Culture news How was Russia's Catherine the Great a vaccination trailblazer? In a 1787 letter, Catherine the Great describes step by step how to organise a vaccination campaign against smallpox in Russia. A portrait along with the letter are up for auction in December. 19/11/2021
Germany German police arrest man suspected of neo-Nazi hate mail campaign The letters were allegedly signed with the acronym of a far-right extremist group that was responsible for a string of violent crimes in Germany between 1998 and 2011. 04/05/2021
Spain Spanish minister receives blood-stained knife amid election threats Three other left-wing officials have also received threatening letters containing bullets. 28/04/2021
Italy Bullets sent in envelope to Italy's former prime minister Matteo Renzi Italy's former prime minister thanked people for their messages of support after the incident and called on the country to move "forward together with freedom and courage". 04/03/2021
France Letter scheme aims to combat loneliness More than 704,000 letters have been sent to the elderly by “1 letter 1 smile” during isolation this year. 25/12/2020
Denmark Danish PM apologises to Greenland children over 1951 social experiment 22 Greenland children were involuntarily brought to Denmark as part of a social experiment for a "better life" but Prime Minister Frederiksen has acknowledged that they were deprived of a childhood. 08/12/2020