As expected, the China’s Peoples Representative Committee adopted on Thursday 28th May a draft Security Law for Hong Kong, which has been widely interpreted as a breach of the international treaty registered with the United Nations, “The Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong”, signed in 1984 between China and the United Kingdom. The…
By John Grogan In the seventeenth century the Mughal Emperor and patron of the arts, Javangir, famously exclaimed when he saw the valley of Kashmir, “If there is a heaven on earth it is here, it is here.” Sadly this weekend as the majority Muslim population in the area celebrate the festival of Eid-Al-Fitr tensions…
In response to a request from Ukraine via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Slovakia has offered protective facemasks, disinfectants, blankets, among other items to help the country tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The EU will coordinate and co-finance the delivery of this assistance to Ukraine. Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management, said: “The coronavirus pandemic must be tackled…
Everyone is affected by coronavirus, and we have all have experienced some kind of loss, even if we’ve been fortunate enough not to lose someone close to us. Loss of a rite of passage (no exams, end of school prom, final class photos – the list goes on). No proper goodbye to primary school life….
Anyone living beneath the flight paths of Zaventem Airport will have noticed a massive decrease in air traffic last month. But whilst there was indeed a decrease of 99.3% in the number of passengers going through Brussels airport terminal in April, there was an increase of 52.1% in full cargo volume traffic. The Coronavirus crisis…
The Commission has invited Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to extend the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for another 30 days, until 15 June. While some EU and Schengen Associated States are taking preliminary steps towards easing the measures for fighting the spread of the pandemic, the situation remains fragile…
A new opinion poll has revealed that an overwhelming majority of British citizens want any coronavirus contact-tracing app to take account of civil liberties and people’s privacy. The Survation poll for the Open Knowledge Foundation has found widespread support for the introduction of a contact-tracing app in the UK at 65 per cent, but 90…
Yesterday 4th May, the Commission registered €7.4 billion, equivalent to $8 billion, in pledges from donors worldwide during the Coronavirus Global Response pledging event. This includes a pledge of €1.4 billion by the Commission. This almost reaches the initial target of €7.5 billion and is a solid starting point for the worldwide pledging marathon, which begins today….
MEPs and High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell will discuss the latest report by the European External Action Service about disinformation on COVID-19, tomorrow 30 April. The aim of the report published by the European External Action Service (EEAS) on 24 April, is to provide a snapshot overview of the current trends and insights into disinformation…
Today 29th April is International Dance Day and a Finnish folk dance group is showing how you can fight COVID-19 with polka. At the moment most of the world is in lockdown mode, but the Finnish folk dance group Polokkarit has found a way to combine dancing and social distancing. Ever since Finland introduced official…
