Europe Union

Europe moves ahead with lockdown easing, but caution in Asia

As much of the world grapples to find the path forward, with the deadly virus still spreading in some places and a vaccine at best a distant reality, Europe is slowly emerging from isolation.

Europe lifts virus shutters as Japan ends emergency

In the United States, as the pandemic death toll approached the horrific milestone of 100,000, Americans also headed en masse to beaches and parks for the big Memorial Day weekend.

Vaccines won't come soon enough, European leaders say

Health experts have said the world could be months, if not years, away from having a vaccine available to everyone despite the scientific gold rush now on to create a coronavirus vaccine — or vaccines.

Arrests at anti-lockdown demonstrations in UK, Germany and Poland

Germany and other countries have started to loosen some of the restrictions on movement, but anti-lockdown demonstrators protested, saying they wanted more freedom.

EU to halve pesticides by 2030 to protect bees, biodiversity

The European Commission aims to halve the use of chemical pesticides by 2030 to prevent the decline of bee colonies.

With doors slammed shut, is a visa-free Europe still viable?

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought back borders as different countries put their own interests first.

European states turn to migrants to help during coronavirus pandemic

Italy is set to grant 500,000 undocumented migrants work permits, a move that follows Portugal’s decision to grant citizenship rights to asylum seekers and migrants.

Fears mount over migrants dying 'out of sight' in Mediterranean

According to the special envoy for the central Mediterranean with the UUNHCR, the situation is all the more dire, as departures from the Libyan coast have nearly quadrupled compared with the same period a year ago.

Coronavirus vaccine possible in about a year – UN agency

The European Medicines Agency is also looking at therapeutics to help deal with the effects of the coronavirus, some of which could see approval by this summer.

Coronavirus may push more asylum seekers towards EU - agency

With global travel all but grounded, the EASO agency said that in March the bloc logged only about half as many asylum claims as in February.

EU looks for evidence to rein in US tech giants

The outcome could force Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple to separate their competing businesses, provide rivals access to their data and open up their standards to them.

Countries prepare for second wave of Covid-19

“There will be a second wave, but the problem is to which extent. Is it a small wave or a big wave? It’s too early to say,” said Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus unit at France’s Pasteur Institute.