It’s been a year since Germany scrapped its nuclear energy programme, taking three remaining power stations offline. Although Germans have a long and strained relationship with nuclear, the move was deeply controversial at the time. In a world trying to wean itself off coal, why would a leading nation tie one hand behind its back by shunning a cleaner source of energy?

A review of the past 12 months, however, shows precisely why. The German renewables sector is thriving – and few politicians think the country will ever look back.

Portugal, meanwhile, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the carnation revolution – the military uprising that ended the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. And Italians are marking a century since the brutal murder of socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti, who was snatched from the street in Rome in 1924 in a hit reportedly ordered by Benito Mussolini himself.

Mussolini accepted ‘political responsibility’ for Matteotti's death in an infamous 1925 speech that is said to have marked the real beginning of his fascist dictatorship – but he never fully admitted guilt. Now researchers are working with documents that they hope will enable this crime to be solved once and for all.

Prime minister Giorgia Meloni is not a fan of relitigating the story of Matteotti, not least because the roots of her own party, Fratelli d'Italia, can be traced back to Mussolini’s movement. She’d much rather we talk about the future. And for her, the future appears to lie in Africa. Since arriving in office, she’s taken regular visits to meet leaders across the continent and has made building economic and political bridges a priority for her administration. What’s she up to?