Austria will begin a lockdown for people not vaccinated against Covid-19, a first in the EU as the Alpine member fights a record surge in cases, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Sunday. About 65 percent of Austria’s almost nine million people are vaccinated, below the EU average of 67 percent, while daily increases in infections have hit records this week. Other European governments are also eyeing unpopular Covid curbs, with the Netherlands opting for Western […]
Tag: Europe
Air pollution in Europe still killing 300,000 a year: report
by Camille BAS-WOHLERT Agence France Presse COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Premature deaths caused by fine particle air pollution have fallen 10 percent annually across Europe, but the invisible killer still accounts for 307,000 premature deaths a year, the European Environment Agency said Monday. If the latest air quality guidelines from the World Health Organisation were followed by EU members, the latest number of fatalities recorded in 2019 could be cut in half, according to […]
Covid pandemic speeds up in Europe, Latin America
PARIS, France (AFP) — The Covid-19 pandemic continued to pick up speed across Europe this week and also began to accelerate in Latin America. Here is the global state of play based on an AFP database. – Global rise – The number of new daily cases increased globally for a fourth week in a row, jumping eight percent compared to last week, with an average of 472,800 daily infections, according to an AFP tally […]
WHO urges more targeted vaccination as Covid cases surge in Europe
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — As Covid-19 cases balloon again in Europe, the World Health Organization called Friday for more targeted vaccination efforts to ensure the most vulnerable worldwide get the jabs. The UN health agency said Europe, once again at the epicentre of the pandemic, registered nearly two million Covid cases last week. That is “the most in a single week in the region since the pandemic started,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told […]
Covid pandemic still on the march in Europe; daily global cases also rise for 3rd straight week
PARIS, France (AFP) — The Covid-19 pandemic continued to pick up speed this week in Europe, bucking an improvement observed in the rest of the world. Here is the global state of play based on an AFP database. – Slight global spike – The number of new daily cases increased globally for a third week in a row, by a slight one percent to 438,000 infections, according to an AFP tally to Thursday. However, […]
Putin says, ‘very important’ to ‘stabilize’ gas market
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it was “very important” to stabilize the gas market, as Europe faces a gas crisis ahead of winter due to a surge in prices and a drop in reserves. Speaking at an energy forum in Moscow, Putin said it was “very important” to “suggest a long-term mechanism to stabilizRuse the energy market” in what he called a “difficult situation.” © Agence France-Presse
Pro-EU rallies draw tens of thousands in Poland
Tens of thousands of Poles rallied on Sunday in defence of their country’s EU membership, after Poland’s top court last week issued a landmark ruling against the primacy of EU law. The pro-EU demonstrations were called by former EU chief Donald Tusk, now leader of the country’s main opposition grouping, Civic Platform, who has warned of the prospect of a “Polexit”. “Tens of thousands of people in Warsaw and in over 100 cities and towns […]
UK rules out gas supply emergency as prices soar
by Véronique DUPONT Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain’s government does not expect a gas supply emergency during the winter as soaring prices threaten energy groups, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisted on Monday. “We have sufficient capacity, and more than sufficient capacity, to meet demand and we do not expect supply emergencies to occur this winter,” Kwarteng told parliament after holding an emergency meeting with gas and electricity suppliers and consumer groups. Kwarteng […]
WHO sounds alarm over rising Covid deaths in Europe
by Camille BAS-WOHLERT COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The World Health warned Monday that 236,000 more people could die from Covid in Europe by December, sounding the alarm over rising infections and stagnating vaccine rates across the continent. The warning came as the world passed the grim milestone of 4.5 million deaths from Covid since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP tally Monday. Infections rates are ticking up globally again, as the highly […]
Climate change made Europe floods more likely, intense: study
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — Climate change made the deadly floods that devastated parts of Germany and Belgium last month up to nine times more likely, according to an international study published Tuesday. At least 190 people lost their lives in severe floods that pummelled western Germany in mid-July, and at least 38 people perished after extreme rainfall in Belgium’s southern Wallonia region. Using the growing speciality of attribution science, climate experts are […]
Swedish PM Stefan Lofven to step down in November
Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Sunday he would step down in November to allow a successor time to prepare for the country’s September 2022 general election. Lofven was reinstated as prime minister by parliament in early July just weeks after being ousted in a historic vote of no confidence. He told a political rally on Sunday he would “leave my position as party chairman at the party’s congress in November and […]
Huge force struggling to contain Greek fires
by Alexandros Kottis with John Hadoulis in Athens AVGARIA, Greece (AFP) — Backed by a huge multinational force, Greek firefighters on Tuesday struggled for an eighth day to control wildfires on the island of Evia that have caused massive damage, prompting an apology from the prime minister. Nearly 900 firefighters, reinforced overnight with fresh arrivals from abroad, were deployed on the country’s second largest island as major towns and resorts remained under threat. Most of […]





