EUROPE

Photo Credit: Getty Images

For the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been named the world's happiest country, with experts attributing the achievement to access to nature and a robust welfare system. The Scandinavian nation topped the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, leading a pack of Nordic countries. In a notable shift, Latin America's Costa Rica and Mexico both entered the top 10, while the UK and US slipped down the list, with the US reaching its lowest-ever ranking at 24th.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Northvolt, a Swedish electric car battery maker once hailed as a cornerstone of Europe's efforts to rival Asia and the United States in battery cell production, has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The company, founded in 2016, struggled with debt, slow demand, and production delays, ultimately failing to secure the necessary financing to continue operations. The setback follows BMW's cancellation of a €2 billion ($2.2 billion) order in May 2024.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The dark world of organized crime resurfaced in brutal fashion this week as Jean-Pierre Maldera, a notorious former mafia figure, was gunned down in broad daylight on a French motorway. Maldera, once a key player in the "Italo-Grenoblois" criminal syndicate, met his end in a hail of bullets, reportedly from military-grade weapons such as a Kalashnikov rifle.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

A massive 500-kilogram World War II bomb unearthed near tracks outside Paris brought travel to a standstill on Friday, impacting thousands of passengers and causing significant disruption at the Gare du Nord train station. The station, France's busiest railway terminus and a key international hub serving London and mainland Europe, saw all traffic halted as authorities worked to safely remove the device.