News from across Europe

[AlbertC]

EU's von der Leyen calls for 'Marshall Plan' for Europe

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has urged huge investments in the EU budget amid the coronavirus crisis. Spain's premier, too, wants a "wartime economy" followed by a recovery program.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on EU nations to invest billions in the bloc's budget to avert catastrophic economic consequences from the current coronavirus crisis.

"We need a Marshall Plan for Europe," she wrote in a guest article for the paper Welt am Sonntag, referring to the recovery program put in place by the US from 1948-1952 to help Western European economies after World War II.

She said that the EU budget was accepted by all member states as a means of leveling out inequalities in a spirit of solidarity and that it should now be tailored to cope with the crisis.

"The many billions that have to be invested today to avert a greater catastrophe will bind the generations together," she wrote, calling the crisis a chance to renew the feeling of community among the nations of Europe.

EU's von der Leyen calls for 'Marshall Plan' for Europe | DW | 05.04.2020

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has urged huge investments in the EU budget amid the coronavirus crisis. Spain's premier, too, wants a "wartime economy" followed by a recovery program.

m.dw.com

 

[AlbertC]

Looks like Sweden are now looking to make the shift towards tougher measures on Covid-19:

Sweden prepares for possible tighter coronavirus measures as deaths rise

Country has taken soft approach and its death rate is higher than its Nordic neighbours’

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

'Bad news': radiation 16 times above normal after forest fire near Chernobyl

The blaze started on Saturday close to the site of the world’s worst ever nuclear disaster

Andrew Roth in Moscow and agencies
Mon 6 Apr 2020 00.06 BST

Ukrainian officials have sought calm after forest fires in the restricted zone around Chernobyl, scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident, led to a rise in radiation levels.

Firefighters said they had managed to put out the smaller of two forest fires that began at the weekend, apparently after someone began a grass fire, and had deployed more than 100 firefighters backed by planes and helicopters to extinguish the remaining blaze.

The fire had caused radiation fears in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, which is located about 60 miles south of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Government specialists on Monday sent to monitor the situation reported that there was no rise in radiation levels in Kyiv or the city suburbs.

'Bad news': radiation 16 times above normal after forest fire near Chernobyl

The blaze started on Saturday close to the site of the world’s worst ever nuclear disaster

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic

Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations

Thu 9 Apr 2020 23.35 BST

A messy compromise to unlock €500bn (£438bn) of EU support for countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic has been struck after Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, warned that the existence of the bloc was at stake.

EU finance ministers on a video conference call struck a deal late on Thursday after the Netherlands shifted on a demand for “economic surveillance” of countries benefiting from €240bn of credit lines via the European stability mechanism, a bailout fund for struggling member states.

Italy and Spain have in turn accepted a delay on agreement on so-called “coronabonds” that would allow member states to raise funds on the same terms from the financial markets. The issue of a “recovery fund” yet to be fleshed out will be put to the EU’s heads of state and government at a future summit.

EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic

Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Wildfires 'edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant'

Forest fires that have been burning for several days in northern Ukraine are now no more than a few kilometres from the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant, reports say.

Tour operator Yaroslav Emelianenko said one had reached the abandoned town of Pripyat, which used to serve the plant.

He said it was now just 2km (1.24 miles) from where the most dangerous waste from the plant was stored.

Greenpeace said the fires were much bigger than the authorities realised.

The NGO's Russia branch, quoted by Reuters, said the largest fire covered 34,000 hectares, while a second fire just a kilometre from the former plant was 12,000 hectares in area.

Wildfires 'edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant'

The blazes, burning for several days, also threaten the storage depot for the most dangerous waste.

www.bbc.com

 

[Richard White]

Wildfires 'edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant'

Forest fires that have been burning for several days in northern Ukraine are now no more than a few kilometres from the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant, reports say.

Tour operator Yaroslav Emelianenko said one had reached the abandoned town of Pripyat, which used to serve the plant.

He said it was now just 2km (1.24 miles) from where the most dangerous waste from the plant was stored.

Greenpeace said the fires were much bigger than the authorities realised.

The NGO's Russia branch, quoted by Reuters, said the largest fire covered 34,000 hectares, while a second fire just a kilometre from the former plant was 12,000 hectares in area.

Wildfires 'edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant'

The blazes, burning for several days, also threaten the storage depot for the most dangerous waste.

www.bbc.com

What happens if the nuclear plant catches fire? I presume it is still so heavily irradiated that it would be unsafe to fight fires there.

 

[AlbertC]

What happens if the nuclear plant catches fire? I presume it is still so heavily irradiated that it would be unsafe to fight fires there.

Tough to tell but I'd imagine they'd have to take extreme measures if it reaches that point. The other major risk is that smoke plumes can also carry radioactive particles far beyond the exclusion zone's boundaries.

 

[Richard White]

Tough to tell but I'd imagine they'd have to take extreme measures if it reaches that point. The other major risk is that smoke plumes can also carry radioactive particles far beyond the exclusion zone's boundaries.

Here is to hoping we do not have a repeat of the Chernobyl incident wherein they are sending people to their death to fight fires.

 

[Johnny Au]

Don't forget that Chernobyl is located very close to the border with Belarus.

 

[AlbertC]

On the topic of Belarus:

Belarus crowdfunds to fight coronavirus as leader denies it exists

NGOs scramble to source equipment after president calls pandemic ‘a psychosis’

The healthcare system in Belarus is being propped up by volunteers and crowdfunding campaigns as the country grapples with a coronavirus pandemic its president has been hesitant to admit exists.

Belarus has attracted international headlines for its delayed response, continuing to host Europe’s only active football league, as the president, Alexander Lukashenko, dismissed the pandemic as a “psychosis”.

“No one in the country will die from coronavirus,” Lukashenko declared publicly earlier this week.

Belarus crowdfunds to fight coronavirus as leader denies it exists

NGOs scramble to source equipment and masks as leader calls pandemic ‘a psychosis’

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Chernobyl wildfire blankets Kyiv in thick smog

Acrid smoke from a wildfire near the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant has blanketed Ukraine's capital Kyiv, making its air pollution among the worst in the world.

Kyiv's pollution now ranks alongside that of several Chinese cities, Swiss monitoring group IQAir reports.

The coronavirus lockdown is keeping most Kyiv residents at home anyway.

Ukraine's health ministry says the radiation level remains normal and Chernobyl faces no immediate threat.

At one point on Thursday, according to the IQAir index, Kyiv's air pollution was the worst in the world.

Wildfires blanket Kyiv in thick smog

Ukraine's capital is now among the world's most polluted cities, an international ranking shows.

www.bbc.com

 

[AlbertC]

Why France has 4 times as many coronavirus deaths as Germany

Germany followed the playbook for saving lives. France didn’t.

By Alex Ward
Apr 17, 2020, 3:20pm EDT

Why France has 4 times as many coronavirus deaths as Germany

Germany followed the playbook for saving lives. France didn’t.

www.vox.com

 

[Towered]

Why France has 4 times as many coronavirus deaths as Germany

Germany followed the playbook for saving lives. France didn’t.

By Alex Ward
Apr 17, 2020, 3:20pm EDT

Why France has 4 times as many coronavirus deaths as Germany

Germany followed the playbook for saving lives. France didn’t.

www.vox.com

More disciplined and organized - what a shock.

 

[AlbertC]

Germany, Czechia and Norway to begin lifting restrictions tomorrow. While France and Spain rule out on any relaxation for several more weeks.

Germany and Norway ease lockdowns but Spain and France hold off

Countries diverge on exit strategy as Europe’s coronavirus death toll nears 100,000

www.theguardian.com

 

[SunriseChampion]

I forgot about Norway! They were hit pretty hard back in the early days of the plague hitting Europe. Seemed to have had it under control by the end of March though.