DIBËR / ŠIPOVO - From Albania’s Lusa and Seta waterways to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Pliva River, communities are challenging small hydropower projects through protests and lengthy legal battles. The cross-border investigation documents disputed permits, prolonged court proceedings, contested construction and growing pressure on some of Europe’s last near-natural rivers.

OSTIA / VALENCIA - When a young sperm whale’s carcass washed ashore near Rome, its scars revealed how it died: in a vessel strike. The animal was just one of the many fin and sperm whales killed by maritime traffic in the busy Mediterranean Sea.

VALENCIA / EMILIA-ROMAGNA - Two years after devastating floods in Valencia and Emilia-Romagna, this investigation examines failures in early warning systems and the lessons needed to prevent future disasters as the climate crisis worsens.

NOVA KAKHOVKA - Nearly two years after the sinking of two Russian tankers in the Kerch Strait, authorities in the Krasnodar Krai reported that the cleanup operations had been completed. However, this statement merely meant that Russian agencies had ceased their efforts to collect the fuel oil, while satellite images continue to show new leaks from the hulls of the sunken vessels. This investigation reveals how Rosneft’s leadership evaded responsibility while oil slicks spread across the Black Sea, destroying marine flora and fauna.

ALIAGA / ALANG / CHITTAGONG - When Europe’s ships become obsolete, they are sent to India, Bangladesh and Turkey, where they fetch the highest prices for their scrap metal. Picked apart by poorly paid workers, these vessels take a deadly toll on people and the environment. This investigation examines how a landmark treaty intended to clean up the sector may be falling short in practice.

TAVIRA - Postal do Algarve launched the AI Postal Service in May 2026, opening its local news archive to multilingual conversational searches. Developed particularly for migrant and non-Portuguese-speaking communities in the Algarve, the chatbot allows readers to ask questions and receive answers grounded in journalism published by POSTAL. By 19 August 2026, it had handled 374 conversations and 1,467 messages, including 267 conversations in English and 107 in Portuguese.

CESENATICO / MALI LOŠINJ - Every year in the northern Adriatic, hundreds of loggerhead turtles and dozens of bottlenose dolphins die in Italian and Croatian fishing nets. They are protected species under EU law, and only 250–400 dolphins live in these waters. Officially it is "accidental" bycatch. In practice it happens every day, on both coasts, and almost nobody reports it.

MONTREUIL - Thanks to support from Journalismfund Europe, Basta has launched a unique platform: a news aggregator dedicated to independent media outlets, which runs without algorithms or AI assistance and is curated by a team of journalists. 

BUENOS AIRES - Vaca Muerta is a vast area of Argentine Patagonia, home to the world’s second-largest reserve of unconventional natural gas and the fourth-largest reserve of unconventional oil. In 2012, the Argentine government began investing in the region, with the stated aim of using these resources primarily to meet the country’s domestic energy needs.

VIGO / TAIPEI - Together, Spain and Taiwan account for almost two-thirds of the world’s reported blue shark catch, turning one of the ocean’s most widely distributed predators into a global commodity.

MILAN / WARSAW / KYIV - How Europe's exceptional welcome of 2022 turned into years of permanent uncertainty, exposing the cracks of a reception system that expects people in need to accept whatever they are offered.

WALANDAWE - A year-long investigation traces nickel from deforested forests and Indigenous land in Sulawesi through China’s battery industry to Volkswagen’s electric cars in Europe, exposing the hidden environmental cost of the green transition.

BRUSSELS - Despite EU water laws, this summer the drinking water supply system showed serious cracks in several regions in the European Union. Good water governance and its enforcement are essential to safeguard the access to clean drinking water on our continent. The European Commission is stepping up its efforts to safeguard access to clean and healthy drinking water in the near future, but the road ahead will be winding.

BUDAPEST - Flavescence dorée, a devastating grapevine disease, is spreading across Central Europe, threatening vineyards and the livelihoods of winegrowers.

SAINT PETERSBURG / ALESSANDRIA - Chemicals made in Russia keep crossing the EU to reach an Italian plant, despite the war in Ukraine and years of sanctions. Middlemen in Germany and Israel, trucks through Estonia and a price that rose eightfold kept the supply going.

LUANDA - A cross-border investigation reveals European, British and US oil giants have been routinely spilling oil in Angola’s oceans for 13 years, leaving residents ill and unable to eat. Multiple complaints have been ignored, while fishermen are asked to clean up under ‘voluntary work agreements’.