Europe

St Nicholas asked to keep distance at Christmas in COVID affected Europe

Editorial Bureau November 23, 2020

BERLIN (GERMANY) – With restrictions on family gatherings, instructions not to hug and a polite request to St Nicholas to “keep your distance”, Europe is preparing for its first COVID-19 Christmas. Governments across the continent, which accounts for a quarter of reported

Europe

Government official says Portugal must bring changes to the tourism-dependent economy after COVID

Editorial Bureau November 23, 2020

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – Portugal’s tourism sector is set to lose 60,000 jobs this year alone due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and a recovery is still far off, Tourism Secretary Rita Marques said on Monday. Some of the country’s regions must diversify their tourism-dependent economy after the pandemic, Marques also told in an […]

Europe

Russia hits record high of 25,173 new coronavirus cases

Ren Leen November 23, 2020

MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – Russia reported a record 25,173 new coronavirus infections on Monday as the Kremlin said it was up to regional authorities to decide what measures needed to be imposed in their regions to curb its spread. Russian authorities have said they will not impose nationwide lockdowns as they did earlier in the pandemic, […]

Europe

French business activity hits six-month low following second lockdown: PMI

Editorial Bureau November 23, 2020

PARIS (FRANCE) – French business activity contracted this month at the fastest pace since May after the second coronavirus lockdown this year, a survey showed on Monday. Data compiler IHS Markit said that its preliminary purchasing managers index dropped to 39.9 from 47.5 last month. The reading corroborates signals from high-frequency data such as Google […]

Europe

Many German states support extension of COVID-19 shutdown – state PM

Editorial Bureau November 23, 2020

BERLIN (GERMANY) – Many of Germany’s 16 federal states are in favour of extending a partial shutdown, which aims to slow the spread of the pandemic. This would make family gatherings during Christmas possible, one of the state prime ministers said on Monday. Manuela Schwesig, premier of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, told Deutschlandfunk radio,

Europe

Sanchez says Spain to start vaccination programme in January

Ren Leen November 22, 2020

MADRID (SPAIN) – Spain will begin a comprehensive coronavirus vaccination programme in January and expects to have covered a substantial part of the population within six months, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday. He said Spain and Germany were the first European Union countries to have a complete vaccination plan in place. “The campaign […]

Europe

France to start relaxing lockdown rules in three steps

Editorial Bureau November 22, 2020

PARIS (FRANCE) – France will start easing coronavirus lockdown rules in coming weeks, carrying out the process in three stages so as to avoid a new flareup in the pandemic, the government said on Sunday. On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron will give a speech to the nation about the virus situation and may announce a […]

Europe

Hundreds come together for the burial of Serbia’s Patriarch, amid coronavirus surge

Editorial Bureau November 22, 2020

BELGRADE (SERBIA) – Hundreds of mourners, including country’s president, gathered on Sunday for the funeral of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who died aged 90 after contracting COVID-19. Authorities hoped to avoid Patriarch Irinej’s funeral becoming a place where coronavirus might spread. Only Irinej’s relatives, clergy and dignitaries,

Europe

France demands Pakistan to to withdraw Macron Nazi jibe

Editorial Bureau November 22, 2020

PARIS (FRANCE) – France’s foreign ministry has demanded Pakistan authorities withdraw comments made by one of its ministers that President Emmanuel Macon was treating Muslims like Nazis had treated Jews in World War 2. The comments posted on Twitter by Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on Saturday came as part of a […]

Europe

France records 17,881 new confirmed Covid-19 cases

Editorial Bureau November 22, 2020

PARIS (FRANCE) – The number of new coronavirus infections in France rose by 17,881 on Saturday, lower than the number of cases reported on Friday, which was 22,882. The health ministry also reported 276 new deaths from the virus in hospitals over 24 hours, against 386 on Friday. Total deaths in France from the virus […]