Eurotopics.net

The Ever Given, which had been blocking the Suez Canal since last Tuesday, has been refloated. The 400-metre-long container ship was dislodged by tugboats and dredgers, with help from an unusually high tide on Sunday night due to the full moon. For around 370 waiting ships the wait to pass through the waterway connecting Europe and Asia will soon be over.

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has announced that he plans to run in the Scottish parliamentary elections on 6 May with his own independence party, the Alba Party. Commentators disagree whether he is weakening Nicola Sturgeon's ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) or strengthening the independence movement as a whole.

Ship traffic has come to a standstill on the Suez Canal, where the 400-meter-long container ship Ever Given has been stuck since Tuesday, with its bow dug into the canal bank. More than 200 ships are now waiting to the north and south of the site, but according to recovery teams it could be weeks before the waterway - which is a vital route for the international shipping industry - is navigable again. Once again, the world is being confronted with its own vulnerability, commentators note.

The Covid crisis has increased poverty, unemployment and social inequality across Europe and in the rest of the world. Young people, the culture and hospitality sectors and tourism are the worst affected, as well as groups that were already structurally disadvantaged before the pandemic. Commentators paint a bleak picture and call for urgent and effective action.

The German government has proposed the launch of preliminary negotiations for the EU to purchase the Russian coronavirus vaccine. Although Sputnik V has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (Ema), with the other vaccines talks were held before the approval came through. Commentators support the initiative and call on politicians to set ideological differences aside.

The Swedish company Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and other major Western brands like Nike and Adidas are facing an extensive boycott campaign in China. The boycott was triggered by statements by these companies - in some cases made months ago - to the effect that they no longer want to purchase cotton from Xinjiang Province due to human rights violations perpetrated there against the Uighurs.