HomeScience, Technology & Medicine
Science, Technology & Medicine
Archive
The Coronavirus III
This article originally referred to the Coronavirus Covid-19 as Chinese Flu, not as a political statement but as a geographic indication of origin. The...
Archive
Belgium in lockdown until April 5
A few hours after Sophie Wilmès’ emergency government was sworn in by King Philippe, the Prime Minister announced that as of Wednesday 11am GMT,...
Archive
EP Civil Liberties Chairman Aguilar demands proportionality and solidarity within the EU
Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, a member of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Civil Liberties,...
Archive
MEPs ready to respond to COVID-19 emergency, deplore 're-use' of existing funds
MEPs of the European Parliament's Budget committee, labelled the Commission's proposals for a coordinated response to COVID-19 emergency in the field of economy as...
Archive
France fines Apple $1.2 bln for anti-competition acts
France’s Competition Authority fined Apple a staggering €1.1 billion on Monday for striking deals to keep prices high, saying that its operations hurt consumers.
The...
Archive
Commission offers financing to German biopharma CureVac for COVID-19 vaccine
The European Commission announced on Monday it had offered €80bn of financial support to the German pharmaceutical company CureVac, to speed up the development...
Asia & Pacific
The Coronavirus II
This article originally referred to the Coronavirus Covid-19 as Chinese Flu, not as a political statement but as a geographic indication of origin. The...
Archive
Ireland to ban menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco from May
Ireland will ban the selling of menthol cigarettes and rolling tobacco from May 20, to be in compliance with the EU Tobacco Product Directive,...
Archive
EU Council President calls for second online summit on COVID-19
Charles Michel, EU Council President has called for another EU summit on Coronavirus response, to be held on Tuesday, March 17, through videoconference.
"Containing the...
Archive
Bill Gates leaves Microsoft board
Microsoft on Friday announced that its co-founder Bill Gates has left its board of directors to devote more time to philanthropy. He served as...
Archive
European Parliament President: COVID-19 most dramatic crisis since Second World War
"Not since the end of the Second World War have we faced such a dramatic crisis," European Parliament President, David Sassoli said on Friday,...
Archive
Swedish authority fines Google €7 mln for breaching 'right to be forgotten' under GDPR
The Swedish Data Protection Authority (DPA) is imposing a fine of SEK 75 million (€7 million) on Google for its failure to comply with...
Archive
WHO declares Coronavirus outbreak a ‘pandemic’
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) outbreak as a “pandemic”.
A pandemic is a disease that is spreading...
Archive
UK lawmakers challenge government over Huawei
The Conservative UK government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly defeated an attempt led by some of its own lawmakers to ban Chinese tech...
Archive
European Parliament to 'shut down'
All European Parliament's meetings and activities were suspended until March 30 and staff were asked to telework as much as possible, due to the...
Archive
External trainer in Brussels diagnosed with COVID-19
An external trainer giving classes to staff in Brussels has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an internal communications e-mail circulating in the European...
Archive
European Parliament’s President Sassoli in quarantine
David Sassoli, EU Parliament’s President has decided to put himself into quarantine, following the Italian government's emergency measures to place entire Italy on lockdown...
Archive
Portuguese president to enter preemptive isolation amid fears of COVID-19 exposure
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be quarantined for the next two weeks after hosting students from school affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus)...
Archive
COVID-19: European Parliament holds one-day plenary session
After moving its plenary session from Strasbourg to Brussels last week as a precautionary measure, the European Parliament eventually is holding a special one-day...
Archive
COVID-19: EU Health Ministers call for solidarity after member states restrict medical exports
Health Ministers across the EU27 bloc have raised concerns over the unilateral moves of France, Germany and the Czech Republic to restrict the export of...
Archive
Most of Northern Italy under quarantine in latest effort to halt coronavirus
Italy has placed up to 16 million people under quarantine, in the government’s effort to contain the spread of coronavirus across the country.
Prime minister...
Archive
Italy in the time of coronavirus
More than a month after the first confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded in Europe, Italy has quickly become the Western world’s worst-hit country,...
Archive
WHO director-general criticises countries for lack of commitment to stop COVID-19 outbreak
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the efforts made by some countries in dealing with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak.
Tedros showed concerns over the actions...
Archive
France says Huawei’s investments will not influence its 5G position
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that investments by the Chinese tech giant Huawei will not influence France’s 5G expansion plans.
Last week, Huawei...
Archive
Italy asks for extension of CAP deadlines due to coronavirus
Italy has asked the EU Commission for postponing of some of Common Agricultural Policy’s administrative procedures to relieve Italian farmers impacted by the coronavirus...
Archive
G7 finance ministers, central bankers ‘ready’ to address Coronavirus
Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed to hold talks today about the coronavirus outbreak that has...
Archive
Twitter tells staff to work from home due to virus fears
Twitter told its more than 4,800 employees around the world to work from home, amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Beginning today,...
Archive
COVID-19: Commission launches 'Corona response team'
As the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Europe is on the rise and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has...
Asia & Pacific
The benefits of hysteria
The epidemic of the COVID-19 is a fact, as are seasonal influenzas of various types that affect large amounts of people during winter, every...
Archive
ICT industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030
The new standard developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 45% from 2020 to...
Archive
France braces for coronavirus epidemic, Macron warns
French president Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that the country was preparing for a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.
"We are facing a crisis,...
Archive
Facebook cancels F8 conference due to coronavirus
Facebook on Thursday canceled its annual F8 developers conference over coronavirus fears. The company’s biggest annual event had originally been scheduled for early May.
"In...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Privacy is the EU’s distinct business and technology doctrine
What expectations for privacy might an individual have and what expectations should an individual have in the digital age? People proclaim that they do...
Archive
Tech platforms free to censor content under US constitution
A US court ruled Wednesday that tech giants are free to censor content as they wish.
The claims of the news outlet PragerU, that Google-owned...
Archive
EU urged to launch own OS, web browser
Finnish finance minister Katri Kulmuni on Wednesday urged the European Union to develop its own computer operating system and internet browser, and to reduce...
Archive
Germany at start of coronavirus epidemic
Germany’s health minister said Wednesday that the country was “at the beginning of an epidemic”, just a few days after the number of people...
Archive
WHO calls on EU for Coronavirus pandemic preparedness
The World Health Organisation's (WHO) regional Director in Europe, Hans Kluge has called on European countries to be in a "phase of preparedness" for...
Archive
Brazil reports first case of Coronavirus in South America
The Brazilian Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s first case of COVID-19 (popularly known as coronavirus) during a press conference on Wednesday, February 26.
The...
Archive
France reports first coronavirus death, as epidemic spreads in Europe
The French Health Ministry reported that a 60-year-old man died of a COVID-19 (popularly known as coronavirus) infection overnight on Wednesday, February 26 in...
Archive
Internet giants fight spread of coronavirus disinformation
Internet companies are stepping up their fight against the spread of disinformation about the coronavirus, after new cases and fatalities outside China have seen...
Archive
Mallinckrodt reaches $1.6b opioid settlement
Drugmaker Mallinckrodt announced it has a tentative $1.6 billion deal to settle lawsuits over its role in the United States’ opioid crisis.
The deal aims...
Archive
Greece reports first Coronavirus case
A 38-year-old woman in Thessaloniki is the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in Greece, according to a Health Ministry spokesperson.
The woman, who had recently...
Archive
Italy may miss on budget targets over coronavirus outbreak
Italy's deputy economy minister Laura Castelli said Tuesday that the EU should leave Italy more room on its budget targets as the country’s struggle...
Archive
US military adopts new ethical guidelines for using AI in war
The US military announced Monday it has adopted new ethical principles for the use of artificial intelligence in warfare.
The move comes after 15 months...
Archive
Stock market plummets amid coronavirus fears
In just a few days, coronavirus cases have risen rapidly across the world, despite the World Health Organization saying the spread has slowed in...
Archive
WHO warns of pandemic risk as coronavirus cases grow
The World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom has issued a warning to the international community that most countries need to brace for a “potential...
Archive
COVID-19: EU advances efforts to tackle outbreak, pledges €232 million aid
EU's Health Chief, Stella Kyriakides and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič announced on Monday that €232 million will be allocated by the European...
Archive
Iran announces 50 dead from coronavirus in city of Qom
50 people have died in the Iranian city of Qom from the new coronavirus this month, local media reported on Monday.
Just a few hours...
Archive
International fears grow with rise of coronavirus deaths outside China
New cases and fatalities from the new coronavirus outbreak outside China have seen a major spike, days after the World Health Organization has warned...
Archive
An academic’s view of the coronavirus
Two months after the coronavirus outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the deadly pathogen has gone on to claim the lives of...
Must read