Snippets from the European Press

Italy: Strait talking A bridge over the Strait of Messina connecting Sicily with the mainland is a step nearer after a compulsory purchase order for the necessary land was published in local and national newspapers.  The notice follows approval six weeks ago by the board of state-owned Stretto de Mesina which will build the bridge.

Denmark: Jet sale Argentina will buy the 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter aircraft which Denmark is replacing with F-35 jets, Defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced.  “The sale was carried out in close collaboration with the US government, who has approved the sale of the American aircraft,” the Defence Ministry said.

Long journey The message in a bottle that five-year-old Harry Liddle threw into the sea in Sunderland on August 28, 2023, was found on March 6 by Frederik Bilgrav Schramm, from Romo who contacted the Liddles on Messenger.  Harry, who imagined the bottle would be found on the Sunderland beach was “super-excited”, his mother said.

Norway: Threat defused The Police Security Service (PST), working with Oslo police, traced a person who made one of the two bomb threats that the Norwegian parliament received on April 3, the PST told state broadcaster NRK.  A spokesman from the PST declined to confirm if the same person was responsible for making both the threats.

Golden eggs Supermarkets expressed their “frustration” at the continuing shortage of eggs over Easter although Nortura, the egg industry regulator, explained that production numbers were no different from last Easter’s. “The recent focus on eggs has probably led to a lot of hoarding,” a Nortura spokesperson suggested.

Belgium: Steady rises BELGIUM’S minimum wage rose to a pre-tax €2,029.88 per month on April 1 after a €76.28 hike in April 2022 that was followed by a €35.70 rise on April 1, 2024, with another planned for April 2026. The increases will benefit 80,000 employees nationwide, according to figures released by the ACV union.

In bloom The Halle Bluebell Festival begins on April 13 but the first blooms were in flower a week earlier in the Halle woods not far from Brussels, days before crowds would flock to see them.  As usual, Halle city hall will be putting on a free shuttle bus service to the woods each weekend until the end of the month.

Germany: Stoked up Seven coal-fired power stations were closed down in late March, energy companies RWE and LEAG announced.  Two were already operating after their planned shutdown but five more were started up last winter to compensate for a shortfall in gas supplies as Germany reduced its dependence on Russian supplies.

Trunk call Botswana’s president Mokgweetsi Masisi has considered sending 20,000 elephants to Germany after the Environment ministry proposed limiting imports of hunting trophies to prevent poaching.  Botswana has an elephant population of 130,000, the President said, and hunting kept them in check while protecting crops and property.

Netherlands: Go easy Debt collection agencies must now respect more stringent rules, which include a new law that bans them from exerting pressure on debtors and obliges them to register with the authorities.  Existing agencies were given a year to sign up but new companies must do so immediately, the Justice and Safety department said.

Call-up Approximately 200,000 young people who are 17 or about to celebrate their seventeenth birthday are currently receiving conscription papers.  Although they will not have to complete military training, all Dutch citizens between the ages of 17 and 45 must be prepared to be called up “in exceptional circumstances.”

France: Orca loss Inouk, a 25-year-old orca who spent his life in captivity, died at Marineland in Antibes, the second orca to die there in six months.  The cause of Inouk’s death has not yet been established, but he had grave dental problems and mouth ulcers after wearing down his teeth by constantly gnawing the sides of his concrete tank.

Ethical chocs Concerns about child labour and underpaid cocoa-bean farmers in Africa are growing in chocolate-loving France where each person gets through seven kilos a year. Members of the Committed Chocolatiers Club  announced that they will promote a “greener and more ethical” process that pays producers more fairly.

Finland: Sky-high Tampere (population 226,696) will have the world’s tallest cable car system linking an 88-metre-high hotel in the city centre to the Nasinneula observation tower 1.5 kilometres away. Originally planned as a ski-lift over Mustanlahti Bay, the project has evolved into what the developers say will become a Tampere landmark.

No change Finland’s eastern border with Russia, closed since December following an influx of undocumented asylum-seekers, will not reopen when the current schedule expires on April 14.  The government will also announce its decision on international protection applications, resulting in possibly just one entry point.

Ireland: Richest Irish Only one Irish billionaire did not maintain or increase his wealth in 2023, Forbes’ annual billionaires list revealed.  Construction tycoon Shapoor Mistry headed the list with $9.9 billion (€9.1 billion) but the fortune of John Armitage, who is the co-founder of Egerton Capital, fell to $1.5 billion (€1.38 billion).

Lost weekend An inspector from the Roads Policing Unit told the RTE broadcaster that an “alarmingly high” number of people were arrested over the Easter weekend while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and sometimes both.  This was confirmed by the Garda’s Roads Unit who arrested 140 for “driving while intoxicated.”

Portugal: Mystery cargo After years spent analysing the remains of crockery and cutlery washed ashore in 2014 at Belinho beach, near Porto, experts dismissed original theories that they came from a wrecked Iberian vessel. They believe they were the cargo of a prosperous 16th century merchant who would have sold them for use aboard ship.

Worth its salt The future Albufeira desalination plant has received a favourable preliminary assessment on its environmental impact although another will be required at a later stage.  Despite the need for a reliable water supply, not all locals support the project, owing to its heavy carbon footprint and effect on seawater salt levels.

Sweden: Bike it Statistics Sweden found that nearly a third of Sweden’s working population lived 15 minutes by bike from their workplace although most used other forms of transport.  Municipalities with populations below 100,000 were more likely to have a cycling commute of less than 15 minutes, the survey found.

April snow Heavy snow around the Gothenburg area on April 2 was responsible for such long tailbacks on the E20 motorway and National Road 26 that police declared a major incident. With traffic held up for hours on some stretches, they recommended that motorists avoided both roads until conditions improved.