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This cycle highlights technological leaps, shifting travel habits and lively civic and cultural developments: in Beijing humanoid robots raced alongside people in a half‑marathon, with one machine taking the win and reportedly posting a pace that outstripped the human half‑marathon mark — a vivid showcase of advances in robotics and AI-enabled athletics; back home, holiday firms report a growing appetite for UK summer breaks as travellers weigh their options, while Montenegro and Albania are emerging as budget‑friendly alternatives to Croatia for Britons seeking sun and scenery; in France, publisher Grasset’s owner Vincent Bolloré has pledged the imprint will continue operating and developing new authors amid recent management changes; and in Bulgaria voters went to the polls in a closely watched parliamentary contest in which former president Roumen Radev was touted as a frontrunner, underlining active democratic engagement across Europe.