00:03Despite record breaking temperatures on the continent over the past week, the European Commission has declined to take a stance
00:10on the increasingly contentious debate over air conditioning.
00:14The Commission insisted it is not the role of the EU executive to dictate consumers' choices.
00:19Whether we have a position on air conditioning, pro or contra, not really, but we do tackle this as one
00:29policy area which relates to renovation of an energy efficiency of buildings and residential apartments as well as part of
00:39our housing strategy.
00:41About 20% of European households have AC units installed compared to 90% or more in the United States,
00:49Japan and South Korea.
00:51Most residential buildings and apartments in the European Union do not have air conditioning.
00:56It's not something that is traditionally in-built, especially given that much of our housing stock is actually quite old
01:03and aged.
01:05Critics say AC drives up electricity demand, strains power grids, releases hot air into the atmosphere and fails to tackle
01:14the underlying causes of the climate crisis.
01:17Advocates, by contrast, say it is an appropriate instrument to ensure livable conditions and maintain labour productivity amid rising temperatures.
01:30The Czech Republic experienced its hottest day on record for the second straight day on Sunday as the temperature soared
01:37past 41 degrees Celsius as an intense heatwave moves its way from Western to Central and Eastern Europe.
01:44The heatwave has also continued its record setting run as Poland recorded its hottest reading to date, measuring in at
01:5240.3 degrees, breaking a 40.2 reading set more than a century ago.
01:58The blazing heat gripped much of Western Europe for several days before easing on Sunday, including in the UK, France,
02:06Belgium and the Netherlands, setting records in some and challenging the record in others.
02:11In Belgium, the National Meteorological Institute says the temperature spiked past 35 degrees in what is officially the hottest reading
02:19of 2026 and close to the all-time high of 38 degrees.
02:24In Germany, officials say the temperature rose to almost 42 degrees in some parts of the country, a record since
02:31tracking weather trends started.
02:34Temperatures in Rome, a city that has become no stranger to heatwaves in recent years, surged past 41 degrees, forcing
02:42tourists to battle the scorching sun on their holidays.
02:46Experts say the heat is expected to sustain for a few more days in the continent before moving eastwards to
02:52Turkey and further on to Central Asia.
03:03Amid conflicting reports on whether Iran and the US will be meeting for talks this week, energy and economic analyst
03:10Osama Rezvi said the cost of inaction in Iran outweights that of action.
03:16If they go down further the path of escalation or a war, we will see a host of problems propping
03:23up from US treasury yields rising to 5 percent, which has never happened before.
03:28And every time they neared 5 percent, we saw some sort of good news being released into the market.
03:33We will see oil prices once again rising up, election a year and so on and so forth.
03:37Whereas the cost of inaction would only be a loss of political capital.
03:41Iran made it clear they will be controlling the Strait of Hommers.
03:46As far as I see from a geopolitical point, if it will remain under the control of Iran, nobody will
03:51be able to open it from maybe other than diplomacy.
03:55But at the same moment, at the same time, I think shipments and tankers will continue to flow because it
04:02serves both the sides.
04:04Rezvi stressed the memorandum of understanding remains very fragile due to the many actors involved.
04:14The European Union will seek to achieve tangible results through dialogue with China by October, the bloc's trade commissioner said
04:22on Monday after meeting his Chinese counterparts in Brussels.
04:26Tensions between Brussels and Beijing have ramped up over the past few weeks after China's repeated threats to retaliate against
04:33the EU's decision to protect its market from Chinese overcapacity.
04:38Today's discussions were intensive, focused and constructive.
04:43My objective from the outset has been clear to begin balancing the trade relationship between the European Union and China.
04:53The gap is widening. The China's export to the EU keep rising while our market share in China keeps shrinking.
05:03The EU is facing a growing trade deficit with China, which has reached a record one billion euro a day.
05:10At the last summit in June, member states gave the European Commission a mandate to conduct a dialogue with Beijing
05:15to rebalance the trade relationship.
05:19And our teams have a clear mandate and an ambitious timetable to deliver tangible results by October this year.
05:29China is concerned about access to the EU market after the European Commission presented a bill in March favoring products
05:35made in Europe.
05:36But on the other hand, EU businesses are also finding it increasingly difficult to access the Chinese market.
05:4711 people died in a light aircraft crash in Tomblaine near Nancy.
05:52The aircraft had just taken off when what appears to have been an engine failure occurred.
05:57The plane fell almost vertically just 300 meters from the airport from which it had taken off.
06:04There were 11 people on board, all of whom died. They included the pilot, five instructors and five students.
06:11The group was participating in a first-time skydiving experience.
06:16There were no casualties on the ground, even though the crash occurred near a residential neighborhood.
06:22The air transport gendarmerie is handling the investigation. However, investigators cannot rely on a black box as the aircraft was
06:31not equipped with one.
06:32They will have to rely on witness statements, video footage, aircraft maintenance records and communications with the control tower.
06:47At least six people were killed and several others were injured in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in
06:54the northern German town of Stade on Monday.
06:57German media reported four women and one man were shot dead in the facility and that a sixth person later
07:03succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.
07:06Two people, a male suspected shooter and his female companion were arrested.
07:11Police said it was likely a family tragedy but are still working to establish the background to the shooting and
07:18what exactly happened.
07:20Stade has approximately 50,000 residents and is located about 40 kilometers west of Hamburg.
07:32Labour's front-runner Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to be the United Kingdom's next Prime Minister, promised to rebalance
07:39power in the country if he is elected.
07:42Burnham laid out a 10-year plan to revive a UK economy he described as stuck in a rut since
07:48the 2008 financial crash.
07:50Central to his pitch was the creation of a new government hub in Manchester.
07:55Regional mayors would also receive expanded powers over issues such as housing, welfare and education.
08:01To make it happen, we will bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.
08:09It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down.
08:15Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.
08:19Burnham will likely be the successor to Keir Starmer, who resigned last week following internal pressure and sinking approval ratings.
08:27The Conservative Party was quick to dismiss Burnham's address, claiming he just wants to reshuffle power between politicians instead of
08:34fixing the welfare system, cut taxes and fund the country's defence.
08:39But for now, Burnham is the undisputed front-runner to lead the Labour Party and take up the role of
08:45Prime Minister.
08:50Ukraine kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia, setting fire to a major oil refinery in the south, as
08:56President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time on Sunday that the country was facing a certain deficit of fuel
09:03and vowed to strengthen protection of oil facilities and boost fuel output.
09:26Speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, Putin described the Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries as an attempt to cause
09:34a split in Russian society and force Russia to halt.
09:37He also said that Ukraine has proposed a halt on deep strikes, arguing that Kyiv made the offer because Russian
09:46strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are more powerful and devastating.
09:50The Russian leader added that Kyiv also offered to limit the fighting to the four regions that Russia annexed but
09:58never fully captured, Donetsk, Luwansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
10:02He rejected the proposal, arguing it would allow Ukraine to relocate its forces.
10:10British American Tobacco, BAT, the London-listed maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill, said on Monday that it will cut
10:185,500 jobs worldwide.
10:21The company is reportedly aiming to save some 695 million euros a year by 2028.
10:30BAT also said the overhaul would also see around 3,500 positions outsourced to third parties with the two measures
10:39together, touching roughly 9,000 staff, close to a fifth of its 47,000 workers.
10:46The restructuring reaches across BAT's operations worldwide but spares the US, its single largest market.
10:55Like its rivals, BAT is grappling with a steady decline of traditional smoking in its established markets as health concerns
11:03and tighter regulation reduce the number of cigarette buyers.
11:07The company has pinned its future on what it calls, quote, smokeless products and has set itself a target of
11:15drawing half its revenue from these newer lines by 2035.
11:19However, that transition has not been smooth. Earlier this year, BAT said it was planning savings to make it, quote,
11:27more digital and AI focused.
11:29If you can see more evidence on that in mind even further.
11:31Even theσωparation is available .
