Europe Poland In the first two months of 2024 a 25% increase in the number of fires has been reported in Poland, occurring more often in residential areas; from 1 January to 1 March this year, a total of 3.044 fire incidents were reported, compared to 2.424 last year
Europe Poland Radio Poland celebrated its 88th anniversary; the station, launched on 1 March 1936, is part of the Polish public radio network and broadcasts programmes on developments at home, foreign policy, the economy, business and foreign investment
Europe Kosovo The country has been urged by OSCE to take swift action to prevent school drop-out among children from non-majority communities, as the schooling of children from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities continues to be one of the biggest challenges
Europe Malta A 1.000 square metre neglected area on the outskirts of San Ġwann has been transformed into a public garden focusing on the importance of pollination and the Maltese bee
Europe France French senators voted overwhelmingly in favour (267 in favour, 50 against) of inserting into the Constitution the 'guaranteed freedom' of women 'to have recourse to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy'
Europe Iceland Iceland's only whaling company has been fined 400.000 Icelandic kroner ($2.900) for violating animal welfare laws by delaying a necessary inspection operation on a whale in September 2023
Europe Spain Seville's mayor José Luis Sanz wrote on X that a project is underway to charge tourists a fee to enter Plaza de España, the city's most famous square built in 1928 in the neo-Moorish style
Europe Austria Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg called for a pause in the fighting in the Middle East for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
Europe Serbia Both government and opposition hailed the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' final report on the December 2023 elections as a vindication of their conflicting claims
Europe Slovenia Slovenian mattress manufacturers exporting their products to the US risk punitive anti-dumping tariffs of almost 745% according to preliminary findings issued by the US Department of Commerce at the end of February
Europe Latvia It will be compulsory to install bio-waste containers in Riga in the vicinity of apartment buildings with more than 10 flats as of 1 March, as stipulated in the municipal waste management regulation adopted by the Riga City Council
Europe Denmark The Danish police have concluded their investigation into the sabotage operation that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022: there are no elements necessary to initiate legal proceedings
Europe Portugal The electoral campaign has begun ahead of the general elections to be held on 10 March, and among the issues already much discussed is the rise of Chega, an extreme right-wing party that according to the polls could get around 19% of the vote