter, Bloomberg reported, after some governments demanded more flexibility. EU ambassadors are due to discuss emergency gas regulation on Monday. The Czech Republic, holding the bloc's rotating presidency, has included a provision that would increase the number of countries that have to request that a 15-percent demand-reduction target be made mandatory to five.

According to a document drawn up by the German economy ministry low water levels have reduced domestic shipping to the point that Germany's temporary shift to coal may be disrupted this winter.

The EU's border agency Frontex says that over the past week the number of Ukrainians leaving the country is outpacing the number of returns. It noted 246,641 had left between 16 to 21 August as opposed to 240,902 who had returned over the same period. "In total, there were 9.5 million entries from Ukraine and Moldova since February," it also said.

Takis Theodorikakos, Greece's minister for public order, said this week that his country had prevented some 25,000 asylum seekers over the month of August entering from Turkey. "During the month of August alone so far, 25,000 irregular migrants have tried to illegally enter through the Greek-Turkish borders," he told Antenna TV. Greek authorities have been repeatedly accused of illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers and refugees.

Outgoing UK prime minister Boris Johnson made a final visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, where he blamed Vladimir Putin for skyrocketing energy bills in the UK and Europe. "If we're paying in our energy bills for the evils of Vladimir Putin, the people of Ukraine are paying in their blood" Johnson said, alongside Ukraine president Volodomyr Zelensky. Foreign secretary Liz Truss is favourite to replace Johnson as PM next month.

Kosovo will apply for EU membership by the end of 2022, its prime minister said on Wednesday, Andalou newsagency reported. Albin Kurti made the announcement after a meeting of the government in Pristina, where proposals were adopted to create an inter-institutional working group on the project. Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. Serbia, and some EU states, do not recognise it.

Polish workers have started work on demolishing a Soviet-era memorial in the south of the country, ABC news reported. The monument to Red Army soldiers of the Second World War in Brzeg, in the south west, began demolition work on Wednesday, Ukraine's independence day, and the sixth-month anniversary of the Russian invasion. Poland was invaded and occupied by the USSR during the war.

French president Emmanuel Macron has warned of the 'end of abundance' at his first cabinet meeting after the summer holidays, the Guardian reported. He told ministers France faced a difficult winter and was at a "tipping point", with each crisis feeling "worse than the last." Macron won a second five-year term in April but lost his parliamentary majority in the subsequent general election.

A three-month baby died at an emergency shelter for asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The death has highlighted deplorable and overcrowded conditions at its main reception facility in Ter Apel, where NGO Doctors without Borders will now intervene.

This winter's gas squeeze will pit affordable energy against longer-term climate and democracy policies. European leaders should not buckle to short-term energy fixes but maintain policy coherence that marries all three areas — or lose support both citizens and allies.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz finalised a fresh €500m package of weaponry planned for shipment to Ukraine on Tuesday. "We have put on track a new package including highly modern air defence systems, rocket launchers, tonnes of ammunition, anti-drone devices and armoured recovery vehicles," he said at a conference in Toronto during a three-day trip to Canada.

The Greek government on Tuesday said it is set to expand its border fence with Turkey and enhance surveillance to further tackle "the problem of increased pressure for illegal entry, both along the land border and along the sea border". The announcement followed a meeting chaired by Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The current border fence with Turkey along the Evros river is around 40km long.

Passengers were stranded in the Eurotunnel connecting the UK to mainland Europe for nearly five hours, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. After a train broke down beneath the channel, hundreds of passengers had to be ushered into a service tunnel. The incident happened late on Tuesday, affecting the 3.50pm Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service from Calais to Folkestone.

France wants to discuss regulating private jets with EU ministers in an effort to further curb pollution and save on energy. French government spokesman Olivier Veran said that transport minister Clement Beaune proposed that EU ministers look at "ways to compensate CO2 emissions" of private jet flights. Beaune had earlier advocated for an EU-level response to the issue.

According to data from the EU's Joint Research Centre, over half of Europe is in danger of drought — and may be suffering its worst drought in 500 years.

Hungary is set to amend several laws in October in order to gain access to EU funds, according to Reuters. "We have already submitted part of these [legal changes] and made promises for several more law amendments if the deal with the [European] Commission is signed," said Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff of prime minister Viktor Orban.