Euobserver.com

Netflix's satirical disaster movie, Don't Look Up, is primarily a warning about our failure to act on climate change but it's plot will seem strangely familiar to anyone who has observed the EU approach to Covid-19 vaccines, particularly patent-waivers.

Italy will remove all Covid-linked restrictions on international visitors from the EU from 1 February, except the requirement to carry a "Green Pass" - a certificate of vaccination, negative test result, or immunity through having had the virus. Roberto Speranza, the health minister, also gave Italians the go-ahead to travel once again to Cuba, Singapore, Turkey, Thailand (the island of Phuket), Oman, and French Polynesia, Reuters reports.

The US and Nato have formally rejected Russia's demands to withdraw Western forces from eastern Europe and abandon Ukraine.

The issue isn't that voices from the Global South simply aren't heard – they are actively muted. A recent study found less than one-percent of climate research papers were written by African authors, despite the continent being the most vulnerable.

Europe is green, humane and has defeated populism. These are common views among the EU chattering classes. But they often seem more reflexive than reflective, and some of them amount to shibboleths.

Denmark said it would lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions and stop designating it a "societally critical" disease on Wednesday in the latest sign that western European countries are easing or even eradicating strict measures brought in to combat the Omicron coronavirus variant. Magnus Heunicke, Denmark's health minister, wrote to parliament on Wednesday saying that he would remove all Covid-19 restrictions on 1 February, except for testing on arrival from abroad.

The EU Commission is going to stick to labelling gas and nuclear power as "green" in its taxonomy for investors, EU financial affairs commissioner Mairead McGuinness told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Wednesday. "We may be able to tweak the proposal in one place or another to address some objections, but we actually have limited room for manoeuvre", she said, after Germany, among others, complained about the labelling decision.

Renewable sources accounted for 37 percent of gross EU electricity consumption in 2020, compared to 34 percent in 2019, Eurostat said Wednesday. Austria and Sweden led the way with over two-thirds' renewables. Denmark, Portugal, Croatia, and Latvia scored over 50 percent, while Cyprus, Hungary, and Malta used just 10 percent. Meanwhile, solar power generated 14 percent of EU electricity last year, compared to just one percent back in 2008.

Spain rescued 319 people, including 59 women and 24 children, from seven boats trying to reach the Canary Islands Wednesday, AP reports, but activists fear 18 people died. "Rescue means were activated too late," Helena Maleno, from the Walking Borders NGO, said. The UN says 384 people died in 2021 on the so-called Western Mediterranean route from Africa to Spain, but Walking Borders said the true figure was far higher.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that US or EU blacklisting of president Vladimir Putin if he attacked Ukraine would not hurt him personally, as he has no financial assets abroad. The sanctions would be "not painful [but] politically destructive", Peskov said. Putin, also Wednesday, held a video call with top Italian businessmen from Enel, UniCredit, and Generali, even though the Italian government had earlier urged them to boycott it.

Germany will supply 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine, defence minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday, amid growing criticism of the German government for its refusal to supply arms to Kyiv to help it defend against a possible Russian invasion. Officials previously said Berlin would not send weapons to Ukraine, but would help with a field hospital. In response, Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv's mayor accused Germany of a "betrayal of friends".

France adopted a new law that bans so-called conversion therapies and allows jail time and fines for practitioners who use the scientifically-discredited practice to try to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTIQ people, AP reported. The National Assembly approved the law unanimously on Tuesday evening. French government's equalities and diversity minster Elisabeth Moreno described so-called conversion therapies as "barbaric".

The EU Commission wants to sign a joint declaration with the European Parliament and the EU Council by the summer and to have the principles act as "a reference" or "benchmark" for all in the bloc.

Pressure is mounting for the European Commission to revise rules requiring airlines to run at least 80% of booked flights to secure their airport slots, leading some to fly so-called 'ghost flights'.

A group of 23 NGOs urged the European Investment Bank to improve their lending practices to prevent human rights violations and further environmental harm.

Hungary is to host a congress of populist VIPs from around the globe in the run-up to prime minister Viktor Orbán re-election bid in April.

US president Joe Biden said Tuesday "Yes, I would see that" when asked by reporters if the US would blacklist Russian president Valdimir Putin if he invaded Ukraine. It would be the "largest invasion since World War Two" and would "change the world", Biden said. The UK and US were also "in discussions" on disconnecting Russia from the Swift international payments system, British prime minister Boris Johnson also said Tuesday.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has warned that people using smartphone apps and social media to get involved in financial trading might be getting bogus advice and exposing themselves to unwarranted risk. "We want investors to engage more in financial markets ... [but] we are looking at how to raise awareness and warn investors what they are letting themselves in for," the EU regulator's Verena Ross said, Reuters reports.

Irish fishermen are planning a peaceful blockade of Russian warships after Moscow announced plans to hold a live-fire naval exercise in Ireland's maritime economic zone, causing potential harm to marine life. "This is the livelihoods of fishermen and fishing families all around the coastline here," Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, told the RTE broadcaster on Tuesday.

French president Emmanuel Macron planned to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday to "obtain clarifications" about his intentions on Ukraine, Macron said while meeting German chancellor Olaf Scholz onTuesday. "Ukraine knows it can rely on Germany," Scholz also said, while promising to put pressure on Russia to keep transiting Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine's pipeline network.