Talking Europe hosts Austrian author Robert Menasse, the winner of the 2023 European Union book prize. The award was set up in 2007 to foster a European spirit and promote understanding of the EU from a cultural perspective. The prize has previously been bestowed on such towering figures as Jonathan Coe, Philippe Sands and Tony Judt.

Fresh figures have shown the extent of the European Union's efforts to reduce its energy dependency on Russia, with Moscow accounting for just 3 percent of the bloc's oil imports in the first quarter of this year, compared to 26 percent during the same period in 2022. The EU has also moved away from Russian natural gas, relying more heavily on Norway, the UK and Algeria. This comes as the decline in Moscow's export revenues weakens its currency.

The US PGA Tour and European DP World Tour will merge with Saudi-funded LIV Golf after a two-year rift. LIV threatened to usurp the established series, which seem to have opted for consolidation over competition.

Leaders of the European Political Community — all European states with the exception of Russia and Belarus — are meeting in Moldova to discuss strategy over the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

Moldova, which borders Ukraine, is hosting the second European Political Community summit, as it seeks to solidify its EU bid. The 27 EU members and their European allies are gathering in a show of unity.

Social status and whether German is spoken at home tend to be two key factors for why German fourth-grade elementary school children's reading skills are worse than the European average.