Europe Russia Russia is not committing to a meeting between Ukrainian President Zelensky and President Putin, which US President Trump has encouraged as a next step toward ending the war; Foreign Minister Lavrov argued any meeting should be prepared “gradually”
Europe Bulgaria Political chaos has created a media vacuum in which citizens are vulnerable to disinformation and Kremlin-led narratives proliferate; with highest rate of news avoidance and lowest media literacy in Europe, a better enforcement of existing rules is needed
Europe Estonia The chargé d'affaires of the Russian embassy was given a diplomatic note declaring him persona non grata: the first secretary of the Russian embassy's staff must thus leave Estonia; the Foreign Minister cited incompatibility with Estonia values
Europe North Macedonia More inclusive websites will be developed at government level for people with visual impairments and hearing disabilities, but a lot of work remains to be done in North Macedonia for access to both physical and virtual sites
Europe Slovakia A ban on all open fires, including the use of official firepits, the burning of bushes and trees, and smoking, is in effect in the forests of Bratislava this week and until further notice, due to high risk fires
Europe Sweden Kiruna church is on its way to the new city center, the most spectacular event of the transformation forced by crack formation in the ground resulting by LKAB's mining; the 40x40m building weighs 627 tons and the gigantic moving convoy rolls on 220 wheels
Europe Spain Latest speed control campaign by the General Directorate of Traffic DGT took place from on 4-10 August: at 2.793 checkpoints, with 1.021.303 vehicles transiting, 68.662 drivers (6.7%) were reported for traveling at a speed exceeding the limit
Europe Ukraine Authorities have accused current and former Justice Ministry officials of embezzling Hr.10 million ($241,000) during a project to upgrade the ministry’s IT systems; the scheme was reportedly related to a procurement contract in 2021
Europe Andorra Five people have been convicted in Montpellier, France, for smuggling tobacco from Andorra; the cross-border investigation found that the four defendants were selling the illegal cigarettes in the food stores they owned
Europe Austria Airbnb has been providing data to the city of Graz, including the identity of the landlords, in response to growing opposition by many cities to short-term apartment rentals; Graz is demanding accommodation fees from landlords and will impose fines soon
Europe Netherlands Cybercrime group Nova, hacking on the Dutch laboratory that handles population screenings, is threatening to publish more medical data after having leaked data of nearly half a million women who participated in the cervical cancer screening
Europe United Kingdom A Tik Tok campaign to give people clear, reliable advice before travelling overseas for cosmetic or medical treatments will be launched, part of a wider initiative to protect patients and reduce costs for the NHS of fixing botched procedures
Europe Hungary Three buses caught fire at different locations in Budapest in two days; authorities launched a comprehensive investigation to determine the exact cause of the malfunctions and prevent future incidents