The European Correspondent

October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month, symbolised by a pink ribbon. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed type of cancer in Europe: making up 13.14% of all cancer cases and 27.8% of cancer cases in women. With age, the risk of breast cancer increases, with a predicted surge of 21% by 2040 due to the ageing of the European population. Awareness and screening opportunities remain essential at early stages. A 2019 survey showed screening rates among eligible European women varied widely, averaging 66%, with some countries as high as 80% and others, like Slovakia, as low as 10%. The European Commission recommends starting mammograms at age 45 and screening every two years between 50-69. Most European countries follow this guideline for ages 50-69, while Czechia, Hungary, Austria, and Cyprus start at 45, and Cyprus and Iceland begin at 40. A commentary by Tamara Kanuchova. Read here: https://buff.ly/3Ys6A5D

Germany and Austria are facing a wave of hospital closures, which could make local care a thing of the past. Austria is debating, while Germany has already passed a law to specialize clinics and rework payment structures. Critics warn that rural areas might lose essential healthcare access, though the German health minister claims city hospitals will be primarily affected. Inspired by Scandinavian models, this approach seeks to balance quality with sustainable funding, though proximity remains a key concern for many patients. A Long Story by Ines Erker and Jasper Bennink. Read here: https://buff.ly/3YqSotB

Child marriage, defined as marriage under 18, is still a reality in Europe and persists usually due to political non-action. In Austria, the marriage law of the country of origin applies, so marriages concluded abroad are valid unless one of the partners is younger than 14. For Austrians, the current age limit is 16, which the government promised to raise to 18 by 1 November, in line with Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. However, with missed deadlines and a newly elected government, the decision was swept under the table. While no official data exist, NGOs believe the number of affected children could be up to 5,000. Studies show that child (and often forced) marriages have many long-term consequences, such as lack of access to education and career options. A commentary by Claudia Tschabuschnig. Read here: https://buff.ly/48w6qPs

What do Villa Tugendhat in Brno, the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, and the Gropiushaus in Berlin have in common (besides being located in cities starting with a 'B')? All of them are icons of Bauhaus architecture. The Bauhaus movement, which emerged in the early 20th century, reshaped modern design and architecture by advocating the principle that "form follows function." Emphasising simplicity and practicality, Bauhaus challenged traditional fine art by integrating applied arts. It blurred the lines between artistry and craftsmanship, arguing that a building could be beautiful just like fine art could be practical. However, not everyone celebrates Bauhaus. With the movement's 100th anniversary impending, Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party submitted a motion titled 'The Wrong Path of Modernism', calling for a critical reassessment of Bauhaus. The party claims that Bauhaus "raped the human need for comfort in every conceivable artistic way." What many consider a milestone in European cultural integration, the AfD criticises as a "bland homogenisation" of art across Europe. Their call for a "reappraisal" echoes the rhetoric of 1933, when the Nazis shut down Bauhaus, dismissing it as "un-German" for its embrace of progressive ideals. Since Bauhaus was associated with leftist thinkers, including Jewish members, it was an easy target for the Nazis. Many members fled abroad, explaining the international diffusion of the movement. The Nazi crackdown later turned into the infamous 'Degenerate Art' (Entartete Kunst) exhibitions, where the Nazis publicly ridiculed Bauhaus and other modern artworks. A Top Story by Constanze Sendler. Read here: https://buff.ly/3CgPwba

An aerospace factory in Ankara was the target of an attack last week, resulting in the deaths of five individuals. The assault was carried out by a small armed faction with ties to the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which the EU has designated as a terrorist organization. The Turkish Armed Forces responded that evening by attacking Kurdish areas in Syria and Northern Iraq with airstrikes, killing 20 people, including some civilians, and destroying military installations. An unexpected resurgence of cooperation between Kurdish groups and the government occurred in Turkey before the attack. President Erdoğan's coalition partner and leader of a far-right nationalist party, Devlet Bahçeli, clasped hands with Kurdish parliamentarians, a potent gesture in a nation where symbolic actions are highly valued. In a surprising move, he also urged Abdullah Öcalan, to disband the organization and proposed offering rehabilitation options for prisoners serving life sentences in exchange. Bahçeli's comments were surprising after the PKK dropped its activities and the government clamped down on Kurdish politics. ✍🏻 Check out the insightful commentary by Yakup Can Yargıç here https://buff.ly/40m5VVQ

Almost half of Europeans are college graduates, with over 18.5 million students enrolled in higher education across the EU. These numbers also highlight a troubling trend that may harm our educational future. Concerns are raised by the rise of for-profit "universities," where tuition not only pays expenses but also rewards promoters. Madrid Open University was chastised for its several shortcomings in a recent study released by the Spanish Ministry of Education. The government raised objections to the university's accreditation, citing shortcomings in the project's coherence and caliber including a lack of a robust research framework, inadequate investment strategies, and underwhelming facilities. The decision on whether universities should be recognized rests with regional governments, with insiders anticipating that the Madrid Open University will soon gain status, highlighting the importance of basic quality requirements emphasized by Spanish universities. Nearly every university in Europe, both public and private, was a nonprofit until recently. When extensive liberalization and a spike in demand for higher education in the 1990s made it possible for private investors to enter the market, this started to change. Back in 2000, there were about 50 public universities for every 16 private ones. Now, there are 24 public and 46 private. International postgraduate students pay from €9,050 to €14,050 at private universities, much more than the €2,818 average. To keep money grabs from driving up tuition, the government has promised to increase financing for public education and take tough measures against poor universities. Read the article by Carlos Caselles here: https://buff.ly/3YsAA1c

Despite rising costs and deteriorating service quality, Italian football fans are frequently held accountable for their lack of support for pay TV and streaming services. Citing the growing threat of illicit streams and erratic box subscriptions, the government and football authorities hold them responsible for declining income. Back in March, the government rolled out a piracy shield to block illegal streams during Serie A matches. Unfortunately, it ended up blocking a bunch of unrelated VPNs and messing with a lot of Google Drive functions for most of Saturday. This shows that politicians don't understand how the internet works. Despite all this, governments aren't backing down. Other countries like Spain are watching Italy's piracy shield to see if they can use it in their own domestic leagues. Furthermore, fans face increasing costs to access matches legally and regularly encounter changes to match days and bureaucratic obstacles in securing tickets. The issue is serious; projections indicate that there will be almost three million illicit IPTV system subscribers in 2022 and that illegal activity will have increased by 26% between 2018 and 2022. Read the article by our correspondent Giacomo Fracassi here: https://buff.ly/40ht2B4

Europe produces around 60-65% of the world's wine. That's a lot of bottles of wine. Last year, Europe produced more than 20 billion bottles of wine. While France continues to dominate wine production, its share has decreased noticeably – from around 40% to around 30% of European production over the past century. Both countries are producing less wine than in their 1970s heyday, unlike Spain, which has a reputation for producing high-end wines at a lower price point than France and Italy, in part explaining its popularity. While Italy, Spain, and Portugal exported around half or more than half of their production, most countries kept their bottles in the local market. ✏️ Created by Yanika Borg.

The fine is one of the largest ever imposed by the Irish Data Protection Commission in the history of GDPR. LinkedIn failed to tell European users that their data was used for behavioural analysis and targeted advertising. Read the whole story by Luc de Klerk here:

Whoever wins the US elections will impact European politics. So what do Europeans think about the candidates? There are no polls that can tell us, but we do know who they're googling for. In the last three months, that's mostly been the Republican candidate Donald J. Trump. That's not to say the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, is not of interest to Europeans. When she replaced current president Joe Biden on the ballot, searches for her surged. A story by Meike Eijsberg: