Europe – Page 5 – FOX News Point

The Lifting of Vaccine Patents has Never been More Urgent. What is Vivaldi Waiting for?

30Nov

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

The Lifting of Vaccine Patents has Never been More Urgent. What is Vivaldi Waiting for?

While a third vaccine dose is being administered in Europe, patents deny other countries access to the vaccine. The latest virus variant shows how dangerous that is. The lifting of vaccine patents has never been more urgent. The discovery of the latest Covid variant pushed the stock prices of Pfizer and Moderna up considerably. Pfizer saw its stock close to 6.1 percent higher, about an additional $17.5 billion in market value. Competitor Moderna even saw its shares rise by 21 percent. A virus variant as a business opportunity. That's highly cynical for more than one reason. After all, it is precisely the patents of Big Pharma that make new variants more likely. Patents protect vaccine technology from other countries and companies. That limits vaccine production and increases glob...

Fifth Suspect Arrested for Drowning Channel Migrants

25Nov

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Europe, France, News

Fifth Suspect Arrested for Drowning Channel Migrants

France has arrested a fifth suspect in connection with the tragedy in the Channel that killed at least 27 people on Wednesday. The first four suspects were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of human smuggling. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday morning that France's neighbours, such as the United Kingdom, are doing too little to prevent people smuggling. For example, according to the minister, the British must tighten rules on undeclared work to combat illegal migration. According to Darmanin, Iraqis and Somalis were among the victims. The public prosecutor in Lille has said that 17 men, seven women and three minors are involved.

Europe Opens Door to State Aid to New Chip Factories

18Nov

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Business, Europe, News, Tech

Europe Opens Door to State Aid to New Chip Factories

In exceptional situations, more state aid can be granted to players in the semiconductor industry. This leaves Europe an opening to financially support new chip factories. Earlier this week, it was announced that the European Union would reconsider the rules for state aid in the context of new chip factories that it would like on European soil. In the meantime, the European Commission has decided that it can relax those rules, albeit very conditionally. European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that these are exceptional times for the chip sector and that we are dependent on a small number of companies in a challenging geopolitical context. That's a conservative phrasing to say that only a handful of players can produce advanced chips, and they're mostly produced in Asia and ...

US and EU Worried about Russian Troop Movements at Border with Ukraine

12Nov

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Europe, News, Russia, US

US and EU Worried about Russian Troop Movements at Border with Ukraine

On Friday, the United States and the European Union (EU) expressed concern over new "unusual" Russian troop movements near the border with Ukraine. "We are deeply concerned about certain unusual troop movements we are seeing on the border with Ukraine," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. However, Russia would "commit a serious mistake" if it "repeats what it did in 2014," he referred to as the annexation of Crimea. The European Union is also concerned. "We are following the situation closely, and the information we have received to date is very worrying," said High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell said Friday. He indicated that the EU is in contact with the US and the United Kingdom. "We are ready to consider measures with our partners if necessar...

Corona Tests Only Valid For 24 Hours in North Rhine-Westphalia

10Nov

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Europe, Germany, News

Corona Tests Only Valid For 24 Hours in North Rhine-Westphalia

A negative result of a corona test is only valid for 24 hours in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The state has taken this measure so that there would be less contamination at the start of the carnival on November 11. Despite the tightening of the measure, people are allowed to dance in cafes without a mask, the Rheinische Post newspaper reports. The rule went into effect on Wednesday and applies to PCR tests and rapid tests. The validity was 48 hours until Wednesday. For carnival-goers, among others, this means that a negative test must be taken within 24 hours before an event starts for people who have not been vaccinated or who have not recently been cured. In Germany, the number of corona infections has increased rapidly in recent days. On Wednesday morning, the R...

European Real Estate Investors are Again Investing More Money in Hotels

18Oct

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

European Real Estate Investors are Again Investing More Money in Hotels

European real estate investors are again investing more money in hotels, real estate advisor CBRE notes. According to the advisor, the recovery from the corona crisis is starting in many markets. In the past year, almost a quarter more money was invested in hotels. In the third quarter of this year, that was even 41 percent more than in the same period last year. Unfortunately, CBRE does not provide concrete figures on this. There was no "visible turmoil in the hotel market", according to CBRE. According to the real estate consultant, this was expected at the beginning of the year, when many hotels received fewer guests due to travel restrictions. In addition to the hotel sector, other real estates sectors, such as industry, logistics and multi-family housing, also picked up in ...

The European Commission Wants An End to Oil and Gas Extraction in the Arctic

13Oct

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

The European Commission Wants An End to Oil and Gas Extraction in the Arctic

The European Commission wants an end to the extraction of fossil fuels in the Arctic. She will "apply political pressure" for a ban on new drilling in the Arctic. Ahead of the climate conference in Glasgow next month, Brussels calls for "leaving oil, coal and gas in the ground". The Arctic is changing rapidly, said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, "because of global warming, increased competition for natural resources and geopolitical rivalry". The region is therefore of international strategic importance, according to the committee. Developments show the need for the EU to be "stronger committed" to the Arctic and to "make efforts for stability, security and peaceful cooperation". The committee is therefore opening a representation in Greenland, which administratively be...

Swedish Central Bank Reveals Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

11Oct

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Business, Europe, News, Sweden

Swedish Central Bank Reveals Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

The Nobel Prize in Economics is not one of the 'classic' prizes as invented by founder Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). The award is an initiative of the Swedish central bank and has been awarded since 1969. In that year, the Dutchman Jan Tinbergen shared the prize with his Norwegian colleague Ragnar Frisch. Last year the prize went to research on the so-called auction theory of the American economists' Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson. Their research was about how people trade in auction markets. Milgrom and Wilson have come up with new auction formats, among other things. "The new auction formats are a good example of how fundamental research can provide inventions that benefit society," said an explanation of the price at the time. For the winner(s), there is 10 million Swedish krona...

Macron Holds Franco-African Summit Without African Colleagues

8Oct

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Europe, France, News

Macron Holds Franco-African Summit Without African Colleagues

French President Emmanuel Macron will host a Franco-African 'summit' conference in Montpellier on Friday, to which he has not invited a single African head of state. He, therefore, calls it "a new, unusual African-French summit". According to the government, it is "an international meeting of size". The meeting will be held in the Sud de France Arena, just outside the city and invited are young African entrepreneurs, activists, politicians, athletes, artists academics and artists. French presidents have held nearly 30 summits with their counterparts from the former French territories since 1973. It is now the first time that they are not there. The summits were often attended by leaders who remained in power for decades or appeared shortly after or shortly before a coup. Macron ...

Volvo Cars IPO Should Yield 2.5 Billion Euros

4Oct

By Lucy FraserNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

Volvo Cars IPO Should Yield 2.5 Billion Euros

Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars is being floated on the stock exchange in Stockholm. This should raise an amount of 25 billion Swedish krona, equivalent to 2.5 billion euros. Volvo Cars are owned by the Chinese car company Zhejiang Geely. The IPO is due later this year and could become one of the largest in Europe this year. Geely will remain a major shareholder after that step. The Chinese company bought Volvo Cars in 2010 from the American car group Ford Motor for an amount of approximately 1.4 billion euros. There has been speculation for some time that Volvo Cars was going to make a move to the stock market. Volvo Cars want to use the proceeds of the share sale for investments in electric cars. The company aims to have a fully electric range by 2030. Last month it was announced...