Europe’s industrial clusters mobilise to fight coronavirus
The Business Planet team is mobilized to help you better understand how entrepreneurs are facing the coronavirus epidemic. European industrial clusters are particularly active in the fight against the Coronavirus. The objective is to innovate, to bring new products quickly onto the market, to shake...
Germany flies in seasonal workers with strict coronavirus precautions
The coronavirus outbreak has led to the shutdown of a number of industries across the world, but Germany is embarking on an ambitious project to fill the huge gap left in its seasonal workforce. Last year 300,000 people, mainly from Eastern Europe, travelled to Germany...
Belgium sees highest daily death toll so far
Belgium has reported 496 new deaths in the past 24 hours, its deadliest day so far, bringing the number of fatalities to 3,019. The number appears very high for a country of 11.4 million, however around half the number of fatalities have been recorded outside...
Cargo of masks and protective equipment heading to UK
A Turkish Air Force A400M transport aircraft will land at Brize Norton later today carrying a cargo of masks and protective equipment for the UK. This is the first aid flight to use a Nato call sign – a procedure which expedites air traffic control...
The week in Europe: Rescue plans, MEPs on the frontlines & robo-helpers
The coronavirus pandemic has put European cooperation under strain, but this week it looked like the bloc is out of woods, for now. Money talks Finance ministers for Eurozone countries managed to clinch a compromise over how to finance the economic recovery. The videoconference ended...
Italy closes ports to rescue ships, targeting migrants
Non-national migrant rescue ships will no longer be able to dock in Italy, after the country declared its ports were not safe due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Given the spread of Covid-19, Italian ports cannot guarantee the necessary prerequisites to be qualified as ‘places of...
British politicians handed extra $12,450 in expenses to work from home
British politicians have each been given access to an additional £10,000 ($12,450) in order to help them work from home during the coronavirus crisis. All 650 elected lawmakers will have access to the funds, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which regulates expenses, stated in...
Sweden challenges Trump — and scientific mainstream — by refusing to lock down
Much of Europe is still on coronavirus lockdown, with severe restrictions on movement and penalties for those who transgress. But not Sweden. Restaurants and bars are open in the Nordic country, playgrounds and schools too, and the government is relying on voluntary action to stem...
Macron faces calls to allow wider use hydroxychloroquine in coronavirus fight: report
French President Emmanuel Macron is facing new calls to allow wider use of the anti-malaria drug touted by President Trump as a possible treatment option for COVID-19 patients. Hydroxychloroquine combined with antibiotics have proven to be an effective treatment for some patients suffering from severe...
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson must rest up, says PM’s father
Boris Johnson “must rest up” after he was moved from intensive care with coronavirus, his father has said. Stanley Johnson told the BBC’s Today: “He took one for the team and we’ve got to make sure we play properly now.” Scientific adviser Prof Neil Ferguson,...
Coronavirus pandemic: EU agrees €500bn rescue package
EU finance ministers have agreed a €500bn (£430bn;$540bn) rescue package for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The chairman of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, announced the deal, reached after marathon discussions in Brussels. It comes as Spain’s prime minister said the country was...
Coronavirus: EU finance ministers agree on €500 billion emergency fund
EU Finance ministers agreed on Thursday to a common emergency plan to limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the European economy. EU member states have agreed to an emergency response plan of €500 billion. “This proposal contains bold and ambitious proposals that would...
Coronavirus in Europe: Hunters and gamekeepers helped police enforce lockdown in France
French hunters and gamekeepers have been requisitioned by regional authorities to help the police enforce the rules of the French lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. The operation was held for one weekend before being cancelled due to their “thin legal basis”, authorities said on Thursday....
I stockpiled dozens of eggs, fruit & sauces but had to bin it all – I don’t care I’m doing the vulnerable out of food
WHEN the coronavirus crisis first started to rear its ugly head, single mum-of-two Emmie Shute, 47, bulk bought everything she could think of. Despite only having three mouths to feed, the factory worker from Bournemouth, Dorset, spent a whopping £250 on one shop and grabbed...
Coronavirus: EU could fail over outbreak, warns Italy’s Giuseppe Conte
Italy’s prime minister has told the BBC that the European Union risks failing as a project in the coronavirus crisis. Giuseppe Conte says the EU must act in an adequate and co-ordinated way to help countries worst hit by the virus. Mr Conte says the...
Switzerland records 547 new cases
A further 547 people tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total to 22,789 cases, the Swiss Federal Office for Health said Wednesday. The country has also recorded 705 coronavirus-related deaths, and the incidence rate is 266 per 100.000 inhabitants, the office said. Public and private...
Boris Johnson spends second night in ICU for coronavirus
Boris Johnson spent a second night in intensive care in a London hospital as he continues to battle coronavirus. Downing Street said Wednesday the UK Prime Minister was being kept in St Thomas’ Hospital “for close monitoring.” Johnson, who initially tested positive for coronavirus on...
UK is “nowhere near lifting lockdown,” says London mayor
London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the United Kingdom is still some way off being able to ease the restrictions introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus. “We’re nowhere near lifting the lockdown,” Khan told BBC Radio on Wednesday. “I speak to experts regularly. We think...
German economy will shrink by 4.2% in 2020, according to forecasts
The German economy will shrink by 4.2% this year, according to Timo Wollmershaeuser, a senior economist at IFO Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys. Economies around the world are bracing for major damage due to the coronavirus outbreak, and data coming out of China, where the...
French President Emmanuel Macron to address the nation Thursday
French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation Thursday regarding the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The country has now seen more than 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths and has moved to tighten local confinement measures. The city of Paris has prohibited any individual sporting activity outdoors between 10...
Sweden marks three years since Stockholm terror attack
Sweden has marked the third anniversary of the 2017 Stockholm terror attack. On 7 April, a truck was hijacked and deliberately driven into pedestrians on a busy shopping street in the centre of the city, before crashing into an Åhléns department store. Five people were...
Turkey’s approach to COVID-19 deserves more attention and less fake news ǀ View
A controversy recently broke out on social media over the New York Times, CNN and the BBC featuring photos of Turkey in their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outlets published photographs of well-known Turkish landmarks in a manner that seemed to portray Turkey as...
Italy ups coronavirus stimulus spending to €750 billion – nearly half its GDP
The European Union’s second-most indebted economy is going all in on coronavirus stimulus. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced a fresh €400 billion aid package for the country, to prop up businesses that have been hit hard by the coronavirus lockdowns. Conte called the...
What did Trump say about the WHO?
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he was reluctant to discuss further but the US might be on track for fewer deaths than projected. It was thought that as many as 240,000 people in the US could die in the pandemic, according...
How Europe failed the coronavirus test
Europe, in early April, remains the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — where the outbreak, uncontrolled, morphed into catastrophe. Nearly 50,000 dead. More than 600,000 infected. And the devastation is far from over. The world’s largest economy is paralyzed. The planet’s most open societies are...
Boris Johnson given oxygen but not on a ventilator after coronavirus-stricken PM moved to intensive care
Boris Johnson was given oxygen overnight but did not require a ventilator, according to a senior cabinet minister, speaking a day after the coronavirus-stricken U.K. prime minister was moved to a London hospital’s intensive care unit. Since Sunday evening, the prime minister has been in...
Analysis: What is Europe’s coronavirus exit strategy?
It is the most difficult of periods for many in Europe. Tens of thousands of people have died, hundreds of thousands have been infected, millions have lost their jobs and many tens of millions have essentially been confined to their homes. But this weekend seemed...
Analysis: Is Hungary dumping democracy amid coronavirus crisis?
The coronavirus is changing the way we live our lives. Much of Europe is in lockdown. People are limited in how often they can go outside. They are told to work from home and not to socialise. Places for entertainment and social gathering are on...
Cardinal Pell freed after court dismisses ex-Vatican treasurer’s child sex abuse conviction
Cardinal George Pell welcomed Tuesday’s ruling from Australia’s highest court clearing him of child sex crimes, denying that his trial had been a referendum on the Catholic Church’s handling of the clergy abuse crisis. Pope Francis’ former finance minister Pell had been the most senior...
UK PM Boris Johnson, in hospital with coronavirus, moved to intensive care unit
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in hospital since Sunday with coronavirus, has been moved to an intensive care unit. “Since Sunday evening, the Prime Minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of...