Poynter: How Faktograf worked across borders to stem COVID-19 misinformation in southeastern Europe. “Misinformation doesn’t care about borders, especially in southeastern Europe, where trust in the media tends to be low and news avoidance is sky-high. False news can spread quickly via popular messenger apps like Viber and WhatsApp. That has been the key takeaway from Faktograf’s COVID-19 experience. The Zagreb-based fact-checking organization knows that mis- and disinformation are as much of a problem in nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia as they are in Croatia. Tackling the issue in one country isn’t enough.”
Europe
New York Times: E.U. Plans to Bar Most U.S. Travelers When Bloc Reopens
New York Times: E.U. Plans to Bar Most U.S. Travelers When Bloc Reopens. “The European Union is ready to bar most travelers from the United States, Russia, and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak, E.U. officials said Friday.”
Coronavirus: ‘Very significant’ resurgences in Europe alarm WHO (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: ‘Very significant’ resurgences in Europe alarm WHO. “Europe has seen an increase in weekly cases of Covid-19 for the first time in months as restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus are eased, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. In 11 countries, which have not been named, accelerated transmission has led to ‘very significant’ resurgences, said Regional Director Dr Hans Henri Kluge.”
European Commission: Travel and transportation during the coronavirus pandemic
European Commission: Travel and transportation during the coronavirus pandemic. “On 15 June, the European Commission launched ‘Re-open EU’, a web platform that contains essential information allowing a safe relaunch of free movement and tourism across Europe. To help people confidently plan their travels and holidays during the summer and beyond, the platform will provide real-time information on borders, available means of transport, travel restrictions, public health and safety measures such as on physical distancing or wearing of facemasks, as well as other practical information for travellers.”
Reuters: EU antitrust regulators set July 20 deadline for Google, Fitbit deal
Reuters: EU antitrust regulators set July 20 deadline for Google, Fitbit deal. “EU antitrust regulators will decide by July 20 whether to clear Alphabet Inc-owned Google’s $2.1 billion bid for fitness trackers company Fitbit, a deal that has prompted concerns from consumer groups and privacy advocates. Google sought EU approval on Monday, according to a filing on the European Commission website.”
Reuters: AstraZeneca agrees to supply Europe with 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Reuters: AstraZeneca agrees to supply Europe with 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. ” AstraZeneca Plc has signed a contract with European governments to supply the region with its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British drugmaker’s latest deal to pledge its drug to help combat the pandemic.”
CNET: EU to hit Amazon with antitrust charges over treatment of third-party sellers, report says
CNET: EU to hit Amazon with antitrust charges over treatment of third-party sellers, report says . “The European Union is preparing to file antitrust charges against Amazon over the e-commerce giant’s treatment of third-party sellers on its site, according to a report Thursday from The Wall Street Journal. The European Commission, the union’s top antitrust regulator, could file official charges as early as next week, according to the Journal.”
CNN: EU wants monthly audits from Facebook, Google and Twitter on coronavirus misinformation
CNN: EU wants monthly audits from Facebook, Google and Twitter on coronavirus misinformation. “The European Union wants social media platforms to submit monthly reports on how they’re handling misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic. The new guidelines were unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday and apply to companies including Facebook (FB), Google (GOOGL) and Twitter (TWTR) that have signed up to an existing EU code of conduct on disinformation.”
Interactive map: A new tool released by the Czech government clarifies COVID-19 travel rules (Expats CZ)
Expats CZ: Interactive map: A new tool released by the Czech government clarifies COVID-19 travel rules. “Earlier this month the Czech Ministry of Health issued a ‘traffic-light map’ classifying individual European countries by infection risk and the rules for re-entry into the Czech Republic from these countries.”
New York Times: Coronavirus Depletes the Keepers of Europe’s Memory
New York Times: Coronavirus Depletes the Keepers of Europe’s Memory. “For years, Gildo Negri visited schools to share his stories about blowing up bridges and cutting electrical wires to sabotage Nazis and fascists during World War II. In January, the 89-year-old made another visit, leaving his nursing home outside Milan to help students plant trees in honor of Italians deported to concentration camps. But at the end of February, as Europe’s first outbreak of the coronavirus spread through Mr. Negri’s nursing home, it infected him, too.”
Phys .org: New website shows impact of European virus confinement
Phys .org: New website shows impact of European virus confinement. “Environmental and economic impacts of the coronavirus in Europe can now be seen using satellite data provided by the European Space Agency, it announced Friday. The ESA and the European Commission launched an internet-based programme that compares pollution levels during the health crisis with a baseline scenario, measures chlorophyll concentrations or illustrates economic parameters such as harvests.”
The Guardian: Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told
The Guardian: Schools reopening has not triggered rise in Covid-19 cases, EU ministers told. “The reopening of schools in 22 European countries has not led to any significant increase in coronavirus infections among children, parents or staff, a videoconference meeting of education ministers from around the EU has heard. With a debate raging in the UK over the risks of allowing children back into the classroom, some member states are planning summer lessons to aid pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Reuters: EU should beef up fake news pledge involving Google, Facebook, Twitter – study
Reuters: EU should beef up fake news pledge involving Google, Facebook, Twitter – study. “The European Union should strengthen a voluntary pledge, to which Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Twitter Inc signed up to combat fake news, with sanctions to make it a more effective tool, a study done for the European Commission said.”
Hartford Courant: Most New York coronavirus cases came from Europe, genomes show
Hartford Courant: Most New York coronavirus cases came from Europe, genomes show. “New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia. ‘The majority is clearly European,’ said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review.”
France24: Medicine shortage looms over coronavirus-hit Europe
France24: Medicine shortage looms over coronavirus-hit Europe. “While the world waits for a coronavirus vaccine, medicines used to deal with the symptoms of the disease are increasingly in critically short supply in Europe, the worst-hit continent. From sedatives needed to intubate patients struggling to breathe to anti-malarial drugs heavily backed by US President Donald Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic is eating up stocks.”
