European Union

The New York Times reports: From nursing homes in France to hospitals in Poland, older Europeans and the workers who care for them rolled up their sleeves on Sunday to receive coronavirus vaccine shots in a campaign to inoculate more than 450 million people across the European Union. “Today, we start turning the page on a difficult year,” Ursula von …

The Associated Press c: The first shipments of coronavirus vaccines have arrived across the European Union as authorities prepared to administer the first shots to the most vulnerable people in a coordinated effort on Sunday. The vaccines developed by BioNTech and Pfizer arrived by truck in warehouses across the continent on Friday and early Saturday after being sent from a …

The Associated Press reports: Several German states moved closer to a “hard lockdown” Tuesday as officials warned that continued high coronavirus infections could overwhelm hospitals and that too many people were ignoring existing pandemic restrictions. The governor of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer [photo], announced that schools and most stores will close from Monday until Jan. 10, as the eastern state recorded …

EuroNews reports: A Hungarian lawmaker has mocked former Fidesz MEP József Szájer by holding up a drainpipe in Parliament. József Szájer resigned last week after he was caught by police fleeing a gay sex party in Brussels he had been attending, despite coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Drainpipes have become the centre of internet jokes and memes in Hungary while the guttering …

The Daily Beast reports: Ludicrous conspiracy theories are swirling across Europe one week after staunch Hungarian anti-LGBTQ lawmaker Jozef Szajer was caught—quite literally—with his pants down at a lockdown-breaking sex party in Brussels. A spokesman for the Orban government told Hungarian news website Hirado that the Szajer affair was part of a larger conspiracy against the Hungarian government. Orban’s administration …

Reuters reports: European Union members debated on Monday how best to “renew and reinvigorate” transatlantic relations after the departure of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries considered five broad policy areas on which they see greater opportunities for cooperation when Joe Biden takes over as president after four …

The Guardian reports: Brussels has put itself on a collision course with the Polish and Hungarian governments after proposing to criminalise hate speech against LGBTQ+ people under EU law and secure recognition of same-sex partnerships across the bloc’s borders. Věra Jourová, a European commissioner, said the measures followed new “worrying trends”, with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights reporting that …

The BBC reports: The European Union has agreed to buy up to 300 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, after it showed strong results in trials. Deliveries are expected to start by the end of this year, the companies said. But the EU refused to provide details on how the vaccine would be rolled out, insisting that “a number …

The Associated Press reports: Germany became the latest European country to embark on a partial shutdown Monday as authorities across the continent scramble to flatten a rapid rise in coronavirus infections that threatens to overwhelm their health care systems. In parts of Europe, the new restrictions — which vary in strictness — are prompting sometimes violent protests by people frustrated …

Reuters reports: Europe’s new COVID-19 cases have doubled in five weeks, propelling the region on Sunday across the bleak milestone of 10 million total infections, according to a Reuters tally. Just last month, both Latin America and Asia reported over 10 million total cases in their regions. The United States alone has over 9 million cases with a rapidly accelerating …

Yahoo News reports: Joe Biden would hammer Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election if it were Europeans heading to the ballot box, a poll showed Friday, underscoring the incumbent’s unpopularity across the Atlantic. Among five countries surveyed by pollsters BVA — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — the Germans were the most enthusiastic Biden supporters, with 66 …

Axios reports: France has become the second country in Western Europe to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases, Johns Hopkins University data shows. The big picture: France had reported 1,000,369 cases and 34,075 deaths from the coronavirus by Thursday morning, per JHU. French President Emmanuel Macron declared a state of health emergency and imposed a curfew on virus hot spots earlier …

Reuters reports: Spain became the first Western European country to exceed 1 million COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, doubling its tally in just six weeks despite a series of increasingly stringent measures to control the second wave of the virus. Health ministry data showed total cases had reached 1,005,295, rising by 16,973 from the previous day. The death toll increased by …

Politico Europe reports: A growing anti-5G movement is getting in the way of Europe’s digital ambitions, 15 capitals warned the EU Commission as they called for a robust strategy to counter concerns about the new technology. The opposition against the next-generation telecom technology has coalesced around Stop 5G groups on social media, which have successfully pushed some authorities to start …

The Associated Press reports: Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who ran a campaign with homophobic and anti-Semitic overtones, narrowly won a second five-year term in a bitterly fought weekend election, defeating the liberal Warsaw mayor, according to a near-complete count of votes. Duda’s supporters celebrated what they saw as a clear mandate from voters for him and the right-wing …

NPR reports: The European Union will bar U.S. travelers from visiting when the bloc begins opening its external borders on July 1. EU ambassadors endorsed a list of 15 travel partners on Tuesday, including South Korea, Japan and China – countries that were hit early by the pandemic but have been able to bring the coronavirus under control. The 15 …

Thanks to Glorious Leader, you’re now banned: The European Union will bar most travelers from the United States, Russia, and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak, E.U. officials said Friday. By contrast, travelers from more than a dozen countries that are not overwhelmed by the coronavirus will be welcomed when the …

Bloomberg News reports: The World Health Organization and the leaders of France and Germany launched an $8 billion drive to accelerate development of a coronavirus vaccine, stressing it should be available to everyone without favor shown to the country that develops it first. “The world needs these tools and it needs them fast,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at …

Politico Europe reports: All non-essential workplaces in Spain will close for two weeks to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday after the country’s death toll climbed to nearly 5,700. Speaking at a press conference, Sánchez said the measure will come into force Monday and last until April 9. Workers will receive their …

ABC News reports: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone into quarantine after being informed that a doctor who administered a vaccine to her has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Merkel’s spokesman said the German chancellor was informed about the doctor’s test shortly after holding a news conference Sunday announcing new measures to curb the spread of the virus. Her …