4 minute read
PRESS EUROPEAN
Denmark
Shook up
SEISMOLOGISTS could not understand why they recorded minor tremors on the Danish island of Bornholm on May 13. They called the recordings “acoustic pressure waves” and after ruling out earthquakes and explosions as the source, now believe that “some unknown atmospheric event” is the only answer.
The Netherlands
Short read
Finland
War-torn
FINLAND awaits news regarding the European Union’s position regarding Russians who fled the country to avoid conscription. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) said 1,109 Russian citizens so far have sought asylum in Finland to avoid being called up to fight in the Ukraine war.
Ireland
Cool it
ITALY’S northern EmiliaRomagna region has been plunged into chaos as torrential rains triggered catastrophic flooding, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
The deluge has claimed the lives of nine individuals, with several others still missing. Desperate scenes unfolded as 10,000 residents were forced to evacuate, some desperately clinging to their rooftops until rescue helicopters swooped in on rescue missions.
The flooding caused fourteen rivers to burst their banks, submerging 23 towns in the region. Landslides have severed crucial roads, isolating communities and exacerbating the already dire situation.
The devastation came just days before the EmiliaRomagna F1 Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 20, which had to be cancelled.
With further rain on the horizon, EmiliaRomagna has braced itself for the possibility of more devastation. Regional President Stefano Bonaccini has spoken out, urging residents to steer clear of rivers and seek shelter on higher ground.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also chaired a crisis meeting and expressed gratitude to the brave rescuers risking their lives to save others. Volunteers have flocked to the region to provide support to overwhelmed emergency services.
CHILDREN'S reading skills have deteriorated faster in the Netherlands than other countries, education experts found. They concluded that lessons missed during the pandemic were unlikely to be the only cause and believe the short texts used in Dutch schools do not prepare pupils for longer passages in literacy texts.
Belgium
On mute
BELGIAN workers now have the legal right to switch off their work phones outside working hours without fear of complaints from their employer. The new regulations apply only to firms with 20 or more employees and excludes those working in emergency services or the aviation sector.
Germany
Print job
HEIDELBERG will boast Europe’s largest 3Dprinted building, which will be 54 metres long, 11 metres wide and nine metres high. The ground-breaking project, which commenced on March 31 this year and should be completed by late July, will eventually house an IT company’s cloud and data centre.
France
Green scheme
FRANCE is promoting green initiatives and tax credits to attract billions of euros in investment, boosting French industry and countering Biden’s $369 billion (€422.3 billion) Green Plan. Measures include linking subsidies for electric vehicles to environmental restrictions that favour European manufacturers.
Norway
Wedded bliss
MORE couples are marrying in Norway and staying together longer than in the past, with approximately 21,000 people formalising their partnerships in 2022, an increase of 4,700 compared to 2021, the Norwegian Statistics Agency said. Although 17,000 spouses separated, this was the lowest number since the 80s.
JIM CHAMBERS, 62, and Stephen Cole, 40, who operate rival ice cream vans, appeared at Falcarragh District Court (County Donegal), the pair accused of fighting over the same beachside pitch. Both faced breach of the peace charges but were let off after agreeing to put aside hostilities for the summer.
Italy
Fewer babies
FOR the first time, the number of annual births fell below 400,000 in Italy, averaging 1.25 babies per woman, official figures for 2022 revealed. The replacement rate is now negative, with the number of deaths currently exceeding the number of births, with 12 people dying for every seven babies born.
Portugal
Home again
DOZENS of European Jewish community leaders attended a conference on communal strategies in Porto, whose 1,000-strong Jewish community has tripled in recent years. This was partly thanks to a 2015 law giving Portuguese citizenship to descendants of Jews expelled during the Inquisition, which began in 1536.
Ukraine
Grain deal
AGREEMENT has been reached on extending by two months the deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. The agreement between Ukraine and Russia, signed last year and brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, would otherwise have expired on May 19.
Sweden
Smoke-free
SWEDEN could become one of the world's first ‘smoke-free’ countries, with less than 5 per cent of the adult population smoking. With smoking rates falling from 15 to 5.6 per cent over the past 15 years, it is on course to reach this milestone within months, 17 years ahead of the EU's 2040 target.
STAT OF WEEK €1.4 billion
will go to Spain’s rolling stock manufacturer for supplying a second delivery of 56 trains under the contract it signed with Germany’s rail operator Deutsche Bahn in 2019.
BUSINESS EXTRA Sorry about that
Tasty pasty
GREGGS announced that sales have increased by 17 per cent over the last year, saying its products remained “compelling” to customers in the cost of living crisis. The bakery chain, which first opened in Newcastle in 1951, opened 63 new shops this year and extended some opening hours.
Defence gambit
AEROSPACE, defence and security company, Escribano Mechanical & Engineering, acquired 3 per cent of Indra, Spain’s leading IT and defence systems multinational. The €65 million transaction makes Escribano’s Indra’s second industrial partner and strengthens its presence in the Defence sector.
Winter duels
STRIKES wiped out more than 2.8 million working days in the UK during the ‘winter of discontent’, with 566 lost in March alone, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed. Industrial action between October 2022 and the end of March was the worst since 1989, the ONS said.
Main concern
DESPITE the cost of living crisis, 30 per cent of Spanish consumers are more concerned about sustainability than price, EY consultants found. The tendency to take environmental factors into consideration before looking at price tags was usually generational, and more common amongst the young, researchers said.
Helping hand
FAMILY members spent £38 billion (€43.76 billion) on assisting relatives over the last five years, according to a survey by insurance firm SunLife. The most common reason amongst the over 50s was helping their children to buy a house, with 26 per cent contributing an average of £26,680 (€30,730).
Linda Hall
THE European Commission (EC) gave the goahead to Microsoft’s $69 billion (€63.21 billion) merger with Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.
Brussels made the proviso that Microsoft had to ensure that Activision’s game catalogue was freely available on other cloud gamestreaming providers over the next 10 years.
The decision was announced weeks after the merger was blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), whose chief executive Sarah Cardell defended the watchdog’s earlier decision.
It was not her intention to
