Europe

Three Brussels athletes kitesurfed across the Channel reaching England in less than 5 hours and raising €12.500 for charity; while praising the initiative for its intention, Mobility Ministry stressed sailing without permit is illegal and dangerous

Unrest escalated across Serbia, with ruling party supporters clashing violently with student-led protesters and trying to attack journalists, while in Valjevo demonstrators set fire to a ruling Progressive Party office and attacked City Hall

Princess Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer, has spoken out to media about the +45% incidence in water-related deaths compared to 2024, saying this “public health emergency” calls for more safety education and supervision around pools, beaches, waterways

Maltese Fireworks Association rejected criticism over a display in Mosta, with horses nearby appearing panicked in a video, insisting responsibility lies with animals’ owner, duly noticed, adding that stables are illegal and subject to enforcement notice

Over 65.000 students received their high school final results; Leaving Cert 2025 highest grade, H1 with a maximum of 625 points, has been achieved by 2,6% less students in what looks to be the first year of normality after post-pandemic adjusted figures

Eduardo Serra, the most international of Portuguese cinematographers, reportedly died at 81 on 19 August; as a director of photography he collected two Oscar nominations, collaborated with Leconte, Chabrol and worked on the final two Harry Potter films

National Cyber Security Directorate has issued a warning about a new online scam that fraudulently uses the image of president Nicușor Dan in so-called “quick investment” schemes

Three crew members of the oil tanker Eagle S, believed to belong to Russia's so-called shadow fleet, were charged with aggravated criminal mischief for damaging 5 Baltic Sea cables last December by dragging the ship's anchor on the seabed for around 90km

140.000 permanent public school teachers will be evaluated in a decade, according to estimates by the competent authority: the evaluation law was passed in 2021 but few have been assessed so far, while 30.000 newly hired teachers have undergone evaluation

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

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

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

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”