Swiss authorities have voiced their concern about two sing-along yodeling concerts attended by 600 fans of the traditional singing that are now known to have been superspreader COVID-19 events that have turned a small Swiss canton into a hot spot as a second wave of the pandemic sweeps Europe. People who attended the indoor performances in late September in the Schwyz canton were advised to socially distance, but not required to wear masks that would have impeded their yodeling. The small village area now has a positivity rate of 50 percent (meaning half of all tests come back positive), making it […]
Europes
11 posts
by Salman Rafi Sheikh, …with New Eastern Outlook, Moscow, …and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Africa. [ Editor’s Note: Rafi Sheikh revisits as somewhat old topic, regarding Europe’s sometimes mention of not wanting to be dependent on NATO, by being responsible for its own defence as a show of true autonomy, not one on paper. To this date this has been an obvious exercise in puffery for two reasons. One, the EU, and especially it major defense manufacturing countries, have not met their […]
Children walk through the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after the camp was gutted by fire. Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images Children walk through the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after the camp was gutted by fire. Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images Several swift fires gutted Europe’s largest refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, sending 12,000 asylum-seekers scrambling for emergency shelter. The camp, named Moria, after a nearby village tucked into olive groves, was already notorious because of its horrific conditions, which […]
For a long time now, officials in Moscow have spoken of a desire to see Russia become the world’s fifth largest economy, measured by purchasing power parity. The Kremlin believes 2020 will be the year it finally happens. Putin’s chief economic advisor Maxim Oreshkin said on Monday that estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and post-pandemic GDP projections suggest Russia is poised to meet the target. His comments came as the Ministry of Economic Development revised its estimate of the decline in Russia’s economy in 2020 from 5% to 3.9%. While that’s a significant fall, it’s not as drastic as […]
ROME—France has just reported its highest number of COVID cases since the lockdown ended and Spain has reported its worst day since the pandemic began. Italy has seen its numbers creep up to levels not seen since the lockdown there ended in May, and Germany has reported its highest number of new cases since April. But despite being slammed by what looks a lot like a second wave of COVID-19, the hospitalizations and death rates are nowhere near the level they were the first time around. Authorities across Europe say that’s because the first time COVID came to town, vulnerable elderly […]
Protesters gather near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Belarus on Aug. 16 to protest the results of last week’s presidential election, which are widely seen as fraudulent. Valery Sharifulin/Valery Sharifulin/TASS hide caption toggle caption Valery Sharifulin/Valery Sharifulin/TASS Protesters gather near the Minsk Hero City Obelisk in Belarus on Aug. 16 to protest the results of last week’s presidential election, which are widely seen as fraudulent. Valery Sharifulin/Valery Sharifulin/TASS Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belarus on Sunday in what appeared to be their largest demonstration yet against the widely-disputed reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, who […]
King Juan Carlos, the 82-year-old former Spanish monarch, has left the country and gone into exile as investigators probe a deal to sell trains to Saudi Arabia. “I think he’s running away like a coward. He should admit what he has done and be up front,” Madrid resident Paz Rodriguez told Reuters. Juan Carlos ruled Spain for 38 years before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe VI in 2014. © AP Photo / Francois Mori French President Francois Hollande, left, welcomes Spain’s King Felipe VI, center, and Queen Letizia of Spain, upon their arrival at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Tuesday, March […]
One of the most anticipated decisions on data protection ended with European judges ruling that US protections for the personal data of EU citizens do not conform to European privacy rules. The Court of Justice of the European Union has struck down the current mechanism for EU-US data flows on the grounds that the United States does not provide adequate data protections. The Privacy Shield agreement was swiftly negotiated in 2016 to replace the previous transatlantic pact, Safe Harbor, which the court also declared invalid. Privacy Shield is used by many US-based tech companies, like Facebook, to transfer personal data from […]
Deutsche Boerse has listed an exchange-traded product (ETP) that tracks the value of bitcoin. 21Shares, a Swiss-based product provider formerly known as Amun, said its bitcoin ETP had been officially accepted Wednesday to list on Xetra, Deutsche Boerse’s electronic trading venue. “The listing on Xetra not only strengthens our current position in Germany but also opens up institutional-grade crypto products to the wider European and international markets,” said Laurent Kssis, 21Shares’ managing director, in a statement. Deutsche Boerse Group has two trading venues: Xetra, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Together, they count as the third-largest trading platform in Europe, just behind […]
Earlier this month France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands joined forces to form the “Inclusive Vaccine Alliance”, in order to have a stronger negotiating position in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. The contract agreement with AstraZeneca is the alliance’s first result in securing a potential coronavirus vaccine for European countries. The Vaccine Alliance formed by France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands has signed a contract with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to supply a coronavirus vaccine for Europe, Italy’s Health Minister said on Saturday. The contract is for 400 million doses of the vaccine which was developed at the University of […]
Football across Europe is edging ever closer to a return from its coronavirus-enforced hiatus, but which teams could benefit most from the break? We look at what the Covid-19 chaos could mean for the European big boys. PREMIER LEAGUE Under the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’ plans, English football bosses are aiming for a potential resumption of top-level football from the second week of June. READ MORE: ‘Project Restart’: Premier League set for JUNE RETURN if UK government approves ambitious plans Liverpool already have the title sewn up with a mammoth 25-point lead at the top of the table, and need just […]