⊂ EUROPE ⊃
EU announces funding for refugee camps on Greek islands: The EU will give Greece funding to build five new refugee camps on the Aegean islands. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson visited Lesbos and Samos on Monday to announce that the EU would provide 250 million euros of funding for five new structures on the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Kos and Leros. But during her appearance on the island of Lesbos, Johansson was met by hundreds of angry local residents, who gathered outside the building where she was set to meet with mayors, North Aegean Regional Governor Kostas Moutzouris and Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi. The protesters held banners proclaiming, “no to structures on the island.” And they chanted: “Neither in Lesbos, nor anywhere, we will not turn Greek islands into prisons.” The Libyan Coast Guard has intercepted almost a thousand refugees en route to Europe and brought them back to Libya in the past 48 hours. In the southern Spanish city of Murcia, a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast.
theguardian.com, politico.eu (Greece); spiegel.de (Libya); de.euronews.com (Spain)
Syria conference aims to raise billions for decade-long crisis: The international community is being asked to donate over 8 billion euros towards addressing the most critical humanitarian issues affecting Syria and neighbouring countries that host its refugees. The Syria donor conference is being held virtually Monday and Tuesday, with over 50 countries represented. Painting a bleak picture of homes, hospitals, schools and water systems destroyed, and humanitarian law flouted with impunity, UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore told ambassadors that since the fighting began, violence has killed or injured a verified 12,000 children, and likely many more. The money raised at the conference is earmarked for food, medical aids and schooling for children, among other things. Fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels has subsided since a deal a year ago ended a Russian-led bombing campaign that had displaced over a million people, but Russian air strikes, along with Iranian and Syrian-backed militaries, continue to attack rebel outposts.
euronews.com, news.un.org, reuters.com
EU health programme in response to pandemic: The EU4Health programme is one of the European Union’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. With total funding of 5.1 billion euros, it is the largest ever health programme in monetary terms. One of its aims is to help the bloc be prepared for cross-border health threats, such as coronavirus. To achieve that goal, the programme is looking to increase medical supplies for eventual pandemics, create reserves of medical staff and experts, and improve the surveillance of health risks. As well as these objectives, EU4Health wants to strengthen existing healthcare systems and make medicine and medical machines affordable and accessible. Meanwhile, more than twenty heads of state and government from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America have proposed drafting a new international treaty to prevent and combat future pandemics, according to a report.
euronews.com, handelsblatt.com
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US suspends all diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar: A series of airstrikes by Myanmar’s military has driven thousands of people across the country’s border with Thailand. The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on protests of its 1 February takeover. On Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in and around demonstrations throughout the country — the bloodiest single day since the takeover. The Biden administration announced the suspension of all diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar on Monday. Biden called the violence in Myanmar „terrible“ and „absolutely outrageous.“
theguardian.com, apnews.com, cnn.com
EU experts to say nuclear power qualifies for green investment label: Experts tasked with assessing whether the EU should label nuclear power as a green investment will say that the fuel qualifies as sustainable, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The European Commission is attempting to finish its sustainable finance taxonomy, which will decide which economic activities can be labelled as a sustainable investment in the EU, based on whether they meet strict environmental criteria.
reuters.com
Dozens dead after militant assault on Palma: Dozens of people are dead following an attack by Islamist militants on a town in northern Mozambique, officials say. Hundreds of militants stormed Palma on Wednesday, targeting shops, banks and a military barracks. Seven people were killed trying to escape a siege on a hotel. Hundreds of others, both locals and foreigners, were reportedly rescued from Palma after the attack. Militants linked to the „Islamic State“ (ISIS) group are behind the conflict in the predominantly Muslim region. The fighting has left more than 2,500 people dead and 700,000 displaced since the insurgency began in 2017.
bbc.com
Navalny: Another doctor at Omsk hospital where Russian opposition politician Navalny was treated dies n-tv.de
Turkey: EU Commission President von der Leyen and EU Council President Michel to meet Turkish President Erdogan on 6 April reuters.com
CAP super trilogue brings good atmosphere but few decisions euractiv.com
CO2 border tax: Brussels rules out double carbon compensation for EU steelmakers euractiv.com
⊂ QUOTE OF THE DAY ⊃
„Not everyone is free of the illusion that the virus can be negotiated with.“
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pressed the country’s state premiers to do more to fight a third wave of coronavirus infections.
politico.eu
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
French health care system is reaching its limits: French health authorities said on Monday that the number of patients in intensive care with Covid-19 increased by 102 to 4,974, more than the 4,919 high of the second lockdown in mid-November. In a statement to a newspaper on Sunday, a group of 41 hospital doctors in the Paris region warned that they might soon have to start choosing between patients for emergency treatment. “We are in a crisis situation,” said Dr. Jacques Ballout of the Pierre Beregevoy Hospital in the Burgundy town of Nevers. His hospital’s 12-bed intensive care ward is at capacity with Covid and non-Covid patients. Vienna plans to extend an Easter coronavirus lockdown by five days until the following Sunday, Austria’s health minister said on Monday. Anti-restriction protesters took to the streets in several Romanian cities Monday against new pandemic measures that came into force a day earlier.
france24.com, reuters.com, apnews.com (France); reuters.com (Austria); washingtonpost.com (Romania)
Italian judges, denied priority in vaccine queue, threaten protest: Italian judges and prosecutors have upset lawmakers from across the political spectrum by calling for a go-slow after they were told to wait in line for coronavirus vaccines. Guidelines drawn up in December were unclear about whether lawyers and judges were essential workers who should have priority access to vaccines. Those professions are now accused of pressuring regional authorities for permission to jump the queue — which is allowed in some cases. Now the government has published new binding rules which clarify that lawyers and judges have to wait in line for vaccines. The national body that represents judges and prosecutors, the National Association of Magistrates, released a statement on Sunday inviting court officials to slow court activities and suspend nonurgent hearings.
politico.eu
French pharmaceutical firm fined over weight loss pill: A court in Paris on Monday found pharmaceutical firm Servier guilty of aggravated deceit and involuntary manslaughter over a weight loss pill at the centre of a major health scandal. Around five million people were prescribed the medicine over the course of three decades, despite various warnings over its side effects. Hundreds of people are believed to have died as a result of the drug. It was eventually withdrawn in 2009 over concerns it could cause serious heart problems. The massive trial involved 6,500 plaintiffs, who alleged that Servier permitted the drug to be prescribed as a weight loss medication, despite the risks. The company was accused of deliberately ignoring warnings and covering up the pill’s effects on patients.
bbc.com, dw.com
France debates climate bill: French MPs on Monday launched a three-week debate of the controversial climate and resilience bill which is aimed at cutting carbon emissions by 40% on 1990 levels by 2030. The draft law contains the work by 150 randomly selected French citizens who made more than 100 proposals to fight global warming. It includes 69 articles with measures such as the end of some domestic flights, new taxes on trucking, and a ban on renting badly insulated homes. It also includes stronger sanctions for pollution of soil, air and water. But critics claim the bill has excluded some of the suggestions.
rfi.fr, bloomberg.com
Slovakia’s prime minister is the first world leader to step down over covid controversy: Slovakia’s prime minister has said he will step down amid a political scandal triggered by a secret deal to buy Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. At least six of his cabinet members had already resigned, and on Sunday Igor Matovic said he had proposed swapping posts with the finance minister, and would open talks with coalition partners on a possible new government. He added he was planning to meet President Zuzana Caputova on Monday for consultations. The crisis erupted when a secret deal struck by Slovakia to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine was revealed.
euronews.com, washingtonpost.com
Austria: Chancellor Kurz in trouble for chats that suggest favouritism n-tv.de
Greece wants to save tourism season and is pushing ahead with reopenings handelsblatt.com
Sweden: Covid numbers are rising again de.euronews.com
Hungary: Orban’s influence on the media is without rival euractiv.com
⊂ POLITJOBS ⊃
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⊂ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ⊃
Expert: Pandemic has exposed anti-Asian hate in France: A week on from the massacre of eight people, most of them women of Asian descent, at three massage parlours in the United States, a researcher has told „Euractiv“ the pandemic has also seen a surge in racism faced by people of Asian descent in France. Anti-Asian racism is not just an American issue, as demonstrated by the upcoming trial in Paris this week of five Twitter users accused of inciting hate against “the Chinese”.
euractiv.com