News excerpts from the European press « Euro Weekly News

Belgium: big cats The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Belgium and areas in neighboring countries could provide viable habitat for around 75 lynxes in the wild. The last wild lynx was seen in Belgium a century ago, but since August 2020, wildlife cameras have intermittently spotted one animal in the Semois Valley.

Denmark: Varied VAT The government could adopt the European practice of varying VAT rates for different products instead of Denmark's current 25 percent on all items. “There is potential to differentiate VAT on goods that we want people to buy, such as fruit and vegetables,” Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus told a newspaper interviewer.

Mammoth find When a worker at a gravel pit found part of a tusk in an excavator shovel, he suspected it was related to the mammoth's cheekbone discovered at the site several years earlier. Experts from the Aarhus Natural History Museum will restore the tusk, which shows signs of a new crack caused during the excavation, before it goes on display.

Norway: royal visit British Princess Anne's two-day visit to Norway included a visit to the Resistance Museum, accompanied by her godson, Crown Prince Haakon. Located in Oslo's Akershus Fortress, the museum displays equipment, photographs and documents from the Nazi occupation of 1940-1945 during World War II.

Passed Just over 91 percent of the 5,333 immigrants eligible for Norwegian citizenship last year passed tests introduced in 2017 to measure their knowledge of Norwegian life and society. “We can only congratulate them,” says a satisfied Tonje Brenna, the minister responsible for Labor and Social Inclusion

Italy: Past events Mario Moti, an 85-year-old former Carabinieri brigadier general who was taken over in 2023 during negotiations between the state and the mafia, is under investigation again. Florence's prosecutor will now cautiously question Mori about the mafia bombings that killed 10 people and injured 40 in Rome, Florence and Milan in 1993.

orange warning Activists from the Last Generation spray-painted the entrance to the Ministry of Health in Rome with orange paint to protest the “deaths and conditions” caused by global warming. The same group targeted the Uffizi Museum in Florence last February by pasting photos of floods on the glass above Boticelli's Venus.

Germany: electrical storm A lightning strike during a storm on the evening of May 20 injured a group of ten people in Dresden, seriously injuring four of them, according to the dpa news agency. Two men aged 27 and 30 who suffered cardiac arrest were successfully resuscitated and later taken to hospital after emergency treatment.

Booker Prize Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for her novel Kairos, set in East Berlin, where the author was born and raised. The book was selected from 149 entries for the British prize, and Erpenbeck and Hofmann will now share the £50,000 prize money.

The Netherlands: Other habits Police detected and dismantled 1,230 clandestine marijuana plantations in 2023, significantly fewer than the 1,604 in 2022. In contrast, they raided and destroyed 151 drug laboratories specializing in synthetic drugs, heroin and cocaine in 2023, a 50 percent increase compared to 100 that they discovered in 2022.

On foot According to retail research service Locatus, people are visiting the high street more often this year, at levels similar to before the pandemic. This recovery was more noticeable in large cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht than in smaller cities, where Locatus observed less crowds.

France: Me, too As women in the French armed forces reveal more details about the abuse and violence they experience, military authorities are increasingly inundated with complaints, according to Le Monde newspaper. An investigation also found that women were routinely punished for reporting abuse, while attackers remained in place.

Trump card Film director Ali Abbasi made light of the impending legal action after the premiere of his Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, at the Cannes Film Festival. Abbasi said he was not bothered by the Trump camp's response, but admitted it was unlikely the film would be released before the US elections on November 5.

Finland: good faith The latest survey by the Youth Barometer in Finland shows that most young people are not interested in religion. About 20 percent of those aged 15 to 29 described themselves as believers, while 60 percent said they were “not religious at all,” although 6 percent explained they were non-religious “but spiritual.”

Helping hand Social security institution Kela's 2023 annual report and accounts showed it paid a total of 16.6 billion euros in benefits and highlighted how challenges such as inflation and the energy crisis had affected its operations. “Exceptional times highlight Kela's crucial role,” said CEO Outi Antila.

Ireland: In a solution A United Airlines Zurich-Chicago flight was diverted to Shannon after a passenger's laptop became stuck in his seat while the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean. Engineers freed the laptop within minutes of landing, but passengers had to spend the night in Ireland because the flight crew had then flown the maximum number of hours.

Dance competition The Irish Dancing Commission (CLRG) confirmed in Dublin on May 22 that it would take no further disciplinary action against 44 teachers and judges accused of manipulating the results of Irish dancing competitions for years. According to the BBC, there was “a problem” finding a suitable witness for the trial.

Portugal: Tuna time The bluefin tuna fishery started off the island of Tavira in the Algarve with a catch of 100 fish, the largest of which weighed 330 kilos. Fishermen used the traditional and sustainable “almadraba” method of the Mediterranean, in which boats set up a huge structure of nets between them, rather than using dragnets that damage the seabed.

Play safe 😂 😂 Prime Minister Luis Montenegro stated that despite the presence of “certain crimes”, Portugal was one of the safest countries in Europe, although the Annual Security Report (RASI) recorded an overall increase in the crime rate. It also showed that violent crime had increased across mainland Portugal.

Sweden: Less hassle Applicants for a Swedish work or student permit can now verify their passport using an online app, instead of having to visit a Swedish embassy. The scheme will benefit 19,000 employees and 5,000 students living in one of 23 countries, including Britain, the US, Australia and Canada.

Not on the list Ahn-Za Hagstrom, head of the Terrorist Threat Assessment Center (NCT), said Sweden is no longer a priority for terror propagandists. The threat level was raised in August 2023 after the Quran burnings, but Isis and Al Qaeda were now focusing on this summer's major sporting events, Hagstrom said.