Category Archives: Europe

‘Coronavirus doesn’t respect barbed wire’: concern mounts for Greek camps

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Calls grow for EU countries to accept refugees as outbreaks fuel fears that virus could rampage through overcrowded facilities

The spectre of coronavirus striking severely overcrowded refugee camps in Greece has hovered menacingly for months.

International aid organisations, human rights groups and doctors have sounded the alarm. With the spread of the pandemic, calls for action to prevent impending medical catastrophe have become shriller. In Aegean islands on the frontline of the crisis, health carers speak of days gained, not won.

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Devastated by coronavirus, did Bergamo’s work ethic count against it? | Anna Bonalume

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My home town took pride in hard work and enterprise. But a reluctance to go into lockdown might have been disastrous

Lombardy is one of the richest and most productive regions in Italy and Bergamo is its beating heart. It is also my home town: the city where I spent my childhood and adolescence. The province’s million inhabitants are characterised by a strong sense of belonging: to region and to family. They take pride too in a no-nonsense, practical approach to life and a powerful work ethic.

Today, Bergamo holds the European record that no town wants: it is the place where the coronavirus pandemic has cast its darkest shadow. Bergamo is a lazaretto of pain, where the priority of hospital managers is to select only the patients they think will survive. Its undertakers are so overwhelmed they have to ask neighbouring communes to take their corpses for cremation.

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Egypt reports 149 new virus cases – as it happened

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New toll comes as UK prime minister, who has coronavirus, has been moved into hospital intensive care

We are going to close this live blog. But you can stay up to date on all the latest developments on our new blog here.

In the mean time, you can find all the latest developments below in our At A Glance summary:

Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance

Just back to Donald Trump’s marathon press conference and he is fielding questions on the US naval commander who was fired over his coronavirus memo, suggesting he doesn’t think his life should be “destroyed” as a result, Sam Levin writes:

He made a mistake. He shouldn’t be sending letter. He’s the captain … you don’t send letters and then it leaks into a newspaper. I may get involved ...If I can help two good people, I’m going to help him

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Car plant shutdowns may cost auto industry more than $100bn

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Figure based on Covid-19 closures in Europe and North America lasting to end of April

The continued closure of car plants across Europe and North America will cost the auto industry more than $100bn (£82bn) in lost revenues if the shutdown lasts until the end of April.

All major European carmakers have suspended production because of disruption caused by the spread of the coronavirus and if this continues as expected until the end of April, this will account for $66bn (£54bn) in lost sales in Europe, or 2.6m cars. In North America this will account for 2m cars, and lost sales of about $52bn (£42bn).

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‘All I think of is my brother’: UK refugee family reunions disrupted by Covid-19

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Home Office urged to ‘act urgently’ to rescue vulnerable minors and reunite them with family while flights still available

After seven months of waiting, Ahmed* had everything ready for his younger brother. Finally, 18-year-old Wahid was due to arrive from the Greek island of Samos under family reunion laws.

But on 19 March, as Covid-19 took hold across Europe, the Greek authorities called to tell him the transfer had been cancelled because of the growing restrictions on flights. Greece had suspended direct flights to the UK but indirect routes are still available.

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Russia defies calls to halt Victory Day parade rehearsals

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Defence ministry presses on with plans for 9 May event with 15,000 troops, despite coronavirus pandemic

Russia is holding rehearsals for its Victory Day parade, scheduled for 9 May despite the coronavirus crisis, as the Kremlin resists cancelling a patriotic holiday with major political significance.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is supposed to host France’s Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders at a military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war. The event is a significant historical landmark for Russia and a coveted photo opportunity to claim Putin’s re-emergence from political isolation in the west.

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Roma suffer under EU’s ‘environmental racism’, report concludes

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Thousands live in squalor due to policies of exclusion and deprivation, says study

Europe’s Roma communities are often living on polluted wastelands and lacking running water or sanitation in their homes as a result of “environmental racism”, a report has concluded.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a pan-European network of green NGOs, found Roma communities were often excluded from basic services, such as piped drinking water, sanitation and rubbish collection, while frequently living at or near some of the dirtiest sites in Europe, such as landfills or contaminated industrial land.

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Coronavirus live news: Italy reports lowest increase in deaths in two weeks

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Spain records smallest rate of increase in infections; Trump tells Americans to expect ‘a lot of death’; Global deaths approach 65,000

Here are the key developments of the last few hours:

The country’s health minister has announced that Barbados has recorded its first death from the coronavirus.

The victim is said to be an 81-year-old male who had an underlying medical condition and had travelled to the UK.

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French police launch terrorism inquiry after two killed in stabbing

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Suspect and two other men being questioned over attack in Romans-sur-Isère

French counter-terrorism police are to investigate a stabbing attack in which two people were killed and five injured.

A 33-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker was arrested after the attack at Romans-sur-Isère, in the Drôme department in south-east France, on Saturday morning.

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Germany’s devolved logic is helping it win the coronavirus race

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With 400 public health offices forging ahead with testing, the country is a model for others to emulate

As the coronavirus crisis tests the resilience of democracies around the globe, Germany has gone from cursing its lead-footed, decentralised political system to wondering if federalism’s tortoise versus hare logic puts it in a better position to brave the pandemic than most.

Under German federalism – which has roots going back to the Holy Roman Empire but was entrenched after the Nazi era to weaken centralised rule – key policy areas, such as health, education and cultural affairs, fall under the jurisdiction of the country’s 16 states, or Länder.

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French reality show seeks to turn around lives of ‘dunce’ pupils

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Les Cancres (The Dunces) features pupils coached by celebrities who also struggled at school

French schoolchildren learn an early lesson that failure in the classroom is likely to mean failure in life.

Pupils are encouraged to compete for the best marks and grades that will allow them to study at prestigious grandes écoles and subsequently become part of France’s professional or political elite.

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Lockdowns around world could last weeks more, officials warn

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Spain, Germany and UK among countries to says measures could stay in place as deaths in Italy push past 15,000

Officials from Germany to Spain said they expect the stringent lockdown conditions to stretch for weeks longer as Italy saw its deaths from the coronavirus pandemic push past 15,000 and infections in the United States neared 300,000.

The virus has claimed 15,362 lives in Italy, officials said on Saturday, while the total number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 124,632.

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Attacker kills two and injures five in south-east France

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A 33-year-old man has been arrested for a knife attack in the centre of Romans-sur-Isère

A man killed two people and injured at least five others – one of them critically – during an attack in a town in south-east France.

The man, 33, was said to have slit the throat of one of his victims in front of the man’s wife and son, in the centre of Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme, 20km north of the town of Valence.

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French orchestra play ‘together’ in coronavirus lockdown – video

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The National Orchestra of France has been posting its performances to YouTube while players are confined to their homes under lockdown measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. Using video and audio technology, the musicians recorded themselves playing Bolero alone at home but together online


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Sanctions should not impede coronavirus fight, EU diplomat says

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Josep Borrell backs UN call for global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on pandemic

Sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical equipment and supplies to countries trying to contain outbreaks of coronavirus, the EU’s top diplomat has said.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, made his comments in a declaration on Friday in which he backed the UN’s call for an immediate global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on the pandemic.

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‘Migrants never disappeared’: the lone rescue ship braving a pandemic

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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

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    • 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.

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    US accused of ‘modern piracy’ after diversion of masks meant for Europe

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    German politician adds to chorus of complaints about American tactics to source protective gear

    The US has been accused of “modern piracy” after reportedly diverting a shipment of masks intended for the German police, and outbidding other countries in the increasingly fraught global market for coronavirus protective equipment.

    About 200,000 N95 masks were diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand, according to the Berlin authorities who said they had ordered the masks for the police force.

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    Insects likely to be approved for human consumption by EU

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    Food safety agency’s decision could put mealworms, locusts and baby crickets on menus

    It is being billed as the long-awaited breakthrough moment in European gastronomy for mealworm burgers, locust aperitifs and cricket granola.

    In the next few weeks the EU’s European Food Safety Authority is expected by the insect industry to endorse mealworms, lesser mealworms, locusts, baby crickets and adult crickets as being safe for human consumption.

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    Farmers across Europe bank on improvised armies of pickers to save harvest

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    Growers from Ireland to Spain says coronavirus lockdown has stopped migrant workers from arriving

    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.

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