Euphoria is spreading among the Social Democrats. Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz has a good chance to succeed Angela Merkel and he's out wooing voters with big promises. Sabine Kinkartz hits the road with his campaign.

Armin Laschet, Olaf Scholz or Annalena Baerbock: As Germany prepares to elect a new government, EU countries are watching intently. A look at initial reactions from Paris, Warsaw and Brussels.

It won't be long before Iceland implements the four-day working week. Some 86% of the country's workers are already down to 35 hours on full pay. A study has shown it improves well-being and productivity.

Kinshasa, a megalopolis of at least 12 million people, is known for its heaps of rubbish and rivers covered with plastic bottles. The Clean Plast company collects, processes, and recycles all types of plastic waste in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the aim of cleaning up the city.

A court convicts a German man of passing the floor plans of properties used by the Bundestag to Russian intelligence.

In the newly elected parliament 87% of lawmakers have university educations, a prevailing class marker in Germany. Very few deputies have led a life as a worker and low-income earner. Sabine Kinkartz met one of them.

Bärbel Bas said that political parties were too busy campaigning this summer to make plans for a second pandemic winter. Germany is currently in the grips of its fourth, and most severe, wave of COVID-19 infections.

New German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has given his first formal government briefing to parliament since taking office last week, touching on issues ranging from the pandemic to climate change, and even some foreign policy.

European Union leaders are meeting with their counterparts from the African Union in Brussels this Thursday. Several major economic issues will be discussed, including the €150 billion investment plan promised by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Ahead of that gathering, French President Emmanuel Macron promised a deal on reallocating of up to $100 billion of International Monetary Fund finance to African countries. Also today, we bring you the latest on the fuel shortage crisis in Nigeria.

Switzerland's second-largest bank stands accused of handling funds for dictators, drug traffickers and torturers after a whistleblower leak led to a year-long investigation by a consortium of journalists. And the United States and Britain have raised the stakes for potential sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine. Finally, Italy's famed glassblowers are cracking under red-hot energy prices.

With the city of Kharkiv devastated and Kyiv braced for attack by an approaching Russian convoy, we are asking whether the US has made the right calls on Ukraine. The message of Biden's State of the Union address was one of solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelensky. But seen from Kyiv, will this feel like enough?

There is currently more trade with western and eastern countries than there is within the continent. Printing banknotes in Africa would boost profits on the continent and, at least theoretically, African countries could choose those with printing capabilities since there's likely some idle capacity.