Germany

Berlin – September 11, 2026 -- Zendure's SolarFlow 4000 Mix Pro home battery system took home the Gold Award in the Sustainable Home Energy Storage System category at the Global Product Technology Innovation Awards 2026, presented during IFA 2026 in Berlin. The company also won the Smart Energy Solutions Brand Award, recognizing its broader approach to home energy management.

The SolarFlow 4000 Mix Pro scales from 8 kWh to 150 kWh per setup

The device is a 4-kW bidirectional AC all-in-one plug-in storage system that uses AI to combine home-storage-level capacity and power in a plug-in format. A single unit scales from 8 kWh to 50 kWh, and pairing it with Zendure's PowerHub pushes total capacity up to 150 kWh. It accepts up to 13 kW of combined solar input, making it suited for larger households, heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging.

Grabenstätt – September 11, 2026 -- The Fossil Store at Grabenstätt, located along the A8 highway, will remain open to shoppers throughout an upcoming construction phase tied to a planned redevelopment of the site.

Shoppers keep access to current collections and Watch Station

Customers can continue browsing current Fossil collections, the Watch Station selection, outlet deals, and a range of licensed brands without interruption during the renovation.

Grabenstätt houses key Fossil Group departments beyond retail

The Grabenstätt building serves as more than a sales floor. It hosts Fossil Group's DACH and International sales teams, Creative Marketing Services, and the HR department -- all of which will remain unaffected by the site's redesign.

A new "Chiemsee-Genusswelt" complex is planned for the area

The redevelopment centers on a project called "Chiemsee-Genusswelt,

Unterföhring – September 11, 2026 -- German broadcaster SAT.1 is partnering with the country's cinema and distribution associations to bring KINOFEST 2026 to more than 700 cinemas and over 2,700 screens on September 12 and 13, offering tickets for just 5 euros each.

Every seat, every screen joins the discount weekend

The event is organized by HDF KINO e.V., AllScreens e.V., AG Kino e.V. and AG Verleih e.V., with SAT.1 serving as a key partner. Cinemas nationwide will also host additional on-site promotions during the two-day festival.

New releases headline the discounted lineup

Moviegoers can catch a lineup of current releases at the reduced price, including "Steckerlfischfiasko" starring Sebastian Bezzel, director Paul Greengrass's "The Uprising -- Für die Freiheit," and the Oasis reunion tour documentary "Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger."

Leipzig – September 11, 2026 -- The Lagovida resort on Störmthaler See, roughly 20 minutes from Leipzig, will run its ice-stock shooting rink from October 15, 2026, through March 14, 2027. The activity, a traditional winter sport similar to curling, requires only an ice stock and sturdy shoes to join in.

Visitors can warm up with lakeside dining after the rink

After a round on the ice, the on-site restaurant Casa Marina serves regional and seasonal dishes with views over the lake. The resort's See-Sauna, located directly on the water, adds a wellness option with direct lake access for guests seeking extended relaxation.

Berlin – September 11, 2026 -- Hizero has picked up three separate honors at IFA 2026 in Berlin for its no-suction approach to cleaning hard floors, with its new autonomous robot cleaner, the Glide (R700), at the center of the recognition.

The Glide claims three awards in one appearance

The Glide was named a 2026 IFA Innovation Award Honoree in the Best in Smart Home category, received the AH Best of IFA 2026 Award, and earned the Digital Trends Publisher Award as an IFA 2026 Innovation Winner. It marks Hizero's first autonomous robot floor cleaner.

Mainz – September 11, 2026 -- The ZDF documentary "Die Nummer auf meinem Arm – Albrecht Weinberg und seine Geschichte," which first aired on June 4, 2024, is being released as a 90-minute cinema film titled "Albrecht Weinberg. Es ist immer in meinem Kopf" ("Albrecht Weinberg. It's Always in My Head"). The film opens in German theaters on Thursday, September 10, 2026, and will later air on ZDF following its cinema run.

Filmmakers Güner Jasemin Balci and Jesco Denzel directed the project, which follows Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg's return to Germany in 2012 after 60 years of exile in the United States.

Berlin – September 10, 2026 -- TCL Industries and TCL Technology are showcasing a new lineup of solar panels, home batteries and heat pumps at IFA 2026, aiming to link industrial-scale renewable energy production with smart home systems for everyday consumers.

The companies are presenting their joint exhibition, called "Inspiration Habitat," at Messe Berlin's Hall 21A from September 4 to 8, 2026. The immersive space lets visitors interact directly with products spanning connected devices, displays and clean energy technology.

New solar hardware targets residential rooftops

On display are SunPower Origin back-contact solar panels, TCL T5 Pro TOPCon shingled-cell modules, and C2 back-contact panels, alongside battery storage systems and heat pumps built for home use. These come from SunPower Home Energy and TCL Smart Home, two divisions under the TCL umbrella.

Neustadt an der Weinstraße – September 11, 2026 -- Employees who skip a free company car and drive their own vehicle for business trips can lose the right to deduct those travel costs from their taxes, Germany's Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) has ruled.

An employee tried to deduct nearly 3,800 euros in private car expenses

The case centered on a worker who had access to a company car that he and his wife were also permitted to use privately. Despite this, he took his own car for three business trips and claimed roughly 3,800 euros in travel costs as work-related expenses on his tax return.

The local tax office rejected the claim, but the man sued and won at the Lower Saxony Finance Court. The tax office then appealed, sending the dispute to the BFH for a final decision.

Mainz – September 11, 2026 -- Constant background noise from white noise machines, audiobooks and headphones may be overwhelming children's hearing, according to Eberhard Schmidt, a certified hearing acoustician and president of Germany's Bundesinnung der Hörakustiker (biha).

Schmidt, who also specializes in pediatric hearing care, says ears are always "on" and cannot simply switch off. The real risk comes from a combination of high volume, close proximity to sound sources, and nonstop exposure -- not from sound itself.

Hearing develops before birth, around the fifth month of pregnancy

Unborn babies can perceive sound starting around the fifth month of pregnancy, Schmidt explains. While amniotic fluid and tissue reduce volume, loud repeated noise -- such as at concerts or noisy workplaces -- can still reach the fetus and should be limited during pregnancy.

Berlin – September 11, 2026 -- Diabetes can silently damage the eyes years before patients notice any change in their vision, yet new data show barely half of people with type 2 diabetes get the recommended eye exam. To close that gap, German health insurer mkk - meine krankenkasse now offers its members a free eye screening from Skleo Health at participating opticians and drugstores.

About seven million adults in Germany live with known or undiagnosed diabetes, according to the Robert Koch Institute. One serious complication is diabetic retinopathy, damage to the tiny blood vessels in the retina caused by diabetes duration, high blood sugar, and hypertension. Retinal changes can develop long before someone experiences blurred vision or other symptoms.