Category: Europe

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EC mulls easing travel curbs

European Commission plans quarantine-free travel for inoculated visitors…reports Asian Lite News

The European Commission has called on the member states of the European Union (EU) to grant entry to travellers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and those coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation.

“The Commission proposes to allow entry to the EU for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation, but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an EU-authorised vaccine,” the EU’s executive arm said in a statement on Monday.

It added that a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization should also be accepted, reports Xinhua news agency.

EU’s ‘Green Certificate’ for safe travel

Non-essential travel regardless of individual vaccination status is currently permitted from seven countries with a good epidemiological situation.

The Commission called for “continued vigilance” in view of the emergence of coronavirus variants of concern and proposed the use of a new “emergency brake mechanism,” which would limit the risk of such variants entering the EU.

The proposal will be discussed this week at the Council of the EU.

In March, the Commission proposed the adoption of a digital certificate that can prove that the holders are either Covid-19 negative, vaccinated or recovered from the disease.

The certificate system is being negotiated among EU institutions, and could be finalised by summer to salvage the bloc’s tourism industry.

Also read:EU extends critical support to India

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Denmark imposes travel curbs on India

Passengers from India will only be allowed entry into Denmark for a recognisable purpose…reports Asian Lite News

Denmark will tighten travel restrictions for those from India from Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The ministry updated its travel guide on India and raised the risk assessment from “orange” to “red,” the highest level, and advised against all travels to India, including business trip, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The decision was made to “limit the risk of importing the virus variant B.1.617 to Denmark,” said the ministry in a press release.

Foreigners from India will only be allowed entry into Denmark for a recognisable purpose, according to the new travel restrictions.

Danish citizens and people who already reside in Denmark can continue to enter Denmark from India.

Denmark now joins several European countries including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain that have already applied travel restrictions on India.

Also read:EU extends critical support to India

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Islamabad’s bid to expel French envoy fails

The Imran Khan-led PTI government last week had agreed to move a resolution in the National Assembly for the removal of the French Ambassador from the country…reports Asian Lite News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88ShBpWXRVk

The Imran Khan government’s move to form a special parliamentary committee on the issue of the French envoy’s expulsion from Pakistan seems to have failed after opposition parties joined hands to oppose the idea and called for a debate in the country’s National Assembly instead.

“The PPP does not support the idea of formation of any special committee and believes that the debate on the issue must be held in the National Assembly after converting it into a committee of the whole house,” PPP secretary general Farhatullah Khan Babar told Dawn on Sunday.

Dismissing the need for any special committee, Babar said the party leaders had decided to support the stand taken by all opposition parties, including the PML-N and the JUI-F. He also said every member should be allowed to speak on the matter which was sensitive in nature.

Farhatullah Babar(Twitter)
Ban on Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan

As things stand, the opposition members in the country are demanding that the Imran Khan government should present the agreement it had signed with the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), before the Parliament. Furthermore, they want people responsible “for the bloodshed” in the country to be identified.

Last week, Dawn in one of its editorials, had said that the Pakistan government’s “bad decision-making and weak management” have allowed now proscribed TLP to garner more importance and heft than it deserves.

The Pakistani newspaper noted that the TLP affair should have been handled better and it is fairly obvious now that the Imran Khan-led government has run circles around itself while attempting to get a grip on the situation.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

The Imran Khan-led PTI government last week had agreed to move a resolution in the National Assembly for the removal of the French Ambassador from the country.

“This becomes even more obvious when the resolution is contrasted with the speech that Prime Minister Imran Khan delivered on Monday in a bid to explain his strategy. The crux of his argument was reasonable. He said that no Muslim would ever compromise on the finality of Prophethood, but this did not mean that one party should be allowed to monopolise the issue,” the editorial read. (ANI)

Also read:Taliban negotiators visit Pakistan to ‘consult leadership’

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AstraZeneca denies EU claims

AstraZeneca vaccine

The company said that it expects to deliver 50 million doses to European countries by the end of April, in line with its forecast….reports Asian Lite News

British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca on Monday denied having breached its contract to supply the European Union with 300 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.

“AstraZeneca has fully complied with the Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission and will strongly defend itself in court,” the company said in a written statement published shortly after the EU executive branch announced that it was taking legal action against AstraZeneca over alleged breaches of its Covid-19 vaccine supply contract, the dpa news agency reported.

“We believe any litigation is without merit and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” the statement added.

A health worker looks at a vial of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination centre

The company said that it expects to deliver 50 million doses to European countries by the end of April, in line with its forecast.

“Vaccines are difficult to manufacture, as evidenced by the supply challenges several companies are facing in Europe and around the world,” AstraZeneca said.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson of the European Commission, Stefan De Keersmaecker, had said: “The company (AstraZeneca) has not been in a position to come up with a reliable strategy to ensure the timely delivery of doses.

“We want to make sure that there is a speedy delivery of a sufficient number of doses that European citizens are entitled to, and which have been promised on the basis of the contract.”

Also read:EU reaches deal on first climate law

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-Top News COVID-19 Europe

Scotland, Ireland ease Covid curbs

Scotland, which has a tier system, will allow all shops, gyms and indoor sports facilities to reopen, while pubs, cafes and restaurants will reopen outdoors for groups of up to six people…reports Asian Lite News

Scotland and Ireland eased their lockdown restrictions on Monday, as the two nations slowly returned to the pre-pandemic life.

Scotland, which has a tier system, will allow all shops, gyms and indoor sports facilities to reopen, while pubs, cafes and restaurants will reopen outdoors for groups of up to six people.

Non-essential work in other people’s homes will also resume, including cleaning, repairs, and painting and decorating.

Earlier, only hairdressers and barbers, homeware shops, electrical repair shops and vehicle showrooms were allowed to reopen, while teenagers between ages 12 and 17 could play outdoor sports.

In Ireland, outdoor sports training for under-18s can begin again, golf and outdoor tennis can be played, and citizens can access outdoor visitor attractions like zoos and wildlife parks.

Two people who have been fully vaccinated can also meet again, indoors and outdoors.

Since April 12, two households were allowed to meet outdoors, while people were allowed to travel within their county for exercise and recreation. They previously were allowed to only stay within 5 kilometres from their homes.

Also read:UAE, UK host anti-money laundering training sessions

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Italy crosses 5mn jabs milestone

5mn inoculations made Italy the third European Union (EU) member state to reach that milestone…reports Asian Lite News

Italy’s coronavirus vaccine rollout hit a major milestone, though it appeared unlikely the country would reach its end-of-month target for daily vaccinations.

The country’s Ministry of Health reported on Saturday that five million Italian residents had been fully vaccinated, making Italy the third European Union (EU) member state to reach that milestone, following Germany and France, Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 17.3 million people in Italy have received at least the first dose of a vaccine, which means that around 28.5 per cent of the country’s population is partially vaccinated.

The Italian vaccine rollout, which was launched on December 27, 2020, had seen problems so far, including a four-day pause in the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid worries about blood clots in some patients.

Earlier this month, the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was halted before it was set to start due to similar safety worries. But the government started limited use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Wednesday, with more doses expected to arrive next week.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires just one dose for full effect. All the other vaccines approved for distribution in Italy — the AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna — require two doses.

Also read:Italy PM receives AstraZeneca jab

Italian General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the country’s Covid-19 Emergency Commissioner, set a goal earlier this month of administering at least 500,000 jabs a day by the end of April.

That target no longer appears feasible despite recent developments, according to statistician Giovanni Sebastiani, who was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying the daily vaccination rate should reach 350,000 per day by the end of the month, up from fewer than 300,000 per day currently.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Fabrizio Curcio, head of the country’s civil defence agency, admitted the 500,000-vaccination-per-day goal was unlikely to be met, though he said the target would be reached by early May.

He said his main worry was whether vaccine supplies would allow that level to be sustained.

“We will reach half a million daily shots by early May, but what will matter will be keeping it over time,” Curcio said. “This is crucially linked to the availability of vaccines.”

A staff member measures a visitor’s temperature at Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, on Sept. 4, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)


Curcio said the earlier temporary halt in the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine “has weighed not only because there have been delays but because it has affected public trust.”

“We measure this loss of confidence with cancellations at around 30 per cent to 40 per cent in some areas, about 10 per cent on average across the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, 275 candidate vaccines are being developed — 91 of them in clinical trials — in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday.

Also read:Italy sets out roadmap for reopening

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Beware of Summer Surge in Covid cases

People wearing face masks walk along the River Thames in London, Britain, on Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Britain is likely to see a “summer surge” in coronavirus cases as many adults were still not vaccinated against the disease, a British government advisory scientist said

Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory committee that advises health departments on immunisation, said modelling shows coronavirus cases will rise in the summer as lockdown is relaxed.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

“The models that we’ve seen on JCVI clearly point to a summer surge in cases as the lockdown is relaxed, because there are still many people in the adult population who’ve not been immunized,” he told the BBC.

Finn, from the University of Bristol, said the UK is still “vulnerable” and the dates for easing restrictions may need adjusting.

“Quite a wide range of uncertainty” remains over how big the wave would be “because it depends on how quickly the vaccine rollout continues”, he said.

It also depends on whether people will stick to the rules as lockdown is eased, he said.

“If people move too far forward with that too fast, we’ll see things start to come up earlier,” Finn said.

“The sense that the problem is all over, I’m afraid is a flawed one, we’re still in a vulnerable situation, and there are still significant numbers of people who potentially could be harmed by this infection if this happens.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that as the UK continues to make progress in the fight against coronavirus, “we cannot delude ourselves” that the virus has gone away.

A pedestrian walks by a pub, The Hope, shuttered in London due to coronavirus regulations. Thousands of British pubs have not survived the pandemic, according to an industry association, and the ones that have will need financial support “for years if they are to recover.” Photo: Yui Mok/PA

He noted that the majority of scientific experts are of the view that there will be another wave at some stage this year and Britons must learn to live with the virus.

However, he said there was nothing in scientific data to suggest the UK would have to deviate from the roadmap out of lockdown.

The UK has so far reported 4,411,068 confirmed coronavirus cases and 127,577 deaths.

More than 33 million people have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, the UK is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

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Italy sets out roadmap for reopening

The move on Wednesday came as the pandemic appears moderately under control in the country, with active coronavirus cases falling,…reports Asian Lite News

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet has unveiled a roadmap for easing Covid-19 restrictions starting from April 26.

The move on Wednesday came as the pandemic appears moderately under control in the country, with active coronavirus cases falling, reports Xinhua news agency.

The new measures will remain in force until July 31, the date to which the government has extended the state of emergency declared last year at the outbreak of the crisis.

The yellow areas in the government’s three-tiered system would be re-introduced starting from April 26, adding to the orange and red ones, so that Italian regions will again shift periodically from one to another according to local contagion levels.

In the low-risk yellow regions, restaurants and all other food shops will be allowed to serve lunch and dinner outdoors until June 1.

From June 1, indoor services will be allowed, but only until 6 p.m.

Outdoor team sports will resume from April 26, while swimming pools from May 15, and fitness centres from June 1, according to the plan.

All competition sports will resume from June 1, with spectators allowed up to 25 per cent of the full capacity of the facility, but not exceeding 500 people indoors or 1,000 outdoors.

Theatres, cinemas, and other leisure venues will reopen on April 26, with the same cap for capacity.

Under the decree, exhibitions and fairs would restart from June 15, while thermal baths and amusement parks from July 1.

Also read:Johnson in quest for new Covid medicines

Regions in orange or red will remain subject to the current level of restrictions consistent with medium- or high-risk contagion.

Currently, only three regions — southern Apulia, northern Aosta Valley, and Sardinia Island — were red zones.

From April 26 to June 15, people in the yellow regions will be allowed one visit a day to relatives or friends, four adults maximum plus children.

Starting April 26, the current ban on inter-regional travels would not apply to yellow regions. Moving to and from orange and red zones will be possible for those with a “green Covid-19 card” indicating a swab test valid over 48 hours, full vaccination or recovery from the disease in the last six months.

After a robust discussion among the various parties, the cabinet also confirmed the current 10 p.m.-5 p.m. curfew to stay in force at least till June 1.

In May, the reopening roadmap might be adjusted according to the pandemic situation, local media reported.

Italy has so far registered 3,904,899 cases and 117,997 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

Some 16.1 million vaccine doses have been administered and 4.7 million people fully inoculated, according to latest government statistics.

Also read:Italy PM receives AstraZeneca jab

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EU reaches deal on first climate law

The deal came on the eve of a US-initiated virtual summit on climate change scheduled for Thursday and Friday…reports Asian Lite News

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) reached a provisional agreement on the first-ever EU climate law, which “enshrines the EU’s commitment to reaching climate neutrality by 2050”.

The deal came on the eve of a US-initiated virtual summit on climate change scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

The EU climate law increases the bloc’s 2030 net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target from 40 per cent to at least 55 per cent. The European Parliament had wanted to make the cut more ambitious, proposing to cut emissions by 60 per cent in the next decade.

According to a statement by Portuguese Minister of Environment Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes, who chaired the negotiations in the last hours, “this agreement sends a strong message to the world” ahead of the US-initiated climate summit, and “paves the way for the Commission to move forward, in June, with the climate package proposal”.

“The European climate law is ‘the law of laws’ that sets the frame for the EU’s climate-related legislation for the 30 years to come,” added Fernandes, whose country holds the rotating Council presidency.

Also read:Migrants once again queue up to head home

The climate law is a key milestone for the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, delivering on one of the commitments she announced in her political guidelines in July 2019, said a Commission press release on Wednesday.

Welcoming the deal, von der Leyen said: “Our political commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation. It is our binding pledge to our children and grandchildren.”

If adopted globally, the net-zero by 2050 pathway would limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Another element of the provisional agreement includes the establishment of a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, composed of 15 senior scientific experts of different nationalities.

This independent board will be tasked, among other things, with providing scientific advice and reporting on EU measures, climate targets and indicative greenhouse gas budgets and their coherence with the European climate law and the EU’s international commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The provisional agreement is subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament, before going through the formal steps of the adoption procedure.

Also read:Layoffs in EU reach record high

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Layoffs in EU reach record high

Temporary layoffs are measures taken by employers facing reduced sales or production…reports Asian Lite News

The pandemic-related restrictions introduced by the governments of the European Union (EU) member states have resulted in the closure of businesses and record temporary layoffs, according to authorities.

Temporary layoffs are measures taken by employers facing reduced sales or production, reports Xinhua news agency.

Temporarily laid off workers are usually re-engaged once work picks up.

In the first quarter of 2020, three million Europeans were absent from work because of temporary layoffs, Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, said on Monday.

By the end of the second quarter, their number had increased to 13.8 million.

Then in the third quarter, the number of temporary layoffs fell to two million.

Finally, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of temporary layoffs rebounded to 3.1 million, Eurostat added.

The levels of temporary layoffs in the EU had been relatively stable at around 0.5 million people before 2020, with the exception of 2009, when their number increased to one million.

In January and February this year, the unemployment rate in the EU stood at 7.3 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively, equivalent to almost 16 million people.

Also read:Migrants once again queue up to head home