Europe

The new mapping by Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd, the labour business council, is based on 2023 figures and shows that incomes of top 1% of high earners increased by almost 15% despite inflation, while the average citizen suffered a drop in income

London Zoo is about to carry out the census of its over 20.000 individuals from 698 species of animals; the annual survey is expected to take about a week and results will be shared with zoos around the world to help manage global conservation programmes

Fighting in southern Russia inflicted heavy losses on troops sent by North Korea, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as battles intensified along the front line

A historic gate in Dublin's Phoenix Park, removed last September after being hit by a council lorry, will be reinstated this month, the Office of Public Works said

The Kennel Club will officially recognise the Icelandic sheepdog as a purebred breed in April 2025; the Icelandic sheepdog can trace its roots back some 1.000 years and was even mentioned in a play by William Shakespeare

Drivers will be allowed to use self-driving technology on Swiss motorways and let go of their steering wheel starting 1 March 2025; following the decree recently adopted by Federal Council, they must be ready to take control at any time

The Convent of Christ in Tomar, a World Heritage monument, will undergo two requalification projects in 2025 for 5,2 million euros, fully funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan to "give new functional values ​​and qualified visiting conditions"

In response to last month's knife attack at Zagreb's Prečko primary schools, which tragically resulted in the death of one child and the injury of several others, the country has introduced new security measures to increase safety in schools

On New Year's Eve, a demonstration took place in the Helsinki metro with over 200 protesters gathering to oppose the imminent increase in public transport fares by Helsinki Region Transport

Like their parents challenging Milosevic’s regime in the 1990s, university students have taken to the streets to change what they see as the corruption, secrecy and deception endemic in the Serbian government; younger pupils have now joined protests

AirBaltic is forced to cancel 19 routes and reduce operations on other 21, for a total of 4.670 flights cancelled from all its bases for summer 2025, losing over 67.000 passengers, due to shortage of engines and maintenance service of its A220-300 planes

Montenegro is holding three days of mourning after a gunman killed 12 people, including two children, in the city of Cetinje – the worst mass shooting in the country’s history; the perpetrator of the murders committed suicide

The liberal party NEOS announced the abandonment of negotiations to form a coalition government together with the centre-right People's Party and the centre-left Social Democratic Party; in September the extreme right failed to form a coalition government