Europe

A little girl writes graffiti on a wall in English: "If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth." The word "truth" has been crossed out with red spray paint and replaced with "journalism." This picture was tweeted by Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa. His tweet was aimed at the Kleine Zeitung , a newspaper based in the Austrian city of Graz, which had annoyed the Slovenian premier with an article about his attitude toward the press in his country. It's not unusual to see Janez Jansa tweeting things like this. Quite the opposite, in fact. No other European head of state is personally waging such a bitter war of words against the media. Jansa routinely attacks Slovenian journalists, and he comments on almost every critical article that is published abroad about the political situation in Slovenia under his government. Sometimes he reacts with fury, sometimes disparagingly; he always describes it as fake news. Recently, for example, Jansa branded Lili Bayer, the … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Slovenia’s Marshal Tweeto and the media

G erman exports to the UK plunged by almost a third in the first month under post-Brexit trading arrangements, new figures have revealed. The end of the Brexit transition period was blamed by Germany’s official statistics body for a 30pc year-on-year plunge in exports to the UK in January but economists predicted the trade slump will ease. New customs rules for exporters exacerbated a tumble in trade already triggered by the Covid crisis amid complaints of post-Brexit arrangements causing higher costs and delays for businesses. January’s drop compares to a 15.5pc fall in imports from Germany over 2020 but the latest slump in trade was still not as severe as the worst months of the first lockdown. The tumble in German imports at the start of the UK’s life outside the EU was also worsened by many businesses stockpiling in December as Brexit talks went down to the wire. “We expected very weak eurozone exports to the UK for January, in part due to teething problems at the … [Read more...] about German exports to UK fell 30pc in January

German health officials have U-turned on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and recommended it is safe for use on over-65s. The German health ministry said on Thursday that its independent vaccine committee has now formally approved the COVID-19 jab for use in that age group. It comes after disproved claims in Europe that the jab was as little as 8% effective among the elderly. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world German health officials have also said that delaying the second dose of the Oxford jab by 12 weeks - as the UK is doing - increases its efficacy. Advertisement Health minister Jens Spahn said the change in position is "good news for older people who are waiting for a vaccination", adding: "They will get vaccinated faster." Germany had previously claimed that there was not enough reliable efficacy data to allow the AstraZeneca jab to be used on the over-65s. More from Covid-19 COVID-19: 'Light at … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Germany U-turns on Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and recommends it for over-65s

Italy and the European Commission have blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine destined for Australia. The British-Swedish drug manufacturer had failed to meet its EU contract commitments so the Italian government refused its request to export 250,000 doses from its Anagni plant near Rome, according to the Reuters news agency. Italy made the request and it was signed off by the European Commission under a new export control system that came into law on 30 January. This is the first time it has been used by a member state. It is understood the doses will now be redistributed within the EU, where about 8% of the population has been vaccinated, compared with more than 30% in the UK. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world Advertisement Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Pfizer CEO: An EU vaccine ban would be lose-lose situation Australia is set to start its rollout of the Oxford … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Italy and EU block Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine shipment to Australia as shortages row escalates

Europe's competition watchdog has launched two investigations into Apple - including the way it limits the use of the contactless payment function on iPhones. The European Commission said it was looking into the US tech giant's Apple Pay platform as well as its mobile app store. It said there were concerns that the company's practices hurt consumers by limiting choice and innovation and keeping prices high. Apple dismissed the complaints as "baseless". The commission is looking at whether Apple Pay's rules require online stores to make it the preferred or default option - effectively shutting out rival payment systems. Advertisement It is also concerned about the "tap and go" function of Apple's iPhone handsets being reserved for the use of the Apple Pay platform. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said it came at a time when growth in mobile payment systems was accelerating due to the coronavirus crisis increasing online … [Read more...] about EU launches two investigations into Apple