Europe

Sahel foreign ministers arrived in Moscow for their first official talks with Russia following the breaking of relations between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and traditional western allies, namely France and other EU countries

National park Hoge Veluwe has been refused permission to chase or shoot roaming wolves, which it says are decimating the mouflon sheep population; provincial authorities said the privately owned park will have to abide by the rules and not take any action

In 2024 ONGs, citizens, media and businesses submitted 6.787 requests for access to information to government bodies; the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information reports they have decided on 4.220 cases of administrative silence

The 105th anniversary of the Patent Office of Latvia was celebrated on 8 April 2025 with the simultaneous visits of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Patent Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office

Zoran Mušič (1909-2005), an internationally acclaimed modernist painter and printmaker, will be honoured with a series of exhibitions in Slovenia and Italy as Nova Gorica and Gorizia have come together as the first cross-border European Capital of Culture

This year's state pension index, approved by the Estonian government, has increased the average old-age pension from 774 euros to 817 euros and the national pension to 393 euros per month as of April 1

A clear decline in asylum applications from people from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey led to a 45,3% lower figures than in March 2024; Germany, for a long time number one in Europe for asylum applications, sees its figures are falling rapidly

Joint teams of local and French police have begun working together; first deployed in Pas de la Casa, 2080mt, on the border with France, the mixed patrols will work cross-border to combat smuggling and operate in collaboration with customs

Firefighters have been battling gorse blaze on the outskirts of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim; with a from of 800m and flames 2 meters high, it is considered a major fire in the country and has required specialized equipments and jets and

A new cyber fraud attempt hit San Marino businesses: automatic electronic invoices and e-mail invoices were altered; authorities have urged entrepreneurs to protect bank data as a possible hacker attack could focus on IBAN codes