⊂ EUROPE ⊃
Latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: According to a report by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), every region on Earth is affected by climate change and some of the changes, such as rising sea levels, are irreversible. The report lists the type of changes that can be expected, including more intense rainfall, more intense droughts, more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas, the loss of seasonal snow cover, along with the melting of glaciers, ice sheets and loss of summer Arctic sea ice. The report also confirms the connection between man-made climate change and weather extremes. Heads of state and government around the world called for consequences. “The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the cost of inaction keeps mounting,” tweeted US President Joe Biden. „The time for indignation is behind us,“ French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter. „The Paris Agreement, carbon neutrality at the European level, the climate law… France will remain on the side of those who act. In November, in Glasgow, let’s seal an agreement that is equal to the emergency!“ Meanwhile, wildfires are continuing to rip through the Greek island of Evia, prompting residents to flee to safety by sea. In Italy, authorities urged the public to be careful with fire amid a heat wave forecast for this week. Turkey is also battling devastating blazes.
rfi.fr, euronews.com, theguardian.com (Climate report); bbc.com, apnews.com (Wildfires)
UK and US impose fresh sanctions on Belarus: US President Joe Biden on Monday said the United States is levying new sanctions against Belarus marking the one-year anniversary of Alexander Lukashenko’s election, which the US and international community have said was fraught with irregularities. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Monday Britain will take measures to limit the Belarusian regime’s trade on a number of goods that may be used to repress dissidents or might provide a revenue stream. The UK will also adopt measures to stop the provision of loans to the regime, as well as purchases of transferable securities and money-market instruments issued by the Belarusian state and state-owned banks. Belarusian air carriers will be banned from flying over the UK or landing in the country. Lukashenko claimed on Monday that the opposition had plotted a coup ahead of last year’s election. He also denied involvement in the death of an exiled activist in Ukraine last week and said the Belarusian athlete who fled the Tokyo Olympics, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, had been “manipulated” by external forces and would not otherwise have chosen asylum in another country. Iraq, meanwhile, is taking back hundreds of migrants stranded on the border between Belarus and the EU country of Lithuania.
independent.co.uk, politico.eu, euronews.com, politico.eu, n-tv.de
Tunisia vaccinates more than half a million people in a day: More than half a million Tunisians received vaccinations on Sunday as part of a national campaign to control the outbreak of COVID-19 after the country received more than 6 million vaccine doses from Western and Arab countries. The slow pace of vaccinations and the handling of the pandemic sparked a wave of protests against the government of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who was dismissed by President Kais Saied two weeks ago among a series of emergency measures. Tunisia seeks to vaccinate 50% of its 11.6 million people by mid-October. The Delta variant is responsible for „more than 90% “ of cases in Tunisia, which on Sunday registered 2,546 new cases, raising infections to a total of 610,660 with almost 21,000 deaths.
reuters.com
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Tigray forces reportedly seize control of UN World Heritage Site in Ethiopia: Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, whose famed rock-hewn churches are a United Nations World Heritage Site, and residents were fleeing, two eyewitnesses told Reuters last Thursday. The United States called on Tigrayan forces to respect the cultural heritage of the town, as Washington’s grows increasingly alarmed over the widening of the conflict. „We’ve seen the reports that Tigrayan forces have taken Lalibela. We call on the TPLF to protect this cultural heritage,“ State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. In recent weeks fighting has spread from Tigray into two neighboring regions, Amhara and Afar, forcing around 250,000 people to flee. The developments come eight months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive against Tigray’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), sending in national troops and militia fighters from the Amhara region who were joined by forces from neighboring Eritrea. Senior officials from the United Nations and the United States government who visited Ethiopia this week raised alarm at the widening of the war in Tigray to other parts of northern Ethiopia. Lalibela, also a holy site for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, is in the North Wollo Zone of the Amhara region in Ethiopia’s north.
nbcnews.com, cnn.com
Chemicals: Commission launches public consultation on revision of central piece of chemicals legislation ec.europa.eu
Antitrust regulators: EU extends deadline for decision on Facebook, Kustomer deal to 15 December euractiv.com
Artificial intelligence: This is how difficult legal regulation is handelsblatt.com
Mali and Burkina Faso: Suspected jihadists kill scores of villagers in northern Mali france24.com
⊂ QUOTE OF THE DAY ⊃
„The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable.“
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “is a code red for humanity”, according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
irishtimes.com
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
Catholic priest killed by suspect in Nantes cathedral blaze: The killing of a Catholic priest by a Rwandan asylum seeker has reignited a debate over immigration in France just months ahead of a presidential election. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Monday the priest was murdered in the western Vendée department by a Rwandan national, who then surrendered to the French authorities and confessed to the killing. According to media reports, the priest, named as Olivier Maire, had given shelter to the Rwandan, who was awaiting possible trial for setting fire to Nantes cathedral last year. The man had confessed to being behind the fire at the Gothic Nantes cathedral that horrified France on 18 July 2020. He had initially been placed under arrest before being freed under judicial control. French President Emmanuel Macron „expressed all his sympathy“ to the local religious community of Montfortians while Prime Minister Jean Castex expressed his „deep dismay“ over the tragedy.
politico.eu, france24.com
France’s virus pass now required in restaurants, trains: France took a big step Monday into a post-pandemic future by requiring people to show a QR code proving they have a special virus pass before they can enjoy restaurants and cafes or travel by plane, train or bus across the country. In hospitals, visitors and patients who have appointments are required to have the pass. Exceptions are made for people at the emergency ward. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal conceded on Monday that the extension of the health pass is an „additional constraint“ but said it is necessary because of the deteriorating sanitary situation. According to Santé Publique France, critical care units across the country received 1,510 patients on Saturday, compared to 1,099 a week ago. The number of hospital admissions rose to 8,425 from 8,368 on Friday. In Italy, a “Green Pass” is required to enter archaeological sites, gyms, theaters, indoor pools and the indoor sections of restaurants, bars and cafes. The Italian police have shut down several groups on the mobile messaging app Telegram where users were selling fake COVID-19 health passes required to access services and leisure activities. Switzerland has approved the Moderna vaccine for adolescents.
apnews.com, euronews.com (France); usatoday.com, aljazeera.com (Italy); reuters.com (Switzerland)
Up to €30 billion needed for recovery fund after floods in Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia state premier and CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet said Monday that at least €26 billion or more will be needed to help rebuild damaged areas in Germany after deadly flooding last month. The comments came ahead of a conference this Tuesday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders, where they are expected to sign off on the recovery plan. Laschet said the total damage in North Rhine-Westphalia would reach €13 billion, according to initial estimates. He added that the cost of recovery in neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate will reach a similar, perhaps even higher sum. Laschet and other German officials have been criticised for their handling of the crisis. Some residents of heavily-impacted areas have said they received no warning prior to the deadly floods. German prosecutors recently opened a probe into the district chief of the hard-hit area of Ahrweiler for negligence.
dw.com
Berlin Christmas market attack made possible by serious errors, report finds: A special committee of the Berlin state parliament released its comprehensive report into the December 2016 Christmas market terror attack on Monday. The investigative committee found serious errors on the part of security authorities ahead of Amri’s attack, Berlin’s „Tagespiegel“ newspaper reported. The committee report said it was „the sum of these errors and failures that made the attack possible and facilitated it.“ A lack of staff, insufficient exchange of information between city offices and an incorrect assessment of Amri’s behaviour were among the criticisms levied at authorities by the committee. Moreover, the committee also deemed it a serious error that a lack of pressure existed to move forward with a ban on the Salafist mosque association where Amri was operating in and noted that Amri fell out sights of Berlin security officers.
dw.com
Germany rejects calls to return troops to Afghanistan as Taliban seizes cities dw.com
Sweden: Trial raises awkward questions for Iran’s new president politico.eu
Austria: Stricter Covid restrictions in East Tyrol de.euronews.com
⊂ POLITJOBS ⊃
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⊂ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ⊃
Paris takes torch from Tokyo for 2024 Summer Olympic Games: As the Olympic games concluded in Tokyo, the next city to host, Paris, has already started its celebration. During the closing ceremony on Sunday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo received and waved an Olympic flag in the Tokyo stadium, a traditional pass to the next city. Visuals presented at the event showcased what the Paris games may look like in three years. Organisers are planning to put the competitions in the centre of the city, with the opening ceremony slated to take place along the Seine River in the middle of Paris, rather than a stadium. Paris has not hosted the Olympic games in almost 100 years; the last time was in 1924.
npr.org