BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — An imposing bronze statue was unveiled in Hungary’s capital on Thursday which its creators say is the first in the world to pay homage to the anonymous creator of the Bitcoin digital currency.

Erected in a business park near the Danube River in Budapest, the bust sits atop a stone plinth engraved with the name of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the mysterious developer of Bitcoin whose true identity is unknown.

A huge advertisement of Bitcoin is displayed near Shibuya train station in Tokyo, 2018. In Hungary a statue of the mysterious Bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto was unveiled this week. Since Nakamoto’s true identity is unknown, the statue has a bust with a featureless face wrapped in a bronze hoodie emblazoned with the Bitcoin logo that is heavily polished to make it reflective like a mirror in which viewers can see themselves. Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP/TT

The featureless face of the bust, wrapped in a bronze hoodie emblazoned with the Bitcoin logo.

Hungary: Statue honoring mysterious Bitcoin founder unveiled

MADRID (AP) — Wholesale prices for gas and electricity are surging across Europe, raising the prospect of increases in already-high utility bills and further pain for people who have taken a financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

Governments are scrambling to find ways to limit costs to consumers as scant natural gas reserves present yet another potential problem, exposing the continent to even more price spikes and possible shortages if it’s a cold winter.

Workers of the German energy company RWE prepare power supply on a high power pylon in Moers, Germany, Monday, April 11, 2011. Photo: Frank Augstein/AP/TT

Energy poverty — the share of people who say they can’t afford to keep their homes adequately warm — is 30% in Bulgaria, 18% in Greece and 11% in Italy.

Soaring utility bills alarm Europe, raise fears for winter

MOSCOW (AP) — After a few weeks of desultory campaigning but months of relentless <a class="" title="Russia opposition stifled but unbowed as Duma election nears" href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-vladimir-putin-e9f4d4dde1293317ebbec028d358bd17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official moves to shut down significant opposition</a>, Russia is holding three days of voting this weekend in a parliamentary election that is unlikely to change the country’s political complexion.

There’s no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance of the State Duma, the elected lower house of parliament. The main questions to be answered are whether the party will retain its current two-thirds majority that allows it to amend the constitution; whether anemic turnout will dull the party’s prestige; and whether imprisoned opposition leader <a class="" title="EXPLAINER: How Navalny election tool challenges the Kremlin" href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-elections-media-voting-cec43110142e7ce362b2d4f9acd9b1f0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexei Navalny’s Smart Voting initiative</a> proves to be a viable strategy against it.

In this Sept. 8, 2021, file photo, people sit at a bus stop decorated with posters ahead of the election to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, and the local legislature in St. Petersburg, Russia. There will be three days of voting this weekend, ending on Sunday, Sept. 19, for the new parliament that is unlikely to change the country’s political complexion. Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky/AP/TT

There’s no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance of the State Duma.

Parliamentary election unlikely to change Russia’s politics

CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — The house former drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán fled in 2014 when Mexican marines had him surrounded underwent some changes recently as the Mexican government prepared to give it away in a national lottery.

The surveillance cameras that covered every angle of the modest home’s exterior were removed. And the hole under a bathtub that Guzmán had slipped through to reach a network of tunnels was covered with a concrete slab.

Lottery tickets for sale are displayed in Mexico City, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. Mexico’s lottery is giving away property seized from drug lords a prizes, among them a house belonging to Joaquin ”El Chapo” Guzman, on Wednesday’s draw. Photo: Fernando Llano/AP/TT

Mexico’s Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People tried to auction off the home last year. There were no takers.