Geography of Europe

When Hott Spott cafe at the main port of the Greek Aegean isle of Lesbos (Mytilene) closes its doors to human customers, it opens its doors to dogs wishing to come in from the cold. This kind gesture warmed the hearts of many and the photo of the Christmas cafe has gone viral with hundreds of thousands of shares.

Protest gatherings dubbed "Journalists don't kneel/Prime minister, keep your promise" were held late on Monday in several Serbian towns.

About 150 people gathered in front of the government building in Belgrade to protest because Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic has not yet been dismissed.

The Serbian National Assembly in Belgrade on Monday elected lawyer Mladen Nenadic as Serbia's new prosecutor for organized crime.

A veil of smog has covered Athens again. As temperatures soar in Athens to single-digit figures, a number of people are seeking warmth – especially in the northern suburbs – by lighting up their fireplaces oblivious to warnings issued by the Environment Ministry. Use of fireplaces have resulted in pockets of smog hovering over certain distructs.

Rama said during his visit to Jerusalem on Monday that Albania is ready to collaborate with its ally Israel in order to contribute to the country's security.

The agreement also expressed the willingness to cooperate in the fields of energy, agriculture, water management, tourism and culture.

One would think that Denmark would be free from sexual conventions, however Danish photographer Mathilde Grafström sparked a media firestorm when her photo exhibition at Nytorv Square, Copenhagen, titled “Female Beauty” was found to be “offensive”. Police closed down her show of nude, natural-looking women aimed at promoting a healthy body image and easing prudishness.

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have discussed options for a more intense activity of friendship groups in their respective legislatures.

At a meeting between Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Bulgaria Emil Karimov, the former put emphasis on the role of reciprocal visits of MPs in developing interparliamentary ties, according to Azernews.

Turkey boosted its aid to foreign countries from a mere $85 million in 2002, the year the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, to $4.5 billion in 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Dec. 20, while addressing students and academics at Uluda? University. 

Political leaders from Kosovo and Serbia might be talking to each other in Brussels, but the two societies are not communicating at all, a debate in Pristina heard.

Investigators in Moscow said on Dec. 21 they were unable to retrieve information from the damaged black box of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey last month, data the Kremlin hoped would support its version of what happened.