Europe

In 2024, 411.021 counterfeit articles were seized in Belgium, almost double the previous year's total of 217.053, announced the Ministry of Economic Affairs

Cluj-Napoca and Sibiu topped History T.R.A.I. index in 2024: the former has the highest total score based on objective indicators such as traffic, air quality and property prices, and the latter on 13 subjective criteria assessed by city residents

The annual number of births in Poland once again reached an all-time low, according to the state agency Statistics Poland; 2024 marked the 12th consecutive year in which deaths exceeded births

North Macedonian social media users are calling for a boycott of local markets today 31 January 2025, in protest against rising prices; similar boycotts have been organized in Croatia

The increase in wages resulted in over €616 billion savings in 2024, an increase of €24,2 billion over the previous year, Nederlandsche Bank reported

Moldovan Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu filed a notification with Constitutional Court asking it to verify the constitutionality of the appointment procedure of the Chief Prosecutor of the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia and subordinate prosecutors

Portugal’s average net salary saw a 9,6% rise in 2024, reaching 1.142 euros, the largest increase in a decade; the rise was fueled by a 22% jump in the salaries of the Armed Forces, the strong rise in public sector wages, solid gains for farmers

According to data from Austrian Wine Marketing Board, the wine exports in 2024 are expected to decrease from the previous year's record figures; for the first 9 months of 2024, export sales registered -5,1% in value to €175,3 million

Mayotte, an overseas territory in the Southern Indian Ocean, saw a back-to-school in very difficult and precarious conditions after the archipelago was hit by a violent tropical cyclone in December 2024 and then by storm Dikeledi earlier this January

The World Monuments Fund has chosen the city of Zaragoza as one of 25 locations around the world for which it will raise funds; the ruins of ancient Belchite are a Spanish Civil War memorial site, neglected in subsequent decades

Slovak malt has become an important export product in recent years: at present, Slovakia is one of the 10 largest exporters in the world, while in the European Union it ranks fifth after France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands

Measures to support families, actions to counter the lowering demographic trend, the establishment of the Human Rights Guarantor and raising the alcohol threshold from 16 to 18 years of age were the topics reviewed by the First Council Commission of 2025