FINLAND

New life

FINLAND’S Immigration Service updated regulations regarding asylum applications submitted by Afghans and will grant refugee status to all women and girls. After the Taliban came to power the position of women in Afghanistan had deteriorated significantly along with their rights and freedoms, the government said.

Ireland

Flower power

MORE than half of Ireland's native plants have declined in range and abundance, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) found. In contrast, 80 per cent of species that were introduced since 1500 have increased and in some cases, like Himalayan Balsam and rhododendron, overwhelmed native plants.

Italy

Spy snared

AN Italian military court recommended a life sentence for Walter Biot, 56, a naval captain accused of passing documents to Russia for cash. After a police swoop in Rome, Biot was arrested and charged with accepting €5,000 for classified NATO documents while two Russian diplomats were expelled.

Portugal

Big profits

PORTUGAL’S Food Safety Authority (ASAE) detected huge profit margins on basic food products on sale in the country’s supermarkets. These ranged from between 20 and 30 per cent for sugar, up to 50 per cent on eggs, oranges and carrots, and more than 50 per cent for onions.

Ukraine

Donated cars

UKRAINE is receiving vehicles that the Latvian authorities confiscated from drunk drivers under a scheme introduced to assist the war effort. The cars were delivered to the Agendum group which delivered 900 donated vehicles to Ukraine’s devastated cities and frontlines in the first three months of the war.

Sweden

Pandemic riddle

THE number of overweight children in Sweden increased during the pandemic, a statistic that baffled Professor of Food Studies, Paulina Nowicka at Uppsala University. “Given that Sweden was one of the countries that did not have a lockdown during the pandemic, this increase is startling,” she said.