The first EU nation to surpass half a million coronavirus infections, Spain’s decision to pass management of the pandemic to its regions has politicised public health and hobbled its fight against Covid-19, experts say. When the virus reached the country in March, the central government
The world has lost nearly 100 million hectares of forests in two decades, marking a steady decline though at a slower pace than before, a UN agency reported Tuesday. The proportion of forest to total land area fell from 31.9 percent in 2000 to 31.2
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed plans to significantly toughen the EU’s emissions target, aiming to achieve at least a 55-per-cent cut in greenhouse gases by 2030. “Too much for some… This would be a significant step up from the current 40-per-cent target, based on
Just down the road from Belgrade’s historic city centre, gates open for trucks to pass to the banks of the Danube, where they dump raw sewage into Europe’s venerated river. It’s not a secret operation, but rather a business nobody likes to mention in the
The coronavirus has upended everyday life in the six months since the crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). While our understanding of the new respiratory disease has steadily increased since it was first detected in China last year, what lies
Inequalities in living standards have also increased the poverty gap between the wealthiest and poorest households. In 2018, France had some 9.3 million people considered as poor, or 14.8% of the population, according to last figures published Wednesday, September 9th by the National Institute of
A draft law, submitted on Thursday, September 10th before being examined by the Assembly from September 30th onwards, aims to lower the minimum voting age. Will it soon be possible to vote from the age of 16 in France? This is the wish of MPs
Designed to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus by automatically tracing the contacts of infected people, Covid-19 tracking applications have encountered a series of challenges since their launch, from privacy concerns to technical glitches. Here is a round-up of the main European contact
The UK government is set for showdown talks with the European Union on Thursday after unveiling a new bill that will override parts of the divorce deal it signed with the bloc last year. What is it? The UK Internal Market Bill sets out how
Shuttered shops, idle production lines, grounded planes — the coronavirus pandemic has devastated several industries, not least the aviation and automobile sectors, but also retail and energy. Here is a recap of some major casualties, amid layoffs, bankruptcies and rescue plans: Crash landing Among the