Europe Slovenia Cyclist Tadej Pogačar won the men's Velo d'Or for the third time in his career after claiming a fourth Tour de France title this summer; he also received the Eddy Merckx award for the top classics rider winning three of the sport's five Monuments in 2025
Europe Portugal Local businessman reportedly diverted tens of millions of euros from ‘golden visa' investors, selling apartments that didn't exist and promising sky-high return; among those defrauded is a company owned by Howard Lutnik, US secretary of state for commerce
Europe Lithuania The Government plans to declare an emergency over threats to civil security posed by repeated incursions of smuggling balloons into Lithuanian airspace, which have continued to disrupt operations at Vilnius Airport
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina Hague Court rejected early release plea of former Bosnian Serb commander Dragomir Milosevic as he lacked proven compelling humanitarian reasons; he had been sentenced to 29 years in jail for terrorising civilians during the siege of Sarajevo
Europe Sweden 54 children under 15 have been suspected of bombings in Jan-Nov 2025, tripled compared to 2024; according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority, in 2024, the figure was 21, in 2023 17 and before only one child per year, a worrying development
Europe Italy On the 50th anniversary of composer Shostakovich’s death, La Scala in Milan opens its 2025-26 opera season today with his masterpiece Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, thus proposing a reflection on the condition of women
Europe Liechtenstein The first 24/7 kiosk has been opened this week; on Schaaner Landstrasse. "Korb" offers products from local shops or small producers in the surrounding area
Europe Latvia Riga Airport signed a cooperation memorandum with the Aviation Academy of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corporation, a leading aviation training centre in the Asia-Pacific, to develop RIX Academy, attracting a broader range of trainees
Europe United Kingdom Skipton in Yorkshire has been named happiest place to live in Great Britain: access to nature and essential services as well as friendliness of the people led the ‘gateway to the Dales’ to top Rightmove index 2025
Europe Denmark A two-year project to get internationals involved with sports clubs will be launched by Danish Sports Federation with a dedicated person to coordinate the process; pilot initiatives will involve seven smaller federations opening up to new residents
Europe Czech Republic The hepatitis A outbreak in Czechia is not abating; almost 3.000 cases of the disease have been recorded so far this year, which is twenty times more than 2024 and the highest figure in 30 years
Europe Finland Over 700 students and staff at the University of Helsinki walked out of classes to protest academic cooperation with Israeli universities; similar demonstrations took place at universities in Tampere, Turku, Kuopio, Jyväskylä, Oulu and Rovaniemi
Europe Hungary Oscar-winning Director László Nemes Jeles has been shooting his new film at Budapest’s Nyugati Station; travellers were met with an unexpected setting as part of the station was transformed into wartime France