The U.S. Department of State has divided the languages that diplomats learn into four categories based on the average time it takes to master them. It is easiest to learn European languages - reports the British weekly "Economist".more

Most migrants currently on the Italian island of Lampedusa will not be granted asylum in Europe, he said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. In his opinion, those who are not granted asylum should be sent back immediately.more

One-and-a-half-year-old boy Nicholas Dominici is suspected to have died as a result of a drug overdose. The New York nursery he attended for a week held fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin, under sleeping mats, local police reported.more

If anyone would like to work remotely from home in a picturesque village in sunny Sardinia, they can do so without worrying about the price of rent. The Ollolai town council has just offered premises for a symbolic amount - one euro per month.more

The Swedish government anticipates an increase in carbon emissions in its draft budget for 2024, presented today. It also estimates that ambitious climate targets will not be achieved in the coming years.more

Berlin is at its limit. It needs to quickly create 4,000 places for refugees in hotels, halls and hangars, the Bild daily portal writes today. By the end of the year, a total of 10,300 asylum seekers are expected, mainly from Syria, Kurds from Turkey and Afghans - about a third of whom will remain in the city. In addition, about 1,000 people will arrive from war-torn Ukraine.more

Thirteen boats with more than 140 migrants arrived in less than an hour yesterday evening on the Italian island of Lampedusa, Ansa reported. The situation was brought under control after the chaos that ensued there after so many boats arrived at once, the agency reports.more

King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla will begin a three-day state visit to France today. They will be welcomed at 2 p.m. at Orly Airport in Paris by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. They will end their trip on Friday in Bordeaux.more

This year we have 25 percent. fewer asylum applications, we estimate that this trend will continue. This is proof that our restrictive immigration policy is starting to work, said Swedish Minister of Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard.more

The percentage of the Japanese population aged 80 and over exceeded 10 percent for the first time in history. – according to government statistical data for 2022 published on the occasion of Respect for Elderly Day celebrated on Monday. At the same time, with the rapidly aging population, more and more seniors decide to continue working.more

It is time for Ursula von der Leyen, as President of the European Commission, to finally react, because this problem must be solved at European level, said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann from the German FDP party. The leader of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber (CSU), also called for limiting migration.more

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles called on EU member states to become more involved in Africa because "Russia may occupy this territory." Robles pointed to the "instability of the countries of the Sahel region" and the simultaneous "Europe's separation from Africa" during a videoconference in the European Parliament's subcommittee on security and defense in Brussels.more

In New York, the State of Poland Foundation - together with the Polish consulate and the Tree Time Foundation - commemorated the long-standing ties between Poland and the USA. This is expressed by planting over 300 apple trees as a gift to New York. The event at The Carlyle Hotel was held under the patronage of President Andrzej Duda.more

Yesterday evening, our organization received a complaint from Ukraine regarding the ban on food imports from this country. From a formal point of view, this is a request for consultations, and therefore the first step in legal proceedings, said the spokesman for the World Trade Organization (WTO). A day earlier, the authorities in Kiev announced that they had filed a complaint against Poland, Hungmore

The Italian government has adopted the package of measures regarding immigrants announced in recent days by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The maximum detention period for people eligible to be returned to their countries of origin has been increased to 18 months. "Today we commissioned the Ministry of Defense to establish centers in each region," the Prime Minister announced.more

A Japanese chemical company is working on a method of converting cow faeces into liquid biomethane for use as rocket fuel, Kyodo reported yesterday, estimating that this could solve the problem of disposing of waste from cattle farms.more

One in six Belgian employees working in the private sector is compensated by their employer for commuting to work by bicycle, according to a survey by HR company Acerta. On average, this is around €47 per monthmore

A court in Russia has sentenced Corporal Madina Kaboloyeva to six years' imprisonment for avoiding military service; this is the first such sentence handed down to a woman in the country, the independent Russian TV channel Nastoyashchye Vremya reported today, noting that Kaboloyeva is pregnant and is also caring for a five-year-old child.more

The European Union is helpless and weakened by the migratory challenge, and the related crisis has triggered a conflict between France, Germany and Italy, the daily Le Figaro assesses today, wondering if Russia is behind the migratory pressure.more

The number of working pensioners is increasing in Germany. More than 56,000 more seniors are now working than at the end of last year. Left-wing politicians point out that for many this is not a voluntary decision, but a necessity "to survive another month" - reported the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) website yesterday.more

What is at stake in our war against Russia is the future global order; we are not a fiction, a book, but we are really fighting a nuclear power that threatens to destroy the world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed in an interview with US CBS television on Sunday night.more

This year's record forest fires in Canada contributed nearly 410 million tons of carbon emissions, accounting for 27 percent of global emissions from forest fires, the European atmospheric monitoring center Copernicus reported.more

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assessed that a quick end to the war in Ukraine should not be expected. Peace will come when Russia puts down its weapons, but if the Ukrainians surrender, their country will cease to exist, Stoltenberg said in an interview for the German media group Funke.more

Joseph Stalin deeply, personally hated Poles, in part because of the Bolsheviks' defeat in 1920, and this was an important factor in the decision to conclude a pact with Nazi Germany and partition Poland in 1939, says British historian Antony Beevor today.more

Fire ants, one of the world's most invasive and destructive species, have reached Europe, according to a study recently published in the journal Current Biology. Scientists found 88 nests of these insects near Syracuse, Sicily.more