Europe Spain 9 out of 10 reforms of the Recovery Plan agreed with European Commission have been implemented, PM Sanchez confirmed, setting 31 August as the date to have deployed "full potential" of RTR Plan, with 2/3 euros channelled into green and digital transition
Europe Slovenia Architect Ajda Bračič has won prestigious Kresnik Prize for the b of the year for her debut work Kresničevje, a multilayered story where title refers to perennial plant Aruncus dioicus, or goat's beard, and the forest itself is a character in the novel
Europe Portugal The International Monetary Fund would be allegedly urging Portugal to reduce the lowest pensions and widows/widower allowance, suggesting the former are “overly generous”, and the latter “too permissive by European standards”
Europe France Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas since June 18th, the prime minister said, as people tried to escape a heatwave that is raising temperatures across France
Europe Germany A 33-point plan to reform the pension system has drawn praise and criticism in equal measure, as centrist politicians consider it a good compromise and opposition parties on both the left and the right don't find it satisfactory
Europe Poland A bronze sword dating back to the European Bronze Age, around 900-700 BCE, or at least 2.700 years, has been found in a forest near Gdańsk; The weapon, well preserved beneath a green patina, was discovered by a local amateur detectorist
Europe Slovakia Notwithstanding the high occupancy rate, experts note that Bratislava is one of the cities in Eastern Europe with the lowest revenues from short-term rentals, despite attracting both leisure and business travellers, according to Trend magazine
Europe Liechtenstein 150 years ago, the Liechtenstein Gorge was opened to visitors and has since become one of the most impressive natural spectacles in the Alps; to celebrate the anniversary, special walking tours have been scheduled at night
Europe Montenegro Chapter 2, covering the free movement of workers, and Chapter 28, dealing with consumer and health protection, have ben completed in Montenegro's EU accession negotiations; the country is now nearer to its goal of completing membership talks within 2026
Europe Hungary Parliament has backed a change to the constitution that limits a prime minister's term in office to eight years, fulfilling a promise by Péter Magyar to prevent Viktor Orbán - who led the country for 16 years - to become prime minister again
Europe Estonia Opening at the border crossings with Russia has been reduced to 12 hours a day over the summer, the peak crossing season, to try and curb repeated border violations; since 15 June the Narva border operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Europe Finland Sickness-related absences from work cost Finland about €5 billion per year in lost productivity, new study highlights; the report estimates that workers were absent for 25 million working days in 2023, equivalent to roughly 110.000 full-time working years
Europe Iceland Debate is intensifying in view of the 29 August vote, when Icelanders are called to decide whether to renew Iceland’s 2009 application for EU membership; foreign minister, pro-EU, looks to be exploiting a rift between US and EU to resume the application