"The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still being felt across the euro area. Businesses are facing difficulties, people are losing their jobs and prospects about the future remain uncertain."

The head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, struck a pessimistic tone, warning the eurozone's economy remains weak and is in need of fiscal support.

Testifying to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Lagarde stated that government stimulus packages and protections are vital if the eurozone is to recover amid the ongoing pandemic. 

Balancing public health with protecting the economy and businesses has been the overriding issue for governments in 2020. And the balancing act could continue well into next year, if Lagarde's comments are anything to go by. 

Read below to see how France is using stimulus to fight against the economic ravages of the virus. 

We also have an interview with the CEO of The Plastic Bank, a revolutionary business aimed at tackling abundant plastics in our oceans, and a chart showing the share of the UK grocery market taken by Aldi and other German supermarkets.  

Happy reading, 

Daniel Harries 

Digital correspondent 

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The governor of Bavaria, the German state that is home to car giants BMW and Audi, backs a deadline for phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles – similar to the 2035 date proposed by California.

A federal judge has postponed a Trump administration order that would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from U.S. smartphone app stores around midnight on Sunday.

France's government presented its 2021 budget on Monday, a plan that aims to rescue the country's economy from the impact of the pandemic by injecting $49 billion next year to stimulate growth.

Chinese internet firm Sina Corp, owner of social media platform Weibo, will be taken private by a holding company led by its CEO Charles Chao in a $2.6 billion deal.

Irish retail sales volumes increased 9.1 percent in August compared with the same period last year, the third consecutive month of annual growth, data from the Central Statistics Office showed.

British newspaper publisher Reach says it has seen a strong recovery in digital advertising and improvements in demand for its print titles from COVID-19 lows, after its first-half profits beat analysts' expectations.

The French government will not be rushed to make a decision on Veolia's bid for smaller rival Suez, stated Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

The Bank of England and the European Union's securities watchdog said they have agreed on the information-sharing arrangements needed for the bloc's banks to continue using clearing houses in London from January to June 2022.

Caesars Entertainment said it would offer 30 million shares and intends to use the net proceeds to finance a portion of its possible takeover of William Hill. 

Scar is a four-legged robotic dog that could provide an exciting technological breakthrough by exploring environments that are too dangerous for humans. The robot was purchased by Mines Nancy, a leading French engineering school, from an American robotics firm based in Boston. Watch below to hear Francois Rousseau, general director of Mines, explain the important role Scar could soon play in safeguarding humans during hazardous projects.

Recycling has an important part to play in reducing plastic waste around the world. But one of the key issues is that at least 2 billion people, largely in developing countries, have no real access to any kind of recycling facilities. David Katz, recipient of many environmental awards, decided something needed to be done to address this – and so in 2015 he founded The Plastic Bank.

What inspired the Plastic Bank's founding?

We have to recognize not only is recycling critically important to the world but most of the world doesn't have access to recycling, set aside what is being exported around the world. The rest of the developing world, billions of people, can't even dream of the idea of recycling – nor would they. We're focused on stopping plastics from entering the ocean. It's one thing to go and try to clean it, which is futile. Or what we can do is prohibited from entering the ocean. What we've got is we've created a global chain store for the poor – for the ultra-poor, [who earn] under two dollars a day – where everything in the store can be purchased using plastic garbage. Garbage is money. That's access to school tuition, medical insurance, Wi-Fi, cooking fuel, groceries – everything the poor really need is now available using the garbage that all of us have to put in the bin. 

Where are you operating at the moment?  

We began in Haiti, which is a crazy place to start any business – the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere. And from there, we went to the Philippines, and then we went to Indonesia and Brazil, and then Egypt and now we're moving into Vietnam. And we've made some commitments to Cameroon and from Cameroon. We see an opportunity moving into Thailand. You know, the whole world needs us. It's a little difficult to even choose where to go. But there's dire need. Wherever there's poverty and material entering the ocean is where we need to be. 

Aldi will open around 100 supermarkets and invest $1.7 billion in Britain over the next two years, despite the impact of the coronavirus on shopping habits. Britain's fifth-biggest supermarket, privately owned by Germany's Aldi Sud, has grown its UK market share to 8 percent due to its aggressive store-opening program. However, industry data have shown its market share edge lower during the pandemic, hindered in particular by its lack of online capability.