European Union - Page 45

BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union foreign ministers met Monday to discuss how to thwart the threat of a possible new Russian invasion of Ukraine and what measures to take should Moscow decide to send its troops across the border.

VIENNA (AP) – Children from 5 to 11 years old will be eligible to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccine doses this week in Berlin, health officials said Sunday, joining other German states in opening up appointments to younger children.

15 EU member-states have agreed to take in nearly 40,000 migrants from Afghanistan, with over half being taken in by Germany alone.

Spain’s birthrate declined by over five per cent during 2020, further reducing the already low birthrate in the country, while the mortality rate jumped nearly 18 per cent.

Sammy Mahdi, Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, has stated that up to 70 per cent of “child” migrants submitted for age testing by the government turn out to be adults.

More than half of the French public believe that the democratic system in France does not work well, while a plurality believes democracy has deteriorated during the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.

The Polish government has released more footage of illegal migrants trying to cross the frontier from Belarus, hurling objects and insults at border guards.

BERLIN (AP) – German lawmakers are debating a bill Friday that would require staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or risk losing their jobs.

A member of the populist Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) has expressed concern that amendments to a law on administrative enforcement could be used to imprison unvaccinated people for as long as a year.

The Social Democratic Party’s Olaf Scholz has been elected Chancellor of Germany, marking the end of Angela Merkel’s 16-year reign.

Afghan nationals were the largest single group who applied for asylum in the European Union, Switzerland, and Norway in September, following the country’s fall to the Taliban in August.

Restaurants, sports events, concerts, theatres, and other public events all off-limits even to those with a negative covid test from today.

Pope Francis said Monday that the European Union’s recent attempt to cancel Christmas is an “anachronism” more worthy of a Napoleon or a Hitler than modern Europe.

MILAN (AP) – Italy is making life more uncomfortable for unvaccinated people this holiday season, excluding them from indoor restaurants, theatres, and museums starting Monday to reduce the spread of coronavirus and encourage vaccine sceptics to get their shots.

Scholz announced that an epidemiologist who has been a prominent voice of caution on coronavirus will be Germany’s new health minister.

UFC legend Conor McGregor has branded “forced” vaccination a “war crime” and slammed the EU and its “lapdogs” in the Irish government.

Macron wants representation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan but insists this move won’t legitimise the Kabul regime.

Two female police officers in the French commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin were attacked and wounded this week by a Senegalese migrant man armed with a sword.

Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi revealed that his country has seen a six-fold increase in migrant landings since 2019, and called for help from the European Union in dealing with the ongoing crisis.

Markus Lohi, chairman of the Finnish parliament’s Social Affairs and Health Committee, has said he will not support a European Union-wide vaccine mandate.

(AFP) — Only a few times a year Ninos Josephides, a Greek Cypriot, is allowed to visit his home village in the Turkish-occupied part of divided Cyprus. But he can’t visit his house. It was destroyed long ago.

An Eritrean migrant has been convicted of attacking two men with a knife while also threatening to kill children in the car park of a local shopping centre in the German city of Dresden.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – The leaders of right-wing populist parties gathered Saturday in Warsaw to discuss how they can work together to bring change to the European Union, which they accuse of acting like a super-state that is eroding the traditions and powers of the EU’s 27 member nations.

An 18-year-old illegal migrant in the French city of Lille has appeared in court after being accused of luring police officers into a violent ambush.

The Prime Minister of France has rejected proposals from Boris Johnson which he hoped might end the ongoing channel migrant crisis.

Sweden’s new Minister of Culture Jeanette Gustafsdotter says she wants to investigate the links between gangster rap music and gang crime to see if the music leads to gang activity.

Former two-weight mixed martial arts world champion and all-around sporting superstar Conor McGregor may have just become Ireland’s biggest advocate for ‘Irexit’ — an Irish exit from the European Union.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has exclaimed “thank goodness we left” the EU in response to reports that the head of the bloc, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen saying mandatory vaccination should be considered, while countries like Greece are threatening to fine senior citizens for every month they go unvaccinated.

Stolen yachts, including some with U.S. registrations, are being used by people smugglers to sneak migrants into Italy.

BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s health minister said Friday that more than 1 per cent of the population – almost a million people – are currently infected with the coronavirus, and called on citizens to get vaccinated if they haven’t done so yet.

The European Union will launch a €300 billion global infrastructure project in an apparent attempt to counter Communist China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the race for global influence. The Global Gateway scheme, which aims at investing €300 (£255bn/$340) billion into

Anti-Brexit Lib Dems crashed to fifth place and upstart Rejoin EU scraped together just 151 votes in Thursday’s special election.

Italian police have claimed that the number of fake coronavirus vaccine passports being sold online has surged and that some doctors may even be involved in the sale of fake certifications.

Police have expelled a group of 400 migrants from a makeshift camp near the northern French city of Dunkirk, just two weeks after police cleared another site in the area.

Chinese state media and the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) responded with outrage on Thursday to the international Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) suspending all tournaments in China over the mistreatment of Peng Shuai, the tennis star who accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her a decade ago.

BRUSSELS (AP) – The Belgian government has vowed to reinforce measures to contain the coronavirus even more with fresh measures to be decided Friday, possibly including more school closures and further reducing opening times of bars and restaurants.