Austria mourns suicide of doctor targeted by anti-vaccine campaigners: Austrian leaders appealed for national unity after a doctor who faced death threats from anti-vaccination activists and coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theorists took her own life. At the end of June, Dr Lisa-Maria Kellermayr announced on social media and on her website that she was closing her practice, citing security concerns after seven months of threats. She said she had already spent more than €100,000 on security costs, which she noted exceed the profit of a family doctor’s practice many times over. cnn.com, euronews.com

Spain adopts energy-saving measures: The Spanish government ordered all businesses to limit their temperatures and told shops to turn their lights off at night to save energy ahead of winter. Air conditioning cannot be lowered below 27 degrees in summer and heating cannot exceed 19C this winter, while shop fronts must go dark by 10 p.m., according to the decree passed Monday. Similar measures have already been put in place for public administration buildings, while they remain voluntary for households for now. politico.eu

Italy’s centre-left join forces against right-wing landslide: Italy’s left-wing Democratic Party and centrist parties +Europe and Azione have formed an alliance ahead of general elections next month to try to counter a possible right-wing landslide victory. Among other things they agreed not to name divisive candidates that could disperse votes favouring the right and to pursue the current government’s reform agenda. bloomberg.com

Brutal killing of street vendor shocks Italy: A judge in Italy on Monday ordered an Italian man to remain in jail as an investigation continues into the death of a Nigerian street vendor whose brutal beating at the hands of the suspect shocked many in Italy and prompted strong condemnation from the Nigerian government. nbcnews.com

UK leadership favourite Truss stumbles over plan to slash pay: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, front-runner in the race to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was forced into a policy U-turn Tuesday, dropping a proposal to cut some public sector salaries after the idea drew scorn from fellow Conservatives. Truss has also angered Scottish nationalists by saying she would refuse to allow a new referendum on Scottish independence. That’s in line with the current government’s policy, but Truss went further by calling pro-independence Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon “an attention-seeker” who should be ignored. washingtonpost.com

Rotterdam won’t dismantle bridge for Jeff Bezos‘ superyacht: Back in February, Rotterdam city officials announced, but then seemed to reverse, plans to temporarily dismantle part of the historic Koningshaven Bridge so Amazon founder Jeff Bezos can sail his new superyacht through its waters. The idea of the historic bridge giving way to a billionaire’s superyacht didn’t sit well with many people when news of the possibility first broke. Thousands of folks signed up to throw rotten eggs at Bezos‘ craft if it did sail past an adjusted bridge. cnet.com

Austria drops Covid quarantine requirement, France lifts entry restrictions for travellers: As the quarantine requirement for positive Covid-19 cases in Austria is removed, people with the virus will now be able to obtain a sick note from a doctor by telephone again if they cannot work due to symptoms. In France, the state of emergency, as well as the measures imposed to stop the coronavirus spread, ended on 1 August. thelocal.at, schengenvisainfo.com

French Senate agrees Emmanuel Macron’s plan to scrap TV licence fee: France is to scrap its television licence fee after the Senate approved Emmanuel Macron’s election promise to cut the public broadcasting tax in order to boost households’ spending power. theguardian.com