Europe Ireland Controversial plan to introduce a hate speech law will be dropped as Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the 'hate speech' element of the bill 'does not have a consensus' and will be dealt with at a later date
Europe Norway Norway is the first country where more electric cars than petrol cars circulate, as announced by the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council on the basis of official car registration data: 754.303 registered cars are electric, 753.905 petrol
Europe Germany Primary electors of the Christian Democratic Union, the country's main conservative party, have chosen Friedrich Merz, the current leader of their national party, as their candidate for chancellor in the country's 2025 elections
Europe Russia 180.000 new soldiers will be drafted into the Russian army, bringing to 1,5 million the total number of soldiers in service; if confirmed, the decision would make the Russian army the second largest in the world after the Chinese one
Europe United Kingdom The report on the National Health Service commissioned by the Labour government in early July shows that public health is worse off than in comparable countries in terms of economy and population, amidst long waiting lists and inadequate investment
Europe Italy An ancestor-based tourism initiative called Italea was launched earlier this year and will be introduced in New York, USA, in October to help those with Italian lineage reconnect with their family history
Europe Montenegro Hundreds of inmates of Montenegro's largest prison recently declared that they and their families will not vote in the next elections if the promised amnesty law is not presented
Europe Hungary Hungary and the Czech Republic are considering hosting the 2029 World Ice Hockey Championships; the centre of the championship would be Budapest with one suitable arena
Europe Russia 32 years after starting work in Russia, Doctors Without Borders had to close down its activities after the Russian Ministry of Justice removed the office from the register of affiliated and representative offices of foreign NGOs last month
Europe North Macedonia New road signs near the Bllacë border crossing in northern Macedonia could be subject to or provoke tension as the authorities excluded the Albanian language
Europe Spain Centre-right Partido Popular leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo compared Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the late dictator Francisco Franco over a controversial media transparency plan
Europe Ukraine The Ukrainian defence industry has probably started to produce 5.45×39 and 5.56×45 mm ammunition for its armed forces, the Militarnyi portal reported, citing photos showing a test firing of 5.45×39 mm ammunition at a military firing range
Europe Slovenia Data published by the Statistical Office ahead of European Mobility Week show that CO2 emissions from road traffic have increased by 25% from 2008 to 2022; by the end of 2023, approximately 1,2 million passenger cars were registered and 2 million citizens