Europe

Issued on: 02/06/2020 – 17:52Modified: 02/06/2020 – 17:52 France on Tuesday denounced as "blackmail" an ultimatum from low-cost carrier Ryanair for its French employees to choose between a five-year pay cut or a number of redundancies in an escalating labour dispute. Advertising Read more The offer from the Dublin-based no-frills carrier, long accused by critics of abrasive labour tactics, comes as the aviation industry grapples with an unprecedented crisis after the collapse in global demand for air travel due to the coronavirus. "Blackmail is never an option," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio. "Jobs will be protected by imaginative solutions, but definitely not through blackmail," he said. The aviation industry is facing drastic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed borders across the world and paralysed air transport. Ryanair has already announced plans to axe 3,000 pilot and cabin crew jobs, or 15 percent of staff across its European netw..

France is rolling out an official coronavirus contact-tracing app aimed at containing fresh outbreaks as lockdown restrictions gradually ease, becoming the first major European country to deploy the smartphone technology amid simmering debate over privacy fears. Advertising Read more The French will be able to download the StopCovid app on their Google Android devices and Apple iPhones starting Tuesday, the same day they'll once again be allowed to go to restaurants and cafes, parks and beaches and museums and monuments. Neighbors including the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Switzerland are developing their own apps, though theyre using different technical protocols, raising questions about compatibility across Europes borders. Authorities hope the app can help manage virus flare-ups as they reopen the economy in France, which has been living under some of Europe's tightest restrictions since it became one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with nearly 29,000 de..

Issued on: 02/06/2020 – 10:19Modified: 02/06/2020 – 10:19 The French economy is expected to shrink 11 percent this year because of the coronavirus crisis, which is worse than the government's previous forecast of an eight percent contraction, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday. Advertising Read more "The shock is very brutal," Le Maire told RTL radio, although he also said: "I am absolutely certain that we are going to bounce back in 2021." France imposed one of the Europe's strictest lockdowns in the face of Covid-19 in mid-March and only began removing restrictions on May 11. Cafés, bars and restaurants are allowed to reopen for regular business on Tuesday. In Paris, they remain limited to outside seating only. La réouverture des 308 000 cafés et restaurants de France ce 2 juin, avec ses 509 000 emplois, est un signal très positif pour notre économie et répond à une attente profonde des Français. C'est un moment de bonheur collectif. pic.twitter.com..

Issued on: 01/06/2020 – 20:36Modified: 01/06/2020 – 20:36 Frances health ministry said on Monday that people should continue applying protective measures against the new coronavirus outbreak even as the number of cases in hospitals and intensive care continues to fall. Advertising Read more It said in a statement that as France readies for a second phase of the easing of lockdown measures on Tuesday, with bars and restaurants permitted to fully or partially reopen, the "good news should not make us forget the danger of the virus”. The health ministry said that 18,506 Read More – Source [contf] [contfnew] france24 [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Issued on: 01/06/2020 – 14:59Modified: 01/06/2020 – 14:59 Moscow residents ventured out to exercise, stroll and shop on Monday as the city eased a strict nine-week lockdown, but millions remained largely confined to their homes as Russia recorded thousands more coronavirus cases. Advertising Read more President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to begin easing restrictions despite Russia having the world's third-highest number of confirmed infections, and was due on Monday to be presented with an ambitious economic recovery plan. Putin said last week that Russia had passed the peak of its epidemic and is anxious to get the country moving again, especially in Moscow where he announced plans for a huge military parade on June 24. Russia continues to record a significant number of coronavirus cases — with 9,035 new infections on Monday bringing its total to 414,878, behind only the United States and Brazil in the global tally. Another 2,297 cases were recorded in Moscow..

Issued on: 01/06/2020 – 13:21Modified: 01/06/2020 – 13:22 Adina Valean was until November 2019 an MEP for Romania's Liberal party. Since then, she's served as European Commissioner for Transport – and since early spring 2020 she's been part of the coronavirus response team, as the deadly pandemic saw member states shut their borders, airlines ground their fleets and thousands of Europeans stranded away from their home countries. Valean spoke to FRANCE 24 about the EU Commission's guidelines for travel during the Covid-19 pandeRead More – Source [contf] [contfnew] france24 [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Issued on: 01/06/2020 – 09:52Modified: 01/06/2020 – 09:52 French renovation teams aim complete work on Notre-Dame Cathedral in time for the fifth anniversary of its 2019 fire despite the Covid-19 lockdown, the project leader said on Sunday, as admirers were allowed back into the adjoining square. Advertising Read more Casual passersby and faithful alike flocked to the Parvis de Notre-Dame as the square reopened with the partial lifting of lockdown restrictions. The coronavirus pandemic "has unquestionably delayed the work", said Jean-Louis Georgelin, the army general put in charge of the mammoth rebuilding programme. But the goal remains to reopen for religious services in April 2024, Georgelin said, standing in front of the closed-off cathedral grounds. "There's no reason to believe it cannot be met – we'll have to find a way to catch up." Paris officials on Sunday removed the tall metal barriers surrounding the square, offering visitors a close-up look at the got..

Issued on: 31/05/2020 – 09:31Modified: 31/05/2020 – 09:31 The more than 2 million people who have been "shielding" from COVID-19 in England because they are deemed to be clinically extremely vulnerable will be allowed to spend time outdoors from Monday for the first time in 10 weeks. Advertising Read more The government said on Saturday that the 2.2 million will be able to go outside with members of their household, while continuing to follow social distancing guidelines to protect them from infection. Those who live alone can meet outside with one other person from another household. "I do not underestimate just how difficult it has been for you, staying at home for the last 10 weeks, and I want to pay tribute to your resilience," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement released late on Saturday night. BREAKING: 2.2 million high risk people whove been shielding can go outside for first time on Monday. Either with members of household, or if they live alone to meet ..

Issued on: 31/05/2020 – 08:29Modified: 31/05/2020 – 08:29 Protesters gathered across Europe on Saturday May 30 to show their solidarity with George Floyd, the black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Advertising Read more George Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Footage of the arrest shows a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee on Floyds neck. Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder. Protests Read More – Source [contf] [contfnew] france24 [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Issued on: 30/05/2020 – 15:48Modified: 30/05/2020 – 15:48 As countries across the world outline plans to further ease lockdowns, cases of so-called Covid-19 "super-spreaders" in Germany highlight the threat of a potential second wave. Advertising Read more Shortly after things returned to normal in Germany on May 6, around 100 people were infected with Covid-19 at an evangelical church service in Frankfurt. A few days later, in the northwestern Lower Saxony region, around 20 customers at a small restaurant – which was celebrating its reopening – suffered the same fate. The German authorities fear that these “super-spreaders” and “super-contamination” events could bring the dreaded spectre of a second wave to life. "Super-spreaders" largely disappeared from the media discourse at the height of the pandemic. When the virus was running rampant, the fact that some carriers infect more people than the average did little to change the overall picture. By contrast, it is when the tot..