Euobserver.com

The surge of Covid-19 cases due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant has prompted a debate in Germany over whether people who have not yet been vaccinated should face restrictions - after other countries made similar moves.

The funeral of a Roma man killed while in Czech police custody was held over the weekend. Stanislav Tomáš died after a Czech police officer kneeled on his neck, in scenes reminiscent of the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer in Minneapolis. Tomáš passed away 19 June, while being rushed to the hospital. The police have denied wrongdoing.

The number of civilians killed and injured in Afghanistan since 1 May has reached a record high, says the United Nations in a report. The number of civilian casualties during May and June was 2,392 (783 killed and 1,609 injured) – the highest for those months since the UN recording keeping began in 2009. The first six months saw the casualties increase by 47 percent, compared to 2020.

Tunisia's president Kais Saied has suspended the parliament and dismissed the prime minister following protests over how the government has handled Covid-19. "We have taken these decisions...until social peace returns to Tunisia and until we save the state," said Saied, in a televised address. The country is also suffering from a deep economic crisis and disillusionment over the Arab Spring.

Gaza was struck by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) jets on Sunday evening in response to incendiary balloons that had been launched earlier from the strip. The balloons triggered fires in southern Israel. The IDF said the planes hit a Hamas military base. The Israelis also reduced the fishing zone off Gaza by half - from 12 nautical miles to six nautical miles.

Greece has annulled an award for humanitarian aid worker Iasonas Apostolopoulos, known for his work with rescuing migrants and refugees at sea. Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou had announced Apostolopoulos would receive the award, but his name was then removed from the list, amid reported pressure from right-wing politicians who oppose his work.

Thousands of people attended the LGBTIQ Pride parade in Budapest over the weekend, following recent legislation that bans showing content on homosexuality or gender change to under-18s in school sex-education programmes. Last week, Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban said the new law would be put to a referendum after the European Commission launched legal action against it.

Santo Stefano is being revived through a €70m refurbishment project to turn it into a high-level European think-tank, academy and open-air museum aimed at boosting the European integration project by training 'enlightened' EU youth, scholars and politicians.

The polls are not in Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg's favour - but she thinks she has a 50-50 chance of winning a third term. Like Merkel, both are female leaders of conservative parties, and know how to win elections.

This month the OECD Inclusive Framework agreed on the main building blocks of new tax legislation for a global minimum tax and for the digital economy. However, Hungary did not join - this is why.

MEPs have shown consistent support for action against authoritarian regimes other than Russia or China, but unanimity requirements in the votes of the European Council are considered a clear impediment for a more effective EU foreign policy.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Thursday called on developed countries to share vaccines, pointing out that 11 billion doses are needed to reach its target to vaccinate at least 10 percent of the population of every country by September. "Dose-sharing is a short-term solution," he said, adding that 75 percent of the 3.5 billion vaccines already distributed globally have gone to just 10 countries.

The European Commission announced it is on track to share some 200 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 before the end of the year. It says the vaccines will go to low and middle-income countries. "We will be sharing more than 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with low and middle-income countries by the end of this year," said European commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Technology is not the main barrier to the deployment of wind energy needed for the Green Deal. Presently, there are no market mechanisms for offshore grid development projects to be bankable.

The open letter is from the embassies of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, US.

French president Emmanuel Macron has obtained a new phone following reports of Pegasus spyware hacks. The president's office said Macron had also ordered an overhaul of security protocols. His phone had been among those reportedly targeted by Moroccan authorities, according to Le Monde newspaper.

Several hundred undocumented migrants have ended their hunger-strike protest in Brussels, giving up their demands for a collective legal status in Belgium. The migrants will instead have their individual cases assessed by the state. Around 476 people had been on hunger strike, some for two months.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has rejected calls by the UK to re-negotiate the Northern Irish protocol, which created a customs border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. "The EU will continue to be creative and flexible within the protocol framework. But we will not renegotiate," she told UK prime minister Boris Johnson, in a telephone call on Thursday.

Thousands of EU nationals over the age of 65 in the UK have missed a deadline to apply for the EU settlement scheme, according to a UK parliamentary report. It found that only two-percent of all applications for the settlement scheme were submitted by people aged over 65, suggesting that many failed to meet the deadline. Some are likely to have had no mobile phone or digital access to apply.

The Italian government will require people to be fully-vaccinated before being allowed entry into closed-door events and spaces - such as cinemas, exhibitions, museums, theatres and swimming pools. Only those with a 'green pass' to prove vaccination against Covid-19 will be allowed access. The restrictions apply as of 5 August.