Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Seaweed-eating sheep could hold the key to reducing methane emissions

Sheep on the remote Scottish island of North Ronaldsay have a unique diet consisting mainly of seaweed and it has climate scientists excited.

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Farm animals belch and fart methane gas which is about 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. With the world facing a deepening climate emergency, the issue has become a major focus for climate scientists.

The seaweed diet of the Orkney sheep may hold some answers. Scientists say it appears to have an effect on their digestive system resulting in reduced amounts of methane being produced.

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Researchers at the University of California, Davis also published results in March showing that a "bit of seaweed in cattle feed could reduce methane emissions from beef cattle as much as 82 per cent".

https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/10/31/seaweed-eating-sheep-could-hold-the-key-to-reducing-methane-emissions


2. North Macedonia's PM Zaev Announces Resignation Following Election Defeat

North Macedonia's prime minister, Zoran Zaev, announced his resignation after opposition wins in runoff elections on October 31.

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"I have brought freedom and democracy, and democracy means taking responsibility," he said.

Zaev's governing coalition endorsed liberal-democratic principles as well as integration into the European Union and NATO. North Macedonia joined NATO in March 2020, but talks for its entry into the EU hit a dispute with Bulgaria that has stalled progress toward accession.

The main battleground in the elections on October 31 was the capital, Skopje, where incumbent Mayor Petre Shilegov, from the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) lost to Danela Arsovska of the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE).

https://www.rferl.org/a/north-maceconia-zaev-elections-sdsm-vmro-dpmne/31538521.html


3. Man dies after being gored at bull-running festival in Spain

A man has died after he was gored at a bull-running festival in eastern Spain, the first such fatality in the country since events resumed after Covid-19 curbs were relaxed during the summer.

The 55-year-old, who has not been named, was repeatedly attacked by a bull at a festival in Onda, the town’s council said on Saturday. Other participants tried to entice the animal away but their efforts failed.

A wound to the man’s left thigh perforated an artery and he died in hospital in the nearby town of Villarreal. He also had a head wound.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/31/bull-running-festival-onda-spain-gored-man-dies


4. 'He Had Plans, A Girlfriend': Family Doubts Official Claim Russian Soldier Committed Suicide

MURMANSK, Russia -- Two months after 20-year-old conscript Yegor Voronkin arrived at his post in the Murmansk region settlement of Pechenga, he was rushed to a hospital in the city of Severomorsk. For a month, he lay in a coma, fighting for his life. On October 5, he died, never having regained consciousness.

The military’s preliminary finding states that Voronkin died of ethylene glycol poisoning after drinking hydraulic fluid in a suicide attempt.

It is an explanation that Voronkin’s family flatly rejects. They say he had plans to complete his military service and then move to Moscow with his girlfriend.

“He called her almost every day,” the girlfriend’s mother, who asked to be identified only as Alina, told RFE/RL. “Lately they had been trying to persuade him to sign a military contract. He said he had no desire to do so – the salary was only 40,000 rubles ($570) and ‘everyone drinks.’”

https://www.rferl.org/a/murmansk-conscript-death-voronkin-army/31538198.html


5. Greece lets boat packed with Afghan refugees dock after four days at sea

After roaming the high seas for four days as Greece and Turkey haggled over its fate, a cargo ship packed with hundreds of Afghan refugees has been allowed to dock at an Aegean island, with passengers disembarking to apply for asylum.

In what Greece’s migration ministry called “an unusual and special case”, the Turkish-flagged vessel was towed into the port of Kos on Sunday. About 375 passengers, the biggest single influx of asylum seekers in years, were taken to a reception centre on the island. Six others were detained for questioning and one woman was admitted to hospital on the island of Karpathos.

Greek coastguard officials said those onboard were mostly young Afghan males. Many were reported to be hungry and dehydrated after an ordeal that began on Thursday when the freighter, initially bound for Italy, developed engine trouble and sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, shortly after setting sail from Turkey.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/31/greece-lets-boat-packed-with-afghan-refugees-dock-after-four-days-at-sea