Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
As the coronavirus crisis deepens, the plight of people crossing the Mediterranean to escape conflict has been all but forgotten. A crew of German rescuers is intent on bucking that trend
After a two-month break, the Alan Kurdi migrant rescue boat is heading back out into the central Mediterranean, as asylum seekers continue to attempt the desperate journey to reach Europe despite coronavirus fears.
The boat, operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye, left the Spanish port of Castellón de la Plana on Tuesday and is expected to reach waters off the coast of Libya this weekend.
At this time of year John Greene is usually preparing to welcome dozens of Slovakian strawberry pickers for another harvest at his farm in County Wexford in south-east Ireland.
The work is arduous and repetitive and he relies on their experience and stamina to get the fruit picked, packed and sold.
Countries have approached coronavirus testing in different ways, and in some places there was far earlier recognition than in the UK of the need to develop tests and kits and to have sufficient numbers stockpiled. Here is how some countries got ahead of the curve.
Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland failed to comply with 2015 programme, ECJ says
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic broke European law when they failed to give refuge to asylum seekers arriving in southern Europe, often having fled war in Syria and Iraq, the EU’s top court has ruled.
The three central European countries now face possible fines for refusing to take a share of refugees, after EU leaders forced through mandatory quotas to relocate up to 160,000 asylum seekers at the height of the 2015 migration crisis.
The European Union has weathered the storms of eurozone bailouts, the migration crisis and Brexit, but some fear coronavirus could be even more destructive.
In a rare intervention Jacques Delors, the former European commission president who helped build the modern EU, broke his silence last weekend to warn that lack of solidarity posed “a mortal danger to the European Union”.
To say that Europe is united by its divisions is an exaggeration – but only a small one. Closing national borders during the pandemic may have been a rational health response, but the longer term political consequences become more troubling when we look at the order in which European governments began to reimpose frontiers.
Italy made the decision on 10 March, when the number of confirmed cases had already exceeded 10,000. Over the next five days, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary closed their borders one after the other, even though by that time in any of them the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases had not reach a hundred.
People in Naples have been filling bread baskets with hot and cold food, and lowering them from their balconies for the homeless and people struggling during the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The initiative started in one street, but has been copied by other residents in the city. Lucarriello, who filled a basket, said it was important to look after each other while people waited for state intervention
Last Thursday, the leaders of the European Union convened a video conference to deliberate the escalating Covid-19 crisis. On the agenda was a simple proposal co-signed by nine different eurozone governments: the “coronabond”, a new type of public debt instrument backed by all the members of the currency union as they come together to combat the virus.
After a long decade of crisis fighting in the eurozone – pitting north against south, creditor against borrower – the proposal marked a rare display of unity, and the meeting was a perfect opportunity to ratify it. Issued collectively, the “coronabond” would drive down the borrowing costs of some of Europe’s most heavily affected countries, staving off another sovereign debt crisis and freeing up much-needed resources to invest in public health and economic recovery. “We are all facing a symmetric external shock,” the proposal read, “and we are collectively accountable for an effective and united European response.”
The inhabitants of Montaldo Torinese, a village in Italy’s northern Piedmont region, have so far been spared coronavirus, leading some to believe they are being protected by the “miracle water” that, according to legend, cured Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops of pneumonia.
Montaldo Torinese lies about 11 miles (19km) from Turin, the regional capital where as of Saturday 3,658 people were infected with the virus. Across Piedmont, the fourth worst-affected region in Italy, there were 8,206 cases as of Sunday.
Qatar Airways will continue to operate flights as long as necessary to get stranded travellers home but might run out of cash soon, Reuters reported.
Chief executive Akbar al-Baker said: “We have enough cash to take us through a very short period of time,” adding that the airline would eventually have to seek support from its owner, the Qatar government.
Domestic abuse victims are allowed to leave home to seek help despite the lockdown rules, the home secretary Priti Patel has said.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Patel said restrictions imposed on the population by the government to stay indoors were even more challenging to cope with for people whose “home is not the safe haven it should be”.
More than 11 million people tuned in to watch Pope Francis deliver a blessing in an empty Saint Peter’s Square, television bosses have said, as the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the EU risked losing its purpose.
The pope’s blessing, Urbi et Orbi(To the city and the world)is usually reserved for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, with thousands flocking to take part.
People across Europe are finding increasingly inventive ways to protect themselves against the psychological risks of isolation
In Italy they are singing and sharing recipes. In France, humour is saving the day. In Spain, communal staircases have become the new running tracks, and in Germany, ordinarily disorderly hackers are busy coding corona-busting apps.
As hundreds of millions of Europeans languish in lockdown, people are finding increasingly inventive ways to keep themselves entertained – and to counter what the continent’s psychologists warning are the very real risks of confinement.
We’re about to enter our fourth week of lockdown in Italy, our sixth of home-schooling, and we’ve begun to glimpse minor positives. It’s as if we’re all at that stage of musical chairs when the music has stopped. The loud, relentless run-around is over. We’ve passed the point of the nervous scramble to get what we need. And now – even if we’re not where, with whom or with all we want – that is just where we’re at. We know the music isn’t starting up again for a long time. And that subtly changes your attitude towards who’s alongside you. Barely-known neighbours have come to seem like comrades in the trenches.
There’s something profound about what is happening in our small palazzo. Giorgio delivers us a newspaper every day. Silvia gives our son an old tablet (studiously wiped clean with alcohol) so he can do his online classes. Massimo delivers sheet music for our daughter. We, in turn, distribute food and offer free, online English lessons. We’re all looking out for each other. The exchanges are announced by text message, like drug drops (“rice outside door”) and with money hidden here and there. We never get close, and yet we’ve never been closer.
At the beginning of February, Ilaria Santi, a councillor in the Italian city of Prato, in Tuscany, visited the canteen of an elementary school. A Chinese girl asked her: “Aren’t you afraid of eating next to me?”
“I replied: ‘Why should I be afraid?’ and she said: ‘Afraid that I infect you with the coronavirus.’” I replied that the virus was unfortunately in the minds of too many people,” said Santi.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael say they’ve “agreed the need form a strong, stable government” in Ireland as the number of confirmed cases in the country rises by 235 to 1,564. Ireland’s health department has also confirmed two more deaths, bringing the total number to nine.
The Irish general election earlier this year resulted in an almost tied result with Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dominating. None won enough seats to form a government by itself and numerous rounds of talks between parties have failed to result in an agreement to form a coalition government. The statement reads:
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael met this afternoon and had a productive meeting. They both agree the need to form a strong stable government that will help Ireland recover post Covid-19.
They are working to develop a programme for government that provides stability and majority support in the Dáil. They will meet again over the coming days and will both continue to reach out and engage with other parties.
Andy Burnham, a former UK health secretary and now the mayor of Greater Manchester in the north of England, says he is taking legal advice on whether firms forcing employees to work without adequate protection and not observing guidance to keep them two metres apart are breaking the law.
After a conference call with Greater Manchester MPs, he tweeted:
... I am taking legal advice about whether @gmpolice or other GM agencies can take enforcement action against companies which are exposing their employees in this way. If you would like to make a confidential report, please do so using: the.mayor@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk 2/2
Following government instructions to stay at home, the move to accommodate hundreds of homeless people in hotel rooms is a recognition of the vulnerability of many rough sleepers and homeless people in shared accommodation spaces, and their need for support and a safe place to stay at this difficult time.
Deaths jump in Spain; France tightens lockdown; Afghanistan appeals for help amid new cases; South Africa prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest updates
Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.
In a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media.
Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation.
The UK’s supreme court has adapted to physical distancing by holding its first remote, live hearing on Tuesday morning, reports my colleague Owen Bowcott.
The building in Westminster is closed but the case is being conducted via video links and can be watched online. The judges are determined that justice should be transparent even in times of pandemic.
The first appeal using the technology is the case of Fowler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, dealing with the intricacies of the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty.
Town, city and regional mayors across Italy are pleading with residents to stay indoors after witnessing people flouting the lockdown by going jogging, playing ping-pong and taking 'exhausted dogs' for long walks.
The Italian government has banned any travel inside the country and closed all non-essential businesses as it desperately tries to stem the spread of coronavirus.
This is what the mayors of Bari, Messina, Lucera, Gualdo Tadino, the governor of Campania, and the mayor of Reggio Calabria had to say
German chancellor in self-isolation after her doctor tests positive for coronavirus; reports say 360 more people have died in Italy; first two cases in Gaza. Follow the latest updates
UK residents have been told that “essential travel” does not include visits to second homes, camp sites, caravan parks, whether for isolation purposes or holidays and that they should remain in their primary residence.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport updated its guidance to avoid non-essential travel in the UK, saying: “This guidance is for people planning to visit second homes or holiday premises during the coronavirus pandemic.
During the coronavirus pandemic, people should avoid travelling unless it is essential. This means you should avoid visiting holiday or second homes.
The Welsh government has warned that people will face a tough crackdown if they refuse to self-isolate and continue with non-essential travel during the outbreak.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said it is important members of the public follow the official advice to prevent further deaths.
Boris Johnson is speaking to supermarket bosses today about how to overcome the panic buying that is gripping the UK. They will also discuss efforts to keep supplies flowing.
The meetings come ahead of the government’s daily press conference, which will be hosted by the environment secretary, George Eustice, in place of Johnson.
Scotland’s chief constable, Iain Livingstone, has warned the police will enforce the ban on all pubs, clubs and restaurants staying open — a ban he said he fully supported.
In a statement, Livingstone thanked “the overwhelming majority” of people complying with the ban. “To be clear, no public houses or other entertainment venues should be opening for patrons until further notice,” he said.
We are aware of proposed legislation in relation to COVID-19 and are carefully monitoring its progress and considering what the implications for policing will be.
In the meantime, those breaking the law will be dealt with appropriately to ensure the public is kept safe from risk and harm as we continue to police the country.
People in the Bavarian town of Bamberg stood on their rooftops and opened their windows to sing Bella Ciao, an Italian resistance song, in solidarity with Italy where the death toll from the Covid-19 outbreak continues to rise