Events

Lausanne, Switzerland – – September 12, 2026 -- Revizto Academy, the free digital coordination training program run by AECO collaboration platform Revizto, has awarded more than 13,500 certifications to professionals in over 60 countries since its 2024 launch, the company said marking the program's two-year anniversary.

Revizto Academy issues over 13,500 certifications across 60-plus countries in two years

Learners from more than 500 AECO firms have completed the program, including staff from AECOM, AtkinsRéalis, Jacobs, Mortenson and Stantec. The training offers three certification levels aimed at building digital coordination skills for increasingly complex project environments.

Paris – September 12, 2026 -- The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) has funded the complete restoration of Michel Bréal's grave at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, including a new memorial stone, and will mark the work with a ceremony on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 14:00 to 15:00.

AIMS names Michel Bréal 'Founder Emeritus' for the first time

The organization, which represents 470 marathons and distance races across more than 120 countries, is conferring on Bréal the honorary title of Founder Emeritus in recognition of the 1894 letter he wrote to Pierre de Coubertin proposing a race from Marathon to the Pnyx for the revived 1896 Olympic Games. Bréal, a Collège de France professor and classical philologist who never competed in athletics, personally commissioned and funded the winner's silver trophy, awarded to Spyridon Louis at the first modern Olympics.

Wörth am Rhein – September 12, 2026 -- Mercedes-Benz Trucks has delivered the first 27 battery-electric eActros 600 trucks to Amazon, with the e-commerce giant set to operate more than 50 of the vehicles across its German logistics network by the end of 2026.

Delivery marks first tranche of Amazon's largest-ever electric truck order

The handover forms part of a contract signed in early 2025 covering more than 200 eActros 600 units, Amazon's largest electric truck order to date. Most of the fleet will operate in the United Kingdom, where Mercedes-Benz Trucks began deliveries in late 2025. The trucks will run on Germany's so-called middle-mile routes, moving goods between logistics centers and urban areas.

Nuremberg – September 12, 2026 -- Three-quarters of Germans have already financed a purchase, while missed payment deadlines among adults under 30 rose to 23 percent from 14 percent in autumn 2025, according to the TeamBank Liquidity Barometer.

Younger consumers treat financing as routine, survey shows

Some 33 percent of Germans under 30 now consider invoice purchases, installment credit and other financing forms self-evident, a 12-percentage-point jump from autumn 2025. This age group also plans to spend significantly more over the next 12 months than the national average, the survey found.

Payment lapses and tracking problems climb among young borrowers

29 percent of respondents under 30 report losing track when running multiple financing arrangements simultaneously. Despite this, 48 percent of the same group rate their financial knowledge as at least good, a higher share than among older respondents.

Berlin – – September 12, 2026 -- The German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer, BÄK) has called for suicide prevention to be treated as a core duty for physicians across all medical specialties, not just psychiatry, ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, 2026.

Stockholm – September 9, 2026 -- GomSpace A/S has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) to jointly develop a dual 8U Earth Observation satellite mission and explore broader cooperation in Saudi Arabia's space sector.

Deal covers full satellite lifecycle from design to testing

The agreement spans conceptual design, mission engineering, system architecture, and Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) activities for the satellite mission. It also includes exploration of advanced Earth Observation and optical communication technologies, combining GomSpace's small satellite systems expertise with KFUPM's academic and engineering capabilities.

Tel Aviv – September 12, 2026 -- Qedma Quantum Computing and Denmark's HQC2 consortium have achieved a 30 to 50-fold improvement in quantum chemistry accuracy on a live quantum processor, using error mitigation software to tackle one of the field's most persistent barriers to commercial adoption.

Researchers modeled a water molecule's potential energy surface on IBM's Aachen quantum processor

The study applied an orbital-optimized variational ansatz combined with Qedma's QESEM error reduction software, running on IBM's Aachen quantum processor. The work was led by Prof. Stephan P. A. Sauer and postdoctoral researcher Renato Olarte Hernandez at the University of Copenhagen, alongside Prof. Sonia Coriani and postdoctoral researcher Emanuele Rossi at the Technical University of Denmark. The project falls under Q-CHEMION, part of the Eureka open call for applied quantum technologies.

Frankfurt – September 12, 2026 -- Aeson Power, an Australian sodium-ion battery maker, has surpassed 100,000 units on the road across more than 30 countries with its aftermarket starter and start-stop batteries, and is now showcasing new sodium-ion auxiliary battery solutions for electric and commercial vehicles at Automechanika Frankfurt 2026.

Sodium-ion starter batteries claim triple the service life of lead-acid units

The company's sodium-ion starting and start-stop batteries deliver instant cranking power, rapid charging and cold-cranking performance in a lightweight format. Aeson Power states these batteries offer a service life exceeding three times that of conventional lead-acid batteries in start-stop applications, positioning them as a direct aftermarket replacement.

Paris – September 12, 2026 -- The 18th Biennale de Lyon – Contemporary Art will open two professional preview days on September 17 and 18, 2026, ahead of a public run spanning 11 venues and 120 artists through December 13, 2026.

Accreditation Deadline Falls September 16 for Two-Day Trade Preview

Artists, curators, gallerists, museum directors, collectors and cultural-sector professionals must apply for personal accreditation by September 16, 2026, to access exclusive viewings on the two trade days. Accredited visitors also gain entry to the opening reception at Les Grandes Locos on September 18 and to the first two public days, September 19 and 20.

Hamburg – – September 12, 2026 -- German households will illuminate a record 23.39 billion Christmas lights this festive season, pushing national electricity consumption for holiday lighting to roughly 533 million kilowatt-hours, according to the 16th annual LichtBlick Christmas survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland.

Electricity demand for holiday lighting rises 42 million kilowatt-hours year-on-year

The survey, based on 2,103 respondents polled between August 24 and August 25, 2026, found that total power consumption for Christmas lighting climbed from approximately 491 million kilowatt-hours last year to 533 million kilowatt-hours. Powering all lights with green electricity would avoid 159,900 tonnes of CO2, based on a grey-power emissions factor of 300 grams CO2 per kilowatt-hour (BDEW, 2025 data), which currently implies direct emissions of 146,200 tonnes.

Hong Kong – September 12, 2026 -- SANY Heavy Industry (600031.SH) posted first-half 2026 revenue of approximately $7.89 billion, up 19.49% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders rising 9.13% to $838.887 million.

Second-quarter growth outpaces first-half average as overseas sales accelerate

Q2 revenue climbed 24.39% to $4.328 billion, surpassing the first-half growth rate, while net profit attributable to shareholders increased 16.93% to $473.108 million. Operating cash flow reached $1.440 billion. Total assets stood at $26.708 billion and shareholders' equity at $13.576 billion as of June 30.

Seoul – September 12, 2026 -- DB HiTek has completed reliability qualification for its 1,200 V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET process on 8-inch (200 mm) wafers, establishing what it calls the world's first complete 8-inch SiC foundry process flow. The South Korean pure-play foundry targets volume production in 2027.

Second-generation PDK clears reliability testing with 2.5 mΩ•cm2 on-resistance

The qualified second-generation process achieves a specific on-resistance (Rsp) of 2.5 mΩ•cm2 or less and a threshold voltage of 3 V or higher at an 18 V on-state gate voltage. DB HiTek is now supplying customers with Process Design Kits (PDKs) for its first- and second-generation 1,200 V SiC MOSFET processes, enabling design, manufacturing, electrical characterization and reliability qualification through a single foundry platform.

Tel Aviv – September 12, 2026 -- ADAMA Ltd. has secured its first European Union product registration for Ferrabait®, a molluscicide built on the company's novel Feralla® active ingredient, with approval granted in Latvia.

Latvia registration opens door to 2027 rollout across France, Sweden and Lithuania

The Latvian clearance is the initial step in a phased European commercialization plan, with additional national registrations and launches slated to begin in 2027 in France, Sweden and Lithuania. ADAMA positions the product against rising slug pressure that milder European winters have intensified for growers.

Zurich – September 12, 2026 -- ABB has published a report with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) arguing that direct current (DC) technology is shifting from a niche application to a central component of industrial, commercial and digital power infrastructure, with decisions made over the next two to three years determining which market players lead the transition.

800 VDC distribution emerges as defining architecture for AI infrastructure

The report identifies AI data centers as the most immediate driver of DC adoption, finding that conventional electrical architectures are reaching practical limits as AI workloads push power density requirements higher. It concludes that 800 VDC distribution is emerging as the defining architecture for next-generation AI infrastructure, enabling operators to maximize compute capacity within constrained grid connections while improving energy efficiency.

Seoul – September 12, 2026 -- DB HiTek has completed reliability qualification for its 8-inch (200mm) 1,200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET manufacturing process, establishing what the company calls the world's first complete foundry production flow for 8-inch SiC power semiconductors. Mass production is targeted for 2027.

Seoul – September 12, 2026 -- DB HiTek has completed reliability qualification testing for its 1,200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET process on 8-inch (200mm) wafers, establishing what the company calls the world's first full-service process for 8-inch SiC semiconductor production.

DB HiTek targets 2027 mass production launch for 8-inch SiC wafers

The South Korean specialty foundry plans to open the process to existing customers in the third quarter of this year and extend availability to all clients starting in the second quarter of 2027. The move addresses a shift among major global chipmakers from 6-inch to 8-inch SiC wafers to cut production costs and improve manufacturing efficiency, a transition driven by SiC's superior performance over silicon in high-voltage, high-temperature applications used in electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and industrial power equipment.

London – September 9, 2026 -- CD&R has appointed Giovanni Caforio, current Chair of Novartis and former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), as an Operating Advisor to its funds, tasking him with sourcing and evaluating healthcare investment opportunities globally.

Caforio brings 35 years of biopharmaceutical leadership to CD&R's healthcare strategy

Dr. Caforio has led Novartis' board since 2025 and previously spent over two decades at BMS after 12 years at Abbott Laboratories. He will support CD&R funds in identifying new healthcare deals and work directly with the firm's portfolio companies worldwide.

Seoul – September 12, 2026 -- DB HiTek has completed reliability qualification for its 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET process on 8-inch (200mm) wafers, becoming the first foundry to build a complete process chain for 8-inch SiC MOSFET production at this voltage class. The South Korean pure-play foundry plans to launch mass production in 2027, targeting the electric vehicle, renewable energy and industrial power electronics markets.

DB HiTek builds world-first 8-inch SiC foundry process chain

The company developed an end-to-end foundry process covering design, manufacturing, electrical characterization and reliability qualification for 8-inch SiC MOSFET devices rated at 1200V. Most SiC wafer production today runs on 6-inch substrates, but major chipmakers are shifting to 8-inch wafers to cut costs and improve manufacturing efficiency, a transition DB HiTek says it is positioned to capture.

Hannover – September 12, 2026 -- Chinese commercial vehicle maker FOTON reported an export volume of 149,000 units between January and August 2026, a 44.3% increase year-on-year, as it opened a 1,000-square-meter exhibit at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hannover.

FOTON deploys seven vehicles and six self-developed components at Hall 21 booth

Under the theme "EASY MOVE," the company is showcasing seven complete vehicles and six core components engineered for European transport scenarios spanning long-haul logistics, urban waste collection, city delivery, and public transit. The lineup includes new-energy drive models alongside self-developed batteries, e-axles, electronic control units, and megawatt charging stations.

Berlin – September 12, 2026 -- German Education Minister Karin Prien is preparing cabinet proposals for an age restriction on social media platforms, citing a direct link between screen time and Germany's weak PISA test results.

Prien ties declining literacy to social media use

Speaking on rbb24 Inforadio on Wednesday, the CDU politician said children's shrinking attention spans, lack of endurance, and inability to read for comprehension are connected to social media and screen time. She argued the digital and AI era demands stronger safeguards against declining critical thinking among students.

Cabinet proposal expected within weeks

Prien confirmed she will present concrete legislative proposals to the German cabinet in the coming weeks, combining an age restriction with expanded media literacy education in schools.