Adriatic Sea

Weather alerts, forest fires, melting pavement in cities: A sizzling heat wave has sent temperatures in parts of central and southern Europe soaring toward 40C in some places.

From Italy to Romania, authorities warned people to be cautious, drive carefully if going on holiday, drink plenty of water and avoid going out during the hottest hours of the day.

The six Western Balkan countries brought together by the European Union met in Montenegro's Adriatic resort of Kotor on Thursday to see how to speed up reforms, create their own single market and ultimately join the bloc.

ROME - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak held a series of meetings with Italian officials in Rome on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in the dialogue, wider regional issues and next steps in the coming months.

The oldest entirely hand-sewn boat in the Mediterranean is preparing for its next journey, after having sat undisturbed on Croatia's Adriatic seafloor for millennia. But this time the vessel, whose planks were actually sewn together, will travel by land to France for conservation.

The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley will be launched in September after the project's lead partner, Slovenia's power holding HSE, signed a contract on EU funding with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.

HSE signed the contract for the six-year project last week on behalf of the consortium of 34 partners from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy's Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Just to reiterate that last week in Croatia, a storm claimed four lives and caused enormous damage to buildings, infrastructure and cars. After that, a terrible storm followed in Serbia, and the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute of Serbia issued a new warning today.

The foreign ministers of Slovenia, Croatia and Italy signed a declaration in the Italian city of Ancona on 10 July committing to enhancing cooperation in the management and protection of the North Adriatic, including with a view to preventing migrant boat tragedies.

The seaside resort Portorož has reopened a section of the promenade connecting the main pier and the central beach. The municipality invested some €700,000 in the renovation that will help the resort restore the shine it lost through the years.

On March 28, 1997, an Italian corvette sunk the Albanian migrant boat 'Katër i Radës' in the Adriatic, taking lives of at least 92 Albanians. Rome never accepted blame, reflecting the 'asymmetrical dynamic' that still governs the lives of so many in Europe today.

Royal Caribbean confirmed this week it has selected Greece for homeporting, with its 11-deck Enchantment of the Seas cruise liner departing from Piraeus from May to September this year for seven-night cruises to Greek ports such as Mykonos, Santorini, Hania, Corfu etc, and Adriatic ports such as Kotor in Montenegro and Split in Croatia, before disembarking at Ravenna in Italy.