Elizabeth Struhs’ child protection case was not “prioritised” or worked intensively because the staff member assigned to her case was “very busy”, a coroner has heard.
The Queensland coroner’s court also heard the case worker may have been “overly influenced” by the presentation of Struhs’ “upper class home”, putting cases believed to involve a more immediate risk ahead of Elizabeth’s.
Cristian Mungiu’s Cannes winner echoes the news story of a Romanian couple whose children were taken by the Norwegian government. As it heads to London film festival, two writers explain how the film exposes real hypocrisies
When Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord was shown in Romania as a one-day preview this June, the reception was extraordinary. Across 53 towns and 96 cinemas, the film reportedly pulled in over 40,000 viewers in a single night, a number arthouse cinema rarely sees in Romania. But the response here had little to do with cinema. It felt instead like a reopening of a familiar fault line about the clash of values within the EU itself.
They aren’t made of asphalt, have no traffic lights, and no cars drive on them. Yet, these unusual “highways” are already saving thousands of lives. In the Brazilian Amazon, conservationists have built rope bridges high up in the trees, allowing monkeys, sloths, and other jungle inhabitants to safely cross over the roads. The results are […]
EU data protection chief Wojciech Wiewiórowski has joined trade unions and privacy activists in their concerns over the bloc’s ‘Digital Omnibus’ — which includes amendments to EU privacy rules that may allow data harvesting from workers without their permission to feed AI models.
“When it comes to processing of personal data in the context of the development and deployment of AI, I am very concerned that the text would remove all references to additional safeguards from the article in question, including the unconditional right to object for individuals,” Wiewiórowski told EUobserver.
“The Digital Omnibus should be about fostering responsible innovation, not a dilution of core concepts or safeguards of data protection law,” he said.
The leaked proposal, seen by EUobserver, is set to be discussed at the technical level on Friday (25 September) in the EU Council, including Article 88c (now renamed as 88bis) of GDPR .
Under the current rules, Article 88 of GDPR covers processing of data in the employment context.
“The processing of personal data in the context of the development and operation of an AI system or of an AI model may be carried out for a legitimate interest of the controller or a third party,” reads the leaked proposal put forward by the six-month rotating Irish EU Council presidency.
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A child protection activist, Dennis Engelmann, has filed a criminal complaint against a Berlin performance artist after a video circulated of the artist appearing only in his underwear while performing in front of children at a family festival at a left-wing venue.
Engelmann the complaint to Berlin police over Felix Baumann’s Sept. 6 appearance at ufaFabrik Boulevard 2026, a free outdoor street-art and environmental festival in the Tempelhof neighborhood. Police accepted the complaint and forwarded it to the responsible unit for review, Engelmann said.
Video of the incident has gone viral on X and other social media platforms.
This male artist danced half-naked in front of young children, in the German capital city of Berlin, during a family event.
A criminal complaint has now been filed against artist Felix Baumann, who has received significant taxpayer money for his performances.
The festival, held on the grounds of the ufaFabrik cultural center, was advertised as entertainment for “young and old,” with a children’s circus, a children’s farm and other family programming. Baumann was listed at 3 p.m. on the covered outdoor stage, between a children’s circus act and other performances. His solo show “ha ha ha hi!” has been marketed at other venues as suitable for audiences ages six and up.
Engelmann said the recording showed children standing immediately in front of the stage. In comments to the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit, he said Baumann’s act should be investigated.
“For me, a clear line has been crossed here,” Engelmann said. “I find not only the extremely revealing clothing, but especially parts of the dance movements and the demonstrative play with one’s own body to be obscene and sexualizing. And that’s right in front of children at a family event. This is neither child-friendly nor responsible. From a professional point of view, I consider this specific incident to be a risk to the child’s welfare.”
According to the complaint and subsequent accounts of the video, Baumann performed in underwear at points in the routine, moved through the audience and, while wearing a nightgown, pulled the garment down and exposed his nipples. Engelmann wrote that he was expressly requesting a criminal investigation of the documented facts.
Baumann, 34, is a freelance physical-theater, dance and contemporary circus artist based in Berlin. His website describes “ha ha ha hi!” as a one-man show blending dance, circus, physical comedy and object manipulation, built around a “mediocre comedian” trying and failing to tell a joke. Other presenters have billed the piece as roughly 45 minutes long and recommended it from age six.
The research that led to the production was supported by the German Performing Arts Fund with money from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Junge Freiheit reported that Baumann received a €7,500 research grant from that fund when Green Party politician Claudia Roth held the federal culture post, and that he has received additional public support. His professional résumé lists further federal arts funding in recent years.
ufaFabrik describes itself as a place of diversity for people of “all nationalities, religions and professions.” The venue also receives significant financial support from the state of Berlin. According to figures cited from the Senate Department for Finance, the center received more than €2 million in taxpayer funding between 2021 and 2023.
Engelmann said he sent detailed questions to both the venue and the artist and set a deadline of 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, for responses. As of Wednesday, neither Baumann nor ufaFabrik had issued a public statement addressing the complaint. Junge Freiheit reported that Baumann deleted his Instagram account after the performance drew widespread criticism online.
Filing a complaint does not mean prosecutors have opened a formal investigation or that any charge has been filed. Berlin police did not immediately comment on the status of the complaint.
A new study shows that in‑cash child benefits play a vital role in reducing child poverty in the EU. On average, these benefits lower the risk of poverty among children by 10.6 percentage points.
The impact of in‑cash child benefits varies across EU countries. Austria sees the strongest effect, with child poverty reduced by 16.6 percentage points. Spain shows the smallest reduction, at 4.6 percentage points. These differences suggest there is room for EU countries to learn from each other and achieve higher social standards.
Key findings
Child benefits can do more to reduce poverty: large differences between EU countries show room to make cash benefits more effective and help reach the 2030 poverty reduction target.
Better targeting and wider access could make a difference: in around one third of EU countries, disadvantaged families receive less financial support than better-off families.
Benefits in kind also support families: by making essential goods and services more affordable, they can reduce the financial pressure on families.
More children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) could support parents in work: increasing participation could raise maternal employment by up to 5 percentage points, making it easier to combine work and care.
Investing in children pays off in the long term: analysis shows benefits for education, employment and health. Overall, for every €1 invested in quality benefits in kind for children, the estimated return is €5.26.
Progress towards the 2030 child poverty target
The EU has committed to reducing the number of children in poverty by at least 5 million by 2030. Progress towards this target has stalled, so efforts need to be stepped up and policies improved.
The European Parliament has approved a major overhaul of the EU’s customs system, tightening requirements on e-commerce platforms, introducing a new handling fee for goods ordered from outside the bloc and creating a central EU customs authority.
“This is the biggest reform of European customs since 1968, supporting trade and the enforcement of EU rules,” said MEP Dirk Gotink, (EPP, Netherlands) who steered the legislation through Parliament. Gotink said European customs authorities had been overwhelmed by a “tsunami of Chinese parcels” and that the reform would give customs officers stronger tools to enforce EU standards.
Under the new rules, e-commerce platforms and sellers shipping goods directly from non-EU countries to European consumers will be treated as importers. That will make them responsible for providing customs data, handling applicable charges and ensuring products comply with EU law.
The reform also introduces an EU-wide handling fee on goods ordered directly from non-EU countries, with member states required to begin collecting it no later than 1 November, 2026. The European Commission will determine the amount and review it every two years.
Companies that repeatedly breach EU customs rules could face fines ranging from at least 1% to as much as 6% of the value of goods they imported into the EU during the previous 12 months.
The overhaul will also establish an EU Customs Data Hub, designed to replace at least 111 existing customs IT systems. A new EU Customs Authority, based in Lille, France, will manage the hub and coordinate customs cooperation and risk management across the EU.
The Council has already given the reform its final formal approval, making Parliament’s vote the final step in the legislative procedure.
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