TOKYO (AP) — The government minister tasked with overseeing Japan’s coronavirus vaccination campaign on Monday urged the European Union to ensure stable exports of European-made vaccines, warning that any attempt to suspend shipments amid a shortage in Europe would harm relations.
The left-wing candidate to replace Angela Merkel when she steps down as chancellor of Germany has said he backs the formation of an EU army.
BERLIN (AP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country’s difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic – from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules – on “a tendency toward perfectionism” and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases.
Nigel Farage has warned that the vaccine passport schemes being developed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government are “unworkable”, going on to deride the British leader as having a lack of principles.
The European Union has backed down from approving measures that could ban vaccine exports under contract to the United Kingdom after member states feared the reciprocal loss of components needed to produce their own doses.
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro complained on Thursday at an event allegedly meant to address public education that the United States had hoarded the world’s supply of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, addressing a European incident involving British-Swedish company Astra-Zeneca.
A Belgian advocate-general has called for the acquittal of one journalist in a court of appeals and the conviction of another who is said to have been involved in aiding the trafficking of illegal migrants.
PARIS (AP) – France’s president says he has nothing to be sorry about for refusing to impose a third virus lockdown earlier this year, even though his country is now facing surging infections that are straining hospitals and more than 1,000 people with the virus are dying every week.
French president Emmanuel Macron has warned that Turkey’s government, led by Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will make attempts to interfere in next year’s presidential elections.
Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that the British contract with AstraZeneca is stronger than the EU’s and “trumps” the bloc’s agreement. The minister made the remarks as Brussels threatens to block shipments of British-bought coronavirus vaccines.
BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union leaders are meeting Thursday to look for ways of ramping up COVID-19 vaccinations across the 27-nation region amid a shortage of doses, spikes in new cases, a feud with the United Kingdom and internal quarrels.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish officials decided Thursday to continue their suspension of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for three more weeks while they continue evaluating it.
Populist MP Marine Le Pen has promised to organise a national referendum on migration as her first act as president if she wins the French elections in 2022.
A Pakistani migrant has been arrested in Ierapetra, Crete, for the assault and attempted rape of a local woman. He is also suspected of sexually harassing five other women.
BERLIN (AP) – A German woman accused of taking her son to Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria and fighting for the extremist group there was arrested Wednesday after landing in Berlin.
The European Union’s revised vaccine export rules could target countries like the UK which have already succeeded in vaccinating large proportions of their populations.
PARIS (AP) – France’s high-profile culture minister has been hospitalized for COVID-19, the latest senior official to become ill as the nation faces a third surge of coronavirus infections, this one propelled by a highly contagious variant first found in Britain.
The U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva voted Tuesday to call for an international arms embargo against Israel, with support from many European Union nations — while the Arab nation of Bahrain did not show up to vote.
Italian television presenter Vittorio Brumotti and his cameraman were attacked by a group of migrants while trying to film a drug dealing area in the city of Reggio Emilia.
HELSINKI (AP) – Finland’s domestic security agency on Tuesday maintained its terror threat assessment at an “elevated” level two on a four-point scale, while noting that the danger of extreme right-wing terrorism has grown in the Nordic country.
BRUSSELS (AP) – A leading European Union official has lashed out at the AstraZeneca vaccine company for its massive shortfall in producing doses for the 27-nation bloc, and threatened that any shots produced by them in the EU could be forced to stay there.
Nigel Farage has suggested the United Kingdom cut off Brexit “divorce” payments to the European Union should it follow through with threats to ban vaccine exports to Britain.
BERLIN (AP) – A lawmaker with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has died after collapsing on a plane during a flight home to Germany.
The government of Cyprus has called out for help from the European Union (EU) after claiming that it has been overwhelmed by an influx of illegal migrants and asylum seekers.
BERLIN (AP) – Under pressure to ease Germany’s virus restrictions, officials last month agreed to gradually reopen schools. Confirmed COVID-19 cases started climbing again, leading some states to backtrack while others pressed on and insisted that in-class teaching must be the rule.
China’s Foreign Ministry lashed out on Monday, claiming that the basis for sanctions levied against communist officials by the EU and the UK were based on “lies and disinformation” about the concentration camp region of Xinjiang.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is set to slap sanctions on 11 officials in Myanmar (Burma) accused of involvement in the military coup and the violent crackdown on protesters that followed, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
The United Kingdom will have “no choice” but to block deliveries coronavirus vaccine raw materials to the European Union if the bloc follows through with its threats to ban the export of vaccines promised to Britain, a senior government official told a British newspaper.
BERLIN (AP) – German authorities are expected to extend lockdown measures again on Monday and possibly tighten some restrictions as they face a steady rise in new coronavirus infections.
The European Union may block the export of up to 19 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, as the bloc continues to struggle to innoculate its population.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably.
Germany, France, Italy, and Poland are among the European nations entering or extending lockdowns this week.
Orban said he will soon meet with other right-wing politicians from Poland and Italy to discuss setting up a new political force in Europe.
The United Kingdom, so far a world-leader in the vaccination game, may be forced to slow the pace of shots after a major supplier nation decided it would keep more of its production for its own people.
U.S. President Joe Biden has appeared to side with the EU as it launches legal action against Brexit Britain, backing its imposition of internal borders between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
British regulators said that people should keep getting vaccinated following its review of data on patients who suffered from blood clots.
The European Commission unveiled its proposal for a coronavirus vaccine passport scheme on Wednesday, with the hopes of opening up travel within the bloc by the summer.
Simona Baldassarre, a Member of the European Parliament for Matteo Salvini’s League, has denounced a new glossary from the European Union that allegedly directs members to stop saying terms like “mother” and “father”.
Europe’s floundering commission has threatened they will use emergency powers to seize shipments of vaccines if it doesn’t get its own way.
Sweden is pausing the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure amid concerns about reports of blood clots in some recipients in Europe.
