Europe

Firefighters have removed crosses from the towers of two Luxembourg churches after storms left the structures in a precarious position; the fire service said it was a “very rare” occurrence during what was “a relatively intense" wind force episode

A Jubilee specifically dedicated to digital missionaries and Catholic influencers has been announced, coinciding with the opening days of the Youth Jubilee; the decision formally recognizes the digital environment as a true field of mission

Centrist, anti-corruption political party We Continue the Change is facing unprecedented challenges, with its key figures targeted by institutions, potentially leaving pro-Russian nationalists as the only ‘opposition’ left in Bulgaria

Construction on the biggest-yet North macedonia wind farm has begun; a €430 million investment by Luxembourg-based Alcazar Energy near Stip, it will host 55 turbines generating 400 Megawatts of energy, enough for 100.000 households out of a total 580.000

An average of one drowning per day in the past two weeks has been reported by the Swedish Lifesaving Society, amid a growing number of people taking to swimming and bathing by summer temperatures and good weather

Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian extreme athlete who became the first person to break the sound barrier in a freefall jump in 2012, died in a paragliding crash on Italy's eastern coast; he was 56 and reportedly died because of a heart attack while flying

Gintautas Markevičius, a Lithuanian man paralysed down one side, set yet another record by covering over 3.000 km around the Baltic States on his electric trike; after more than a month on the road, he was welcomed back in Klaipėda

The majority of those visiting Kosovo are day-trip tourists or spend an average of two nights, and only diaspora visitors stay longer: latest official data show that the country could better exploit its tourist potential as most wish they spent more time

Octopus fishing vessels must remain in port during fishing seasons, starting from the northern border on July 17 down to 14 October; vessels licensed for shelter traps, cage traps, spearfishing that intend to suspend activities must notify the DGRM

The Black Sea 200 Regatta 2025, Romania’s first non-stop offshore regatta with a 200 nautical mile route, will start tomorrow with expected end before 27 July; at its first edition, the event brings together more than 10 boats from Romania and Bulgaria

Over 70 wildfires have been extinguished in a single week, as heatwaves intensify across the Balkans; the 2025 wildfire season is testing both the region’s emergency responses and long-term planning, coordination and political will

The 30th anniversary of the 1995 genocide of Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb forces was celebrated with the mass funeral of seven more victims in a ceremony at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre