Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Ticker

UK rings alarm on new Covid strain in South Africa

The UK has barred flights from South Africa and five other countries in the region, citing the threat of a highly infectious and vaccine-resistant Covid variant called B.1.1.529. "You have to be reasonably paranoid," Ewan Birney, a UK health advisor, told The Guardian. Separately, EU health agencies EMA and ECDC Thursday urged more people to get vaccinated, saying: "Vaccines are essential if we want to get out of this pandemic".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Podcast

Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza

This week's Euroscopic explores the consequences of Moscow's terror attack, the convergence of public safety and border/migration policy in an EU election year, and the United Nations Security resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us