The Know Daily - Tuesday 17 March 2026

_{Read in 4m 08s ∙ Listening to Rose Gray ∙}

Romania’s recycling revolution is officially underway. Backed by the government, the country has rolled out one of the world’s largest return schemes, where shoppers pay a small deposit on bottles and cans and get it back when they return them. The result? Billions of containers have been brought back for recycling and there’s been a huge drop in litter. Now that’s an environmental win we love to see 💚

🇪🇺 Resetting tuition fees

Almost ten years on from the Brexit referendum, tuition fees for European students have emerged as one of the key sticking points in the UK’s attempt to “reset” relations with the EU. 

Tell me more.
The idea of a reset was formalised at a UK-EU summit on 19 May 2025, when Keir Starmer met EU leaders including President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The meeting set out plans for closer cooperation in areas such as trade, defence, border security and energy. It also opened discussions about practical changes that could make travel, study and business between the UK and EU easier.

What’s the current situation?
Since the summit, UK and EU officials have been working through the details of several possible agreements. These include an agri-food deal to reduce checks on food exports, linking the UK and EU carbon-trading systems and creating a youth mobility scheme allowing young people to live and work in each other’s countries for a limited period. 

Where do tuition fees come in?
One of the biggest issues involves the cost of university for EU students studying in the UK. Brussels has pushed for EU students to pay the same “home” tuition fees as UK students – around £9,500 a year in England – rather than the much higher international fees introduced after Brexit. According to The Guardian, sources from Brussels say that European students in the UK have fallen from 27% to 5% and argue that they are being priced out of a British university education. But British negotiators have said they feel blindsided by this demand and that it would cost universities about £140m per year.

The proposal is linked to negotiations over a “youth experience” scheme, which would allow tens of thousands of young people from the UK and EU to study, work or travel for a limited period. EU negotiators argue lower tuition fees should form part of that broader agreement. 

What happens next?
Talks between the UK and the EU are still ongoing. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister leading the negotiations, travelled to Brussels yesterday where he will outline the UK government’s position at a joint meeting involving members of both the British and European parliaments. Any agreements that come out of the talks would then need to go through the UK’s parliamentary process before being implemented.

📝 Sausages, kitchen sponges and candles have stricter rules than tampons in the UK – but a new petition aims to change that.

• The bigger story: The petition calls for transparent ingredient labelling, stricter safety testing and ongoing monitoring, amid concerns over chemicals and fibre shedding. Campaigners argue that clearer rules would better protect people’s health while keeping tampons VAT-free. The petition closes tomorrow, so if you want to support the campaign sign the petition now.

🌳 Rewilding borders could help countries to build up geographical defences and deter invasions, an EU environment chief has said.

💻 An AI search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs has been removed by Google.

😏 The art of deception can be mastered by babies before they even reach their first birthday, a new study has found.

🎪 A brand-new music festival is set to take place in an ancient archaeological park on this European island.

⏱️ An ultraprecise clock that’s been developed by Chinese scientists could lead to a redefinition of the second. 

🍀 It’s St Patrick’s Day! Time to don something green and celebrate everything Irish… and if you’re not sure what it’s all about, find out here.

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Trivia answer: A) These ancient craftspeople used a corrective fluid similar to Wite-Out or Tipp-Ex.

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